Page 38 of Inventions of the Heart

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

ZANE HAD SOME BAD NEWSfor Mama Stiles. He crossed his arms and watched the women laugh and cry and squeal.

No sense telling her the wedding was over until the din died down.

Then he realized he was watching Michelle with such rapt fondness, it wasn’t exactly normal. Not for a man who was marrying a woman just to protect her.

He tore his eyes away and looked at Caleb, who stood on the far side of the knot of Stiles women halfway down the church aisle.

Nick took up the aisle space next to Caleb. Shad and Rick stood by one of the church pews. Two men Zane didn’t know stood in the church doorway. Every one of them was watching those pretty women.

Zane turned to the parson, pointed out Michelle’s mother, sister, and brother-in-law, slipped a twenty-dollar gold piece into his hand with his sincere thanks, then went down the side aisle to come down a row of pews to stand with Nickand Caleb. He reached them just in time to see Parson and Mrs. Lewis go out a door at the side of the church.

“We’ll post a watch outside, Zane.” Shad led the way out and started talking to the men at the door. They appeared to be with Nick.

“Mama, I’m already married.” Michelle’s voice came through above the general chatter.

Mrs. Stiles, or Beaumont or whatever her name was, broke down and cried.

Not the way a man wanted to be welcomed to the family.

Michelle looked over her mother’s bowed head, grinned at Zane, shrugged, then pulled her ma into her arms again.

“What’re you doing here?” Zane didn’t figure it was for a friendly visit.

“Nick got bad news.” Caleb tugged on Zane’s arm.

They moved to the back of the church.

“What happened, Ryder?” Zane faced his hired man. He was young but a solid, intelligent, hardworking cowpoke. Nick was a man Zane always paid attention to, and he wasn’t sure why. It might be that those odd, two-colored eyes gave him the appearance of intensity. Or maybe he just had intensity.

“Beaumont tried to pretend he was sorry. Caleb did some preaching to him. Beaumont said he needed time to think, time to mend his ways. Then he left.”

“He left the Stiles mansion?” Zane’s senses went on high alert. He thought of Benteen and how there was a connection to Edgar and a history with the Stiles family.

“Yes, we had some warning while he packed. I sent men to follow his trail. He went to San Francisco and stayed at the house the Stiles family owns there. My men kept close buton the sly. Beaumont didn’t spend much time in prayer that any of them could see. He did a lot of talking to a group of hired men who spread out asking questions. They were trying to backtrack Caleb and me. They found someone that knew me from the cattle drive last fall. I’ve got these strange eyes, and folks tend to remember me. I’d made no secret of my name, neither at the Stiles home nor in San Francisco. Once Beaumont knew I’d been on the drive with you—”

“You knew he’d check to see if you ran across the Stiles sisters at my place. Then he’d come right straight here.” Zane nodded and wondered if Jarvis had been in his house hunting Michelle after all. Maybe Jarvis was just a boy looking for his runaway stepmother-to-be.

“Laura was insistent she come.” Caleb picked up the story. “And we couldn’t leave Mama Stiles behind.”

“You call her Mama?”

“I don’t call her much of anything, honestly.”

“So she came along.” Zane turned to study the little female crowd. “Why’d she yell stop?”

“She didn’t want Michelle to get married just to save the lumber company,” Nick said. “I recognized your horse at the church hitching post, and Mrs. Stiles jumped to a conclusion. A correct one as it turned out. She’s afraid she’s put her daughters in danger by letting them cook up this plan to round up husbands and hurry home. She’s afraid they’ll end up with scoundrels and brutes.”

Zane’s eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms. “I’m neither of those.”

“Me neither. But you’re going to have to convince Margaret.” Caleb shrugged. “I don’t really call her that, either. And I sure as certain don’t call her Mrs. Beaumont.”

“I call her Mrs. Stiles,” Nick said.

“And now I have four more people to crowd into my house.”

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