Runaway by Bobbi Smith Page A

plan was going to work. Steadying himself for what was to come, he started into the sitting room to speak with the ladies.
    Destiny was sitting on the sofa with Gertrude when he reappeared in the doorway. She felt his gaze upon her and looked up.
    “The Circle D seems to be a wonderful ranch, Mr. Rawlins. You must be very proud of it,” she said politely, hoping to start a conversation.
    “I am, and, considering our circumstances, I think it will be perfectly all right if you stop calling me Mr. Rawlins, and start calling me Seth,” he told her with an easy grin.
    “All right—Seth—” she said, relaxing a little as she smiled back at him.
    Lane had thought she was a pretty woman before, but now seeing her without her bonnet on, he decided she was downright lovely. He couldn’t help wondering at the circumstances that had caused such a beauty to become a mail-order bride. He would have expected a lot of men to be pursuing her.
    “That’s better,” he agreed as he seated himself in the chair opposite the sofa. He looked at the older woman who was sitting so properly before him. “I’ve never done this before, so I’m not quite sure what happens next.”
    “I think it would be most appropriate for the two of you to spend some time together. It’s important that you get to know one another before the actual ceremony takes place. Is there a minister in town who could perform your wedding, say tonight or some time tomorrow?”
    “Yes, there is,” Lane answered as he hid his concern about taking such serious vows before a man of God while pretending to be Seth Rawlins. He told himself it wouldn’t be a real marriage, that this was all just part of doing his job to bring down the outlaws, but still it troubled him.
    “Well, good. Why don’t I go freshen up a bit while you two visit?”
    “You can take the bedroom on the right at the top of the stairs,” Lane directed her.
    Gertrude left the couple alone to get acquainted.
    “Would you like me to show you around the ranch?”
    “Please,” Destiny replied. “I’ve lived in the city my whole life, so this is going to be a true adventure for me. I’m really excited about learning what it’s like to live on a ranch.”
    He started to fill her in about his past as he led the way outside onto the porch. They stopped there to talk for a while.
    “I haven’t been here long. Less than a month actually.”
    “Really?” she asked, surprised.
    “Yes, I won the ranch in a poker game.”
    “You did?” She was even more surprised by that news. “You must be an expert poker player.”
    He shrugged and grinned at her. “Sometimes a man has to take a chance, and sometimes Lady Luck is on his side. This time she was. I got real lucky.”
    “What was your winning hand?”
    “A full house.”
    “What did you do before you won the ranch?”
    Lane bent the truth as best he could. “I moved around, working at whatever jobs I could find, but I always liked ranching the best. That’s why, when I won the Circle D, I knew it was time to settle down, and, since my luck was running good, I thought I’d take another chance and try to find a wife.”
    She decided to ask him outright. “Are you sorry you did?”
    Lane was surprised by her forthrightness in addressing their circumstances. “No. Not at all. Having you here is proof that my luck is still holding.”
    “Thank you,” she said softly, touched by his answer.
    “What about you? Why did you agree to become a mail-order bride? Surely there must have been plenty of men back in St. Louis who wanted to marry you.”
    “My father died not too long ago. I know I’ll always miss him. My mother remarried, but then she passed away less than a year ago, and I didn’t have any family left. I’d heard how some women were becoming mail-order brides, traveling out West to get married, so I thought I’d do it, too.”
    “I’m sorry about your parents.”
    “So am I.” She nodded. “I’m always going to miss