Texas Mail Order Bride by Linda Broday

Author:Linda Broday
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc
Published: 2014-10-28T20:55:36+00:00

Twenty-two

The noise in the back room of the saloon was deafening. Cooper pounded a gavel that the last circuit judge had left behind. “I call this meeting of the Battle Creek Bachelors’ Club to order.”

His brothers Brett and Rand were in attendance, as well as a half-dozen others.

When the men paid Cooper no mind, Brett shouted, “Quiet!”

At last the talking ceased.

“Abner, what the hell are you doing here?” Cooper peered at the one-legged man who sat outside the hotel every day and watched the comings and goings and reported everything to the sheriff. Some of it was accurate, but the biggest portion was nothing but figments of Abner’s imagination. Lord knew the man wasn’t in danger of anyone seeking to marry him. Besides, he smelled.

Abner puffed up. “Just ’cause I ain’t got two legs, you think I don’t belong here? We men gotta stick together. Why, just today I saw a group of those women attackin’ George Lexington an’ threatening to close down the hotel if’n he don’t shape up.”

“You’ve been seeing things, Abner.” Cooper knew for certain that no one had attacked Lexington.

And there sat Old Hickory, the town drunk, as big as you please. “Hickory, what in God’s name are you thinking? You can’t stay sober long enough to join anything.”

Old Hickory hiccuped. “Beggars cain’t…cain’t be choosers.”

Chuckles went around the table. Rand stood. “Coop, I make a motion to change our name. Seems to me we have a bigger reason to band together these days.”

“Just what are you proposing?”

“I reckon ‘the Gentlemen’s Society’ would about cover it.”

“I second the motion,” Brett spoke up.

Every hand raised when Cooper called for the vote. “Then it’s agreed the Bachelors’ Club has become the Gentlemen’s Society.” He grinned. “I reckon it’s a good thing, in light of the fact that I see three married men here.”

“We gotta do something or these women will be telling us what clothes we can wear and how we can walk down the street,” the barber said. “This is war.”

A murmur of agreement filled the small, airless room.

Old Hickory raised his hand. “When do you serve refr-refreshments?” The man grabbed on to the table to keep from falling out of his seat.

“Any refreshments you want you’re gonna pay for yourself,” Rand declared. “Besides, you’ve had enough.”

“The h-hell you say!” Hickory frowned and hiccuped again.

“What we need to do is figure out how we’re going to deal with this,” Cooper said, bringing them back to the subject. “Any ideas?”

“We could tie Miss Dandridge up and put her on the next stage back to Georgia,” the barber suggested.

One of the married men stood. “I ain’t been gettin’ nothing but grief at home from the missus. We need to make a believer out of the woman.”

“Now, hold on.” Cooper slammed the gavel onto the table to be heard over the roar. He didn’t like the direction this had taken. He was going to have to do something fast or Delta would be in a lot of danger. “I said quiet!”

Finally the men got the message.

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