* * *
“I can’t believe someone answered the ad,” Clive muttered under his breath as he climbed onto the bench of their wagon and picked up the reins. I was already waiting, a small bouquet of wildflowers for our new wife on my lap. I bit my tongue against snapping back at him because I knew he didn’t mean it personally. He wasn’t insulting me, even though it felt that way.
I was the one who had written the ad.
I was the one who had told him someone would answer.
I was right.
Clive didn’t like it when things didn’t go his way. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a wife, we both wanted a woman in our lives, but he didn’t like that my way had worked when he’d told me it wouldn’t.
As much as my fingers itched to be the one driving, for once, I didn’t fight him on it. He was already on edge over the woman arriving today. He couldn’t control who she was, what she looked like, or what kind of wife she’d be, but he could control the horses. Over the years, I’d learned to pick my battles. Sometimes, I thought he still saw me as the scrawny teenager I’d been when he’d rescued me from the gang of men intent on stealing my week’s pay.
Back then, he’d been twenty-two, four years older than me, bigger and stronger than most young men his age. With regular meals and working the ranch we shared, I’d caught up to him in weight and muscle, but he didn’t seem to notice, and to be truthful, I had trouble pushing him on it. Since I owed him my life, was it really too much to let him take the lead when it was something that didn’t matter much?
He was more than my partner—he was the brother I’d never had and the man I was going to share my wife with, in the Bridgewater manner. When we’d heard about Bridgewater and the way they married, two men to one woman, we’d known it was the place for us. We shared everything else, so it just made sense.
Today, I was getting my way, and our new wife was arriving. My dick was already hardening in anticipation. It had been far too long since we’d had a woman between us. I doubted any woman would be ready to jump in the middle of us immediately, but we would enjoy working her up to it and drowning her with pleasure in the meantime. When I answered him, there was no bite to my tone because I’d already won.
“There was nothing wrong with the ad. At least I didn’t say she had to come with a horse like Justin and Caleb did.”
Of course, somehow, they’d received an answer to their ad before we had, so the requirement hadn’t set them back. I still didn’t know why my ad had taken longer to find us a woman, but it had worked in the end, and that was what was important.
Clive sent me a mulish look, his dark eyes full of skepticism before he flicked the reins, getting the horses started down the lane. It felt odd to be on the wagon rather than horseback, but it made the most sense. We had no way of knowing whether or not our bride could ride, and she’d likely be arriving with luggage. It would also be easier to talk to her and get to know her a bit better if she was seated between us for the ride home.
I knew part of Clive’s worry came from the unknown. Literally, everything about Miss Sassy McCloud was unknown to us except her name. I found it exciting—Clive didn’t.
If she met the requirements of the ad, we’d both be happy.
Owners of the NorthWest Ranch in Bridgewater, Montana Territory, desire a wife, age eighteen to twenty-five, pretty, healthy, and able to work hard. In return, wife will be cherished and protected. No portrait necessary.
Neither of us had a preference for weight, height, hair color, eye color… we liked women. Period. Even though Clive could never be described as easygoing, I figured we could make it work with any woman sent our way if she was of the right age and constitution.
Clive
* * *
William was getting that dreamy-eyed look on his face again, and I didn’t know whether to sigh or smack him on the back of his fool head to knock some sense into him. The boy was a romantic and an optimist, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but could grate on me when he ignored the realities of a situation.
Like right now.
He truly thought we were going to walk up to the train station in Travis Point and find a pretty little thing waiting for us, and we’d both fall head over heels in love with her and she with us. Then we’d get hitched in town, take her to the hotel, and pleasure her all night long.
Well… that last part didn’t sound so bad, but I had no illusions about life. More likely, we were about to meet a woman with a face like a horse and the temperament of a shrew. My cock might not be able to even rise to the occasion. Sure, the other women who had come west to marry the men of Bridgewater had been fine, some of them even real pretty, but they’d had better ads.
It had taken so long for anyone to even answer William’s ad, I’d begun to think no one would. I’d even been a little disappointed, although I would never tell him. I didn’t think the ad had been a good idea from the beginning, but I hadn’t had a better one.
The wagon rumbled along the road, passing the fields of cattle and crops as we sat in silence. I could tell he had something on his mind, but I had no inclination to ask him what. He’d speak up when he was ready.
“Don’t you want a wife?” William finally asked, about a mile outside of town. He sounded a little worried. Considering the way I’d been acting, I guess I couldn’t blame him.
I did want a wife, but one I’d picked out—we’d picked out together. Marrying the only woman to answer the mail-order ad seemed like a recipe for disaster, but meeting a woman around here we’d want to marry, who wasn’t already claimed, would require as much luck as getting a good woman from an ad.
“I’m sure I’ll feel better when I meet her,” I said, which was about as cheery as I could make myself. I knew I would be much improved, even if she was a nightmare, because at least then I’d know. Not knowing anything was like an itch in the center of my back I couldn’t reach.
The telegram she’d sent had been short and to the point, which I would have appreciated any other time. She was coming from New York and claimed to be a hard worker, healthy, and was considered comely. Whether any of that would be true remained to be seen. Still, my heart began to beat a little faster as the wagon came closer and closer to town.
Our woman, a voice whispered in the back of my mind. Our wife.
A thread of excitement trickled through me, even as I tried to push it back. There was no point in getting excited until we saw her… and she saw us. Hell, she might not even want us once she realized it was an ‘us.’
William thought his ad had made it clear we were looking for a wife, but outside of this territory, who would believe such a thing?
Sassy
* * *
I spread the ad and the last telegram over my lap, re-reading the small scrap of paper over and over again.
Will meet you at the train station in Travis Point. Will have flowers for you. – William
Knowing how to look for him made me feel a bit easier, but only a bit. I glanced out the window to the golden fields rolling by. So open and empty, they went on for miles, making me feel even smaller than I already did. How could someone hide when there was nothing to hide behind? It was nothing like London or New York City, nothing like anything I’d ever known. I had to hope the difference and the many miles would be enough to keep me safe.