Brady (Bachelors and Babies Book 15) Read online

  “No, but you clocked me pretty good.”

  “You poor thing,” she said trying to sound sympathetic. “Nobody likes a whiny baby.”

  Brady reached around Shorty and began tickling her sides. To keep her from retaliating, he grasped both of her hands, holding them above her head.

  “Hey,” Molly complained through laughter and tears streaming down her face, “No fair!”

  “Nobody likes a whiny baby,” he taunted.

  Berta Mae came into the room and picked up Marshall. Looking at the two of them sprawled on the floor, she said, “Brady, you may want to remember how soundly you sleep. Molly might try to get even when you least expect it.”

  Knowing his mother was right, he let Molly go and helped her sit up.

  “You’re not afraid of your mama, are you?”

  “Darned tootin’ I am,” he said. “One summer morning, I woke up to find she had braided my hair. The braids were so tight I thought Pa was going to have to shave my head.” He shook his head. “I guess we’re through having fun for now.”

  “Not necessarily. That wasn’t the type of fun I meant.”

  “Oh?”

  “Do you remember when we were about thirteen? We were at the river with other kids and someone wanted to play a kissing game.”

  “Not really.” He did but didn’t know if she would appreciate his memory.

  “Well we played the game, but you got stuck with me. I was all arms and legs, and as awkward as a young girl can be.”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said, dragging his fingers through his beard. “I do remember. You weren’t the only one. I was just a gangly old boy, who probably smelled like a wet dog.”

  “Anyway, that’s the type of fun I had in mind. We’ve been engaged for a full two weeks and you’ve yet to kiss me.”

  He stood, took her hands, and drew her up. He wrapped his arms around her and said, “This is an egregious mistake on my part. If you’ll let me, I’d like an opportunity to make it right.” By now, he held her close, her warm breath toyed with his lips and his emotions.

  She didn’t speak, merely nodded her head yes.

  When his mouth covered hers, he knew right here is where he wanted to be forever.

  ***

  Molly and Brady found the others in the dining room eating supper. Muriel and Berta Mae had set up a buffet with delectable food from the Melrose Hotel. There was broiled chicken, a roast smothered with onions, potatoes and carrots, string beans, and a lemon custard pie with two inches of meringue on top. She loved that topping and ended up eating Brady’s as well as hers.

  She, Muriel and Berta Mae washed and dried the dishes and put away the food, then walked through her father’s redone rooms. He sat in the office like he’d been waiting for them.

  “What’re you doing, Papa?”

  “Sitting in here readjusting some things for the desk.”

  “Can we do anything for you?”

  “Yes, you can all go to the parlor and take a seat.”

  “Now?” she asked.

  “Now.”

  They did as he asked and waited.

  Molly glanced over at the two women. “Do either of you know what he’s up to?”

  They shook their heads no.

  In a few minutes, they all had their answer.

  Lloyd Butters entered the parlor under his own steam walking without help. Brady and Marshall accompanied him, rolling his wheeled chair behind him.

  Tears filled Molly’s eyes. “Papa, I’m so proud of you. What made you want to try to walk?”

  “Well, little girl, I figured if I’m going to ask Muriel to marry me, I want to stand on my own two feet.”

  Muriel rushed over and threw her arms around his neck. “Lloyd, I didn’t think you would ever ask me!”

  “Marrying you is the only way I could think of to get you to cook for exclusively.”

  “Papa!” Molly said. “Don’t you have anything else to say?”

  “Just know, I don’t gush very often.”

  Muriel blushed and said, “I love you, too, Lloyd.”

  Chapter Ten

  Molly awoke the day the weddings were to take place with a thousand butterflies residing in her stomach. There a million things that could go wrong today. She worried about the food to be served at the reception, the folks who showed up from town, would they be cool enough in the heat, would they have enough chairs, would Brady return in time for the ceremony, and then, would her dress fit after the alterations were made. Her head was swimming. Come to think of it, that might not be a bad place to be. Talking outside her door, finally got her out of her bed.

  “I have to help Molly begin to get ready for the ceremony,” she said. “We have to try on her dress, get her bathed, and hair washed and coifed, before three o’clock.”

  “She needs her beauty rest, so she’ll be refreshed to greet her groom and her guests.”

  “She can take a nap. Now let me in!”

  Molly opened the door to find Muriel guarding her door like a sentry and Sally, with the wedding dress draped over her arms, sparks flying from her eyes. These two women appeared ready to fight to the death. She was determined there would be no double murder on her wedding day. Only a duel ceremony.

  “What’s going on out here?”

  “I want to make sure we’re on time for the festivities today, just as you did for me, and she won’t let me do my matron of honor job.”

  Muriel seemed to stand a little taller and said, “I want you to have plenty of rest.”

  Molly rested her hands on Muriel’s shoulders. “Well, I’m wide awake now, aren’t I?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, now get some rest yourself, because it’s your big day, too, all right?”

  Muriel giggled like a schoolgirl. “All right.”

  Molly closed the door, after Sally rushed inside, and climbed onto the bed. “Whew!”

  “I thought for a minute I was going to have to hogtie her.” Sally giggled. “Don’t sit down. I want to see how the dress fits. If there’s a problem, I want time to fix it.”

  “There wasn’t much to fix, thank goodness.”

  “I know. Davey has been a bear with cutting teeth and didn’t give me a lot of free time.”

  Molly took her dress and stood behind the screen to change. After she managed to fasten the three-tier skirt and petticoats, she donned the bodice, then stepped out into the room.

  “If you will lace up the back please. I think it’s going to be too tight.”

  Sally began tightening the laces stood back and sighed. “You look beautiful. Look.”

  Turning to look into the Cheval mirror, Molly gasped. “Oh, it’s so gorgeous! Who needs to breathe?”

  “I hear it’s overrated.” Molly giggled. “Just keep the smelling salts close by.”

  “I give that job to you,” she said. “There’s absolutely no room to put anything but me in this dress.”

  “You could give it to Marshall to hold for you, since he’ll be there.”

  “You have got to be kidding, he would probably eat it.” Molly made a face and wriggled inside the tight bodice. “Now unlace me from this contraption before I faint!”

  ***

  Brady put his foot in the stirrup and climbed onto Emma’s saddle. Yancey came out of the marshal’s office and followed suit. They had brought Ed Terrence, aka Charlie Weathers, to Weatherford for the authorities to take him back to prison.

  “I sure hope he gets there this time,” he said.

  “You’d think, with a Texas Ranger and two marshals, they could corral him. Anyway,” Yancey said, “I asked the marshal to wire me when they get there.”

  “That is one outlaw I never want to track again.”

  “Do you think you’ll go back to rangering or are you going to retire?”

  Brady thought for a half-second before he answered, “I promised Molly I would devote my time to cattle ranching.”

  “That’s a good plan, I’ve been thinking it�
�s about time for me to retire, too. What do you think?”

  “I think, none of us will retire,” Brady said. “If I don’t get back to Sugar Springs, pronto.”

  “Yeah, no offense to Emma but you need a bath before you say, I do.”

  Brady tried to look wounded by Yancey’s comment, but knew he was right. So, with thoughts of seeing Molly, he gigged Emma and hightailed it out of Weatherford and headed west.

  ***

  The clock downstairs struck two o’clock and Molly could wait no longer. She hadn’t heard from anyone in a while and she wanted to know if Brady had made it back yet. Slowly, she opened her door to look into the hallway. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Quietly, she crept down the stairway, stopping when she heard voices. She took another step or two. From there she had a partial view of the dining room table, which was loaded with food brought by the folks at the Melrose Hotel and Restaurant, and a sliver of the parlor, chairs, and flowers. White satin ribbons draped the doorway of the parlor.

  Sally popped around the corner and started up the stairs. “Oh! My stars, you scared the I-don’t-know-what out of me!” She shooed Molly back upstairs. “What are you doing out here?”

  “You left me alone too long. Is Brady here yet?”

  “Berta Mae and H.D., his father, just arrived, and they saw him and Yancey ride into town.”

  “Thank heavens.”

  “I already told you this was going to go off without a hitch. Now let’s get you into your dress.”

  Getting dressed didn’t take too long, and after she was laced into the bodice, Sally touched up Molly’s hair, mussed from putting on the skirts. She caught a glimpse of herself while she waited for Cal to come get her to give her away. Her mother’s dress was so gorgeous, and her white Bible set it off perfectly.

  Before she realized any time had passed, Sally burst into the room. “He’s here, Brady’s here! Are you ready?”

  “What if I said no? Would you disown me?”

  “You better believe I would, Now—”

  “I’m teasing you!” Molly said. “I’m ready.”

  Cal placed her hand atop his and before she knew it, she was gliding down the aisle toward her future. Her father and Muriel stood to her left waiting to recite their nuptials in unison. Brady held Marshall and the two of them waited for her at the altar.

  The preacher performed the ceremony and after the four of them repeated their vows, Brady placed the ring on her finger. It was then she realized the ring had also belonged to her mother.

  “Do you like it?” Brady asked.

  “Oh, yes, of course!” Molly answered. “Mama was entirely happy during the years she got to wear it. I think it’s a very good way to begin a marriage. Plus, we have a beautiful son and our love for each other.”

  “We’re going to be all right, Molly Butters Forester.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you with all my heart.”

  Books in the Bachelors and Babies Series

  Trace

  Book 1 ~ Pam Crooks ~ June 1

  Logan

  Book 2 ~ Margaret Tanner ~ July 1

  Carter

  Book 3 ~ Cynthia Woolf ~ August 1

  Barclay

  Book 4 ~ Charlene Raddon ~ September 1

  Dallas

  Book 5 ~ Cyndi Raye ~ October 1

  Sawyer

  Book 6 ~ Winnie Griggs ~ November 1

  Jared

  Book 7 ~ Charlene Raddon ~ December 1

  Grayson

  Book 8 ~ Linda Carroll-Bradd ~ January 1

  Kendrick

  Book 9 ~ Zina Abbott ~ February 1

  Stuart

  Book 10 ~ Caroline Clemmons ~ March 1

  Zach

  Book 11 ~ Hebby Roman ~ April 1

  Chase

  Book 12 ~ Charlene Raddon ~ May 1

  James

  Book 13 ~ Tracy Garrett ~ June 1

  Tanner

  Book 14 ~ Cheryl St.John ~ July 1

  Brady

  Book 15 ~ Carra Copelin ~ August 1

  See all the Bachelors & Babies Books on our Amazon Series Page:

  https://amzn.to/31ks9XC

  Carra Copelin is an award-winning and Amazon best-selling author in contemporary and historical romances but, unlike so many other authors, didn't write from childhood or read long into the night beneath the covers with a flashlight. She found romance novels as an adult. After reading about a million, she discovered numerous people residing in her head, all looking for a way onto the printed page.

  She's a member of Romance Writers of America and Past President of Yellow Rose Romance Writers, plus she regularly contributes to the romance blog, Smart Girls Read Romance. She is a member of The Daughters of the American Revolution and The Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

  Carra and her hero live in North Central Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex where they enjoy family and their three beautiful grandchildren. In addition to writing and researching with her fabulous critique partners, she enjoys playing bridge, working on crochet projects, and tracking down relatives through genealogy.