Happy Is The Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

thing, boss. Your ma's sure to have something to soothe that lump. It's gonna worry folks, though."
     
     
     
    Four
     
    Mason clenched his jaw to prevent saying harsh words to Rowdy. Danged if a lump on the head was anything to worry anyone. Why did folks believe that jinx business?
    "Hate that the furniture hasn't arrived." He hadn't fully furnished his house, but he had a new brass bed and a big kitchen stove and a table with four chairs. Beth had helped him order more furniture, but it hadn't arrived yet. He couldn't get his mind off Beth and him in that big bed.
    Rowdy nodded. "Nice she helped pick out the things, though. Women set a big store by choosing their own things."
    It had pleased Mason for Beth and him to pick out their furnishings together. "Yeah, both sets of parents tried to put in their two cents."
    Rowdy laughed. "Reckon her mama wanted to do all the choosing. She's a hard woman to please."
    "You got that right. She wanted the fanciest stuff available. But we stuck to our guns and got what we wanted, practical things that would please a body after a hard day. Of course, we picked some things just for the heck of it." This marriage was a partnership as far as he was concerned, and he wanted Beth to speak her mind about decisions.
    The ride to his parents' ranch took thirty minutes, and Mason thought his head might burst before he arrived. When Rowdy stopped the wagon, several bug gies stood in the yard.
    "My kin are here, at least some of them are." Mason climbed down from the wagon.
    "See you at the church, boss...maybe, if you ain't too jinxed to show up."
    Ignoring his ranch hand's doubt, Mason waved and went inside. Soon as he got in the door and hung his hat on a peg, his mother spotted the lump on his head.
    "What happened, son?"
    Usually he hated her fussing, but this time he hoped she had something for the ache. He touched the lump. At least the swelling had decreased.
    "Fell and hit my head. You know anything that'll help?"
    His mother pushed him into a chair. "I'll get my ointment."
    He heard laughter coming from his father's billiard room at the back of the house. Mason rose and wandered that way. The laughter grew louder as he drew closer.
    In the gaming room, Grandpa Whittaker sat in a leather wing chair by the fireplace. Mason's father and cousin Beau played billiards. From the sound of their voices and the near-empty bottle on the bar nearby, Mason thought they'd already started cele brating even though it wasn't yet noon.
    Beau looked up and saluted. "Hey, cuz. I put five dollars on you in town."
    "What?" Surely Mason had misunderstood.
    Beau offered his cocky grin. "You know. Everyone's betting you won't show up for the wedding or that if you come, you'll call it off before you say 'I do.' I said you'd go through with it."
    Damn. His own kin betting on him. Lucky for Beau he'd bet the right odds. Mason hoped the idiots in town lost their shirts betting he'd fall prey to a jinx or desert Beth. How could people believe that supersti tious bunk?
    Grandpa shook his head. "I don't know. That girl's jinxed. Look what happened to Fred Mahoney last year."
    Mason fought his temper. He hated this kind of talk, and if they weren't his relatives, he'd start swinging.
    "Grandpa, have you forgotten Mahoney was a crook and a bigamist? The U.S. Marshal arrested him because he embezzled from a couple of banks back in Iowa and had at least two wives there, not because of anything to do with Beth."
    Grandpa took a sip from the glass he held. "What about George Denby three years ago?" He pointed a bony finger Mason's way. "You can't explain that away so easily."
    "Yes, I can. He broke his leg falling off his horse. He'd spent the night drinking and never could ride worth a damn. Then later he took off with that woman hired to nurse him. Heard they're married and living in Denison."
    "Beth didn't look that sad to see him go." Mason's father leveled a glare at him. "Mark my word, son, that girl's cold as ice.