Rancher Wants a Wife by Kate Bridges Read Free Book Online

His jaw tightened and she saw regret in his eyes.
    What was he thinking?
    Mr. Dunleigh marched her down the aisle. They fumbled a bit because their paces didn’t match. Cassandra, light-headed, felt the strain of tension and worry that had been building for months.
    The pews were jammed with a hundred bodies, all turned in her direction and staring. Some looked curious, some aloof; some were smiling. Cassandra focused ahead, gripping her flowers as though they were a lifeline.
    Jack’s best man was standing to his side, a dapper-looking fellow in a gray suit, with slicked-back red hair. Because of his cool expression, he was harder to read than Jack. On the other side, as Reverend Darcy had explained to her, his elderly wife was waiting to be a witness for Cassandra.
    They reached the altar. Mr. Dunleigh faded away, and Cassandra stepped up beside Jack. His eyes flickered over her, then down to her roses.
    “This is it,” he murmured. “Are you ready?”
    She nodded and smiled, but couldn’t help but wish he’d said something more personal. She bowed her head as the minister began.
    “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together on this beautiful summer day to join this man and this woman.”
    The rest was a blur to Cassandra. She was feeling queasy and started to rock. The next thing she knew, they were nearly at the end. Her head swam. Only a few more minutes...
    “If there is any man who can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”
    “I object!” a woman’s voice called from the back.
    Cassandra snapped to attention.
    People gasped. Jack swung around sharply.
    Dismayed, Cassandra swiveled in her wedding gown, peering past all the faces to the stylish woman in a plum-colored suit who’d stepped out to voice her objections. She was the brunette who’d dropped her package coming out of the hat shop yesterday when she’d spotted Jack and Cassandra together.
    Bouts of nervous coughing and shuffling ran through the congregation. Did everyone else know about this woman and this potential problem?
    Had Jack seen this coming?

Chapter Four
    C haos broke out as Jack looked on, feeling powerless at his own wedding.
    Reverend Darcy tried to take control of the situation in a calm, clear voice. “Miss Elise Beacon, please say what’s on your mind.”
    Murmurings and exclamations turned into dead silence.
    Elise stood in a pew next to the aisle, surrounded by female friends. She grasped the railing in front of her and glanced at Jack with what seemed like apology in her eyes.
    He steeled himself. How could she do this? What gave her the right? He tried to restrain himself, but burned with fury.
    “Reverend, I’m sure the whole town knows that Jack has been courting me, with expectations of...of... I feel he’s being disingenuous to arrange a marriage to someone else.”
    “Our courtship ended months ago,” Jack replied. He glanced at Cassandra, whose pretty mouth had fallen into a grim line. She’d lost her color, and his indignation flared at what this outburst was doing to her. “Reverend, I’m afraid Miss Beacon exaggerates the extent of our involvement.”
    Elise appeared crestfallen. She’d always been overly emotional, overly wrought when things didn’t go well, and she certainly had no right to place blame at his feet. She was the one who’d flirted with other men when she’d been with Jack. But to say so here would be to smear her honor. No matter how unreasonable she was to voice her objections at his wedding, he would not stoop to her level.
    Cassandra would have to trust him on this.
    But dammit! He took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
    Hugh, his best man, stepped out to try to smooth the difficulties. “Elise, everyone here knows and respects your forthright nature.”
    The reverend latched on to Hugh’s train of thought. “Yes, Miss Beacon, it is always best to clear the air, and I do appreciate your communicating your