Dacey: Bride of North Carolina (Amercan Mail-Order Bride 12) by Shanna Hatfield

we buried my mother next to my father, Luther informed me that with her gone, he expected me to take over all of her wifely duties.”
    Ellie and Beatrice shared horrified looks while Braxton’s hands clenched into fists. If he ever encountered Luther, he might throttle the man with his bare hands.
    Beatrice settled an arm around Dacey and gave her a comforting hug. “You don’t need to finish the story.”
    “Oh, but the last part is good.” Dacey patted Beatrice’s hand in a comforting gesture. “When Luther came back to the house that night, I was ready. I clunked him over the head with a chunk of firewood, hogtied him to the bed, and emptied his pockets of the money that never belonged to him in the first place. My bags were already packed and I caught the morning train east. I’d only been at the factory a few days when it tragically caught fire and we all lost our jobs.” Dacey grinned at Beatrice. “Then I found my way here.”
    “And we’re so glad you did, darling.” Beatrice hugged her again and kissed her cheek. “We all are so glad you did.”
    Ellie hopped up from her seat and gave Dacey a hug before returning to her chair.
    When Dacey looked at Braxton, he offered her a tender smile and nodded his head, agreeing with his mother. No matter how she came to be at Bramble Hall, Braxton was thoroughly pleased she was there.
    The sound of footsteps drew their attention to the doorway.
    “I say, that is quite a remarkable piece of equipment, Braxton,” Mr. Howell said. He, Ernie and Daniel returned to the room after looking through the new telescope Braxton had purchased and set on the topmost balcony to gaze at the sky.
    With a full moon overhead, it provided a perfect distraction to keep Ernie away from Dacey for a while.
    Braxton had quickly lost interest in hearing Ernie and Mr. Howell brag while they looked at the night sky and returned inside. He’d listened to far more of the conversation taking place among the women than they realized. If he hadn’t been so amused by Dacey’s story, he would have gone unnoticed longer.
    He could just picture her sneaking up the steps at a bawdy house and the ranch foreman dragging her away.
    Later, once the Howell family departed, Beatrice and Daniel excused themselves for the evening, leaving Braxton and Dacey alone in the front entry.
    “Is he a good man, Dacey?” he asked as they strolled across the entry toward the stairs.
    “Who?” Confused, she looked at him.
    “The man who won your ranch in the card game? Will he take good care of it? Of your ranch hands?”
    Dacey shrugged. “He isn’t a bad man like Luther, but I don’t think he really wanted the ranch. He has his own place on the other side of town and it would be hard for him to take care of both. Most likely, he sold it to someone else.” Slowly, she meandered her way up the stairs to the third floor. “It breaks my heart to think of all the blood and sweat my father put into building up the ranch for nothing. If Mother hadn’t been so worried, so weak…”
    Abruptly, Dacey snapped her mouth shut.
    Although she wouldn’t say anything negative about her mother, Braxton could read Dacey’s thoughts.
    He’d thought them himself. The woman hadn’t trusted Dacey to handle the job her father had spent years training her to do in his absence. Instead, she ran to the first man she could find to take over without a thought to the consequences.
    With insight, Braxton stopped at the top of the stairs and grasped Dacey’s chin in his hand, lifting it so she looked into his face. “It’s okay to be angry and disappointed with her, honey. What your mother did wasn’t fair to you, to everything your father worked to build.”
    Dacey shook her head and pulled away, on the verge of tears. Rather than let her go, Braxton wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
    All the emotion she’d bottled up since the day her mother announced her plans to wed Luther Goss surged to the surface, seeking