BRIANNA: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Mail-Order Brides Club Book 4) (8 page)

R
icky wasn't surprised
when Bobby strolled into the saloon later that evening. The only seat open at the bar happened to be the one next to him, which Ricky took as a stroke of good luck. Bobby muttered hello as he sat down, ordered a beer and immediately turned his attention to the pretty saloon girl that was walking their way.

"Well, aren't you the prettiest thing I ever did see," he said in a lame attempt to be charming. Ricky took another sip of beer and watched the scene unfold. Charming was not a word that would ever be associated with Bobby, but he knew that Sarah, the saloon girl, could handle him easily.

"And aren't you the sweetest thing ever for saying so. You're new around here, sugar, aren't you?" Sarah laid the charm on thick and then went in for the kill. "A man like you ought to be drinking our finest whiskey. We're known for it here. Goes so well with a beer. Whiskey shot, that is." She put her hands on her hips and then lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Not every man can handle that, of course, but you look like you might be up for it."

"I can handle my liquor!" Bobby blustered. "Bring on the whiskey shots. I'll show you." Sarah caught the eye of Nick, the bartender, who was there in a flash with a bottle of whiskey. Bobby quickly downed the shot and then in an effort to impress Sarah, ordered another and downed that one, too.

"Well, that certainly is impressive." Sarah exclaimed, and then added, "Very few men can handle more than two shots of that whiskey. Probably best to stop while you are ahead."

Predictably, that made Bobby determined to be one of the very few. He sat up straight and waved the bartender over. "I'll have one more." Nick winked at Sarah as he poured the expensive drink. As soon as Bobby finished the shot, Sarah congratulated him. “Well done! Now, if you'll excuse me, I see someone I have to go say hello to." With a sweet smile, she was off and Ricky decided it might be a good time to have a chat with Bobby, before the effects of all that whiskey kicked in.

Bobby took a sip of the beer in front of him and had a glum look on his face, now that Sarah had disappeared.

"So, I've been thinking," Ricky began and Bobby turned his way when he realized Ricky was talking to him. "Have you taken a closer look at the other family members? Obviously not your father, but what about that cousin you mentioned? I think his name is Tony?"

"He'd never be involved in this," Bobby scoffed.

"How can you be so sure? It's you and your father, right? Maybe he feels like an outsider, like he doesn't get a large enough share?"

"He doesn't deserve the same share as us. It's our company!"

Ricky was silent and let Bobby think on that for a moment before saying, "Maybe he thinks he does? Just something to consider. Might be worth looking into. Because I'll tell you something. I'm a very good reader of people and Brianna doesn't know a thing about this. Her husband didn't take your money."

Ricky finished his beer and set his money down on the bar.

"Have a good night."

B
rianna
and the children were waiting outside the school for Paul to pick them up. Ricky had filled them in the previous day, after church at Jed and Naomi’s about his conversation with Bobby.

“He wasn’t convinced, but maybe after he’s had some time to let it sink in, he’ll realize that it might make sense to take a closer look at his cousin.”

“In the meantime, I don’t want Brianna going anywhere alone,” Paul said. He had dropped her and the children off earlier that morning and should be by any minute to bring them home. The school was quiet now that all the children had left for the day and Brianna suddenly felt a bit nervous and exposed. It was silly, she told herself. Paul would be along any moment and she was being ridiculous. But still, the feeling persisted. She drew the children closely to her.

“We need to stand close together, to ward off the chill,” she said. The temperature had dropped a bit.

“I’m not cold,” Peter announced.

“It is rather chilly,” a deep voice drawled from behind them. Brianna spun around and was horrified at the sight of Bobby Corelli standing there, holding a gun and smiling.

“Children, stay here a minute, would you? Your mother and I need to go for a little walk.”

Peter looked confused as Millie started to cry. Just then, Paul came racing around the corner in the buggy. He jumped out and ran over to them.

“Put the gun down, Bobby. Children, go get in the buggy. We’ll be right there.”

As soon as the children were out of earshot, Paul apologized to Brianna. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.” He then turned his attention to Bobby. “How dare you scare my wife and children like that. Put that gun away.”

“I’m the one holding the gun!” Bobby protested.

“And I said put it down. If you want to talk, we’ll talk. We don’t need you waving a gun at us.”

“Fine.” Bobby lowered the gun and turned to Brianna and asked, “I need to know if your memory has improved. Just tell me where the money is.” He sounded frustrated and at his wits’ end.

“Bobby, nothing has changed. Didn’t Ricky talk to you? You should be having this conversation with your cousin, Tony. He’s the most likely person to know where that money is.”

“Ricky did say that. But, I don’t believe it. Tony wouldn’t do that to us.”

“Go home, Bobby. Go back to Boston. What you’re looking for isn’t here,” Paul said firmly.

Bobby looked dejected. “How do I know for sure that you don’t have my money? If I go home now, I might never see it again.”

“At least you only lost your money. I lost my husband,” Brianna said and then turned to Paul. “Let’s go home, too.”

She wanted to get away from Bobby as soon as possible. She still didn’t trust him and he seemed anything but stable. She turned at the sound of another buggy coming towards them and was relieved to see it was the town sheriff. He got out of the buggy, walked over and sized up the situation. Bobby was still holding the gun, but it was at his side.

“I think Mr. Spinelli might do well to spend the evening with us. And then in the morning, I will personally escort him to the train so he can be on his way back to Boston.”

“How did you know to come here?” Paul asked.

“We thought it might be a good idea to do a check of the area around the time we knew Brianna might be alone. One of our guys took a ride by here before school, too. Least we can do when one of our own is threatened.”

“Thank you, Sheriff. I really appreciate it,” Brianna said and then turned to Paul. “Now we can go home.”

T
he children were
full of questions on the ride home.

“Who was that bad man?” Peter asked.

“Is he going to come back?” Millie sounded petrified and Brianna couldn’t blame her. The sight of an angry man with a gun was a scary one, indeed

“He is in jail now and you will never see him again. You have nothing to worry about, I promise.” After a few more rounds of questions, the children finally seemed satisfied that Bobby wasn’t a threat any longer. Still, Brianna wouldn’t be surprised if either of them had a few bad dreams because of it. Hopefully not, though. She would reassure them that they would always be safe with her and Paul.

L
ater that evening
, after both children were snugly tucked into bed, Brianna and Paul shared a snack in the kitchen. Although she put on a good front for the children, Brianna was still shaken by the encounter with Bobby.

“Do you really think it’s over now?” she asked.

“The sheriff is a man of his word. He’ll personally escort Bobby onto that outbound train. He’ll have a lot of time to think about things on the ride back, and when he does, unless he’s the dumbest man alive, he’ll have to start considering the possibility that we were right and another person was involved. Most likely a family member.”

“Do you think Bobby had anything to do with Ted’s accident?”

Paul thought about that for a moment. “It’s doubtful. The most logical thing would have been for Bobby and his cousin to want to talk to Ted, to ask him about the missing money and to demand that he tell them where it was. Bobby never got that chance.” Suddenly, it all made sense to Brianna.

“And if it was Tony, killing Ted would make perfect sense because then he couldn’t say anything and he could pin it on him,” she said.

“Sadly, that sounds like the most likely scenario,” Paul agreed.

Brianna looked at Paul and a wave of feelings washed over her. Even though she’d been frightened by Bobby’s sudden appearance and the wild waving of his gun, she still had felt safe with Paul beside her. His sweet smile and twinkling blue eyes melted her heart, but it was his kind nature and genuine caring that she realized she loved so much. She suddenly realized that she didn’t just like these things about Paul, she loved them and she loved him. She was in love with him, and the realization terrified her. Paul must have seen something in her eyes and stepped towards her with a look of concern.

“Are you all right?”

Brianna took a step back, fighting her instinct to move toward him and into his arms. Guilt and confusion took over instead. She needed to get away, to think.

“I’m fine, just totally exhausted. It’s been a long day. I think I’m going to turn in as well.”

“Oh, all right.” Paul sounded disappointed. “Sleep well,” he said as she walked away.

B
rianna fought
her feelings for the next few weeks and distanced herself from Paul a bit. She didn’t fully trust that the feelings were real and was still grappling with flashes of guilt for even having them. She hadn’t said a thing to anyone about how she was feeling, but finally realized that she needed to talk about it. She brought the subject up on a Saturday afternoon at Emma’s, when the girls were all meeting to have tea and visit for a bit.

“Things are going really well with Paul,” she began, once they were all seated at the kitchen table and the children were off playing in another room. “We get along wonderfully. He’s great company and I think he will make a good father. I do find him quite attractive, but I also feel guilty for it, as if it’s somehow betraying Ted. I want to move past that, but I’m not sure how. You probably think I’m being silly.”

“Not silly at all,” Emma assured her. “Ethan struggled with feelings of guilt as well. His wife Susan had died in childbirth. So you can also imagine how terrified he was when I was delivering Jeremy. He fought his feelings for me, but finally accepted that Susan would have wanted him to move on. I’m sure that Ted would want the same for you.”

“I suppose so. That does make sense.” It sounded so reasonable. Brianna hadn’t really considered it from that perspective, that Ted would have given his blessing. She realized that if it were the other way around and she had passed on, that she wouldn’t want Ted to continue to mourn her death. She would want him to move on, too. Brianna was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of the front door opening.

“I didn’t expect Ethan back so soon.” Emma sounded surprised.

“Afternoon, ladies,” Ethan said with a smile as he walked over to their table. “Don’t worry. I’m on my way back outside in a moment, so you ladies can keep on talking. But, I thought you might want to see this.”

He set a copy of the town newspaper, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, in the middle of the table. On the front page was a picture of Bobby Spinelli and his cousin Tony, and also Ted. Brianna reached for the paper, opened it and started reading aloud. “An anonymous tip led to a search of Tony Caruso’s North End home, where $15,000 in cash was found under the kitchen floor. Caruso is also accused of murdering former employee, Ted Sullivan, and will be indicted this week on both charges.” She set the paper down and felt tears of relief welling up. It was finally over.

“That’s a lot of money,” Julia said.

“Ted was worth so much more than that. I’m glad they finally caught him,” Colleen said.

“It’s terrible to think that it really was murder and not an accident. It’s so unfair.” Though Brianna had come to believe that Ted’s death was more than an accident, it was still unsettling to read it in black and white.

Emma put her hand on hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “As awful as this is, at least it’s behind you now. You can stop worrying and move on with your life.”

Brianna’s heart felt suddenly lighter. Emma was right, and she knew now that it was time to have another talk with Paul.

S
he told
him the news on Tony’s arrest first.

“So, we were right! It was Tony. I’m glad they caught him. That must be such a relief to you at last.” Paul and Brianna were in the kitchen, the children were sound asleep and Brianna was pouring them both a cup of chamomile tea with honey. They were both standing, Paul leaning against the counter while Brianna stirred honey into their hot tea. She handed him a cup and took a small sip of hers.

“It’s a huge relief, but there’s also something else I wanted to discuss with you. I’ve been thinking a lot the past few weeks, about how things are going with us and my feelings for you and my memories of Ted.”

Paul stood up straighter then, as if bracing himself for bad news. She knew it was her fault, that her voice sounded so serious, but this was serious to her. She set her tea down and took a step closer to him and reached for his hand. He automatically pulled her in close and she looked up and into his clear, blue eyes. “So, as I said, I’ve been thinking a lot about us and wondering and worrying about whether I was being disloyal to Ted. I’ve come to realize that if it was the other way around and I had died, that I would want Ted to move on and to find love again. It took me some time to understand this, but I truly believe that Ted would want the same for me. I’ve been fighting these feelings, but I can’t fight them any longer. I love you, Paul.”

He broke into a grin and then immediately gave her a very enthusiastic kiss. When they finally came up for air, he smiled again and said, “Mrs. Donovan, this may be the happiest day of my life. I love you for now and for always.”

“I do, too! Now kiss me again.”