What was Mary going to do? She couldn’t return to Charleston. The law must be searching for her by now. She had nowhere else to go.
“Did the matchmaker not mention this?” Jesse asked.
“No,” Mary said. “I’d like to know more about this way of life. I’d like to talk to Grace in private sometime. We have two weeks before we have to make a decision. I’m willing to consider having two husbands.”
She really had no choice and neither did Daisy. They were both running from their pasts and to return would mean death. But still, she needed to learn more before she decided.
The men cheered and Jesse gave her a sweet smile.
“Me too,” Daisy said.
“I will as well,” Blanche said.
One by one, the women agreed to learn more, and once again, the atmosphere changed.
“Well, then, ladies and gentlemen, let’s mingle and get to know one another,” the doctor said, smiling.
Suddenly it was like a stampede with the men rushing the women. Mary looked up and a large man all but surrounded her, blocking her from the other men.
“Hello, I’m Andrew. I’m Jesse’s partner. We own the mine.”
“Hello, Andrew,” she said, drawn to his dark brown eyes. He smelled of leather and a delicious manly scent. Dark hair, a firm chin, his lips full and so ripe for kissing, and dark lashes that hooded his beautiful eyes. He didn’t smile, but he stared at her in a way that made her knees weak and her heart give a little extra kick.
“May I escort you to the dinner table?” he asked.
How could she deny him? She was drawn to him, but then she thought of Jesse. Could she be attracted to two men at the same time? Jesse had also caused her stomach to flutter when she first saw him. And these two men were partners.
“I would love for you to,” she said and he held out his arm.
“Damn it, Andrew,” another man said. “You beat me to it.”
“Too bad,” he said and when she laid her hand on his forearm, he pulled her in close.
They strolled through the house and outside to where the tables were lined up. The stars twinkled in the night sky and small gas lights were set on each table with only three chairs. They would be alone to get to know each other.
“Jesse is going to join us,” he told her.
A little thrill went through her. She liked Jesse and now she was beginning to like Andrew.
“He’s helping his uncle get everything set up. Why don’t you and I sit here and talk.”
She smiled and tilted her head to the side to stare into his gorgeous eyes. His deep voice sent a tremble of awareness up her back.
“Why would a beautiful woman like you not be married?”
A shiver went through her as she remembered the men and the way they had acted toward her and Elizabeth, her twin. Then she’d met Frank Thompson and he had wooed her sister with his promises that had amounted to nothing.
Promises that left her frightened for her sister and for good reason.
“My parents kept us close at home. We weren’t allowed to leave the house without a chaperone. Usually my mother. But then she and my father caught cholera and they died on the same day within hours of each other.”
That had been the beginning of what Mary called the end of her time in Charleston.
Andrew took her hand in his. “I’m so sorry. That had to be hard.”
“Very,” she said. “Elizabeth and I were thrown into taking care of everything. There was so much we didn’t know that my father dealt with. Then the men began to call on us, thinking we were easy prey. That’s when I learned to shoot a pistol.”
He started to laugh. “Did that help?”
“Oh, yes, I ran off two men in one night just by pulling out my gun and telling them to get out.”
Laughing, he still held her hand and leaned in close to her. “Remind me to never give you a pistol.”
She smiled. “Don’t try to take advantage of me and I won’t need it.”
“Oh, I like your smart, sassy attitude,” he said, whispering softly. “But where is your sister?”
Tears welled in her eyes. There was only so much she was willing to reveal to Andrew about Elizabeth. All she would need was to be sent back to Charleston.
“She died almost four months ago,” she said, not willing to tell him how. That she would keep to herself until her dying day if she could.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Family is very important to me. It’s why I came back to Treasure Falls with Jesse. He has this big family here and they welcomed me with open arms.”
Other couples were starting to filter outdoor and sit at the tables. She saw Daisy and two men talking excitedly.
“What about your family?”