Chapter 2   

Now see here.” Connor stepped forward.

Both women’s eyes widened. They held hands and backed up until they ran into the stagecoach.

Brian reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “Let’s hear them out.”

Connor turned toward his cousin. “They made a promise, and you know how much a man—or woman—keeping their word means to me.”

Brian motioned him closer. Half the crowd moved toward them, as if wanting to hear. “Look at it from their side,” he whispered. “They don’t know us from Adam.”

Connor scratched his ear. “Adam who?”

Brian sighed. “Never mind. They’re probably half scared out of their wits. It won’t do any good to force them, so let’s give them some time.”

“They must be out of their minds to ask such a thing after we paid their way here.” He shoved his hand to his hips and exhaled a loud breath. “Fine, I’ll listen, but I put on this hot suit for nothing.”

“That’s not true. You look nice for your intended.” Brian stepped forward. “Let’s get you ladies out of the hot sun. I imagine you must be half starved after such a long trip.”

The twins’ posture relaxed. Both nodded.

“I’m fierce thirsty,” one said.

“What shall we do with their luggage, Marshal?” Hank, the stagecoach driver, walked toward him.

“Throw it down, and we’ll stick it in the jailhouse for now.”

“All right.” Hank climbed on top of the stage and Mac followed. In short order they tossed down four sad-looking satchels.

Connor caught a pair, and Brian grabbed the other two. It didn’t seem like much for two women. Perhaps they were worse off than he realized. His ire at having to wait to get married melted like ice on a hot day.

“If you ladies will follow us, we’ll secure your things at the jailhouse then go to the café.”

At his office, Connor entered the cell room, put the four bags in the cage on the right, and locked it. When he entered his office again, he stared at two pretty pairs of surprised eyes.

“Why did you lock up our bags?” the twin on the right asked.

“It’s just a precaution. I wouldn’t want anyone slipping in and helping himself to your things.”

The woman on the left lifted her hand to her chest. “Is it that dangerous here?”

Brian chuckled, drawing the twins’ attention. “No. This town is quite safe, for the most part. Sometimes things get loud on the weekends when the local cowboys come to town for a good time, but that’s usually about the worst of it.”

Someone’s stomach gurgled, and Connor surmised it was the twin closest to him by the way her cheeks reddened to a pleasing color. He held out his arm. “Shall we go eat? My stomach is rubbing up against my backbone.”

Her eyes widened, and then she flashed him a grateful smile, revealing the most enticing pair of dimples he’d ever seen. His heart thumped—hard. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but he had no idea if she was Katie or not. He’d quickly fallen in love with the enchanting letters they had exchanged. Too bad the gals wanted to wait. He’d been looking forward to being married.

At the café, Mrs. Davies ushered them away from staring eyes to the private dining room. The school board and town council often used this room, so Connor was familiar with it. But he’d never seen it quite as decked out as it was now with everything pushed to the side except for one table and four chairs. A stiff white cloth covered the table, and a bouquet of wildflowers sat in the center in an etched-glass vase.

“’Tis lovely.” One twin moved forward and sniffed the flowers. “I have not seen these before. What are they?”

Connor flicked a glance at Brian since he knew more about flower names.

Brian cleared his throat. “The purple ones are larkspur, and the white with yellow centers are daisies.” He pulled out a chair and offered it to the closest twin. He glanced at Connor.

Stepping forward, Connor smiled and tugged out the other chair. Once both ladies were seated, he and Brian dropped down on the other two chairs. Connor enjoyed having a pretty lady on each side, but he sure wished they didn’t look so much alike. The next days were going to be taxing. How long would the twins make him and Brian wait before they could be married?

Though she was hungry, Keeley wasn’t sure she could eat a thing. She’d been a bit nervous about marrying Brian, but she’d made her choice. When Katie suggested they wait to see what the men were like, she’d mulled over the plan and had agreed. Now she wasn’t so sure. She’d watched the different expressions cross the men’s faces when they’d told them they wouldn’t be marrying them today—shock, anger, then reluctant acceptance.

They were doing the right thing. Still, they had taken the men’s money and gotten their hopes up. But Katie’s argument had been a good one. A man could say anything in a letter. Looking her in the eye and proving he meant what he said was something altogether different.

The woman with graying-brown hair who’d ushered them to the table returned with four glasses of water on a tray and single-page menus. “Welcome to Cactus Creek, ladies,” she said as she passed out the glasses and menus. “I’ll give you a few minutes to look those over. Would any of y’all care for coffee or tea?”

“I’d love a cup of tea with biscuits.”

“I got the tea, but I don’t got any fresh biscuits right now. Best I can do is corn bread.”

Keeley shook her head. Why would the woman think she’d want corn bread when she asked for cookies? “I’ll just take the tea then.”

“Coffee for Brian and me.” Connor flashed the woman a smile then glanced at her and Katie. “You two should eat a meal, even though it’s in between lunch and supper now. That way you won’t need to cook tonight. I reckon you’re tired after coming all the way from Chicago.”

“Perhaps a bowl of soup. We don’t eat much, I promise.” Katie smiled at the two men.

“I want you to eat your fill and not be embarrassed about it. We don’t want you going hungry.” Brian gave her and her sister a convincing stare.

Their aunt had fussed if they ate much, but then Aunt Colleen had complained about many things. Her constant nagging and trying to find them mates had driven them to become mail-order brides. At least she and Katie had been able to choose their own husbands that way. She could only hope they hadn’t jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Brian tapped the table. “Since you’re unwilling to reveal your real names for now, we’ll need to call you something. Twin A and B doesn’t sound very nice.”

“Neither does 1 or 2.” Connor wrinkled his face.

Keeley reached out and fingered a velvety white daisy petal. She glanced at Katie. “What about Lark and Daisy? After all, Larkin is an Irish name.”

Katie shrugged. “’Tis as good as any, I suppose. Which do you favor?”

Keeley tapped her lip. “Lark, I believe.”

“Very well. I’ll be Daisy then.”

“We still can’t tell you apart.” Connor frowned.

Katie lifted her chin a wee bit. “Once we feel more comfortable around you, we’ll reveal who is who. Until then, I suppose we’ll simply have to tell you our temporary names each day.”

Keeley could tell Connor didn’t like the deception, but she imagined that was true with most lawmen. She hated fooling him and Brian, but she’d promised Katie to go along—and they always stuck together, no matter what. They’d never had anyone else they could depend on since their mum died.

Mrs. Davies entered with a tray of drinks. She placed the coffee near the men and two tall glasses of brown liquid in front of her and Katie. Keeley stared at the strange drink, wondering where her tea was. She glanced at Katie, who lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug.

Mrs. Davies glanced at each of them. “Now, what would y’all like to eat?”

“What types of soup do you have?” Katie handed the woman the menu. “I didn’t see any listed.”

Mrs. Davies gave her an odd stare. “Don’t make soup when it’s this hot. Nobody ever buys it. I got some beef stew or chicken and dumplings. Or I could fix you a sandwich.”

Keeley looked at the men.

“The stew and dumplin’s are both good. I can attest to that.” Connor looked up at their hostess. “I think I’d like the latter today.”

“And you, Brian?”

“The stew, please. And we’ll want pie afterwards.”

“Got apple or peach.”

“You got a whole pie of either?” Brian asked.

Mrs. Davies nodded. “Got one peach and two apples that I made for suppertime, but I reckon I can crank out another one before then if you want a whole one.”

Brian looked at her then Katie. “Which would you prefer?”

“Apple.” Katie smiled.

Keeley didn’t bother replying, since her sister knew her preference.

“We’ll take the apple,” Connor said. “I figure the gals might like to have some later in case they get hungry.”

“And what about your meals?” Mrs. Davies stared at the twins.

Keeley tried not to squirm. “I’ll try the dumplings, if you please.”

“And I’ll take the stew.” Katie smiled at Keeley. “That way we can each sample both.”

“All righty then.” Mrs. Davies spun around and left the room.

Nobody said anything for a bit. Connor stared at the window on the back wall. Brian stirred sugar into his coffee.

“What is this?” Katie touched the glass of brown liquid that had a chunk of ice floating in it.

Connor wrinkled his brow. “That’s tea—just what you asked for.”

Katie’s gaze shot to hers. “Tea?” they said in unison.

Connor nodded. “You’ve never seen iced tea before? That’s how most folks drink it down here. We’re fortunate that Mrs. Davies has an icehouse. She has the ice shipped all the way from up north somewhere. Folks that don’t have an icehouse chill their tea in spring water.”

Keeley shook her head at the same time Katie did. “We’ve only ever had hot tea. Not only did we live in an Irish community, but our aunt was Irish to the bone. Hot tea is all she served. She wouldn’t allow us to attend social functions, so I have no idea if others in Chicago drank it.”

Brian chuckled. “I guess there’ll be a lot of things you’ll have to become accustomed to now that you’re living in the South.”

Katie tilted the glass of tea a bit. “Why do you drink your coffee hot then? Shouldn’t it be cold also? It makes no sense.”

Connor had just taken a sip, and he nearly dropped the cup. He coughed, and his eyes filled with tears. Finally, he laughed. “Cold coffee? Who ever heard of such a thing?”

Keeley stiffened. “’Tis not funny. Cold tea is just as odd to us as cold coffee is to you.”

Brian reached out and lightly touched her hand. “I can see your point. I have a solution. I actually have several teapots for sale in my store and a couple of varieties of tea. We’ll stop by there and get one before we go to the house—” He looked at Connor. “Where are they going to stay?”

Connor blinked, looking confused. “Um … hadn’t thought of that. I figured we’d be married and each go to our own place.”

Keeley felt bad. They’d taken the men’s money and gotten up their hopes of marrying, and now they had to find a place for them to stay. Brian, her intended, was the nicer of the two, but something about Connor’s more rugged demeanor drew her. Oh dear. She mustn’t allow herself to be attracted to her sister’s future husband.

Brian rubbed his chin. “I think the best thing would be for the ladies to stay in your rented house, and you move back in with me.”

Connor nodded. “I’ll have to make sure it’s all right with my landlady.”

“Why don’t you go ask her after we eat while I take the ladies to the mercantile to get a few things. I don’t imagine you’ve got much food in the house.”

He shook his head. “You know part of my salary is free breakfast here at the café, and I usually eat supper with you.”

“All right then, that’s what we’ll do. You ladies can pick out some food items you like before we go to the house. I want to make sure you have all that you need.”

Katie shook her head. “We cannot accept your charity.”

Keeley wanted to pinch her. The thought of having food to eat whenever she wanted was a dream. Leave it to her sister to ruin it.

Connor squirmed in his seat. “It’s our responsibility to care for you.”

Katie’s chin went up again. “Not yet. We are not married.”

Katie was always the scrapper. Keeley could fight hard too, but she had no desire to reject an offer of food. Aye, she’d been reluctant to eat today because of her nervousness, but it made sense for them to have a stock of food. They sure didn’t have the money to eat at the café.

“How about we make a trade.” Brian eyed Keeley then Katie. “I need help in the store. I was hoping that my wife—whichever one of you is Keeley—would assist me. If you’d be willing to work in the store, I’ll pay you in supplies until we marry. It would be a fair trade.”

Keeley looked at Katie. She wasn’t sure she’d like working in a store and hadn’t considered Brian might expect her help, but they had to eat. They nodded at the same time, and then Keeley straightened. “That’s more than fair. Perhaps I’ll come tomorrow, and then Daisy can go the next day.”