“She’s seventeen, Father,” Sharisse pointed out. “Wasn’t Mother seventeen when you married her?”
“You leave your mother out of this!” Marcus warned furiously.
Sharisse backed down. “If you’ll just listen to what I’m saying…I don’t love Joel, but Steph does. So why should I have to marry him, when she wants to?”
“This should have been brought up when it was settled that you would marry him, not now, with the wedding a week away. You were perfectly willing to marry the boy before your sister made her ridiculous confession to you. It’s too late now, Sharisse.”
“Oh, I could just scream!” Sharisse cried in frustration, shocking her father further. “It’s not as if we aren’t intimately acquainted with the Parringtons. Joel’s father is your best friend, has been since before I was born. If the situation were explained to Edward, he would certainly understand.”
“Like hell he would,” Marcus growled, appalled at the thought of telling his friend he wanted to substitute daughters at this late date. The very idea! “I will hear no more about this.”
“But, Father—”
“No more I say!” He rose from his chair to his full intimidating height, and Sharisse paled. “You’re not too old to take a strap to, Sharisse Hammond, and by God, that’s exactly what I’ll do if you so much as mention this nonsense to me again!”
Sharisse didn’t answer. Her courage fell, and she ran from the room. At the top of the stairs she stopped, her heart hammering. Had she ever been so frightened before? How she’d got the nerve to defy her father, she didn’t know. To go against him after that last horrible threat…impossible. She had known it wouldn’t be easy telling her father, but she hadn’t thought he would refuse her so furiously. And to threaten her with a whipping! She shuddered.
Sharisse found Stephanie in her room, sitting anxiously on the edge of the bed, waiting. “I’m sorry, Steph,” was all she had to say.
The younger girl started to cry. “I knew it wouldn’t do any good. I told Trudi so, but she was so sure you could do something.”
Sharisse moved to the bed and tried to comfort her sister. “Please don’t cry, Steph. Maybe after Father thinks about it awhile…”
“If he told you no, he won’t change his mind.” Stephanie sobbed harder. “I shouldn’t have told you at all. I should just have left here the way I planned.”
“Leave?” Sharisse wasn’t sure she had heard correctly. “What do you mean?”
“Never mind.” Stephanie sniffed.
“You don’t have anywhere to go, Steph.”
“Don’t I?” Stephanie said angrily, thinking Sharisse was feeling sorry for her. “For your information, I have a man waiting to marry me—right now, in Arizona. I have the tickets to get there. I might even be married before you are,” she added, not knowing how long it took to get to Arizona.
“But where did you meet this man?”
“I…I haven’t actually met him. We corresponded through the mail.”
“What?”
“Don’t look so shocked. It’s done all the time. There is a shortage of women in the West, you know. How else are those brave men to get decent wives?”
Stephanie was saying whatever sounded logical, defending herself. Actually she knew as little about the West or about mail-order brides as Sharisse did. But she didn’t want her sister to know that, or to know that she was dreading going to Lucas Holt.
“You mean you were planning tomarrysome man you don’t even know? To travel across the country…Steph, how could you even think of such a thing?”
“How could I think of staying here after you marry Joel? I can’t. I won’t. I’ll leave tomorrow, and don’t you dare try to stop me.”
“But I can’t let you go. You’re such an innocent, Steph. Why, you’d probably get lost before you even got to the train station.”
“Just because you’ve been to Europe doesn’t mean you’re the only one who knows how to travel,” Stephanie snapped. “I’ve gone to Aunt Sophie’s. I’ll manage.”
“You’ve gone to Aunt Sophie’s with Father and me. You’ve never been anywhere alone. And…my God, to actually consider marrying a stranger! No, I can’t let you.”
Stephanie’s eyes narrowed angrily. “You would force me to stay here and watch you marry Joel? You would be that cruel?”
“Steph!”
“I love him!” A new flood of tears gathered. “I love him, and you’re going to marry him! You know,” she added bitterly, “the only thing that would prevent that wedding next week is if you weren’t here to attend it. But would you think of leaving instead of me? Of course you wouldn’t. You certainly gave up on Father soon enough. I couldn’t expect you to have the courage to defy him by running away.”
