Bride School: Molly (The Brides of Diamond Springs Ranch 3) by Bella Bowen

Author:Bella Bowen [Bowen, Bella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mrs. Carnegie, Bride School, Ranchers, Spirited Brides, Diamond Springs, Ranch, Western, Victorian, Historical, Forever Love, Frontier, Wyoming, Western Territory, Country, Short Story, Cousin, Kinder Man, Nightmares, Dancing, Damaged Soul, Mending Animals, Wounded
Goodreads: 25658586
Publisher: LL Muir
Published: 2014-07-18T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Easy, Molly,” her pa hissed.

“Stay where you are!” she hissed back. Her hand flew to the gun beneath her skirts, then her conscience made her recoil as if the metal had burned her fingers. What Christian woman would even consider shooting her own father?

“Good thinkin', child.” He looked nervously around the horses' heads. “You're being watched, sure.”

Yes. She was being watched. She needed to remember that. If the whole town watched over her in the daylight, surely a few folks still watched in the darkness, if only to glimpse the ladies and gentlemen when they came out after the dance was over. Likely, she only needed to stand up and wave her arms around and someone would come. But if she just sat still for a few minutes, Fontaine would be back.

“Don't you fret about that guard dog neither,” her pa said. “She'll be locked in the privy for a while.”

It didn't matter, she told herself. Others were watching. Were they also listening?

“What do you want?” she called out.

Her pa hissed. “Pipe down. I came to take you home. Nobody can fault you for leaving when they're expecting you to dance that devil's dance.”

The waltz played on behind her and he gave a nod to prove his point.

But that couldn't be the reason he'd come. He couldn’t have known they'd be playing waltzes. It could have taken him weeks to get there if he hadn't taken the train. And even if he had, the man had to have planned his trip days ago.

She took hold of the little porcelain arm in her pocket and pressed on. “What do you really want?”

Heaven help her, she'd all but called him a liar, but he wasn't close enough to punish her for it, and he didn't dare walk out into the circles of light cast by the lanterns. If he got a hold of her later, of course...

“I come to bring you home, child. I won't see these strangers break your heart. You know you ain't good enough for the likes of them. They just brought you here to make those other women look even prettier.”

If her eyes had been closed, she could have believed her pa had knocked her in the stomach with his fist, his words dealt her such a blow.

Wasn't she pretty? Hadn't she felt pretty enough to hold her own with the rest? At least until they got inside the hall?

Pa's words couldn't be true. But they felt true. After all, hadn't Mr. Craighton just looked past her like she wasn't even there? And what about that speech, when he'd walked her back to the hotel that she'd have still caught his eye even if she had nothing to do with Diamond Springs? Had Craighton been lying then?

But she also remembered looking into his eyes. He'd seemed quite sincere at the time.

“Molly.” Her father waved to get her attention again. “You know Stalton fancies you. He don't care if you're plain, and he don’t care that you’re cousins. If you really wanted to marry, you shoulda said so.

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