A Bride's Dilemma Read online

  A Bride's Dilemma

  Shady Forks Brides

  Blythe Carver

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  1

  Melissa Winchester shifted in her seat in the church pew, for the first time restless that the sermon would be over. She’d awakened that morning with a terrible feeling and just wanted the day to end. Normally Sunday was her favorite day of the week. The whole family ate lunch together, which on a normal basis was strictly dinnertime.

  Melissa lived on the Winchester Ranch with her brothers, their wives, and their children. She was the only one of the three not married, but she was betrothed, at least. At twenty-three, she would be bordering on spinsterhood if she wasn’t.

  She and Jonah Bell had been courting for almost a year. Her brother had gotten married in the meantime, and truth be told, it made her wonder why Jonah was dragging his feet.

  The sermon had to be coming to a close soon. She wasn’t paying a lick of attention and felt really bad about it. She knew God would understand that it was a rarity. Her mind was elsewhere, and there was nothing she could do about it.

  When she and Jonah had started talking more exclusively to one another than anyone else, they had been almost a perfect fit. Jonah was outgoing, like she was, a hard-working man, a huge lumberjack with a heart of gold. He stood 6’5 and was built like a small building.

  Melissa, on the other hand, wasn’t any bigger than the other women in town. She stood almost a foot shorter and leaned toward petite rather than hefty. Despite the odd couple they presented, Melissa and Jonah got along famously. She had fond memories of laughing and having fun with him at festivals and parties, a delightful tingle when she thought of him or anticipated seeing him soon.

  That feeling was gone now. She hated to admit it, but she couldn’t deny it was a fact. Every time she looked at him now, she wondered what he was up to, what he was thinking. She was suspicious of him. Her intuition told her something was wrong.

  She’d shared her suspicion with her sister-in-law Theresa, and Aileen the nanny, asking them if she was overreacting to something non-existent. Unfortunately, both the ladies were not encouraging, telling her they’d seen a change as well.

  All Melissa could think about was the night before. Late into Saturday evening, her dinner was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. The Winchester Ranch didn’t employ a butler, and the housekeeper did not live on the property, so Melissa’s brother Nate, the one who had recently married, got up to answer it.

  They had all turned in their seats and looked to see who could be disturbing them on a Saturday night. Melissa had heard Nate’s greeting, a scuffle, and then a ragged-looking man she didn’t recognize came stomping into the dining room where they had all been seated.

  He had demanded to see Jonah. It took a lot of talking and eventually threats from both her brothers, Richard and Nate, to convince the man that Jonah didn’t live there. It was obvious he’d never seen Jonah before because he kept accusing the brothers of being the man.

  Jonah had shown up to church late and was sitting in a seat in the far back. At least, he had been the last time Melissa turned to look for him. When their eyes met, he had shaken his head, indicating he was going to keep the seat he had. It was up to her at that point whether she wanted to leave her brothers and sisters-in-law to sit with him. She decided against it. She was angry, and it would come through her demeanor all the way through church.

  Not that her anxiety was making the experience any better.

  Melissa had a message to relay to her betrothed. And a lot of questions to go along with it. The man who had invaded their home somehow knew Jonah was connected to Melissa. Before her brothers tossed the man out, he yelled back the words she would never forget. The message echoed in her mind and would bother her until she was able to talk to Jonah about it.

  Service was over, and Melissa shot to her feet, relief flooding her. She prayed for forgiveness as she weaved through the people filtering out through the front of the church.

  “Jonah,” she called out, not caring if anyone around heard her. They all knew who she was and knew the two were courting. “Jonah, wait.”

  One of her neighbors turned as she was leaving, talking over her shoulder to Melissa. “I don’t think he heard you. He just went through the door. I’m sure if you hurry, you can catch up to him.”

  Irritation slipped through Melissa. She suspected he had heard her and just pretended not to. She tried hard to keep the look from showing in her expression.

  “Thank you, Betty,” she said quickly, matching her tone with her step and slipping in between the remaining people to the front door. She went through unabated and stopped at the end of the small porch, looking first toward the lot where people left their horses. The buggies and wagons were to the right, but Jonah was typically alone and didn’t need to drive a buggy to church.

  Melissa’s eyes widened, and rage filled her chest when she saw Jonah mounting his horse, seemingly in a hurry. He kicked the animal’s flanks, and off it raced, carrying him away from the church.

  “What is going on with him?” she murmured, heading down the front steps and crossing to the family buggy to the right. No matter what, he should have said something to her.

  He was supposed to be marrying her.

  2

  Two days later, on a bright Tuesday afternoon, Melissa, her sisters-in-law, and the nanny, plus all four children, were taking a casual stroll down the main street where all the shops and businesses were located.

  It was a typical June day in Shady Forks, Wyoming. Melissa tilted her head to the side, admiring a new dress being displayed in the window of the dress repair shop. She glanced at Theresa, who came up beside her.

  “Do you like this one?” she asked, indicating the dress. “Do you think it’s here for repair or it’s for sale? Does she sell clothes?”

  Theresa lifted her eyes to the dress and scanned the interior of the building through the window.

  “I see other ones on display back there. I guess she makes dresses, too. It must be new. I don’t think I’ve bought a dress from her or even thought she had them to sell.”

  “It is new,” Annie, Rich’s wife, appeared between and behind both of the ladies. They turned toward each other to look back at her. “It’s actually because she’s hired this new woman, Ruth. She was supposed to be a repair girl, but apparently, she makes dresses, too, and she’s supposed to be really good. So Diana decided to let her sell her dresses from here, too.”

  “Well, that’s awful nice of her,” Melissa said. She was wondering if Diana was taking any of Ruth’s profits in return for letting her sell the dresses there. It seemed fair if she was. How much was the question.

  These thoughts ran through Melissa’s mind, and then she felt a bit of embarrassment because of them. It really wasn’t any of her business at all. The Winchester family was one of the richest in Wyoming that year of 1890, but most of the businesses being run in Shady Forks were
individually owned and operated.

  Feeling like she should mind her own business, Melissa examined the dress again and turned to go in to ask the price. In the reflection of the glass, she saw something that stopped her in her tracks. She froze, her hand on the door handle.

  Annie almost bumped into her.

  “Oh. Are you going in, Melissa?”

  Melissa stiffened and stepped back to make way for them if they wanted to go in. “Actually, I’m not going in. Now, I don’t want you two to react or anything, but Jonah is over there, and I want to find out who that is he’s talking to. There are too many coincidences with people coming in town that I don’t know, and it relates to Jonah. That man showing up at our house and now him over there talking to another stranger? I’m going to follow him. Right now, I’m going to see if I can get close enough to not be seen but be able to hear what they are talking about.”

  “You don’t want to be doing something like that on your own,” Theresa said in a hurried voice. “Let me come with you. Two women won’t look as suspicious to him, especially if we’re talking.”

  “I don’t even want him to know I’m there.”

  Theresa nodded and gave her a smile. “That’s fine. I’m bigger than you. I’ll shield you.”

  Melissa couldn’t help feeling a little amused by that statement. But her ire at the way Jonah had been treating her lately was enough to fuel her reaction. She nodded vehemently, and the two women stepped away from the other two.

  “Keep an eye on the kids, won’t you, Aileen?” Theresa instructed.

  Aileen grinned wide. “You’re asking me to do my job, then?”

  Theresa laughed. “Yes, yes. I mean no. Oh, you know what I mean.”

  “Come on, Theresa,” Melissa urged her, tugging on her sleeve. “I want to know what they’re talking about.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  The two women crossed the street. “Did you ever get to tell him what that man said to us?” Theresa asked.

  Melissa shook her head. “No. He hasn’t spoken to me since that Saturday during the day before the man came demanding to see him.”

  “I’m sorry you’ve had this burden of carrying that around with you every day,” Theresa replied, sympathy in her voice. “That must be an uncomfortable feeling. I know you have questions.”

  Melissa turned her head to look at the taller woman. “Of course, I do. How could I not?”

  It didn’t take long to cross the street. Melissa was relieved when Theresa murmured, “Okay, we got past him easily, and he didn’t recognize you or see you. I suppose not anyway.”

  “Were you able to hear anything of relevance when we passed them?” Melissa asked. “Because I didn’t. I will be honest, I was interested in our conversation too much to be listening.”

  Theresa grinned. “I did hear what they were talking about, but just a snippet. And it sounded like Jonah said the name Luke.”

  The two ladies stepped up in front of the postmaster’s office and turned around. Melissa made sure to stand at an angle where she could peek around her bonnet and see Jonah with the strange man. They looked like they were having an intense conversation. She glanced back at Theresa. “So, what were they talking about?”

  “Money. Like I said, I didn’t hear much, but I got the impression he owes the man. Jonah owes him. Has he been gambling lately?”

  Melissa felt momentary confusion. This behavior was so different from the man she fell in love with. What happened? What could possibly have driven Jonah to gamble or go deep in debt or any of that? He was a hard-working lumberjack who might kick it up in the saloon every now and then but generally stuck to his normal routine of work and woman. He’d never made her feel rejected before. Something happened six months ago, and everything had changed, including nearly every aspect of his personality.

  Melissa looked around again and saw that he had parted from the man and was now walking in their direction. He didn’t stop, though. He continued to hurry down the road. Eventually, they saw him get on his horse and ride in the direction of his house.

  Frowning and with her arms folded across her face, Melissa watched him ride away with a stern look. “I can’t believe he’s avoiding me this way. It was like he didn’t look at me at all. It makes me wonder if we are even still together at this point. I haven’t spent any time with him in weeks.”

  “You realize all of this could be above board, and that man could have been making a business deal with him, right?” Theresa asked in a reasonable voice.

  Melissa narrowed her eyes at her sister-in-law. “That man that interrupted our dinner was not there to make a business deal, Theresa. You and I both know that.”

  Theresa lifted her eyebrows and gave Melissa a conceding glance. “That is very true. Well, what do you want to do now? Maybe you should go after him and demand some answers. Lord knows, he owes you some. This behavior is too strange. And what if that man that came into our house was more aggressive? What if he wanted to take whatever is between them out on our family? We certainly can’t let that happen.”

  “No.” Melissa shook her head. “I’m not prepared to confront him right now. I don’t… feel so good.”

  She was speaking the truth. Since the initial shock of catching sight of him in the window, her heart had been racing, her palms were sweaty, and her body felt like it was on fire. Not to mention the fear of being caught snooping.

  “Eventually, I will,” she said quickly before Theresa could respond. “Eventually, I will, and it won’t be a pretty sight. Just not today. I want to have my head clear before I say anything to him. Right now, it’s still so filled with emotions. And none of them are good ones.”

  She sighed, turning away from the street and back in the direction of her family.

  “I’ll visit him tonight.”

  3

  “You know what you should do?” Melissa turned to look at Theresa, who was speaking to her. The ladies had settled on benches outside the ice cream parlor, watching the four children run and play in a nearby field. Melissa was always impressed by how easily they were amused and wondered if she’d been the same way when she was a youngster.

  “What should I do?” Melissa asked.

  “You should talk to Rich and Nate about this. They are used to dealing with unscrupulous men, aren’t they? I would think more than we are, at least. Maybe they know who these men are—the ones we don’t recognize.”

  Melissa nodded, turning her head to watch her nephews and niece run around through the grass. If only to be carefree like that again.

  On the other hand, Melissa was perfectly satisfied with making her own decisions in life. She didn’t want to be a child again, not able to control anything going on in her world. She liked it just the way it was.

  That was one of the reasons she was upset that Jonah was upsetting the balance. She liked for things to be under control and steady. Sudden changes to disrupt everything were not wanted.

  Jonah had thrown a wrench into the works, and now it was coming to a head. Every day Melissa was feeling less and less like she wanted to spend the rest of her life with that man. She couldn’t imagine what he would say to convince her otherwise.

  Theresa and Annie had their own opinions, and they let her know what they were. She listened, but with half her mind, she was wondering what Jonah would say the next time they met up. How would he act? As if nothing had happened and everything was normal? That’s what he usually did.

  Melissa wasn’t going to let him get away with that, though. She would confront him. She would find out what was going on and ask him why that man had come into a home that wasn’t his, demanding to see him and to return the money that was stolen from him.

  Melissa and the rest of the family hadn’t gotten a clear picture of whether the money was actually stolen or the man felt cheated out of a deal. But when Rich and Nate asked what name they should pass on to Jonah, he declined to answer and had, at that point, high-tailed it out of the Winchester Ranch.
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  “It’s not like they don’t know about what’s going on,” Theresa said, pulling Melissa out of her thoughts. She realized the ladies hadn’t stopped talking about Jonah and Melissa’s current dilemma. “You should talk to them. I know they will want to help resolve this situation.”

  “I want their help, of course,” Melissa replied. “And their protection, too. But in the end, you know it’s going to be me who has to put a stop to this. And I don’t know how I’m going to go about doing that. Not just yet.”

  Annie’s eyes opened wide, and Theresa’s eyebrows shot up while her jaw went slack.

  “So you are really going to end it?” Theresa asked in an astonished voice. “You’ve already decided that?”

  “Oh, Melissa.” Annie sounded just as shocked. “I don’t know whether to be happy or sad for you. You’ve spent so long with him.”

  Melissa nodded, fully aware of the time she’d wasted with Jonah. On second thought, it wasn’t time wasted because most of it had been enjoyable. Jonah had shown her enough love and friendship to justify getting betrothed.

  Whatever had changed Jonah, it had destroyed any chance they could have a long life together as a married couple. It was too much for Melissa to bear.

  “I haven’t decided whether to stop the courtship or not,” she admitted. In her heart, she longed for the way Jonah used to be. The gentle giant she’d fallen in love with. The man who had vowed on one knee to take care of her for the rest of her life. “I want to talk to him. I don’t know why he’s avoiding me. I wish he wouldn’t.”