Dacey: Bride of North Carolina (Amercan Mail-Order Bride 12) by Shanna Hatfield Page A
Authors: Shanna Hatfield
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Saga, Western, Short-Story, Religious, Christian, Inspirational, Bachelor, Marriage of Convenience, Faith, north carolina, Past Issues, misunderstanding, victorian era, Forever Love, Single Woman, Fifth In Series, Fifty-Books, Forty-Five Authors, Newspaper Ad, American Mail-Order Bride, Factory Burned, Pioneer, new beginning, Conniving Mother, Reluctant Groom, Family Plantation, Asheville, Simple Farmer, Unknown Existence
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entertained them with her stories of life on a western ranch. The delicate beauty of her appearance seemed at complete odds to her tomboyish demeanor during the day.
Each morning right after breakfast, Dacey hurried out to the barn in one of her split skirts, spending hours with the horses. Although a few of his men voiced their opposition to her presence, she thrived on the work. The fact that she possessed greater skill than many of them in how to ride and train the equines created the resistance to her assistance.
Braxton rested his boot-clad foot on one of the fence poles as Dacey loped the horse around the pen and caught sight of him. A friendly wave acknowledged his presence, but she didn’t stop to chat.
In fact, if Braxton didn’t know better, he’d think she was avoiding him. Other than a few polite words of conversation during the meals they shared, she’d acted as if she didn’t know he existed.
He shouldn’t care.
In fact, he should be grateful she hadn’t attempted to force him into the marriage his mother had wrongly offered on his behalf.
Rather than push the commitment, she allowed the matter to drop without any fuss. He was sure she was the only female who would have been so gracious about the entire frustrating matter.
From what he’d observed, Dacey was friendly and kind. She’d charmed nearly every male at Bramble Hall, from the boys who mucked out the stables to their stalwart butler.
Admittedly, Braxton wasn’t indifferent to her either.
He looked forward to listening to the conversations she engaged in with his mother and father, even if he refused to participate.
The opportunity to watch her ride, hear the pleasing chimes of her laughter, or catch a whiff of her fragrance disrupted his work to the point he could hardly keep track of what he should be doing. Not for the first time, he wondered how Dacey always smelled of summer flowers basking in sunshine.
Determined to shove the woman from his mind and return his focus to running the plantation, Braxton slapped the gloves he held in his hand against his open palm. The loud pop the action created startled the fractious horse.
It leaped into the air and landed bucking. Dacey did a good job of handling the animal until it rapidly twisted to the side. Everyone watched as she began to lose her seat. When the horse lunged forward then unexpectedly spun to the left, she flew out of the saddle and landed in a heap a few feet away.
Braxton cleared the fence before she hit the ground, running to her. He dropped to his knees and lifted her head, brushing the silky strands of hair away from her face as she fought to take a breath. The fall had knocked the wind out of her.
Once she sucked in a gulp of air, she glowered at him.
“Sakes alive! Are you trying to bury me six feet under, you dunce? What’d you slap your dang gloves for?” Dacey pushed away his hands and sat up, rolling her neck and shoulders to make sure everything still worked. “You had to know that cantankerous cayuse would pitch a fit and put the licks in until it played out.” Dacey ignored Braxton’s outstretched hand and startled look at her outburst. She rose to her feet and bent one leg then the other to make sure nothing was broken.
Concluding her limbs remained unbroken and in one piece, she rounded on him again. Angrily, she shook a gloved finger beneath his nose. “I didn’t peg you for a greenhorn, but you sure enough acted like one around this worthless puddin’ foot.” Dacey’s western lingo thickened as she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the horse two of the grooms had caught. “Ain’t ya got nothin’ better to do than gawkin’ like a pie-eyed snapperhead? Push out of my way, ‘cause I ain’t even close to done tanglin’ with this loco sidewinder.”
Braxton had no idea what Dacey had just said, but the sparks shooting from her teal-green eyes and the pink suffusing her cheeks made him want to kiss her in the worst way. His employees
Each morning right after breakfast, Dacey hurried out to the barn in one of her split skirts, spending hours with the horses. Although a few of his men voiced their opposition to her presence, she thrived on the work. The fact that she possessed greater skill than many of them in how to ride and train the equines created the resistance to her assistance.
Braxton rested his boot-clad foot on one of the fence poles as Dacey loped the horse around the pen and caught sight of him. A friendly wave acknowledged his presence, but she didn’t stop to chat.
In fact, if Braxton didn’t know better, he’d think she was avoiding him. Other than a few polite words of conversation during the meals they shared, she’d acted as if she didn’t know he existed.
He shouldn’t care.
In fact, he should be grateful she hadn’t attempted to force him into the marriage his mother had wrongly offered on his behalf.
Rather than push the commitment, she allowed the matter to drop without any fuss. He was sure she was the only female who would have been so gracious about the entire frustrating matter.
From what he’d observed, Dacey was friendly and kind. She’d charmed nearly every male at Bramble Hall, from the boys who mucked out the stables to their stalwart butler.
Admittedly, Braxton wasn’t indifferent to her either.
He looked forward to listening to the conversations she engaged in with his mother and father, even if he refused to participate.
The opportunity to watch her ride, hear the pleasing chimes of her laughter, or catch a whiff of her fragrance disrupted his work to the point he could hardly keep track of what he should be doing. Not for the first time, he wondered how Dacey always smelled of summer flowers basking in sunshine.
Determined to shove the woman from his mind and return his focus to running the plantation, Braxton slapped the gloves he held in his hand against his open palm. The loud pop the action created startled the fractious horse.
It leaped into the air and landed bucking. Dacey did a good job of handling the animal until it rapidly twisted to the side. Everyone watched as she began to lose her seat. When the horse lunged forward then unexpectedly spun to the left, she flew out of the saddle and landed in a heap a few feet away.
Braxton cleared the fence before she hit the ground, running to her. He dropped to his knees and lifted her head, brushing the silky strands of hair away from her face as she fought to take a breath. The fall had knocked the wind out of her.
Once she sucked in a gulp of air, she glowered at him.
“Sakes alive! Are you trying to bury me six feet under, you dunce? What’d you slap your dang gloves for?” Dacey pushed away his hands and sat up, rolling her neck and shoulders to make sure everything still worked. “You had to know that cantankerous cayuse would pitch a fit and put the licks in until it played out.” Dacey ignored Braxton’s outstretched hand and startled look at her outburst. She rose to her feet and bent one leg then the other to make sure nothing was broken.
Concluding her limbs remained unbroken and in one piece, she rounded on him again. Angrily, she shook a gloved finger beneath his nose. “I didn’t peg you for a greenhorn, but you sure enough acted like one around this worthless puddin’ foot.” Dacey’s western lingo thickened as she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the horse two of the grooms had caught. “Ain’t ya got nothin’ better to do than gawkin’ like a pie-eyed snapperhead? Push out of my way, ‘cause I ain’t even close to done tanglin’ with this loco sidewinder.”
Braxton had no idea what Dacey had just said, but the sparks shooting from her teal-green eyes and the pink suffusing her cheeks made him want to kiss her in the worst way. His employees
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