The Bride Wore Spurs

Victoria turned from the stove. “Hoped you’d get here in time for supper.”

He hung his Stetson on a peg beside the door, then walked to his ma. “Let me help with that.” He took the potato masher from her hand and battled lumps in the potatoes. An easy skirmish compared to what lay ahead.

As if led by their noses, Cal with his son, Robbie, tucked in his arms, and Pa trooped into the kitchen. Matt greeted them, then turned the pot over to his mother, who scooped the creamy potatoes into a large crock.

“Hey,” Cal said, clapping Matt on the shoulder, “you look down in the mouth.”

“Hush,” Victoria scolded. “Your brother’s been over to the Parrish ranch. You know Martin’s poorly.”

Cal’s gaze clouded. “Sorry. Martin’s a good guy.”

At the moment, Matt’s disquiet involved the task at hand, not merely Martin’s health. He’d like his family’s blessing, and would get it...in time.

They gathered at the table, Robbie tucked in his high chair between Susannah and Cal. Pa offered grace, thanking God for the food and asking His mercy on Martin. After a hearty amen, Robert nabbed a piece of fried chicken, then passed the platter on.

Susannah tied a bib around Robbie’s neck. “Hannah has no family in these parts. What will happen to her?”

“She should sell the ranch and go back to Charleston,” Robert said. “Running a ranch isn’t a woman’s place.”

“The Parrish family has endured a lot. First losing both Melanie and the baby in childbirth, now Martin.” Ma’s voice caught. “Poor Hannah. Makes me want to weep.”

Susannah handed Robbie a spoon. The boy promptly dug into the potatoes and managed to get a spoonful into his mouth. “Hannah loves the ranch. I can’t believe she’d leave willingly.”

Appetite gone, Matt moved his potatoes around his plate with a fork. Might as well get it said. “I asked her to marry me.”

Stunned silence followed his declaration. All eyes turned on him, while the startling news sank in.

“So when is the wedding taking place?” Susannah asked.

Martin was dying. They had no time to cement their relationship. “If Pastor Cummings agrees, Thursday at the Lazy P.”

Ma gasped. “Mercy, that’s fast. Are you sure about this?” she said, searching his face.

Matt had seen that look before. Knew Ma was trying to read his thoughts, zipping him back to when he was ten and had played hooky from school. Ma had been judge and jury, meting out justice. As he recalled, he’d had to muck out the barn every night for a week.

He glanced away from those perceptive eyes. “I’m sure.”

Ma didn’t smile, merely nodded instead. “I’ll drive over to see how we can help.”

“You can’t possibly love the girl,” Cal said. “Why, you barely know her.” He plopped his elbows on the table, his expression aghast, as if Matt had grown two heads. “Hannah’s a great kid. One thing to feel sorry for her, and I do, but quite another to marry her.”

“Obviously, Cal, you haven’t seen Hannah since her return,” Pa declared. “She’s all grown-up.”

Cal plopped tiny bites of chicken on Robbie’s tray. “There’s always been pretty women around. Why the sudden decision to marry this one, big brother?”

Matt would never reveal that Hannah had proposed first. He couldn’t explain their decision to marry without revealing the personal details of the agreement, something he’d never do.

“May be overstepping,” Cal went on, “but I trust grief over Amy isn’t making you settle for a loveless marriage.”

Hands balled into rock-hard fists alongside his plate, Matt glared at Cal. “Keep Amy out of this.”

As if held at gunpoint, Cal raised his arms, palms out. “Whoa, brother. I want you to have what Susannah and I share. I’m just saying—”

“Saying what? That I don’t have the sense to know my own mind?”

“Matthew! Calvin! You’re behaving like bullheaded toddlers,” Robert said. Then he nodded his head, a smile forming on his lips. “A merger with the Lazy P makes sense. By pooling our resources, both ranches might survive dropping cattle prices and the bad economy.”

Leave it to his father to see marriage as a business opportunity. “Hannah hasn’t agreed to a merger,” Matt said.

“See that she does.” Robert glanced around the table, at the untouched food. “Enough of this talk. Eat.”

“Eat!” the food-smeared toddler ordered with pride, then stuck a gooey spoon in his hair and grinned.

Everyone laughed, easing the tension at the table.

Matt settled back in his chair, taking a deep breath, trying to slow his breathing. His father tried to run every facet of his sons’ lives. It was the reason Zack had turned to the law. And Cal spent most of his time at Susannah’s folks’ spread.

Still, the ongoing strain between Matt and his father didn’t explain Matt’s reaction to Cal’s concern. He’d thought he had peace about the decision to marry Hannah, but in truth, he was entering uncharted territory.

One grim possibility after another marched through Matt’s mind. Without the benefit of a loving relationship, he and Hannah would deal with Martin’s illness and without a miracle, his death. This marriage could backfire in a myriad of ways.

Matt had grown comfortable with the emptiness of the past four years. Each day had held a blessed sameness, with neither highs nor lows, just a flat, hollow monotony. He had filled those days with work. The highlight of his week were evenings spent with Martin, another lonely man fighting his own demons. Martin’s waning health triggered painful memories of Amy’s death.

Still, none of this excused his treatment of Cal. “I’m sorry for overreacting, Cal.”

His brother met his gaze, an apology in his eyes. “Me, too.”

“To see Hannah wed will give Martin peace,” Ma said. “Hannah’s a lovely young woman, a rancher at heart. A good match for you.”

Robert gave a nod. “Marriage to Hannah is a solution for everyone.”

Cal looked pained, as if he’d taken a bite of cactus.

At her husband’s silence, Susannah frowned at Cal. “Hope you and Hannah will be very happy,” she said, then reported Robbie’s latest humorous antic and conversation resumed as usual.

Matt’s mind wandered back to how all this started. During his visits to the Lazy P, Martin spoke often of Hannah, the daughter he obviously adored. The day Martin was diagnosed with cancer, he’d shared his heavy burden for his only child’s welfare. Matt shared that concern. Hannah was in a tough spot.

Yet, to wed a nineteen-year-old without love scared him silly. Marriage might be a solution for her, but marriage would also create new problems.

Unlike Cal, Matt knew why he’d proposed. He couldn’t risk love, but at twenty-five, he wanted a new beginning. He’d settle for companionship, settle for a woman to share his dreams and goals, settle for a woman who’d share his way of life.

The honest truth was that he was tired. Tired of dodging unsuitable women with matrimony on their minds. Tired of feeling alone in a houseful of people. Tired of fighting his father’s control.

By marrying her, Matt would see that Hannah could remain on the land she loved. He hoped that would make her happy. If not happy, at least content. Something he’d come to appreciate.

Matt had come, hoping for his family’s support of the marriage. For the most part he’d gotten it. Cal would come around. But Pa.... Would Pa’s expectation of a merger between the two ranches wind up causing trouble?

* * *