Misty's True Love (Mail Order Brides of Pioneer Town, Book 2) by Ruth Hartzler Page B

Cody had sat down, she stopped looking away and glared
over at him. “Just after lunchtime, a courier came by with an
urgent letter from Miss Rosamund Swire. It seems that Miss Fields
has been arrested for theft.”
    The news was like a punch to the
stomach, forcing his eyes to fall to the floor. Cody couldn’t
breathe, but he also couldn’t even think. He felt broken and
battered, but there had to be a reason behind what he was hearing.
“Theft? How absurd! What happened?”
    “ Well, the letters contains
no details, but it appears that Miss Swire invited Miss Fields to
tea. After your friend had gone, Miss Swire noticed that a very
valuable and irreplaceable necklace had been taken. Since she had
only one guest that day, it wasn’t difficult to pinpoint the
culprit. When she notified the Sheriff, he went to visit her at the
Chase ranch, and she hadn’t even tried to conceal it. The brazen
woman left the necklace right in her purse,” his mother said, her
voice sounding pleased.
    “ You cannot be serious!”
Cody snapped. “Misty would never do such a thing!”
    “ My son, you barely know
the woman. Do you honestly believe that you know her that well?”
she said, lifting her teacup back to her lips.
    Cody swallowed hard, shaking his head
as his body filled with an overpowering warmth. “Actually, I do.
And it’s not just her: Morgan and Indiana have both vouched for her
time after time. I trust their word much more than I do than that
of someone like Miss Swire,” he said, standing up at once in
anger.
    “ I understand that this is
difficult news to hear, but perhaps you should calm yourself down
and listen to reason. The Sheriff found what he found, and there’s
no way to dispute it. I’m sorry, but maybe she just isn’t good
enough for you after all,” his mother said, smiling as she
spoke.
    Cody wasn’t usually one to let his
temper get the best of him, but that moment was definitely testing
his willpower. It took every bit of strength that he could muster
not to raise his voice toward his mother right then. In a reasoned
but stern tone, he replied, “I know who is good enough for me and
who isn’t, Mother. What I don’t know is why you and Miss Swire
would set her up like this. Miss Fields has done nothing to either
of you to deserve the way she’s been treated.”
    The look on his mother’s face was one
that he hadn’t seen before. She looked extremely agitated, but
bewildered at the same time. “What? You think that we planned
this?”
    “ What else am I to think?
Just because I show civility to the woman doesn’t mean that I don’t
see right through her façade. It’s been both her objective and
yours for quite some time to get me to marry her and you know it!
You can’t stand here and lie to me about that; can you, Mother?”
Cody said, his anger getting the better of him for a
moment.
    “ I had absolutely nothing
to do with the woman’s arrest,” she said, her voice rather
insistent. “All that I am guilty of is trying to make sure that my
son marries a woman worthy of his name.”
    “ Then why are you pushing
that woman on me? If you truly have no knowledge of this, then
clearly Miss Swire did it all on her own. The thing is, however,
that your encouragement might have been just as effective as her
lies. What if she resorted to lying about the theft just to
expedite what you two have been after all along?”
    His mother sighed once more as she
walked over toward the fireplace. She said nothing yet, but stood
there, pointing at a specific portrait on the mantle. “Do you see
this photograph? It was taken when you were just seven years old.
Back then, you told me that you would always trust me. Is that
still true?”
    Cody paused, his chest tightening. “Of
course it is, Mother. I trust you with my life, but this is all so
absurd. An innocent girl is going to pay for a crime she didn’t
commit all to secure a marriage that I wanted no part of in the
first place. How could