Page 4 of The Cowboy Takes A Bride

Meredith nodded. “I believe so. Getting away is something I think about all the time.”

“How are you saving the money? A new identity isn’t cheap.”

“I know.” Meredith raised her Jimmy Choo-clad foot and lifted the skirt of her dress.

“Clever,” Sabrina said. Meredith was selling her clothes and shoes. “Consignment shops?”

“Yes, my father thinks I’ve been donating to the Junior League charity auctions and such. I use those engagements to my advantage.”

“Brilliant. Like your mother. I hope it’s working.”

“It’s slow, but with the wedding season coming up, I hope by fall I will have enough funds.” Though she said it as if it was exciting news, her face spoke of the fear she was feeling and likely, Sabrina surmised, afraid to acknowledge.

“Can you make it to fall? I’m guessing those migraines will only get worse with time if something doesn’t change soon.”

“I have to make it until autumn. What other choice do I have?”

Sabrina tapped her nail to the card Meredith was holding. “I’m not saying I’m the right choice. I’m saying I can give you an alternative. You see, I’m not setting people up on dates. I’m essentially, for lack of a better, more contemporary term, a mail-order bride service.” She held up her hand at Meredith’s gasp, hoping to stop any disagreement. “Every date a person goes on is an attempt to find their life partner. I help speed that process up. I can offer you a new life, Meredith. A new life as yourself and not some identity you bought online. How do you propose to work? Are you buying a new education as well? What will you do if your father catches you?"

Meredith let her head fall back against the cushion. "How does trading a controlling father for a potentially controllinghusband give me freedom?" She massaged her temples. "It doesn't."

"Running, hiding, changing your name? That gives you freedom?" Sabrina was not challenging Meredith's plan, only hoping to help her reason through it, so she kept any skepticism from her tone.

A single tear slid down Meredith's face.

"If you've thought this through entirely, this running, I'm here to help you any way I can. I may even know someone who can help get you the new identity. But I can offer you an alternative. A real life. A husband that will protect you. Give you safety and security. Someone you can be yourself with. Create a life together that you want. All this can be done without your father knowing anything. You could escape him.” Each time Sabrina gambled on someone, she was aware of what was at stake. If Meredith told the wrong person, say her father, he could make life difficult for Sabrina. Possibly affect her standing within the community she'd grown up in, and that was something Sabrina would rather avoid. Being a matchmaker required anonymity since many of her clients were running from something. Her company wasn’t illegal by any means, and she had a success rate of ninety-five percent. That was better than any of those online services. But all it took was one naysayer—a heretic to bring down her business.

“Escape him yet take on an entirely new problem.” Meredith snorted her derision.

“This would be onyourterms. It’s an option. You have my card. Should you change your mind, please call.” With that, Sabrina stood. She clasped her hands before her and stared down at Meredith’s pretty, tear-stained face. Sabrina owed it to Rebecca, Meredith’s mother. Rebecca had always been nice to her and had been one of the few people to go above the standardcondolences when Sabrina’s father had died. She’d come by often and called to check on Sabrina.

“Picture what you want from life, Meredith. Who you want to be. Ask yourself if you are ready to give up Meredith Hanover.” Sabrina wiped a lone tear from Meredith’s cheek. “Good luck, honey.” Then she walked away.

3

The sun-kissed and snow-capped mountains reaching into the bright blue Wyoming sky was a vision Jace Shepard never tired of. Sitting on the top of the fence, he wrapped his ankles through the wooden slats, brought his hands to rest on his upper thighs, and paused to take it all in.

The view left him breathless. Every time.

The six years he’d spent away at college and interning with the beef industry had been the longest of his life. This ranch, this landscape, and its lifestyle were in his blood. It made up the very fibers of his core. He would never leave if he didn’t have to. Heck, he planned on being buried here like all his ancestors who were the original homesteaders and had claimed the land by parking their wagons.

Now the deluded ideas of a crazy old man were threatening to take it all away.

It was true that Jace lived and breathed the ranch. No point arguing that. That was why part of him understood where his father was coming from when he told Jace to square away his personal life. A man liked to leave an imprint somewhere alongthe journey of his life, and Jace was no different. Like his father and his grandfather, he’d always imagined his mark would be in passing down the family business to his son or daughter. A tradition and lifestyle he was proud of.

But––from the words of his single-minded father––time was getting away, and he was right. Hell, his thirties had snuck up on him, and the prospect of settling down was starting to look slim. The odds of finding the old grizzly he suspected was hunting his herd and convincing him to hunt elsewhere look more probable.

Jace snorted as he thought aboutthatconversation at the dinner table.

Keep the gun close by, dear. There’s a grizzly hunting these parts lately.

Not much of an enticement to be sure.

Jace was no fool. He knew living in remote Wyoming would require certain compromises on anyone’s behalf. Winters could be rough, days without power. It was an isolated existence. Sometimes he went long stretches without seeing others. All reasons why finding a wife was darn near impossible, and the few times he had managed to match up with someone, the remoteness killed whatever interest they had in him. Even the local girls couldn’t bear the isolation, or those that could, had already been snatched up. It took a special person to be a rancher’s wife. It wasn’t all big cars and large diamonds as TV liked to portray.

Settle down with a wife, or Pop's would give Jace's controlling share of the ranch to some nitwit cousin––who, last time Jace checked, was obsessed with Pokemon Go. All because Pops wanted Jace and his sister, Willow, to have lives beyond Three Peaks Ranch, and his father was stubborn enough to stick to his threats. Lucky for Willow, she had plenty of time.

“Hey, man.” Tucker Williams came up beside Jace and leaned over the fence, one foot resting on the lower bar. “If it’s all rightwith you, I’m gonna split and see Mandy before she heads out to her book club.”

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