Accidental Mail Order Bride by J. S. Cooper

Chapter Ten

I openedmy suitcase and looked at the different dresses I had brought with me. Some of them didn’t really seem appropriate for a family dinner. I had known when I was leaving New York that some of them might not be appropriate for Montana, but I wasn’t sure exactly how country it was going to be.

Some were far too sexy. There was no way I was going down to the kitchen wearing what basically looked like a negligee. I didn’t want Amelia to think she’d sent for a prostitute to come to Montana to marry her son. I wanted to look fashionable and attractive, but not at the cost of being mistaken for a streetwalker. Finally, I settled on a flowery dress that I’d gotten at Banana Republic. It was cute and relatively modest, but it was still flattering to my figure.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was still slightly damp. I wanted to blow dry it out, but I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard. I applied some light foundation, a little bit of blush, a lot of mascara and eyeliner, and some lipstick. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. I looked pretty, some might even have said beautiful.

And I needed to feel pretty to be able to deal with the brothers and tell them everything that had gone on in my life before I’d arrived here.

I understood why they were suspicious of me. Not many people would just up and leave their home and fly to another state to meet some random man. But it wasn’t because I couldn’t get anyone else. It wasn’t because I had no life. It was because I was ready for a change, and Amelia had been so sweet and comforting when I’d spoken to her on the phone. She was almost like a surrogate mother. Part of me knew that one of the reasons I had come was just to be closer to her, to have that familial love that I missed from my own wonderful mother.

Tears started welling up again and I straightened my shoulders. I could not afford to cry right now. I had to be strong. There was no place in my life for being weak right now. I had to take care of myself. No one else was going to do it for me.

Well, there was Olivia. That was different, though. The comfort of a best friend was very different from a mom or dad. I didn’t even think twice about my dad, though. He was an asshole. Always had been, never really been in my life. I had no relationship with him. I didn’t even know if he was still alive.

I hated to think about my dad, about how he’d broken my mother’s heart. She’d loved him. She’d wanted to marry him. She had hoped when she’d gotten pregnant that he would make an honest woman out of her, but he hadn’t. He’d gone and married someone else, and I knew it had broken my mother’s heart. There’d been many nights when I was young that I could remember her just lying there crying, staring at his photograph. It’s weird the things you remember from your childhood. I couldn’t remember many things, but that memory was always fresh in my mind.

I let out a deep sigh and shook my hands and my arms around so that I could try and get out some of my anxiety before I left the room. I then walked down to the kitchen, trying to breathe in and out like I’d been taught in yoga class. My heart was racing and my palms felt clammy, but I was filled with energy and hope for the night. I was enjoying being on the ranch. It was unfamiliar, but it already felt homey—maybe because the Hamiltons were so close-knit. Their obvious love filled the air and put me at ease.

“Hi, Amelia. Is there anything I can do to help?” I said as I entered the spacious kitchen. I’d die for a kitchen like this.

“Oh, Lucy, thank you for asking,” Amelia looked at me with a smile, her long white-blonde hair up in a bun, “but it’s okay. The boys have set the table and dinner’s nearly ready. Would you like something to drink, dear?”

“Oh, sure. I’ll have another lemonade, please.”

“Oh, it’s dinner time. How about something a bit stronger? Do you like wine?” She winked at me conspiratorially.

I laughed. “I love wine.”

“Shall we have some red or some white?”

“Oh, whatever you’re having. I’m easy.” I inhaled the delicious aroma filling the room. I was hungry and looking forward to some home-cooked food.

“Are you now?” a deep voice said from behind me. I turned around as Austin walked into the kitchen. I kept a pleasant smile on my face even though I wasn’t that happy to see him.

“Am I what?”

“Easy.” He grinned, a wicked smile in his eyes as he looked me up and down.

“Austin, go and get us a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from the wine cellar please,” his mother looked at him, her lips pressed together. “Lucy and I are going to have a drink.”

“You sure that’s wise?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Excuse me, Austin.” She put her hands on her hips. “Who do you think you’re talking to, son?”

“I’m just joking, Mom.” He held his hands up. “I’m just joking. Don’t shoot.” He started laughing as he made his way to the doorway. “I’ll head down to the cellar now.”

“Don’t mind him,” Amelia said with an exasperated smile. “He’s my most incorrigible son.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, sometimes I don’t think he’ll ever get married.” She rolled her eyes. “I think that he’s going to be living at home for the rest of his life.”

“Lifetime bachelor, huh?”

“I think so,” she nodded, a twinkle in her eye. “Sometimes I think he wouldn’t know love if it hit him in the head. And don’t let me even think of making a suggestion to him. He’d run so fast in the opposite direction.”

“What’s that, my dear?” Ranger entered the room. He looked like he had also recently showered. He had on a clean shirt and a pair of jeans. He walked over to his wife and kissed her on the cheek. She beamed at him and then kissed him back. He looked like a gruff old-school cowboy, but I could tell he had a heart of gold.

“Oh, nothing, dear. I was just telling Lucy that she should ignore Austin if he ever says anything rude or mean to her.”

“Oh, yes,” Ranger agreed. “Don’t mind Austin. In fact, don’t mind any of my sons. They’re all a little bit rough around the edges. No manners, not a one of them.”

“I tried my best, you know?” Amelia interjected, her blue-green eyes laughing. “But what can you do when you’re a mom with seven boys,” she sighed. “And when you live on a ranch. My sons are all headstrong. They’re like bulls, longhorn bulls.”

“What’s that, Mom?” Beau entered the room now. His gaze flew to me and he looked me up and down. “Why, hello there, Lucy.”

“Hi,” I said with a shy smile. There was a twinkle in his blue eyes that reminded me of his dad. He stood with such confidence, that it was easy to tell that he was the oldest of the brothers.

“Settling in okay?” he asked, walking over to me with a cowboy swagger I’d only seen in Western movies. He reminded me of a young Clint Eastwood. He was cool and sexy at the same time.

“Yes, thank you,” I nodded.

“Would you like a beer or something?” He headed towards the fridge and I was about to tell him no when Austin came back into the kitchen with a bottle of wine.

“She’s drinking wine tonight with Mom,” he said. “Which I don’t think is a good idea, do you?”

“Why not?” Beau asked.

“Mom and Lucy drinking wine?” Austin sounded disapproving.

“And me too, please,” another female voice said.

A young woman with long blonde hair and big blue eyes entered the room. “Hi, I’m Sadie.” She walked over to me and gave me a big hug. “I’m Wyatt’s best friend. Have you heard about me yet?” She laughed. “Actually, scratch that, I’m sure you’ve heard about me.”

“As a matter of fact, I have. Nice to meet you, Sadie.”

“Glad you could join us for dinner, Sadie,” Amelia said with a warm smile. “Where’s Wyatt?”

“Oh, he’s just parking. He picked me up, so I can drink tonight.” She grinned. She looked at me. “I don’t live that far away, but my parents hate it if I drink and drive, even though there’s literally nothing I could hit while driving home. Maybe a cow, and even that’s unlikely.”

“You know it’s much better to have someone drive you home,” Ranger said. “We want you to be safe, Sadie.”

“I know.” Sadie rolled her eyes as she grinned at me. “Ranger’s my second dad.”

“And I’m your second mom.” Amelia laughed. “Now, Austin, open that bottle of wine,” she ordered her son. “We haven’t got all day.”

“Yes, Mom.” He walked over to the side of the kitchen and opened a drawer. He pulled out a wine opener and then unscrewed the cork from the bottle. “So just the three of you women having wine?”

“I think that’s best, don’t you, son?” Amelia said with a grin. “You can just have beer. Or water, seeing as you don’t like alcohol.”

“Who said I don’t like alcohol?” Austin shook his head. “I love me some alcohol.”

“We know, dear.” Amelia laughed. “Okay, I’ve got a big tray of lasagna coming out and a nice Italian salad and some garlic bread. I hope everyone is hungry.”

“Mm, I love your lasagna, Mom,” Beau said. “Where’s Chet?”

“I think he’s getting ready. He should be here in a little bit. Anyone else joining us for dinner?” Austin looked back at his parents.

“No, Chet isn’t joining us tonight. I think your other brothers are still out.” Amelia looked at me. “I like to have family dinners every night, but the whole family doesn’t have to be here. Only on Sundays. And that’s for a big lunch.”

“Oh, that sounds really nice,” I said. “Really, really nice. I think it’s so nice when families can eat together.”

“I’m glad you think so, dear. It’s a family tradition that I intend to keep for a very long time.”

“Yes, Mom, we know,” Beau groaned. “God forbid anyone not make it.”

“So, Lucy,” Sadie said as it went quiet in the room.

“Yes, Sadie?” I looked at her curiously. She was a pretty girl with a very open and honest face. I could see Wyatt watching her every move with an affectionate expression.

She started giggling. “I hear you’re here to marry Beau.”

Beau groaned. “Oh, Sadie, not now. Please, can we give it a little bit of a break?”

“What? I just got here. Wyatt didn’t seem to know anything, and I’m trying to catch up, thank you very much, Beau.” She grinned at me. “So, you’re really a mail order bride?”

“Well, I guess kind of,” I laughed. “I’ll be telling the whole story at dinner. So don’t worry, you haven’t missed much.”

“Oh, goodie. Because this I got to hear!” She clapped her hands with excitement. “And I hate to say it, Lucy, but you’re an absolute stunner. I’m surprised you moved all the way from New York City to be with Beau. I mean, what photos did Amelia send you of him? He must’ve been looking really good. Were they shirtless?”

“Really, Sadie?” It was Wyatt’s turn to look annoyed.

“What?” She looked at Wyatt innocently. “I’m just saying, it’s obvious that Beau has a great chest. I wanna see the photos.”

“Sadie,” Wyatt’s eyes narrowed, “stop hitting on my brother.”

“I’m not hitting on your brother. I’m just saying I—”

“Come on, Sadie. Let me show you to the fire pit.” Wyatt made a face at her.

“Don’t go out just now,” Amelia said. “We’re about to eat dinner.”

“But I want to show her the new fire pit I put in.”

“Show her after dinner.”

“Yeah, show me after dinner, Wyatt.” She looked at me. “I swear to God, sometimes these Hamilton men, they really, really like to boss you around. So listen to me now,” she grinned. “I’m going to give you a little bit of advice.”

“Sure, I’d love some advice,” I laughed.

“Just because they’re bossy and just because they always think they’re right, it doesn’t mean that they are.”

“Okay, I’ll remember that.”

“Yeah, you do that,” she grinned. “Trust me. And I’ll give you my phone number before I leave. If you ever want to go for lunch or want someone to talk to or give you any dirt on the family, I’m the girl to call.”

“Um, you know we’re all here right now, Sadie?” Wyatt said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, Sadie,” Beau shook his head. “What dirt are you going to offer up on my family?”

“I don’t know.” She looked over at Amelia. “It’s really up to your mom and dad.”

“What do you mean it’s up to Mom and Dad?” Austin said dryly. “You’re the one that’s dishing the tea.”

“But I wouldn’t say anything they didn’t give me permission to say. I do respect my elders.” She smiled impishly. “Now, I’m hungry, Amelia. Are we going to get that lasagna soon?”

“Yes, Sadie. Go on, everyone,” Amelia said. “Ranger, Austin, and Beau, you help me bring out the dishes. Everyone else can go and sit down.”

“Yes, Mom,” the boys chorused. I looked at them with a smile on my face.

This was the sort of family dinner I’d always imagined big families had. Funny and quirky and warm and loving. I was so happy to be here even if it wasn’t the most auspicious of circumstances. I wasn’t even sure how long I’d actually get to stay. Yes, Beau was attractive, and he seemed to find me attractive. But now that he knew I was here to marry him, would he even give me a chance? And even more importantly, did I want him to?

As I left the kitchen, I glanced over at Austin only to find him staring intently at me. I turned my face away quickly and hurried out to the dining room. This was turning out to be a lot more complicated than I could have imagined.