A Bride For Noah
Book OneBrides of Broken Arrow
Cheryl Wright
A BRIDE FOR NOAH
Book One
Brides of Broken Arrow
Copyright ©2020 by Cheryl Wright
Cover Artist: Got You Covered (Lisa Miller)
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book
Thanks
Thanks to my very dear friend and author Margaret Tanner for her enduring encouragement and friendship.
Thanks also to Alan, my husband of over 45 years, who has been a relentless supporter of my writing for many years.
And last, but by no means least, thank you to all my wonderful readers who encourage me to continue writing these stories. It is such a joy to me knowing so many of you enjoy reading my stories. I love writing them as much as you love reading them.
Table of Contents
Thanks
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Epilogue
From the Author
About the Author
Chapter One
Halliwell, Montana - 1880
“You can’t be serious!” Noah Adams stood, his body shaking with fury. “Father gave me that land. You can’t take it from me!”
Theodore Black sighed. “Do sit down, Noah, and let me finish reading the will. Everything will soon become clear.”
Noah sat as directed, but still shook with rage. Barnabas Adams’ entire estate had been bequeathed to his eldest son, Jacob, despite their deceased father’s promise. He glanced across at Seth, who was two years younger than Noah at twenty-eight. He was far from happy.
“Jacob, as the oldest son, the main house is yours. You get all the property your father owned, depending on certain conditions.”
Jacob would be thirty-two at his next birthday, and turned deathly white as the will was read. The way it looked now, Jacob would get everything. He’d always been more interested in the business side than working the land.
What on earth was their father thinking? And where did that leave both Noah and Seth? They’d each worked their allocated land for years, and were told, guaranteed it would legally be theirs when Father died. What was he playing at?
Theodore, or Teddy as everyone called him, glanced first at Noah, then Seth.
“Noah, Seth,” Teddy said, directing his gaze at Noah, the middle son. “Barnabas changed his will a few months ago. He knew he was dying, and wanted to ensure you boys were all well looked after.”
Fury bubbled up and burst out of Noah’s mouth. “What, by leaving me penniless? By handing my land over to my brother who wouldn’t know one end of a cow from the other?”
Jacob stared at him with sad eyes. It wasn’t his doing, but that didn’t stop Noah from being furious about the entire situation. Did Jacob know the will had been changed?
Noah’s hands were white, from fisting them so tight. He had never been been so angry in his entire life. He had no idea what Barnabas had been thinking when he changed his will. And what was that about him knowing he was dying? That was news to Noah.
“Jacob, since you are already living in the main house, you may stay there. Noah, Seth,”
He’d heard enough. Noah shoved his chair back until it slammed against the floor, then stormed out of the lawyer’s office, his temper a hot rage. What he would do now, he had no idea. But he couldn’t help but wonder why his father had made such a stupid and heart wrenching decision. The thousand acres he’d been gifted on his twenty-first birthday, were supposed to be his for life. Now they’d been wrenched away from him.
He’d spent the past nine years working hard on that land and was making a decent profit. Now he was being forced to hand it all over to his brother. Jacob knew absolutely nothing about running a ranch, and to Noah’s mind, probably didn’t want to either.
He’d never known his father to make such a foolhardy decision, and couldn’t fathom what had caused it.
He left Teddy Black’s office and headed to the saloon. He wasn’t normally a drinking man, and the booze wouldn’t help him think any clearer, but it might help calm his shattered nerves.
As he threw back his third whiskey, he saw Teddy enter the saloon.
“I’ve never heard anything so absurd in my entire life.” Teddy had walked him to the nearest café and ordered strong black coffee. Noah had never been drunk before, but the reading of the will had totally shocked him.
Teddy waved to the waitress. “Another black coffee, please.”
“This is so unlike Father,” Noah said, his head starting to clear. “Why would he hand everything over to Jacob? It’s so unfair.”
The waitress refilled his mug then scurried away. “If you’d waited long enough, you would have heard the conditions.” Teddy sounded annoyed. He’d been the family lawyer for as long as Noah could remember, and was more like an uncle to the three brothers. “Provisions have been made for your future. Seth’s too.”
Noah glanced up and stared at him. “What? Apart from wrenching our land out from under us?”
“No such thing will occur if you comply with the conditions I mentioned earlier. At least I tried to explain before you took off.”
Dare he believe such a thing? What sort of conditions was Teddy talking about? Noah shook his head, which was finally clear. “What conditions are we talking about?” He stared suspiciously at at the older man. It wasn’t bad enough he’d lost his father less than a week ago, now
