Page 84 of Short-Straw Bride

I love you with all of my being, but I love Cassie, too. And right now she needs me more than you do.

Forgive me.

Meri

She loved him. The wonder of the statement seeped into him, but the joy that should have accompanied the knowledge faded beneath his growing frustration and fear. How could she possibly think that anyone needed her more than he did? She was his heart, his very life. If anything happened to her . . .

Travis tore the top page from the tablet and hardened his jaw. He’d just have to make sure nothing did happen. After all, if a wife was going to tell her husband she loved him, she ought to do it in person. And he aimed to see that she did precisely that. Right after he kissed the living fire out of her and showed her exactly how much he truly needed her.

Stuffing the note into the shirt pocket beneath his coat, Travis dropped the tablet on the bed and stormed out of the house. Crockett met him on the porch and handed him a second revolver. Since he only had one holster, and it was already full, he stuffed the gun into his waistband at the small of his back. He collected Bexar’s reins from where they hung over the railing and mounted in a single motion.

Travis shared a look with Crockett and Jim and turned to Neill. “I want you to ride into Palestine and fetch the sheriff. All you have to do is head south once you hit the road. If you push your mount, you can be there before sundown. We can’t afford to let Mitchell get away this time. We need the law on our side.” And he needed Neill out of harm’s way. The kid could handle himself well enough, but if things went badly, he didn’t have the experience necessary to improvise. And if things went really badly, Travis wanted to ensure that at least one Archer lived to see another day.

“Archers stand together, Trav,” Neill spat impatiently. “Isn’t that what you always say?” He looked from one brother to the next. The errand was a pretense, and he knew it. “Y’all are already outnumbered. Why give Mitchell a bigger advantage? You have a better chance with me riding with you.”

“Maybe, but someone’s got to get the law involved, and you’re the logical choice.”

Neill opened his mouth to argue further, but Travis cut him off. “We’re wasting time. You have your orders, Neill. Carry them out, like the Archer you are.” Travis nudged Bexar past Neill’s mount, effectively ending the conversation.

“Boys, I believe we’ve been invited to a wedding,” Travis said, steel lacing his tone. “Let’s not be late.”

Meredith clasped her cousin’s hand as the two girls sat huddled together on the settee. The dreadful Mr. Wheeler loomed over them, legs braced apart, gun in hand. But it was the way he looked at her that frightened Meredith most. That wolfish gleam in his eyes, and the way his gaze kept traveling down her body as if he could see right through her clothing. He’d smile after perusing her in such abominable fashion, and the leering promise on his face turned her stomach.

“Should we start the ceremony now, sir?” A man standing in the back corner of the room posed the question. His black suit and white preacher’s collar should have offered reassurance, but his bored expression as he scanned the room full of armed men and hostage women only served to confirm his complicity. There would be no help from that quarter.

“Not yet,” Roy said. “Although I’m anxious to wed my lovely bride, I believe we’re due to have a few more visitors soon, and I’d hate for anything unpleasant to interrupt our nuptials.”

“Very well, but I’m charging you for the extra time.” The preacher, if the mercenary little man could be called by such a title, leaned against the wall and slid a silver flask from inside his coat. He unscrewed the lid and imbibed a large swig.

Cassie’s grip tightened on Meredith’s hand. “I hope he chokes.”

“It would be a rather poetic form of justice,” Meredith agreed softly. And such a lovely wrench to throw into Roy’s plan. But then she remembered the logger going after Jim with that ax and decided it might be better for all concerned to keep Roy happy. At least for the time being.

Aunt Noreen paced across the carpet and glowered at Roy. “I don’t approve of liquor, Mr. Mitchell. It’s bad enough that my daughter’s wedding is not taking place in a church, but I refuse to have a drunkard officiate her ceremony.”

Roy’s lips thinned as he peered down at the woman before him. “Let me remind you, madam, that I was only too happy to sponsor a church wedding, but Miss Cassandra would not consent. Hence our current predicament. If you feel the need to complain, kindly take it up with your daughter.”

“But you were in charge of finding the minister. This one is unsatisfactory.” She folded her arms and frowned at Roy as if he were one of the ladies on her civic beautification committee who had failed to follow her instructions.

“Noreen . . .” Uncle Everett murmured her name in warning from his position on the floor across from her.

“Hush up, Everett. None of this would have happened if you hadn’t given in to Cassandra’s whining. The girl can’t see past her nose. She’s just young enough to think that some flutter in her heart is worth more than financial security. You should have taken her in hand. But, no. Like everything else, you bowed out and forced me to deal with it. You’ve got no backbone. That’s the real reason the mill is failing. I probably should have taken that over, too.”

“Mama!” Cassie gasped. But the woman paid her no heed. She’d built up too much steam.

“And as for you . . .” Aunt Noreen pivoted back to face Roy and jabbed his shoulder with her finger, apparently too full of her own agenda to notice the anger brewing in his eyes. “If you want to be my son-in-law, you had best find a minister who isn’t incapacitated with drink! I won’t allow—”

Roy backhanded her across the mouth with enough force to send her crashing to the floor. “You’re not in a position to disallow anything, madam. You might flay your husband with that sharp tongue of yours, but turn it on me, and I will bite you back.”

Aunt Noreen glared up at Roy, not all of her fire extinguished. “How dare you raise your hand to me!”

In a flash, Roy had the shotgun cocked and aimed directly at her head. “You know, it just occurred to me that married life would be much easier without a harpy for a mother-in-law.”

“No!” Cassie lunged to her feet. Wheeler immediately grasped her arm.

“Please,” she cried out to Roy, struggling against Wheeler’s hold. “I’ll marry you right now. Willingly. Just leave my mother alone.”

Roy pulled the gun back. “Such an ardent declaration, my sweet. How could I refuse?” He stepped toward the settee and clasped Cassie’s hand, his gentlemanly veneer back in place. Wheeler released her arm, and Cassie lifted her chin.