An Uninvited Bride on his Doorstep by Ava Winters
Chapter Four
Winona’s first sensation was of floating on something soft but supportive. A mellow rushing sound accompanied the floating sensation, as though she drifted on a gently flowing stream. She felt an overwhelmingly strong urge to give in to the temptation to simply rest and allow the stream to carry her away. Despite her efforts, it was a losing fight and her consciousness nearly faded again, only returning when she heard voices.
The voices sounded distant, as though traveling a great distance to reach her, or perhaps muted by a wall. Yes, that was it. The voices were coming from behind a wall. She was in a room somewhere and the voices belonged to people in a different room.
She slowly forced her eyes open. The light coming through the window was muted by the heavy drapes that covered the glass but was nonetheless enough to send a searing stab of pain through her eyes. She groaned and closed them, at the same time becoming aware of a powerful, throbbing headache that pulsed through her crown and radiated down her back.
Her head. She’d hit her head. She’d run from Jude and hit her head when she fell in the tall grass outside of town.
Jude.
Her eyes flew open as memories of her encounter with Jude and her subsequent flight through town flooded her. She had to get away! She was … where was she?
She glanced around the room. It was smaller than her room at home but still adequately spacious. She lay on a rough-hewn oak bed. The mattress was firmer than hers and not nearly so soft but was also more supportive than hers. She guessed it was filled with straw rather than down. The pillows were down and far softer than the mattress. One lay under her head and another under her right calf, supporting her ankle.
Seeing her ankle must have reminded her body of that injury and she felt a dull throb from the limb that threatened to compete with the sharper pain in her head. She gritted her teeth and forced her eyes to remain open. She had to figure out where she was.
Besides the bed, a small chest of drawers of the same rough-hewn wood as the bed sat against the wall near the window. A mirror, small but ornately carved, sat on the chest. On the opposite wall sat a small table and chair of the same rough wood. A tallow candle on a candlestick was the only light available, though it wasn’t lit at the moment. The room itself was constructed of a lighter wood than the furniture; pine, she thought, or possibly maple. There was no rug, unusual for a bedroom, although there was a quilt neatly folded on one side of the bed within arm’s reach. Overall, the room was comfortable enough but sparsely appointed compared to her own room at home. A man’s room, she guessed. She glanced around and saw a Henry rifle on a hook above the table and a pair of boots next to the door, confirming her suspicion.
What was she doing in a man’s bedroom?
She heard the voices again: One, much lower pitched, appeared to be attempting to reason with the owner of the higher pitched voice. When the higher-pitched voice spoke again, icy fear crept up her spine. The voice belonged to her stepmother, Audrey.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Audrey snapped. “How am I supposed to be calm when our daughter has spent the night with these … these … men!”
Winona couldn’t quite stifle a chuckle at her stepmother’s horror at the thought she might have been near men … men, of all things! The laughter did nothing to help her headache and her chuckle quickly turned into a groan. She brought a shaky hand to her forehead and pressed hard, digging her thumb and middle finger into her temples. This relieved the pain somewhat, though it didn’t eliminate it, and in a moment, she was able to lower her hand and focus on the voices. The lower-pitched one was speaking now. She recognized it as belonging to her father.
“I’m only saying things aren’t as bad as they seem,” Heath Ross said. “Think of the alternative. If Logan hadn’t brought her here, she could have died out in that storm.”
Audrey ignored Heath and continued to panic. “What will people say? What will Jude say? What will Sterling say? Our daughter in a strange man’s bed after running away from her fiancé? This could ruin us!”
Winona knew that her stepmother was far more upset over the potential scandal from her presence in a strange man’s bed than over her stepdaughter’s near-death that day. Now, Winona could spare only a wry smile. She’d long known Audrey’s priorities lay elsewhere than her stepdaughter’s health and happiness.
“It’s okay,” Audrey was saying. “It’s okay, we can fix this.”
Winona heard the light tap of shoes on the floor of the parlor and knew her stepmother was pacing back and forth from anxiety. “We can fix this,” she repeated. “You said she’s only been here a few hours, right?”
Winona couldn’t hear a response and wasn’t sure if Audrey was asking her father or someone else, but she seemed satisfied with whatever answer she received because when she spoke again her voice was far calmer than before. “Okay, then we can fix this.” Winona wondered idly how many times she would hear that same phrase repeated and chuckled again, sending another stab of pain through her head.
“We can save Winona’s reputation if she marries Jude right away.”
“Right now?” Heath interrupted. “Audrey, she’s unconscious in bed.”
“Well, we’ll have to wake her up then, won’t we? She can’t stay here in a strange house forever and expect her social standing to remain untarnished. She needs to come home immediately and she must marry Jude at once. Tomorrow. I’ll send for the minister.”
A thrill of fear ran through Winona. She couldn’t marry Jude—wouldn’t marry him. Not after what she saw yesterday. Her stepmother couldn’t be serious!
Her father seemed similarly incredulous, though of course he couldn’t know Winona’s own reasons for fearing such a union. “Audrey, listen to yourself. We can’t take Winona straight from bed rest to the altar. Besides, it’ll be a month and more at least before the Westridge station is completed.”
“What has that got to do with anything?” Audrey snapped.
“Audrey, I’ve been cooperative and gone along with your plans with Sterling Koch, and I’ll continue to go along with them, but …”
“But what?” Audrey demanded.
Heath didn’t respond immediately and when he did reply, he spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. “My dear, Sterling is a brilliant businessman, and his railroad will bring great prosperity and prestige to Westridge and to our family, but I feel it’s unwise to place all of our cards into his hand.”
“What are you implying?”
“I’m only saying I think we should retain some leverage. Jude’s infatuation with Winona is our best bargaining chip to ensure we receive a favorable outcome in this deal. In fact, it’s our only bargaining chip. If we give it away before we officially gain legal ownership of part of the railroad and exclusive transportation rights for our horses, Sterling will have no more reason to honor his agreement.”
Winona felt as though she’d received another blow to her head. She expected her stepmother to value business more than she valued Winona. She didn’t expect the same from her father. A tear welled in her eye and slowly coursed down her cheek. It wasn’t so long ago her father was as loving and caring as any daughter could hope for. Even after her mother died, when Heath was swimming in a bottle more often than not he still retained tenderness and affection for Winona.
Her hurt transformed with anger. It was Audrey’s fault. That blasted hussy invaded their lives and stole her father away. She felt a moment’s guilt at these thoughts, but it quickly disappeared. Audrey took Winona’s father from her. He no longer drowned himself in alcohol every night, but Winona couldn’t believe his new dependence on wealth and social standing was an improvement.
Audrey continued arguing with Heath. “You’re mistaken, Heath. Sterling Koch is an honorable man. He made an agreement with us in good faith. He’ll keep it as long as we keep our own side of the bargain in equally good faith. If Jude marries Winona as she is now, pure and untarnished, he will give us part ownership of the railroad and exclusive transportation rights. If word gets out that Winona has been in the company of her inferiors, he will have no reason to trust us and no reason to follow through on our business arrangement.”
“What about Jude? The boy’s still infatuated with her. He’ll marry her anyway, no matter what people say.”
“You really have a poor understanding of society, Heath,” Audrey retorted contemptuously. “Affection doesn’t matter. Love—” she spat that word as though it was a curse, “—doesn’t matter. All that matters is a person’s reputation. Without a good reputation, a man, and especially a woman, has nothing in life. Winona must marry Jude immediately and that’s final!”
“What about the wedding arrangements?” Heath said. “It will take time to prepare everything.”
“Forget about the wedding arrangements! We have more important things to consider.”
“But what about the flowers? The musicians? The doves? You wanted this to be the biggest wedding Westridge has ever seen!”
“Well, I wanted Winona to not sleep in another man’s bed, but I guess we can’t always get what we want, can we?”
“Won’t the suddenness of the marriage arouse suspicion? Everyone knows how excited you were for this wedding. If she marries suddenly and quietly, people will talk.
At the moment, very few know of Winona’s absence and even fewer know of her presence in this house. If we cancel our well-published wedding plans and rush Jude and Winona to the altar, people will ask questions you—we don’t want to answer.”
“For heaven’s sake, Heath!” Audrey said. Winona could almost see her stepmother throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. “Do you never think things through? Like you said, Jude is madly in love with Winona. It’ll be no trouble at all to tell people he couldn’t wait any longer to take her as his wife. Heaven knows you couldn’t wait to have me in your bed.”
The thought of being anywhere near Jude’s bed made Winona’s skin crawl. A wave of nausea passed through her and for a terrible moment she thought she would be sick. The nausea passed, however, leaving her weak and her head throbbing anew, but without the risk of vomiting.
“All right,” Heath said, defeated. “We’ll take Winona home and make the arrangements.”
“Absolutely not!” a third voice interjected. Winona recognized the voice as belonging to Dr. Caraway. He must have examined her and ordered the bed rest Audrey was fighting so vehemently to end. “She has suffered a broken ankle and a concussion, and she is not to be moved for at least a week, longer if her condition hasn’t significantly improved when I return.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Audrey replied coldly. “I believe Heath and I know what’s best for our daughter.”
“It would seem otherwise, Mrs. Ross.”
Winona’s eyes widened again, and she couldn’t prevent the thrill of joy that ran through her at hearing her stepmother so defied.
“How dare you!” Audrey cried.
“I have an oath to uphold, Mrs. Ross. Winona is my patient, and I will not allow her to be put at risk for further injury so you can prevent an imagined slight to your reputation.”
“Imagined?” Audrey replied, her voice shaking with rage. “How dare you, you small man! What would you know about society, you backwoods quack!”
“Audrey!” Heath cried, appalled at his wife’s behavior.
Dr. Caraway seemed unmoved by Audrey’s outburst. “Enough to know that even in the most pretentious circles a mother who would value her own reputation over her daughter’s health will quickly and rightfully earn the scorn of her fellow socialites, along with everyone else who hears of such selfishness. I can’t prevent you by force from taking Winona, but I can and do promise you that everyone within fifty miles of Westridge will know that you denied your injured daughter the rest and care she needs so you can protect your family’s money and status. I make it a point to keep my patients’ private lives confidential, but I will gladly make an exception in this case if it comes to that.”
“You—I’ll ruin you!” Fury raged in Audrey’s voice but underneath it, Winona could hear panic. Audrey’s bluff was being called and she knew it.
“Believe it or not, Mrs. Ross, there are those in this world who value people more than social standing,” Caraway replied.
“You allow him to speak to me this way?” Audrey demanded of Heath.
“If the doctor chooses to share his account of these events, I can do little to prevent him,” Heath responded. Winona was encouraged to hear a hint of smugness in her father’s voice. Perhaps he retained some affection for her after all.
“This is outrageous!” Audrey fumed. “I won’t stand for this! Where is Winona? I want to see her.”
“You can see her when she’s well,” Caraway insisted.
“Rubbish,” Audrey snapped. “I will see my daughter if I please. If you want to tell everyone about that, doctor, be my guest.”
Winona heard her mother’s footfalls again, accompanied by heavier footsteps she assumed belonged to her father and Dr. Caraway. The footsteps quickly grew louder, and Winona realized they approached the bedroom. She quickly shut her eyes and feigned sleep. An instant later, the door burst open, and Audrey, Heath, and Dr. Caraway rushed into the room.