Journey of the Bride by Mary Fox Page B

convinced him she was the perfect woman to take as his wife, but rather than asking her for her hand, which she would have refused outright, he ’ d gone to her father.
     
    Of course, her father loved him as a second son and agreed wholeheartedly. His precious daughter would be cared for. She would have a home with an intelligent, loving husband who could provide for her future. She was in good hands. At least, that ’ s what her father honestly believed.
     
    She knew that she ’ d never convince him otherwise. Especially when he ’ d been so happy.
     
    “ My darling daughter! ” he ’ d called up the stairs.
     
    Only a short hour before, she had retired to her room in an effort to escape Talbert and his words. It was getting harder and harder for her to bite her tongue. Living among the ranch hands had given her a foul mouth and taught her that if she didn ’ t speak her mind right away, she ’ d regret it.
     
    Among her father and his guest, that simply would not do. Even worse were the thoughts she wanted to say aloud. She wanted to reveal how much of a conniving snake Talbert was.
     
    “ Yes, Father? ”
     
    “ Would you delight us with your company for a moment? ”
     
    Ever since returning from the ranch, she ’ d discovered how society ’ s propriety irritated her. Her father ’ s words made her skin itch. At the ranch, she would have simply said, “ Come here, please, ” and the men would have answered her call, or vice versa.
     
    Etiquette meant so much more here, but it was much more meaningless and preposterous. It made her want to laugh. It was all a joke, a mockery, a shame, and she hated it.
     
    Without it, she could be free. She understood that now and missed such. The social norms she ’ d grown up with were a gilded cage, one she hated now that she knew better existed out in the world.
     
    My eyes have been opened, she thought. And the world is a darker place for such.
     
    It didn ’ t matter though. Her father and his guest waited upon her. She made her way downstairs, past Gerald who frowned, which made her nauseous. Whatever was going on, she knew she wasn ’ t going to like it.
     
    As soon as she entered the library where he father stood talking with Talbert, he beamed at her, as if his entire world had been made in an instant. It was not a comforting expression based on the company he was partaking of at the moment. She kept her expression cool though and returned his smile with one of her own. “ What can I do for you, Father? ” she asked.
     
    She was, first and foremost in her father ’ s house, a lady. She dressed as such, wearing lace gloves out in public as well as a bonnet to cover her hair and carrying a parasol to shield her face from the sun.
     
    At the ranch, as long as she was clothed, no one had cared. No one held her hand before him as if presenting a delicate flower to someone as her father did before Talbert now. No one smiled at her as if they knew something she didn ’ t, a surprise meant to make her feel grand. There were no hidden agendas, no expectations beyond that of filling empty bellies and being herself. She ’ d been free. She ’ d been happy.
     
    As she stood before Talbert, with her father standing like the third point of a triangle, a grin upon his face, Courtney wished she were back on the ranch, back feeding the hired ranch hands, back in the arms of the man she ’ d married.
     
    You ’ re not married to him any longer, she scolded herself. Such was true. Brandon had demanded annulment paperwork, which both of them had signed before she returned home. He ’ d given the paperwork to Paul with the expectations that he file it as soon as he could. Paul had assured her and Brandon she ’ d be a le Brush again by noon the following day.
     
    The thought had appeased Brandon, and he ’ d only glanced at Courtney a moment, tipping his hat to her out of respect before he rode off. It was as if she ’ d never been married, which she