The Blushing Bride

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Amanda strolled through the town. It seemed to have grown up on the edge of the logging camp as an afterthought. There was no boardwalk in front of the few businesses that were open. Most of their trade came from the loggers, Amanda guessed, because only a few patrons were on the street.

The town had a temporary feel to it. The buildings looked hastily thrown together with little concern for appearance or appeal. There was debris and clutter outside the stores as if the owners had no one to impress but the loggers, and the loggers weren’t there to be impressed.

It was all so different from the shops she was used to. The magnificent stores, restaurants, the streets crowded with carriages and people. Amanda hadn’t expected this place to look like San Francisco, but still….

After peering into shop windows and down tiny alleyways, Amanda didn’t find Shady. She sighed and headed out of town. Shady knew he had to take her down to Beaumont and would find her soon enough. Maybe Meg was right, that he’d come for her after he’d eaten. She’d get her things together and wait at Meg’s house until he arrived.

A shudder passed through her so violently she stopped dead in her tracks. Her satchel. She’d left her satchel in Jason Kruger’s office.

Amanda pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking hard about what to do. She had to get it back, of course. She couldn’t possibly leave it.

Meg had told her this morning that Jason usually went up to the mountain with the logging crews, so it was probably safe to go to his office and retrieve her satchel. Probably.

Amanda drew in a heavy breath and started walking again. How did she keep ending up in so many awkward situations on this mountain?

Amanda knocked on the closed office door hoping she’d get no response. She glanced around. This part of the camp was nearly deserted during the day. She heard the whine of the sawmill in the distance.

She knocked again, then opened the door and stepped inside. No one was there.

When she’d been in the office before she’d noticed little more than Jason himself. He seemed to take up the entire room.

Now she had a chance to look the place over. Jason’s desk and another one, presumably Ethan’s, sat at right angles, with Jason’s facing the door. Maps and charts were tacked to the wall. Ledgers, papers, more maps and charts were stacked haphazardly on the desktops and on shelves. Sawdust had been tracked across the floor.

The office was still. Amanda walked through the room. She touched the ledgers, flipped one open and saw heavy, straight figures entered in neat columns. She ran her hand over the back of Jason’s chair, felt the smooth grain of the wood. On his desk a technical journal lay open.

For all his faults—and Amanda had counted many—Jason Kruger had to be admired for what he’d accomplished. When she first received the letter requesting one of her brides, the letter she’d thought came from Jason, she’d asked around.

Logging was backbreaking work, she’d learned, requiring tireless energy and strength. New, inventive techniques had to be devised to get the huge trees out of the forests. The size of the trees here in these woods presented problems unheard of by loggers on the east coast. She’d been told that any man who could harvest the big trees in the Sierra Nevada would find fortune greater than the West’s silver and gold.

Amanda sighed in the silent office. Too bad Jason didn’t want to share that wealth with anyone. Or that life. She picked up her satchel where she’d left it beside his desk and headed for the door.

It swung open as she reached for it. The doorway filled with Jason Kruger. Amanda reeled back.

He stopped short, as stunned as she by the unexpected meeting. They both stared. The room shrank again, closing in on Amanda, robbing her of an easy breath.

“I thought you’d gone,” Jason said.

“I—I left my satchel.” She hefted it higher, offering it as evidence that she was still here for a good reason. “And I’ll be leaving shortly.”

He stood in the doorway, blocking her way. “Just as long as you understand that this brides notion is over with.”

“What I understand, Mr. Kruger, is that you’re a stubborn man.” Amanda nearly gasped aloud when she heard the words slip through her lips. Good gracious, she’d called him another name. What came over her when she got around this man?

“Stubborn? Me?” Jason stepped inside and pushed the door shut. “You’re the most hardheaded woman I’ve ever met. And pushy, too.”

“Pushy!”

“Yeah, pushy. You keep sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong and isn’t wanted.”

Amanda drew herself up to her greatest height, though it was woefully short of his. “Somebody on this mountain wrote that letter to me, Mr. Kruger. Somebody wants brides up here. You’d better face that fact.”

He pointed his finger at her. “I can tell you this, Miss Pierce, when I find out who wrote that letter I’m going to fire that man so fast he won’t know what hit him.”

“Oh! You pigheaded man!” Amanda jerked her chin. “Don’t worry. I’m leaving for good. I won’t be back, and you’ll never hear from me again. You’ll have your precious mountain all to yourself. I hope it keeps you warm at night.”

A little mewl slipped from Amanda’s lips as she realized what she’d said. Her gaze locked with Jason’s. He gulped.

They both stood motionless for a long moment, visions of heating up the nights on the mountain spinning between them.

Jason inched forward. Amanda backed up. He had that same fiery look in his eye he’d had earlier when he’d kissed her. Was he going to kiss her again? Should she let him?

Jason stopped. Amanda stepped toward him.

The door burst open behind them and a breathless young man rushed into the room.

“Mr. Kruger! Mr. Kruger!” The tall, skinny boy pressed one hand to his heaving chest.

Jason caught his arm. “What’s wrong with you, boy?”

“My pa…my pa’s the postmaster down in Beaumont. He said you’d been expecting this.” The boy waved a large, rumpled envelope. “He told me to get up the mountain with it right away. I rode fast as I could.”

Jason pulled the envelope from the boy’s hand. “Go get my brother. He’s at the sawmill.”

“Yes, sir.” Chest still heaving, the boy ran out the door.

Jason tore the envelope open and yanked out its contents. He scanned it, then clenched his fist. A smile bloomed on his face. Not a grin or a snicker, but a genuine smile so wide it showed his teeth.

He whirled toward Amanda. “I got it!”