Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides (12 page)

Sadie’s cheeks flushed at the compliment.
Tessa broke away from Geoffrey and went to Sadie. She took the
girl’s hand and led her to Geoffrey. “This is my stepdaughter,
Sadie Samuels. Sadie, this is my father, Geoffrey O’Connor.”

Sadie remembered how Tessa had taught her to
greet gentlemen of a higher status. She dropped into a deep curtsy
and then rose and looked shyly at Geoffrey. “Pleased to meet you,
sir,” she said.

Geoffrey hid his shock over the word
“stepdaughter” and smiled at her good manners. He bowed to her then
and said, “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Samuels.”

Sadie giggled and picked up her basket again.
Tessa picked up her and handed it to Sadie. “Will you please take
these to the house and tell your father we have company?”

“Yes, Tessa. Of course.” Sadie said and
trotted down the lane to the ranch.

Geoff turned to the driver. “Please take my
things to their residence and place them where you are directed.
Here is your pay as promised. Thank you for your service.”

The driver took the money, pleased that it
was more than they’d agreed on and tipped his hat to Geoffrey.
“Thank you, sir. It’s been a pleasure.” He started the horses off
again, following Sadie’s path.

Geoffrey regarded Tessa carefully then. Her
skin showed signs of sun and there were a few freckles across her
nose. She looked healthy. “So this is where you ran off to. The
middle of nowhere, when you had everything you could ever
want?”

Tessa felt a prick of anger but squelched it
as she tried to see things from his perspective.

“Papa, I don’t need material things like
Madelyn and Claire do. I told you again and again how I felt, but
you didn’t listen. No one did. So I did what I had to do. I had to
set out on my own and live my life,” she said softly. “You of all
people should understand that. You left Ireland to come to America,
after all.”

Geoffrey frowned. “That was different.”

“Why? If you say it was because you were a
man, you can turn and leave right now,” Tessa warned.

Geoffrey raised an eyebrow. “Very well. I
won’t say it and I’m not leaving. At least not before I meet your
husband.”

“You’ll like him,” Tessa said, despite her
and Dean’s recent differences. “He’s a good man.”

She frowned despite her words.
How can I
be proud of Dean and yet be so angry with him,
she wondered.
Tessa looked back up at her father, who was looking at her with
intense curiosity. “Come then, Papa.”

“Her who is here?” Dean said.

“Her pa, Pa,” Sadie said. “He’s tall and
looks like Tessa.”

Jack said, “He’s our grandpa then,
right?”

“No,” Dean said. “Not really.”

“I think he is,” Jack said stubbornly.

Dean let it go. “Where are they?” he asked,
as a carriage pulled up to the house. “Stay,” he said to the kids
and went outside to meet the driver.

“I have some luggage here,” the man said as
he climbed down from the vehicle. “Where do you want it?”

“I’ll take it, thanks,” Dean said.

The driver handed Dean two suitcases made of
fine leather and a briefcase. “There you are.”

“Thanks,” Dean said.

The other man climbed back up on the coach,
clicked to the horses, and turned around. He headed off back up the
drive.

Dean deposited the bags in the kitchen and
warned the children that they weren’t to mess with them and told
them to stay put. Then he went back out and began walking up the
road to meet Tessa and her father. He was nervous about meeting the
man. This wasn’t like when he’d met Sarah’s parents. He’d been
fifteen at the time and had become close to them over the
years.

No, this was a whole new ball of wax and Dean
was nervous. He knew from what Tessa had told him that their family
was close and if the roles were reversed and this was Sadie, he
knew how he’d react. He rounded a curve in the drive and saw Tessa
and the man who was her father.

He was tall with dark hair like Tessa’s. His
gray suit was made of fine cloth and expertly cut. Even from a
distance, Dean could tell that he was physically fit. Dean hastened
his pace but not too much. Though he was anxious, he wanted to
appear confident when he met his father-in-law.

Geoffrey watched as Dean got closer. He knew
without Tessa telling him that this was her new husband. His eyes
narrowed as he looked at the man. Geoff could see why Tessa had
been attracted to him. Dean’s blond good looks and powerful
physique would attract any woman. But Geoff knew his daughter well
enough to know that there had to be more to the man than good
looks. In Pittsburgh, she’d had her pick of many handsome men, but
had chosen none. Good looks were not enough for her and for that he
was glad.

“Papa, this is my husband, Dean. This is my
father, Geoffrey O’Connor,” Tessa said as they all came
together.

Dean held out his hand and said, “Pleased to
meet you, Mr. O’Connor. Tessa’s told me a lot of nice things about
you and your family.”

“Good to meet you, Dean. I’m afraid I haven’t
had the pleasure of hearing anything about you,” Geoffrey said
honestly as he shook hands with Dean.

Dean gave Tessa a questioning glance. “You
didn’t send a letter home?”

“No, she didn’t,” Geoffrey said. “We didn’t
even know where she went. It’s a good thing I know some top notch
investigators.”

Tessa saw anger flash in Dean’s eyes and felt
a moment’s shame.

“I’m sorry about that, sir. I had no idea,”
Dean said.

Tessa gave him a haughty look. “We can
discuss this later,” she said. “I’m sure you’re tired from your
travels, Papa. We should get you settled and something to refresh
yourself.”

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” Geoffrey
agreed. He knew he didn’t need to say anything more about Tessa’s
wayward behavior. The way Dean had looked at his wife told him that
it would be addressed.

He began walking toward the house again.
Tessa hung back and put a hand on Dean’s arm.

“Dean, I can explain,” she said.

“You bet your sweet behind you will,” he
said. “Seems like dishonesty is going around. I’ll keep him busy
while you get your stuff packed and move back into our room. I’m
not putting a man like that in one of the bunkhouses.”

“No, I’m not ready to do that yet,” Tessa
said.

Dean looked down at Tessa with an unyielding
expression. “You better get ready. I can sleep on the floor. I’ve
slept outside enough and it’s no problem for me.” He pulled his arm
away and began walking after her father.

Tessa took another couple of moments to
gather her wits and then went after the two men. If ever there was
a time she needed her mother’s calming influence, it was now.

“So you’re our new grandpa, huh?” Jack said
to Geoffrey.

Geoffrey wasn’t sure how to answer the boy.
“Sort of, I suppose.”

“But you’re Tessa’s pa, right?” Jack
said.

“Yes.”

“So that makes you our grandpa,” Jack told
him.

Geoffrey smiled. “Right.”

“Good. So are you gonna live with us?” Jack
asked.

“No, no. I’ll be going back to Pittsburgh
after a while,” Geoffrey said. “But I wanted to meet all of you.”
He looked up at Dean, who gave him a grateful smile.

“We’re glad you’re here,” Dean said.

Sadie sat a glass of lemonade in front of
Geoff and he drank it down. The journey from Wolfe’s Point had been
long and hot and the cold drink was just what he needed. He asked
Sadie for another glass and she readily complied.

Before Dean could stop him, Jack sat down on
Geoff’s leg and said, “So, Grandpa, tell us about Tessa when she
was little.”

Dean laughed. “Yeah, Grandpa, tell us all
about Tessa.”

Geoff gave Dean a sharp look but then
relented because Sadie and Jack were looking at him expectantly. He
settled Jack better on his lap, thinking that the boy was certainly
well fed. “All right. Ah, yes. Here’s a story you’ll like,”
Geoffrey began.

Tessa packed her clothing and other things up
again, thinking that she couldn’t believe her father was here. She
should have known that he would look for her and that he had enough
money and clout to hire people who would find her. She hoped that
he hadn’t discovered that Edwina had been involved.

As she carried the cases down the stairs, she
was glad that things in the kitchen were noisy so that they
wouldn’t hear her taking them into her and Dean’s room. She put
them around the other side of the bed so they couldn’t be seen. She
would unpack again later that night when everyone was in bed. Using
the training she’d received all her life about hiding her true
feelings to get through a social engagement, Tessa put on a smile
and entered the kitchen.

Tessa stood outside of Buster’s stall,
stroking his face and neck. She had put the children to bed but
wasn’t ready to do so herself. Her father had also retired but with
the warning that they would get into things more deeply in the
morning. Tessa wasn’t ready to go to bed because she knew she
wouldn’t sleep much anyway, but also because she didn’t want to be
close to Dean.

She heard soft footfalls behind her and
closed her eyes as she recognized Dean’s steps.
So much for not
having a confrontation,
Tessa thought.

“You know, Tessa, I never pegged you for a
hypocrite,” he said softly.

She whirled around at his insulting
words.

Dean held up a quieting hand. “You accuse me
of being a liar and in a way, I guess I was. But I didn’t run away
and not even tell my family I was getting married. So even though
you didn’t lie outright, you lied by, by, oh hell, there’s a word
for it…”

“Omission,” Tessa said.

“Yeah, you lied by omission and you put me
and the kids in a very bad position. If it was just me, I wouldn’t
mind so much, but when it comes to my kids, I don’t tolerate
anything that could hurt them. It’s a good thing that your old man
is a stand-up guy or else we’d have a real problem and I’m warning
you, if things become a problem, I’ll deal with it head on,” he
told her.

“What are you saying?” Tessa said.

“If he starts causing trouble in front of my
children, I’ll ask him to leave. I’m not gonna be blamed for
something you did or didn’t do,” Dean answered.

“I won’t let that happen and I won’t let the
children be upset, either. Besides which, my father is a wonderful
man who has raised three daughters and would never purposely upset
a child. You have nothing to worry about.”

Dean nodded, apparently satisfied on that
score. “So why don’t you tell me why you did it? Why did you run
away from home and come here and then I’ll tell you more about why
I had Marcus help me with those letters.”

Tessa knew she owed Dean an explanation and
she remembered what Lydia had told her about the brothers’
upbringing. It seemed like a reasonable trade to her. She took a
steadying breath and began her story.

“Is that really what it was like?” Dean asked
when Tessa had finished her story.

They’d climbed into the haymow, where Dean
had spread out a horse blanket over some hay so they could sit
while they talked.

“Yes. An endless life of parties and dinners
and never anything new,” Tessa said.

Dean said, “I don’t blame you for wanting to
leave, but why didn’t you just tell them you didn’t want to do it
anymore?”

“You don’t understand. It’s not like that for
women, at least not back East. In many ways, women are considered
property and although my parents are wonderful, they saw it as my
duty to do what was expected of me. They didn’t listen when I
did
tell them. They believed I was just being silly and
figured I would see the error of my ways at some point,” she
said.

“So you thought up this crazy plan when you
saw an ad in the paper for mail order brides? So I was just a way
of escape?” Dean couldn’t believe how much that stung.

Tessa put a hand on his arm without thinking.
“No, I swear. All right, maybe it sort of started out that way, but
once we began writing back and forth, getting to know each other, I
began to care about you and I wanted to come meet you for you, not
as an escape. I still had to sneak away because they would have
never let me come here to meet you. And after we met, I knew I’d
made the right decision, or at least I thought I had.”

Dean sighed. “So that’s why you were so mad
about the letters. I guess I didn’t look at it from your point of
view, but I see it now. You left everything you knew behind; your
family, friends, and your way of life because of our letters to
each other.”

Tessa felt hot tears begin to form behind her
eyes. “Yes, and when I found that Marcus had written them, or sort
of written them, it made me feel as if you hadn’t cared enough to
write them yourself.”

Dean put an arm around her and pulled her
close. “That wasn’t the case at all. I wanted you to like me and
your letter scared me because it was so beautiful and I just can’t
write like that. I didn’t want to sound stupid, so I asked Marcus
to help. You wanna hear something funny? And please don’t get mad
again.”

“All right. What is it?”

“Marcus was the one who put that ad in the
paper. He knew that I had a lot on my hands with the ranch and the
kids and all and he kept teasing me that I should put an ad in the
paper for a mail-order bride and finally, one day, I said that he
should put it in. I was only joking, but he did it anyway, the
jerk,” Dean told her.

Tessa laughed. After coming to know Marcus
and his mischievous ways, she could well imagine him doing it.

“But, Tessa, once I read that first letter
you sent, I wanted to know more about you. You finally got me
through my grief about Sarah. She’ll always be a part of me and
I’ll always love her, but I’m not in love with her anymore. I love
you, Tessa, only you,” Dean said.