Kayla said nothing for a moment. This was Cord Holderness? Tall and well-
built, with dark hair, warm brown eyes, and the faint hint of a beard along his jaw line, he was absolutely one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen.
And dressed in denims, a shirt that he’d left unbuttoned at the neck, a hat and well-worn boots, he looked every inch the cowboy, she thought.
“Abigail?” he asked, looking at her curiously. His voice was soft, sensuous.
Kayla opened her mouth, all set to ask him for a monetary award in exchange for her information regarding Abigail, but al she could seem to manage to say was, “Cord?”
He grinned, flashing white teeth at her, and Kayla just about melted on the spot. Putting his arms around her, he bent his head and kissed her cheek.
“I’m so glad you’re finally here.” Lifting his head, he gazed down at her, his brown eyes soft. “You’re even more beautiful than you led me to believe.”
Kayla blinked. She was rarely, if ever, at a loss for words, but with him
standing so near, she couldn’t seem to formulate a complete thought. He
thought she was Abigail, she realized. She opened her mouth to explain, but Cord continued before she could speak.
“As you can see, most of the town came out to meet you,” he said, gesturing to the people who had gathered nearby. Leaning close, he spoke
conspiratorial y in her ear. “Don’t worry. I told them they had to wait until you settled in.”
Standing in front of this man who was so handsome that he literally made her dizzy, she suddenly began thinking of a different plan. She had no idea where it came from; it just popped into her head. Maybe she could go along with
this, let him think that she was his mail-order bride. From what Abigail had said, he was probably rich. He was certain to have money or something
valuable around his home that she could take to sell later. She could certainly use a little bit of extra money to get herself started in San Francisco. And Cord being so attractive was an added bonus. Pretending to be his fiancé
certainly wouldn’t be distasteful. She had a momentary twinge of guilt, but it disappeared quickly when she thought about how easy it would be to start in San Francisco if she had a little bit of money.
Kayla looked around to see groups of people clustered along the street.
Some were looking at her with open curiosity, but most, judging from their smiling faces, looked genuinely happy for Cord. That just gave her added
justification. After all, how could she tell him about Abigail’s decision not to marry him in front of all these people?
“Is this the only bag you have?”
Kayla saw that Cord had picked up her small suitcase. She nodded as a plan began to develop in her mind. “Yes.” She gave him a pretty little pout.
“Everything else I brought with me fell off that stupid stagecoach. My trunk opened and everything inside was ruined, of course. The driver said that the stage wasn’t responsible for such things, but...”
Her voice trailed off helplessly, and he gave her one of those dazzling smiles of his. “Don’t worry, Abigail. I’ll buy you whatever you need. Copper Creek’s small, but the general store has some good mail order catalogs you can get things from.”
This was even better than she’d hoped, Kayla thought. Conniving him out of his money would be as easy as pie. She would have no problem wrapping
this big, strapping man around her finger. She probably wouldn’t even have to actually steal anything. Smiling up at him, she took his arm and let him lead her to the waiting wagon. As they walked, she couldn’t help but notice that his forearm was strongly muscled beneath her hand. When he offered his hand
to help her up into the wagon, she smiled and thanked him. Then, before she knew it, he’d climbed in beside her and took up the reins, sending the wagon in motion.
“You must be tired after your journey,” he said, giving her a sidelong glance.
“A little,” she admitted. “Stagecoaches aren’t the most comfortable form of transportation.”
“Or the safest,” he added, glancing at her. “I was concerned about you
traveling alone, especially since you said that you’ve never been out of
Boston.” When she said nothing, he continued. “It must be a big culture shock for you, not just leaving Boston, but coming all the way out here on your own.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “And it certainly doesn’t help that we’ve never met before. But I just want to let you know that I’m not going to rush anything.
We can take our time getting to know each other. There’s no pressure,
Abigail, so you can just relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery.”
Once again, Kayla was rendered speechless by this man. Cord Holderness
was so nice; deceiving him just didn’t seem right. She should tell him the truth, she thought. But then again, she reasoned he did order a bride through a catalog, so how nice could he really be?
Well, just because she thought that he might be a wolf in sheep’s clothing didn’t mean that she couldn’t appreciate the surrounding mountainous
landscape of the Wyoming Territory. The sun was just beginning to set, and she didn’t think she’d ever seen a more vivid display of colors. “I would never have thought it would be this beautiful,” she said, almost to herself.
Beside her, Cord laughed. “So, my letters didn’t do it justice, then? And here I thought I was sounding poetic.”
She looked at him in confusion. “What?” Then she remembered. Cord and
Abigail had probably corresponded for weeks, months maybe, before the girl had begun the trek out here. Kayla laughed nervously. “Oh...of course...I
didn’t mean to imply...”
Cord reached out and covered her hand with his own. “I was teasing you,
Abigail,” he said, turning his head to look at
