Rancher Wants a Wife. Kate Bridges

was he thinking?

      Mr. Dunleigh marched her down the aisle. They fumbled a bit because their paces didn’t match. Cassandra, light-headed, felt the strain of tension and worry that had been building for months.

      The pews were jammed with a hundred bodies, all turned in her direction and staring. Some looked curious, some aloof; some were smiling. Cassandra focused ahead, gripping her flowers as though they were a lifeline.

      Jack’s best man was standing to his side, a dapper-looking fellow in a gray suit, with slicked-back red hair. Because of his cool expression, he was harder to read than Jack. On the other side, as Reverend Darcy had explained to her, his elderly wife was waiting to be a witness for Cassandra.

      They reached the altar. Mr. Dunleigh faded away, and Cassandra stepped up beside Jack. His eyes flickered over her, then down to her roses.

      “This is it,” he murmured. “Are you ready?”

      She nodded and smiled, but couldn’t help but wish he’d said something more personal. She bowed her head as the minister began.

      “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together on this beautiful summer day to join this man and this woman.”

      The rest was a blur to Cassandra. She was feeling queasy and started to rock. The next thing she knew, they were nearly at the end. Her head swam. Only a few more minutes...

      “If there is any man who can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”

      “I object!” a woman’s voice called from the back.

      Cassandra snapped to attention.

      People gasped. Jack swung around sharply.

      Dismayed, Cassandra swiveled in her wedding gown, peering past all the faces to the stylish woman in a plum-colored suit who’d stepped out to voice her objections. She was the brunette who’d dropped her package coming out of the hat shop yesterday when she’d spotted Jack and Cassandra together.

      Bouts of nervous coughing and shuffling ran through the congregation. Did everyone else know about this woman and this potential problem?

      Had Jack seen this coming?

      Chapter Four

      Chaos broke out as Jack looked on, feeling powerless at his own wedding.

      Reverend Darcy tried to take control of the situation in a calm, clear voice. “Miss Elise Beacon, please say what’s on your mind.”

      Murmurings and exclamations turned into dead silence.

      Elise stood in a pew next to the aisle, surrounded by female friends. She grasped the railing in front of her and glanced at Jack with what seemed like apology in her eyes.

      He steeled himself. How could she do this? What gave her the right? He tried to restrain himself, but burned with fury.

      “Reverend, I’m sure the whole town knows that Jack has been courting me, with expectations of...of... I feel he’s being disingenuous to arrange a marriage to someone else.”

      “Our courtship ended months ago,” Jack replied. He glanced at Cassandra, whose pretty mouth had fallen into a grim line. She’d lost her color, and his indignation flared at what this outburst was doing to her. “Reverend, I’m afraid Miss Beacon exaggerates the extent of our involvement.”

      Elise appeared crestfallen. She’d always been overly emotional, overly wrought when things didn’t go well, and she certainly had no right to place blame at his feet. She was the one who’d flirted with other men when she’d been with Jack. But to say so here would be to smear her honor. No matter how unreasonable she was to voice her objections at his wedding, he would not stoop to her level.

      Cassandra would have to trust him on this.

      But dammit! He took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

      Hugh, his best man, stepped out to try to smooth the difficulties. “Elise, everyone here knows and respects your forthright nature.”

      The reverend latched on to Hugh’s train of thought. “Yes, Miss Beacon, it is always best to clear the air, and I do appreciate your communicating your thoughts on the matter. However, that is not a lawful reason to stop this wedding. Unless he formally proposed to you?”

      Elise’s color heightened as she slowly shook her head.

      “Now, are there any just causes why this marriage cannot lawfully take place?” The gray-haired gent scanned the crowd.

      When Jack looked again at Cassandra, she seemed to be swaying. He leaped to catch her and her bouquet before both could collapse to the floor.

      Other people rushed to their aid.

      The front pew was cleared and Jack helped her sit. He knelt at her feet, the white folds of her gown billowing around them. “Cassandra,” he said gently.

      “I’ll be all right,” she said. “So sorry. I think it’s the heat and lack of sleep.”

      “There’s no need to apologize. It’s me who’s sorry.” And extremely concerned at her pale color. “Would you like to rest? Or would you like to leave?”

      Cassandra didn’t immediately respond. Hugh, however, slid in next to Jack, in the new gray suit he’d had fitted in his office yesterday. “Can I do anything?” His words sounded genuine, despite his earlier warnings to Jack to steer clear of marrying a mail-order bride.

      Jack shook his head.

      “Seriously, Jack,” said Hugh, “maybe I can help by talking with Elise.”

      Mr. and Mrs. Dunleigh appeared beside them and fussed over Cassandra. Jack stood up in the swarm of people and searched for Elise, but she was no longer there. Neither were her friends. Hugh shrugged his shoulders in frustration.

      The crowd hushed and watched. Jack held out his hand and Cassandra grasped it with renewed strength. He helped her to her feet. Whatever had happened, she had recovered. The warm white color of her gown accentuated the fresh glow in her cheeks. Dammit, every time he looked at her burn, he felt a flash of guilt. Especially today. No bride should have to feel self-conscious on her wedding day. He sensed the tension between them, as if they were more like strangers than a couple who’d once known each other and were happy to be standing before the altar.

      “I would like you to be my wife, Cassandra,” he said clearly, so there was no mistaking it in the crowd. “Would you do me the honor?”

      “I would like to, very much.”

      With relief, they turned to face the minister, and were wed.

      * * *

      She waited, but still there was no seductive kiss.

      “I now pronounce you man and wife,” said the minister.

      Jack briefly brushed his lips against hers. Cassandra wished for more, but gathered that he must be as apprehensive as she was, considering what they’d just been through with that combative woman. Why had she waited until that moment to speak out? She must have been seated in the congregation at least several minutes before Cassandra had arrived. Why not speak to Jack privately before the ceremony?

      It was as though she had wished to be as dramatic and confrontational as possible. Jack’s explanation seemed plausible to Cassandra, and when she’d known him in Chicago, he hadn’t been one to string along any women. Plus there hadn’t been one person in the congregation who’d corroborated the woman’s story.

      Cassandra was still trying to make sense of it when Jack whisked her outside and seated her in the buggy. To her disappointment, Mr. and Mrs. Dunleigh traveled with them. The butler took the reins, his wife sat in front with him, and Cassandra and Jack shared the rear seat. Cassandra desperately wanted to talk to Jack alone about what had happened, but considering that the Dunleighs were within earshot, she