Page 13 of Their Wanted Bride (Bridgewater Brides 1)

“Oh? What happens if I besmirched theirs?”

Tea sprayed from Robert’s mouth and he choked as Andrew pounded his back. Ann let out a tinkling laugh and dragged me away. “You and I are going to be the best of friends, I just know it.”

“Lord help us all,” I heard Andrew mutter behind us.

Extricating my hand from Ann’s tight grip, I patted my hot cheeks as she led me into a small powder room. A tiny oil lamp provided scant illumination, revealing a vanity table and a somewhat cloudy mirror. “I have no idea what made me say such a thing. Please, accept my apologies for causing a scene.”

“Don’t worry. You’re absolutely perfect.” She beamed and encouraged me to sit on the low stool at the vanity, then pulled a few pins from her coiffure. “We’ll get your hair presentable for a wedding, but we’ll need flowers, and… Let’s see, you have a blue dress, so that just leaves something new, something old, and something borrowed. Did they tell you the story of Mohamir and how Bridgewater came to be?”

“Yes, I’d heard of Mohamir before, but it’s all quite fascinating. I hope to talk to some of the men who were there.”

“My Robert and Andrew will be most pleased to tell you what they saw. They spent some years in Mohamir and Egypt.”

“Will your husbands be very upset with Caleb and Justin?” I asked, chewing on a thumbnail as Ann twisted my curls into order.

“No, of course not. It’s…well, honor is very important to the men of Bridgewater. It’s just not done for men to take liberties with their wife before the wedding.”

“But they didn’t. I mean, obviously you heard, but… Well, they didn’t.” Ann’s words sent warmth deep into my chest. Justin and Caleb could have had their way with me as a husband should take his wife. Their wife, I silently corrected myself. I was so muddled with delight, I’d have let them without question. Even though their need was obvious, they’d controlled themselves for my benefit.

The remembered feel of Justin’s thick member rubbing against me sent a fresh surge of wet heat through my tender womanhood and I shifted uncomfortably on the cushioned stool. My nipples perked into tight, achy buds as I recalled Caleb baring me to his avid perusal.

A few hot tears pricked my eyes, and I thanked God for giving me that newspaper all those weeks ago. I even thanked Nathan and Celeste for showing me the way to Bridgewater and my two wonderful men. I was growing to trust them more with each passing minute, and I’d be able to tell them about my bequest soon. Yet the thought made me frown. Would Justin and Caleb be accepted in Kentucky? It wasn’t likely, and I couldn’t ask them to leave their home either. They’d made a life for themselves here. I resolved to think about it later.

Ann nodded knowingly and dusted a bit of powder across my nose. “I thought it was something like that. The most important question is, did you like it?”

“How could I not? It was…” I tried to find words for the surfeit of sensation my men had given me, and their solicitous care. “It was…astonishing.”

“Well, then everything will be fine. Let’s get back to what’s important.” She unclasped a strand of white pearls at her throat and wrapped it around my neck. “Here’s something borrowed. What should we do for something old and new?”

“My boots are old, but I don’t have anything new, I’m afraid.”

“Hmm.” Ann put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. Her face brightening, she said, “I know. Those hairpins are new. I just got them last week. I believe that satisfies everything.”

I rose and gave Ann a brief one-armed hug. “Thank you. It’s good to find a friend so soon after my arrival.”

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“I arrived today on the noon train in response to Caleb and Justin’s advertisement for a wife.”

“Oh, goodness! You must be exhausted! How far did you come?”

“I…” Biting my lip, I decided to tell the truth. I was sure I was safe enough to be honest with my new friend. Well, at least I would be once Caleb married me. “Kentucky. My stepmother wanted me gone and colluded with a horrible man to force me to marry him, so I had to escape.”

She patted my hand in commiseration. “You’re quite brave. Andrew and Robert also saved me from a most unwanted marriage, but I’d have been too frightened to make my own way as you did.” Grimacing, she added, “Of course, I was on a ship at the time, so escape was quite impossible unless I wanted to swim.”

“I think I’d have taken my chances with the sea monsters before marrying Nathan Bergman,” I muttered, still shuddering at the thought of that despicable man laying a hand on me. “My stepmother sold my horse to him, and he threatened to send him to slaughter if I didn’t agree.”

“How awful for you.” She hugged me again, smelling of sweet lily of the valley. “We’ll get you safely married, and you’ll never have to worry about that horrible man or your stepmother ever again. I am sorry about your horse though.”

I grinned and rose to my feet. “Don’t be. My friend Dahlia and I painted him brown with walnut dye. I dressed as a man and got us both on the train with no one the wiser.”

Giggling, she clapped her hands together. “That’s utterly brilliant! I can’t wait to tell my husbands your tale. I almost wish I’d been that clever and brave, but then I might have missed Robert and Andrew.”

“I hope they find it more amusing than Justin and Caleb did. They were quite upset with me. I’d planned to make myself presentable and ride out to their ranch, but they were the people I asked for directions when I arrived. I didn’t mean to tell them a falsehood.”

The thought made my stomach tighten around the unpalatable meal I’d tried to choke down. What would they say about my bequest? I had to tell them soon.

“I’m sure they’ve already forgiven you.”

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