Katriona's Keeper: Alphabet Mail-Order Brides, #11

By Lynn Winchester

Determined to create something that will leave a legacy, Katriona Wigg heads west to Dry Bayou, Texas, where she plans to marry a man she's never met. Being a mail-order bride isn't ideal—she'd much rather spend her time teaching children to work with their hands, but she doesn't have a choice. Offered a chance at something extraordinary, Katriona is willing to do whatever it takes to make her dream a reality, even marry to get the money she needs to build her own vocational school.

 

But if her new husband thinks he can tie her down, he is in for fight of his life.

 

Race Tucker has spent his life watching the people around him find love and contentment, and when the bug finally bites him, he does what any overly busy ranch foreman does—he sends for a mail-order bride. To have and to hold, to keep and to provide, Race believes he has what it takes to be a fine husband. But he doesn't expect the woman who arrives in town to marry him—a woman more at home in trousers than dresses. A woman more than capable of bringing him to his knees.

 

When their marriage starts to get rocky, can these two opposites find a middle ground? Or will Katriona's keeper let her go?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charizomai Press
• Release date: Jan 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9798223257691

Lynn Winchester

Lynn Winchester is the pseudonym of a hardworking California-born conservative, now living in the wilds of Northeast Pennsylvania. Lynn has been writing fiction since the 5th grade, and enjoys creating worlds, characters, and stories for her readers. When Lynn isn't writing she is running a successful editing business, reading whatever she can get her hands on, raising her four children, making sure her husband is happy, and binge watching shows on Netflix.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

The Wigg School and Foundling Home

New York City, New York

Katriona Wigg stared down at the periodical in her lap, her mouth agape.

What was she supposed to do?

Katriona, you’re going to catch flies, her sister, Mia, said, a grin on her face. Katriona snapped her mouth shut and glared, teasingly, at the gentle beauty beside her. Out of all her sisters, she and Mia were the closest. It helped that Mia was so different from her; sweet, timid, thoughtful… It wasn’t that Katriona wasn’t thoughtful, she was just a little less…soft than everyone else. Madame Wigg called it toughness, but Katriona thought of it as pragmatism.

You really ought to actually look at the thing, Mia continued, pointing at the Bride’s Gazette Katriona was holding like it was made of bees.

Well, you know I wouldn’t even bother if Madame Wigg didn’t get the fool idea to send us all off to get married.

Mia sighed, clasping her hands in her lap. Katriona, that’s not fair. She only wants to make sure we’re taken care of once… A whimper escaped her sister’s lips. Once she’d gone.

Duly chastised, Katriona placed a hand on Mia’s shoulder. I know, darling. I just… I just wish this wasn’t happening at all.

Just that morning, after breakfast, when the teachers were given a little time before lessons to prepare for the day, Madame Wigg called them into her private parlor. She told them she was sick, dying, and that she wanted each of them—Jessamine, Katriona, Leanna, and Mia—to start their own lives outside of the school. She offered each of them a ridiculous amount of money to start their own schools elsewhere. With one catch…they each had to find themselves a groom first. And that meant rifling through the Bride’s Gazette and playing eeny-meeny until they picked the groom least likely to make them a self-made widow.

I just have to do what needs to be done. That had always been her way; do what needs doing. That was why she taught the students life skills, skills they would need once they were out on their own, in the big world. Cooking, sewing, bookkeeping, and keeping house.

Straightening her shoulders, she went back to the task of husband hunting. Each one of the grooms in the Gazette were too old, too ugly, too slick, or too dull…

A black and white picture of a man with overlong hair, a hard, angular face, and sharp, penetrating eyes jumped out at her. Her breath caught. He was as handsome as sin, even if he wasn’t smiling. Her eyes returning to the eyes staring back at her, she wondered what color they were. They looked light, piercing, like they could see through the skin right to the bones.

She read the ad, her gaze landing on the name of the town.

Dry Bayou…

Dry Bayou? Leanna repeated as she swept into the room and plopped down on the bed next to Mia.

Katriona remembered reading about the booming Texas town in a periodical. "Isn’t that the town in Texas where they had the audacity to hire a married teacher?"

Mia gasped dramatically, pressing her hand to her chest. Good heavens, what were they thinking, assuming a married woman was just as good as an unmarried one? For shame!

Katriona giggled, both tickled and amused by her usually demure sister.

"Well, that is interesting, Katriona reined in her humor to remark. If they hired a married teacher, maybe they’d look kindly on another married teacher starting a whole new type of school…" Suddenly, Katriona’s imagination took off at a gallop.

For the last five years, Katriona kept going back to the same idea; a school specifically for teaching life skills and basic trades. Sewing, cooking, even blacksmithing, carpentry, gardening—all things city kids never had the chance to learn. She could build that kind of school in Texas. Her heart soared at the thought of actually fulfilling her dream.

What’re you thinking over there? Leanna asked, her face pinched in confusion. I can smell the smoke.

Katriona waved away her sister’s words, her mind weaving together the beginnings of a plan.

I think I’d better get to writing this fellow so no one else gets a chance to snag that bit of perfect.

Katriona didn’t miss the look Mia gave Leanna, but she didn’t have time to wonder what the two of them were thinking. She needed ink, pen, and paper.

Jessamine entered the room, huffing. She looked a little frayed at the edges, which was a surprise; Jessamine was always so serene, put together. Out of all the ladies at Madame Wigg’s you’d never see Jessamine with a hair out of place or a sour look on her face. Katriona wondered what had made her dear sister so…rumpled.

Before she could ask, though, Jessamine slid a hand over her dark hair to make sure it was as it should be, then offered them all a smile. I see you have finally chosen your future husband, she said, pointing at the Bride’s Gazette crumpled in Katriona’s careless grasp.

Grumbling, Katriona smoothed out the periodical and flipped the page back to the ad she’d been reading when her thoughts started spinning.

Yes, I guess I have, she answered, handing the Gazette to Jessamine so she could read it.

Ranch foreman, Horace Tucker of Dry Bayou, Texas, seeks a bride of 19-25 years, with a strong back, kind smile, and a desire for a home of her own. Must like horses, can’t be afraid of a little hard work, and must appreciate a man who wants to take care of her.

Hmmm, Jessamine hummed, tapping a delicate finger against her chin. You sure he’s the right one?

Mia smothered a laugh, but Katriona didn’t see what was so funny.

What do you mean? I have a strong back, I can smile, and I’m not afraid of hard work or horses, Katriona retorted.

Jessamine nodded, her pale face going pink in the cheeks.

Well, dearest, I was thinking more about the ‘appreciate a man who wants to take care of her’ part.

Katriona looked from one sister to the other, all of them staring at her with knowing gazes.

What’s that supposed to mean? I can appreciate a man who…who… She was stumped. In all her twenty-two years, she’d never known a man to help her do anything, and so she’d done it herself. She hadn’t seen the need to be taken care of, and she didn’t see why that had to change once she was married.

That’s the problem, Katriona, Mia interjected. You have been so strong and so self-driven, you can’t see that there are things you can’t do on your own. Things that a man can do for you…like protect you, provide for you—

I can to those things myself, Katriona argued, her back stiff.

Mia heaved a sigh. Katriona…one day, you’ll have to let someone in, and that someone is going to love you and want to keep you safe and happy.

Snorting, an unladylike thing Madame Wigg had remarked upon at length, Katriona stared down at the image of Horace Tucker, his handsome, unsmiling face staring back at her. Something within her pinched, making her stomach twist.

Annoyed by her sisters’ lack of faith in her, she murmured, I don’t need a keeper.

CHAPTER ONE

Dry Bayou Ranch

Dry Bayou, Texas

One month later…

Horace Race Tucker—though he hated the name Horace with a searing passion—tucked a strand of hair behind his ear—for the hundredth time that day, it seemed like. The boss’s wife kept on him about cutting it, but he couldn’t bring himself to part with something he’d been growing for the last five years. Sure, his hair was longer than some women’s, but he didn’t plait it or stick flowers in it. He left it as it was, hanging down to just below his shoulder blades.

He was dressed in his best suit, his cleanest, shiniest boots, and a brand-new hat—all so he could impress the woman he was meeting and marrying that afternoon. He checked his reflection in the mirror beside the bunkhouse door, straightening his string tie and flicking a few pieces of loose hay from his collar. He shouldn’t have gone to check the horses while wearing his nicest shirt, but he’d wanted to make sure Lily hadn’t given birth yet. That mare was just about fit to burst, and he needed to be there when she did. Billy Ducharme, his boss and the owner of the ranch, counted on his ranch foreman to make sure his investments were sound.

Speak of the Devil…

Billy opened the door and stepped inside, his gaze landing on Race. He grinned.

You ready to get hitched? he asked, humor in his voice.

Ready as I’ll ever be, I suspect, he answered, slapping his hat in place on his head and taking one last look at himself.

Billy’s grin grew to encompass his sun-weathered face. He wasn’t much older than Race, but he’d spent so much time outdoors, it had taken its toll. Not that Billy’s wife, Ray, cared much. Billy and Ray were one of the several couples that had driven Race into the arms of holy matrimony. Seeing them together, happy, content, being a family…it made him yearn for what they had…for what his parents had.

"You best be ready, Race, cause Ray is rarin’ to get to town—and besides that, this was your idea. I hope you aren’t experiencing second thoughts, not with your bride arriving today."

Stepping from the bunkhouse, Race tipped his head and squinted at Billy through the bright