Chapter Four
Rachel didn’t think things could get any worse.
She couldn’t believe that she’d tripped up the town’s marshal and embarrassed herself by snapping at him.
He’d shown a brief moment of kindness to her, but now he was staring at her clothes like he’d seen a ghost. All the color had gone from his face, and he didn’t seem to be aware of anything around him.
He was holding a lot of her clothes in his arms, which made her uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat.
“Excuse me, sir?”
He didn’t move. She cleared her throat.
“Marshal? Could you do something with my clothes or are you just going to hold them?”
“Don’t worry about Nate, Miss Bell,” Clarence said as he draped a huge coat around her, the weight almost too heavy on her shoulders. “He does get like this. It’s when he comes to a realization, and it takes a while for everything to catch up and get put together like a jigsaw puzzle.”
“What?”
The driver smiled. “He goes into a world of his own when he’s thinking. He’ll snap out of it shortly.”
Rachel didn’t know what to say to that. It sounded like the marshal had his head in the clouds. From the look on his face, he seemed horrified by what he’d seen.
“Does he normally look like that?” she whispered.
“Like what?”
“White-faced and about to faint?”
Clarence frowned as he peered at the marshal. “Not really. It doesn’t take much to ruffle his feathers. I wonder what he’s seen.”
“Probably my various garments,” Rachel muttered, embarrassment flooding through her again. “Do you think you can extract my belongings from him, Clarence? They’re already ruined by the snow without being grabbed as they are.”
“Oh. Right.” Clearing his throat, Clarence moved away. “I’ll see to it. Nate?” He moved over to the marshal, leaning over to touch his shoulder. “Nate, do you think you can come back to us?”
“What?” Nate jumped, his eyes wild as he looked up at Clarence.
“I think we should put Miss Bell’s belongings in something, don’t you? She needs to have them put away before everyone sees…”
He let his voice trail off, and that was when Nate seemed to understand what was going on.
His eyes widened, and a blush spread across his cheeks.
He dropped the clothes and scrambled to his feet, almost backing into the fire behind him.
Rachel watched him in confusion. What was going on with him? He was turning into a madman.
Clarence gave Rachel an apologetic look as he began to pick up her items, putting them into an empty crate that he found. All the while, Nate stared at him, seemingly still stunned by what he’d seen.
Rachel didn’t like this. She was already feeling uncomfortable about being in a strange town, and this man wasn’t making her feel any better. Clarence had said the townspeople were friendly people. Evidently, that didn’t apply to everyone.
“Sorry about this,” Clarence whispered as he placed her case and the crate by her chair. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Do you want a hot drink?”
“No, thank you.” Rachel licked her dry lips. “I just want to meet… whoever it is that is meeting me, and get out of here.”
“Who is it you’re meeting? Perhaps I can help?” He crouched before her. “Didn’t you say that you were coming here to get married?”
A strangled noise came from Nate, making both of them jump. He was looking unwell. Rachel scowled at him. Why was he acting this way? She wondered if he was losing a bit of sanity.
“Yes.” She concentrated on Clarence. “She told me… my adopted mother, that is… that I was to meet his sister and she would get me set up and comfortable.”
“Sister?”
“Her name is Isabelle Mercer. I presume, seeing as the town is small, that you would know who she is?”
Then she noticed Clarence’s expression. He looked stunned, then cast a sidelong glance at Nate. Rachel didn’t like where this was going. Had she said something wrong?
“What is it? What’s going on, Clarence? Who is Isabelle Mercer?”
“My sister,” Nate murmured, so quietly that she almost didn’t hear him.
Rachel was confused. His sister…?
Oh, no. If Isabelle was Nate’s sister…
This was the man she was meant to marry.
Rachel didn’t think her stomach could drop any further.
Clarence cleared his throat and mumbled something about needing something from the blacksmith. He looked downright uncomfortable as he grabbed his hat and jacket and left.
“Oh, Nate, there you are!” A tall, pleasantly plump woman in her thirties said. She had auburn hair and was wearing a green coat and hat. She stood in the doorway, shaking snow off her skirts. “That’s great! You two have already met!”
“Isabelle…” Nate growled, the sound making Rachel shiver. He scowled at the woman who’d just arrived. “I thought I told you to cancel the arrangement. You knew what would happen if you didn’t.”
Cancel the arrangement?
A chill settled over her heart, her mouth dry. What did that mean for her? Where was she to go?
Isabelle rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Oh, stop it. You’re behaving like a child. You need to start acting more your age.”
“Acting my age?” Nate stormed toward her, pointing at Rachel. “I can’t believe you would completely ignore me. I said this wasn’t going to happen, and I meant it.”
“She’s here now! And she can’t really go anywhere right now, can she?” Isabelle turned to Rachel, giving her a sympathetic smile. “I’m so sorry about my brother, Rachel. He’s just a stubborn brat…”
“Brat!” Nate cried. “After the stunt you’ve pulled, you’re calling me that?”
“You need a wife, and I was going to take matters into my own hands whether you liked it or not. You’ll thank me eventually.”
“You were supposed to cancel the arrangement to start with!”
Isabelle tittered. “As if I’m going to listen to you. I’m the older one here, not you.”
“But if you cared, you would listen to me!”
“I do care. Which is why I arranged for this girl to come here to be your wife.”
Her mouth dropped open. All this time she had been corresponding with Isabelle and not Nate? Her face flushed with embarrassment. How could she have been so foolish?
Isabelle didn’t look the slightest bit perturbed by the way her brother was speaking to her, nor by the fact that they were having the argument in front of Rachel.
She sat there, watching the two siblings argue, and wished the ground would swallow her up.
Her cheeks were burning, and hot tears stung her eyes as the gravity of the situation set in, shock hitting her hard and making her head spin.
Nate hadn’t been writing the letters, but his sister had? He didn’t know anything about it.
If anything, he never wanted to marry at all.
She bowed her head, fighting back the urge to cry. How could Miriam have been taken in by that? Miriam was a sharp woman. Surely, she would’ve noticed?
A hand rested on her shoulder, and she heard Clarence’s sympathetic voice.
“I’m so sorry about this, Miss Bell,” he murmured. “I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now.”
“Look, Nate, the poor woman is crying,” Isabelle said reproachfully, slapping her brother on the shoulder. “We should be discussing this privately. We shouldn’t do this in front of her.”
But Nate scoffed and shook her hand away.
“I don’t think we should be discussing this any further! This marriage is not happening.”
“Oh, Nate…” Isabelle sighed.
“A marriage built on someone else’s meddling won’t bring anyone peace. And this marriage is not what I want. You’ve known that the whole time. Why won’t you listen to me?” He glared at Isabelle. “If you cared at all, you wouldn’t be doing this!”
Isabelle sighed as if she was speaking to an errant child.
“Look, you might not think this is a good idea, but I know it’s just what you need.”
“I don’t need, or want, a wife!”
Rachel had heard enough. She couldn’t stand it any longer. She was being rejected over and over again. She stood up suddenly, tugging the heavy coat around her.
“I think I should go to the nearest hotel or boarding house and spend the night there,” she said, loudly and clearly. “I’ll keep out of everyone’s way.”
Isabelle looked horrified and hurried to her side.
“Oh, don’t be silly, darling. You’re going to come with me and stay with me until you and Nate…”
“It’s not going to happen,” Nate snapped, pacing away from them and running his hands through his hair, causing him to catch his Stetson in the process.
He swiped the Stetson in mid-air. “I’m not getting married, and you’ve wasted everyone’s time.
You should be apologizing to Miss Bell for bringing her out here without any security. ”
“You should be apologizing for speaking so rudely about her in her presence!” Isabelle cried.
“Stop!”
Rachel didn’t mean to scream it, but every nerve in her was frayed, and she didn’t think she could be more humiliated. Everyone turned to stare at her, and she blinked back the tears that couldn’t be restrained. They tickled her cheeks as they fell.
“I just… want to forget this ever happened,” she said, trying to keep her voice level. “I’ll go and spend the night somewhere, and then I’ll head back home in the morning.”
“You shouldn’t…” Isabelle began, but Rachel cut her off.
“It’s for the best, Mrs. Mercer. I won’t bother anyone any further.”
“I think that’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard so far,” Nate grumbled. He jammed his Stetson back on his head. “If you’ll excuse me? I’ve got things to do, and you’re getting in the way, Isabelle.”
“What…” Isabelle sidestepped quickly as Nate stormed out. Frustrated, she followed him. “Come back, Nate! Nathaniel!”
Rachel didn’t care where they were going. She felt like she was going to collapse. This new start felt like a nightmare, and she wanted to get out of it.
“Miss Bell?” Clarence hovered at her side. “Do you want to sit down?”
“I just… want to get out of here.” Rachel felt her throat constrict, and she swayed on her feet. “This… this can’t be… I mean…”
“Oh, dear.” Clarence urged her gently to sit down again. “I don’t know what to say.”
The fire was well stoked, but Rachel felt like she was in the middle of a snowstorm. The heavy coat wasn’t even helping her right now.
“Well…” Clarence hovered over her. “How about you come with me? Susie lives with her family a couple of streets over, and they always have a spare room for someone.”
“I… I don’t want to intrude on anyone. I can just go to the nearest boarding house and take a room for the night.”
“All right. How about we see how much money you have, and I can point you in the direction of the best place to go? We’ve got a couple of places you could stay until you return home.”
Now Rachel was feeling a little better. She thought she was going to be on her own, and Clarence was more than happy to help.
Feeling a surge of gratitude, she reached for her purse and tipped out her money onto the desk.
Then she and Clarence counted it out. Rachel had been happy with the money she’d saved, but now she was beginning to realize that she hadn’t saved nearly enough.
She hadn’t thought she would ever leave the orphanage.
And she didn’t need Clarence to tell her that she didn’t have enough money to spend the night anywhere, never mind a ticket to go back or buy anything to eat. She was stuck.
As realization settled, Rachel knew that she was stranded.
She was alone and scared, and she didn’t know what she was meant to do.
But the realization came to her. She understood what she had to do now. It was the only way to get her out of her situation.
And she didn’t like it at all.