Their Conquered Bride (Bridgewater Ménage 9) (Grace Goodwin)

I could only nod. Gripping my hands together, I tried to hide the fact that they were shaking.

“You’re scaring our bride, sheriff,” Logan said, pulling me into his side and kissing my temple. I closed my eyes at the gentle touch.

“I don’t mean anything of the sort. I’ll get to the point of my visit.” His eyes shifted from Logan to me. “I have been asked to find a missing woman, one Elizabeth Lewis, who was supposed to arrive in Hayes via the stage from Omaha.”

“That’s Lizzie.”

The sheriff glanced at Ford when he answered for me, then back at me.

“There’s a Mr. Samuel Jenkins who is concerned about you. Says he paid your fare from Omaha and has no bride to show for it.”

I bit my lip and looked at the floor.

“That’s no fault of hers, sheriff,” Ford said. “Have you met Jenkins?”

“Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure,” he replied. “I received a telegram from the sheriff in Hayes about the matter.”

“The man’s a bloody bastard, ready to share Lizzie with his two grown sons.”

The sheriff’s eyebrows went up as he clenched his jaw.

“We saved her from him and Ford here—” Logan tilted his head in Ford’s direction, “—married Lizzie in the Hayes church.”

“Legally?”

Ford nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“No, you didn’t.” The words fell from my mouth; the guilt and pressure at keeping them in was too much.

Everyone looked to me. Emma gasped. Brody crossed his arms over his chest. Logan and Ford stared at me wide-eyed.

“Explain, ma’am.”

I couldn’t look at them any longer and glanced down at the wood floor. “I have a proxy marriage with Mr. Jenkins. It was completed in Omaha the morning I left. When Ford married me, he was pretending to be Jenkins. I would have refused him otherwise.”

I paused then, but didn’t lift my head. All was quiet in the house and they were all waiting for me.

“I didn’t realize I was married to someone other than Mr. Jenkins until Ford told me the truth about who he was—after we were married. I never meant to commit bigamy.”

Logan forced my chin up. “You’ve been keeping this secret all this time?”

He became blurry when tears filled my eyes. I could only nod the slightest bit. “I was afraid to get rid of it. It’s a legal document. I wasn’t sure what would happen to me. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Where’s this proxy letter now?” the sheriff asked.

I couldn’t turn my head to look at him, but said, “In my bag. Buried at the bottom.”

“I’d like to see it, please.”

Brody responded. “I’ll go.”

I heard his footsteps down the hall, then the door close behind him.

I had no idea how long it took for him to return. Five, ten minutes perhaps, but they were the longest of my life. Logan released my chin and began pacing. Ford looked at me, but his gaze wasn’t filled with any of the warmth to which I was accustomed. Emma offered me a small smile, but when a baby’s cries came from overhead, she excused herself and went upstairs to tend to Ellie.

The sheriff thankfully remained silent and drank his coffee.

When the front door opened once again, I jumped. Brody returned and handed the slip of paper to the sheriff. He unfolded it and took his time reading it. There wasn’t much, a simple document with a seal that married me to Mr. Samuel Jenkins.