Brazen (17 page)

She knew what she had to do.

She had to go to Texas.

She had to find him and remind him of what he was
missing.

Karen was certain Michael would be glad to see her.
Then, once she'd worked her womanly wiles on him, injured father or not, she'd be able to convince him to return to Philadelphia and they could begin living the life
she had planned.

Her mind made up, Karen went to bed. In the morning,
she would talk to her mother about her idea, and then
make the necessary arrangements.

Michael stopped the buckboard before Casey's house
and climbed down. He went around to the other side to
help Casey. She put her hands on his shoulders to steady
herself as he lifted her down, and they accidentally made
full body contact as he set her on her feet. For a moment,
they stood there unmoving in the moonlight, gazing at
one another. Michael felt a sudden driving need to kiss
her. Just as he was about to give in to the urge, Jack
appeared on the front porch.

"Thanks for seeing Casey home," Jack called to Michael. "And you be careful going back."

"I will," Michael responded, frustration filling him as he
stepped back from Casey.

"Good night," she said, quickly going to stand with her
father.

"Good night," Michael said. "I'll be in touch."

Casey and Jack watched him drive off, then went inside.

"So, how was-" Jack began, and stopped when he
noticed the ring on her finger. "Michael gave you that
ring?"

"Yes. It's our engagement ring." She went to show it to
him. "It was his grandmother's."

"I never expected him to do anything like this."

"Neither did 1.1 saw Mrs. Donovan tonight. She's been
very nice to me."

"Has she heard anything from the minister yet?"

"Yes. Reverend Harris is going to talk with us tomorrow
afternoon, so I told her I would meet them in town."

"Do you want me to ride in with you?"

"If you feel up to going, that's fine. If not, I can go alone.
Either way, I thought I'd head in a little early, so I could
give Anne the news about me and Michael."

"She'll probably be a little surprised." He smiled at her
as he imagined her friend's reaction.

"That's putting it mildly." Casey knew Anne would be
shocked by the very idea of a union between her and
Michael. It was going to be an interesting conversation.

"Well, I'm glad things went all right at dinner. I was
worrying about you. I know this can't be easy."

Casey impulsively hugged her father. "No, it's not easy,
but I'll make the best of it. I have to."

With those words she left him to go to bed.

Now that he knew she was safely back home, Jack re
tired, too. He'd felt poorly all evening but had refused to lie down until she'd returned. He just hoped he felt better
by morning, so he could accompany her into town to see
the preacher.

"Good morning, Mrs. Lawson," Casey greeted Anne's
mother in the general store the next day. "Is Anne here?"

"Why, Casey it's good to see you. Yes, Anne's in the
storeroom. Go on back," Marjorie Lawson told her.

"Thanks."

Casey made her way to the storeroom to find her friend
sorting through a new shipment of canned goods.

"What are you doing back in town so soon? I didn't
think I'd see you for at least another week or two," Anne
said, spotting Casey as she came through the door.

"I wanted to see you," Casey began, sounding serious.
"I have some important news, and I wanted you to hear
it directly from me."

Anne stopped her work and frowned. "It's not your father, is it? He's not feeling worse, is he?"

"No," Casey hurried to reassure her. "He's doing all
right. He seems to need a lot more rest now, but other
than that I think he's fine."

"Good," Anne said with relief in her voice. "So, what is
so important that you had to come all the way into town
to see me?"

Casey wasn't sure about the best way to broach the
subject, so she just blurted it out. "I'm getting married."

"You're what?" Anne stared at her friend in complete
shock and utter amazement. Casey hadn't said a word to
her about being in love. She knew John McQueen had been paying a lot of attention to her, but Casey had never
seemed overly smitten with the man.

"I'm getting married. See?" She lifted her hand to show
Anne the ring.

"The ring is lovely but who is it? Who's your mystery
man? Do I know him?"

"Oh, yes. You know him."

"Is it John McQueen? Did he propose?"

"No, it's not John."

"Then who?" Anne truly had no idea who Casey's future
husband could be.

"It's Michael."

Anne was stunned into silence. She stared at Casey in
disbelief for a long moment before speaking. "Michael
Donovan?"

"The same."

Anne continued to stare at her friend, frowning as she
tried to make sense of what she'd just heard. "You're kidding, right? You're not really serious about this."

"Yes, I am serious. It's true. Michael and I are going to
be married in a month."

"But, Casey, how did this happen? And why? I know
you don't love him. Why, you don't even like him!"

Her words struck a nerve. It was painful to hear the
truth spoken so openly.

"You're right," Casey agreed. "But it had to be done."

"And Michael agreed to it?" That shocked Anne even
more.

"Yes, he did."

"Casey you've got to think about this some more," Anne advised, not wanting her friend to make a dreadful
mistake. "Why would you agree to marry a man you
hate?"

"I don't exactly hate him," she said, qualifying her sentiments.

"Well, you've certainly never been fond of Michael. Just
the other day when you saw him here in town, you both
acted like you couldn't stand the sight of each otheand now you're engaged?"

"It's a long story."

"So tell me. I've got to hear this," Anne insisted, curious
to find out what could possibly have happened to bring
these two together.

Casey started from the beginning, telling Anne everything about the financial woes of the Bar T and ending
up with the arrangement she and Michael had come to.

"So he agreed to a marriage in name only?"

"Yes, and I'm glad. This is strictly business between us.
If itwasn't for saving the Bar T, I wouldn't have agreed to
go along with the plan, but Pa insisted there was no other
way we could come up with the money fast enough."

Anne's expression was troubled. "Should I be happy
for you? I always thought when one of us got married, it
would be because we'd fallen in love."

Casey understood her closest friend's confusion. She
felt the same way. "Yes, I want you to be happy for me.
In fact, I want you to be my maid of honor at the wedding.
That was why I came to see you today."

Anne finally managed to smile at her friend. "You want me? Yes! I would love to be your maid of honor!" She
hugged Casey impulsively. "Let's tell Mama! She'll be as
surprised as I was, but I know she'll be thrilled with your
news."

"Welcome, ladies," Reverend Harris greeted them at the
door to his office. "Come in."

Casey and Elizabeth went in, and he peered behind
them for a moment.

"Michael didn't accompany you?" he asked.

Casey was thinking Thank God, but Elizabeth answered
for them both.

"No. He stayed behind to take care of his father. Frank
is getting a little better, but we need to have someone
there at the house with him all the time."

"I'm glad he's improving, and I'm glad we're here today
to discuss your good news." Even as he said it, Reverend
Harris was still getting over his surprise at this upcoming
marriage. He knew how the Donovans and Turners felt
about each other, and finding out that Michael and Casey
were planning to wed had been a shock. True, he had prayed on numerous occasions for the two feuding families to find a way to make peace, but he had never
thought it would happen this way. He supposed, smiling
to himself as he directed the ladies to their seats, that it
only went to show the power of prayer.

Casey and Elizabeth sat in the two chairs before his
desk.

"Michael and Cassandra have become engaged, and
they'd like to marry within the month if possible," Elizabeth began.

Half an hour later, all the arrangements were completed.

"So everything is settled, then," Reverend Harris concluded. "The wedding will take place three weeks from
Saturday at two in the afternoon, with a reception following in the church hall."

"That's perfect, don't you agree, Cassandra?"

"Yes, thank you, Reverend," Casey answered. She wondered how good an actress she was, for she had been
desperately trying to hide her unease over the realization
that this marriage to Michael really was going to take
place.

"And Michael will be happy with this arrangement?"
the reverend asked.

"It's just what he'd hoped for," Elizabeth answered. "If
there's anything else you need, let us know."

Reverend Harris saw them out, then returned to his
desk to ponder the mystery of how the two feuding families had found peace.

It truly seemed a miracle.

"That went very well, don't you think?" Elizabeth asked
Cassandra as they left the church.

"Yes. Everything is all set."

"Do you have time to go to Sissy Jones's with me? I
brought the wedding dress along, and I thought this
would be the perfect time to see about the alterations."

"All right."

They got into Elizabeth's carriage, and she drove to the
seamstress's shop.

Elizabeth could sense Cassandra's confused emotions,
and she understood this process couldn't be easy for her.
"It's normal for you to be nervous about the wedding. I
certainly was all those years ago." She smiled at the memory. "Is there any way I can help you?"

"I don't think so," Casey answered bluntly. "I've always
been so busy on the ranch, I never thought much about
getting married."

"So there's no other man in your life?" Elizabeth had
worried that Casey might have been in love with someone
else.

"No, no one. I knew I'd get married one day, but I never
dreamed it would be to Michael. Knowing how he feels
about me, I still find it hard to believe he agreed to go
along with my father's plan."

"Michael loves the Circle D."

"He'd been away for so long, I didn't think he'd ever
come back."

"I know. He got to see more of the world, but now he's
decided this is the place where he wants to stay."

"Even if he has to marry me," Casey finished.

"I don't want you to look at your marriage that way,"
Elizabeth said gently. "Think about the ranches. You love
the Bar T as much as Michael cares about our place. This
union will make us the biggest, most successful spread
around."

"I am glad about saving the ranch, but I wish I could
have kept living on the Bar T with Pa," she said honestly.
"I'm worried about his health, and I don't like the idea of
him being alone. It was frightening that day I found
him..."

"The ranch hands are there with him. They'll keep an
eye on him after you're gone."

"I hope so."

"They will," Elizabeth assured her. "And you may be
surprised. Maybe my son won't turn out to be so terrible
after all."

Casey was a bit embarrassed. "I didn't mean Michael
was terrible. It's just going to be awkward for us, that's
all." She was glad his mother loved him, but no matter
how she looked at it, being Mrs. Michael Donovan wasn't
going to be easy.

They stopped in front of Sissy's shop.

"Cassandra, there is one thing I want to caution you
about."

Casey looked at her expectantly.

"Sissy is my friend, but she has been known to carry a
tale or two."

"So she likes to gossip?"

"That's putting it bluntly, but yes."

"Is there another seamstress we could go to?"

"No one as good as Sissy. She's the best in town and
she is a dear friend. All we have to do is be careful what
we say around her. She will be surprised by our news,
but so will everyone else when word gets out and it
won't take tong once Sissy knows."

"Do we have to convince her this is a love match?"

"It couldn't hurt to try."

Casey wanted to tell her that it would hurt to try, but
she didn't. "I'll think of something. Forewarned is forearmed."

"So you're thinking of this as a battle, are you?"

Casey gave her a smile. "Since we just left Reverend
Harris, I'm trying to think of a way not to tell a lie."

"Good girl."

Casey carried the box with the wedding gown as they
went to the front door.

Sissy had seen them pull up. She was surprised to see
the Turner girl with Elizabeth, and wondered what they
were doing together. She welcomed them warmly for Elizabeth was one of her best customers.