The Reckless Proposal (Heroes of Hays Series #2) Read online

  The Reckless Proposal

  Barbara Goss

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

  This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this book is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage system without express written permission from the author.

  Copyright © 2017 Barbara Goss

  All Rights Reserved

  Kindle Edition

  Cover design by: Samantha Fury

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  THE END

  Chapter One

  Ned Benedict didn’t like the way Roger was glaring at Ellen. His worst fear was that Roger would switch his attention to her now that he’d lost her sister, Evaline, to Travis.

  After the thwarted duel between Travis Grayson and Roger Fairfax, everyone had scattered in different directions. Travis and Evaline had left for home, Mr. and Mrs. Radcliffe had gone inside, but Ned had stayed, leaning on the porch railing, staring at Roger, who was sulking on the porch of the Radcliffe home.

  Ellen sidled up to Ned. “Stop staring at Roger,” she whispered. “I don’t want any more trouble today.”

  “I think he wants you now,” Ned said, still staring at Roger.

  “He’ll go back to England and find someone else. He’s titled and rich and he’d never planned on staying here,” Ellen said.

  Ned took hold of both her hands in his. “Promise me if he bothers you, you’ll ride to Hays and tell me.”

  “I promise,” she said.

  “He’ll try to take you, I know he will,” Ned said.

  “No, he won’t. I wouldn’t have him, and I’ve told him as much. Besides, there isn’t a contract between us as there was with him and Evaline.” She smiled at him. “Stop worrying.”

  “Ellen!” her mother called out the front door of the house. “Come in here at once.” Her mother gazed at Ned. “Alone,” she said before ducking back inside.

  “I have to go, Ned.” She rose on tiptoes and kissed his lips quickly. “I’ll ride in to see Evie tomorrow, about one o’clock.” She smiled shyly. “Maybe you could arrange to be there?”

  Ned nodded. Nothing could keep him away.

  The following afternoon, when Ellen rode up to the Graysons’ ranch, Ned noticed her smile when she saw his horse tethered at the hitching post. Her smile broadened when she spotted Ned, Travis, and Evaline sitting on the porch.

  After greeting each other warmly, Evaline and Travis excused themselves on some pretense, and Ellen sat beside Ned.

  “Let’s go for a walk,” Ned suggested.

  “Sure. Where to?”

  “Anywhere that can’t be seen from the house,” he said with a grin.

  “Hmm, sounds like the same place I had in mind.” She took his hand and they walked toward the creek that ran along the west side of the ranch. Ned found them a seat under a shade tree, put his arm around her, and drew her close.

  He found her lips quickly and kissed her with all the passion he had built up inside. Whenever he kissed her, it felt as though his stomach spun in circles. He wondered if anyone else’s kiss would cause the same sensations, since this was his first real romantic experience.

  “I love you, Ellen,” he murmured between kisses.

  She returned his kisses with as much fervor as he. When she started to unbutton his shirt and massage his chest during the kiss, Ned jerked to reality.

  He tore his lips from hers and blurted, “Ellen, will you marry me?”

  Ellen sat with her mouth agape, staring at him.

  He hadn’t prepared to ask that question, but with her driving him to such an impassioned pitch he’d never felt before, he knew they were on dangerous ground.

  “As much as I’d like to, Ned, I cannot. I’m so sorry.”

  He removed his arm from around her and held his head in his hands. “I thought we were in love,” he mumbled. “We can’t continue to get heated up like this without tying the knot.”

  “I never said I was in love. I might be—I’ve never been there before, so how would I know?” she asked. “And, I don’t mind going further with you. It’s nature, Ned, let yourself go,” she said, trying to grab him again.

  He moved out of her reach. “If you aren’t sure if you’re in love, then you aren’t. When you fall in love, you’ll know it. It’s a different kind of feeling you have for someone.” He sighed. “You can forget about the impetuous proposal, but I refuse to go any further without marriage.” He was tempted to quote her Bible verses, but figured she’d just laugh at him. He knew she wasn’t a churchgoer, at least, not yet.

  “I won’t forget your proposal,” she protested firmly. “It’s one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received, and I have a good reason why I can’t marry you.”

  Ned raised his eyebrows and gave her a look that said he didn’t believe her.

  “My family is leaving Victoria. We’re returning to London.”

  “What?”

  “My family decided last night. I’m finally going home.” She sighed. “I’ve been so homesick.”

  All week Ned sulked around the home he shared with his uncle who’d taken him in after his parents had died when he was ten. He avoided the Radcliffes, mostly because he hated to see Ellen knowing she didn’t love him in return, and also because her mother wasn’t in the habit of making him feel welcome.

  Travis had stopped to see him that morning to tell him the Radcliffes were leaving that very day, and that if he wanted to say goodbye to Ellen, he should head out to Victoria early.

  He rode to Victoria slowly, giving himself time to contemplate the arguments to give Ellen as to why she should stay in Hays and live with her sister and Travis. When he tied his horse to the post, Ellen came running out and threw herself into his arms, which took him by surprise, as he hadn’t seen her since the day she’d refused his impromptu proposal.

  His heart raced as he held her closely. Had she changed her mind? He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tightly.

  She finally pushed away slightly, smiled, and said, “I was hoping you’d stop by to say goodbye.”

  Ned felt his hopes drop at her words. As he clung to Ellen’s hands, he exclaimed, “Don’t go!” He didn’t know what he’d ever do without her. He had fallen hard for her, and now she was going back to England and taking his heart with her. He’d never see her again.

  “My parents are going. I cannot bear to be an ocean and half a country away from them,” she said.

  “You have your sister here. Evaline would love for you to stay with her and Travis,” he pleaded.

  “Oh, but I miss London, and the servants, the shops, the balls, my friends…I miss it all.”

&nbs
p; “But you won’t miss me,” he said. “Is that what you’re saying?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear her answer, so he held his breath.

  Ellen sighed. “I’m physically attracted to you, Ned, but I’m not sure if I’m in love or not. I’ve never felt love before. I just know I want to go home.”

  Ned sighed as he released her hands and leaned against the fence by the Radcliffes’ barn. “I thought your father loved it here and that he was prospering at farming and raising cattle?” He was desperate; he’d run out of arguments.

  “He does love it, but my mother doesn’t, and the community is falling apart. Geoffrey Grandville and my father were the only ones conscientious about the ranch work,” she said.

  “I heard Grandville and his wife have decided to stay,” Ned argued, “so why can’t your father?”

  “He marches to my mother’s tune, that’s why.”

  Ned shook his head. He had no choice but to accept the situation. His first time falling in love, and he was losing her already.

  “Father gave all his cattle to Travis and Evaline,” she said. “We’re done here.”

  “I guess there’s nothing else I can say.” Ned pulled her close, again. “Do I at least get a kiss goodbye?”

  “Of course you do. I’m fond of you Ned…I’m just so homesick,” she muttered before Ned had his lips pressed against hers in a passionate kiss.

  Ned put all the love he had into that kiss hoping it would convince her to stay, and perhaps realize that she loved him, too.

  She pulled away after the kiss, stroked his cheek, and gazed up at him with her big brown eyes. “Don’t take it personally, Ned. I’ve never had feelings like this for anyone before you, but I just don’t like living here,” she said. “We can write to each other.”

  “I suppose, but letters to England take weeks to arrive,” Ned said sullenly. He sighed. “It’s better than nothing, I suppose.”

  “Goodbye, Ned,” she whispered before turning from him and walking to the house. A wagon stood in front of the home stacked high with trunks. She spun around when she reached the house and waved.

  Ned mounted his horse. Well, that was that. He supposed losing her to her homeland was better than losing her to another man, no matter how deeply it hurt. He’d never before felt such pain and despondency.

  On his way back to Hays, he passed Evaline and Travis on their way to Victoria. They stopped to greet him.

  “She decided to leave?” Evaline asked, disappointment evident on her face.

  Ned nodded woefully.

  “I’m so sorry, Ned. I tried talking with her,” Evaline said. “I’d hoped she’d decide to stay. I invited her to live with me and Travis.”

  “If you’re going to say goodbye to them,” Ned said, “you’d better hurry.”

  “So soon?” Travis asked.

  “They’re almost finished loading up the wagon. In another hour, Victoria will be a ghost town.”

  Travis patted Ned’s shoulder. “If there’s anything we can do, let us know.”

  Ned nodded and spurred his horse on.

  Ellen ran into the house and scampered upstairs to her bedroom. How she wished her bed were still there so she could pounce on it and weep. She knelt by the window and watched Ned ride away. Had she made the right decision? She felt something for Ned, but she wasn’t sure if what she felt was love, and she was honestly homesick for England. Without her parents living here in Kansas, she’d be lost. Kansas was a nice place to visit, but she didn’t like living there.

  As Ned’s figure disappeared around a bend, she choked up and sobbed some more.

  Their furniture had all been sold, to a few people in Hays, and some of it to a group of German Russians who’d planned to try to start a settlement in Victoria. One of them had even bought their house from them. As she walked through the empty house, she realized it felt much like her heart.

  She knew she could still change her mind‒Evaline would love to have her live with them‒ but she just couldn’t do it.

  Chapter Two

  After living like a hermit for weeks after Ellen had gone, Ned finally left the house and set out to visit his best friend, Travis. They’d grown up together and had always been close. He warned Travis and Evaline at the onset of the visit that he didn’t want to discuss Ellen or even hear her name. The two of them exchanged looks and agreed.

  “It’s so good to see you, Ned. I was thinking we could race one day. I have a new stallion I think can beat your Brandy,” Travis said.

  “I’d love to race. Brandy could use the exercise after having been confined to the stable for so long. How does tomorrow sound?”

  “Perfect,” Travis said. He looked to his wife. “We don’t have anything planned, do we?”

  “No,” she said, “and I’d love to watch the race.”

  “You can be the judge at the finish line,” Travis said, pulling her close.

  “Ned, pull up a chair and sit down for a while.” He turned to his housekeeper, “Sadie, is there any more coffee for Ned?”

  “There sure is,” Sadie answered. She turned from washing dishes and set a cup of the steaming brew in front of Ned.

  When they were all seated around the kitchen table, Travis put his hand on Ned’s shoulder and said, “Forgive me, Ned, but I have to suggest something. Why don’t you go to England and find her?”

  “What? Go halfway across the world for someone that doesn’t love me?”

  “Ned,” Evaline said, “I think she does love you; she just doesn’t know it yet.”

  Ned studied Evaline’s face. She looked serious. “What are you basing that on, Evaline?”

  “I know my sister better than anyone. I could see something in her eyes when she looked at you. She’s young, Ned. She’s only just turned nineteen and you’re the first real experience with romance she’s had. I don’t think she recognizes her own feelings.”

  “If that’s true,” Ned said, “then she’ll come back—end of conversation.” Ned stood and started walking toward the door.

  “Are we still on for a race tomorrow?” Travis asked.

  “Yeah, sure.” And then Ned was gone.

  Ned let the door slam behind him when he returned home. Ned smiled at Hugh. His uncle was a good man and had always been a bright spot in his life. Hugh had seen him through some pretty tough times. Even though he’d never married, he treated Ned like a son.

  “I visited Travis, and we’re going to race tomorrow.”

  “Good!” he roared in his usual baritone voice. “Sit down, Ned.”

  Ned sat on the sofa beside Hugh. “You need to move on with your life.”

  “It’s easy to say,” Ned said, “but harder to do.”

  “Get out, start meeting people, and having fun again. Forget her. She probably hasn’t given you another thought since she’s left. If she was worth your grief, she’d never have gone.”

  “That’s the conclusion I’ve come to as well,” Ned said.

  “You need to socialize more,” Hugh said. “Go to a barn dance or a rodeo. You’ll meet new people.”

  “I know you’re right, it’s just…well, it’s sort of humiliating. By now everyone knows I fell head over heels in love and was rejected,” Ned said, picking at the seam of his britches. “She’s also hard to forget.”

  “I don’t think everyone knows; just those of us close to you.

  “I fell in love once,” Hugh said.

  Ned’s mouth fell open. “You did? You never said.”

  “Yep. I made the mistake of brooding over my loss for years until it was far too late to pull myself together and try again. Now I’ll be left alone for the rest of my life. If I’d have listened to my parents and moved on, I’d probably have a wife and grown children by now.”

  “You’re still young, Uncle Hugh.”

  Hugh shook his head. “I’ll be fifty soon, and too old for all that romantic stuff. I’ve long forgotten how to even court a woman.”

  “There are a lot of widow w
omen at church,” Ned hinted.

  “I’ve noticed.” He laughed. “But darned if I know how to approach a woman anymore.”

  “Next Sunday I want you to approach one of them and invite her on a buggy ride,” Ned suggested. “I’ll bet that new woman will jump at the chance.”

  Hugh raised his eyebrows. “I’ve noticed her. She’s very attractive. Do you really think she would agree to a buggy ride?”

  “Yes, I do!”

  “Hmm,” Hugh said, scratching his slightly graying head, “if I ask her, will you attend a barn dance or some other social event?”

  Ned thought hard about it. He didn’t want to go to a barn dance and wanted even less to socialize, but he couldn’t stand the thought of Hugh spending the rest of his life alone. One day he’d be starting a family of his own, and even though Hugh would always be welcome in his home, he knew that wasn’t the same as having a partner with whom to share his golden years.

  “I’ll do it!” Ned announced. “If you ask her to a buggy ride, I’ll go to the next dance.”

  “How was the race?” Hugh greeted as Ned came home from Travis’s the next afternoon.

  “A tie,” Ned said.

  “Another tie? I wonder why that is?” his uncle asked. “I know Brandy’s faster than Comanche.”

  Ned smiled. “He rode his new stallion, and he was pretty fast, but it was no contest for Brandy. I just don’t have the heart to beat him, Uncle Hugh. He enjoys the races so much and if I beat him he’ll give up trying to beat me. I enjoy the game.”

  “You could have won but you held back?”

  Ned nodded. “Travis said there’s a barn dance next week, but I’m feeling nervous about going. There are so many people there each time.”

  Hugh said, “You think I’m not worried about what I have to do tomorrow? What if this new woman at church refuses me?”

  “You’ll never know if you don’t try,” Ned said.

  “Do I just walk up and say, “Hey, do you want to take a buggy ride”?