Their Tempting Bride by Lacey Davis
5
Today, Daniel and Martin were out on their land. Rolling hills with lush green grass and mountains in the distance were the reasons Daniel chose to live here and not in Philadelphia.
While he loved working in the office in Butte, his real love was working cattle out here on the ranch and riding his horse over the land he and Martin owned. If the mining business dried up tomorrow, they would still have the acreage and the house they owned in Bridgewater.
Their place just needed a wife to make it into a home.
Martin rode his palomino mare helping him drive the cows from one pasture to another to enjoy the spring grass, building muscle thickness before they were herded to market in the next couple of months.
Though his friend only had one good leg, he still rode a horse better than most men, fired a gun better than most sharpshooters, and knew how to raise cattle.
Martin whistled to him, signaling he’d seen a buggy as he rode his horse toward where Daniel sat waiting and watching.
Why was someone coming out to see them? And then he recognized the woman. Mrs. Carroll. What did she want?
She pulled up in the small carriage, set the brake, and then stepped out.
“A word please,” she called to them, moving swiftly and with confidence. For an older woman, she was beautiful in a matronly kind of way. And her daughter looked so much like her. Her dark hair was sprinkled with gray and piled on her head in a neat bun.
They both dropped from their saddles onto the ground and hurried to meet the lady.
“Mrs. Carroll, what do we owe the pleasure?” Daniel asked, curious as to why this woman would come all the way to Bridgewater from the city.
“I need your help,” she said, wringing her hands. “When I met you the other day, I recognized you as some of the cowboys from Bridgewater. At the time, I had no idea of my husband's plans to marry off our daughter. While I know your way is different from most married couples, I beg your cooperation.”
The woman was nervous and spoke rapidly, her emerald eyes so much like Georgia’s, flashing.
“What can we do for you?” Martin asked.
“Marry my daughter,” she said bluntly.
Daniel felt his heart drop out of his chest, clear to his feet. This was what they wanted, but she didn’t know that.
“Mr. Bartlett has asked for her hand and will marry her in exchange for paying off my husband’s gambling debts. Georgia knows nothing of this, but she is refusing to marry Mr. Bartlett. This morning, she mentioned your names and I thought I should come speak to you in the off chance that maybe you were interested in marrying my daughter.”
Daniel didn’t know what to think. They were being offered the very thing they wanted. And yet, he was nervous. Why would she offer them Georgia?
“What would we have to do in order to marry your daughter?” Martin asked.
“You must pay off the gambling debts before Mr. Bartlett. That was the deal with him marrying Georgia. But if you do that and marry her quickly, then he can’t get to my daughter.”
Bartlett? That old man wanted to marry Georgia? And her father was going to sell her off to pay his gambling debt? What kind of man did that to someone he loved?
“Do you understand the lifestyle here in Bridgewater?” Martin asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Sometimes I wish I were married to Bridgewater men. You are honest men who make certain your wife is well taken care of.”
The two men smiled at each other. “And we will share your daughter between us.”
“I know,” she said, “but I feel certain she would be safer, protected, and cherished more with you than that terrible Mr. Bartlett. I fear he will abuse her in more ways than one. The way he looks at her…” The woman shivered.
Daniel was starting to feel excited at the chance that they might be marrying the woman they both wanted.
“Have you spoken to your daughter about us?”
“No. Some things a mother doesn’t tell her daughter. I would leave that up to you. But we must hurry. Mr. Bartlett is wanting to marry her within the week. He told her in a month, but now he’s moved it up.”
Daniel needed to speak to Martin. He needed to make certain that his friend, his partner, his brother, was certain this was who he wanted, that he was certain she was the woman for them.
“Excuse us for just a minute,” he said.
The two men walked a short distance away. “What do you think?”
“I think we better hurry if we’re going to marry our woman,” Martin said. “I’m also concerned at how much he owes in gambling debts.”
“Good question,” he said. “She may not know.”
“No matter what, we’ve got to save Georgia. I’m afraid for her. If that Mr. Bartlett gets his hands on her, he very well may mistreat her. You know the type of man he is. It’s rumored his own wife died at his hands.”
A chill ran down Daniel’s spine. “So we’re going to tell her yes?”
“Of course,” Martin said.
Daniel grinned, feeling a sense of lightness come over him. From the moment he’d seen her lying on the wooden sidewalk terrified, he’d know she was theirs to protect.
“Let’s go tell her,” he said
They walked back over to the woman. “Can you meet us at the diner on Main Street in Butte tomorrow about two in the afternoon?”
There would be fewer people there, and hopefully, they could talk to Georgia and see how she felt about marrying the two of them.
“Yes,” she said with a smile.
“If Georgia will have us, then we’ll marry her tomorrow at the courthouse.”
The woman started to cry and then threw her arms around each of them. “Thank you. Thank you. I’m so thrilled. I have no doubts you’ll make my daughter happy and you will take good care of her and keep her safe.”
“What about the debts?” Martin asked. “Do you know how much he owes?”
“No,” she said. “He hasn’t told me. But the gambling hall owner is who he owes the money too.”
Daniel hated that they were going to have to pay off the debt, but he saw this as a way to protect their wife's family from being taken advantage of. After all, the in-laws were an important part to his family.
“We’ll go in the morning to pay the balance. Then after we talk to Georgia, we can decide if we think she is the one. If she is, we’ll be married by tomorrow afternoon. Have her things packed and ready to go, in case we marry her.”
The woman leaned back and smiled. “I can’t tell you how much this pleases me. I can trust my baby with you. Promise me that you will not tell her about the gambling debts. I don’t want her to think you bought her. Or think even worse of her father than she does now.”
“Of course,” Daniel said. "Thanks, ma’am. Now you better start for home. It’s going to get dark soon.”
“Tomorrow at two in the afternoon at the diner on Main Street.”
“See you there,” Martin said.
The woman climbed into her buggy, clicked to the horses, and away she went.
“We’re getting married,” Martin said. “I can’t believe we’re getting married.”
Daniel took off his hat and threw it up in the air. “To the woman I wanted. Hallelujah!”
“We better prepare the house. We want to take our bride on clean sheets.”
Daniel’s cock grew hard as a rock at the thought of spreading his sweet, new wife’s thighs and plunging his cock in deep. Soon, very soon.
