The Independent Bride Read online

  “Are you going to let them say in Miss Wallace’s room?”

  Bryce had nothing against Abby or her sister, but he’d have let them sit up all night fending off bugs and chasing mice if it would have made them take the first opportunity to leave. However, his daughter had put him in the position of being forced to offer hospitality. He did have an extra room, and he was certain Abner Pierce’s mattress wasn’t fit for anything but burning.

  “There’s only one bed in the room,” he said, “but you’re welcome to use it.” He hoped he didn’t sound insincere, but it made him very uncomfortable to think of Abby sleeping under his roof. His reaction was completely nonsensical, but there was a kind of physical closeness about the situation that made him overly aware of her as a woman. It was out of the question that he show an interest in a woman at the fort. It would undermine discipline and cause gossip.

  “Thank you for the offer,” Abby said. “Under the circumstances we’ll gladly accept your hospitality.”

  “Since she made the offer, I’ll let Pamela show you the room.”

  “We didn’t come prepared to stay.”

  “You can return when it’s convenient. I’ll be up working for several hours yet.”

  “Follow me, please,” Pamela said in a charming attempt to act grown-up.

  “You can show my sister the room,” Abby said to Pamela. “I need to speak to your father.”

  “Can I offer you something to drink?” Bryce asked Abby. “It won’t take long to make coffee.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I feel like a brandy.”

  As Abby watched Bryce leave the room, she tried to organize her thoughts. During the several hours she’d spent in her future living quarters trying to scrub away some of the accumulated grime, she’d had plenty of time to consider her present situation. It was abundantly clear that Bryce McGregor didn’t want her here and didn’t think she could handle the trading post. Abby didn’t want to stay here, but she didn’t have a choice. Therefore, she had to make the best of things. But it didn’t take much pondering to know she had a lot to learn. She could become familiar with her stock, learn what people needed and how much to charge for it, but she didn’t understand anything about living in this brutal place. She had no idea what she was supposed to do about the contract to provide the Indians with beef, and she had no idea how to keep herself and her sister safe from men like the three she’d already encountered. She’d decided Bryce McGregor, his prejudice not withstanding, would have the honor of helping her learn to survive in this new and unfriendly environment.

  She realized the attraction she felt for him would make that uncomfortable, but she expected it would fade quickly. It had to rest on the fact that he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen, and that he’d saved her from a terrible fate. It was only natural she should be attracted to him. She took comfort in knowing he was too cold and forbidding for her to like for long.

  The style of furnishing in his house gave her a different impression of him from the stern commander she’d seen. The house was neat, uncluttered, and minus the little touches that indicated the presence of a female, but the furnishings were comfortable, stylish, expensive, and showed just enough feminine influence to indicate he’d been married. A thick carpet covered the floor and velvet curtains hung at the windows. One table was covered by lace of an intricate design, another with the neatly organized evidence of his work. Pictures on the wall were of his daughter and several women, all of whom were heavily jeweled and expensively dressed; there was also a painting of a house that looked like a mansion. Clearly Colonel McGregor came from a wealthy family. All the more reason for her to throttle her absurd attraction to him.

  Abby drew back from inspecting an ormolu clock when she heard Bryce returning.

  “As you’ve no doubt guessed, learning about weapons is just the beginning of what I need to know to operate this store successfully,” she said when they were seated.

  “It’s an impossible task,” Bryce said. “I can understand why you want to leave.”

  “I’ve already told you I don’t intend to leave,” Abby said, somewhat irritably. “I wish you could believe I mean it.”

  “I do believe you mean it. I keep hoping if I mention it often enough, you’ll realize you’ve made a mistake and reconsider.”

  “I won’t, so let’s not waste any more time on it. I have lots of questions about the store, and you seem to be the most logical person to answer them.” From his strained expression, she knew he was not happy with her conclusion.

  “I realize you’re newly arrived at Fort Lookout, but it couldn’t have escaped your notice that I have a fort to run, two hundred men whose safety and well-being I must be concerned with at all times, an Indian situation to watch carefully, and a civilian population that thinks the army has nothing better to do than solve its problems.”

  He was trying to show her how unimportant she and her sister were. “In other words, you don’t have time to waste on two females who own and will operate the store at your fort.”

  “Obviously I have to be concerned with your store. It’s badly understocked at present, but it’s our only source of supplies without going into Boulder Gap, which is off limits to the enlisted men. If you can’t restock quickly, I’ll have to look for someone else to take over the lease.”

  “I just got here. You can’t expect me to work miracles overnight.”

  “I don’t have the time to give you all the help you’ll need. I suggest you contact the man who worked for your father.”

  “Why? He’s the one who was too drunk to mind the store.”

  “Whom you hire is up to you. I’m only interested in who can do the best job as quickly as possible and most dependably over a period of time.”

  “I can,” Abby stated with more confidence than she felt “That has yet to be seen.”

  She had believed he was a little bit attracted to her, but maybe she was wrong. “You don’t approve of women, do you, Colonel McGregor?”

  His smile was quick and disarming. It would be easy to become infatuated with this man. Dangerous, too.

  “Whatever gave you that idea? I certainly do approve of women. I like them and enjoy their company. Nevertheless, I can’t let the fact that you’re a woman, and a very attractive one, interfere with the running of the fort. While you’re a guest under my roof, I’ll treat you with all the deference you deserve. But my only concern about you as the store owner is that you fulfill the requirements of your lease.”

  “I haven’t had time to go through my father’s papers.”

  “There’s not much in the lease you need worry about. Essentially it says you have to supply the fort with everything the army doesn’t give us. There’s something in there about selling liquor to the Indians and being drunk and disorderly, but I doubt I’ll have to worry about that.”

  Abby saw amusement in his eyes. Maybe he wasn’t as cold and forbidding as she thought. She didn’t like the tremor that zigzagged through her body. She was relieved when Moriah and Pamela entered the room. “I’ll find the contract and read every word,” she said.

  “This Miss Pierce says it’s a very nice room,” Pamela announced, pointing to Moriah.

  “Thank you very much for letting us use it,” Moriah said to Bryce.

  “You’re welcome. It’s back to bed with you,” he said to Pamela. “The ladies will return later.”

  “Can’t I stay up?”

  “No.”

  “Did you get to stay up when you were seven?” she asked Abby.

  “We were sent to bed promptly after supper.”

  “It’s still light outside then.”

  “I begged to be allowed to play outside, but I never was.”

  “Daddy’s not that mean.”

  “Then you’re a very fortunate little girl.”

  Pamela drew herself up. “I was a little girl when I was six. I’m a big girl now.”

  Abby wa
s certain Colonel McGregor turned his head to hide a smile. It was only with difficulty she was able to keep a straight face. “Of course you are. I would never have made such a mistake, but I’m very tired. Moriah and I have been scrubbing and cleaning all afternoon.”

  “Daddy said it was worse then a stable yard,” Pamela said.

  Abby didn’t know anything about the colonel’s philosophy on rearing children, but in less man five minutes with Pamela, she was certain he had more on his hands than he could handle. You had only to see the way he looked at his daughter to know he adored her.

  “I said the man who took over after Abner Pierce died had turned it into a mess worse than a stable yard,” Bryce said with an apologetic grin at Abby. “If you’re going to get me in trouble, Pamela, at least make sure you quote me exactly.”

  “Am I getting you in trouble?”

  Abby decided the child’s look of innocence was genuine. She hadn’t reached the age when she realized truth could be dangerous.

  “No,” Abby said, “but if you had, he’s more than compensated for it by inviting us to stay here until we can make our living quarters habitable. Now it’s time for us to get our bedclothes.”

  “And time for you to go to bed,” her father said.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” Pamela said. “I get up very early.”

  “I like those ladies,” Pamela said as she allowed her father to pull the covers over her. “I’m glad they’re going to stay with us.”

  “They’re not staying with us,” her father corrected. “They’re just spending the night to give them time to get their living quarters cleaned up.”

  “Is it right for nice ladies to live in the trading post?”

  There were times when Bryce wished his daughter hadn’t spent virtually her whole life surrounded by adults. He’d have been much happier if she’d been thinking of her dolls instead of the Pierce sisters. But though he was uncomfortable with his daughter’s perspicacity, he was also proud of her. “It’s not ideal, but they own the store, so it’s their home.”

  “They could live with us.”

  “That would be even more unsuitable.”

  “Why?”

  Bryce tried to answer all his daughter’s questions truthfully, but he often didn’t know how much to say or how to say it most effectively. At times like this he wished there was a woman he could turn to for help. “If everyone only thought good things about each other, there wouldn’t be a problem. But people aren’t all good. When a man and a woman are together too much, people start to think they’re doing something they shouldn’t.”

  “Like making babies?”

  Somebody had been giving Pamela more information than she needed at her age. He’d always encouraged her to be open with him, but apparently she’d been open with someone else as well. He sat down on the side of the bed. This might require more than a simple answer.

  “Yes, like making babies. But nice people wouldn’t think other nice people would do that.”

  “Why can’t everybody be nice?”

  A good question for which he had no good answer. “I don’t know. Maybe some people aren’t made nice to start with.”

  “You said God was nice. Why would he make bad babies?”

  He was in trouble now. He glanced at the picture of her mother Pamela kept on her bedside table, but he knew Margaret wouldn’t have known how to answer her daughter’s questions any better than he. “I’m sure God doesn’t make bad babies. He made, you, didn’t he?”

  “You said I’m a termagant. Miss Wallace said that was bad.”

  “I was teasing.”

  “Do you think Miss Pierce—me one who did all the talking—is a termagant?”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “You said I’m a termagant because I try to tell you what to do. She does, too. I listened on me stairs.”

  The last thing he needed was Pamela announcing to everyone at the fort that her father thought Abby Pierce was a termagant. That would be almost as bad as an Indian uprising.

  “I think both ladies are very nice. They’re in a very difficult situation. I think they’ll go back home before long.”

  “I don’t want her to go. I like her. Don’t you like her?”

  If he said he didn’t like Abby, Pamela would undoubtedly whisper it to at least five people before noon tomorrow. If he said he liked Abby, she’d announce that to even more listeners. There were times when it would be better if he didn’t say anything at all to his daughter.

  “I’m certain she and her sister are very nice women.”

  “Do you think she’s pretty?”

  Bryce could feel the quicksand under his feet. “It’s not suitable for a man in my position to go around saying he thinks women are pretty.”

  “Why? Will she think you want to make a baby with her?”

  “She might, but this isn’t something you should talk about with anyone except me.”

  “Okay, but do you think she’s pretty?”

  “Yes, I do, but if you breathe a word to a soul, I’ll trade you for a little Indian girl who’s been brought up not to make trouble for her father.” He pinched his daughter’s cheek, and she giggled.

  “I wish I had a sister.”

  “I wish you did, too.”

  “Do you think Miss Pierce—the Abby one—would like to be my momma?”

  Something akin to panic coursed through Bryce faster than a rifle bullet could hit its target. “Under no circumstances are you to mention that to anyone. It would be very improper and make Miss Pierce—the Abby one— very unhappy.”

  “Why? Wouldn’t she like to be my momma?”

  Bryce wondered why his life had suddenly become so complicated. “If she were your momma, she’d have to marry me. If people thought she wanted to do that, they’d say things that would make her so unhappy she would leave.”

  “But you said you wanted her to leave.”

  “I don’t think she’s suited to run the store, but I wouldn’t want her to leave because of anything you or I had done. That would be unfair.”

  “I don’t want to make her unhappy.”

  “I know that, so promise you won’t tell anybody what we’ve talked about tonight. It’ll be our secret.” Pamela liked having secrets because it made her feel grown-up.

  “I promise.”

  “Good, now go to sleep.”

  Bryce kissed his daughter and left her bedroom, feeling rather unsteady on his feet.

  Whatever could have made Pamela think about Abby being her mother? Abby was attractive, intelligent, and kind, but she seemed too independent to want to be a wife, and far too businesslike to want a perpetually curious seven-year-old as a daughter. He wanted a mother for his daughter, but he also wanted a wife who shared his background, was part of his social world, believed in the traditional values and goals of his family. That was why it was essential he be posted back East as soon as possible.

  “Colonel McGregor didn’t invite us to stay more than one night,” Moriah said to Abby as they walked back to the colonel’s house from the store. “I doubt he would have suggested even that if his daughter hadn’t offered for him.”

  “I’m well aware of that,” Abby replied, “but that room will be vacant if we don’t use it. I see no reason to give it up until our living quarters have been thoroughly cleaned, everything washed and aired.”

  It was a long distance between the store and the colonel’s house. The fort was arranged on four sides of a very large open square. Abby didn’t know why it had been built with so much open ground. It made everything far apart. She didn’t pretend to know anything about fighting, but she would have thought such a layout would make the fort hard to defend. It didn’t have a surrounding wall. The fort was set right down on the plain at the foot of the mountains with nothing to keep anyone who wanted to from walking in. The only fortifications were around the store. Abby had been informed that was more to protect her supplies from theft than from any danger to h
erself or her sister.

  The Rocky Mountains looked magnificent against the backdrop of the western sky. The peaks were snow covered, the rough-looking slate-gray flanks covered in a few places with the green of trees. Abby had marveled anew at them each day of her trip from Denver, especially in the evening, when the setting sun changed the sky from red to orange to pink to purple and every color in between. She’d seen the Appalachian Mountains when they moved from South Carolina to Missouri, but she’d never seen anything like this massive wall of granite that rose from the floor of the plains like a colossal curtain. There was no gradual ascent, no hills preparing the viewer for the mountains. It was like running into a wall that closed off the rest of the world. She liked looking at them. Something about their strength helped shore up her spirits when she felt despondent and on the verge of giving up.

  “You can’t force your way into a man’s home,” Moriah protested.

  “I won’t, but I see no reason to leave until we’re ready. We have no other place to go, so stop worrying about it. It’ll probably be the best bed we’ve slept in since we left St Louis.” The journey had been a nightmare she hoped to forget someday. “I’ve got to remember to give Pamela a special present. Help me think of something.”

  “I have no idea what a little girl would like.”

  “She was a little girl when she was six. She’s seven now.”

  Moriah didn’t smile. “She’s still a child.”

  “And a very sweet one.”

  “I’m surprised he didn’t leave her back East with his family,” Moriah said. “This is not a suitable place to bring up a daughter, especially one as quick-witted as Pamela.”

  “He wouldn’t want to leave his only child. Think of what it was like for us to live without Father.” She had kept hoping her father would invite them to join him, but he never had.

  “We were older.”

  “I wouldn’t want to leave my only child, even if it meant she had to be in a terrible place like this. Apparently Miss Wallace used to take care of Pamela I’m sure he’ll get someone to replace her soon. We may be living in the middle of the Great American Desert, but the colonel has managed to set up a more than adequate household.”