Free Bonds of Matrimony by Carrigan Fox

“If
Slaughter is a small town, then surely you know our brother, Marcus Fairfax.”
                Webb
stopped eating and stared across the table at Reese.   “Fairfax is your brother?” he asked.  
                Chase
immediately realized her sister’s mistake and scrambled to cover for her.
                “I
thought y’all are Cochranes.”   He
turned and confronted Chase with this observation.   His eyes narrowed when they met her own.  
                “Marcus
changed his name when he came over,” she quickly lied.   “When he and my father fell out, Marcus
wanted nothing to do with the Cochrane name.”
                He
nodded and took a drink from his water glass.   “I see,” he replied.   “How long has it been since you’ve seen your brother?”
    Their father had forced their brother
out of the house and disowned him nearly three years before.   Marcus had been twenty-two at the time
and had fallen madly in love with Elisa Wolcott, the daughter of their family
gardener.   When they ran off and
married against his parents’ wishes, they returned to find Marcus’s possessions
packed and waiting in the foyer.   With help from Elisa’s father, the newlyweds had bought passage to America,
and the sister’s hadn’t heard from them since.
                “Three
years,” Chase answered.   “How well
do you know Marcus?”
                Webb
didn’t meet her eyes when he answered.   “Pretty well.   We share some
grazing land.   His ranch is a
fifteen minute ride from mine, by horse.”
                “Have
you met Elisa?” Reese asked.
                “Sure,”
he answered.
                It
was suddenly awkward.   This man
knew more about their brother than they did.     “Have you heard
that she’s expectin’?” he asked.  
                When
the girls had decided to leave London, their grandmother had informed them that
she and Elisa had secretly been corresponding since she and Marcus left England
three years before.   The most
recent letter from Elisa had informed their grandmother of her pregnancy.
    “You must be thrilled about
bein’ uncles.”
                Reese
nodded enthusiastically.  
    Chase studied him
wearily.   His tone sounded forced.
                They
finished the rest of the meal in uncomfortable silence, and Webb invited Chase
to share a cigar with him on the main deck.   She snuck a peek at her grandmother, and she shrugged.   Within twenty-four hours, they were all
going to be reunited with Marcus.   They
were too excited to worry about being cautious for this last leg of their
passage.
                She
followed Webb up the staircase and strolled slowly along the railing, silently
admiring the brilliant sunset on the horizon.
                “All
this time we’ve talked and played cards, you’ve never told me how old you are,
Cochrane,” he said, offering her a cigar.
                “It
never came up, Webb.   I’m
nineteen.”
                “Practically
a grown man.   And your brother,
Reese?”
                “He’s
eighteen,” she answered, wondering where his questions were leading.
                “Did
your mother play a big role in raising the two of you?”
                “Not
particularly, why?”
                “I
mean no offense, but your younger brother especially is a bit of a…”
                “Dandy?”
She finished for him with a grin.   “Reese isn’t the most masculine young man, I know.”
                Webb
grinned with his cigar between his teeth.   “No, he’s not.   And I just
figured that perhaps you’d been raised by your mother mostly.   Women have a knack for fouling up the
child rearing process, especially where their sons are concerned.   Too many boys don’t learn to