The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

rules, was honest to a fault, and expected everyone around him to live by the law. He was virtuous, trustworthy—and unable or unwilling to express his feelings for the people he cared about.
    So why had he chosen now to ask her to marry him, when he knew she was planning to leave?
    Could it all be a ploy just to get her to stay, until he found his mother's ring? Had he really had no intention to marry her, but had known the right words to say to get her to stay?
    Better still, how could she marry a man who had never spoken endearments to her, told her he loved her, or even said he cared about her?
    A tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the report. No matter how she tried to leave behind the life she had come from, it always managed to find her. She would never be good enough to marry Travis.
    Slowly she climbed the stairs, carrying the report in her hands. There was one final act to this performance, before the curtain came crashing down.
    ***
    Travis walked in the front door and noticed Rose's valise sitting beside the door. The wagon was waiting outside, hitched and ready to go, loaded with what appeared to be Rose's trunk.
    He glanced at the suitcase and then up the stairs as Rose slowly made her way down. Her face was drawn, and her eyes held an odd light in them that somehow sent a chill down his spine.
    "Where are you going?" he asked, his gaze shifting to the suitcase.
    Her slipper touched the floor, and she moved past him into the parlor, not even saying hello. He automatically followed her. Something was wrong.
    She turned on him, her eyes fairly smoldering. It was then he saw the envelope she held in her hand, and he inwardly groaned.
    "I went searching for paper in your office to make-out a list of things we'd need for the wedding, when I happened upon this...this paper with my name on it"
    "Rose, I—"
    She tilted her head, shaking it in disbelief. "You had me investigated? How could you?"
    Travis walked toward her, but she backed away.
    "You were cheating my mother. I had to find out everything I could about you," he said empathetically.
    She moved in closer, almost touching him, but her body was rigid with anger. "I've never cheated your mother. All you had to do was ask, and I would have told you anything you wanted to know."
    "I didn't trust you. I wouldn't have believed you."
    "Do you now?" she questioned. "Do you trust and believe in me? Do you believe I stole your mother's ring?"
    She watched his face become a grimace that saddened her. "I don't know. Who else could it be?"
    She all but staggered from the impact of his words. He could see the devastation on her face, and his heart ached.
    "I ordered the investigation to find out about you months ago, when I brought you back. It's really all right. I found out you weren't who I thought you were."
    "That's all right?" She stared at him incredulously.
    Travis shifted, suddenly uneasy.
    "I'm not who you thought I was, so now you're going to marry me? But you still believe I might have stolen your mother's ring!"
    "No, I just—"
    She interrupted him. "You didn't ask me to marry you until after you received the report," she said in stunned disbelief.
    He ran his hand through his hair nervously, trying to collect his rattled thoughts.
    "Well... I didn't see a need until the other night," he said, regretting the words the moment they left his mouth. What was wrong with him? He was sounding like a complete fool. "I'm trying to protect you. You could be with child right now. It's my duty to marry you. I should marry you."
    "Curse you and your duty! Curse you and your respectability!" She stepped up to him, pointing her finger into his chest. "When I marry, I want a man who loves me, not his honor."
    She stepped away from him, her arms tightly folded across her chest, and she walked to the window and gazed out at the ranch. Her voice became low, almost sorrowful. "Come to think of it, Travis, I can't remember a time when you've ever told me you loved me. Or cared for me. But you've certainly been able to tell me how displeasing I am."
    He stood there, unable to say anything, his heart aching. She looked so forlorn, so sad, but he couldn't utter the words she wanted to hear. They were stuck in his throat. Couldn't she see he was offering her his world, just not the words that went with the gesture?
    There was total silence while she waited. But the words refused to come, and no matter what, he couldn't say them. He cared for her, but certainly nothing