"Very well, I'll marry you. Both of you."
Jake’s eyebrows raised up in response to Miss Evelyn Webster's stubborn chin lifting into the air. She was a pretty little thing and she held herself well, but it was easy to see she was intimidated, maybe even scared. Not surprising. Most of the ladies who came out West to be mail-order brides were already a little scared, coming out to be married to a man they'd never met. The prospect of taking on two or more husbands had caused more than one newly arrived woman to balk. Surprisingly, many cameto the same decision Miss Webster had. A few asked for time to think about it. Only a small handful had ever taken the trip back East.
The women coming out to be brides in the West were often just as hungry for a new life as the men here were for a wife.
The men here were desperate enough to share, once they'd realized even mail-order brides were hard to come by. In a small town like Chance, they didn't even have a bawdy house to provide some relief. Any single woman who came into town was immediately courted as marriage material, regardless of her previous life or virginal status.
Chance was a small but prosperous enough town. The land was good, so the farmers were doing well, and most of them panned for gold in their free time. There wasn't much gold, but every now and then someone would find something to help them along. There were quite a few ranches and farms, all of which had hired hands, as well as the usual businesses in town. It hadn't taken long before the first pair of gentlemen had decided they'd rather share a wife than have none at all, and it had started off an unexpected trend. The pastor had thrown up his hands in defeat and started performing the ceremonies, reasoning that if Abraham had two wives there was a Biblical precedent.
Jake didn't so much care about that, but it did make things easier to have it all official.
He and Wilson had grown up together in Virginia and made their way out west as young men. They'd been hired hands at first, but had scrimped and saved—and made a couple lucky finds when panning for gold along the way—and now they were the proud owners of the B&T ranch, with twenty hired hands of their own. So far, none of the men had gotten married themselves, so they currently all slept in the samebunkhouse, but Jake and Wilson had the house they'd prepared in anticipation of a bride.
They'd only sent a couple of letters back and forth to Miss Webster. Wilson had pointed out they shouldn't get too attached until they got her out there and knew for sure whether she'd be willing to live in such a scandalous manner. They'd been rather frank in their letters regarding their desire for a non-virgin. They'd figured a more experienced kind of woman would be more likely to be willing to accommodate two men, but they weren't surprised she still seemed taken aback and a little wary.
She was more beautiful than Jake had expected. Petite, barely coming up to his and Wilson's shoulders, with rounded curves, a beautiful face and thick brown hair which had been pulled into a no-nonsense bun. His fingers fairly itched to pull her hair down and see what all that bounty looked like unbound, what it would feel like.
It had been far too long since he or Wilson had a woman.
"Good, that's settled then," Wilson said gruffly, nodding his head. Knowing his friend as well as he did, Jake could hear the relief in his voice, but Miss Webster just looked even more anxious.
There was a reason Jake had done most of the writing; he tended to be the better communicator in general. Wilson was smiling, trying to appear unthreatening, but he had also been anxious, and sometimes that made him speak before he thought. He was probably so relieved she'd decided to stay that he just said the first thing that came to his head, which unfortunately sounded fairly brusque. Jake knew why, though; they were both definitely attracted to Miss Webster, and her spunk was admirable. Even though they'd just met her, both of them would have been sorry to see the back of her.
"We're very happy to hear that," Jake said. He held out his hand, bending forward toward her luggage. "Here, let us get your bags for you."
Relief pushed away the wariness in her expression, and she smiled a little more genuinely as the two men each picked up a bag.
"Thank you."
"Our pleasure," Wilson said, smiling even more brightly at her. She smiled back, seeming to accept that Wilson hadn't meant to be short with her.
Walking out of the train depot, Miss Webster looked around with interest at the town of Chance’s Main Street. The train depot was at the farthest end of the road, which stretched for several blocks and included a general store, the church, the main boarding house, the bank, the press, two bars and several homes.
"Thanks Tommy," Wilson said to the boy watching their carriage, flipping a penny at him. "We're just going to the church, and then we'll be back."
Grinning, the ten-year-old snatched the penny out of the air and continued stroking the black horse's mane. They weren't worried about anyone making off with the horse and carriage, but Old Jet wasn't always the best-behaved horse and it was better to have someone there to pet his nose and make sure he didn't feel abandoned. Otherwise, he might throw one of his horsey-tantrums, making a lot of noise and fuss, and sometimes managing to tangle his leads. Truth was, he was one spoiled horse, but he was also the first horse they'd ever bought, and now he was old and they let him get away with murder.
"To the church?" Miss Webster asked, looking very anxious again, her voice a little higher than it had been.
"For the wedding," Jake said, a very small lilt in his voice, turning the statement into a question. Had she already changed her mind?
"Right... of course," she said, glancing down at her dress.
"Oh, do you have a wedding dress?" Jake asked, feeling foolish. He and Wilson had talked about having the ceremony as soon as possible, so they could make it back to the ranch before dark, but of course she hadn't been part of that conversation. It hadn't even occurred to them to think she might want to change and freshen up for her wedding.
From her hesitation, he deduced that she likely did have a special dress picked out but wasn't sure she should say so.
"Which bag is it in, sweetheart?" asked Wilson.
Chapter 2
They'd taken her to a small room inside the church to change.
Evelyn tried to push back her rising panic as she pulled on her best dress with trembling hands. It wasn't a particularly fancy dress, but it was her nicest, and the green fabric brought out the green flecks in her hazel eyes. She got the feeling the gentlemen wanted to be on their way home, so she didn't fuss with her hair, but she did find herself pinching her cheeks and biting her lips to give them a bit more color.
They were very nice gentlemen, after all, and very handsome. She was lucky in some ways.
At least, that was what she kept telling herself, trying to keep herself from being utterly terrified.
