Bridgeport Holiday Brides (Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 Book 5) by Zina Abbott

Author:Zina Abbott [Abbott, Zina]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Prairie Rose Publications
Published: 2016-11-17T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Raised male voices on the other side of the door to the dining room caught Beth’s attention. She stepped closer to hear the topic that had her future brother-in-law so vocal.

Hazel hissed at her sister. “Beth, you ain’t eavesdroppin’, are you?”

Beth whispered back even as she motioned her sister forward. “Hush! He’s talkin’ about my land. Reckon I’ve a right to listen.”

On the other side of the door, an animated Edwin waved his arm in Val’s direction. “You’re an absolute fool, Val, to put up with this nonsense from that woman. Do you honestly plan to live in some shack on her property just so she can homestead it?”

“It’s important to her,” Val said evenly, “and I don’t see the harm in it. I’ve known her since she came out here, Edwin. After what she went through with her first husband, I understand why she feels the need to have something to fall back on.”

“I knew you were weak, little brother, but it sounds like she has definitely put a ring in your nose. Now, instead of you letting her lead you around, you need to be smart about this. This land of hers along Robinson Creek, it borders the ranch doesn’t it?”

“No. There’s a parcel between us and her place, but it’s not far.”

“Who has the parcel in between? Is it something we can pick up?”

Luther broke out in a laugh. “Nope! Turns out while we were looking over some property for Beth to choose from, after she settled on the one she has, one of our men, Hank, decided to file a claim on the piece between us.”

“Good! From what I recall, that’s good pastureland. Let him live there and do enough improvements to get it proved up. Once he has the patent, we can buy the property from him.”

Luther shook his head. “No, that’s not what he has in mind. He says he’ll still be available to help on the ranch in spring and fall, but he’ll work on his own place the rest of the time. He’s been a muleskinner for years, helped out a lot with the freighting we’ve done on the side. He’s decided to go into business for himself. In fact, we’ve agreed to sell him our team of mules…”

“No.” Edwin cut him off, shoving his finger in Luther’s face. “You will not sell the animals and freight wagon. You’ll lease them to him. That way, you still have a hold over him. If he doesn’t come around and sell the property to us in five years, you don’t renew the lease on the mules and wagon. Force his back to the wall so he has to sell.”

Val sat up straight, a frown on his face. “We don’t operate that way, Edwin. We’ve worked hard around here to develop a reputation for being trustworthy. Hank has gotten us out of more than one scrape. He’s a good man to have as a neighbor. In fact, I like the idea of him being

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