The Perfect Wife Read online

  “I didn’t think of that,” Ben nearly shrieked, dropping the jar.

  Natalie hurried to pick it up and gathered the few peppermints that had fallen to the floor.

  “What did you think your life was going to be like when you were marrying her?” Mark asked, as bewildered as Natalie felt.

  “I don’t know.” Ben paused then shrugged. “I was only thinking of getting her away from those men.”

  “Well, it’s time to start thinking of what comes next.” Mark helped him to his feet and brushed off a piece of peppermint that was sticking to his suit jacket. “You’re in love with Annabelle. You should be glad this happened.”

  “How can I be glad when she doesn’t want to be with me?” Ben asked as Mark pushed him out of the parlor.

  Natalie set the jar and peppermints on a nearby table and hurried after them. While she didn’t consider herself a snoop, she was dying to know how this was going to turn out.

  “She doesn’t want to be with you now,” Mark said. “Fortunately for you, you have the rest of your lives to get her happy about the marriage.”

  “I’m sure it’ll take her until we’re old and gray to stop being mad at me,” Ben muttered.

  Mark took his hat from the butler who was at the door. Natalie wondered if the butler had heard everything. Probably. He’d been standing by the door the whole time, and Ben wasn’t exactly the quietest person around.

  Though she had nothing to do with the impromptu marriage, she couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with the butler as he gave her a hat to wear. She mumbled a thank you and put it on her head. Then she followed Ben and Mark as they headed for Mark’s parents’ residence.

  Chapter Nineteen

  By the time Natalie, Mark, and Ben made it to Mark’s parents’ house, Mark’s mother and father were studying the marriage license on the table in front of them while Annabelle was in her bedroom.

  “Maybe you should ask Rick if this is legally binding,” Mark’s mother told his father.

  Mark leaned into Natalie and whispered, “Rick is a judge who happens to be my uncle.”

  Natalie glanced over at Ben who was huddled in the corner of the parlor as if he was trying to become invisible. Mark gestured for him to join them, but Ben shook his head. Natalie put her hand on Mark’s and shook her head. Ben had been through enough, and it was obvious he was scared that Mark’s parents were going to yell at him. They were his in-laws now. He was in a sensitive position.

  “Preacher Nelson married them,” Mark’s father said. “I’ve talked to him a couple of times. He’s strict and thorough in everything he does. He wouldn’t make a mistake. This is permanent.”

  “But Annabelle said no,” Mark’s mother argued. “If she said no, it can’t stand under the scrutiny of the law.”

  “It can if she signed it.” He pointed to one of the names. “That’s her signature. I’d recognize it anywhere. By signing it, she agreed to it. Rick will take one look at that and say the marriage stands.”

  “She probably had no option but to sign it.” She glanced over at Ben. “How did the preacher get her to sign this?”

  Ben’s face went pale, and Natalie thought he was going to faint. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “The outlaws were pointing guns at her. They didn’t give her a choice.”

  “It doesn’t look like they gave Ben a choice, either,” Mark’s father said, turning his gaze back to his wife. “It’s obvious he wasn’t trying to trick her into doing it.”

  “I didn’t say he tricked her,” Mark’s mother replied. “Ben isn’t the type. I know he was doing what he thought was best.”

  Natalie glanced over at Ben. Did it bother him that Mark’s parents were talking about him as if he wasn’t in the room?

  “What do we do now?” Mark’s mother asked. “If this is a valid marriage license, we can’t very well get her out of the marriage, no matter how much she wants it.”

  “Why look for an angle to get her out of it?” Mark spoke up. When they turned their attention to him, he continued, “Ben’s a good person. We’ve known him since he was six. He’s practically a part of this family. Why not welcome him as a son-in-law? At least with him, you know what you’re getting. You don’t really know anything about Kenneth Gordon.”

  “Annabelle isn’t going to marry Kenneth,” Mark’s mother said.

  “Because of what’s happened with Ben,” Mark agreed. “That’s to be expected.”

  “No, Mark,” his mother clarified. “She made that decision yesterday. That was before this whole thing with the outlaws happened.”

  Natalie’s eyes widened in surprise, and when Mark glanced at her, she shrugged. Who could have guessed this was going to happen? It was as much of a shock as finding out Ben had married her to save her from three outlaws.

  Mark turned back to his parents. “Do we even know what the outlaws wanted with Annabelle?”

  His parents looked over at Ben. Mark and Natalie followed suit.

  Ben shook his head. “I don’t know for sure. All they said was that she was supposed to marry someone.”

  “Maybe they were taking her to marry that person,” Mark’s mother said. “We should bring her down and find out for sure.”

  “Do I have to be in the room when she comes down here?” Ben asked, his eyes wide in panic.

  “You can’t hide from her forever,” Mark said. “She’s your wife.”

  Mark’s father patted Mark on the shoulder. “I think poor Ben’s been through enough already. Annabelle needs a day or two to get used to the marriage.” He went over to Ben and urged him to step away from the wall. “It’s alright. Her mother and I realize this isn’t going to be an easy transition, but it’ll work out. Annabelle’s not unreasonable. She’ll come around.”

  A loud sound came from upstairs, followed by Annabelle crying out, “I should have taken care of him sooner!”

  Ben collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap.

  “Maybe now isn’t a good time for the bride and groom to talk,” Mark’s mother said as she knelt down and tapped Ben’s face.

  “Mark,” his father began, “let’s carry Ben over to the couch.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Mark’s mother said. “I’ll make sure he has some water to drink when he wakes up.” She turned to Natalie. “Perhaps you should talk to Annabelle. Sometimes what a young woman really needs in times like this is a friend. Annabelle’s room is the second one on the left.”

  Natalie wasn’t sure if Annabelle would be happy to see her, but since the others were busy, she nodded and went up the stairs. When she made it to Annabelle’s door, she knocked on it. “Annabelle?” She cleared her throat. “It’s Natalie. I just found out what happened and wondered if you’d like to talk to someone.”

  A couple of seconds later, the door opened, and Annabelle, who looked as if she’d been through a war with her messed up hair, dirty face, and torn dress, gestured for her to come in. Natalie took a step into the room. It was just as spacious as the one she had, except on the floor was a punching bag.

  “That fell just a moment ago,” Annabelle said as she shut the door. “I was using it to vent my frustrations.”

  Natalie glanced up at the ceiling and saw the broken hook that had been supporting it.

  Annabelle sat on her bed then fell onto her back. “This day has been one big disaster after another. I’ve had bad days in my life, but this has been the absolute worst. And it’s not even dinner time yet.” She threw her arm over her eyes and let out an aggravated groan. “I don’t know what else can happen, but I’m afraid to find out.”

  Natalie sat next to her. “I know you had your heart set on marrying Kenneth.”

  Annabelle bolted up. “You didn’t hear about that?”

  “About what?”

  “I told Kenneth I couldn’t let him court me anymore. I did that this morning. I thought over what you and Mark had said, and since Velma came by yesterday to warn me about him, I realized I should list
en to what you’ve all been telling me. After my parents found out what Velma said, they expressed their apprehension, too. If one or two people object to something, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but when everyone I know and trust says the same thing, I figured I’d better pay attention.”

  Natalie breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that was good. It was nice to know Annabelle used good, old fashioned common sense. So now Mark’s plan to get her parents and Velma involved wasn’t necessary. They’d already intervened.

  “It turned out you were all right about him anyway,” Annabelle continued. “He hired those men to kidnap me.”

  Natalie’s jaw dropped, and it took her a moment to compose herself. “Are you sure?”

  “They mentioned him by name and said I better be worth as much as he claimed. It turns out he really did only want to marry me for my money. He had no actual interest in me at all.”

  “Did you tell your parents this?”

  “I told them, and I told Uncle Owen since he’s the sheriff. Uncle Owen is looking for Kenneth right now.”

  “Then it’s a good thing Ben stepped in when he did.”

  Annabelle grimaced. “He didn’t need to step in at all.” After a moment, she released her breath. “I’ll start from the beginning so you can see how ridiculous it was that he intervened.”

  Natalie was curious to hear Annabelle’s side of the story, so she encouraged her to tell it.

  “I went for a walk after talking to Kenneth,” Annabelle began. “Walking helps me deal with my emotions. Halfway into the walk, a man approached me and started telling me about the dog on his leash. That was when someone grabbed me from behind.”

  Though Natalie knew Annabelle had been with outlaws, she still gasped in surprise. “Were you scared?”

  “For a moment, but then I managed to elbow him in the stomach. Unfortunately, another man caught me and stuck something over my mouth and nose. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was that another man had his gun out so no one ran to my rescue. I can’t prove the man with the dog was in on the whole thing. He held his hands up in the air, along with everyone else. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he was sent to distract me so the three men could abduct me. Anyway, the next thing I know, I’m on horseback with one of the men, and we’re outside of town. When I got my wits about me, I struck the man I was riding with in the nose. He let go of me, and I gave him another swift punch in the eye. Then I jumped off the horse.”

  “You jumped off the horse?”

  “I know how to land so I don’t hurt myself. Anyway, that was when I realized there were three men with me, and they were all wearing bandanas.”

  “Ben mentioned that.”

  “Did Ben also mention that I had everything under control? I’ve been trained since I was a little girl to defend myself. My mother and I have been taking these lessons since I was five.”

  “How could you have had things under control when they had guns?”

  “They had no intention of shooting me. Sure, they waved their guns around as if they thought I was going to get scared, but if the whole purpose of them kidnapping me was so I’d marry Kenneth, they couldn’t actually shoot me. I could only marry Kenneth if I was alive.”

  “How did you find out Kenneth set them up to kidnap you?”

  “One of the men mentioned Kenneth owing someone in Chicago money. I didn’t get the man’s name, but he sounds dangerous. The leader of the three men said they would be getting paid once I married Kenneth. I didn’t let them get further than that because I decided to let the men know they weren’t taking me anywhere.”

  “And that’s when Ben found you?”

  She nodded. “I had already defeated one of the outlaws and was ready to take out the other two when he rode up on his horse. He had no idea what was going on. He just shouted for them to leave me alone. He didn’t even have a gun, Natalie. Can you imagine that? What did he think he was going to accomplish against three outlaws who had guns?”

  “From what you said, one was rolling around on the grass in pain, so he was really going up against two,” Natalie said. And since she knew Annabelle had merely been annoyed, instead of scared, when Ben showed up, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “He honestly thought you were in trouble. He didn’t know you had things under control.”

  “I told him that I was fine,” Annabelle replied, “but he didn’t take my word for it. One of the outlaws said he should mind his own business because I was on my way to marry someone. And that’s when everything got bizarre. Those outlaws believed him when he told them I was expecting his child.” She gagged. “Like I would ever let Ben touch me that way. I protested it, but the outlaws believed him over me. They assumed this was why I ended my courtship with Kenneth, and then they demanded I do right by the child and marry Ben. Apparently, one of them was born out of wedlock and spent his whole life in shame because of it. He said he refused to let that happen to the one I was carrying.” She rolled her eyes. “Can you believe it? He’s an outlaw kidnapping me to make me marry Kenneth, and he’s worried about propriety?”

  “It does seem a bit ridiculous,” Natalie admitted.

  “It was absurd. But they all dragged me to a church and made me marry Ben anyway.”

  “I can’t help but wonder why you didn’t keep fighting those men? Surely, Ben wouldn’t have fought you.”

  “One of the men put more chloroform over my mouth and nose. He said something about needing to calm me down before the preacher got into a panic. I woke up in the church, tied to a chair. Though I said no over and over again, that idiot preacher married me and Ben anyway.”

  “How did they get you to sign the marriage license?”

  “They said they wouldn’t let me go until I signed the stupid thing. I stuck it out for two hours until I realized they were serious. Looking back, I shouldn’t have signed it. I should have opted to die like that.”

  “Oh, that’s silly. You wouldn’t have died that way. Ben wouldn’t have let you.”

  “I don’t know what Ben would have done, and I don’t care. Those outlaws were not going to leave until I signed that idiotic piece of paper, and he was too afraid of them to do anything.”

  Natalie winced. Though she could understand why Annabelle was upset, it didn’t seem right that she should be so hard on him. “Ben was trying to protect you. He didn’t know those men weren’t going to hurt you.”

  “I told him I wasn’t in any danger, but he didn’t believe me. I don’t know why men have such a difficult time believing a woman.”

  “I think it’s rather sweet of Ben to try to help, even if he didn’t know you had everything under control.”

  “I suppose from someone else’s perspective, it does seem sweet. But he’s known me for years. He should know I can handle myself just fine.”

  “He said he panicked. He did the first thing that came to mind.”

  Annabelle groaned. “I know he did. That’s why I’m in this mess right now. I don’t want to be married to Ben. He’s like another brother. Growing up, I thought my parents had triplets since he was around here with Mark all the time. Can you imagine marrying someone you thought of as a brother?”

  Natalie winced again. “No.” Nor would she want to. She supposed when she considered things from that angle, Annabelle’s reluctance to accept marriage to Ben was understandable. But still… “He’s a sweet man. He was willing to sacrifice his life for you.”

  “He was never in danger of dying. Those outlaws weren’t going to kill him.”

  “He didn’t know that.”

  When Annabelle fell back on the bed, she decided it was pointless to keep arguing with her. Maybe someday—hopefully someday soon—Annabelle would see Ben for who he really was instead of her brother’s friend. After excusing herself, Natalie went back downstairs where Ben was drinking some water and pressing a wet cloth to his forehead. Mark’s parents were talking to him in low, comforting tones.

  “How did it go?” Mark asked as he h
urried over to her.

  “As well as could be expected,” Natalie whispered. “She doesn’t like being married to Ben, but what can she do? The vows have been exchanged and the marriage license is legal. She’s not fighting it.”

  “She just needs time. She’ll come around.”

  Natalie hoped Mark was right.

  “Uncle Owen is currently looking for Kenneth,” Mark said. “As it turns out, once Annabelle was kidnapped, Kenneth ran out of town. No one’s seen or heard from him.”

  “I don’t know where he’d run to. It sounds like Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are the only relatives he has.” At least they were the closest ones he had.

  “I’m sure my uncle will be asking them some questions.”

  “I don’t think Mrs. Gordon knew anything about Kenneth needing money. When she talked about him to the women in the group, she was so proud of him. She talked about him as if he was her own child. She doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would deceive anyone.”

  “Her husband is a good man, too. I have a feeling that Kenneth went to them so he could escape whatever he did in Chicago. He probably didn’t expect anyone to find him in Omaha.”

  “That’s what I think, too.” Natalie’s heart went out to the couple. Of all the women in that social group, Margie had been one of the few who hadn’t given her any grief.

  Mark’s parents led Ben toward the front door, so Natalie stopped talking to Mark.

  “We’ll let Annabelle stay here for a couple of days so she can get used to the idea of being married to you,” Mark’s father told Ben. “I’m sure once she settles down, she’ll be fine.”

  “Alright.” Though Ben agreed, Natalie caught the uncertainty underlying his tone.

  After talking to Annabelle, Natalie didn’t blame him for not being convinced that everything would settle down in a couple of days. She had a sinking feeling that his problems were just beginning. While she liked Annabelle, she wished Annabelle would go easier on the poor man. He’d been trying to do the right thing.