Lightning Strikes Twice Read online

  Lightning Strikes Twice

  The Belles of Wyoming

  Ginny Sterling

  Contents

  Introduction

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Afterword

  Change of Heart by Ginny Sterling

  In the Nick of Time by Julia Ridgmont

  Herd to Handle

  An Agent for Clementine

  The Belle of Wyoming Series

  About the Author

  Introduction

  Katherine Cornell-Madison had always been the reliable one in the family. As the eldest child, she had strived to lead by example. Volunteering to help those in need and serving as a midwife for those less fortunate – she finds herself suddenly married to a man who is in need of help himself! Her new husband was scarred, sickly, and did not look pleased to be married so suddenly to a woman he barely knew – but just when she is beginning to develop a fondness for him… she is left a widow.

  Jeremy Bryant had nothing to offer a woman but his name. With meager funds, an unsteady income, and a job that took him away from home all the time – he was not the greatest catch – except for his looks! He’s handsome, hardworking and completely smitten with Katherine. Having delivered the beautiful widow to her sister, Carrie, has him suddenly wanting to win her affections.

  Can a man with a vibrant personality mend her broken heart? Could Katherine be lucky enough to fall in love a second time around?

  I found when doing research on Victorian mourning customs, that the women dressed heavily in black garb made from a thin material called crape.

  At first I thought this was a typo…

  I adore crepes.

  Growing up, we planted Crepe Myrtles trees.

  Crape - material

  Crepe- French pancake, delicious with Nutella or fruit.

  An interesting side note, my dear Reader…

  I studied, spelled, and triple-checked myself.

  I promise.

  1

  Dearest Carrie,

  I know this is not what you want to hear and I will explain more later but I cannot be there for a few months. I am coming and cannot wait to see you both, but circumstances prevent me from leaving right now. Please forgive me – this breaks my heart. I will hurry as fast as I can.

  Love always,

  Kate

  2

  June 1881

  Katherine hated writing that letter to her sister but it was better than the truth. She was now a widow. Her father had insisted that Carrie and Kate each marry one of the Madison boys that lived down the lane. Carrie had jumped at the chance to marry Alex, the boy she’d had a crush on since she was in braids.

  Katherine had her choice of marrying George or Christopher – neither was a catch, but she would do anything to allow her sister the chance to marry her beau. That was something she couldn’t take from her since her own future was being doled out with a proverbial silver spoon… who cared that her spoon was filthy or tarnished?

  The eldest of the Madison family was George. He was apparently fond of alcohol and struggling on his own. He was terribly handsome with a quick, witty smile that could charm the fleas off a cat… but that was due to the relaxed atmosphere that came with the swill he drank while no one was looking. When he wasn’t in his cups, he was a brooding man that came off as intimidating. Katherine couldn’t see herself with him in the slightest. To her, he was a bully and always had been when they were children.

  Christopher did not inherit the good looks that George had; instead he was scarred from a burn to his cheek as a child. He had a thin frame that only made the mottled skin more noticeable. He looked no more pleased to be passed off and auctioned to the first hand that reached out to help the failing homestead.

  Kate selected Christopher and in return for her compliance, she was given a promissory note for any profit from the sale of her new husband’s childhood home as part of their marriage contract. The idea was to provide them a way they could start anew on their own. Carrie received her father’s land in Wyoming as a bridal gift for marrying Alex.

  Truthfully, Katherine felt like Carrie was getting the better half of the deal. Katherine was glad marrying someone didn’t require her to become uprooted from all that she once knew. They’d had a quiet ceremony that mirrored their very marriage.

  It was all a sham.

  Christopher didn’t want to be married to her any more than she wanted to be married to him. She’d dreaded their marriage, knowing there was no love lost between them. She’d cried for hours in her changing room, the idea of suffering his touch scared her. On their wedding night, they came to a mutual agreement that was both horrifying and an utter relief. They would be married in name only and put on a façade for the rest of the town. If the subject of children ever came up, they’d blame it on something at the time.

  After this negotiation, she was surprised to see the tension fade between them- allowing them to become friends. Christopher had no more wanted to bed her than she wanted to suffer his touch. They were equally not attracted to each other and it was obvious between them.

  Their secret agreement was more than she’d bargained for and better than anticipated. She was able to continue on as she had been before the marriage, volunteering as a midwife on some of the seedier parts of town. Those people needed medical attention, but what she never realized was that having an increased distance between them meant she missed the obvious. She tended the ill, but her husband was in need of attention too.

  Christopher was deathly sick.

  Her husband had taken to hiding the signs of his illness by borrowing her face powder she had for special occasions. He used it to hide his sallow complexion and pallor. She’d had no idea until she caught him one day readying himself for an outing. He liked to go to the clubs with the other men and so long as he didn’t come home drunk like his brother, she didn’t care in the slightest.

  “What are you doing?” she’d asked in shock, seeing her husband powdering his face like a woman and preening in front of the mirror carefully.

  “Nothing.”

  “Why are you in my cosmetics?”

  “Katherine please don’t ask questions to which you’d rather not know the answers,” he’d quipped easily, dappling the powder on his cheeks. She’d immediately walked over and snatched the fluffy poof that she used on her face from him, sending a shower of pale talc everywhere. When he’d whirled around angrily at her, she saw the evidence of it.

  The whites of Christopher’s eyes were deep yellow.

  “You’re ill?” she gasped, having seen it several times before at clinics and knowing the end result. “How long have you been hiding this from me?”

  “This started years ago, Katherine, long before we ever married.”

  “Then why are you not seeing a doctor? Is there not something we can do?”

  Her husband smiled at her sadly, cupping her face gently. His touch made her flinch, causing him to drop his hand away. She would always remember that resigned expression on his face. He’d been gentle and good to her the past month, something that would be burned in her memory forever.

  Katherine found him dead in his sleep two weeks later.

  Immediately, she set herself to the task of freeing herself from the memories and shackles that seemed to be smothering her here in Pennsylvania. She couldn’t breathe from this nightmare she’d been thrust into. Everyone was sharing their condolences, but Katherine didn’t feel a thing. She was numb and in shock. All she could
focus on was making sure all the arrangements were made for her husband’s burial and getting to her sister who was due to deliver her child any day now.

  George, Christopher’s brother, was beyond angry at the house being put up for sale. The days dragged into weeks. She knew he was lashing out at anyone within ear because he was in pain. His brother was gone and now his last tether to their family home would soon be liquidated.

  “You can’t sell the house,” he’d said angrily one night over dinner. He insisted on living in the quarters at the back of the large house just like he’d always had. This was something Christopher had always allowed, trying to protect his older brother, and Katherine was in the process of changing all of that.

  “Actually, yes I can.”

  “I don’t care what that slip of paper says, it’s my home. I grew up here.”

  “You are drinking yourself to death here,” she retorted angrily and saw George rise up in stature in an effort to intimidate her. The chair clattered onto the floor behind him as he jumped to his feet. There was a reason she was given the deed to the house and apparently her father had known it, pressuring his friend to put the clause in their marriage contract. She would be independently wealthy as a widow and if the deed had gone to George, he’d have drunk everything away.

  “I am leaving everything here behind to be with my sister in Wyoming. There are no memories here for me and truthfully- there are none for you.”

  “You could marry me and stay. I know your marriage was in name only. Christopher told me he couldn’t- and wouldn’t- bed you.”

  Katherine stared at him in shock. She didn’t care for him in the slightest and decided that she would prefer not to be married again, if she could help it. Was he so desperate to cling to the past that he would marry a woman he could barely tolerate? There was no love lost between her and George. He could be a good man and had helped make the funeral arrangements, but that was no reason to commit herself to yet another loveless marriage.

  “George, I have already married one Madison brother – I refuse to marry another, much less one who lives in a barrel reeking of alcohol. One of you has already died, are you so hell-bent in joining Christopher?” she asked painfully, getting to her feet.

  “You don’t understand!” he roared, coming around the table and getting nose to nose with her. Katherine would not back down. She was leaving and the sooner she was gone the better off both would be. She couldn’t stand here and see anyone else destroy themselves.

  “I will not have you yell at me, George. It’s time to face the truth: the house is being sold,” Katherine announced flatly, poking the bigger man in the chest with each statement she made in an effort to drive the point home. She felt awful but it was time to call a spade, a spade.

  “Your brother is dead. Your only living relative is in Wyoming, and you have nothing here but the bottle. I won’t leave you penniless. You are my brother by marriage, but I won’t support your habits either. I recommend you clear your head and go see Alex. Start over, George – I know I shall.”

  With that, Katherine turned her back on the man and walked out of the room. She heard the crash of glass not seconds after she’d stepped out of the door. The sooner she was gone, the better off they would both be. She felt bad for Christopher’s brother but he’d been coddled all his life and indulged himself in several vices – those same vices that had married her to Christopher. It was time for some tough love, and there was nothing harder than having to depend on yourself in a time of need.

  3

  Jeremy Bryant stared at the stunning woman before him. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful with such sullen, morose eyes. Her gown was a deep black that didn’t seem to suit her bright complexion; if anything it made her look more out of place and reaffirmed his initial thoughts – she was born to smile. Then he saw the veil tied around her head and it felt like a kick in the chest.

  She was a widow.

  Another man had seen that hidden smile, kissed those breathtaking lips, and held a place in her heart. Why did the idea of that bother him so much, he thought, and realized it was because he felt drawn to her. He wanted to be the one to make this lovely stranger smile. That feeling was as vital as the air he drew into his lungs and thinking someone else had done it before him made him feel almost as if he’d been robbed.

  “Good morning… Ma’am,” he squeaked, stumbling over the word. He’d wanted to say miss and almost had. Her large brown eyes looked up at him and again he was struck with longing for something he’d never have – a wife of his own.

  As a coach driver, he met a lot of people and saw a lot of places. He loved the communication and camaraderie that meeting travelers brought him. He’d grown up with almost nothing, orphaned at the age of fifteen, but driving a coach gave him a way to earn a living that didn’t require anything more than his wits.

  His home was a small one-bedroom shack on the outskirts of Belle. He was penniless, but you wouldn’t think so by looking at the coach he owned. Everything he had, he poured into his stage coach. The leather straps were new and supple. The wheels were maintained, the interior clean, and the axles were in good condition since he’d repaired one himself about a week ago. His coach was his livelihood and put food in his stomach. He was barely at home and had slept under the stars more than once near it waiting for the next passenger.

  “Good morning,” the woman said quietly, standing there looking around as others disembarked from the train cars nearby. This route was seemingly a cash-cow for Jeremy. He made runs to and from Laramie all the time. Occasionally, he’d head up to Belle, giving him a chance to sleep in his own bed.

  “I’m looking for a stage going to Belle, Wyoming. Is this you- or should I catch another at the fort?”

  “Ma’am- this stage goes straight there,” Jeremy blurted out instantly, filling him with a surge of joy. She was going to be headed his way! “Which one of these bags is yours? My name’s Jeremy, ma’am. I’m Jeremy Bryant.”

  “Very nice to meet you, Mr. Bryant,” she said demurely. “My name is Mrs. Cornell…uh… Mrs. Cornell-Madison.”

  Jeremy noticed the hesitation in her voice and the pretty flush on her cheeks, wondering at the confusion just before he realized that he’d heard that name before. He slapped his knee happily and dismounted off the stage in a single bound not far from where she stood. He saw her step backwards nervously, her hand fluttering to her chest in surprise.

  “Are you kin to Alex and Carrie Madison?” he asked with a grin.

  “Carrie is my sister.”

  Jeremy saw the faint smile and glimmer of hope on her face, making his heart thump happily. Oh yes, he wanted to see her laugh and make those big brown eyes dance with amusement.

  “Well, lucky that we found each other, huh?” he blurted out and saw her face turn red, realizing what he’d said aloud. He ran a nervous hand through his hair and chuckled at his own choice of words. “I picked up Ms. Carrie and took her to Belle too. Which bag is yours? She’ll be so happy to see you!”

  “I’ve a trunk and two bags,” she warned. “Do you have anyone else to take? My things may take quite a bit of room.”

  “We’ll make it all fit somehow,” Jeremy bragged, winking at her. “Don’t you worry about that. You just show me which bags are yours and I’ll load them up. I travel this route often to Belle. It’s a mighty pretty town and I hope you like your time there.”

  “I hope so too,” she whispered, and he barely caught the words she’d uttered, surprising him. He wasn’t sure why the beautiful widow was traveling all this way, other than to see her sister, but she certainly had his curiosity piqued.

  As she pointed out the large storage trunk and two bags, Jeremy quickly put the bags on the top of the coach and strapped them down. The trunk would be another matter. It was a massive trunk that, thankfully, had two leather straps securing it closed. Muscles straining, he grabbed the heavy trunk and pulled it up onto his back in order to put it on the back of the coach. He wasn
’t sure what was inside but positive it held quite a bit.

  “What’s in here?” he joked, staggering a bit under the load. He’d seen the two men struggle to get it off the train car and refused to look weak in front of the woman he was currently admiring. He broke out in a sweat as he worked to hold it in place, silently praying the horses didn’t dance forward or that the brake would hold if needed. His arms were burning and shoulders aching from moving the large trunk.

  “Lead,” she confessed with a straight face.

  “What?” Jeremy balked in shock, almost dropping it off the back of the coach when he heard a peal of laughter that made his blood sing with joy. He looked at Mrs. Madison with unfettered desire at seeing the unexpected mirth and humor from her.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized, giggling. “I know its heavy but I promise it’s not lead. I’ve got books inside along with all of my things.”

  “I believed you,” he admitted, with a grin. “It feels like it, but I’ve nearly got it secured. It will be just a moment longer and we can be on our way.”

  Katherine tried not to gawk at the handsome man before her. She had no business even looking at another man like that for quite some time since she’d just buried Christopher not long ago. She felt a flush of shame burn her cheeks and something else she’d not felt before – attraction.

  The stage coach driver was quite fetching in a raw, adventurous way. He wasn’t polished or demure like other men back home were. This man had a wildness to him. He looked like he’d get up and dance a jig in the middle of the street if it suited him- for absolutely no reason. Unfettered, unrestricted… and supremely off-limits, Katherine thought.