A Bride for Cameron by Barbara Goss (read novels website .txt) 📗

Cameron said.  “I need to ask you an important question, but first let me remind you about how long we’ve been friends and partners.  I want the truth.”

Joe removed his glasses and sat back in his chair.  “This sounds serious.”

“It is,” Cameron said.  “Have you ever loaned your carriage to anyone?”

“I wouldn’t even lend it to you,” he said.  “That carriage cost me five hundred dollars.”

Cameron leaned forward in his chair.  “Then why was it seen on Wilson’s road the night of the murder?”

Joe’s eyes grew wide.  “What?  That’s insane.  I’ve never been down that road.”

“A credible witness said—”

“Dagnabbit!” Joe yelled and pounded his fist on the desk.  “I messed up.”

Cameron stood towering over Joe’s desk, “Messed up?  How?”

Joe nodded toward the door.  “Close it, please.”

Cameron closed the door.  “Now, explain.” He didn’t sit, but he stood with his hands on his hips.

Joe rubbed his face.  Cameron could tell he was embarrassed.  What would he confess to next?

In a tone nearly as low as a whisper, Joe said, “I drove the carriage to Lilah’s twice.”

“What?” Cameron couldn’t believe his ears.

“Now, before you judge me, remember that my wife ran off a few years ago, and a man gets lonely.”  Joe sighed.  “I swear this was just my first visit, and the woman, Ruby, invited me to visit her again the next night.  She suggested that perhaps we could take a buggy ride before

we... um, got busy again,  but when I got there, she poured me several drinks, and the next thing I knew it was morning.  The first thing I did was to look out the window to be sure my carriage was still there, and I was relieved to see it was.”  Joe looked up at Cameron.  “Someone used Ruby to lure me there with my carriage and then used it for their own purposes.”

“Of course, but who would do that?” Cameron asked.

“I’ll find out.  You'd better believe I will,” Joe growled.

That evening, Cameron shared Joe’s confession with Hannah.

“I think it might have been that sheriff,” she said.  “I got a feeling the first time I met him.”

“He’s been known to frequent Lilah’s often, so you might be right.” Cameron changed the subject abruptly. “My speech in the town square will be tomorrow at one o’clock.  The nanny will arrive by then, and I’d like you to be there.”

Hannah had invited Chloe Wilson to attend the speech with her.  To her relief, no one paid attention to Chloe.  She dressed like all the other women in a cotton frock and bonnet, so  she blended in. They stood in the large crowd, awaiting Cameron’s speech.  When he stepped up on the podium, the crowd grew quiet.

Hannah thought that Cameron had a strong voice, and he was an excellent speaker.  He thanked everyone for coming and for their interest in his running for state senate. “I’m flattered,” he said, “that so many of you have signed the petition; however, what I have to say next might change your mind.”

Hannah felt her heart beat faster.  Was he going to do what she hoped he would?

“I wanted the job of state senator so badly that I deceived you all.”

There was a slight stirring within the crowd.

“I was a single man, and I was told that I could never win without a family,  so I sent for a bride, married her by proxy so no one would know, and then I met the orphan train in Hays, and adopted two children.”

A loud murmur went through the crowd, and Hannah began to worry they might start throwing things at her husband, but she was proud of him.  His gaze from the podium met hers, and she gave him her best smile.

Cameron continued,  “I’ve been dishonest, and that isn’t a good start to being your voice for the state, but I’ve come clean about it, and I’m going to remove my hat from the ring.”

An elderly man in the front row yelled out, “Heck no!  We want an honest man, and you’re it.”

Several others shouted out the same.  One person yelled, “You didn’t have to tell us this, but you proved your trustworthiness by confessing.”

The crowd cheered. “You have my vote,” some chanted.

Hannah could see that Cameron was speechless.

One elderly woman stepped right up to the podium and said loudly,  “You and your wife took in two orphan children to raise as your own;  that’s worth my vote.”

Again, the crowd cheered.

The elderly woman nudged Cameron. “Well, young fella, you gonna run or not?”

All Cameron could do was nod, and the crowd cheered.  Hannah felt so proud of him she thought her chest would explode.

Cameron helped Hannah and Chloe into the carriage and drove Chloe home.  Before she went into the house, Chloe said, “I felt comfortable in public today, and Charles and I would like to accept your invitation to pick us up for church on Sunday.”

Hannah wondered where Cameron was headed when he turned the carriage in the opposite direction from home, but she kept silent.  Perhaps he had an errand to run.  Then, she recognized her surroundings: Rainbow Falls.

Cameron helped her from the carriage, and they walked around the foliage until they were standing before the falls.  Cameron turned her to face him.  “I was such a fool to think I had to lie and use people to get ahead.  I was selfish as well as dishonest.  The crowd forgave me, but can you?”

 “I already have,” she whispered.  “Just like when we ask God to forgive our sins, and I can almost hear Him say, 'I already have.'”

He drew her into his arms and held her. She felt him  kiss the top of her head.  Strangely, she wondered what that kiss might feel like on her lips, and she was