Page 59 of Short-Straw Bride

“Seems to be. He didn’t come right out and say so, but every time I hinted at such a union being a mistake, he sputtered something about me minding my own business and not meddling in his affairs.”

“Travis, she can’t marry that man.” Meredith raised her head and stiffened her spine.

“I know, darlin’.” Travis hugged her arm closer. “We’ll figure something out.”

She looked past him for a moment, catching her lower lip between her teeth. When her eyes met his once again, determination glowed in their vibrant blue depths. “I’ll go talk to him. Give him permission to sell the land to Mitchell straight out. No dowry, no need for a wedding. All Roy wants is the land, anyway.”

Crockett shook his head. “I don’t think it would do any good.”

“Why not?” she demanded, jerking forward in her seat. “Roy gets the land, and Uncle Everett would have him in his debt. Both of them get what they want.”

Travis stroked the exposed skin on the back of her arm from the wrist joint all the way to her elbow, where her rolled sleeve sat bunched against her bicep. “Your uncle wants a stronger tie to Mitchell, one that will ensure his business for years to come. A marriage contract would bind him more fully than a bill of sale.”

“The homestead was supposed to be my inheritance. Maybe if I got a lawyer . . .” Her words died when Crockett shook his head.

“If the deed is in your uncle’s name, I imagine he can do whatever he wants with it, even if it goes against your father’s last wishes. Now if the land was specifically deeded to you . . .” He left the sentence hanging, a thread of hope holding it aloft.

She shook her head and snapped the tenuous thread. “No. Papa trusted my uncle to look out for my interests since I was not of age. Nothing is in my name.”

Meredith slumped, and Travis tugged her back into his side.

“I just can’t believe that Uncle Everett would do this. Papa trusted him. His own brother. He was supposed to oversee the property on my behalf, not sell it out from under me or give it to his daughter. And Cassie . . . Oh, Travis.” She turned anguished eyes on him. “He’s not just stealing my land, he’s selling his daughter. How could he do that? He loves Cassie. I know he does. This doesn’t make any sense.”

Travis kissed her forehead and murmured into her hair. “Desperation can warp a man’s mind. Keep him from seeing things clearly. Your uncle must be in a financial crisis.”

“I don’t care what kind of crisis he’s in.” Meredith drew back, a sob catching in her throat. “What he’s doing is wrong!”

“I know it is, love.” He gathered her close again, aching to fix what Everett Hayes’s betrayal had broken. “We’ll find a way to protect Cassie. I swear it.”

“Already found one.” Jim’s deep voice rumbled in from the bathing room an instant before he and Cassandra stepped through the doorway into the kitchen.

Travis frowned. How had he not heard the back door open?

Cassie bounded forward, arms outstretched to Meredith. The smile Travis had noted during her first visit had made a miraculous reappearance. Reluctantly, Travis relinquished his hold on Meri, freeing her to clasp her cousin’s hands.

“You’ll never guess our plan,” Cassie gushed as she slid into the chair next to Meredith. “It’s perfect. And it was all Jim’s idea. He’s so clever.” She smiled at her accomplice over her shoulder as he, too, reclaimed a seat at the table.

“What didja come up with?” Neill elbowed Jim, speaking up for the first time since dinner.

“It’s the most brilliant plan.” Cassie’s enthusiasm bubbled over before Jim could shape his mouth into a response. Not that the fellow seemed to mind. Having someone do his talking for him was probably a dream come true.

Cassie released Meredith’s hands in order to include everyone at the table in her gaze. “First, we’re going to give Papa his three days. I’ll stay here at the ranch, making my objection to his scheme clear. And perhaps with the six of us praying, the Lord will see fit to nudge him into a more rational stance.”

Travis took a swallow of his coffee, hoping to hide his skepticism. Everett Hayes would need more than a nudge from the Lord to help him see the error of his ways. A wallop upside the head with one of the charred pine planks from the barn might be better.

“Then on Tuesday,” Cassie continued, “I’ll return home and tell Papa and Mama straight out that I will not be coerced into marriage. No matter how they plead, I will not be dissuaded.” She lifted her chin in such a way that Travis had to smile. She looked so much like Meri. Brave and determined. Perhaps the princess had gumption, after all.

Crockett hunched forward over the table and scraped his coffee cup across the wooden surface as he drew it closer to his chest. “I don’t mean to dash your hopes, but I highly doubt that a little time and stubbornness on your part are going to accomplish much. If your father is truly set on this marriage, all he would have to do is find someone to officiate who could be convinced to ignore your protests. And unfortunately, Mitchell’s got enough money to bribe a man into forgetting his scruples.”

“That’s where your brother’s cleverness comes into play.” Cassandra’s smile didn’t dim for a second.

Travis raised a questioning brow at Jim, but the man made no effort to enlighten him, his face as stoic as ever.

“If Papa insists on the wedding despite my protests, then we move to stage three.”

“What’s stage three?” Meredith asked when Cassandra decided to pause for dramatic effect.

Cassandra rose from her chair, her eyes glowing. “Only the most brilliantly simple idea ever.” She clapped her hands together beneath her chin and slid over to where Jim sat, his gaze centered somewhere between the table and his lap.