His Innocent Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch (Spicy Version) Book 11) Read online

  Hubert deflated a little with a sharp frown.

  “He won’t catch them,” Julia insisted. “Hubert is smarter than that. I’m sure he’ll come up with a fool-proof plan.”

  “I suppose if I snuck out to the ranch in the middle of the night and convinced Bebe to come away with me it might work,” Hubert said, running a hand through his hair.

  “Unless Rex suspects you might do something foolish like that and posts guards,” Sam countered.

  “How would he suspect?” Julia demanded, fists on her hips. “I’m not going to tell him. Are you?”

  Sam blew out a breath and rubbed a hand over his face. Everything seemed to be catching up to him at once. The exhaustion from spending most of his energy making love to Julia so suddenly and vigorously pressed down on him, now that the burst of activity caused by Rex was over. His body felt heavy and his brain felt drained. And now his bar looked like bandits had sacked it. Worse still, when he finished scrubbing his face and glanced across the room, he saw that several of the stones from the room’s main fireplace had been removed, and a few of the steps leading upstairs had been pried up.

  “What in the name of Sam Hill happened in here?” he asked, dreading the answer.

  Julia’s expression of righteous indignation dropped to curiosity, and Hubert glanced guiltily up from where he’d been frowning at a spot on the bar. They turned to survey the rest of the saloon the way Sam was.

  “Uh, Bebe wanted to look for the train robbery loot,” Hubert said.

  “Oh.” Julia brightened. “Did you find anything? I never would have thought to look in the fireplace.” She broke away from the bar and started to scurry across the room.

  “There’s no loot hidden in the fireplace,” Sam stopped her, voice raised beyond where it should be. In addition to everything else, a headache was starting to form behind his eyes. “There’s no loot hidden under the stairs either.”

  “How do you know that?” Julia asked, pausing and turning back to him, but not returning to the bar. “Under the stairs is a great place to hide loot.”

  “There’s nothing under the stairs because when we pulled a few of them up, we discovered that there’s a closet directly under them,” Hubert said, sending an apologetic look Sam’s way.

  “Oh.” Julia’s shoulders sank in disappointment. A moment later, she broke into another hopeful smile. “But the fireplace would be a good hiding place. No one would ever think to look there.” She started toward the fireplace again.

  “There’s nothing in the fireplace because it’s solid stone.” Sam stopped her once again.

  “He’s right,” Hubert added. “We didn’t get very far before we realized that.”

  Once again, Julia stopped, but this time she let out a frustrated breath. “Why is nothing going the way it should? We can’t find the robber’s loot, and Bebe’s father is ruining one of the most perfect love stories I’ve ever heard.”

  Of all things, a wave of sympathetic tenderness hit Sam right in the middle of his chest. “Sweetheart,” he sighed, climbing back out from behind the cluttered and messy bar. “Things don’t always work out the way we think they should. They don’t always work out the right way.”

  “But that’s no way to live a life,” she said, throwing up her hands. “Heaven knows I’ve seen my fair share of disappointment, but I’ve always firmly believed that things will work out in the end. They have to, otherwise what’s the point? Why do we have to go through so much suffering if the sun doesn’t come out at the end of the storm?”

  Sam reached her at the end of her exasperated speech and slipped his arms around her. “It’ll be all right, sweetheart.”

  She sagged into him for a moment, resting her head against his shoulder, but pulled back just as quickly. “I’m not going to stand for it,” she declared.

  “Stand for what?” Sam tried to keep her in his arms, but she wriggled away, marching back toward Hubert at the bar.

  “I’m not going to stand for less than a happy ending for all of us.” She reached the bar and stomped her foot. “Life might not be a dime novel, but if Marshall Beauregard Crenshaw can capture Dirk Destry and bring him to justice, then surely we can manage something as simple as uniting two people who love each other.”

  “I’d do anything to be with Bebe,” Hubert said, slowly straightening.

  “And you will.” Julia stomped her foot again.

  Sam sighed, wondering how he’d gotten himself into this mess. By sending away for a wife, that’s how. If Julia hadn’t come along, he would have minded his own business, run his saloon, and stayed out of the personal lives of the people around him. He would have been content, and everything would have been peaceful.

  Except things would also have been dull and drab. All he would have had to look forward to was pouring drinks by day and sleeping alone at night. He wouldn’t have had Julia’s startlingly good cooking to fill up his stomach, and he wouldn’t have had her sweet kisses and her smiles to fill his heart. In fact, even though they’d been married for less than a week, he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

  “If Rex catches you,” he said, dragging himself back to the bar, “he’ll come after you with everything he’s got. He’ll come after your family too. You sure you want to risk that?”

  “He can try to come after my family,” Hubert said, standing and facing him. “But Pops is a lot stronger than anyone gives him credit for. He raised eight of us, buried Mama, married Elspeth, all while handling one of the most complex and demanding jobs in this town. And Elspeth is stronger than she looks too. You know she’s been helping Miss Bonnie find situations back home in her England for those of Bonnie’s girls who want a new life in a new country.”

  “Really?” Julia blinked in surprise, a smile spreading across her face. “She’s arranging new lives for girls in England?”

  Hubert nodded. “Theophilus Gunn is helping, but she’s already found that one girl, Samantha, a position as a house maid in some place called Cornwall. And apparently that other girl, Clara, is going off to work in some gigantic country house owned by an earl or something.”

  Julia clasped a hand to her chest. “How adventurous.” She shook her head and waved her smile away. “You’ll have to tell me all about that some other time. But for now, if Miss Bonnie can create whole new lives for former prostitutes in grand estates in England, then surely you and Bebe can be together and start a new life right here. Now, what you need to do—”

  She shifted closer to Hubert, but before she could launch into her plan, Sam cupped his hand around her elbow and drew her back. “We’re not going to get involved.”

  Julia stopped, her mouth open. She spun to face Sam, a look of genuine offense in her eyes. “How can you say that? We can’t abandon our friends in their time of need.”

  “And we can’t afford to lose this saloon if Rex goes through with his threats.” Sam’s head throbbed harder at the sensation of having come full circle and back into the impossible argument.

  “You can’t let that man bully you, Sam,” Julia said, her fists back on her hips, her brow furrowed in a frown once more. “He’s nothing but a bully, and good men don’t bow to bullies.”

  Sam clenched his jaw. “Sweetheart, you haven’t even been in Haskell a week. You don’t know what Rex Bonneville is capable of. Why, he kicked Bonnie and her girls out of their place earlier this year. He almost ruined Solomon Templesmith’s bank, all because his daughter Honoria eloped with the man.” Sam turned to Hubert. “There should be a lesson for you in there.”

  “But he didn’t ruin Solomon,” Hubert said. “Solomon fought back and won.”

  “Yeah, but with a price.” It wasn’t Sam’s place to share the things Solomon had confided in him, but the bank was far from out of the woods, even though Solomon had managed to hold onto it, with Howard Haskell’s help, not to mention the help of Bonnie and her girls.

  “How can you be so lily-livered?” Julia blurted, staring him down.

  �
��Excuse me?” Sam balked.

  Julia huffed out a breath. “As long as we’ve known each other, you’ve been telling me all about how you’re a rough and rugged frontier saloonkeeper. You’ve told me that you’re wild and untamed, that you break up bar fights and handle miscreants on a regular basis. But as far as I can see, Sam Standish, you’re as domesticated and intimidated by men of power, like Rex Bonneville, as everyone else in town.”

  Sam reeled back as though she’d slapped him. It wasn’t the ferocity of her accusation either. It was the sudden, stinging realization that she had a point.

  “I’m no coward,” he argued anyhow. But his gaze slipped over to the disarray of bottles behind the counter. The very thought of his things being out of order twisted his guts to knots. When had he become more concerned with neatly-arranged bottles than he was about courting danger for fun? When had he turned into the kind of man who would back down from a fight instead of the kind who would go looking for one?

  When he’d grown up, he answered himself. When he’d discovered more to care about than having a good time and building a reputation as a man no one would mess with. He cared about his saloon and he cared about his customers. They were his friends. And now he cared about his wife, new though she was. He hated the idea of Julia being hurt in any way.

  He let out a breath, running a hand over his face. “Look, I know this is important to you,” he said, both to Julia and Hubert. “I know love is important.” He focused on Julia. “Believe me, I do.” A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

  “Then you can see how we have to do everything in our power to get Hubert and Bebe back together,” Julia said.

  “I do,” he admitted reluctantly. “But you have to see that there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way.” He turned to Hubert. “Whatever you do, you can’t antagonize Rex to the point where he’ll retaliate.”

  Hubert lifted his chin in defiance, but whether for Sam or for Rex, Sam wasn’t sure.

  “Rex Bonneville is never going to see me as good enough for his daughter,” Hubert said. “Not as long as I’m nothing more than a stationmaster’s son. Julia was right the other day when she said that I need to leave Haskell to make my fortune. Until I’ve become someone in this world, Rex will never willingly let Bebe and I be together.”

  “He’s right,” Julia said. She turned to Sam. “You know he’s right.”

  “So go out there and make your fortune,” Sam said.

  “I will.” Hubert nodded. “There’s a train coming through in two days bound for San Francisco. In a city that big, there’s bound to be a thousand opportunities just waiting for me to come along and snatch them up.”

  Relief spread down Sam’s spine. “If your pa’s all right with you leaving, then I’m all for it.”

  “This is so exciting.” Julia said, clasping her hands over her heart.

  “I’m sure Pops will understand,” Hubert said. He paused, his expression turning steely. “But I’m taking Bebe with me.”

  Sam cringed, kissing goodbye to the brief feeling that everything would work out after all.

  “Yes,” Julia gasped. “You can sneak out to her father’s ranch in the middle of the night and whisk her away. Oh, I just know Bebe would love that.”

  “I would advise against it,” Sam said. He wanted to say more, but he could tell that his words would fall on deaf ears. Hubert had already made up his mind.

  “Bebe will come with me,” he said. “I know it. I’ll get word to her tomorrow, then tomorrow night we can go out to the Bonneville ranch to get her.”

  “We?” Sam’s gut filled with dread.

  “But of course.” Julia grasped Sam’s arm. “Hubert will need our help to make sure they aren’t discovered. We could bring a wagon as well, in case Bebe has more luggage than can easily be carried.”

  “Aren’t ladies supposed to pack just one bag when they run away from home to be with their lover?” Sam growled. The whole situation was so ridiculous that he wasn’t even sure he was joking anymore.

  “I’m not sure Bebe could limit herself to just one bag if she tried,” Hubert said, a sheepish grin on his face. “And I could use your help.”

  “Oh, say you’ll help, Sam. Say you’ll help.” Julia hugged his arm.

  Sam turned his head up to the ceiling, wondering how he’d managed to get so deeply involved in someone else’s problems. Then again, Hubert was a friend, and it would be a shame if the boy lost the love of his life to someone as dastardly as Rex.

  “All right,” he said at last, lowering his head with a sigh. “I’ll help you get Bebe away from her father. Just as long as you don’t call it a kidnapping.”

  “I knew you’d come through for us.” Julia threw her arms around him, hugging him for all he was worth. “I knew you were every bit the hero I thought you were.”

  Crazy as it made him, that little comment wormed its way right into his heart, making Sam smile.

  Even though he was certain he wouldn’t be smiling when the whole thing fell apart.

  Chapter 10

  “And you’re certain the note reached Bebe this afternoon?” Sam grumbled as he, Julia, and Hubert crouched just on the other side of the locked gate that separated the Bonneville ranch from the road.

  “Mmm hmm.”

  Julia nodded in the dark. Her heart thumped madly against her ribs. It hadn’t stopped pounding since the day before, when their plan to rescue Bebe was hatched. It had beat so hard that she’d found it impossible to fall asleep. Sam thought he’d had the solution to that problem, but after more than an hour of vigorous activity that left her sated and tingly, she still hadn’t been able to do more than snooze.

  But she had been able to convince Noah Kline to ride out to the Bonneville ranch with the note Hubert had penned, and to place it directly into Bebe’s hands. Apparently, there had been a tense moment when Rance Bonneville questioned him about why he was there, but Julia had prepared Noah to give a reason. All he’d had to do was say he was delivering something Bebe had special ordered at the mercantile. As Noah reported, Rance had bought the story hook, line, and sinker, and everyone had gone on their way.

  The lone lantern in one of the Bonneville house’s upstairs rooms—presumably Bebe’s—was proof that everything was progressing just as they had planned.

  “It must be past midnight by now,” Hubert whispered. His eyes were trained on the upstairs window as he crouched behind the slats of the gate. “If she’s ready, she should give us the sign any moment now.”

  “This is a ridiculous bunch of hogswollop,” Sam muttered.

  Julia elbowed him in the side. “We’re warriors in the cause of true love,” she hissed.

  Sam snorted, but she was reasonably certain there was a laugh in it.

  “There!” Hubert rose from his crouch as the light in the upstairs window went out. The house was at least a hundred yards from the gate, but it was a clear night and the light was easy to see. “Just another minute, just another minute,” he continued to murmur.

  Julia held her breath. The signal they’d devised was a simple one. Bebe would turn off her light at midnight. If everything was ready and she was free to sneak out of the house, she’d light the lamp again in five minutes, keep it lit for two minutes, then turn it off and leave the house.

  Sure enough, five long minutes later, the light was back in the window.

  “That’s it.” Julia jumped to her feet, clasping her hands to her chest. “She’s coming. Love triumphs after all.”

  “Simmer down.” Sam tugged at her skirt, urging her to crouch behind the fence once more. “You’ve still got two minutes until she’s really on her way.”

  “She’ll come,” Hubert said, still standing. “I know she will.”

  Two minutes later, the light went out.

  “And now we go get her,” Julia declared, so excited she could barely squeeze the words from her lungs.

  She leapt to her feet once more, and this time Sam wasn’t fast enough to h
old her back. The gate was locked, but its horizontal slats were placed far enough apart that she could climb it easily, even in a skirt. Hubert mounted it in a single bound and was over and jogging toward the house before Julia could swing her leg over the top, but that didn’t discourage her at all. Neither did the loud rip when she finally did hop down on the other side.

  “Careful,” Sam cautioned her, climbing the fence himself. “We’ll be in a world of hurt if you do yourself harm while we’re trespassing on Rex’s property.”

  Julia’s brow flew up, which she was certain no one could see in the dark. “I thought you were going to wait with the wagon.”

  Sam made another snorting sound. “And let you barge into the Bonneville house on your own?”

  He had a point, although whether it was that they were a team and should work together or that she needed someone to keep her from burning the whole place down by accident, she didn’t know. Either way, she was overjoyed to have her strong, brave husband carrying out this particular coup with her.

  “Bebe.” Hubert was calling to the house in a whisper by the time Julia and Sam caught up to him. “Bebe, are you there?”

  “Ssh. Keep it down,” Sam cautioned him. “You’ll wake the whole house.”

  “But they should all be fast asleep by now,” Julia said. Bebe had assured her that the entire family was in bed and off to dreamland—if Bonnevilles were even capable of visiting dreamland—well before midnight.

  That didn’t stop her blood from running cold when she heard the faint wail of a baby, though.

  “Baby Royce must be having trouble sleeping,” she whispered, clinging to Sam’s side. “What if Bebe gets dragged into taking care of him?”

  “Then we’ll have to go in and get her,” Hubert said, determination making his voice louder.

  “Keep it down,” Sam repeated. “You know what’ll happen if any of us are caught here, but especially you.”