A Headstrong Woman(93)

“Mr. Moody is here to see you, Alexandria,” she informed her boss. Alexandria frowned and hurried to her room to change. She traded her work clothes for a deep burgundy day dress and asked Millie to see Mr. Moody into her office. She stood as he entered. His eyes skittered over her bruised face but he made no comment.

“Mrs. Morris, you look lovely today,” he reached for her hand to press a kiss to the back of it.

Alexandria repressed a shudder.

“Mr. Moody, won’t you be seated?” she invited as she reclaimed her own seat.

Simon frowned but sat as asked. “I was hoping to speak somewhere less formal,” he admitted.

“I apologize; I assumed you were here on business.”

“That really depends on your answer to an important question,” he was watching her speculatively.

“Then I suppose I should hear your question first,” she suggested. Simon nodded, “Mrs. Morris, I have come to care for you deeply and have admired you even longer. Will you honor me by becoming my wife? I must warn you that I am quite insistent that we make it so,” Simon informed her and watched her frown.

Alexandria wanted to know how he could have come to care for her deeply when they barely knew one another. Her married to Simon Moody? She could not and would not marry the man!

“Mr. Moody, I am flattered, however, I must decline. I really have no desire to remarry,” she said as politely as she could.

“Then you leave me no choice, Alexandria. I am afraid that I will be forced to foreclose on your loan if you don’t marry me or pay the balance in full,” he informed her and laid a sheaf of papers on her desk.

“This isn’t legal,” her voice was shaking with anger.

“Oh but it is, there is a clause in all my contracts stating that an unmarried woman may not hold the lien on land,” he informed her as he stood. “It’s frowned upon for a lady to own property, I doubt any judge would contradict me. Think about it, Alexandria,” he breeched good manners by using her given name without her permission.

“Get out of my home!” she shot around the desk and held open her office door. “You think I could possibly love you after you pulled this?” she was barely keeping her anger in check.

“Who said anything about love?” Simon asked her. “I want you to warm my bed at night and decorate my arm by day, you have four weeks to make a decision, Alexandria; good day,” Simon replaced his hat and calmly walked through the front door.

Alexandria returned to her office and collapsed into her chair. What was she going to do? Maybe she should ask Jonathon for advice. Alexandria immediately discarded the idea. She depended on him too much as it was. This she had to do alone.

***

Jonathon watched Simon Moody leave; Jonathon was filled with a sense of foreboding. He had never liked the man and the satisfied look on his face did little to relieve Jonathon’s concerns. He turned from the bunkhouse window and sat down to write a message to his brother; he had sent a letter a few weeks earlier and had yet to hear back. He was now anxious for some report or word so he could begin making plans. He had decided that if he ever returned to South Dakota it would be for a visit only. Montana was now his home and he had asked his brother to sell his farm. He wasn’t certain why he felt it was an urgent manner.

***





Looking for a loophole, Alexandria read the papers in front of her three times. She was beginning to think there wasn’t one. She would never give Simon Moody the satisfaction of marrying him but the thought of losing the ranch made her sick. She needed a way to beat him at his own game. She scanned the papers again and sat up straighter. Who said she had to marry Simon? If she married someone else it would satisfy the clause. The court would back her husband up, whoever that proved to be, if he could prove no payments had been late and that Simon was foreclosing without cause.

But who would she marry? Lane had proposed but the thought of marrying him held little more appeal than marrying Simon. Tristan might propose with a little encouragement. Did she want him proposing? She knew he visited saloons and brothels. What man didn’t visit those places? a nagging voice asked. Jonathon doesn’t, she answered; then pushed the thought away. Jonathon wasn’t the topic here.

Her eyes fell to a newspaper on her desk and she picked it up. Many men placed ads for wives, why couldn’t she advertise for a husband? She pulled a sheet of paper forward and started composing an ad to place in nearby papers.