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“So, I actually was born and raised in Brooklyn in the Prospect Park area. I don’t know if any of you guys know it.” They all stared at me blankly. “Well, it’s kind of a nice area now. It wasn’t really that great when I was growing up. My mom’s family lived there. Um, my grandparents passed away a while ago.” I bit my lip. “I didn’t really know my dad. He was my mom’s boyfriend. But when she told him she was pregnant, he took off.”
“Oh, that’s horrible!” Sadie said. “I can’t stand men like that.”
“Yeah, it was very unfortunate. But my mom was the best. She took care of me and she loved me and …”
“She sounds amazing,” Sadie said. “Is she going to come and visit as well?”
“No,” I said softly. I could feel myself becoming overwhelmed with emotion. “My mom actually passed away about a year ago.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Sadie put her arm around my shoulder. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay.” I looked across the table and I could see Beau and Austin, both staring at me. I couldn’t tell what they were thinking from the expression on their faces, but they didn’t look like they hated me, which was good. “So, when my mom passed away, it was very sudden. We didn’t know she was sick, and I felt kind of lost. I was dating this guy at the time as well.”
“Oh, so you have a boyfriend.” Austin rolled his eyes. “Really?”
“No,” I said. “At the time, I was dating someone. I’m no longer dating him.” I sighed. “And he was a mistake in the first place. His name was Mikey. And I found out that he had ties to the Mafia.”
“No way!” Sadie said. “Like the Godfather or Goodfellas?”
“Well, not exactly.” I grimaced. “I mean, I didn’t really know his family that well, so maybe? We weren’t in a very serious relationship, and I didn’t really find out until I was getting ready to break up with him. And he was like, ‘You can’t break up with me.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I am breaking up with you.’ And he’s like, ‘Once you date me, you can never leave.’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he’s like, ‘I’ll have my people get you.’” I stopped
Sadie’s mouth was hanging open and everyone else was looking at me in shock.
“Basically, he told me that he didn’t want to let me go, and that no woman could ever leave him,” I added. “And he’s sort of been harassing me ever since.”
“What do you mean by harassing you?” Beau sounded angry. “Is this something you want us to help take care of? Is that why you’re really here? Because you’re scared of this guy?”
“I think it’s a lot of different things,” Amelia said. “She’s missing her mom, and she wants something new in her life.”
“So did you, or did you not, come here to marry Beau?” Austin said. “Because I very clearly remember you in the bar going on about your in-laws and your boyfriend that was in love with you.”
“I mean, obviously I was embarrassed to tell the truth in the bar to two strangers!” I snapped at Austin. He was really starting to get on my last nerve. “Of course, Beau doesn’t love me. He’s never met me before, but—”
“But are you interested in seeing if you and Beau could have some sort of relationship?” Austin said again. And I swallowed hard, I looked over at Beau’s face and I could tell that he was wondering the same thing.
“Don’t get me wrong, Lucy.” Beau gave me an awkward smile. “I do think you’re very beautiful, but I’m really not in any position to get married anytime soon. And that’s sort of just a lot of pressure, you know?”
“I understand that. I mean, I don’t really know the plan.” I looked at Amelia for help. “It was your mom that invited me here.”
All eyes turned to Amelia, who just smiled.
“Well, you all know that I wanted you boys to settle down. I want at least one or two or all of you to get married, you know. I want grandkids, and your father and I—”
“Don’t bring me into this, Amelia!” Ranger interrupted. “This was not my idea.”
“I wasn’t going to say it was your idea, honey. I was just going to say we had been talking about different ways to try and get you boys to get married.”
“And when you brought up the idea of a mail-order bride, I said no,” Ranger said firmly.
“Yes, honey, you said no, but it was worth a try.” She shrugged. “I put a small advertisement in a couple of papers and corresponded with people who responded.”
“You mean, more than one person responded?” Sadie said, looking surprised.
“In fact, I had over a hundred responses.” Amelia nodded. “It seems like there are a lot of women that would love to come to Montana and marry a cowboy.” She smiled at me. “But I knew immediately from talking with Lucy that she was the only one who would do for my boy.”
“So, you think she’s a perfect match for Beau?” Austin raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Amelia just looked at him. “Austin, why do you always have to argue? Why is it that you’re my most argumentative son?”
