Marriage On Demand

Ford let a moment pass, as if to emphasize what he was about to say. Abner leaned forward, drawn by his impatience for a response.

“If I marry your daughter, she’ll be my legal wife. I won’t let my wife suffer a slight that’s in my power to prevent, and I won’t profit by a marriage that won’t also profit her.”

Ford’s solemn declaration sent a flush of anger to her father’s face. “And I can put in my will that no Harlow can ever get that land,” he railed. “Frank Casey’ll have to abide by that, so she’s your only chance to get it.”

Ford was unperturbed by the threat. “The land is yours, do what you want with it. But you need to realize you’ve given her no reason to give me the time of day.”

The old man hit the desk with his fist. “She’ll marry you because she does what I say.”

“She’s packed to leave, Abner, so it’s clear you’ve lost any say over her.”

Now Abner shot Rena a furious look. “She’ll get a husband outta this deal she’d never get otherwise.”

Rena did her best to appear unfazed by yet another of her father’s insults. She was already impatient to leave the room and be on her way. She might have left the room that moment, but Ford spoke.

“How do you know I couldn’t win her over and persuade her to marry me?” The hard look on Ford’s face said he’d taken Abner’s remark as an insult to his romantic abilities as a man, rather than the way her father had meant it: that Rena couldn’t get a husband unless her father bribed one.

Abner seemed confused for a moment, then flushed as he understood Ford’s interpretation of his remark. Rena felt a rare spurt of amusement and relaxed the tiniest bit. Ford went on.

“The only one you need to lure into this deal is your daughter.”

The old man got to his feet. “She’s got no business turnin’ it down as it stands.”

“She’s smarter than that. You put it in writing that she inherits Lambert, and I’ll marry her to get the west section signed over to me right away.”

The profanities her father spewed for those next seconds weren’t a surprise to Rena, and evidently not to Ford either, who seemed untroubled by them. Abner finished with a furious, “What do I get outta this?”

The question spoke volumes to Rena. What Abner would have gotten under the terms of his proposal was another way to slight his only child and the satisfaction of putting her in a situation with the potential to cause her hurt.

Rena was hardly surprised by that, but it shamed her now that she’d stayed so long with someone who bore her such ill will.

“You get control over who she marries,” Ford answered smoothly.

“I can marry her off to anybody,” Abner railed back.

Ford smiled then, but there was something calculating about it. “Will Lambert pride be satisfied by just anybody? Or did you choose me because a Harlow’s considered a worthy match for a Lambert? What about that son you wanted her to have? Will just anybody have the pedigree to suit you?”

It was either a brilliant argument that played up to Abner’s pride or a sign of ego and arrogance.

Just so you know, I won’t let any man devalue my wife to the level of brood mare. The talk of a worthy match and a pedigree seemed to contradict that declaration, but the abrupt absence of bad temper in Abner as he appeared to give the argument serious consideration suggested that whatever Ford’s true opinion was, he’d managed to target the one thing that might give her a chance to directly inherit Lambert Ranch.

He’d also managed to completely distract her father from his grudge against her. Rena held her breath. She’d seen her father’s ability to reason deteriorate these past years, but this was the first time she’d seen anyone use it against him.

She immediately felt guilty for the satisfaction she felt, though years of her father’s cruelty made it impossible to not be a little glad to see someone use his pride to manipulate him.

“All right.”

Rena felt the room tilt a bit as she stared at her father and heard his words.

Abner gave a decisive nod and repeated, “All right. She inherits.”

“I’ll need to see a will and I want the details in writing by the end of the week. I’ll marry your daughter the day the land deed is signed over.”

Her father’s cranky look returned. “That’s four days.”

“We should be able to get a marriage license by then, and I want the deal on the section settled.” Ford glanced her way and she struggled to keep her expression impassive. “Unless she wants more time to plan a wedding.”

Quiet satisfaction glinted in Ford’s dark gaze. He’d bargained with her father and won. He’d done what he’d set out to do and he gave no sign that he expected her to refuse the deal.

And how could she? She’d toiled for years in hope of one day inheriting the land that was her birthright. She’d endured a lifetime of pain to get the one thing she had a right to expect aside from her father’s love and approval. Not getting those had sharpened her craving to get the ranch, to get at least one thing she had a moral right to. Ford Harlow had managed to get it for her and according to the deal, she owed him a marriage.

Her voice was little more than a whisper. “Four days is enough.”

The glimmer in Ford’s eyes flared stronger before he looked back at her father. Rena suddenly couldn’t bear another moment in the room, particularly when Ford showed no sign that he was leaving soon. It relieved her that neither man remarked or called her back when she quietly walked out.

Rena found her father’s housekeeper, Myra, and told her goodbye before she headed down to the stable for her horses. She should be thrilled to inherit Lambert Ranch, but the thrill was dampened by her terror of marrying Ford.

Besides, there was always the chance her father would change his mind. She didn’t trust his sudden capitulation. By tomorrow—or even later today—he could change his mind and the deal would be canceled.

And even if he didn’t cancel the deal right away, there was no way to be certain her father would keep his word about Lambert Ranch indefinitely. Abner was in reasonably good health for a man his age, so it could be years before he passed away. That gave him years to find a way to thwart any legal document Ford tried to hold him to.

Until her father either passed away or reneged on the deal, Rena would be married to Ford. She didn’t delude herself into thinking that this marriage was the forever kind, whatever happened with her father. They’d made a deal for land. Ford would have his right away, but it was completely possible that Abner would somehow prevent her from ever receiving hers.

The whole thing could end up in the courts, and Rena’s personal assets were not enough for a prolonged fight. And a court fight would as much as advertise the fact that she and Ford had married for land. Besides, Ford would have long ago got what he wanted, so why would he bother with that kind of trouble?

Whatever happened between now and then, she’d have a marriage and she’d be a wife. What kind of marriage would it be now that Ford seemed to have effectively negotiated away her father’s specific requirement for a male heir? Without the need for a son to ensure that Lambert Ranch was passed down to blood family, would Ford be interested in having children with her?

She wasn’t even certain she wanted children, at least not unless having them was evidence of a solid marriage with everything a solid marriage meant, particularly love. Perhaps Ford felt the same way and he’d subtly negotiated a male heir out of the agreement because he had no desire to have children tie him to a woman he couldn’t love.

And what if he’d negotiated so boldly with her father because he expected a marriage to her wouldn’t last long? Abner was seventy-five and a marriage need last only until the will was read.

When she reached the stable, Frank Casey, his two sons and several of the men waited. Frank and his sons had gathered her tack and collected her horses. Frank had hooked up the horse trailer he was loaning to her, but most of them knew nothing more than the fact that she was leaving Lambert Ranch.

They hadn’t loaded her two horses and the yearling filly that belonged to her, but the well-cared-for animals were tethered nearby. It surprised her a bit when all the men politely removed their hats in a rare show of formality. Frank spoke when she reached them.

“We’re all sorry your leavin’, Miz Lambert. Not sure how many’ll care to stay on after you go.”

Rena had privately informed Frank that her father had mentioned willing the ranch to him and his sons. She’d decided it was fair to let him know because if it actually was her father’s plan to will Frank the ranch, Frank could spoil that for himself and his sons by quitting as foreman. Frank had rejected the notion, and it was clear he’d disapproved of her father cutting her out of her rightful inheritance.

She nodded. “I trust your judgment about whatever you and the others decide, Frank, but I need to do this.”

Frank nodded solemnly and she shook his hand. His sons were next, then the men. All were somber. She briefly exchanged good-luck wishes with each of them as Frank loaded her horses.

Rena had got along well with everyone on Lambert Ranch, but her father had always resented any sign that the men felt strong loyalty to her. The more surly and difficult Abner had become, the more the men had looked to her for decisions, though he never suspected how often that happened. Between her and the men, Lambert Ranch had managed to run reasonably well, in spite of Abner’s irrational decrees.

Rena wouldn’t tell anyone about the possibility that she might be marrying Ford Harlow because, besides feeling embarrassed about the circumstances, she couldn’t truly believe she’d actually marry Ford. She’d lived her whole life with this kind of uncertainty, and she’d hated that, but it was always best to keep expectations for good low. Though in this case, it was hard to know which outcomes were good and which ones weren’t.

Several of the men had either returned to the headquarters or stayed nearby after word had gotten around that she was leaving, so once they’d bid her a proper goodbye, they started back to work.