The Blushing Bride

Polly whimpered. Gladys groaned.

Duncan pushed his way between the two women. “Now, Mr. Kruger, think about what you’re saying. You can’t really shoot these women.”

“I’m not going to shoot them.” Jason lifted his head slowly. “I’m going to shoot you!”

Gladys burst into tears.

“Now, Mr. Kruger, you don’t want to go and do that.” Duncan wrung his hat fitfully.

“Get these women out of here!” Jason pointed toward the door. “I don’t want to see another woman in my camp!”

“But Mr. Kruger—”

“No more women! Ever!”

The office door opened and Shady Harper ambled inside.

“What do you want, Shady?” Jason snarled.

Shady took in the office with squinted eyes. “I brung you back something from town, boss.”

His face brightened. “My package?”

“Naw. Weren’t no mail today.”

Jason’s frown returned. “Leave it outside, Shady.”

“Don’t think I’d better do that.” Shady wiggled his fingers toward the door. “Come on in here.”

A delicate fragrance drifted into the office seconds before a woman stepped inside, bringing a hush to the room and freezing Jason in place.

She blinked up at him with big blue eyes. “Mr. Kruger? I’m Miss Amanda Pierce from San Francisco.”

He scowled at her. “Yeah?”

“I’m here at your request,” she said.

“My request?”

“Yes, Mr. Kruger. Your request for a wife.”

Chapter Two

“A wife!” Jason shouted.

Amanda glanced around the room at the faces staring at her. “Really, Mr. Kruger, there’s no need to raise your voice.”

“A wife?”

She was tired from her long journey and a headache threatened from the bone-rattling trip up the mountain. This Mr. Kruger was testing the limits of her good manners.

“Yes, Mr. Kruger, a—”

“What about my pie recipe?” Polly demanded.

“And what about her accusing me of stealing?” Gladys asked.

Duncan wrung his hat. “Mr. Kruger, you got to settle this once and for all.”

“Now look, all of you,” Jason said, “I don’t—”

“Excuse me, Mr. Kruger.” Amanda leaned closer and lowered her voice. “You’ve spilled a little pie on your shirt.”

The words just hung there for a moment between the two of them.

“Thank you,” he finally said, grinding out the words between clenched teeth as if he hadn’t the least bit of appreciation for her helpful comment.

He turned to the other women. “Now look, I don’t give a damn about whose pie recipe is whose, or who puts what into their roast chicken, or who stole what recipe. None of it amounts to a hill of ants and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

Polly bristled. “Well!”

“I never….” Gladys put her nose in the air.

“Get out of my office,” Jason said, “all of you. Come back when you’ve got a serious problem.”

Duncan moaned. “But Mr. Kruger…”

“Excuse me, Mr. Kruger?” Amanda said. “If I may say so, what you have here is, indeed, a serious problem.”

For a moment Jason Kruger looked as if he intended to toss her out of his office along with the others, but Amanda stood firm. He couldn’t give her his full attention until the stolen pie recipe was dealt with, and since Jason wasn’t taking it seriously, she would.

“If I may?” Amanda asked Jason.

He threw both hands up. “Have at it, lady.”

Amanda turned to the women. “As I understand it, one of you thinks the other stole your recipe.”

Polly jerked her head toward Gladys. “She stole my apple pie recipe.”

“And she’s after my roast chicken ingredients,” Gladys said.

“A woman works for years perfecting a recipe. She certainly doesn’t want another woman taking it, then passing it along for everyone to use.” Amanda turned to Jason. “Are you following this, Mr. Kruger?”

He threw her a sour look. “Hanging on every word.”

“Good,” Amanda said. “As I see it, there’s but one way to settle this issue. You ladies will exchange your pie and chicken recipes with each other. Only the two of you will have them. That way you can be assured neither recipe will be passed along to anyone else without fearing that your own recipe will then be passed on in retaliation. How does that sound?”

Gladys and Polly looked at each other, then finally nodded their agreement.