Read Online His Prairie Princess (Prairie Brides 1) by Kit Morgan - Free Book Online

little thing you’d best stake claim on her before someone else does.”
    “But when her father comes ...”
    “I don’t care none about her father!  I saw my Sarah for the first time and two weeks later we were married.  And that was in Philadelphia!  After we settled in Kansas I brought more than my share of babies into the world, a lot of which came out west with us.  Now those folks went on to Oregon City. Most of them are probably married by now.  But this is Clear Creek.  Your chances of finding a woman out here are slim to none.  But look at you!  The good Lord saw fit to drop one right in front of you!”
    Harrison felt like a cad.  He wanted to kiss her all right.   Reall y kiss her. Kiss her until she swooned in fact. But Mrs. Dunnigan had the town thinking Sadie was no better than her mother.  He didn’t want to do anything to add fuel to the fire.  He wanted more time with her.  Escorting Sadie back to her ranch with a few of the Sheriff’s men and meeting her father would give him that time.  Not to mention, now that he thought of it, time to think of a good reason Mr. Jones should let him marry her.  Doc was right.  If he wanted her he needed to do something about it. But there were obstacles, namely Harrison Cooke hadn’t a penny to his name. 
    First he had to deal with his current dilemma. Convincing Sadie's father he could provide for her paled against the fact she obviously thought he didn’t care a whit about her.  He just wanted her body.  Which he did, but with a wedding ring attached and that meant he wanted her heart.  He would have to explain it to her.   Yes, he’d march up there right now and tell her how he felt. 
    Doc saw the determined gleam in his eye.  “That’s it boy! Go get her!  Don’t let those fancy manners your ma beat into you spoil a good thing!  She’ll be more of a mind to let you court her if she knows how you feel!”
    “Court her?  What happened to staking claim?”
    “All women want to be courted at least a week before they get married out here.”
    “I wouldn’t know, I haven’t seen anyone get married out here.”
    Doc laughed as Grandma walked into the kitchen.  “What’s going on?  Sadie’s upstairs mad as a rattler. Harrison, what did you do?”
    “It’s what I’m about to do that matters.” 
    He marched down the hall to the stairs just as Mr. Mulligan burst through the door. “Doc, Harrison!  The Sheriff’s back! And he’s got one of those outlaws!”
     
    * * *
     
    Sadie sat on Doc and Grandma’s bed.  She’d been sleeping on a pallet in the spare room her mother occupied, but didn’t want to disturb her.  She walked in on Grandma instead and had to apologize for slamming the door.  Now that the woman was downstairs she let the tears fall.    Harrison was trying to get rid of her. 
    Maybe she and her mother were becoming a burden for him.  He did come twice a day and to do so probably meant work on his farm suffered.  Sadie didn’t want t o be a burden.  Or a temptation, of which she obviously was. 
    A tantalizing morsel just waiting to be eaten, like her mother.  And around here, if Mrs. Dunnigan had her way, that’s all they would be.  So even though Harrison’s desire to protect her was flattering, he seemed desperate to get her out of town. Obviously, the temptation was too much.
    Sadie sat and went over their conversation. His resolve to protect her body was admirable, but what about her heart?  She sighed. That was something she should have seen to herself.  She hadn’t realized until that afternoon her heart had allowed the Englishman in.  The only problem was, she didn’t know how to get him out.  Thus, there was only one thing to do.
    Sadie was going to have to pack up her mother as soon as she was able, and leave.  She got herself out here, albeit with a little help from Harrison, she could get back.  Surely someone in this town would know who her father was and see she was