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  Patty’s

  Gamble

  Ruth Ann Nordin

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, events and locales are a product of this author’s imagination. If any name, event, and/or locale did exist, it is purely by coincidence as it appears in this book.

  This book may not be reproduced by any means, including but not limited to, mechanical Xerox, digital, auditorial and/or in print.

  If you obtained this copy illegally, please respect the author and her time enough to purchase a copy.

  PATTY’S GAMBLE

  Copyright © 2014 Ruth Ann Nordin

  Cover Design Copyright 2014 Ruth Ann Nordin

  All rights reserved.

  Smashwords Edition

  Published by Parchment & Plume, LLC

  www.parchmentandplume.com

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  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 Eight

  Chapter Nineteen

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon: Shane’s Deal

  Other Books at Parchment & Plume, LLC

  Dedication

  To Debbie McCreary whose thoughtfulness and kindness is greatly appreciated.

  Chapter One

  July 1897

  Lewistown, Montana

  Patty Dixon entered the saloon and lowered the hat over her eyes. This was the last place she wanted to be. But desperate times called for desperate measures. She could only hope that no one would realize she was a woman. She had her hair tucked under a wig and a fake long beard covering her face. To top it off, she’d borrowed her father’s duster and boots. Besides that, she wore her own shirt and denims, but no one was going to open the duster to find that out.

  Allowing her eyes time to adjust to the smoke-filled room, she thought over her plan. If her father knew what she was doing, he’d forbid it—which was exactly why she’d waited until he was asleep before leaving the ranch. And now she was in the seedy part of town, the part she’d never venture to under ordinary circumstances.

  “Buddy,” a gruff voice called out.

  She glanced over her shoulder at a large man who stood behind her.

  “I can’t go through you,” the man said.

  Oh! She quickly moved aside so he could enter the saloon. Then she proceeded further into the establishment. She studied the men who were laughing, drinking, and playing cards. If she saw clearly, a few were trying not to cry into their beers. From the other side of the room, a group sang out of tune around a piano that’d seen better days. And from the stairs at the back of the room, a lady wearing very little was waving to someone. Patty’s gaze went to the man who appeared to have a winning hand.

  She grimaced. She didn’t know what the gesture he gave her meant, and quite frankly, she didn’t want to know. She was on a mission. She continued scanning the room and finally caught the man she was looking for. John Meyer. She’d heard rumors about him. He wasn’t one to be trifled with.

  But what choice did she have? She’d exhausted all her other options. As long as she was careful, everything would be fine. Taking a deep breath, she proceeded forward, weaving around tables until she reached the one she needed.

  John set the cards on the table and snickered. “Read ‘em and weep, boys.”

  The other men at the table groaned and threw down their cards.

  “I got to get another drink,” one muttered as he rose from the table.

  “Me, too,” a second agreed.

  “I’m out,” a third said. “I’m not losing any more money tonight.”

  “Come back when you learn to play like a man,” John told the third man then collected the pile of coins in the middle of the table.

  That left no one at the table but John. This was her chance. Patty stepped forward and cleared her throat.

  “You want somethin’?” John asked as he counted his winnings.

  Taking that as an invitation, she plopped down in the seat as she’d seen other men do and leaned back. Then, in the lowest voice she could muster, she said, “Need your help.”

  His eyebrows rose. “You feelin’ alright?”

  “Feel fine,” she replied, wondering why he’d ask such a ridiculous question.

  He leaned forward and, before she could stop him, tugged on her beard, pulling it down.

  She gasped and quickly brought it back up, giving a quick glance around to make sure no one else saw what he’d done.

  He chuckled. “Didn’t think you were a man. So, what’s a lady doin’ in a place like this? Unless you plan to entertain men with the soiled doves upstairs.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. “No. I want to hire you for a job.”

  “I can certainly do the job, little lady,” he said, leering at her in a way that made her squirm.

  “I’m not sure what you mean, but I want you to make it so that Greg Wilson will marry me.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “Sweetie, I can do a lot of things, but I can’t force someone to marry you.”

  “I don’t mean to pin him down and force him.” Greg would never marry her that way. He needed to be tricked into it. “I need you to make it look like he has to save me.” When John grimaced, she added, “I hear you’re one of the fiercest, smelliest, most loathsome men around.”

  Smiling, he thanked her.

  Her eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t mean it as a compliment.”

  “It is for what you need, isn’t it?”

  “Well…I suppose it is.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “The plan?”

  He let out a long sigh. “Don’t tell me you came here without a plan.”

  She wiggled on the seat, growing uncomfortable under his sneer. “If Greg thinks he has to marry me to save me from you, then he’ll do it.”

  “Are you suggesting I get you into a compromising position?”

  “Compromising position?”

  “You’re as pure as a layer of fresh snow, aren’t you?”

  “I’m not sure what snow has to do with this. It’s August.”

  A low grumble rose up from his throat as he laughed. “I hope Greg knows what to do in bed because you ain’t got a clue.”

  Catching his meaning, she gasped. “You aren’t suggesting that you and I… We won’t be…?” Goodness, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words aloud, even in this rowdy place.

  “Not to brag, but I know how to make a woman cry out in pleasure.” He took a large gulp of whiskey and winked. “And ask for more.”

  She forced herself not to gag at the thought of him touching her. If that’s what it took to get Greg to marry her, then she was better off spending the rest of her life without him. “I was thinking I could pay you. In money,” she clarified.

  “How much?”

  “Um…I got thirty.”

  “Thirty?” He glanced around and lowered his voice. “How’d a girl like you get that much?”

  “I saved up for it.”

  “How?”

  “Does it matter?”

  He ran his thumb along the edge of his glass and studied her. “You serious? You got the money?”

  “Yes.”

  Stroking the stubble on his chin, he nodde
d. “Alright. You got yourself a deal. We’ll make it look like I’m haulin’ you off to the preacher, and if he cares enough, he’ll intervene.”

  “It won’t be a matter of whether he cares about me or not. It’ll be a matter of doing the right thing.”

  He snorted. “Sure, it is.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Listen, little girl, I’m not going to argue this with you. You might believe men are noble, but deep down, they’re as rotten as I look. They just hide it better. I know some stories about men in this town that’d make you run off to a convent. Now, go and get out of here before someone else realizes you’re not a man. Meet me on the west corner of Wilson’s property tomorrow at four. Be sure to dress up as a woman. This won’t work if you’re dressed as a man.” He held out his hand. “The money?”

  She dug into her pocket and pulled out the money she had saved. If she didn’t give it to him now, she doubted he’d come out to help her at all. “You’re going to make him marry me, aren’t you?”

  “By this time tomorrow night, you will be his lawfully wedded wife.”

  Excited by the prospect, she handed him the money then hurried out of the saloon.

  ***

  The next afternoon at four, Patty retied the straps of her bonnet so it wouldn’t blow away in the wind. Her skirt, however, wasn’t as easy to manage, and at times, it wanted to blow up to her knees, exposing her bloomers for the entire world to see. This was why she preferred to wear pants. This never happened when she had those on.

  Gritting her teeth, she found a couple of small rocks in the tall prairie grass and ripped a part of her hem along the skirt open so she could slip the rocks inside. Then she pulled out one of the pins from her hair and secured the opening shut. It wouldn’t hold for long, but maybe it would do it long enough so she could make it safely into Greg’s house.

  Someone riding a horse came up beside her, and she looked up in time to see her pa. “What are you doing all the way out here?” he asked.

  She straightened up and cleared her throat. “Hi, Pa. What are you doing here?”

  He slid off the horse. “I just asked you the same thing.”

  “Oh, I thought I’d check out this area of the land. To make sure the cattle are doing well.”

  “Don’t lie to me. We’re on Greg’s property line.”

  “Alright. I’m on my way to marry Greg.”

  “You mean, he agreed to marry you?”

  Ignoring the shock in his voice, she said, “Not yet. But he will.”

  He hesitated for a moment, setting a hand on one of his hips. “What’s going on, Patty? And don’t lie to me.”

  She released her breath. “John Meyer’s going to help me.”

  His jaw dropped, and she thought for sure his eyes were going to pop right out of his head. “Patty, how did you get tangled up with the likes of John Meyer?”

  Just as she feared, the news upset him.

  “Patty?” he pressed when she didn’t answer.

  “You’re not going to like it.”

  “I already know that.”

  “Alright.” She sighed. “I dressed up as a man and went into a saloon last night.”

  “You what?!”

  “I had to, Pa. Who else but John Meyer could convince Greg Wilson to marry me?”

  “Don’t you understand what a chance you were taking? At any time, John could have had his way with you.”

  “But he didn’t. And today he’s going to arrange it so that I will marry Greg.”

  “What is John getting out of it?”

  “All the money I have. Thirty dollars.”

  He groaned and shook his head. “Don’t do this, Patty. No good can come from it.”

  “What other chance am I going to have?”

  “If you’re so eager to get married, then why don’t you marry Boaz Grady? Everyone knows he’s looking for a wife.”

  “But I don’t love him. I love Greg. And deep down, Greg loves me, too.”

  “No, he doesn’t.”

  “Yes, he does,” she insisted.

  Her pa shook his head again, not that she was surprised. He didn’t believe her, but at one time, Greg came real close to asking if he could court her. She didn’t know what changed his mind, but he had wanted to be with her. She knew it as much as she knew her own name.

  After a long moment, he moaned. “I can see you’re going to go through with this scheme whether I approve of it or not.”

  “I will,” she replied with a firm nod.

  “Fine. But I’m not leaving you alone with John Meyer. I’m coming with you.”

  “Oh, good.”

  “I just hope it pays off,” he muttered.

  “You know what they say: the bigger the risk, the greater the reward.”

  “The bigger the risk, the bigger the loss could be, too.” He shook his head. “I must be a horrible father for allowing this.”

  “No, Pa. You’re wonderful.” On impulse, she hugged him. “You’ll see. Everything will work out. And maybe next year, you’ll be holding your grandson or granddaughter.”

  “I’ll give you one thing: when you set your mind to something, you don’t stop until you get it.”

  Patty heard a horse neighing and turned her attention to the three men riding toward them.

  “I thought you just made the deal with John Meyer,” her pa said.

  “I did. The other two must be helping him.”

  “What could the mayor have to do with John?”

  Surprised, she took another good look at the men and saw that Mayor White was among them. The other man wore a preacher’s collar. “Well, it can’t be for a bad reason. There’s a preacher with them, and you can trust a preacher.”

  “Maybe,” her pa said, not sounding convinced.

  Ignoring her father’s pessimism, she went to her horse, interrupting it in the middle of its meal. Taking the reins, she waited as the men approached. Seeing the mayor and preacher was a relief. She’d heard rumors of what John did with women when alone with them. It made him the perfect person for her plan, of course, because Greg wouldn’t have the heart to let her fall into his clutches, but she still wasn’t so trusting that she came out here without a level of protection.

  With the mayor and preacher on hand, her pa wouldn’t have to worry about her. Not that she couldn’t take care of herself if she needed to. She was a good shot—real quick if she needed to be—and she wouldn’t hesitate to use a gun if she had to.

  She walked the horse toward the men as they closed the distance to her. Once they came to a stop, John said, “I see you brought someone with you.”

  “My pa,” she replied.

  “Just want to make sure no one does anything inappropriate with my baby girl,” her father called out.

  “Don’t worry, sir,” John returned. “I have no interest in a lady with such little on top.”

  Patty’s face grew warm at his meaning. Granted, she wasn’t the most well endowed woman to ever grace the Earth, but she did have something worth attracting a man’s attention. However, since the only man worth attracting was Greg, she chose to keep quiet.

  The mayor and preacher, on the other hand, cleared their throats. “I would thank you to avoid such talk when I’m around,” the preacher insisted.

  “Same here,” the mayor agreed. “Confine such talk to the saloons and brothels.”

  Though John rolled his eyes, he nodded. “People can be so touchy. Fine. Here’s the plan. Patty, your pa is in danger of losing his property. The man you were supposed to marry has lost his right to that land—and your hand in marriage—to me in a poker game. The only way out of it is if Greg marries you instead. Agreed?”

  She looked at her father. “I think it’ll work.”

  Her pa shook his head but didn’t argue, which was as good as saying he was going to go along with it.

  “You follow everything I say, and it’ll go along smoothly,” John said and gestured for her to go over to him. “You’re
going to come on the horse with me.” John motioned to the preacher. “I’m going to have his horse’s reins in my hand so it looks like I’m taking you off to marry me. Mayor White and your pa will be pursuing us. Your pa will be shooting at me, but he’ll miss. You’ll need to pretend you’re fighting me and scream for help. Got it?”

  “What should I do with my horse?”

  “The mayor can take it. Most of the things we’ll do, we’ll have to make up as we go along. There’s no telling for sure how Wilson will react.”

  “But he’ll marry me?”

  “He will. I know what to say to get men like Wilson to do what I want. It’s just a matter of making him think it’s his idea.”

  With a nod, Patty handed the mayor the reins to her horse then got up on the saddle and started to put her leg over it like she usually did. But then she remembered she was wearing a dress—and was right in front of four men—so she quickly settled sideways. Though she tried not to get right on to John’s lap, it couldn’t be helped.

  John chuckled. “You might not be an experienced woman, but I doubt Wilson is going to have trouble enjoying you in bed.”

  “Enough, John,” her father snapped.

  “Please keep your talk suitable for a lady,” the preacher said.

  “Alright, I’ll behave.” He wrapped an arm around her waist. “Now, when we see him, you got to push against me and scream. Got that?”

  Ignoring the alcohol on his breath, she agreed. The sooner she was out of John’s arms and into Greg’s, the better. Being near him was enough to make her queasy, and growing up on a ranch, she’d witnessed some pretty disgusting things.

  “Good.” With a glance at the other men, he called out, “Follow me,” and led the horse into a full gallop.

  Chapter Two

  Greg Wilson had just left his barn when he heard a gunshot ring through the air. He stilled and turned his attention to the west. A group of riders raced across his land and more shots were fired. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought the man in the lead was holding a woman. And after a quick assessment, he realized the woman was screaming for help.