The Bride’s Secret_A Western Romance Story Read online

  The bartender, Sam, emerged from the woods where Emily had run. He was watching the trailer. He went to the road and walked toward town. It wasn’t seeing Sam that made Mrs. Whittaker decide it was time to rejoin society and make the most of what she had left in her life, though.

  It was because of Emily. As Sam walked away, Mrs. Whittaker saw Emily come out of the woods behind him, her eyes on his back. She put her arm around a tree and leaned on it, tilting her head so it rested on the tree trunk.

  It was the look in her daughter’s eyes that sent a bolt of energy through Mrs. Whittaker. The look of longing. The look of love. She wanted her daughter to be happy. She couldn’t stand to see Emily so miserable anymore.

  She was going to be happy again. So would her children.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ANDREW, THE BOUNTY HUNTER

  ANDREW, THE BOUNTY HUNTER

  Sam rode to the Horse N Saddle. As he pulled up and stopped his horse in front, he saw Adam, Mark and Andrew come out. They stopped when they saw him. Adam lifted his hand and saluted the big Irishman.

  “Sam! Where you comin’ from?”

  Sam dismounted and walked toward them, throwing the rope around the hitching post. His horse wouldn’t wander off anyway. “Adam. Mark. Andrew. You doin’ good today?”

  The men responded with nods.

  “You look like you’re upset. You got somethin’ on your mind? Anything I can do for ya?” Adam walked toward him, holding out his hand. Sam shook it.

  “Nah, I don’t think there’s anything you can do. Appreciate it, though.”

  “Did you just come from the rodeo site?” Adam asked.

  Sam raised his eyebrows. “How did you know that?”

  “I guessed. Did you see your lady friend?”

  Sam wanted to go inside. “Yeah, I talked to her. I need a stiff drink. I’m going inside. You boys are welcome to come back in, unless you don’t have time.”

  “I have all the time in the world,” Andrew said. “And I think I might have some information for you that could change your mind about the Whittaker's.”

  Sam looked at the newcomer, frowning. “What do you mean?”

  Andrew smiled up at him. “I’m sure you are smart enough to have figured out there’s something going on with that family. You strike me as someone who has a sharp mind and keen eyes. Am I right?”

  “I like to think so,” Sam replied. Adam and Mark looked at Andrew.

  “I think we can confirm that, can’t we, Mark?” He looked at Mark for confirmation. Mark nodded.

  “Definitely. I have time. Adam, you got somewhere to be?”

  Adam shook his head. He held his hand out to the door. “Let’s go back inside, Sam. You can get that drink and we can talk to you. Andrew has already filled us in on what he knows.”

  Sam went past them and they followed him into the saloon. He nodded his head at Allan, who nodded back. He went to the nearest table with four chairs and sat down. The other men followed suit.

  Allan was quickly at their table with a shot glass of clear liquid and beer in a mug. He set them down in front of Sam and looked at the other men. “Any of you fellows want something to drink? I could swear I just saw twins for all of you leaving only moments ago.”

  The men chuckled.

  “I’ll take another beer, Allan, thanks.” Mark said.

  “I’m good, thanks,” Adam said. Andrew just shook his head, smiling.

  “Let me know if you change your mind,” Allan said.

  As soon as he left the table, Sam leaned forward on the sturdy wooden table and looked at Andrew. “So what is this information you think I will be so interested in?”

  “What do you know about the Whittaker's?”

  Sam looked at him, annoyed. He felt strange inside. His stomach was turning and a feeling of dread at what he might hear swept over him. “What do you know about them?” he asked in return.

  Adam lifted one hand. “Sam, my friend. What he knows could be useful to you. He’s not trying to step in on your business. But we all know that you have your eye on Emily and we want to make sure you know everything before you get too far in.”

  I’m already too far in, Sam thought. He wanted to spend the rest of his life looking into Emily’s eyes. He wanted her to have his children. He was older than her, but not by too much and if she didn’t have children soon, she would have a terrible time as an older woman trying to conceive and give birth. The risk was high enough at a young age.

  “I don’t know a lot,” he admitted, looking at Andrew. “What I do know is probably just the surface.” He would have told Adam and Mark what he’d seen at the rodeo site if Andrew wasn’t there. He was though and Sam wasn’t sure he trusted him.

  “You’re probably right,” Andrew nodded. “That’s what they do. They keep a low profile so no one can detect their movements.”

  Sam frowned. Andrew was making the family out to be outlaws. That’s not what he saw. He was going to have a hard time believing it was true.

  Andrew leaned forward, setting his elbows on the table and pointing his hands in Sam’s direction. “It’s not Emily that we’re concerned about. Let me tell you that first, so you will worry less.”

  It did give Sam a bit of relief to hear that. He was still worried, though.

  “Go on,” he said.

  “The brother. Well, he is suspected of having committed some petty crimes in some of the other states they’ve traveled through. Theft, that kind of thing. But when he came to the state of Nevada, he committed the ultimate crime.”

  “He murdered someone in cold blood?”

  Andrew nodded. “That’s correct.”

  Sam looked at him frowning. “I thought you were here on your honeymoon with your wife?”

  “Sheila and I have been on our honeymoon since we married,” he confirmed, nodding. “But she is my… she’s my helper, of sorts. She doesn’t get paid but her brain figures out some of the most amazing things. She’s a wonder, I promise you. Highly intelligent.”

  “I see. And how long have you been on this honeymoon?”

  Andrew smiled, looking up at the ceiling. “Let’s see, I guess… two years now?”

  Sam grunted. “And is that how long you’ve been pursuing Ryan?”

  Andrew nodded. “About that long, yes. Coincidence?”

  “I think not,” Sam said.

  Andrew chuckled.

  “So you are with the deputy? Are you a sheriff?”

  “No. I’m a bounty hunter.”

  “There’s a price on his head?” Sam’s frown deepened. If anyone found out about that, Emily could be in danger. She would be devastated enough to lose her brother when he went to prison.

  “Yes. If it’s him.”

  Sam was silent, staring at the other man. “What does that mean? Do you have a warrant for him?”

  Andrew looked down at the table. “Well, you see, we aren’t completely sure he committed the crime. When he was here in the Horse N Saddle last time when I was here, it was the first time I’ve ever been that close to him. I heard his voice.”

  “So he’s a suspect. How much proof do you have it was him that committed the crime?”

  “It’s all circumstantial evidence. It won’t hold up in a court of law.”

  “Then what are you doing following him and why haven’t you grabbed him and put him in your custody for the reward?”

  Andrew looked down at the table again. He ran his fingers through each other over and over, an indication that he was nervous. He finally looked up, glancing at all three men one at a time. They were all looking at him. He took in a deep breath before replying, “Look, I’ve been following these people for two years now. I’ve watched their every move. At first, if I had been as close to him as I was yesterday, I would have jumped on him and done exactly what you said, Sam. But over the years, I’ve seen them struggling. I’ve been waiting to see him commit another crime, hoping it could be tied to him so he will get the punishment he deserves for a
ll his crimes. But… well, if he’s innocent…”

  “You think he might be innocent?”

  Andrew looked up at the big man and shrugged. “I just don’t know, my friend. And I’m not willing to put Emily and her mother through that pain if he is.”

  Sam nodded, giving the man a satisfied look. “That’s noble of you, Andrew. I’m glad you thought about it like that.”

  Andrew nodded back. “The reason I asked you what you knew of him is because you’ve been in contact with them on a personal level. I really just wanted to know what you thought. Do you think he could be guilty of murder?”

  Sam pulled in a breath and held it for a moment, thinking. “I’ve seen some strange things, I must tell you. However, I don’t think he’s a murderer. I’ve looked him direct in the face. He’s terrified of me and I’ve never done anything to him. He had an opportunity to get violent with me yesterday but he turned tail and ran. He’s not a violent man at all. I think he’s just all talk.” He looked at Adam. “Didn’t you have a long conversation with him last night?”

  Adam nodded, looking at the other men. “As a matter of fact, I did. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who had a violent past. He seemed like he was in pain. He told me a lot of stories about the rodeo, what they’d done, where they’d been. But he never mentioned being in trouble. Of course, he wouldn’t, would he?”

  “He didn’t tell you anything personal about himself?” Sam asked.

  Adam shook his head. “Nothing significant that would make me suspicious of him in any way. He drank a lot, seemed to be able to handle himself when he left.”

  “I thought I saw Emily walking down the street last night.”

  “That would surprise me,” Andrew said. “The woman hardly ever comes out to see the light of day.”

  “I can attest to that.” Sam nodded. “I saw her today. Emily was arguing with her brother right outside their trailer. She ran off towards the woods and her mother came out to keep Ryan from yelling at her. Then the owner of the rodeo, I think his name is Max. He went in there and slammed the door behind him. I didn’t see him come out. I went to look for Emily.”

  “You found her?” Adam asked.

  Sam nodded at him. Allan came over with new beer mugs for Sam and Mark. He looked at the other two men.

  “Either of you want anything?”

  Both men shook their heads. Allan nodded and went back to the bar.

  “When I found her, she started crying. I just wanted to help her. I didn’t want to scare her or make her think I would do something wrong to her. I won’t. You know that.” Sam almost sounded hurt. Adam thought it was strange to see a big man like him with a childlike look on his face. He reached over and put his arm on Sam’s shoulder.

  “It’s gonna work out for the best, Sam. I can at least tell you that.”

  Sam chuckled. “And how do you know that, Adam?”

  Adam smiled at him. “Because it always does, of course.”

  “All I can say to you, friend,” Andrew said. “Is that they are under suspicion. Well, the brother is. The son. Ryan Whittaker is suspected of murder but there is no proof. I have been seeking proof for a long time.”

  Sam shook his head. “People are getting shot and killed all the time. What are the details of this?”

  “What I know is that he was playing cards with some other men. They were gambling. There was a fight.”

  “Let me guess. He pulled out a gun and shot someone?” Mark said.

  Andrew shook his head. “That’s the strange thing about it. The murder didn’t involve one of the men he was fighting with. It was in the alley behind the saloon where they were playing and it was just one of the other patrons. He hadn’t been robbed, either. It was as though Ryan went back there, stabbed this man and disappeared.”

  Sam drew his eyebrows together. “Who said it was Ryan who did it?”

  “There was a witness. An unreliable witness, though, a man who just came out of the saloon and saw someone running from the alley. He said he thought it was one of the men playing cards and pinpointed Ryan.”

  “That seems strange to me. Has he tried to answer for the charge?”

  “Not once,” Andrew shook his head. “He’s been with the rodeo for a long time. Him and his sister. When his father passed a few years ago, their mother went on the road with them. He was just passing through and no one knew the schedule for the rodeo. So I’ve been tracking them. I’ve missed them several times but now I have them in my sights, closer than ever before. I want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. Lives could be saved.”

  “I doubt very seriously that Ryan is going to come into Wickenburg and stab someone or shoot someone,” Sam said. “He really doesn’t seem like the type to me. And he’s made friends with several people here. It’s like they don’t really want to leave.”

  “He hasn’t made any friends here,” Adam corrected Sam. “He’s talked to some of us, but he hasn’t made any friends. There’s a difference.”

  Sam nodded. “That’s true. I stand corrected.”

  “What do you think we should do about this situation then?” Andrew asked, looking at Sam.

  Sam looked back at him. He hadn’t expected to be asked that question. Andrew was the bounty hunter. If he was a good one, he should know what to do next. He supposed under normal circumstances, it would be different. Andrew would have immediately arrested the suspect and taken him in. However, he had his doubts about Ryan and that showed good moral fiber. Sam was beginning to like the man.

  “I’m not sure what to do. First thing, though, is to make sure Emily is safe. She went running off into the woods and I don’t know if she came back out. She could have gotten lost. She could have fallen down a ravine like my brother-in-law did when he came to Wickenburg.”

  “You’re brother-in-law fell down a ravine?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Sam said, nodding. “He was busted up pretty good, too. My sister is the one who found him and nursed him back to health. Now he’s my brother-in-law. No surprise there.”

  The men laughed.

  “So,” Andrew said looking at the other men, crossing his arms in front of him. “Where do we start looking? If we go back to the rodeo site… Wait a minute; doesn’t she have to do a performance in about an hour?”

  Sam’s eyes opened wide. “Everyone will be out looking for her. None of those rodeo people knows anything about those woods she went in. They’ll get lost or hurt, for sure.”

  “We gotta do something about it right now.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  BOOTS TO HIKE IN

  BOOTS TO HIKE IN

  Emily followed Sam back to the road and watched as he hurried toward the main road where his horse was waiting for him. She wrapped her arm around a tree. Her heart was thumping against her chest. She could barely see him through the tears in her eyes.

  She didn’t want to fight with Ryan anymore. Yet she wanted the man walking away from her to be hers. She had never felt this much attraction for anyone in her lifetime.

  She watched him until she couldn’t see him anymore. She looked up at the window of her trailer. She thought she could see her mother’s face in the window but the reflection was against the window, reflecting the outside. She turned and went back into the woods. She didn’t want to go back to the trailer. She didn’t want to fight with Ryan anymore.

  Emily took a few steps forward and then looked to the left and the right. She didn’t know where she was going. She was aware of that fact. She didn’t want to go to town and didn’t want to go back to the trailer. She wanted some time alone. If she wandered off and got lost, she would be in trouble.

  She shook her head. She’d find her way back. She’d walk a straight line, then turn around, and come back.

  She looked up at the tall trees jutting out against the sky. She stayed still for a moment, listening to the sounds of the woods. The light wind rustled through the leaves. She could hear squirrels and other small animals skittering h
ere and there, running up the trees and over the limbs. Birds were calling to one another, flying above her with no seeming destination.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in a place that was so quiet. So serene. She felt more peace than she had in a long time. She tried not to think about the problems she was facing.

  Emily looked down at her feet before she started walking again. She was wearing her boots, as usual. They weren’t the best footwear for a hike through the woods. She couldn’t take them off though, because walking in socks or bare feet was unacceptable. There was no telling what she would step on.

  She moved forward anyway, deciding that if it came down to it, she would rest. She might have blisters on her feet when she got back, but she would at least stop and give her feet a rest. She just couldn’t see going back to the trailer for the proper shoes.

  She enjoyed the breeze that lifted her hair. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind of hurt and confusion. It was nearly impossible.

  There was no way she could stop thinking about the trouble her brother was in, what it had meant when he was accused of killing the man at the saloon. He’d been running from that ever since. He had no way to prove his side of the story. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Not with Max lording it over them like a slave master.

  He’d cut their pay from the rodeo almost in half over the last two months. The pressure Emily and family were feeling was tremendous. They weren’t destitute and if they could leave the rodeo, they would be well enough off to buy some land, hopefully with a house already on it and live comfortably for a few months while they searched for new careers.

  Max knew how Emily had been feeling. She was the kind of girl that hated to hold anything back. When she felt like saying something, she said it. She had told him that when the itch first came, she needed to leave the rodeo. It was then that the truth was revealed to Emily. She felt worse and worse as the months went by, knowing that she might have to work the rodeo until her dying day.