The Reluctant Bride Read online

  When the time was right, Stocker intended to lead all the angry ranchers to the rustled cows.

  “When I’m able to return all those stolen cows to their rightful owners, everybody will be so thankful, they’ll do anything I want. Hold back all the cows you steal from Russ. We can sell them later and split the profit.”

  “I don’t need nobody to help in the store,” Mrs. Overby said. “I certainly don’t need no single woman pretty as you drawing in all kinds of drunks and gamblers more interested in your virtue than in my merchandise.”

  Overby’s Mercantile was the biggest store in town. It carried virtually everything a person could want, from harnesses to female undergarments.

  “I assure you, I have every intention of preserving my virtue,” Tanzy said.

  “I should hope so,” Mrs. Overby declared, “but I don’t aim to have the struggle take place in my store. You’ll have to wage your war against sin and temptation someplace else. Besides, I got my own daughters’ virtue to think about.”

  Tanzy knew it was uncharitable of her to think such thoughts, but Mother Nature had seen to it that Mrs. Overby’s daughters were well protected.

  “Do you know of any other suitable positions available?” Tanzy asked.

  “Respectable ladies are married, with husbands to protect them,” Mrs. Overby said. “Until then they live under the protection of their fathers.”

  “My parents and all my brothers are dead,” Tanzy said. “I don’t have any family to take me in.”

  Mrs. Overby’s stiff-necked disapproval eased. “There’s not much work in Boulder Gap for respectable women. You might go out to the fort. I hear tell there’s plenty of soldiers begging to marry the first woman they see.”

  “I’d rather marry after consideration than in desperation,” Tanzy said.

  “Wouldn’t we all, but in the end we take what we can.”

  “If you hear of anything, please let me know. I’ll be staying at the Pullet Hotel for the next three days.”

  “What will you do after that?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.”

  How could she expect to find a job in another town when she couldn’t get one in Boulder Gap? She stepped outside onto the boardwalk. So far she didn’t have even one option. It looked like she’d be forced to go back on her promise to herself not to work in a saloon. Fighting to defend her virtue was better than starvation.

  “You don’t look very happy,” Ethel Peters said.

  Tanzy was so lost in thought, she hadn’t heard her approach.

  “Sorry if I seemed rude, but I was thinking,” Tanzy said.

  “You look about ready to cry. Does that mean you’ve discovered Russ Tibbolt’s true character?”

  “I’m not going to marry him, if that’s what you mean,” Tanzy said.

  “I’m so relieved,” Ethel said to Tanzy. “May I ask what caused you to change your mind?”

  “I can’t marry a man who’s feuding with his neighbor,” she said. “My father did that. It killed him and my brothers.”

  “Russ isn’t feuding with Stocker,” Ethel said. “They just don’t like each other. They’ll probably keep fighting until one of them is dead, but it’s not a feud.”

  Tanzy didn’t see any difference.

  “What are you going to do with yourself now?” Ethel asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’m on my way home,” Ethel said. “Why don’t you come with me and we can talk about it.”

  “Thank you. I’d appreciate that.” Tanzy occupied the few minutes it took to reach Ethel’s house recounting her unsuccessful search for employment.

  Tanzy was surprised Ethel’s parlor looked so comfortable, even elegant. From the roughness of the town and its inhabitants, she’d assumed Ethel’s home would be similar to the stark simplicity of her family’s cabin. Instead she found a parlor as substantial and well-furnished as any she’d seen in St. Louis. It made her feel slightly uneasy, as if she were somehow intruding on her betters. She chided herself for that feeling; though she insisted she was an honorable woman deserving of respect from anyone she met, she’d spent too many years being made painfully aware that others didn’t see her in the same light.

  “I can’t expect Russ to cover my expenses now that I’ve decided not to marry him,” Tanzy said.

  She didn’t think Ethel needed to know that Russ had demanded that she repay him the money he’d spent on her. That would only give people another excuse to dislike him.

  “Russ said you’d know of a job if anybody would,” Tanzy said.

  “There aren’t many jobs for a respectable woman in Boulder Gap,” Ethel replied.

  “I can cook and clean.”

  “Nobody here can afford to pay anybody to cook and clean for them.”

  “Mrs. Overby suggested the fort.”

  “You can’t live there, and it’s too far to travel each day. Not to mention the danger. A woman alone wouldn’t be safe.”

  “That doesn’t appear to leave anything but the saloons.”

  “You can’t work there!”

  “I have a little money left,” Tanzy said, “maybe enough to get me to another town. Do you know where I might go?”

  “There’s no place better than Boulder Gap unless you go to Denver.”

  Tanzy prepared to rise. “I shouldn’t trespass on your hospitality any longer. I need to talk to Russ. Maybe he will advance me the money to travel to Denver.”

  “My dear, on no account should you do anything to make you more beholden to that man.”

  Ethel sounded so alarmed, Tanzy almost wanted to ask if she thought Russ had designs on her virtue.

  “I know people here don’t think kindly of him, but he’s been very nice to me.”

  “Well, of course he would. He was trying to get you out to that ranch, where you would’ve been defenseless.”

  “Have you forgotten that he captured those bandits in my defense?”

  “He does things like that from time to time in an attempt to make people think better of him, but he’s truly a dishonorable man.”

  She couldn’t imagine what Russ had done—surely it had to be more than killing a man in a fair fight—to make everybody hate him. There had to be something she didn’t know. Ethel Peters didn’t strike her as a woman who would believe the worst of someone without a good reason.

  “Given the choice of depending on Russ or working in a saloon, I prefer Russ.”

  “Are you sure you have no family who would take you in?”

  “Quite sure. I appreciate your help,” Tanzy said, getting to her feet, “but—”

  “What a fool I am!” Ethel exclaimed. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it in the first place.”

  “Think of what?”

  “You can be our schoolteacher.”

  “I’ve never taught school.”

  “It doesn’t matter. As long as you’re able to read and do the times tables, you know enough to teach our kids.”

  Chapter Seven

  It hadn’t taken Ethel Peters long to get approval for Tanzy to teach until the town could find a fully qualified person for the job. Tanzy had gone to the schoolhouse the previous afternoon to familiarize herself with the building as well as the materials she had to work with. She had been prepared to spend several hours. It took only a few minutes. There were several copies of one book and a stack of slates for writing. She didn’t know if she even had enough desks for all the children. She didn’t have one for herself, only a small table and a chair.

  She hoped it wouldn’t matter. She would have to teach only for a couple of months to repay Russ. Anything she earned after that would be her own.

  Tanzy anxiously checked her appearance in the mirror before leaving for her first day in the classroom. She wanted to appear moderately attractive yet respectable, the kind of woman boys honor and girls admire. She was proud of her slim body, rounded hips, and full breasts, but she was well aware that her attractiveness could present
a problem in dealing with young boys. She was pleased to see her dress fitted just as she wanted, loose enough not to emphasize her figure but form-fitting enough not to hide it. Her hair was a different matter. It was long, black, and wanted to curl riotously. It required vigorous brushing to keep from looking like she’d been caught in a high wind.

  There wasn’t much she could do to alter her face. Dark blue eyes stared back at her out of a face she was certain was only a few years older than some of her students. She hoped there were no male students older than twelve. She knew what young boys thought about when they saw an attractive woman. Pretty much the same thing as grown men.

  Tanzy was determined to make sure every student knew what was expected of him or her from the very first. In order to do that, she had to appear confident, capable, and in charge.

  She couldn’t let anybody guess her knees were knocking.

  “You headed to the schoolhouse?” Archie asked when she reached the hotel lobby.

  “Yes. Do you think I look like a schoolteacher?”

  Archie appeared to give the question serious thought. “Barring the fact that you aren’t a man and that you aren’t homely as a longhorn calf, I’d say you’ll pass muster.” He grinned suddenly. “Bet you’ll have more boys showing up than the last teacher.”

  “I don’t want them showing up to gape at me. I want them coming to learn.”

  “You can’t pound any sense into their heads until you get them inside the schoolhouse,” Archie said. “Getting to look at you ought to do the trick. Be firm with them. Boys respect a good woman.”

  Tanzy found Tardy waiting for her when she emerged from the hotel. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “School doesn’t start for another half hour.”

  “Aunt Ethel said I was to go to school with you today and stick by your side until it was time for you to come home.”

  “Surely I don’t need protection from the students.”

  “Aunt Ethel says you’re too pretty. She says I’m to tell her if any miners or cowhands try to sneak in the back or hang around during recess.”

  Tanzy laughed and felt some of her tension ease. “Tell your aunt I’m flattered, but I’m not nearly pretty enough to make a grown man enter a schoolhouse.”

  “Maybe not, but there’s some mighty big boys who’ll be showing up. Aunt Ethel says they can be trouble.”

  “You’re a big boy, but you don’t seem to be having any trouble being around me.”

  Tardy dropped his gaze to his booted feet. “Aunt Ethel says I’m so lazy I can’t find the energy to be attracted to a pretty girl. She says no normal boy would be as worthless as me.”

  Tanzy didn’t know Tardy well enough to know whether he deserved his nickname, but she did know no child deserved to be told he was worthless. She’d been forced to swallow that lesson from as far back as she could remember, and she hadn’t liked it one bit. Women expected to be told they were no good for anything except keeping house and making babies, but a boy was expected to grow into a man. If he didn’t measure up to the standards, his failure would be thrown in his face his whole life.

  “Your aunt can’t think you’re useless if she believes you can protect me from rough cowhands and big miners,” Tanzy said. “That would be a big job for a man. It’s an extra big job for a boy.”

  They walked side by side past the last buildings along the dusty path leading to the schoolhouse.

  “She doesn’t believe I can do it,” Tardy said, his gaze still on his feet. “She didn’t have nobody else to ask.”

  “Well, I believe you can do it,” Tanzy said. “I also believe you can help me make sure the first day goes well. I need you to tell me what the last teacher taught you. After that you can tell me about the students, especially the ones you think might cause trouble.”

  Tanzy was pleased to learn the last teacher had emphasized reading, history, and math. She wasn’t pleased to learn he’d been driven away by the bullying of the bigger students.

  Sunlight streaming through the widows made the schoolhouse less gloomy than it had been the previous afternoon. The ribs of the building were exposed, as were the doves that had built nests among the rafters.

  The first students to arrive were the youngest. They came in twos and threes, brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends, all eying her circumspectly as they chose a desk and took a seat. The older girls came next. On the surface they were just as quiet and respectful, but Tanzy could see them weighing her, trying to decide what kind of teacher she’d be, what she’d expect from them.

  Then the older boys arrived.

  There were only three, but Tanzy could tell from the nervous looks of the young students and the expectant looks of the older girls, they all thought something would happen.

  Those are the boys I was telling you about,” Tardy whispered.

  “I guessed as much,” Tanzy replied. “You’d better take your seat.”

  “But my aunt said—”

  “I can deal with them,” Tanzy said.

  The boys slowly ambled toward the front, the biggest ogling Tanzy in an open manner. Tanzy held his gaze. Tardy said he was seventeen and considered himself a man. His buddies attempted to ape his movements, but Tanzy could tell they weren’t comfortable with such an open display of disrespect.

  “So you’re the new teacher,” the boy said.

  “So you’re Jem Bridger,” Tanzy replied.

  Jem showed surprise that she knew his name before breaking into a self-satisfied smile. “So you’ve heard of me,” he said with a slight swagger.

  “Yes. I’ve heard of Jody and Cub, too. And Allison, Emma, Sally, and Marvin,” Tanzy added before he could attach any significance to her knowing his name.

  Looking a bit sheepish, Jem’s friends sought the safety of their seats, but he made a valiant recovery. “I’ve heard about you. You’re a mail-order bride. You were supposed to marry Russ Tibbolt.”

  “We decided we wouldn’t suit, so I took the position of schoolteacher,” Tanzy replied, deciding it was best if all the children learned what had happened from her rather than from gossip.

  “Are you in the market for a replacement?”

  Tanzy found it ludicrous Jem could believe she would think of him in the same breath as Russ.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “You’ll be mighty lonely on a long, summer evening. Could be you’d be grateful for some company.”

  One of the girls giggled, then clamped her hand to her mouth, her guilty gaze fixed on Tanzy.

  “Are you offering yourself?” Tanzy asked Jem.

  He preened. “I’m a busy man, but I might be able to spare a little time now and then.”

  “Let me see how you stack up compared to Mr. Tibbolt,” Tanzy said.

  She put her hand to her chin as though she were giving the question serious thought. She looked Jem up and down even more throughly than he had inspected her. She frowned, shook her head, then walked a circle around him. Her frown deepened and her tongue clicked in her mouth. As the silence lengthened, Jem’s confidence began to ebb.

  “I need another look,” Tanzy said and slowly circled him a second time, her tut, tuts of disapproval falling with deafening weight into the silence. Jem grew increasingly uncomfortable. A snicker from one of the girls did nothing to bolster his confidence.

  “What do you think, Miss Gallant?” one of the girls asked, a pretty blonde she’d been told was the object of Jem’s attention. The girl’s expression was mischief all over.

  “I appreciate your offering to help relieve my boredom,” Tanzy said to Jem, “but you don’t measure up to my standards.”

  Jem looked stunned. “I’m better looking than any of these dummies.”

  “Possibly, but I turned down Mr. Tibbolt, not one of these dummies.”

  “He’s nothing but a thieving killer,” Jem said.

  “A woman looking for company on a soft summer night might not care too much about that.”

  “Why not?”
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  “Well, he wouldn’t be stealing from me, would he? And he certainly would not want to kill me.”

  “But I’m—”

  “Mr. Tibbolt is the most handsome man around. He’s also taller than you.” She stepped close to Jem to emphasize the fact that he was barely taller than she was. “Women like to look up to a man. And I do believe he’s got broader shoulders and more heavily muscled arms.”

  Jem blanched.

  “I guess it’s not surprising that he’s bigger, stronger, and older,” Tanzy added, “since he owns his own ranch and does the same work as his cowhands. Then there’s the matter of courage.”

  “You saying I’m a coward?” Jem sputtered, completely shaken by the turn his little joke had taken.

  “I don’t know anything about you, but Mr. Tibbolt captured two bandits by himself. Thanks for the offer of your company, Jem, but I’ll have to decline. Please take your seat.”

  Tanzy turned her back on Jem, hoping he would go quietly to his seat so she could start her lessons.

  “Are you saying you prefer an ex-con to me?”

  “I haven’t stated any preference, but were I to do so, I’d prefer a man to a boy. Now please take your seat.”

  He might have done what she asked if someone hadn’t snickered. “I don’t need to be locked up with children and little girls,” he said angrily. “I’m already a man.”

  He turned on his heel and walked out. Tanzy expected his friends to follow him, but they remained in their seats, heads down.

  “Good morning,” Tanzy said, addressing the students for the first time. “My name is Miss Gallant. I will be your teacher. Since I don’t know where you are in your work, I’ll need to test you. Please take out your slates and do the times tables through twelve. Don’t worry if you don’t know all of them,” she said when the younger children started to look panicked. “I just want to know where to start. While you’re doing that, I’m going to ask each of you to read for me. Tardy Benton, why don’t you come first?”

  Some of the girls giggled.

  “Sorry, I should have used your proper name,” Tanzy said.

  “No point,” Tardy said, as he got up and shuffled to the front. “Everybody but Aunt Ethel calls me Tardy.”