Cowboy Seeks Wife
Chapter 1
“So what, you’re telling me you got a mail-order bride?”
Shane shook his head. Caroline didn’t get it, most people didn’t and that was why he had kept it mostly to himself. He didn’t want to think about the comments that some would give him or the looks. It was unheard of in the online dating age, but he was sick of looking for a couple of dates that would turn into nothing. He wanted marriage and finding someone that was looking for the same, seemed to be the best way to go about it.
“It’s not like that, not really. I found this site and it is for people that want to get married.”
“So she is from here?”
“Not exactly. She’s from Ukraine.”
“Sounds like someone that needs a green card.”
And that was what he was worried about hearing. It was the first thing that had popped into his head when he had heard about it driving to town on the radio. There was talk of a man locally getting married and the radio hosts were talking about what it would be like to marry a stranger. They had brought up the point that it used to be the way it was, a lot longer than for-love marriages that were so common nowadays. Shane liked that argument and working 12-14 hours a day at the ranch did not leave much time to date someone enough to take care of his needs, let alone enough to get married.
“Could be, but I need a wife to help around here. Either way it goes, I get some help and companionship and she gets to live in this country.”
Caroline bristled at the pragmatism. We had been wired to only think of chemical reactions that made her heart stop. Shane’s heart had never so much as skipped, let alone stopped and as he got older, he started to think that the whole idea was made up by fanciful writers late at night.
“But what about love?”
Shane shrugged. “Some people grow to love each other, some don’t. Are you happier because you married for love?”
Her face got a mix of embarrassed and pissed and she turned away.
“That’s a low blow Shane.”
She had been married four times in her forty one years of life and Shane had never brought up the statistics when she was given him advice before. He just didn’t want to hear it. Caroline was a prime example of what happened when one followed their heart instead of their head. She was pretty, well preserved for her age, but she would fall for someone that was never what she needed. After a few months, or sometimes a couple of years they would leave her for someone else and she would start all over again.
He pressed his lips together. It had been a low blow. “Sorry Caroline, it’s just you’re the only one I’ve told. I don’t mean to get defensive, but I kind of had to tell you about it.”
“And why is that?”
“Because she is moving in. We are getting married tomorrow and she’ll be here from then on.”
He could tell she was shocked. “I thought there was time before you have to get married?”
“There is, but why wait?”
She was the one using restraint now. “And Caroline, I was wondering if you could help her out, you know show her the business side of it. She is an accountant in her country, so she will be doing the paperwork side of things from now on. You hate it and it will give you more time with the horses.”
Caroline liked the idea. Every month she dreaded having to get together the paperwork to send in. The invoices, bills, if she could get out of doing that, her job at Afton Ranch would be perfect. “Okay, sure. It’s good timing cause next week is end of month and the second quarter, so all that will be left is learning annual.”
She tried to push back the fear that maybe she would be replaced.
Caroline didn’t even want to think about what she would do if she lost the job.
Shane relaxed, his face showing the relief of pressure. “Thanks Caroline. I knew I could count on you to handle this, as well as your discretion.”
“You are going to have to say something sooner or later boss. The boys are going to notice some young Ukraine woman walking around the ranch.”
“How do you know she is young?”
“Just a guess.”
He looked off for a minute. She wasn’t that young, around twenty five or so. Shane actually didn’t have but one picture and it was kind of blurry. When he had finally gotten the nerve to go through with it, he spent as little time as he could finding someone. He read a few and one profile stood out. Her likes were outdoorsy and she was good with paperwork. With love out of the equation, he found it to be perfect.
“She’s a bit younger, but not by much. I just turned thirty one.”
“Fine Shane, it’s your life.” Her eyes looked a little sad. Shane knew that there had been a time that she had tried to make him the fifth husband and he had entertained it a little, but they were better as they were, without mucking it up with sex. Whether he could say it out loud or not, she didn’t have statistics behind her.
“It’s not that bad. I mean, if we can’t make it work we will get divorced. It’s a lot more common now.”
Caroline sighed. He really wasn’t the man for her. She still wanted the chemical reactions to explode in her brain, she wanted it all, even if for but a brief time before fizzling out.
“So, enough of that. What’s on the agenda today?”
“We have to transfer a couple horses upstate and I need to get the vet to come out and take a look at Levi’s foot. She had been favoring that leg for a couple of days now and I am starting to worry about it.”
Caroline nodded. “So who am I going up there with, Sammy?” Her face was hopeful and it made him laugh as he put their coffee cups away.”
“No. Talk about me liking them young though. Caroline he just turned twenty.”
She had the good graces to look embarrassed, but her mind went to his hard body when he took his shirt off. There was nothing better in the summer than sitting on the porch and watching the trainers and labor men work. She fanned herself and then giggled back. “Alright be nice. I will see you tomorrow then. Just not Jimmy, that’s all I ask.”
“Okay deal. Anton?”
“That’s fine. He will just sleep the whole time anyways.”
Shane took off out the door and got into his truck. He was going to the airport to pick her up and though he said there were no other thoughts than practicality, he couldn’t help but be a little nervous. One way or another, the woman was going to be in his life for a time and he wanted to make a good impression. Tomorrow, she would be his bride.
He took time to shave that morning. The beard was a couple of days old and made him look gruff. Or so he had been told on multiple occasions. Shane had been up early that morning and though he had things to do later, like every day, all he could think about was his bride-to-be Dasha.