Kayla & the Rancher, Paige Tyler [story read aloud TXT] 📗

if I were, I’d marry Cord.” She glanced over to where her husband was standing behind the counter, and then added with a wink. “Don’t tell Matthew I said that,

though.”

Kayla laughed. “Have you known Cord long?”

The other girl nodded. “About five years, ever since he came to Copper

Creek.”

Kayla began folding the material that Rachel had cut for her. “It’s obvious that he’s both attractive and a great guy, so why would he even need a mail-order bride? I would think that women would be falling all over themselves to marry him.”

“Because there aren’t many unattached women out here,” Rachel said.

“Unless you count the prostitutes, though they’d certainly take him, if he offered.”

Kayla felt an unreasonable stab of jealousy, and wondered if Cord had slept with any of those prostitutes. “I suppose that makes sense,” she said after a moment. “When Cord and I were in town the other day, we ran into a man

named Dalton Jeffries. Cord really seemed to dislike him, but he wouldn’t say why. Do you know him?”

Rachel’s mouth tightened. “Regrettably, yes. He’s my brother.”

Kayla looked at her friend in surprise. “Your brother? But Cord told me that he was dangerous. He warned me to stay away from him.”

The other girl stopped cutting and looked at her. “Cord’s right, Abigail. You should stay away from him.”

Kayla frowned. “What do you mean?”

The blond girl sighed. “Take it from me, Abigail. Dalton isn’t the kind of man you’d want to be around.”

Rachel didn’t say more and Kayla didn’t push. Usually, she did the opposite of whatever she was told, but in this case, she thought, perhaps Cord was right.

If he wanted her to stay away from Dalton Jeffries, then she would.

Rachel turned the conversation back to Kayla’s upcoming wedding, telling her that the lace she had ordered would be there in about a week. “You should

probably be able to have the rest of the dress ready by the time it gets here,”

she told Kayla, and then added excitedly. “I bet you can’t wait to get married!”

Kayla felt herself blush. For some reason she couldn’t explain, the thought of marrying Cord Holderness made her feel uncharacteristically giddy. That

thought brought her to a halt, and she gave herself a mental shake. What was she thinking? She wasn’t in Copper Creek to marry Cord. She wasn’t even his real mail-order bride. She had to get herself some money, and get out of

Copper Creek quick, she realized, or the next thing she knew, she’d be

marrying the man!

With that thought firmly in mind, Kayla hurriedly thanked Rachel for the use of her sewing machine, and after promising the girl that she’d be back the next day, she left the general store and headed straight for the saloon. She had brought the money Abigail had given her, which should be more than enough

to get her into a card game.

Since it was afternoon, the saloon wasn’t very crowded. The men at the bar looked her way when she came in, but she barely noticed them. On the

contrary, she was much more interested in the card game going on at one of the tables.

Lifting her chin, she slowly made her way over to the table. At her approach, the three men seated there got to their feet. Dressed in denims and

homespun shirts, they varied in age, but were all older than she.

“Ma’am,” one of the men greeted her. He was tall and wiry, with a droopy

mustache.

She gave them one of her most innocent smiles. “I couldn’t help but notice that you were playing cards,” she said sweetly. “I was wondering, is that

poker you’re playing?”

“Yes, Ma’am, it is.”

She looked up at him from beneath lowered lashes. “Really? I thought I

recognized it. I’ve played it once or twice before just for fun, you see.” She paused. “Do you think I could play? Just a few hands?”

The man with the droopy mustache exchanged glances with the other two.

“Uh...we play for money here, Ma’am.”

“Oh, but I have money,” she said, reaching into her reticule.

He frowned. “It wouldn’t be right to take a lady’s money, Ma’am.”

Kayla looked up at him. “But I do so want to play,” she said, and then laughed lightly. “Besides, who knows? I may take yours.”

That got her a few chuckles. “You just might at that,” the man with the droopy mustache agreed. He pulled out a chair for her. “Have a seat, then, Ma’am.”

With a smile, she took the chair he offered her, smoothing her dress as she did so. Opening her reticule, she took out some money and set it on the table in front of her.

“I’m Jed,” the man with the droopy mustache told her, and then inclined his head at the other two men. “That’s Caleb,” he gestured toward the blond-haired man across from her. “And that’s Lawrence,” he said, indicating the other man, this one red-haired and freckled.

Kayla smiled. “I’m Abigail.”

Jed eyed her curiously. “You’re Cord Holderness’s mail-order bride, ain’t

you?” he asked as he began shuffling the cards.

“Yes,” was all she said.

Jed exchanged looks with the other men, but made no comment as he began

to deal. Though Kayla had a good hand, she deliberately let one of the men win. She did with same with the next hand, though she won the fourth hand

with two pairs, and the one after that with three of a kind. She managed to look surprised each time she won, however, and by the time she left the

saloon ten dollars richer, she was pretty sure that none of the men suspected she’d ever played poker for money before.

With her winnings safely tucked into her reticule, Kayla started for home. Cord was still out on the ranch, so she hurried upstairs to her bedroom to freshen up before dinner.

Splashing some water on her face from the basin on the washstand, she

patted her skin dry with a