The Wilderness Bride (Oregon #1)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

L isa pulled the hood further over her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see the stares from the onlookers as the preacher led her and Ashley to the schoolhouse. Funny how the town seemed even smaller than it had when she came here on the stagecoach.

The second she came in on the horse with the preacher, people stopped doing their tasks to watch them. Ashley had ridden on a horse behind them. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he took off in another direction to get out of this marriage. She would have run off if the preacher hadn’t lifted her onto his horse the moment she stepped out of the cabin.

Once inside the building, the preacher released her elbow and turned to Ashley. “Can I trust you to stay here while I get a couple of witnesses and my book?”

A flicker of hope swept through her. She pushed her hood back to look at Ashley. Maybe they could sneak out of here while the preacher was gone.

And go where? She could always run back up the hillside and jump off the cliff. But where would he go? His cabin was here. His food was here. Unlike her, he had a purpose. He had to stay here. If she were to jump off the cliff right now, the preacher would accuse Ashley of driving her to kill herself. That was the last thing she wanted for someone who had shown her undeserved kindness.

Resigned, she sat in one of the seats with a desk attached to it and closed her eyes. It was a shame the preacher knew where Ashley lived.

“If we ran off, you’d only find us and drag us back here,” Ashley told the preacher.

“Yes, I would,” the preacher confirmed.

“I’m many things, Preacher, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

Since Lisa kept her eyes closed, she didn’t see what happened next, but she heard the front door open and close. Then she heard footsteps heading in her direction. She opened her eyes and saw Ashley approaching her.

He let out a heavy sigh, sat next to her, and threw his hat on the desk in front of him. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess.”

She blinked in surprise. He was blaming himself for all of this? “I heard you telling the preacher we didn’t do anything.” As an afterthought she added, “And I know we didn’t do anything. You have nothing to be sorry about. I didn’t know what to say when he asked me what my last name was. I saw you mouthing something but couldn’t make out what it was.” She had a feeling if she had figured it out, they could have avoided coming to town. “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me.”

“If I had woken up earlier, I could have stopped him before he got near the cabin.”

“Sleeping in late isn’t your fault,” she said.

“I usually wake up at dawn.”

“But you were up late doing all of those chores.” When he didn’t seem comforted at the reminder, she added, “I heard you two talking and got up from the bed. I didn’t realize he could see me through the window.”

“I put that bed close enough to the window so I could see whoever came to the door. I tried to block his view of the bed but didn’t do a good enough job.” He shook his head. “That man is so quick. I barely got out of the cabin before he opened the door.”

Her eyes grew wide. “He’s the kind of person who’d barge into someone’s home?”

“He would. He’s done it before.”

“What about your privacy?”

“He assumes that if the sun is out and someone doesn’t open the door, it’s because the person needs help.”

She blinked in shock. Unbelievable. “Does everyone out here do that?”

“No. Most people don’t believe in trespassing.”

At least there was that assurance. It was bad enough that the preacher did this kind of thing. If she had to go on living, she didn’t want to know that everyone was going to barge into Ashley’s cabin at any moment.

“Anyway, I knew all of this about him, and I didn’t do enough to stop him,” Ashley continued. “That’s why this is my fault.”

“No, it’s not your fault. It’s his fault for being a miserable young coot.”

He arched an eyebrow. “‘Young’ coot?”

“Well, he’s not old. I can’t call him an ‘old’ coot.” She pulled her cloak closer around herself and crossed her arms. “I figure he’s in his mid-twenties.”

“Twenty-two. I only know that because he’s three years younger than me. When he first came through here, he made it a big point to let everyone know he was fresh out of seminary, and he was twenty at the time. He’s been annoying me ever since.”

“Does he annoy others?”

“I don’t know,” Ashley replied. “I don’t ask others what they think about him. For all I know, I’m the only person who doesn’t like him.”

“I don’t like him. That gives you at least one other person who agrees with you.”

The corner of his lips curled up. “Believe it or not, that actually makes me feel better.”

She felt some of her annoyance ease. “There’s nothing like a mutual dislike of someone to bring two people together.”

He chuckled. “What a way to do that, huh?” He ran his fingers through his hair then let his hand fall to his lap. “Since we’re in town, I suppose we might as well tell your relatives what happened. If they were expecting you on that stagecoach, they’re worried about you anyway.”

Her gut tightened. That was right. He assumed she had come here to live with someone. She searched for a way out of this particular mess. This impending marriage, as unwanted as it was, just gave her a place to live. That was something she hadn’t factored in when the preacher was getting her onto his horse. Now the problem of keeping a roof over her head and food on her plate was resolved. Without having the courage to step off the cliff, she had become homeless. God knew she didn’t have the knowledge or the skill to make it on her own out here like Ashley did.

But she didn’t have any relatives out here. She didn’t even have a friend. The only people she knew were the ones she’d met on the stagecoach. She bit her lower lip. What was the chance they would pretend they were her friends?

She fiddled with the edge of her cloak sleeve. What choice did she have but to tell him she knew them? Technically, it was the truth. They knew her name. She knew theirs. Corrine had been the woman who spent the entire time sick. Henry was her brother. She didn’t remember the mother’s name. Had the mother even told her what her name was? Lisa concentrated on what they had talked about while on the stagecoach. She thought the last name was something like Passon or Paxron. No, that wasn’t right. There was a ‘t’ in there somewhere. Paxton! That was it. She was certain that Henry had introduced the mother as Mrs. Paxton. From there, they addressed her as Ma. So she didn’t know what the mother’s name was.

No one in the stagecoach had discussed what they had left behind. Which had been fine with Lisa. She hadn’t wanted to think about her life in Vermont. All she’d wanted to do was forget all of it.

The door of the schoolhouse opened, and she and Ashley turned in time to see the preacher leading three people their way. Ashley groaned under his breath. Lisa directed her gaze to him and caught a roll of his eyes as he turned his back to them. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she inspected the three people with more interest. There was a man and woman with graying hair and a third woman who bore a resemblance to them. The woman appeared to be in her early forties, wore spectacles, and had on the drabbest colors Lisa had ever seen. She also had her hair pulled back so tightly into a bun under her hat that Lisa couldn’t tell what color it was.

The four stopped in front of Lisa and Ashley, and the preacher gestured to the couple and the woman. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McCormick, and this is their daughter, Miss Rorie McCormick.

Lisa wasn’t surprised to learn that Rorie wasn’t married. She’d made no attempt to attract suitors. Judging by the way the woman glanced between Lisa and Ashley in disapproval, Lisa thought it was a shame the woman was too old for the preacher. The two would probably be a good match.

The preacher gestured to Lisa and Ashley. “You three are familiar with Ashley, of course. This is the young woman I found with him in his cabin.” He paused then asked Lisa, “What is your name?”

Lisa gritted her teeth for a moment but forced out, “Lisa.”

“Lisa what?”

“Just Lisa.”

“Surely, you have a last name,” the preacher pressed.

“It’ll be Carver before we leave this place, so let’s go with that.”

The preacher frowned. Rorie’s eyebrows furrowed. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick shook their heads at her. However, Ashley seemed amused by her response. Lisa felt a little better since she had one ally in the room.

“If you two will stand, we’ll get the ceremony underway,” the preacher said after an awkward moment passed. “Keep in mind, Lisa, that you will be signing a marriage certificate. You will have to use your maiden last name on it.”

Lisa hid the flicker of panic that swept through her. If she signed her last name, the others might not recognize it, but Ashley would. The Foxhorns were wealthy enough to have significant influence along the East Coast. She didn’t want him to find out she was related to them. There was no sense in having him think she was bringing money into the marriage.

“What if I don’t know how to write?” Lisa asked.

The preacher gave her a pointed look. “Is that the case?”

“Ashley and I told you that we have not been intimate, but you refuse to believe us. It doesn’t matter how I respond to your question now. You won’t believe me either way.”

Mr. McCormick, who had been quiet up to now, took a step toward her. “Miss, it’s in bad form to continue on with this insolence. Can you write or not?”

“You have no right to accuse her of being insolent,” Ashley inserted. “As she said, we did nothing wrong, and yet, we’ve been dragged here to marry as if we did. She has every right to be upset. You are ruining her future.”

Lisa blinked in surprise. Wasn’t she ruining his future, too?

“How could I ruin her future when I didn’t treat her like a whore?” Mr. McCormick shot back. “No decent man will have a tainted woman.”

Lisa flinched. Our son will not marry a tainted woman, Preston’s mother had said when Lisa and her parents went to them after finding out she was expecting. Preston, who had been standing right there with his mother and father, refused to admit he had been intimate with her. He had cared more about his reputation than he cared about her. In that moment, she knew he hadn’t really loved her. He had only lusted after her.

Ashley glowered at Mr. McCormick, and since he was taller than Mr. McCormick, he was able to intimidate the man into taking a step back. “She is not a tainted woman. If you say that again, I’ll give the preacher a real reason to tell me I’m in danger of hellfire.”

“That’s enough,” the preacher said as he got between the two. “We want to do the right thing. Once the union has been blessed by the Good Lord, there will be no more shame about this situation. And,” he added when Ashley turned his gaze back to him, “your child, if there is one, won’t suffer the stigma of being a bastard.” He waited to make sure no one was going to argue with him then asked Lisa, “Do you know how to write?”

“No,” Lisa said. The lie came out simple enough. A single syllable that made up a single word, and that word made up a complete sentence. It didn’t require an explanation. The others probably looked at her in the clothes that the nice Omaha family had given her when they adopted her daughter and assumed she had very little in the way of education.

“We’ll have you sign an X on the wedding certificate then.” The preacher waited to see if anyone would say anything, and when they didn’t, he opened the Book of Common Prayer . “Alright, let’s start the wedding.”

Lisa closed her eyes to will away the headache all of this was giving her. She was probably still weak after almost dying. Almost dying. How ironic. She had come so close, and yet, she was still alive because a Good Samaritan found her. And now a preacher wished to protect her in case she was with child. Where was this preacher when Preston denied the child was his?

You wouldn’t want to be married to Preston after he betrayed you.

She released her breath and opened her eyes. For all the twists and turns this venture out West had taken her, at least she was better off marrying Ashley than she would have been marrying Preston. Ashley cared enough to help when the situation called for it.

As the preacher rambled, Lisa picked up on him saying, “I require and charge you both, here in the presence of God, that if either of you know any reason why you may not be united in marriage lawfully, and in accordance with God’s Word, you do now confess it.”

“You have a lot of nerve saying that after you forced us to do this,” Ashley spoke up.

“These are part of the vows,” the preacher replied, looking offended. He lifted the book. “I’m not skipping any of it. This is the most important ceremony you’ll ever go through in your life.”

Ashley shook his head but didn’t argue.

Satisfied, the preacher continued with the part where Lisa and Ashley promised to be faithful to each other regardless of what circumstance came into their lives. Ashley was as stuck as she was. Their course was set. For better or worse, despite barely knowing each other, their futures were entwined.