EMMA (Mail-Order Brides Club, #1) Read online

  "Don't wait up for me."

  Miserable, Emma fell into bed, but sleep wouldn't come until she heard the front door open again and knew that Ethan was home, and safe. Moments later, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  ***

  Emma woke the next morning wondering at first if it had all been a dream. Slowly, she eased herself out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. She was the first one up and got the water started for coffee. A moment later, Ethan came into the kitchen, already dressed and ready for the day.

  "Good morning." His tone was cheerful and friendly, the same as it normally would be. Maybe that kiss was a dream. God knows she'd drifted off many a night thinking about it.

  "Eggs?" she asked as he poured himself a coffee and added a splash of milk to it.

  "That would be great, thanks." He sat at the kitchen table and then casually said, "I caught a few bass last night. They're cleaned and covered in a pan out back. Maybe we can have them for dinner?"

  It wasn't a dream. They really had kissed, and then he'd stomped off in a thunderstorm and gone fishing.

  "Fine, I'll do something with them. Here's your eggs." She set them down in front of him and then, instead of joining him like she usually did, she walked away.

  "I'm not feeling so great. I'm going to go lay down for a few minutes."

  "I hope you feel better." Ethan sounded concerned and Emma didn't care. She was no longer sympathetic— she was mad and didn't care to be around him any longer that morning.

  ***

  By the time Ethan returned home that evening, Emma's temper had calmed and she was no longer angry, just resigned. She'd thought about it all day and she got it. She understood that Ethan still felt torn and loyal to Susan. Kissing her had seemed like a betrayal. She sighed. At least she knew now that he really was attracted to her. That was something. Hopefully, his mother was right and in time, he'd be ready to move on, with her. Because she realized the main reason she was angry and miserable was because she'd fallen head over heels in love with her husband—and he was still in love with his dead wife. How could she compete with that?

  Whenever she was upset or just needed to relax, she turned to cooking. The simple act of chopping vegetables and then stirring them in butter until they browned and released their sugars soothed her. She spent the afternoon in the kitchen baking and cooking up a storm, with Emily's help. They made corn muffins, baked beans, coleslaw, broiled fish topped with crushed crackers and fresh herbs and a big pot of fish chowder.

  "Something smells wonderful in here," Ethan said as he walked through the door. As usual, Emily went running into his arms while Emma said a quiet hello. His eyes met hers for a moment, dark and conflicted, and she turned away and focused on stirring the chowder.

  "I'll be back," he said and, as usual, went off to wash up. When he came back, Emma had dinner on the table and they all sat down to eat. Ethan was quiet for a few minutes as he ate quickly and then slowed down and turned his attention to Emma.

  "It's happened again. A dozen more cattle missing and another tampered fence. It looks like they knock it down and then stick it back into place." A muscle in his jaw jumped and Emma could tell he was trying to keep the anger out of his voice so he wouldn't upset Emily.

  "What are you going to do?"

  "What I didn't do before. We're going to catch him in the act this time. We've had this planned for a while, what we'd do in case it happened again. I'm going to ride out early in the morning and get Paul and David and then stop by Josh's place on the way into town. Josh is going to keep an eye out from inside the store and will run and grab the sheriff as soon as we give him the signal."

  "You're going to wait by the trains? To catch him loading the cattle into the stock car?" It was a brilliant plan and it sounded exciting, and dangerous. "Be careful."

  "We will be. He needs to be stopped. We're not the only ones he's done this to."

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Ethan got up early the next morning, full of adrenaline and eager to be done with Russell Jones. He was feeling frustrated, too, and this gave him something to focus his energy on. He stopped by the cemetery on his way to meet his brothers and, as usual, laid a flower on Susan's grave. This time it was a few pretty wild flowers he'd seen along the way.

  "I'm struggling with this," he admitted out loud as he set down the flowers. "It's getting harder and harder for me to turn away from Emma. I still love you. I always will."

  He left then and focused his mind on the task at hand. When he got to his parents’ house, where his two brothers lived, he filled them in and then they went together to Josh's house, filled him in and then followed him into town. They were there early and killed time by helping Josh out in the store while keeping an eye on the comings and goings along Main Street. Finally, just after noon, Josh called out, "This might be them."

  Ethan looked out the window and marveled at the brazenness of Russell's men, herding exactly twelve cows—and Ethan was sure they were his—right down the middle of Main Street toward the station.

  "Gotta give him credit. The guy has no shortage of nerve. Imagine parading someone else's cattle around as if they were your own. Who would ever suspect it?" Josh sounded both disgusted and impressed.

  "I don't see Jones, though," Ethan said. He was disappointed. He wanted the satisfaction of seeing Russell Jones’ face when the sheriff arrived.

  "Are you sure they're yours?" Paul asked as the band of cows and cowboys drew near.

  "No doubt. Our brand’s small but distinct and I can see the shamrock marks from here. No one else’s looks anything like ours."

  "I'll go alert the sheriff." Josh slowly strolled out the front door so he wouldn't alert anyone and slipped into the sheriff's office.

  Five minutes later, as they were starting to load the cows into the stock car, the sheriff, a deputy and Josh came walking out and Ethan and his brothers went to join them.

  When they reached the cattle, Sheriff Thompson, a stout man in his mid-forties, asked in a no-nonsense tone, "Whose cattle are these?"

  No one answered, and he asked the question again, in a much louder voice, "I said, whose cattle are these?"

  The foreman looked up, annoyed and said, "These are Russell Jones’ cattle."

  "Is that so? Where is Russell Jones, then?"

  "He's back at his ranch. He doesn't need to be here. We can handle this for him." The foreman sounded defensive.

  "Really? And since when does Mr. Jones use the shamrock brand on his livestock? The same brand that his neighbor, Ethan Donovan, uses, I might add?"

  The foreman looked flustered at that and took a closer look at the brand. Ethan's distinctive shamrock was clear to see on all of the animals.

  Now the foreman sounded nervous. "I don't rightly know. Maybe he changed it?"

  "Or maybe he stole Mr. Donovan's cattle." The sheriff was not happy now.

  "Remove that cattle from that car at once and turn them over to Mr. Donovan," he ordered. He turned to his deputy, Jason Smith, a young man in his early twenties, and said, "Escort these men to our offices and introduce them to our spacious jail cell. We will deal with them after we speak to Mr. Jones."

  "We'll take the cattle back, if you want to go with the sheriff to get Jones," Paul said.

  "I'll get my horse and we can head out," Ethan said.

  The sheriff hitched up his wagon, as he'd need the room in the back to bring Russell in, and then he and Ethan started towards the Jones farm.

  ***

  Emma was jumpy all morning, worried about Ethan and wondering how things were going and if they'd caught Russell yet. It was their usual day to head to Naomi's after lunch and she was outside hitching up the horses when she heard a twig crack and the sound of footsteps. She turned around eagerly, expecting it to be Ethan, but it wasn't.

  "Hello, beautiful. Lovely day, isn't it?" Russell Jones stood before her, all dark and oozing sleaziness. Fear raced up Emma's spine. She couldn't lock him out if she wasn't in the
house.

  "What are you doing here?" She tried to sound defiant, but the wobble in her voice gave her away.

  He chuckled, enjoying her discomfort.

  "Just being neighborly. I thought it was about time I dropped by. Aren't you going to invite me in for a cup of tea, my lovely neighbor?"

  "We were just heading out, actually. It's our day to visit Emily's grandparents." Emma hoped the subtle reminder that she had a small child with her might make him go away.

  But no such luck.

  "Isn't that sweet. I'm sure they won't mind if you're delayed a bit. Let's go inside and relax, shall we?" His tone had a bit of steel in it now and Emma tried to stall, hoping against hope that Ethan would be home soon and wondering why Russell Jones was here instead of in town. She frowned at that, wondering if their plan had been completely derailed.

  "Penny for your thoughts?" Russell's tone was ominous. "About that tea?"

  "Fine, we'll have tea." Emma walked quickly toward the house, hoping to slam the door behind her, but Russell kept pace with her easily and held the door firmly open as she walked inside.

  Emily was sitting on the floor, playing with her doll, and looked up in surprise and confusion when she saw Russell Jones.

  "Emily, go to your room, now." Emma's tone left no room for questions and Emily did as she was asked. Emma then filled a teakettle with water and set it in middle of the stove, where it would heat up most quickly.

  She stood a good distance away, but Russell quickly closed the gap and sidled up next to her.

  "I've been looking forward to this," he said, and the image of a reptile flicking its forked tongue came to Emma's mind. Immediately, she took a step away from him, but he smiled and simply stepped towards her. "I think we’re going to enjoy getting to know each other better. Don't you agree?"

  Emma shivered in response, which Russell noticed and took the opportunity to put his arm around her shoulders and draw her near.

  "Cold my dear? I'll warm you up." Emma struggled to get free of his grip and he responded by tightening it.

  "I do love a woman who plays hard to get." He was enjoying this game while Emma felt like throwing up.

  "So, tell me, dear Emma, how are you enjoying all the benefits of married life?"

  At her confused look, he somehow understood that she hadn't yet had that experience.

  "You haven't yet had the pleasure? Are you telling me yours isn't a real marriage? That's the most wonderful news I've heard all day."

  Emma simply stared at him in horror, while he chuckled with delight.

  "Oh, Emma, I'm going to give you an afternoon to remember. You'll be able to teach Ethan a thing or two after I finish with you."

  ***

  As they were about to pass by Ethan's farm on the way to Russell's place, Ethan was surprised to see that the buggy was still out front with the horses hitched to it. They were usually at his mother's place by now. They must just be running late. With the horses ready to go, Emma must be leaving any moment. They continued past the house and then Ethan pulled up short and the sheriff followed suit.

  "I'm just going to swing into the house for a moment, make sure everything is all right.” Something had looked off and when they pulled up beside the buggy he realized what it was. There was another horse, tied up just beyond the house, so you wouldn't easily notice if you were passing by. Ethan's gut tightened as he flew off his horse and raced into the house just as Russell was leaning in to kiss Emma, his Emma. Russell stopped and turned at the sound of Ethan crashing through the door and Emma broke free of his grasp and did something that Ethan would never forget. In what looked like a purely reflex action, she grabbed the whistling tea kettle and flung boiling water across Russell's face. He screamed and fell to the floor just as the sheriff walked through the door.

  "Russell's here?" He stated the obvious. Ethan ran to Emma and pulled her in tight.

  "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" He held his breath, waiting for her to answer.

  "No, I'm okay. Just a little shaken up."

  "Where's Emily? Is she okay?"

  "She's fine. She's in her room."

  "What the hell were you doing here, Russell?" Ethan turned his anger on the man who was now whimpering on the floor. "Wasn't it enough that you stole my cattle? You wanted to hurt my wife, too?"

  "I didn't want to hurt her. I just wanted to teach her a few things. Things you couldn't be bothered with. You don't deserve her."

  "And you do? I don't think so. Sheriff, he's all yours." The sheriff yanked Russell up from the floor, handcuffed him and then led him out to his wagon. "He won't be bothering either of you again," the sheriff promised as he pushed Russell out the door.

  A moment later, there was a frantic knock on the door and Ethan's mother's voice called out, "Emma, are you in there? Are you okay?"

  Ethan opened the door and both his mother and father were standing there. He welcomed them in and filled them in on what had just happened. Emma was still by his side and he had his arm tight around her, as if he never wanted to let her go. His parents exchanged glances, and then his mother said, "Why don't we take Emily for a few hours and give you two some time alone together. To just relax and put this horrible day behind you. You can come pick her up later."

  Emma was about to protest, but Ethan cut her off. "I think that's a good idea. Thank you." His mother went into Emily's room then and they left a few minutes later. Ethan still had his arm around Emily's shoulder.

  Emma swallowed hard, nervous and excited for what Ethan was about to say.

  "I know this has all been hard for you," he began. "I didn't think I could do it. To ever fall in love with someone again, to betray Susan like that. But I have, and I've been thinking long and hard about this. Seeing you in danger today and with Russell Jones about to kiss you—I wanted to kill him." He smiled then and his eyes softened. "What you did with the water was great, by the way."

  He leaned forward then and kissed her. Ever so softly at first, but then the kiss grew deeper and more passionate. It was even better than the first time they’d kissed and Emma moaned again and then worried that he would stop like he did before. But he didn't. Not for a long time. Finally, he pulled back, but still held on to her tightly and looked in her eyes.

  "Emma Donovan, I want you to be my wife, in every way possible. If you'll have me. I love you, and I didn't realize how much until today. I've never been so scared before. If anything had happened to you..."

  "But it didn't... And I love you, too, and I am ready to move into your bedroom...now."

  Ethan grinned at that and picked her up as if she was as light as Emily and carried her into his bedroom...their bedroom. He laid her down on the bed carefully and then kicked off his shoes and laid down next to her.

  "You have way too much on," he teased as he helped her off with her shoes and then unbuttoned her dress and chuckled as he saw the three fluffy petticoats beneath it.

  "Way too much...." he repeated as he gently eased the rest of her clothes off until she was completely naked and remarkably not feeling at all shy about it.

  "Your turn," she breathed and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, then slid it off his arms and caught her breath at the beauty of his chest and the faint vee of hair that ran over his tightly muscled chest and then disappeared into his pants. Those had to go, too. She unbuttoned his pants and then pulled the legs down and off so he was lying there in just his socks and underwear. She nodded at his feet and he kicked off his socks and then held her gaze and waited. Tentatively at first, she eased down his drawers and then marveled at what lay beneath, or rather what was standing at attention. She'd never seen one before. Slowly she ran her hands down his chest and then along his arms and back to his abs. He shivered, and she smiled as he caught his breath. She looked down and hesitated.

  "Go ahead, touch me."

  She did, and explored his full length, fascinated, until he finally said, "I need you to stop for a minute. Come here." And he pulled her in to him and
kissed her. He went slowly, too, exploring her body until she was fully relaxed and moaning for more. He then introduced her to the world of love-making and when it was over, Emma was spent and satisfied and grinning from ear to ear.

  "So that's what all the fuss is about," she said. "Can we just stay here and do this forever?" She sighed with happiness.

  Ethan leaned over and kissed her again, lightly. "We can do this whenever you want, as many times as you want. It will never be enough for me."

  "Have I mentioned that I love you, Ethan Donovan?"

  "You may have mentioned it in passing, but I'll never get tired of hearing it. Or saying it. I love you, Emma Donovan."

  CHAPTER NINE

  Epilogue

  Three months later....

  Emma reread Julia's letter as they left church and drove over to Ethan's parents’ house for Sunday dinner. Julia sounded troubled, and Emma was worried for her.

  I'm worried about Mr. Gregory. He's been forgetting things lately and there have been some mistakes with a few of his clients’ accounts. I've volunteered to take on more and to help as much as possible, but I don't think he's well and I'm not sure what will happen to his business, and to me, if something were to happen to him, if, God forbid, he dies or has to close the business. I'm just concerned. As you know, jobs are few and far between here, especially for a girl doing accounting work. Why would anyone hire me when there are men in line for the jobs?

  Emma folded the letter and put it back in her coat pocket. It was time to have a talk with Liam and see how serious he was about having one of her friends come out here. Liam was a big talker, a charmer, and it was hard to know if he was just having fun.

  Everyone was at the house when they arrived and Emma and Hannah helped Naomi bring the food out. They were having pasta and meatballs and lots of garlic bread. The meal was a treat, something they didn't often have. Naomi had said she’d fallen in love with the Italian dish when they first arrived in New York City. As they sat down and after Naomi led grace, Ethan stood up to make an announcement.