Mail Order Bride and The Mix-up (A Western Romance Book)(COMPLETED)

Chapter 09

Belle looked across the room at Cadence and Gertrude and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry," she said. "I can't go back with you. Not now, at least." Slightly quieter she said, "Probably not ever."

Gertrude's chin tilted towards the floor, then her head shot suddenly up again. "Why not?" she demanded.

"I can't leave my brother when I've only just found him," Belle said.

"But you can't stay here forever. You have no fiancé, no job, and nowhere to go after tomorrow unless you intend to stay at the hotel. Though how you shall ever pay for it I can't imagine."

"Anthony said I can stay with him if I wish it."

"But you haven't seen him in years."

"I know you're upset, but you're only thinking of yourself right now."

Cadence set a placating had on Gertrude's shoulder. "Belle is strong; she'll be all right on her own. It is only right for her to be here right now. She and her brother need time together."

"Mellow Pass is not far from Angel's Reach," Belle said. "I promise to visit often."

Gertrude's tears flowed but her arguments ceased. Slowly, she nodded her acceptance. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'll just miss you."

Belle embraced her friend, holding her tightly until her tears subsided.

"You're not losing all your friends," Cadence said to Gertrude. "You've still got me and everyone else in Angel's Reach."

"You're right," Gertrude said, wiping her eyes.

Belle hesitated, afraid of upsetting Gertrude again. "I have to go. I'm meeting Anthony for lunch."

"What about Ira?" Gertrude asked, and Cadence looked at her with interest.

"What about him?" said Belle.

"He cares for you a great deal," Cadence said.

"Cares for me?" Belle laughed. "Ha! He wants only to control me."

"So, you would not have him, even if he asked for your hand?" Cadence asked.

"Even if he were rich, I wouldn't have a fool such as him," Belle said, though somewhere deep in her heart she could not still the hammering that the image of his face conjured every time it entered her head. Had he only been less handsome it would have made things easier for her. But it was not just his looks which forced her attraction—even when he was irritating her, there was a certain charm about him she could not ignore.

Belle left her friends and headed to the station to meet Anthony. When she arrived, however, his deputy informed her he'd had to go out on business and would therefore have to miss their lunch appointment. She frowned but understood; he was a sheriff, after all.

She headed back out of the station, deciding she might as well pack up and prepare to move out of the hotel and in to Anthony's home, when she spotted Ira coming towards her. She braced herself for whatever he might say, wishing he would not be so pigheaded about telling her what to do all of the time.

If he hadn't infuriated her so much and so often, she'd have told him long ago that Anthony was her brother, and they might have had a good laugh over it. As it was, every time he opened his mouth and irritated her, she felt the urge to irritate him back, and allowing him to think that Anthony was her fiancé seemed the best way of doing so.

"Good day," Ira said cordially, his hands behind his back. She was afraid he had some new gift to offer her and prayed he would stop. It was hard turning down everything he attempted to give her, but she would never take something from a man when she knew he held affections for her she could never return. Especially when his purse must be so little given his job as a clerk.