Accidental Mail Order Bride by J. S. Cooper

Chapter Twelve

“Thankyou for an absolutely delicious and wonderful dinner, Amelia. I really appreciate it. You’re a great cook.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, my dear. I’m so glad you enjoyed my cooking. Do you enjoy spending time in the kitchen as well?”

“To be honest, I do, though I’m not that great. I only know about four or five different recipes,” I admitted. “Maybe you’ll teach me some of your recipes one day.”

“Oh, I’d love to do that, dear.”

“I want to be there as well,” Sadie interjected as she walked into the kitchen. “I would love some of your delicious recipes, Amelia.”

“Of course, Sadie. But I didn’t know that you were interested in learning how to cook.”

“What? I’ve been asking for your lasagna recipe for years,” she laughed. “Just ask Wyatt.”

“Well, now I’m sure Wyatt doesn’t want to learn how to cook.”

“Did you say my name, Mom?” Wyatt walked into the kitchen. “What are you telling my mom about me, Sadie?”

“I’m not telling her anything that she doesn’t already know,” Sadie replied.

“Uh-huh.” He looked from to his mom. “So, Mom?”

“Yes, Wyatt?”

“I think I’m going to be going out of town next week. Is that okay?”

“Where are you going?” Amelia and Sadie asked at the same time.

“Whoa. What are you guys? My wardens?” He shook his head. “Do I have to tell you where I’m going? I’m an adult now.”

“I was just curious, dear,” Amelia shrugged.

“Me too,” Sadie chimed in. “I’m your best friend, so you kind of have to tell me.”

“Best friends don’t have to tell best friends everything.”

“Fine.” Sadie smirked. “I guess I won’t tell you more about my date tomorrow.”

“What do you mean about your date tomorrow? I thought you said someone asked you out. You didn’t say you were actually going on the date.”

“Well, maybe I am. Maybe I’m not.” Sadie looked at her watch. “Oops, is that the time? I’ve got to go. I’ve got a very important phone call later on tonight.” She turned to me and gave me a quick hug. “It was so nice meeting you, Lucy. I hope to see you again.” Then she walked over to Amelia. “A pleasure as always, Amelia.”

“Oh, I love seeing you, Sadie. Give your parents my regards.”

“Will do.” She turned around and stuck her tongue out at Wyatt. “Bye, loser.”

“Whatever, loser. See ya.”

And with that, Sadie left the house.

“I swear, you guys are so immature,” Amelia shook her head. “And that’s no way to be talking to your best friend.”

“What? That’s how we always talk to each other,” Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I’m going upstairs. I’ll be in my room.”

“Okay.”

He left the kitchen just as Austin and Beau walked in with Ranger not far behind. “Lovely dinner, Amelia.” Ranger walked over and kissed his wife.

I loved the way that he always found a way to touch her, and she always beamed at him with love and adoration. They were so very much in love. It was very obvious even after being together so long, even after having seven kids.

“So, Beau …” Amelia looked at her eldest son.

“Yes, Mama?”

“I was thinking that maybe you could take Lucy into town to get some ice cream for dessert.”

“Oh.” He looked at me and then he looked at his mom. “I’m not sure that’s going to be possible, actually.”

“That’s fine,” I said quickly, wondering if he just didn’t want to be with me one-on-one.

“Oh no, not anything to do with you, Lucy. Just me and Dad, we had some business to go over tonight that’s important because we’re meeting with the bank tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, yes.” Amelia nodded. “I quite forgot about that. Too bad. It would have been nice for Lucy to taste the local ice cream. It’s freshly made, you know? And they have lots of delicious flavors.”

Austin held his hand up. “I can take her,” he said with a sigh.

“Well, don’t sound so enthusiastic about it,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. And then I changed my tone. “But I mean, if you don’t mind.” I looked over at Amelia who was looking at me with a curious expression on her face. Be cool, Lucy, be cool. You do not want this lovely family to think that you’re a hot mess … which perhaps I was, but they didn’t need to know that about me just yet.

“Oh, well that would be lovely, Austin. Are you sure you don’t mind?” Amelia beamed at her son.

“I don’t mind.” He shrugged. “You ready?” He looked at me.

“Well, I guess. I was going to put some lip gloss—”

“You don’t need to put any lip gloss on,” he cut me off. “Let’s go.”

“Oh, and Lucy?” Ranger said as we were walking out of the kitchen.

“Yes, Mr. Hamilton?”

“Get the lemon chiffon ice cream. It’s absolutely delicious.”

“Okay,” I laughed. “I’ll get that.” I followed Austin out of the kitchen and then out of the front door. We walked towards an old Chevy pickup truck.

Austin opened his door as I opened mine. “Well, I guess chivalry is dead in Montana.”

“Excuse me?” he looked at me as he turned the keys in the ignition.

“I was just saying that we’re in the country, and I thought you guys are meant to be very chivalrous. I guess that’s not true.”

“Chivalry is certainly not dead just because I didn’t open the car door for you.”

“Well, I mean, if you were a gentleman, you would have opened the car door for me.”

“Well, if you were a lady, you wouldn’t have been in the bar earlier this afternoon talking about meeting your in-laws of the boyfriend that loved you very much.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re a liar.”

“I’m not a liar. I was uncomfortable telling the truth to two strangers in the bar.”

“Obviously,” he nodded. “What else have you lied about, Lucy?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, what else have you lied about?”

“I haven’t lied about anything else. I was very honest about why I came.”

“So you, a beautiful young lady, just decides to leave New York City, the big city, and head to Montana to marry a guy she’s never seen, she’s never talked to, she’s never met just because you spoke to some random lady?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but it’s not like that. I answered the ad, and I guess I was just at a lonely point in my life. I didn’t really think anything would come of it. And then I spoke to your mom on the phone and she was so sweet and nice, and I figured I had nothing left to lose, you know? It was nice to speak to someone who cared. Even though she didn’t know me, she’d ask me about my day. She’d inquire about my life.” I took a deep breath. “Anyway, you wouldn’t understand. You’re lucky.”

“What do you mean I’m lucky? Because I live on a big ranch? Do you think I’ve got a lot of money, is that it?”

“Did I even mention money? It has nothing to do with money,” I snapped at him as he drove down the long country road.

“So then why am I so lucky?”

“You’re lucky because you have a big loving family. Do you know how many people would kill for something like that? You know what I’d do to have such a loving family, to have brothers that love me, parents that cared about me? You just don’t appreciate it.”

“I appreciate it,” he said quietly. “I know that I’m lucky. My mom and dad are amazing. They’re still married and they’re still in love, which I know is not the norm. Trust me, I have plenty of friends whose parents are divorced, and it hasn’t been amicable.” He shrugged, “But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have our own problems as well. And it doesn’t mean that you weren’t a fool to come here.”

“Thank you. Now you’re calling me a fool?”

“You know you’re a fool. How unsafe is that?”

“What?”

He glanced over at me. “A beautiful young woman like you should not be traveling to another state to meet some random person. That’s so dumb. I’m mad at you.”

“You’re mad at me?”

“Yeah, I’m mad at you. You came here to marry my brother, knowing absolutely nothing about my family. You got lucky because we’re cool. And you got lucky because my brother is easy-going, but …” He stopped. “Anyway, let’s not talk about this.”

“No. What were you going to say?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me, what were you going to say,” I insisted.

“I was going to say that I don’t know what you’re expecting to get from Beau.”

“What does that mean?”

“Do you think he’s going to marry you?”

“I don’t know. We don’t even really know each other yet.”

“So you’re still holding on to the possibility that he might marry you?”

“I don’t know!” I exclaimed. “Why are you questioning me like this? It’s between me and Beau. I’m not the one that sent for me. Your mom was, so obviously she knows more than you do and she knows more than I do. And I’m just going to trust in the whole thing. I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. Just shut up.”

“What did you just say to me?”

“I said just shut up. Like, let me just be, okay?”

“You told me to shut up?”

“Yeah, I told you to shut up. If that’s all you’re going to talk about, then I don’t want to talk. Let’s just go and drive and get the ice cream and then we can go back home.”

He looked at me and I could see that his lips were twitching. “You got a temper on you, huh, Lucy?”

“I don’t have a temper on me. I just don’t like being bullied.”

“Honey, I’m not bullying you.”

“Well, maybe you’re not bullying me, but it sure feels like it.” I turned away from him and pressed my lips together and looked out at the window. There was absolutely nothing at the side of the road except for green pastures and crops. There weren’t even any buildings, let alone skyscrapers. “I’m really not in Kansas anymore, am I?” I murmured.

“No, you’re not, Dorothy,” he replied softly. I looked over at him and he gave me a warm smile. “Peace treaty?” he said. “At least for the rest of the evening?”

“Fine,” I agreed. “Peace treaty.”

We arrived at a little town about 15 minutes later. It was a cute little main street, and I thought to myself how quaint it all looked. It reminded me of what a town would have looked like back in the 1800s. I felt like I’d gone back in time.

“So, do you need to do any shopping or do you want to go directly to get the ice cream?” Austin asked.

“I don’t need to do any shopping,” I said, not wanting to admit that while I did want to do some shopping to get some better clothes, I knew my bank account and my credit cards would thank me for not doing any.

“Okay, then. Let’s get some ice cream.”

We stood in line and waited. I read the different options on the menu and wondered what to get. His dad had said to get lemon chiffon, but they also had mint chocolate chip, which was my favorite.

“You know what you want to get?” Austin asked.

“I think so …?”

“Well, that doesn’t sound too decisive,” he said.

“Well, your dad recommended lemon chiffon, but … “

“But what?”

“I don’t know, I kind of wanted to try another flavor.”

“You know you can get two scoops?”

“I know, but I don’t want to be greedy. Plus, your mom’s dinner was delicious and it was really filling, and I’m not sure that I could have two scoops.”

“Well, I’m getting mint choc chip.”

“Oh, you are!” I exclaimed happily. “If I could get a couple of licks of that, that would be amazing. Then I could get the lemon chiffon as well.” I paused as I realized what I was saying. “But obviously, you don’t have to let me have any of your mint choc chip. That’s weird. Sorry. You don’t even know me. You don’t even know if I have germs or—”

“It’s okay,” he laughed. “I’ve kissed you, remember?”

“Yes, I remember,” I blushed, looking away.

“So you can have more than one lick of my mint choc chip ice cream,” he grinned. “You can have more than one lick of something else as well.”

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“Nothing.” He winked at me.

My skin and my entire body felt hot. He was flirting with me. He was definitely flirting with me … and I liked it. His sparkling green eyes laughed at me as we stood there, and I wondered what I would have done if he had been the man I was here to marry. I would have been happy and angry at the same time. Happy because he was absolutely gorgeous, even more gorgeous than Beau, though I wouldn’t admit that to a soul other than Olivia. But angry because his personality was so jarring and he was so annoying and antagonistic.

I had a feeling he didn’t really like me much, and maybe that was my fault for lying to him in the beginning. But it wasn’t my fault that his mom had put an ad in the newspaper and I’d responded.

“So have you been listening to anything I’ve been saying, Lucy?” he said, and I looked up at him realizing I hadn’t heard a word he’d said.

“Uh, yeah, let’s do that,” I said.

“Let’s do what?” his brows furrowed as he gazed at me.

“Um, you get the mint choc chip and I get the lemon chiffon.”

“Okay. That wasn’t the question I’d asked you, though.”

“Oh, what was the question?”

“I asked you if you had clothes to go riding tomorrow.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling like an idiot yet again. “Um, I’m sure I can figure something out.”

“Are you a good rider? Do you like riding?”

“Oh, I absolutely love it. When I was younger, I used to participate in riding competitions,” I lied, remembering the horse books I’d read as a young girl.

“Really?” he looked at me in surprise. “I didn’t take you for a horsewoman.”

“Well, you know me, I’m one with nature and all that.”

“You’re one with nature.” He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes, really. That’s why I’d be the perfect bride for Beau.”

His eyes narrowed. “You think you’d be the perfect bride for my brother?”

“Yes, I do,” I beamed at him. “I think he and I are a match made in heaven.”

“Really?” He took a step closer to me. “Because I kind of have a different opinion.”

“Oh?” I said softly, swallowing hard as his lips came towards mine.

“Yeah, I do.” He kissed my lips, gently at first and then a little bit more firmly before pulling away. I stared at him stunned, not believing that he’d done that right here in the ice cream shop in front of everyone.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you mean what am I doing? I’m doing what you like.”

“I never said I like it. I—”

“Are you telling me that you don’t like it when I kiss you, Lucy?”

“I didn’t—”

“Think very carefully before you answer that,” he grinned. “You don’t want me to think you’re just a big, bad liar, do you?”