to negotiate with him. She delighted in haggling over prices, he could tell.
“Two hundred fifty is my top offer,” she declared.
“Three thousand for my license signature, the survival classes and I’ll pay part of the wedding expenses.”
“Done,” she said sooner than he expected. She extended her hand and he shook it. Then she smiled wryly and said, “I’d have given four, Crow.”
“Then I’ll have to find a way to compensate for what I could have had,” he countered suggestively.
When her face turned beet-red, he knew that she knew what he meant. And hell, if she was hiring him as her husband, then she could compensate for being his wife. Fair was fair, wasn’t it?
“You are a scoundrel,” she muttered at him.
He smiled widely, showing his teeth. “I wouldn’t be if you had agreed to the fair price of four thousand.”
Chapter Four
Natalie spent the day buzzing around town making necessary arrangements for the wedding and reception. She contacted the justice of the peace to schedule the ceremony at seven o’clock the next evening. She confirmed the delivery of refreshments and requested tables to accommodate the partygoers.
After constant activity all day, Natalie decided to make an early night of it. She needed to catch up on her sleep and fully recover from her consumption of whiskey during her initial negotiations with Crow. Speaking of her soon-to-be groom, she hadn’t seen him since they’d haggled over his fee at breakfast. He hadn’t shown up to collect his money and she wondered how he’d spent the day before their wedding.
The next morning there was still no word from Crow or Bart. Nonetheless, Natalie hiked off to pick up several items of clothing and necessary supplies for her journey on horseback. She hurried back to her room to relax, then bathed and dressed in the simple white gown she had purchased at the one and only boutique in town.
“Business arrangement, pure and simple,” she told her reflection when her stomach knotted and a bad case of nerves seized her. Suddenly she was questioning her decision to rush into a marriage to a man she barely knew.
“This is what you wanted, Nat. This is the man you wanted to provide you with a ticket to freedom. Donovan Crow doesn’t love you and you don’t have to love him back.” After all, these sorts of arrangements were commonplace in New Orleans. It’s exactly what she would have had with Thurston Kimball III. Only better.
So why didn’t she feel completely satisfied with this arrangement? She chalked it up to hasty wedding jitters and fiddled nervously with her coiffure. The staccato rap at the door startled her, assuring her that despite her pep talk she was still very much on edge.
“It’s Bart!” he called from the other side of the door. “I’m here to escort you to the park, Miss Jones.”
Natalie inhaled a restorative breath and grabbed the yellow rose she had kept in a glass of water—it was all the bouquet she needed. Then she opened the door.
Bart appraised her new gown. “You look exceptionally lovely. You remind me of…”
He broke off suddenly and she wondered if she reminded him of a woman from his past, but she was too nervous and short on time to delve into Bart’s previous life in Boston.
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“That’s exactly what Van said. He’s exceptionally nervous. He never expected to marry.” Bart smiled wryly. “You should know that yours was his only offer.”
Natalie chuckled, thankful that Bart was trying to ease her nervous tension. It worked to a small degree. “Thank you.”
He arched a thick brow. “For what?”
“For calming me down, as if you don’t know. And by the way, like Crow, I only plan to do this once in my life.”
“Then you chose well, Miss Jones.”
“I know,” she said to him, as well as herself.
Donovan Crow met and exceeded every qualification and expectation. She could drop his name from here to Santa Fe and it should be a deterrent for trouble.
Her thoughts faltered and so did her footsteps when she reached the park and saw Crow pacing in front of the circular garden where the justice of the peace waited, along with the whole blessed town! Dear God, what was she doing?
Bart halted beside her, then cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his solemn gaze. “I don’t know exactly what is going on with you. But if you’re going to change your mind, do it now. Not in front of the entire town. Van has dealt