Bride School: Mary (The Brides of Diamond Springs Ranch 4) by Bella Bowen Page B

even weeks, that friend would marry and leave the ranch for good.
But with Fontaine and the other staff, it was more akin to family. They all
expected Mary to move on one day, but it might have been another year or so
before Mrs. Carnegie deemed her ready.
    So Fontaine was more like a sister—a sister Mary’d
never had. And now she’d betrayed that sister.
    If only she hadn’t turned around… If she’d just
hurried into the parlor as she’d been told, she might have protected that
sister’s heart.

CHAPTER NINE
        
    Fontaine was not on the stairs when Mary climbed
toward the third floor room she would share with Millie. She’d lollygagged as
long as she could, waiting to see if John might poke his nose in to check on
her. Since he wasn’t staying at the hotel, it was silly of her to expect him to
come. After all, his boots might have been full of ice water before he’d ever
scooped her up and carried her to the safety of the boardwalk. He would have
needed to hurry indoors, perhaps to his father’s house, before he lost his feet
to frostbite. He was a Wyoming man, after all. He knew the dangers of the cold.
Freezing just a few more minutes in order to see her would have been foolish.
    Wonderful, yes, but foolish.
    It had been the second most momentous occasion in
her life, discovering that Rebel had survived. It should have been enough
excitement for one night. Finding John and telling him her real identity would
have to wait until morning, but find him she would. The charade was over. No
more need to pretend she was Alexandra Campbell from Chester County,
Pennsylvania. And none of the men from the dance would ask her to tea, so it
didn’t matter to them who she was, or wasn’t.
    She paused to catch her breath halfway up the
final staircase. There was no sign of Fontaine, no chance to press her apology.
As heavy as that left her heart, she was equally relieved. If given a bit of
time to think on it, the gunslinger might decide to send Mary back to the ranch
right away, which would remove any chance of finding John in the morning!
    Maybe my only chance is to hide from Fontaine
altogether!
    She spun on the step before she was aware of her
decision. And she’d tripped down three stairs before she realized she was not
alone.
    “Where the blazes to do you think yer goin’?”
Fontaine’s voice was as cold and harsh as the icy snowflakes had been earlier.
    Still caught up in the possibilities, Mary turned
back to find her sober friend sitting in a chair off to the right, in a shadowy
alcove between the wall and a large armoire. The dark red dots of the wallpaper
looked like drops of blood spattered down the hallway. It immediately sobered
Mary.
    “Fontaine! I have to tell you—”
    “Don’t want to hear it. High time you got your
fancy pink backside into that room, Alexandra.”
    “You don’t understand. You see, Mr. Hermann, uh,
John Hermann—”
    “Went home. No use waitin’ up for him.”
    “But he doesn’t know who I am—”
    “Course he does. You’re Alexandra Campbell, the
bride that’s not quite ready. Or are you the Scottish bride who decided she was
too good for the likes of Diamond Springs Ranch? So the minute Mrs. Carnegie
left town—”
    “That’s not right, Fontaine. The fact is
Alexandra’s already in love with someone back home—”
    “Then she shouldn’t have come.”
    The woman was never going to see reason as upset
as she was, and Mary was wishing that instead of coming up the stairs, she’d
donned the heavy cloak and gone looking for John straight away. Now that the
other gentlemen were in their rooms, she was free to be herself.
    “Inside, Mary. Now. And Elsa will take you back to
the ranch first thing in the morning. Mrs. Carnegie can decide your
punishment…and Alexandra’s.”
    “But Font—”
    “But nothing. Inside.”
    The smallest reflection of the lamplight gave away
the wet in the woman's eye, and Mary’s resistance dissolved. Her betrayal had
done