Chapter Four
Sam didn’t want to stare at her, even though she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever laid eyes on. Besides Elizabeth, of course.
Sadie’s thick brown ringlets framing her youthful face looked so soft, he wanted to run his fingers through them to feel how silky they really were. She looked absolutely stunning.
It instantly reminded him of the difference in their social standing.
It was blatantly obvious that Sadie Nielsen was extremely wealthy. Her dress, her ranch, even her reputation—something he’d found out shortly before he came to visit—everything pointed toward a very successful woman.
Meanwhile, Sam had nothing. He couldn’t compete with that.
Suddenly, he heard his daughter’s footsteps running toward him.
“Ellen said to bring you a cookie,” she announced with a wide grin. Sam took one from her and smiled at his daughter.
“Thank you, Sweetheart,” he replied with a heavy sigh. They shouldn’t stay much longer. He shouldn’t give Ruby the impression that this could be her life in the future. He also didn’t want to lead Sadie on that he could give her whatever it was that she needed. He already knew that he wasn’t it.
Ruby darted off back to the other woman and an older lady he hadn’t seen before. They were both smiling in his direction.
Sam nodded at them, then averted his gaze. He was ready to get up and leave, but then he heard the rustle of Sadie’s fancy dress before he looked up and saw her.
The hopeful way she smiled at him was almost heartbreaking.
“Sadie, I…” he stopped when she handed him a glass of lemonade before she sat down next to him
“Please,” she told him when he hesitated for a second. “You don’t have to say anything, but please listen to what I’ve got to say. Can you do that?”
He stared at her with his mouth open. Snapping it shut, he nodded, then took a sip of the lemonade. It tasted absolutely delicious.
“I know that this… way of meeting is very awkward and unusual,” Sadie said quietly as she cupped her glass with both of her dainty hands, looking at the slice of lemon inside of it.
“I don’t just put ads in the paper to find random husbands on a weekly basis, you know?
” She laughed shyly. Sam chuckled out of politeness.
“There is a reason why I need to find a husband so quickly,” she continued.
“I find myself in a precarious situation, in which I should have been married… well, weeks ago. It’s basically so that someone else can’t force marriage on me.
It’s all tied to my inheritance and everything my father built to put me where I am today.
I don’t want to lose it to someone who doesn’t appreciate it. ”
Sam listened intently. She didn’t provide many details, but the way she described her situation, it seemed that she needed help—or rather protection—from someone in the form of marriage. It sounded very complicated.
“At first, I was willing to pay someone to pretend to be my husband,” she explained with an awkward smile, “but unfortunately, the marriage needs to be legally valid, or I risk losing everything.”
She swallowed hard and stared into her glass for a moment before she looked back up at him again.
The sudden sadness in her eyes struck Sam hard. He knew all too well what it was like to lose everything.
“I understand,” he replied quietly. Sadie exhaled a sigh of relief. Their eyes locked for longer than was necessary. He could see that she was searching his face for something, he just didn’t know what.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” he said hesitantly. “You are looking for a husband to secure your ranch?” he asked. She nodded.
“Yes. Obviously, it would be a marriage of convenience,” she explained, nervously putting her glass aside. “I know that it’s not ideal. But I can offer a safe place to live, a steady income and even schooling for your daughter, if that’s what you want.”
Sam tilted his head curiously. “You would do that?” he asked. Sadie nodded.
“What do you expect of me in return?”
Sadie wrung her hands, inhaling deeply. “I don’t really expect anything from you. Helping out on the ranch would be wonderful, but I have plenty of workers. However…” She hesitated, clearly searching for the right words. Sam slowly leaned closer to her, resting his elbows on his knees.
“If we are supposed to get married, even if it’s just on paper, then you need to speak openly with me,” Sam said with a gentle tone. When she looked up into his eyes again, her lips parted. For a split second, Sam forgot where he was. This woman was just breathtakingly beautiful.
Then, she cleared her throat and he leaned back in his chair.
“All right,” she said, pulling her shoulders back ever so slightly.
“Since I don’t really know you yet, I’m sure you’ll understand that I will need to protect myself and my business, financially.
” Sam nodded in agreement. “I would like to set up some kind of contract with my lawyer. I mean, in case things don’t work out.
I’ll make sure that you’ll be well-compensated for your time, but you’ll understand that I need to make sure that you don’t take my ranch from me, either. ”
While she waited for his response, her eyes grew wide.
“Of course,” Sam replied calmly. “I wouldn’t expect anything else.”
Sadie let out a sigh of relief. She grabbed her lemonade again and drank a big gulp from it. Sam smiled at her reassuringly. Internally, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. Would Elizabeth agree with this?
“I do have one request,” he added. “I would like to be put to work. I don’t want to sit around idly.” Sadie’s face broke out in the most breathtaking smile.
“I think we can do that,” she agreed.
Before Sam could respond, Ruby’s face appeared in front of his. Her cheeks were bright red from all the running around, but the spark in her eyes was as bright as ever.
“Eat this!” she simply told him, holding up a small tartlet up to his mouth. “It’s so good!” She beamed at him, wiggling her eyebrows to entice him.
Sadie giggled softly next to him.
“They really are very good,” she confirmed. Ruby turned, walked toward her and held the pastry up to her mouth.
“Ruby!” Sam scolded, but then he watched in bewilderment as Sadie leaned forward and took a bite from Ruby’s tartlet. The two giggled as if they’d just shared the biggest secret.
Sam was perplexed. This whole situation was bizarre, but seeing Ruby bond with this unfamiliar woman as if she’d known her forever and Sadie reacting the same way was even more puzzling.
And it was beautiful to watch.
Something inside of Sam cracked and he felt the tension slowly seep out of his body. His mind tried to put him on edge, telling him that all of this was too easy, that there must be a catch somewhere, but he ignored it.
Ruby disappeared as quickly as she’d shown up, happily cackling as she ran back to the other young woman.
“Now that we’ve talked about the formalities, why did you reply to the ad?” Sadie asked then. Sam’s eyes landed back on hers.
How much should he tell her? She seemed very sweet and trustworthy, but she’d also shown that she was cunning and confident in her decisions.
Sam had not known who she was when he’d written that letter to her, but over the last two days, he’d found out that Miss Sadie Nielsen and her family were very well-known in the entire region.
Apparently, she was the one running her late father’s business now, which was impressive in itself.
As it was, Sam didn’t care about wealth and fame, because that was not something that belonged to his world. All he wanted was to raise Ruby to be a young woman of sound mind and good manners, the way Elizabeth would have raised her.
“Truthfully, my mother-in-law put me up to it,” he finally said with a quiet voice. He didn’t dare to look at Sadie when he said it, because it probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “I’m not really looking for a wife, but Ruby needs a mother.”
“Oh,” Sadie replied. As he suspected, she didn’t sound all that pleased. “What happened to her mother?” she asked tentatively.
Sam shook his head.
Even though it had been four years, the pain still sat too deep and whenever he allowed it to bubble up to the surface, it shattered him into a thousand pieces, so he tried to bury it.
And keep it buried. He didn’t want to talk about it.
Not right then. Not to the woman he was possibly going to marry. That just felt wrong.
“She died,” he said after a long pause, not elaborating further. He wasn’t ready to share that information with anybody just yet.
Sadie gasped. “I’m so sorry to hear that!” she exclaimed empathetically. “My condolences.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Sam wasn’t sure if he should be grateful for it, or if he should take the broken connection as a hint and leave. He was about to get up when Sadie spoke.
“That means that we can help each other,” she said, hopeful.
“I need a husband and Ruby needs a motherly figure. There are plenty of women around to make sure that she has that.” She looked at him imploringly.
“If we can agree on the terms, I don’t see why this shouldn’t work out.
” All of it sounded promising, and since they would agree about everything beforehand, Sam thought it was safe for him and Ruby to stay there.
Sam opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by the sudden outburst of the other women, Ellen.
“He’s back!” she called over to Sadie.
“Who is?” Sadie followed Ellen’s gaze and her face fell. “Oh, no! No!”
Sam watched how Sadie almost shrunk into herself. Her previously strong demeanor seemed to evaporate and she looked deeply worried and anxious. Sam realized that she was… scared.
He looked over to where both women were staring and saw a huge dust cloud being kicked up by a fast rider approaching the house. Whoever this was, he was racing down the long road as if he was being chased by somebody.
The sheriff in him reacted instantly. He jumped up from his chair and stepped in front of Sadie. He didn’t like the shift in the air. Something had suddenly changed.
“Ellen, please take Ruby inside the house,” he told the other woman, who looked at him with a perturbed expression on her face.
Then he realized that he wasn’t in a position to give anybody around here orders.
However, the worry on both women’s faces was enough for him to want to get his daughter to safety.
“Ellen!” Sadie called out to her. “Please do as he says.” They exchanged a strange glance, but then Ellen took Ruby’s hand.
“How about I show you where those cookies were made, hm?” Ellen asked. Ruby smiled, but didn’t immediately go with her. Instead, she looked back at Sam and clearly waited for his permission. Sam nodded at his daughter with a warm smile.
“It’s all right, Sweetheart,” he told her. “You can go with her.” Ruby bounced happily and Ellen rushed her inside the large house. Sadie stepped closer to Sam.
“Do you know this person?” he asked her, as they both watched a man pushing his horse to its absolute limits.
“Unfortunately, I do,” she said, clearly uncomfortable. “He’s my uncle.”
Sam glanced over his shoulder at her.
“So, he’s family, then,” he said, trying to clarify the situation. Sadie sighed deeply and looked straight into Sam’s eyes.
“He is family by blood, yes,” she said hesitantly, “but that’s about it.” Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “He is not very nice.”
Looking back at the rider, Sam watched in horror as he kept beating and whipping his horse to drive it to go faster. The poor animal already looked on the brink of absolute exhaustion with its panicked, wide eyes and its mouth open.
“I can see that by the way he treats his horse,” Sam replied in a flat tone. “They say you can see a person’s character by the way they treat animals.”
Sadie stepped so close to him that their arms almost touched. Sam was all too aware of her standing directly behind him, and his instinct told him to step aside.
He didn’t.
His gut told him to stay exactly where he was, even though his heart started racing.
“I can’t stand the way he treats that poor gelding,” Sadie admitted quietly. “I wish I could just take it away from him!” Sam saw how she balled one of her dainty hands into a shaky fist. It made him smile. He liked her fighting spirit.
“Why is he coming here with such urgency?” Sam mused, not really expecting an answer.
Sadie released such a heavy sigh, he turned to look at her. Her face looked sad and when she looked up into his eyes, there was real desperation in hers when she replied.
“He is the one that wants to force me to marry him.”