The Blushing Bride

“Just shut your mouth,” Jason said, pointing a dripping finger at his brother. “I’m not marrying her. This is all a mistake. Look at the letter.”

Ethan grinned at Amanda, then picked up the letter and looked it over. “This isn’t your handwriting.”

“I know that.” Jason wiped the last of the apple pie from his clothing and flung the rag into the basin.

“Can’t say that I recognize whose it is.” Ethan shook his head. “Must be some sort of a joke.”

“A joke?” Amanda came to her feet.

Ethan chuckled. “It is sort of funny.”

Funny? Amanda’s temper rose. She’d traveled miles and miles from the safety and security of home to come here—and she wasn’t exactly sure where here was—endured hardships, threats to her personal safety, bad manners and foul smells. And the Kruger brothers thought it was funny?

“Somebody made the whole thing up and forged my name,” Jason said to Ethan.

“Who’d do a thing like that?” Ethan asked.

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” Jason walked back to his desk.

Ethan shrugged. “Why don’t you just go ahead and marry her?”

Jason stopped short. “What the hell would I do with a wife?”

“If you have to ask that question, you have been up on this mountain too long,” Ethan said with a grin.

Jason’s gaze came up quickly and landed on Amanda. Her cheeks flushed, taking the edge off her anger and reminding her that she was here on business and she should stick to it, even if these two men wouldn’t.

“Mr. Kruger,” she said. “I believe you’ve misunderstood my intentions here. I only—”

“Look, Miss Pierce,” Jason said. “I’m not looking for a wife now or anytime in the future.”

“If you’d just let me explain.”

“The last thing anybody here needs is a wife,” Jason said.

“But—”

“This is a logging camp,” Jason said. “My men work twelve hours a day, six days a week. It’s dangerous work. Just a few seconds of lost concentration can cost a man his life—or the life of the men he’s working with. I’m not having a bunch of women up here distracting my crew from their job. Nobody here wants a wife.”

“Nobody?”

“Nobody.”

Amanda drew in a deep breath. “I see….”

Bitter disappointment coursed through her. She’d pinned so much on this trip. All the plans she’d made—plans that had kept her going in the past few days—were gone. Along with her high hopes for the future.

Amanda swallowed hard, refusing to let her feelings overwhelm her. She’d come here to find out, to learn, to investigate. Now she had her answer.

She drew in a big breath, pumping up her courage. “Well…I suppose there’s nothing left to do but…leave.”

Ethan poked Jason in the arm. “You could at least tell her you’re sorry she came all the way up here for nothing—on account of you.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jason shifted uncomfortably and turned to Amanda. “Look, Miss Pierce, I really am…sorry…you got dragged up here on some wild-goose chase.”

“No you’re not,” Amanda said, her disappointment turning to anger. She’d had enough of the Kruger Brothers’ Lumber and Milling Company, and enough of the Kruger brothers themselves. Jason had made it abundantly clear that he had no use for her whatsoever, and she was in no mood to be patronized.

“Well, look, Miss Pierce—”

“You’re not the least bit sorry I wasted my time, so don’t pretend otherwise,” Amanda told him. “You, Mr. Kruger, are thoughtless, inconsiderate, and rude. Don’t add lying to your list of faults.”

Amanda put her nose in the air and sailed across the office, then looked back at him. “And you have horrible table manners!”

She gave the door a very unladylike slam on her way out.

Jason and Ethan just stood there staring at the closed door.

“Damn….” Jason mumbled.

Ethan grinned. “Yeah, bedding down with her would—”

“That’s not what I was thinking,” Jason said quickly.

“Like hell you weren’t.”

Jason turned away, pacing the width of the office, refusing to look at his brother.

“What are we going to do with her?” Ethan asked, as he pulled matches from the desk drawer and lit the lanterns on the walls.

Jason spun around. “Do with her? I’m not going to do anything with her.”

“It’s too late to get her down the mountain tonight,” Ethan said. “Shady can’t make that trip in the dark. The trail is dangerous enough in broad daylight.”

“She can’t stay here.”

“What do you want to do, Jas? Give her a candle and a map and tell her to start walking?”

Jason grumbled under his breath. “This is why I don’t want women up here. They’re nothing but trouble.”

“Maybe,” Ethan said. “But she’s here now. We’ve got to do something with her.”

“You’re right. I guess she’ll have to stay.” Jason paced a little more, thinking. “Take her over to Mrs. McGee’s place and see if she’ll put her up for the night.”

“Meg…?”

“There’s no other place for a decent woman to stay.”

“Yeah, I know…but…”

“But what?”

“Nothing.” Ethan shifted from one foot to the other. “I can take her over there…I reckon.”

Outside, Amanda stood on the porch holding on to the rough support column and gazing around at the logging camp. What little she could see of it, at least. When she’d arrived earlier, she had only gotten a vague impression of the camp, and that wasn’t much to go on now that it was dark.

Off in the distance a few windows glowed yellow with lantern light. She made out shadowy silhouettes of buildings and a couple of dark figures passing in front of them. A cool breeze blew. A dog barked somewhere.

If she had good sense she might be frightened, Amanda decided. But right now she was simply too tired, too angry, and too disappointed to feel anything else.

She needed to find Shady Harper and ask him to take her down the mountain tonight. But where was he? The freight wagon she’d arrived in was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Shady. She had no idea where to look for him.

The little cluster of buildings that Shady had called a town was only a short walk east. Maybe he was there. If not, surely she’d find a hotel where she could spend the night. All she had to do was get there without falling over something and killing herself stumbling along in the dark.

Amanda glanced back at the door of Jason Kruger’s office that she had slammed so indignantly moments ago, and decided that she wasn’t desperate enough to ask that man for help—not now or in the foreseeable future.

The door opened just then and he walked out, his tall, wide frame outlined by the lantern light behind him. Amanda’s temper rose again.

His face was in shadows and when he stepped closer Amanda realized it wasn’t Jason, but his brother. Her anger turned to something that for a flicker of a second seemed like disappointment. Amanda pushed it aside quickly. Certainly it couldn’t be that.

“Miss Pierce?” Ethan said. “I’m going to take you some place to stay for the night.”

“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Kruger.”

“Just call me Ethan. It can get kind of confusing around here, otherwise.” He grinned and nodded toward the office. “Besides, I don’t like being mistaken for my brother, if you get my meaning.”

“I do indeed get your meaning.” Amanda glared at the office door, then looked at Ethan. “But your help isn’t necessary. I’m going to have Shady take me back to Beaumont.”

“Not tonight, he can’t.” Ethan shook his head. “Shady can’t make that trip after dark.”

“Then I’ll get a hotel room for the night.”

“There is no hotel.”

“No hotel?” Amanda asked. “But surely—”

“Just do like you’re told.” Jason walked up, his footsteps heavy on the wooden porch. Amanda sensed he’d been standing there, listening…watching.

Anger threaded through her again. “You may be in charge of the logging camp, Mr. Kruger, but you have no say over what I do. Now, I am going to find Shady Harper and arrange for transportation down the mountain tonight.”

“No, you’re not.”

His big hand closed over her elbow. Long fingers exerted just enough pressure to keep her in place. She sensed incredible power in his grip, power barely under control.

Heat rushed up her arm, twined down her throat into the pit of her stomach causing her anger to bloom again.

And it was anger. What else could it be?

Amanda jerked her chin. “I am not your concern, Mr. Kruger.”

He leaned closer. A raw physical energy radiated from him, engulfing Amanda with its potency.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Miss Pierce.” His voice was deep, heavy with authority and determination. “Everything and everybody on this mountain is my concern.”

“Including me?”

He tightened his grip and leaned closer. “Especially you.”

Chapter Three

“Let me give you a hand, Miss Pierce.”

Ethan’s fingers closed around Amanda’s elbow, steadying her over the uneven terrain. His grip was as strong as his brother’s but not threatening in the least. In fact, Amanda barely noticed it.

But she had certainly noticed Jason when he’d stalked back into his office, leaving his brother to deliver her to a safe place for the night. And that suited Amanda just fine. Jason’s mere presence rankled her.

“You’ll like Mrs. McGee,” Ethan said, holding the lantern higher to light their way. The road was rough and rutted, dangerous in the dark.

Amanda held up her skirt, picking her way along. “You’re certain she won’t mind if I stay the night with her? It’s hardly proper to show up uninvited and ask such a favor. I can pay her, of course.”

“Mrs. McGee could surely use the money, but I doubt she’ll take it,” Ethan said. “She’ll probably just be glad for the company. Meg works hard. Too hard. Sometimes I worry that she’s—”

Amanda dared to take her eyes from the road. Ethan’s expression was unreadable in the dark.

“I gather there aren’t many women up here,” she said.

“Half-dozen or so,” Ethan said.

“Your brother seems most adept at running them off,” Amanda said.

Ethan chuckled. “This is Mrs. McGee’s place.”

They both stood there for a moment gazing at the little wood frame cabin with lantern light shining in one window.

“Aren’t we going to knock?” Amanda asked, when Ethan made no move toward the porch.

“Well, sure, I just…”

Ethan gave himself a little shake and placed the lantern on the steps. He climbed onto the porch, pulled off his hat, slicked back his hair, brushed at his sleeves, and tugged down on his vest. Drawing in a deep breath, Ethan studied the door for a moment, then finally knocked.

It opened and Mrs. McGee stepped into view. Amanda had expected her to resemble the two women she’d met in Jason Kruger’s office, big women capable of weathering life in the rugged logging camp.

But Mrs. McGee was delicate and shapely, about the same age as Amanda. Her blond hair was twisted neatly atop her head, and her dress, while serviceable, was flattering.

“Good evening, Mr. Kruger,” she said.

“Mrs. McGee.” Ethan twisted his hat, then plastered it against his chest. “I, uh, I’m sorry to bother you so late, but I’d like to ask a favor, if I can.”

“What sort of favor?” she asked.

“Well…” Ethan seemed lost for a moment. He looked down at his feet, then back at her. “Well…”

At this rate they’d be standing here all night. Amanda climbed onto the porch. “Mrs. McGee, I’m Miss Amanda Pierce. I’m very sorry to disturb you, but I find myself stranded here on the mountain. Ethan felt I could impose on you for a night’s lodging.”

She turned a warm smile on Ethan. “How thoughtful of you….”

Ethan turned several shades of red. He seemed to stop breathing for a moment, as well.

“I hope it’s not too much to ask, Mrs. McGee,” Amanda said.

“Of course not. And please, call me Meg,” she said.

Ethan nodded toward Amanda. “Miss Pierce was supposed to get married up here, but—”

Meg’s eyes widened. “Married?”

“To Jason.”

Meg smiled broadly at Amanda. “That’s wonderful!”

“It’s all a mistake,” Amanda said. “I’m not marrying anyone.”

“But…” Meg’s shoulders slumped.

“I’ll round up Shady and have him bring your bags over,” Ethan said.

“Thank you very much, Ethan,” Amanda said, and stepped inside the house. “You’ve been very kind.”

Ethan stood there on the porch for a moment, twisting his hat and shuffling his feet.

“Well…’night, Mrs. McGee,” he said.

“Good night, Ethan.” Meg paused for a moment, then closed the door softly.

Amanda was pleased to see that the McGee home looked comfortable and inviting. A big cookstove, a dining table and chairs, and a settee and rocker crowded the little room, decorated with lace doilies and a glowing lamp, all scrubbed clean and neat as a pin. Amanda felt herself relax for the first time since coming up the mountain.

“You must be starved,” Meg said. “Let me get you something.”

“I don’t want to impose on you any further,” Amanda said. “But I am quite hungry.”

Meg smiled. “It’s nothing fancy, just some chicken left from the supper I made for Todd and me.”

“Todd is your husband?” Amanda asked.

Meg stopped suddenly and her face blanched. “No. Todd is my son. My husband is…gone.”

Amanda cringed. Jason Kruger had told her about the dangerous work in the logging camp. She should have been more considerate about asking after Meg’s husband.

“I’m sorry to be so thoughtless,” Amanda said. “Please forgive me, and accept my condolences for your loss.”

Meg shook her head. “My husband isn’t dead. He’s…gone.”

There was surely more to the story than Meg was telling, but it was hardly any of Amanda’s business so she didn’t ask anything else.

Amanda didn’t pry into other peoples’ pasts because she knew—far too well—how hurtful that could be.

She slipped off her gloves and unpinned her hat while Meg moved around the kitchen. A knock sounded at the door, and when Meg answered it, Shady Harper ambled inside carrying Amanda’s two carpetbags and satchel.

“So, when are you and ol’ Jason gittin’ hitched?” Shady asked.

“There will be no wedding,” Amanda said. “It seems Mr. Kruger didn’t write that letter after all.”

Shady squinted hard at her. “And he’s not marrying you? Not doing the right thing by you?”

“You see, Shady, I never intended to marry Mr. Kruger.”

Shady tilted his head. “How’s that?”

She’d tried to explain it to Jason Kruger in his office but he’d refused to listen. She may as well tell somebody in this logging camp.

“I’m the owner of the Becoming Brides Matrimonial Service, not a prospective bride,” Amanda said. “My service is very selective. I don’t accept just any woman as a bride, nor do I blindly fill a request from every man who makes one.”

“So you come up here to have a look-see at Jason, after you got that letter from him asking for a wife?” Shady asked.

“Yes,” she said. “I came to determine if Mr. Kruger would be an acceptable Becoming Brides husband.”

“And you come all the way up here just to find out?” Shady asked.

“No, not entirely.” Amanda paused, reluctant to go into her real reason for being here. She already felt foolish enough in coming this far for nothing. But what damage could it do to talk about it now? She would leave in the morning and never see any of these people again.

“Actually, I’d hoped that other men here in the logging camp would want wives also,” Amanda said.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Meg said.

“Darn tootin’,” Shady said.

“I didn’t know Mr. Kruger had a rule about not allowing women here. It seems I’ve brought my catalog of brides all the way up here for nothing.” Amanda gestured toward her satchel Shady had placed beside the stone fireplace.

“A catalog?” Shady asked. “Like a mail-order book? With pictures? Of women wanting to get hitched?”

Amanda nodded. “Dozens, actually. I offer brides of varying size, shape, hair color. All are educated and have excellent homemaking skills. Many are proficient in music and art, all sorts of things.”

Shady nodded toward her satchel. “And you got all them women in that book of yourn?”

“And the women are willing to come up here to the mountain to live?” Meg asked.

“Willing and anxious,” Amanda said. “I was disappointed, of course, when Mr. Kruger said no one here was interested in a wife.”

“Jason said that?” Meg asked.

“Yes,” Amanda said. “Several times—and not very pleasantly, I might add.”

“Humph.” Shady snorted and hitched up his trousers.

“There’s nothing left for me to do here,” Amanda said. “I’d like to ask you to take me back down the mountain in the morning, Shady.”

“You’re leaving?” Meg asked. “So soon?”

“I’ve no reason to stay.”

“Maybe if you give Jason time to think it over he’ll change his mind,” Meg said.

Amanda shook her head. “He was adamant about not allowing other women up here, even without knowing I owned the matrimonial service. Can you imagine his reaction if he knew I wanted to bring a large number of brides to his logging camp?”

Jason stood on the porch outside his office soaking up the silence and the peace and solitude of the darkness. During the day the mountain roared with the buzzing of saws in the mill, the horses and oxen straining against their heavy loads, axes splitting wood, and the shouts of his men felling the timber.

At night it was quiet. Peaceful. Jason’s mind could rest and his body could unwind. He treasured this time.

Except that tonight his thoughts hummed like a band saw and his body was wound tight enough to explode.

It was that woman’s fault. That Miss Amanda Pierce. Sashaying into his office with her bustle bobbing and her skirts swaying. Batting her eyelashes at him. Poking her lip out in a pout.

Well, damn if she’d come prancing onto his mountain and change the way he did things. Jason had a business to run. A business he’d fought hard to get started, and fought even harder to keep going. Big things were on the horizon. He didn’t need any distractions.

And Amanda Pierce was definitely a distraction.

Jason leaned his shoulder against the support column and gazed down the road toward town. He could still smell the scent of her lingering in the air. Sweet, delicate. Womanly.

He let his gaze wander to the McGee house. Shady Harper had gone inside a few minutes ago carrying her baggage. The whole house probably smelled like her by now.

The front door opened just then and Shady walked outside. A woman stepped into the doorway, outlined by the lantern light inside. Jason straightened and craned his neck. Was it her? Was it Amanda?

“Damn.”

Jason turned away mumbling a curse into the darkness. Women were a distraction, all right, and he’d just proved it, lurking in the dark, hoping to catch a peek of one. Even if it had been a long time since he’d peeked at a woman—or done anything more pleasurable with one.

He swung around again watching Shady on the porch talking to the woman in the doorway. It was Amanda. He was sure of it now.

Maybe Ethan was right. Maybe he had been up on this mountain too long.

Amanda was a good-looking woman. All the right curves in all the right places. Done up proper, begging to be undone. A tight little package waiting to be opened.

He’d like to unravel that package, and take his time doing it. Slow, easy, until he’d—

Jason snorted another curse and pushed himself off the porch, angry at his thoughts and his body’s reaction to them.

What the hell was he thinking? He didn’t need or want a woman in his life. Especially this one, full of vinegar and sass, calling him names and insulting him to his face, right in his own office. Miss Amanda Pierce would be gone in the morning, and good riddance to her.

Jason stalked down the road away from his office. He was going home. He’d get a good night’s sleep and set his mind back on work. He was expecting a package, and if Shady brought it up from Beaumont tomorrow he had to be ready to deal with it. He needed to keep his mind on business.

But a fragrance tickled Jason’s nose, stopping him in his track. He turned, his gaze drawn once again to the McGee house just as Amanda stepped back inside. Jason stood there a moment longer staring at the closed door, sniffing the air for the scent of her.

“Hellfire….”

Jason stalked away.

The gray of dawn seeped into the house as Amanda opened her eyes to the little room she’d slept in. She’d fallen asleep as soon as her head had hit the feather pillow last night, then awakened this morning to the smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen—and the certain knowledge that she wasn’t in her own bed at home in San Francisco.

Amanda lay on the smooth cotton sheets for a few minutes, thinking. Here she was in a strange bed, a strange house, a strange place. The well-ordered life she’d left behind in San Francisco over a week ago seemed very dear to her right now.

Her father had been a successful merchant, and had left Amanda and her mother financially comfortable upon his death. But her mother wasn’t very wise in business and it hadn’t taken long before most of the money was gone.

Her mother was gone now, too. Amanda had used what money was left to start her Becoming Brides Matrimonial Service. The business filled several of the empty spots in her life.

Amanda pushed back the coverlet and sat up. The air in the little house was cool. She rose and dressed quickly.

Meg stood at the cookstove and Todd, her son, sat at the table. Amanda had seen the boy last night when Meg had roused him out of his bed and given it to Amanda. Todd was eight years old with blond hair, like his mother. His looks came from his father, Amanda guessed. His father who was…gone.

“Good morning,” Meg said, and smiled. “You’re just in time.”

“Can I help?” Amanda asked.

“No, thanks, all done.” Meg turned a pan of scrambled eggs into a bowl and set it on the table alongside a stack of biscuits. “Sit down.”

Todd dug in before Amanda and Meg got seated and finished before they got started.

“Can I go outside, Mama?” Todd asked.

“Yes, but don’t go far,” Meg said. “And don’t go near the mill.”

Todd rolled his eyes as if he’d heard those instructions before and darted out the front door. Amanda watched him go, watched the love in Meg’s gaze follow the boy outside.

“He’s a sweet child,” Amanda said.

Meg’s smile faded. “It’s been hard for him since his father…left.”

“Is he away on business?” Amanda asked.

“No.” Meg sipped her coffee.

“Sorry,” Amanda said. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

Meg sighed. “The whole mountain knows, so I suppose there’s no reason you shouldn’t. I woke one morning to find a note from Gerald saying he couldn’t live here any longer. He was moving on. He was sorry that he couldn’t take Todd and me with him, but he had to go find his own way.”

“And he left? Just like that?”

“Gerald was never the stable type,” Meg said. “We always moved from place to place, job to job.”

“That’s how you ended up here?”

“Gerald started a business in town. It failed. He tried again, then again, never with much luck. Then finally, he simply left.”

“How awful.”

“Yes, it was awful at first.” Meg managed a smile. “But Todd and I have a roof over our heads and I find enough work to keep us fed. We’re doing all right.”

“Why don’t you leave?”

“I have no family now, except for Todd,” Meg said. “Where would I go?”

“Do you like living here?” Amanda asked. She managed to keep from sounding judgmental. Though the mountain was foreign to her, that didn’t mean others wouldn’t like it.

“Yes,” Meg said, “but it is a little lonely without other women around.”

“Thanks to Mr. Kruger,” Amanda grumbled.