Mail-order bridegroom (7 page)

'Find the time.' He tugged her more fully into his arms. 'I have to go,' he said, and kissed her.

His touch drove out all thought and reason, banishing the ghosts that lingered from that other time and place. And no matter how hard she wanted to oppose him, to keep a small piece of herself safe and protected, he stripped her of all resistance with consummate ease. Deepening the kiss, he cupped her breast, teasing the tender peak through the thin cotton. And she let him... let him touch her as he wished, let him explore where he willed, let him drive her toward that sweet crest she'd once shared exclusively with him.

For a moment Leah was able to pretend that she meant something to him again, that he really cared for her more than he cared for her ranch. But as hard as she tried to lose herself in his embrace, the knowledge that this was in all probability a game of revenge intruded, and finally drove her from his arms.

He released her without protest. 'Call me with the details,' he instructed, and headed for the door. 'We'll need to get the license as soon as possible.'

'There's one last thing,' she suddenly remembered. He paused, waiting for her to continue and, almost stumbling over the words, she said, 'Conrad.. .Conrad Michaels. He retired.' Hunter didn't say anything,

prompting her to state her concerns more openly. 'Are you responsible for his retirement?'

'Yes.'

She'd suspected as much, but it still shocked her to hear him admit it. l WhyV He didn't reply. Instead he walked outside, forcing her to give chase. Without breaking stride, he gathered up his buckskin's reins and mounted. She clung to his saddle-skirt, hindering his departure, desperate for an answer. 'Hunter, please. Tell me why. Why did you force Conrad to retire?'

After a momentary hesitation he leaned across the horn, fixing her with hard black eyes. 'Because he put you at risk.'

Alarmed, she took a step back. 'What are you talking about?'

'I'm talking about the ad.'

'But I placed the ad, not Conrad.'

'He knew about it, and not only did he not try and stop it he encouraged you to go ahead with it while in his capacity as your banker.' His face might have been carved from granite. 'You still don't have a clue as to how dangerous that was, do you?'

'We were very selective,' she defended.

'You were a fool,' he stated succinctly. 'You might as well have painted a bullseye on your backside, stuck your pinfeathers in the air and proclaimed it open hunting season. Count yourself lucky that you and that old harridan of a grandmother weren't murdered in your beds.'

'So you had Conrad fired.'

'I wanted to!' he bit out. 'Believe me, more than anything I wanted to have him fired for planting such a criminal suggestion in your head. Considering he's an old family friend, I let him off easy. I agreed to an early retirement.'

A sudden thought struck her. 'If you're that powerful—powerful enough to force Conrad's retirement—what do you need with this ranch?' She spoke urgently. 'It has to be small potatoes to you. Why are you doing this, Hunter?'

A grim smile touched his mouth and he yanked the brim of his stetson low over his brow. 'That, my sweet bride-to-be, is one question I have no intention of answering.'

And with that he rode off into the approaching storm, the dark, angry clouds sweeping across the sky ahead of him, full of flash and fury. A portent of things to come? Leah wondered uneasily. Or a promise?

CHAPTER FOUR

With only five days to prepare for her wedding, Leah realized that the simplest solution would be to hold the ceremony at the ranch. She also decided to make it an evening affair and keep it small, inviting only her closest friends and employees.

Her reasons were twofold. She didn't think she could handle a day-long celebration—the mere thought of celebrating a marriage that was in all actuality a business deal struck her as vulgar. And by holding an evening ceremony they'd entertain the guests for dinner and it would be over quickly. No fuss, no muss.

Her grandmother didn't offer a single word of argument in regard to Leah's wedding-plans. On only one matter did she remain adamant. She insisted that Leah invite Conrad Michaels. 'He's a close friend and should give you away. If that makes Hunter uncomfortable, that's his tough luck.'

'I don't think it's Hunter who will feel uncomfortable,' Leah observed wryly. 'Let me call Conrad and see what he wants to do. If he chooses to decline, I won't pressure him.'

As it turned out, Conrad sounded quite anxious to attend. Td appreciate the opportunity to improve my relationship with Hunter,' he confessed. 'I deserved every harsh word he dished out, and then some.'

'Harsh word?' she repeated in alarm. 'What did he say?'

After a long, awkward silence, Conrad admitted, 'Oh, this and that. Let's just describe the conversation as

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strained and forget I ever mentioned it. He did make several valid points, though—particularly about your ad.'

So Hunter had taken Conrad to task about that. She'd wondered. 'What points?' she questioned.

'I never should have encouraged you to advertise for a husband,' came the prompt reply. 'Looking back, I realize it was foolish in the extreme. It didn't occur to me until Hunter suggested the possibility, but a crazy person could have responded and we wouldn't have known until too late. I never would have forgiven myself if anything had happened to you.'

Unfortunately, something had happened. Hunter had answered the ad. To her disgust, she seemed to be the only one to appreciate the irony of that fact. 'It's all worked out for the best,' she lied through her teeth. 'So don't worry about it.' Securing Conrad's agreement to give her away, she ended the conversation and hung up.

The next two days passed in a whirl of confusion. Leah spent her time deciding on caterers and flowers, food and decorations, and obtaining the all-important wedding-license. Finally she threw her hands in the air and dropped the entire mess in the laps of her grandmother and Inez Arroya. 'You decide,' she begged. 'Just keep it simple.'

'But, sehorita, por favor...' Inez protested. 'The wedding, it should be perfect. What if we make a mistake? You will be very unhappy. Don't you care?'

Didn't she care? Leah turned away. She cared too much. That was the problem. How could she plan for the wedding of her dreams when the ceremony on Friday would be anything but? 'Whatever you decide will be perfect,' she said flatly. 'Just remember. Keep it simple.'

'What about your dress?' Rose reminded, before Leah could escape. 'You've deliberately ignored that minor detail, haven't you?'

'I thought I could pick something up on Thursday,' Leah said, refusing to acknowledge the truth in her grandmother's words.

But on this one point Rose became surprisingly obstinate. 'Oh, no, you don't, my girl. I have the perfect gown for you. Your mother wore it for her wedding and it's the most unusual dress I've ever laid eyes on. It's packed away in the attic, if memory serves. Find it and see if it fits. Though considering how much you resemble your momma, I'd be surprised if it didn't.'

Reluctantly, Leah obeyed. It took a good bit of searching, but she eventually found a huge, sealed box with her mother's name and the date of her wedding scrawled across one end. Wiping away the dust, she carried it downstairs. She didn't return to the kitchen, needing a moment alone in the privacy of her bedroom to examine her mother's wedding-dress. Closing and locking the door, she settled on the floor and carefully cut open the box.

Lifting off the lid, she sank back on her heels, her breath catching in her throat. Her grandmother had been right. It was the most unusual dress Leah had ever seen. Her mother had been a teacher of medieval history and her dress reflected her obsession, right down to the filmy veil with its accompanying silver circlet. It was beautiful and romantic, the sort of dress young women dreamed of wearing.

And Leah hated it with a passion that left her shaking.

The dress promised joy and happiness, not the businesslike relationship soon to be hers. The dress promised a lifetime of laughter and companionship, not the strife and friction that was all she could expect from

an empty marriage. But most of all the dress promised everlasting love, not the bitterness and pain that consumed her husband-to-be. She ached for the future the dress suggested, but knew it could never be hers.

This marriage would be an act of vengeance, and she nothing more than a pawn in Hunter's game. It was a way to even up old scores for the abuse he'd suffered at her father's hands. Soon he would be master of his enemy's castle and she'd be at his mercy. How long would it take before he had it all? How long before he controlled not just the ranch but her heart and soul as well?

How long before he had his final revenge?

Gently she replaced the lid of the box. She couldn't wear her mother's wedding-gown. It wouldn't be right. It would be... sacrilegious. She'd drive into town and find a chic ivory suit that spoke of modern marriages and easy divorces. And instead of a gauzy veil she'd purchase a pert little hat that no one would dream of referring to as * romantic'.

Not giving herself time to reconsider, she shoved the box beneath her bed. Then she ran outside and whistled for Dreamseeker, needing just for an instant to feel what her stallion felt—free and wild and unfettered. But the horse didn't respond to her call. And in that instant Leah felt more alone than she ever had before in her life.

'What do you mean, I can't wear the suit?' Leah demanded of Inez. 'Why can't I? Where is it?'

'Arrunina, senorita. Lo siento. '

'Ruined! How?'

'The iron, it burned your dress.'

'But the dress didn't need ironing.'

The housekeeper looked close to tears. 'I'm sorry. I wanted everything to be perfect for your special day. I was excited and...' She wrung her hands. 'Forgive me.'

'It's all right, Inez/ Leah said with a sigh. 'But I get married in less than an hour. What am I supposed to wear? I can't go down in this.' She indicated the wisps of silk and lace beneath her robe.

'Senora Rose, she suggests the dress of your madre. Es perfecta, siV

Leah closed her eyes, understanding finally dawning. Of all the conniving, meddling, devious... Before she could gather the courage to yank the first outfit that came to hand from her closet, Inez draped the wedding-dress across the bed. In a swirl of featherlight pleats the silvery-white silk billowed over the quilted spread, the hem trailing to the floor.

In that instant, Leah was lost. She touched the form-fitting bodice—a corset-like affair, decorated with a honeycombed network of tiny seed pearls and silver thread—thinking that it resembled nothing more than a gossamer-fine cobweb. It really was an enchanting gown. And it had been her mother's.

Knowing further arguing would prove fruitless, Leah allowed the housekeeper to help her into the gown. It fit perfectly, as she'd known it would. Thin white ribbons accentuated the puffed sleeves, the deep, flowing points almost brushing the carpet.

'The belt, senorita,' Inez said.

The housekeeper lifted the silver linked chain from the bed and wound it twice around Leah's waist and hips, the pearl-studded clasp fastening in front. The ends of the chain, decorated with tiny unicorn charms, fell to her knees, the links whispering like golden-toned chimes with her every movement.

Tor purity,' the housekeeper murmured, touching the unicorns.

'Not terribly appropriate,' Leah said in a dry voice. 'I wonder if it's too late to change them.'

'You are pure of heart, which is all that counts/ Inez maintained stoutly. 'I will do your hair now. You wish to wear it loose?'

'I thought I'd braid it.'

'Oh, no, senorita. Perhaps a compromise?' Without waiting for a response, she swiftly braided two narrow sections on each side of Leah's face, threading a silver cord into each as she went. Pulling the braids to the back of Leah's head, the housekeeper pinned them into an intricate knot.

'That looks very nice,' Leah admitted.

'We leave the rest loose,' Inez said, brushing the hip-length curls into some semblance of order. Finally she draped the veil over Leah's hair and affixed the circlet to her brow. Stepping back, she clasped her hands and sighed. 'Que hermosa. Sen or Hunter, he is a lucky man.'

Leah didn't reply. What could she say? That luck had nothing to do with it, unless it was bad luck? Her bad luck. 'How much time is left?' she asked instead.

'A few minutes, no more. Senor Michaels is waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs.'

'I'm ready,' she announced. She picked up her bouquet of freshly picked wild flowers—courtesy of the Arroya children—and kissed Inez's cheek. 'Thank you for all your help. Go on downstairs. I'll follow in a minute.'

The door closed behind the housekeeper and, finally alone, Leah glanced at the stranger in the mirror. What would Hunter think? she wondered. Would he find her gown ridiculous? Attractive? Would her appearance even matter to him? She shut her eyes and whispered an urgent prayer, a prayer that Hunter might some day find happiness and peace in their marriage... that maybe, just maybe, he'd find love. Slightly more relaxed, she turned away from the mirror. She couldn't delay any longer. It was time to go.

As she descended the stairs, the pleated skirt of her dress swirled around her like wisps of silver fog. Conrad waited at the bottom. He looked up at her, and his reaction was all she could have asked. He stared in stunned disbelief, his mouth agape.

'Leah,' he murmured gruffly, his voice rough and choked. 'My dear, you're a vision. You make me wish...'

She traversed the final few steps, a small smile playing about her mouth. 'Wish what?'

'Wish that I hadn't so foolishly encouraged you to place that ad,' he confessed. 'Are you sure this marriage is what you want? It's not too late to change your mind.'

She didn't hesitate for an instant. 'It's much too late and you know it. Not that it matters. I haven't changed my mind.'

He nodded without argument. 'Then this is it.' He offered his elbow. 'Shall we?'