“Not a word, please,” Mr. Porter said in a more menacing voice.
Josie swallowed. She refused to admit defeat. She wouldnotbe married to this man against her will so he could take her land. Pastor Collins wouldn’t perform the ceremony if he thought she was being forced to marry. The thought heartened Josie. Pastor Collins might be an odious sort of man, but he wasn’tthatterrible.
They moved slowly down the street, Mr. Finnegan leading the way and calling out a greeting here and there. Josie tried to peer around Cleary.
There! She could just see past him—but all that was there was the wall of whatever building they were passing. Until . . . a boy’s face came into view. He was no more than twelve or thirteen, and he leaned against the wall making quick work of an apple. Josie locked eyes with him for a split second before he was gone from view.
He’d seen her. Sheknewhe had.
“Eyes forward,” Mr. Porter said out of the side of his mouth. Josie obeyed, praying as hard as she ever had that the boy had seen her. She couldn’t place him; perhaps he was new in town with his family. But hopefully he was smart and would find help.
They reached the church all too soon. The men stopped, and Porter turned to face her. She glared at him.
“I expect my bride to be a happy one,” he said.
Josie mustered a short laugh even as her stomach turned. “Pastor Collins will never agree to this.”
That horrible smile lifted the corners of his lips again. “Oh, but he will, because you’ll ensure it.” He reached out and ran his fingers down a tendril of her hair. Josie took a hard step back, landing on one of the men’s toes.
“Get off of me,” she hissed. “All Pastor Collins will need to do is take one look at me, and he’ll know I don’t agree to this.”
“You’ll convince him, or I’ll send my men out to pay a visit to your brother. With both you and he gone, your land will be easy enough for me to claim. All it’ll take is a little legal work from my friend Mr. Finnegan.” Porter tilted his head. “But surely you don’t wish it to come to that?”
Josie could hardly breathe. It was one thing to risk her own life, and something else entirely to put her brother in danger.
“I thought so.” Porter gave a confident nod before turning and knocking on the pastor’s door.
Josie closed her eyes. It was over. Everything she’d wanted was going to be gone in an instant. Her independence. Her land.
Arlen.
Her stomach rolled. He’d kept his word and not asked her to marry him. And now—provided he’d simply gone back to the ranch as she’d suspected—he never could.
She’d be someone else’s wife.
Chapter Seventeen
