Chapter 2
1725 Words
2
ABIGAIL
“One of the Landrys would make a good husband,” James commented, leaning close. Obviously, he didn’t know the truth about Bridgewater, where two men married one woman. “But you’ve got your Aaron.”
My stomach dropped. “Yes,” I replied. If I hadn’t made up a silly beau, I could tell James of my interest in both Landrys, for they would marry a woman together. Since he’d known them for years and they were friends, I had to assume he’d approve of them as suitors. As… more. “Still, you are quite the matchmaker,” I added, when he looked concerned. Clearly, he’d heard the dejected tone when I mentioned Aaron.
“I want to see you happy, and that means married.”
There wasn’t much else for a woman to do in these parts of the Montana Territory besides marry. Have children. And he was protective of me, ever since the fire. He was a good older brother, if ludicrously overprotective, but he’d seen me hurt enough, and not just physically.
“You don’t belong on the ranch with me and the men. Hiding.”
I hadn’t been on the ranch for two years. I’d always felt like he’d put me in the school to have me hide there, but I didn’t tell him anything of the sort. What I called hiding was his overprotectiveness rearing its head.
I loved my brother and liked being on the ranch. It was my home and almost all I remembered. But I agreed with him. I didn’t belong there anymore, keeping house. I longed for a place of my own, children, a man with whom to share it all. As the Landrys stopped before us, I realized I wanted to share that dream with not one man, but two.
They tipped their hats at me before shaking James’ hand.
As Gabe and James spoke of a foaling mare, Tucker winked at me—again!
“You are friends with Theresa, then?” he asked. Most people studied the scar on my right cheek, but he didn’t. His pale eyes held my gaze and kept it. While his question was idle chitchat, I was thankful for his starting the conversation. Most men avoided me altogether, perhaps afraid my old injury was contagious.
“Yes,” I replied, so nervous my knees all but knocked.
“I believe you also know some of the women at Bridgewater?” He c****d his head ever so slightly. With his strong jaw and full lips, it was hard to look him in the eyes as I spoke.
I knew I couldn’t just say yes again as he’d think me completely addlebrained for not forming full sentences. “Laurel and Olivia helped with the decorations for the picnic.”
“Are you glad you are back with your brother?” Focused on the sun picking up glints of gold in his fair hair, I almost forgot his question. I was done with school and home. Except to return to save Tennessee. Once I gave Mr. Grimsby his money, I’d be gone from Butte for good.
James and Gabe ended their conversation and were listening for my answer. I offered a quick peek through my lowered lashes at Gabe, whose dark gaze focused squarely on me. It took all my effort not to look at his mouth and wonder if his beard would be scratchy when—no, if—he kissed me.
“Oh, um…” I realized they were waiting for an answer. “Oh, yes. I missed it here.”
“And yet I heard you might return to Butte,” Gabe said, his deep voice slow and steady. “To marry and settle.”
Where had he heard that? I hadn’t told anyone I would go back to Butte in the next few days, but then I considered the last of Gabe’s words.
“Marry and settle?” I repeated. I had no interest in Butte. I would go back long enough to help Tennessee, but certainly not to settle there permanently. I hoped never to set foot in the town again.
James laughed and held up his hand. “These plans to marry the man in Butte are new. I haven’t even met him yet.”
We all turned when we heard James’ name called. Mr. Bjorn, the man whose property abutted ours on the south side, waved him over. James excused himself.
I watched him walk away and, when I turned back to the Gabe and Tucker, they seemed closer. Had they stepped nearer? I tipped my chin back to look up at them and realized they could see my scar straight on. With much practice, I turned my face slightly to the right to hide it. Their pale and dark eyes were so intense I had to swallow again and glance away. Did they know I was affected by them? Could they see my n*****s were hard beneath my corset? Could they discern the frantic pulse at my neck?
“Is there something wrong with your fiancé you are not sharing with James?” Gabe asked.
“Fiancé?” I squeaked, looking at them full-on. When I first told the ladies the tale, I’d said Aaron had come calling. Nothing more. Just enough to make it seem real. But, now, a fiancé? “I’m not… I mean, it’s not true.”
Tucker c****d his head again. “He’s not your fiancé?”
No, all of it. But I couldn’t say that. “We’re not engaged.”
Both men eyed me closely.
“Has he hurt you? Are you afraid of him?” Gabe asked.
He looked ready to go to Butte and beat Aaron’s face in. If he even existed. A warm feeling washed over me at his concern. Besides James, no one had defended me before.
“What? No,” I replied. “He’s… perfectly fine.”
Tucker grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Does your friend Theresa think her new husband is perfectly fine?”
No, of course not. She practically worshipped the man.
“It is not the same.” Theresa loved Emmett, where I… had made someone up. How could I have feelings for someone who didn’t exist?
Gabe raised one dark brow. “Oh? What does your man feel for you?”
I felt exposed, and their questions poked, as if they were prodding at a wound with a stick. Instead of facing the truth, I used defense to deflect. I straightened my spine. “Quite a personal question.”
Gabe leaned in slightly. “A man should be desperate for his woman. Mindless being with her. In her. Over her.”
I stifled a whimper with a fake cough. Over her? Oh dear lord, the man’s words had me all but melting. They were crude and forward. Bold for one of just familiar acquaintance. And, yet, I wasn’t offended. I was aroused.
“Yes, my brother is correct,” Tucker added. “Our woman would know, with absolute certainty, she was the center of our world, and we would make her every desire come true.”
Our woman. Yes, it confirmed they’d claim a woman together. Ah, how I wished it might be me.
They could do it, too. I had no doubt they could fulfill my every need, even if I didn’t know what they were. I just wanted to… feel. Feel their hands on me, their lips. I wanted to be surrounded, overwhelmed. Taken.
“You speak out of turn,” I replied, trying to sound prim when I was, instead, eager to hear more.
“Really? And where is Aaron?” Gabe asked, looking around for the man as if he were hiding behind a tree. “Has he come to visit you once since you returned?”
I shook my head. “No, he’s been busy. Besides, I’ve only been home for a few days.”
I had five more days to return with money for Mr. Grimsby.
“If you were ours, we would not allow you to venture so far. We would want you near,” Tucker said. “Very near.”
My mouth fell open, but no words escaped.
“You learned of the Bridgewater way from Laurel,” Gabe said. It wasn’t a question.
I blinked. They waited.
“Yes, you claim a woman together,” I replied, my voice soft. While those from Bridgewater didn’t go around telling everyone the men shared a bride, if it was discovered, they didn’t lie about it. Laurel had Mason and Brody as her husbands, and I knew Olivia had three. The way their men looked at them had me eager for the same from husbands of my own. And ever since I was fourteen, I’d known I wanted them to be Gabe and Tucker.
“That’s right. Tucker and I will share a bride. Think what it would be like.”
My eyes fell closed then, thinking of being married to Tucker and Gabe Landry. Stepbrothers, as different as their appearance. Having them come in the back door to wash up for supper, waking between them in the morning.
“But you are claimed by another,” Tucker said, his tone disappointed.
Another. Oh, yes, they were speaking of Aaron.
Gabe grunted, looked left and right then murmured. “Imagine what it would be like, between us. I want to kiss you, Abigail.”
“You only want to kiss her?” Tucker asked, his eyes raking my body in a dark and carnal way. My n*****s tightened beneath his blatant inspection.
“I didn’t say where I’d kiss,” he countered.
Oh dear lord. I could only imagine where.
The men put their hats back on. “Too bad, precious,” Tucker said.
“Too bad?” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“We don’t take what doesn’t belong to us. If you’re claimed by Aaron, then”—he shrugged his shoulders— “we’ll respect the match.”
My exhilaration turned to dust, and I worried I would throw up. They wanted me. I wanted them. And my lie was keeping us apart. The stupid lie! Tennessee was ruining everything!
“Not claimed,” I countered, trying to make them understand I was not spoken for. “The stories being spread are highly exaggerated.”
Tucker didn’t say anything else, just winked once more and walked away. Gabe looked at me for another moment, tipped his hat then turned to follow in his brother’s wake. I should have said something, admitted the truth, but they wouldn’t want me then. I was a liar, like a five-year-old. Once they knew the truth, they’d think me childish and not worthy of their time. Even worse, once they learned that I was going to steal from my own brother, they’d hate me. I couldn’t have them if I lied, couldn’t have them if I told the truth.
The open field in front of the church was filled with townspeople, lingering and chatting, waiting for the small wedding reception to begin. I was surrounded, but completely alone, and it wasn’t because of my stupid scar. I feared I’d be alone the rest of my life. A lie would not keep me warm in bed at night.
- Writer
