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showed up to rescue her showed none of the shortcomings Uncle Carl had feared. He seemed a little unsettled by the circumstances, but no more so than any man walking into a strange situation. Give him two days, and Anne expected he’d have everything under control. She’d have a wonderful, wealthy, perfect husband and a secure, rosy future.
    That was why Anne couldn’t shake the nagging suspicion that, as much as she tried not to think about it, Belser might be right.
    Her new husband was just too good to be true.
    An hour later Pete emerged from the ranch office with an entirely different perspective on the situation. Carl Warren had been a very rich man. He could understand why Belser was so upset at losing the ranch. He could understand why Peter had given up the hardware store and come to Wyoming to take on a job nobody thought he could handle. He could understand why Anne was anxious to marry a man she hadn’t seen in years, a man who even as a child she must have sensed didn’t measure up to the challenges of the West. He could also understand why Bill Mason was so interested in the ranch. Carl had grabbed the best land in the area, nearly flat grazing land watered by creeks that flowed from the Big Horn Mountains and some timber-covered foothills. Those who came later got second-best. Anne and Dolores were still in the sitting room when he emerged from the ranch office.
    “Did you find everything you need to know?” Anne asked.
    “I found far too much to absorb in one evening,” Pete said. “I didn’t realize the Tumbling T was such a big ranch.”
    “The biggest in this part of Wyoming,” Eddie said proudly.
    “Do you want some coffee?” Dolores asked. “It won’t take but a few minutes to make more.”
    “No. I’ve had enough for one night. I’ll think I’ll turn in.”
    Dolores grinned. “I rather thought you would. After all, it is your wedding night.”
    Pete had forgotten that, but it was clear from the white, frightened look on Anne’s face that she hadn’t.
    “With all that’s happened today, I haven’t had time to give it much thought.”
    “Anne has,” Dolores said, grinning. “She’s been thinking of nothing but this night for months.”
    “I’ve been thinking of his coming,” Anne admitted. “A woman should always think of her husband.”
    But not think of their first night in bed together, Pete finished for her in his mind.
    “You’ll have to tell me where to sleep,” Pete said. “I’m afraid I don’t remember the house that well.”
    “You’ll sleep in your Uncle Carl’s room,” Dolores said.
    “My room is right next to it,” Anne said.
    “Your room is now your husband’s room,” Dolores said. “I’ve already moved your things.”
    The last trace of color drained from Anne’s face. Pete didn’t know what was so frightening—he’d never considered himself very formidable—but Anne was clearly petrified of the idea of sleeping with him. He figured that despite the fact that she had adored Peter for years and probably thought herself half in love with him, she really didn’t know him. Now, brought face-to-face with a live, very real husband and told they were to share the same bed, she was reeling. She probably connected him with that disgusting pork rind who had tried to buy her. Pete didn’t think he was that bad, but he was older than this Peter fella.
    “Come on,” Pete said, extending his hand to Anne. “You can help me unpack. I’m depending on you to keep Uncle Carl’s ghost at bay until I can prove I’m not such a good-for-nothing as I used to be.”

Chapter Three
     
    Anne shrank from Peter’s outstretched hand. She’d looked forward to being his wife for the last several months, not only as something she wanted, but as the only way to save herself from her uncle, her chance to be something other than a piece of property to be handed from one man to another, to have a husband she could love, a home and family of her own.
    She