Page 61 of Short-Straw Bride

Jim raised a brow. “What? Marry Cassie?”

“No. Willingly tie yourself to a pair of in-laws like Everett and Noreen Hayes?”

Jim growled and lunged for Travis, but Travis sidestepped his brother and darted up to the porch, a chuckle vibrating deep in his throat.

Maybe he wouldn’t have to worry about Jim moving into town after all.

27

Eager to get Cassie alone, Meredith shuffled her cousin off to the bedroom the minute the dishes were done. The men accepted her excuse of being tired easily enough. Heaven knew all the emotional upheaval they’d endured in the last few hours would exhaust the most robust of women. Yet in truth, sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

“Will Travis need to come in to get a change of clothes?” Cassie asked as she laid her small satchel on the bed. “I can wait to undress until after he gathers his things.”

“He has clothes set aside already. Don’t worry about him.” Heat suffused Meredith’s cheeks at the awkwardness that lay in that conversational direction. She quickly focused things back on her cousin. “You just make yourself comfortable. It will be like old times, the two of us snuggled under the covers, telling stories. And believe me, I expect to hear all about how you and Jim concocted this plan. Are you really prepared to marry him?”

Cassie paused in the midst of her unpacking, the hairbrush she’d pulled from the satchel quivering slightly in her hand. “I am.”

“Even though you hardly know him?” Meredith came up behind her cousin and started unpinning her hair.

“When you had to choose between Roy Mitchell and Travis, you chose an Archer. I’m doing the same. You don’t regret marrying Travis, do you?”

Meredith took the brush from Cassie and gently tugged it through the blond waves. “I don’t regret it. Not for a moment. But I’ve harbored feelings for him all these years. It will be different for you. Jim’s a good man, but he’s a stranger to you. How do you know you’d suit?”

“He kissed me,” Cassie whispered.

Meredith stopped brushing, the shock of Cassie’s admission slamming into her with the force of Samson’s hoof. She dropped the brush onto the bed and took hold of Cassie’s shoulders. Slowly she turned her cousin around to face her. “He kissed you?”

Silent, stoic Jim?

“Mm-hmm.” Cassie nodded, her rosy face glowing. “And it wasn’t a little peck on the cheek, like the ones my past suitors pressed on me. It was strong and deep and . . . wonderful.”

The sigh that escaped her held all the drama of a young girl’s first love. Meredith couldn’t help but smile. After all, she felt much the same about Travis, only her yearning had passed the early stages of attraction weeks ago. Her love for Travis had intensified to the point where she couldn’t imagine her life without him.

Meredith blinked. When had her schoolgirl crush turned into this soul-deep need? She’d called her young infatuation love, but when she looked into her heart now, nothing there resembled those girlish feelings. Everything was so much richer and deeper—as if what had come before was simply an artist’s preliminary sketch, void of detail and color, and over the last few weeks, that same artist had brushed the canvas of her heart with masterful strokes, creating a vibrant work that left her breathless.

“Do you think it’s shameful for me to hope that Papa won’t change his mind about Roy?” Cassie asked in a hushed voice, bringing Meredith’s mind back to the matter at hand. “So that Jim will have an excuse to marry me? Not that I wouldn’t prefer a proper courtship and time for us to get to know each other, but part of me worries that without the urgency, he’d stay out here on the ranch and forget about me altogether. The Archers don’t have much use for towns, you know.”

Meredith stroked Cassie’s arm and gripped her hand in reassurance. “The Archers are honorable to the core, Cass. If Jim kissed you the way I think he did, the last thing you need to worry about is him forgetting you.” Meredith gently steered her cousin around until her back faced her, then took up the brush again and resumed detangling her long tresses. “Besides, the Archers aren’t as reclusive as they appear. They’ve just been secluding themselves for so long it’s become a habit. I don’t imagine Jim would let a little thing like a town keep him from calling on you. He’s too smitten.”

Cassie’s head swiveled to the side. “Do you really think so?”

“Yes.” Meredith grinned and nudged Cassie’s chin back to the forward position. “The question is, are you smitten with him? Would you still want to marry him if the situation with Roy and your father didn’t exist?”

Meredith expected a quick, affirmative response. Cassie wasn’t known for having an overly contemplative nature, after all. But silence stretched between them. Meredith had set the brush aside and plaited a braid halfway down Cassie’s neck before her cousin finally answered.

“I feel safe, cherished when I’m with him. He held me while I cried today and never once asked me to hush. In his workshop, he vowed to protect me from Roy and even my father if it came to that. And when he looks at me . . .” She pivoted to face Meredith, her eyes soft and dewy.

Meredith tied off the braid with a piece of ribbon, and the two girls sat on the end of the bed.

“When he looks at me, Meri, he makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, as if he could gaze at me for a lifetime and never grow tired of my face. As if he sees not just who I am, but who I can become. And when I look at him, not only do I see a handsome suitor who makes my heart flutter, I see a solid, dependable man who can be counted on no matter how difficult the road may become. A man who wants more than a pretty ornament to dangle on his arm. A man who wants a partner.”

Cassie dipped her head and traced the line of a fabric fold in her skirt. “It seems too soon to label what I’m feeling love, but whatever it is, it is more intense than anything I’ve felt for any other beau.” She bit her lip, then finally raised her chin. “There is something strong between us, Meri. Something that promises to last. Would I marry him if we weren’t in this crazy predicament? Yes. I believe I would.”

Moisture gathered at the corners of Meredith’s eyes. “Then that’s all that matters.” She clasped Cassie to her breast and hugged her tight.

Guide her in this, Lord. Work this out for your good and hers.

Once the two separated, Meredith rose to her feet and began removing her own hairpins as she strolled toward the bureau. “You know what this means, of course,” she said, meeting Cassie’s gaze in the mirror.