Free Second Chance Brides by Vickie Mcdonough Page A

wouldn’t do that again. Mark peeked sideways. Would he?
    He adjusted the brim of his hat to keep the sun’s glare from reaching his eyes. No, Garrett wouldn’t order more brides when they were already supporting two. “You know, it’s costing us a pretty penny to pay room and board for those two brides.”
    Garrett nodded. “Don’t I know it. I guess we should be grateful things turned out like they did, and that third bride ended up going to jail.”
    He remembered how Carly Payton, a member of an outlaw gang, had pretended to be Ellie Blackstone, the third bride who came to Lookout to marry Luke. Carly was a pretty thing with her black hair and deep blue eyes, but she had a roughness to her. She was in prison now, and the real Ellie Blackstone had returned home with her brother. “I heard Rachel say she was writing to that outlaw bride.”
    “Yeah, that’s what Luke said. If anyone can help her change her ways, it’s Rachel.”
    “Yeah.” Mark swatted at a mosquito on his hand. “Luke sure seems happy these days.”
    “Marriage agrees with him.”
    “You ever think of marrying up?”
    Garrett grimaced but kept his gaze on the road ahead. “Yeah, sure. But I’ve never met a gal that interested me enough that I wanted to make a lifetime commitment to her. What about you?”
    Mark thoughts raced straight to Annabelle. At one time he thought he’d die if she didn’t become his wife. But he wasn’t the one who had died. He gritted his teeth. What a disaster that whole situation had been. Since then, he hadn’t trusted himself around women and had kept his distance. “No, I don’t reckon I’ll ever marry.”
    Garrett fired a surprised look in his direction. “Why not? Don’t you want kids of your own? We’ve got a solid business, and you could support a family now—at least if we don’t have to pay for those brides much longer.”
    Mark didn’t answer. He couldn’t tell his brother what had happened back in Abilene. All his life he’d wanted Garrett’s approval, just like he’d want his father’s, before their pa lost his business and became a drunk. But Mark never seemed to measure up to his pa’s expectations. He liked to read, and his ma had encouraged it while she was alive, but Pa wanted him to work more, like a man, rather than spend his time with book learning. His pa couldn’t read and didn’t understand how a book could take you to a time and place you could never travel to yourself. In a book, Mark had explored the Alaskan wilderness, traveled on a ship to Europe, and fought pirates and rescued royalty and—damsels in distress. His thoughts returned to Miss Bennett and Miss O’Neil. Both were more or less stranded in Texas thanks to him and his brother. Who would rescue them?
    “We’ve got to do something about those brides.” Garrett successfully yanked Mark right out of his musings.
    “Such as?” Mark asked.
    “We need to find them work or else someone to marry.”
    Mark held up his good hand. “Just hold on. You aren’t concocting another one of your schemes, are you?”
    Garrett held a hand to his chest. “You wound me.”
    “No, I just know you.”
    “I’ve been thinking on the situation, and what would it hurt to talk to some of our customers and see if any of them are looking to marry?”
    “It could hurt a lot. We might lose all our customers.”
    “Stop being so cynical. We’ll just ask around, and if we find someone wanting to marry, we can tell them about Miss Bennett and Miss O’Neil.”
    Mark leaned back in his seat and tugged his hat down farther. “No thanks. I’m not stepping in that pile of manure.”
    “You’re making a mountain out of a molehill. I’ll do the asking if you’re not at ease doing it.”
    “Fine. You do that.” Mark tried to get comfortable. He wasn’t even sure why he’d come along since he couldn’t load or unload anything unless it was something small. It wasn’t likely they would get robbed since they were just