Blessing Texas

On a hot August day, Bella Walker sat inside a room in the back of the church. A place brides had waited for years. Today was her wedding day. Uneasiness gripped her as she waited for the ceremony to begin. The chapel was filled with people from town and she heard the whispers regarding her marriage. 
Even she had misgivings. 
No, she wasn’t in love, but no other man had courted her. No one seemed to want her and she was nearing the old maid age of twenty-one. She longed for a home and family, children, and a man to love and care for her. 
Was Lester Clark the man to give her what she desired? Share his bed and bear his children?
A sigh escaped her as she thought of her own parents. They had a love match. And when one died, the other one went soon after. 
An only child, they had left her wealthy and alone when they passed from this world to the next. She had a modest home in town where she could comfortably live her life, but that wasn’t what she wanted. 
Sitting in the bride’s room, she stared out the window at the beautiful Texas sky, pondering her decision to wed. Living in Blessing, Texas, there were not many eligible men and if she didn’t marry Lester, then who knew if she would ever have the chance to meet and marry another man. 
She could be alone. The old maid Walker or the crazy lady in town who children ran from. Living and dying alone. 
The sound of voices laughing and joking came to her and she realized it was Lester and his friend Randal Jones, his best man. They sounded drunk. 
When she glanced out the window, she saw them staggering toward the church. Lester was handsome, not make-your-knees weak, or even make-your-heart-race good looking. Just a steady man or so she believed. 
Her husband to be was inebriated.
But now, the two men were holding each other up, laughing and giggling. 
“Are you certain you want to do this,” Randal asked. “She’s short and chubby.”
His words stung. No, she wasn’t tall and her figure had often been described as voluptuous. But this monster was calling her fat. 
“She’s rich,” Lester said with a grin. “She’s wealthy, and after tonight, I will never have to crawl between her legs again. She thinks we’re building a hotel together, but just as soon as I can, I’m headed to the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory alone. Looking for gold.”
He gave an evil laugh and shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows? She could suffer an accident.”
Tears sprung in her eyes. Lester was willing to kill her in order to get to her inheritance? 
“You dirty dog you,” Randal said with a laugh. “Now I understand what you’re doing. I don’t know if I feel for her or think you’re the smartest man I know. Marry the heiress and live off the spoils.”
Lester grinned and slapped Randal on the back. “This is why I’ve been drinking all morning. Look at what I’m marrying. Could you fuck that?”
A gasp escaped her at the coldness of her soon-to-be husband. She hung her head in shame. Was she that ugly? Yes, her hips were wide and she was short, but his words were cruel. 
At the thought of his kisses, a shiver ran down her spine. After hearing him talk about her this way, how could she marry him? Sleep with him? 
How had she thought that marrying Lester would be right for her? 
“Come, on man, let’s get in the church, so I can marry this little heifer,” he said with a laugh. 
A heifer? He thought of her as a cow? And he wanted her to finance their new hotel. The only thing she would finance for Lester was a one-way ticket to hell. 
Pain ripped through Bella as she stared around the room where happy brides should be. Tears trickled down her cheeks. What was she doing? Was she willing to settle for a man who obviously didn’t love and planned an accident to kill her?
“Oh, hell no,” she said suddenly standing. A calmness came over her and a certainty regarding her decision. 
She had to get out of here. She had to get away now.

Lillian Bradley sat astride a large red mare, gazing out at Texas’s rolling hills, counting the cattle for a third time. Someone was stealing her cows. 
With a sigh, her eyes roamed across the land she loved. All this acreage, cattle, goats, horses, and even a bunch of chickens, but they were all she had. Lily was alone. 
Yellow fever had raced through her family, killing everyone but herself. Alone, she didn’t understand how she had survived, but here she was with a large ranch and no one to help her with the many chores and responsibilities. 
Some days, it was more than a body could bear, but she refused to give up. 
Dust rose in the distance and she watched as a rider rode toward her. As the stranger drew closer, a groan rose in her throat. Jim White of the Big W Ranch, her neighbor, was coming for a visit. Rather an offer. 
The man owned the largest spread in this section of Texas and was known for his shady deals, swindling, and even his prostitutes. 
Pushing her long blonde curls back, her hand came to rest on the rifle she had become accustomed to being at her side. 
He pulled his horse up beside her. “Good morning, Miss Bradley. How are you today?”
She turned and gave him an irritated frown. The wind blew her blonde hair into her face and she brushed it back. “Someone is stealing my cattle.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “You know, a pretty young woman like yourself shouldn’t be worrying over lost cattle.”
“Maybe not, but yellow fever didn’t give me much choice.”
Her mare shimmied nervously, her paws dancing, eager to get away. 
“Let me buy the ranch from you. Or even better, have you considered my son Matt? You are of marrying age. We could combine our land together into one big family ranch.”
Like hell. She would shoot herself before she’d marry his weasel son. 
“Thank you, but I’m not selling my family’s land. Their deaths will not be in vain. As for marrying your son, no thank you.”
It was all she could do to keep from screaming oh hell no. Not Matt White, a mean, cussing, tobacco spitting boy who knew his father would always get him out of trouble. 
Mr. White’s face turned red and his lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t care. “A young woman should not be running a ranch.”
“And yellow fever should not have killed my family.” She sighed and turned to him. “For the last six months, I’ve taken care of this ranch and I plan on continuing. Need to find a new helper since Mr. Garza disappeared.”
The man was like family and she was so disappointed he left her when she needed him the most. For nearly fifteen years, the man worked on the ranch and then one day, he just vanished. 
“Miss Bradley,” Jim said, his voice coaxing and gentle. “I could take the worry off your hands. You would be free to be the young woman you long to be.”
It was true that she pined to have a carefree life again. One where all she had to worry about was helping her mother with dinner or the laundry. Where her grandmother baked a cake every week. Her grandfather and she went fishing when the weather permitted. But those days were gone. Stolen from her by a hideous disease. 
“I’m so glad you came by, Mr. White. If you know anything about who might be taking my cattle, tell them I’m a fine shot with a rifle and I will not hesitate to kill them. Also, if you see my helper, Mr. Garza, tell him I would like to talk with him about increasing his salary.”
Often times, she worried something had happened to Mr. Garza. Because she didn’t think he would have left without saying good-bye. At least, she hoped not. 
“Will do, Miss Bradley. You think about my offer. I’m willing to give you top dollar for your ranch.”
Top dollar, her ass. The man was a known cheat and would not give her anything for the Sweet B Ranch. Over the years, her father had complained how when times got bad, Ole Jim was there to steal the property for little or nothing from the ranchers in dire straits. 
“Good day, Mr. White.”
It was a clear signal for him to leave. She had an appointment with the banker later today and she needed to be riding into town but would wait until he was out of sight. Though she doubted he would do something, she could see him setting fire to the house to force her to sell. 
The man was a vulture of the worst kind. Preying on the weak and, right now, she was in his sights. 
What she needed was a husband. Someone to help her with the ranch. To keep rustlers from cutting the fence and stealing her herd. Someone to fill the house with love and laughter. Someone to help her create her own family.

Anna Best never dreamed her life could go so wrong. Two weeks before Christmas, her uncle sold her to the local whorehouse. One evening before the madam of the house could sell off her virginity, she’d been drugged and abducted. 
Now she found herself in a rough tow sack that smelled like potatoes being hauled around in the back of a wagon. Whoever opened this bag better be prepared, because she would come out fighting.
Anna was no simpering woman and she was aching to give a good tongue lashing. The bouncing of the wagon had jolted her awake to her head pounding, her wrists tied, her mouth covered, and stuffed in a bag. 
Not exactly how she’d planned her escape from the brothel. 
The wagon wheels came to a stop and she listened as two voices whispered in the darkness.
“Is this the right place,” a female voice said.
“I think so,” a young man replied. 
“Come on, lift her out of the wagon and let’s leave her on the doorstep.”
Anna wanted to scream, but all she could do was make muted noises. Still, she could kick.
“Good thing you stuffed her mouth, Ma.”
Ma? A woman was involved in her kidnapping?
Fury roared through her as they dragged the gunnysack along the back of the wagon. She kicked and flailed her legs trying to create as much havoc for them as possible.
“Stop moving, girl, or I will drop you right here in the dirt,” the woman said quietly. 
Where did she know that voice from?
Tiring, she stopped thrashing as they carried her then set her down on the cold ground.
“Let’s go,” the woman whispered in the darkness.
“Won’t she freeze to death?” a young male voice asked.
“Not this one. The devil is strong within her,” the woman said.
What? Did the woman believe she wanted to be taken to a whorehouse? To have her uncle, a family member, sell her? All she had asked for in life was a loving family. And look where that had gotten her.
Sold to a brothel.
As they walked away, the sounds of their retreating footsteps crunching on the ground sent fear slamming into Anna. Trembling, she lay balled up in the darkness, unable to discern where they left her. What if wild wolves or coyotes found her?
What if she died right here inside this bag?
The cold started to creep into the potato sack. In Blessing, Texas, the winters were mild, but still she started to shake. It was December, not exactly a hot summer day. 
Doubled over inside the bag, she didn’t have room to stretch her legs and they were going numb. She rolled and came up against a hard surface. A barn? House? 
Rocking inside the bag, she hit the wall.
Bang!
Did anyone live here? Did she want to find out?
Bang.
Bang.
Tiring, her shoulder throbbing, she heard a noise.
A door opened.
“What the hell?”
“Hold that lantern a little higher, Mack,” a voice said. 
“What’s the note say?” a deeper male voice asked. 
“Merry Christmas.”
Anna’s temper exploded. She writhed and screamed as much as she could inside the bag.
The men cursed. “Someone’s in there.”
With relief, she felt them untying the bag and pulling it down then lifting her to her numb feet. Her eyes were blinded by the light of the lantern.
“Oh my God, it’s a woman.”
“A damn fine-looking woman,” the other man said. 
Slowly her eyes adjusted to the light as she stared at two extremely handsome men standing in the doorway without shirts on. Muscled arms and chests with wisps of dark hair glowed in the warm light. 
Who were these men and why had she been delivered here?
“Santa brought us an early Christmas present. A woman.”