CHAPTER11
Aweek later, they drove into town to pick up Blanche and take her out to the falls. Tomorrow they planned to bring her to the ranch to see their place. Just about every other day, they did something together.
Slowly they were getting to know her, and so far, her lady persona had not cracked. She acted like a woman born to royalty.
The rest of the time was spent on their ranch making certain the cattle were fed and watered and the other assortment of animals were taken care of. Life on a ranch didn’t let one walk away and play for two weeks.
And yet, Jakob was considering leaving and going to South Carolina to visit his family.
Time was flying by, and Jakob needed to be certain before he agreed to marry her. It was strange how Martin had come around and now was counting down the days before the ceremony.
The days before the wedding night.
The days before Blanche was theirs.
But Jakob still wasn’t convinced she was the type of woman he wanted.
One moment, she was the perfect picture of a lady and he wanted to marry her, and then suddenly, she would do something and he would start to question whether Blanche was really who he could spend forever with.
Two weeks was not long to get to know someone, and yet, that was part of the contract. The women expected a marriage ceremony in two weeks.
Martin pulled the wagon up in front of Dr. Sanders’s home.
Blanche came running down the stairs, dressed in a yellow dress and a straw hat perched on her head. The woman was gorgeous. But would a real lady run down the stairs?
Maybe she was eager to see them, but his mother always glided wherever she went.
Martin jumped out of the wagon and took her in his arms. Jakob sat back and watched the two. It was obvious that Martin was smitten with the girl, and even Blanche had a touch of pink on her cheeks as she gazed at him.
“Hello,” she said. “I’m so happy to see you. What do you have planned for today?”
Slowly Jakob crawled out of the wagon and walked around to Blanche. He didn’t want to appear over eager. It would be good for her to learn right now that he was the man in charge and he controlled how much affection she’d receive from him.
She would never receive all of his heart or his love, and she would have to adjust to that.
He kissed her on the cheek, though today, he planned on giving her the type of kiss that a lover gives his woman. How would she act when he tried to place his hands in places that he shouldn’t?
This was a test. No self-respecting woman would allow a man to touch her. If she failed, the engagement would not happen.
In some ways, it felt mean to do this to her, and for that reason, he had not told Martin. The man would be angry with him and tell him he was being unkind. But Jakob had to test her.
How else would he know if she was a real lady? When she passed his test, then he would consider marrying her. But not until.
“Hello, Jakob,” she said, giving him a teasing smile. “How are you today?”
“I’m good. You’re looking very beautiful. We thought we would take you to the falls area and show you what the town was named for.”
Taking his arm, she glanced up at him. “That sounds lovely. It’s so good to be outdoors on this beautiful summer day.”
Just then another woman came out the door and glared at Blanche. She stood at the top of the stairs, her hands on her hips, gazing at them.
Blanche turned and glanced up at her grinning.
“Bye, Alice, have a wonderful day,” she said.
The woman’s face turned into a grimace and Jakob wondered why there seemed to be animosity between them.
“Let’s go,” she said. “I can’t wait to spend the day with the two of you.”
For some reason, Jakob felt that something was going on between the women, but Blanche didn’t say anything and he didn’t ask. It was none of his business.
Jakob walked her around the wagon and helped her up onto the bench seat. Martin climbed up beside her. They had her squeezed between them. Just like he hoped to someday have her in bed, right between them.
As the wagon began to roll, Blanche waved at the woman, smiling.
“Gentlemen, I want us to play a game when we get to the falls,” she said.
Jakob frowned. He really wasn’t into parlor games of any kind. “What kind of game.”
“It’s a surprise,” she said, reaching out and grabbing his hand.
That was a little forward. He should be the one making the moves, not her.
“But I don’t like games,” he said, thinking he didn’t want to play. He wanted to test her. See if she really was a lady.
The wagon rolled down the road and he watched as she grew excited. “Oh, look at the pine trees. They’re so pretty. Does your ranch have pine trees?”
“No,” Martin said. “There are some along the edges of the property, but we’re in a valley that has lots of good grass for the cattle.”
The wagon hit a rough spot in the road and it threw Blanche up against Jakob. Not that he minded, but she didn’t move quite as quickly as he would have liked.
Yet, the feel of her soft curves slamming into him almost had him groaning. The woman’s full breasts and shapely hips were enough to have him dreaming of riding her, his cock slamming into her sweet, willing pussy.
Just then the wagon turned into the area near the falls.
“Listen to that. You can hear the water,” she said, her big emerald eyes wide with amazement.
Martin pulled the wagon up beside the waterfalls in a grassy area. Jakob checked the surrounding area for animals. This was their watering hole and he didn’t want to startle a mountain lion, a bear, or even a deer for that matter.
The wagon came to a halt.