Josie: Bride of New Mexico (American Mail-Order Bride 47) (5 page)

Josie stilled. “Is there a reason your parents did not attend the wedding?” She spoke so low he had a hard time hearing her with the rumble and clatter of the moving train.

By her tone of voice accompanied by the subtle stiffening of her muscles, Adam realized that revelation had caught Josie off guard, and in a very uncomfortable way.

Adam’s heart clenched. He should’ve eased into this somehow, should have told her from the beginning… “Darling…”

“Why not?” She swallowed and the haunted expression in her eyes made her appear more vulnerable than usual.

“I do understand people cannot always attend valued events.”

Her words might claim understanding, but he doubted she understood at all.

“Do your parents know you married today?”

Chapter Five

According to the rumors,
Jefe Dos—
Boss Two, Adam Taylor— was at this very hour on his way to New Mexico.

A most unwelcome bit of news
.

The explosion hadn’t been intentional, in fact
this
one had been an unfortunate accident.

The time had come to alert one of
Robin’s Merry Men—
he’d know precisely what to do.

By design, Dos would never arrive at Silver Queen Mine.

Robin smiled all the way to the Western Union Telegraph office.

The one-word directive:
tomorrow
.

He whistled on his way out the door.

The pain in Josie’s chest amplified with every indrawn breath.

With every passing second, the lack of an answer from Adam made it very clear his parents did
not
know.

Her appetite had dried up and blown away on the winds of betrayal.

She set her fork on her plate and clasped her hands in her lap. She wished she had the strength and courage to look her husband in the eye. If only she had half of Lessie’s pluck.

“I realize, husband, that you’re a grown man who does not tell his parents everything. Yet it has become quite important to me to understand why you haven’t told them of your marriage.”

Am I a dirty secret?

She wanted to give Adam the benefit of the doubt. Everything she’d seen of him, he showed consistent integrity. Yet she knew essentially nothing about his family. Quite possibly, his mother was very ill and excitable news was withheld from her to safeguard her health.

“Josie. Please look at me.”

His gaze was filled with such regret, such pain, she nearly released him from the expectation of answering her question. But this one really mattered to her.

He struggled for a good many seconds more to form his answer, so she asked, “Do you not have a favorable relationship with your parents?”

“That’s not it, not at all. My parents are good people. Loving. Kind. Generous. You’ll like them and they’ll like you.”

A horrible thought occurred to her with the illumination and shock of a lightning bolt. “We
are
legally married, aren’t we?”

“Yes, Darling.
Yes
.” He held out his hand, asking her to put hers in his. She considered refusing, for she still didn’t have an answer. Had she made a horrible mistake in marrying this man?

“I must trust you had a viable, reasonable purpose in either not inviting your parents to attend your wedding to me, or you have circumstances within your family that I don’t understand.”

Please, Adam,
be
the man I believe you to be.

If only she knew her husband better, if
only
she understood him.

But that desired circumstance could be arranged, couldn’t it? Ultimately, such a state of their relationship was within her control. It might not be easy for her to open up, to ask questions and to answer questions in return, but this man was her lawful husband.

She’d sworn vows before God to honor and obey this man, to live with him in sickness and in health… but all those promises jumbled up in her mind and it had all been over so quickly, she couldn’t be sure of the specifics and wording and the entire list.

But she did know one thing: if she desired to understand her husband, to
know
him, that was within her power.

And she
did
want to know him, to comprehend his reasons for a quiet ceremony with only his cousin and her sister, groom and bride in their own right, to serve as witnesses.

The best way to start was to make her intentions clear. “I want very much to know you, Adam, to understand your thoughts, your reasons, your needs and your fears. I want to recognize what pleases you and your dreams and all you hope to achieve in life.”

Had she explained herself adequately?

“I realize this will take time,” she added, “but it’s worth the work I know it will take. You’re my husband, and I want that kind of a meaningful relationship. And I want you to know and understand me in return.”

This explanation, though awkward and rambling must have given him much of what he needed, for when she put her hand in his big palm, he eagerly wrapped his long fingers around it.

“Richard and I are business associates— you know this, right?”

“Indeed.”

“As you learned in our advertisement, we sought brides of a certain background, brides who could be of specific assistance.”

“Factory or mill workers.”

“Yes.”

“Do we embarrass you, Mr. Taylor? Is that why your parents did not attend?”

“No. Not at all.” He seemed flustered, but only barely so. To him this seemed to be a minor inconvenience, nothing more. But his response stunned her.

Moneyed, successful Adam Taylor claimed to be willing to introduce her to his mother and father, wearing rags.

Adam watched the doorway into the front section of the car where Karl and Milton spent their time, apparently to ensure they were alone. He leaned closer so he could lower his voice and still be heard.

“Cannon Mining has faced significant…
challenges…
in recent months. In the beginning, when the problems started, we realized we didn’t naturally have what it takes to understand our employees. They’re from a different world. Some are itinerant workers. They migrate from mine to mine. They fight us on policy, they are slow to communicate safety issues, then blame us when something happens and workers are injured or killed.”

He watched her so closely, obviously needing to see she understood him.

She’d wanted so badly to cultivate an open relationship, a happy, communicative marriage where they understood one another. But all she wanted at that moment was to hide her pain, refuse to let him see her doubts as they multiplied and her glow of happiness extinguished.

As soon as she’d buried her unwanted emotion, she spoke. “I knew you wanted someone who’d worked in a mill or factory… but I didn’t know it was
why
you sent for brides.”

“That’s not the whole story. It makes us sound like thoughtless men who don’t value the institution of marriage.”

She turned his non-answer over in her head but couldn’t make head nor tail of it. “I don’t understand. If this is a business problem, what can wives possibly do?”

In her many years of wage-earning, she’d worked in various kinds of mills and factories. But she had no specialized training. She wasn’t an accountant, had no understanding of the law. She’d never been taught business management. And she had certainly never worked in a mine. “What can I possibly know about the running of a company?”

She fought the inevitable, but her insecurities doubled and she hated the way that made her feel.

Adam traced a vein on the back of her hand. “I’d hoped to explain everything, help you to see what Richard and I need to accomplish, before you had a chance to worry.”

He wanted to explain this away?

He’d better have a
good
reason.

“Please, Mr. Taylor. Do explain yourself.”

Chapter Six

All right. He needed to explain himself, something he wasn’t used to doing but for his wife, he’d make the effort. He was a married man now, and he’d have to get used to sharing.

“Early last spring, the company started experiencing a higher than average rate of problems. We had a fire break out in the Black Spades Mine, there was an elevator failure at Tea Kettle, and the Silver Queen had its waterwheels break down three times.
Three times.”

He sighed. “I don’t believe that has ever happened, anywhere. Lightning does
not
strike twice in the same location.”

Her dark eyes studied him. “Go on.”

“Anyway, at first, we believed it was some sort of a cosmic joke. The universe testing us. Grandfather had just died, and for the first time, we didn’t have him around to make the hard decisions.”

He had her full attention.

He wanted her to understand, wanted her on board with the plan, still needed both twins to be of help. Now that they were legally wed, and on their way to New Mexico, it really was time for him to disclose everything.

He wanted her understanding.

Just when he was about to explain more, the staff came to clear off their meal. He was a little hesitant to speak of the details whenever they were nearby, especially as he and Richard had no clue who was behind all the trouble.

Quite frankly, they didn’t know who to trust.

He
wanted
to trust Josie.

He wanted her full loyalty, and eventually her love.

He’d hoped to have time to settle her in, before they had this conversation, but the girl was turning out to have hidden depths, and immediately zeroed in on the important issues.

Serious conversations rarely occurred at exactly the right moment, now did they?

After a quick glance at the staff, he looked out the window at the passing landscape. “So, you’ve never been to New Mexico?”

“I’ve never been anywhere, but Lawrence, Massachusetts. And now, Utah Territory.” She glanced between him and the staff, and it seemed she read his mind as she went with the change of subject. “But I’d love to see more of the world. I have to admit, the changing scenery over these last many days has been exciting.”

After the staff had cleaned up and left, she didn’t waste any time, but looked at him firmly. “You don’t trust your own staff, do you?” Concern and something that looked a whole lot like compassion flickered in her coffee-colored eyes.

“I can’t trust anyone.” He took her hand in his, turned it over and caressed her palm. “It’s evident we have a traitor, or perhaps several traitors at different sites within Cannon Mining. We have no idea who’s communicating with who.”