Page 9 of The Banker's Bride

“Well, this is it!” she said aloud as she screwed up her courage, adjusted the matching hat, and picked up the pillowcase carrying all of her worldly possessions. Then she opened the door and strolled down the hallway toward her new life, joining the other disembarking passengers.

“Here you go, miss!” The conductor happily held out his hand to help her off the train.

She nodded her thanks as butterflies beat against the walls of her stomach. Cool air rushed to her as her feet touched the wooden platform. Her eyes traveled around, and she spotted the banker, Mr. King, right away, just from the description that Madame Chase had given her. He had impeccably groomed blond hair along with the immaculate light gray suit he wore. Megan’s breath caught. She had never seen a man so handsome before. He was standing by a fine carriage and had two other men with him. One was the driver, and she figured that the other may be a guard. Megan’s heart stopped as their eyes met and a smile curled Dallas’s lips, revealing a dimple in one of his cheeks.

Dallas quickly closed the distance between them and offered her his hand. To her surprise, a surge of electricity ran through her body at his touch. She had hoped that she would like him, but she hadn’t expected her body to react this way.

“Well, your photograph didn’t do you justice. You are quite breathtaking.” He lifted her hand to his lips, bringing a blush to her cheeks.

“Thank ye,” she replied. “‘Tis a pleasure to meet ye.”

A smile spread across his lips. “I assure you, the pleasure is all mine.” He offered her his arm. “Did you bring any luggage with you?”

She clutched the pillowcase that held all of hers and her brother’s worldly possessions. Megan held it up. “No, this is it.”

“Well, we’ll have to remedy that.” Every emotion flitted across his face, unfathomable to read since she didn’t know him yet. “Shall we?” Dallas offered her his arm. “Preacher Henley is waiting to marry us today in Whiskey River. I would have had the preacher here in Laramie marry us, but I wanted Preacher Henley to do the honor. Is that agreeable to you?”

“Yes, of course.” After all, she had come to Wyoming to marry him, hadn’t she?

She took his arm, her heart pounding wildly as he led her to his carriage. He helped her inside like a true gentleman. The two other men climbed to the top of the carriage, and Dallas slid in beside her and took her hand, sending another wave of electricity through her. Never had she felt such attraction to a man before, especially someone she had just met.

“I trust your trip went well?” he asked, his blue eyes sparkling.

“Very well, thank ye.”

“And how did you find the accommodations?” He arched an eyebrow, awaiting her answer.

A smile spread across her lips. “Wonderful, thank ye. In fact, ye didn’t need to go to so much trouble fer me.”

He chuckled. “‘Twas no trouble at all.” He curled his hand around hers.

She let out a nervous laugh. “I guess I’m just not used to such fine things.”

Dallas smiled. “Well, you’d better get used to it. As my wife, I’ll see to it that you have the best of everything.”

She nodded, but her smile faded. “Thank ye.” She would have been satisfied with a roof over her head and food in her stomach, but she had never expected him to lavish such treasures on her. Inside, she knew that having money shouldn’t matter so much, but the level of poverty she had endured made her think otherwise. But extravagance was another thing. “Although I expect not to struggle… financially… extravagance is another matter. We should save money for a rainy day.”

He placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Yes, you’re right. Extravagance isn’t necessary, but now that you’re here, I’d like to spoil you. Please, do me that honor.”

She smiled, enjoying his company and being treated like a princess. Would this be her new life? A life equivalent to that of a princess? She wondered if one day it might include love, but she pushed the thought quickly aside. Whether they loved each other or not was of no consequence. After all, many women marry for security, don’t they? No, she wouldn’t let love get in the way of a favorable marriage. After all, if she could have married to save her parents and her brother from their fate, she would have. But no matter what happened between Dallas and her, Megan vowed to be the best wife to him that she could possibly be.

“After we’re married, you’ll stay at my ranch,” Dallas continued, his attention focused solely on her. “I hope you don’t mind not going on a honeymoon right away. I thought we’d get settled in first. Then when things are settled with the bank, I’ll take you wherever you’d like.”

Megan smiled politely. “That’s fine.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

She shook her head. “No, not at all. It’ll give me a chance to get the house in order. I could give it a thorough cleanin’ and set up the kitchen—”

“I have a chef and a housekeeper for that,” Dallas cut her off, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “The only thing I’d like for you to do is to settle in and get used to running a home as the lady of the house.”

Warmth filled her body at his touch as blush colored her cheeks. For a moment, she wondered what it would be like to be intimate with this man. She hoped he would be as kind and gentle as he was now. He hadn’t forced his affections upon her yet, and she hoped he wouldn’t. But one thing was certain: If he or any man laid a hand on her in any way that wasn’t respectful, he would be feeling the backside of a frying pan against his skull, husband or not. But so far, he had given her no cause for alarm. He was romantic, in fact. So, she quickly pushed the thought aside.

Dallas prattled on as they rode, and she mainly listened. He had a nice, manly voice, a voice she could listen to for the rest of her life, which she planned to do.

Soon, they pulled into a small town. They came to a dress shop to the right and the carriage pulled to a stop in front.

“A dress shop? Now?” Megan asked when the driver opened the door. “I thought we were going to be wed—”

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