Amanda
A Needful Bride
Danni Roan
Copyright © 2020 Danni Roan
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 9798681112051
Cover design by: Erin Dameron-Hill
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
Books In This Series
Introduction
Teddy Lewis has waited long enough to receive his mail-order bride, but she is nowhere to be seen. As impatience mounts, the young cowman doesn’t let an opportunity go to waste when an emergency calls Olive Hampton away, leaving the newest arrival in Needful, Texas entirely on her own.
Amanda Antonia has lost everything she ever owned and loved when her mother remarries, scandalously soon, after the death of Amanda’s father. Seeking a new start in life and a loving protector of her own, she is soon tossed into the wilds of Texas, utterly unprepared for rowdy cowboys, roaming cattle, and riotous romance.
Chapter 1
“Olive! Olive Hampton!” Teddy Lewis came charging into the small town of Needful, Texas, bellowing at the top of his lungs, mere seconds behind the stagecoach from Colbert’s Ferry.
“Olive!” The young puncher hit the ground before his black and white pinto had come to a stop at the front of the hitching rail. Stomping onto the porch, Teddy bellowed again, “Olive!”
“Lands sakes,” Olive Hampton opened the door, her dark eyes sharp. “What on earth is the matter with you, Teddy?” The aged, yet slender boardinghouse keeper asked, drying her hands on a dishtowel.
“Daliah sent me for you. She says she needs you to come to the ranch. Pete’s horse fell on him, and she needs you to help set his shoulder. It’s hangin’ like a broke limb in a winter storm.”
The young man let his arm dangle at his side as if it were no longer attached to his body in a grotesque parody of the real injury.
A soft gasp made Olive and Teddy turn as a young woman in a dusty white dress stepped off the stage, her pale blue eyes wide with repulsion.
“I’ll fetch my things,” Olive said. “Orville will be around with fresh horses for the stage, and then he’ll bring me to the ranch.”
“Are you Mrs. Hampton?” the petite dark-haired young woman stepped daintily toward the pair. “I’m Amanda Antonia.”
“Good heavens,” Olive sighed. “I’m afraid you’ve arrived at an inopportune time. If you’ll go into the boarding house and let one of my daughters-in-law know who you are, they’ll fix everything up. I’m afraid I’m needed elsewhere. Excuse me.”
The sound of galloping horses and the crack of a pistol shot rang out across the town, making the young woman scream and crumple toward the boardwalk.
Teddy leapt, his strong arms catching the slight form of the pretty woman before she crashed to the hard planks of the boardinghouse front stoop. Her face was pale, her eyes closed, and her body trembled in his hands.
“Now what?” Olive snapped, spinning and seeing the prone young woman. “Oh my!”
“You go on, Olive.” Teddy scooped the girl into his arms. “I’ll see to this one. Daliah said she needed you something terrible. Said no one else could understand what she was tellin’ them to do.”
Olive looked between the cowhand and the corner of the boarding house where her husband was bringing a fresh team of horses for the stage. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. One of the girls will help you with our new arrival.” She shook her head once, then hefted her long skirts and stepped into the street headed for the livery as she called to her husband.
***
“Miss, Miss.” Teddy’s voice was soft as he gazed into the lovely face before him, but the young woman was beyond hearing. She was out in a dead faint, possibly brought on by the rowdy cowboys whooping their way through town. “Now, don’t you worry none,” Teddy drawled. “Ol’ Teddy will look after you.”
The sound of a buckboard racing away from the livery told Teddy that Olive and Orville were on their way to the ranch, even as the livery hand, Darwin, came to help change horses for the stage.
Theodore Lewis was on his own to care for the new, probable, Needful bride. Teddy had placed an order for a bride with Olive several months ago, but so far, it seemed that every time a new woman arrived in Needful, another lucky man snatched her up before Teddy had a chance to say howdy-do. A bright glint sparkled in the young man’s eyes, and looking around him, an idea was born.
Down the street, Theodore Lewis could hear the sheriff shouting at the overly enthusiastic cowboys who had startled this delicate flower, and the stage, now equipped with fresh horses, was headed out of town.
Lifting the slight form in his arms, Teddy hurried to his pony, slipping a boot into a stirrup and tossing his burden over the saddle swells. Adjusting his seat so that the young woman’s head rested against his breast, he snatched up the bridle reins and laid spurs to his painted horse, dusting it out of town before anyone else could see him with his prize.
***
Teddy didn’t slow until he was close enough to the ranch to see the outbuildings, then he eased his heaving mount to a slow walk, turning toward the old pools and the tiny cabin he had built over the past few months in his spare time. The
