Wyoming Wedding (Culpepper Cowboys Book 1)

  Wyoming Wedding

  Culpepper Cowboys Book 1

  Kirsten Osbourne

  Unlimited Dreams

  Contents

  Copyright

  Introduction

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Excerpt from Rancher’s Remorse

  Chapter 1

  About the Author

  Also by Kirsten Osbourne

  Copyright © 2016 by Kirsten Osbourne

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Introduction

  Karlan Culpepper has worked his entire adult life, and most of his youth to build up the ranch he knew he would someday inherit. When his grandfather dies, and the terms of his inheritance include he and his three brothers marrying within six months, and at least one of them having a baby on the way within the year, things get trickier. Contacting Dr. Lachele Simpson, a professional matchmaker, seemed the only way to go!

  Hope, the oldest of the Quinlan Quadruplets needs nothing more than to get out from under her parents’ roof, and take her sisters with her. She feels stifled, and she wants more than anything to marry. After a long weekend of testing, the four sisters embark on a road trip that would change their lives. Hope quickly agrees to marry Karlan, one of the four brothers waiting for her and her sisters in Wyoming. Will they be able to make their marriage work? Or should they have waited to get to know one another a little better like all their siblings had?

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  Prologue

  Karlan Culpepper leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the kitchen table as he scrubbed his hands over his face. He looked at his brothers, all of whom looked as defeated as he felt. "Why would Grandpa do this to us?"

  Cooper shrugged. "He's been on all of us to marry for the last five years. I don't think any of us should really be surprised by this."

  "Well, I know! But to force us to marry? To keep the ranch we grew up on? There's no way I'm going to let Travis inherit it. He hated coming here even when we were kids. Remember? And no matter what, he’s always going to get a tenth of the profits from the ranch, unless we sell. Like we’d ever sell! Of course, he could get a fifth of the profits if he worked with us, but we all know we’d rather he didn’t work the ranch with us."

  Kolby shook his head. "He always refused to help with chores. He spent all this time on his stupid Game Boy. He was afraid of horses!"

  Karlan sighed. "Well, I really don't think we have a choice. The will said for the four of us to inherit this ranch, we need to all be married within a year. And one of us needs to have a wife who's knocked-up."

  Their mother walked over and set drinks on the table for them. "Be a little less vulgar about it," Linda said as she walked away.

  Karlan glared at his mother as she walked off. "One of our wives will need to be in the family way. Is that better, Mother?"

  "Yes!"

  Chris, the youngest of the four brothers, shook his head. "So how on earth are we going to find four women to move out here in the middle of nowhere and marry us? All the girls that were raised around here are married to those stupid underwear models."

  All of the brothers knew what he was talking about. Two years before, some idiot had come up with the bright idea to shoot underwear advertisements at a neighboring ranch. When the girls in town had heard that there were hot male models running around in just their underwear, they all volunteered to help out. A freak spring blizzard had broken out, trapping everyone at the ranch, and there had been a lot of quick weddings after. And a whole lot of babies born nine months later.

  Culpepper had always been a ranching community, so there weren’t a whole lot of girls who stuck around anyway. They moved off somewhere where they could get a job. And now it seemed the ones who stayed married underwear models.

  Karlan shrugged. "I guess we’re going to have to join some kind of online dating service or something."

  "No, it's going to have to be more severe than that. I think we're going to have to get a matchmaker involved. There aren't any girls anywhere close enough." Cooper look disgusted by the idea.

  "A matchmaker? What year do you think this is?" Karlan asked sarcastically.

  "I knew a guy in college, who I've kinda kept in touch with. A couple years ago, he did a website for this matchmaker woman, and she ended up matching him up with his wife. They’ve got a kid and they're really happy." Chris didn't look excited by the idea of seeing a matchmaker, but at least he seemed to feel like they could do it.

  "Really? See if you can get her name for me. Wonder if we can just have her ship four girls out here and we can pick from them."

  "I don’t think she works that way. Trey said that she introduced them at the altar."

  Kolby jumped to his feet. "No way. I'm not marrying some random stranger. I need to at least know if I like her first."

  Karlan rubbed the back of his neck. "Chris, just get the number for me. I'll call her. I'll see what we can do." He really didn't want to do something so desperate, but he couldn't imagine living anywhere other than the ranch. Culpepper, Wyoming, was their home. They couldn't lose it.

  1

  Dr. Lachele Simpson got out of her rental SUV and pushed her purple hair back over her shoulder before walking up to the entrance of the large Wyoming ranch house. The door was opened before she had the chance to knock.

  A middle-aged woman with short blond hair and green eyes opened the door. "Are you Dr. Simpson?"

  Lachele nodded. "Yes. Please call me Dr. Lachele everyone does!"

  "I'm Linda Culpepper." Her gaze went past Lachele's shoulder to the rental vehicle. "I can't believe you got a dented car for a rental!"

  "Oh, it wasn't dented when I got into it. That happened because I was talking to the rental agency girl and backed into a pole in the parking garage at the airport. It's a good thing I always get the extra insurance!"

  Linda simply nodded, opening the door wide to let Lachele into her home. "Do you have trouble with rental cars often?" Before closing the door, Linda looked once more at the dented car, shaking her head.

  Dr. Lachele shrugged. "I tend to have trouble keeping dents off everything I drive. My husband just laughs. I never hurt myself, because they're always low-speed collisions because I'm not paying attention."

  "Maybe you should start paying attention!"

  "Oh, I'm sure I should. Will I? Probably not." Lachele looked around for the men she was there to see. "Are your sons here?"

  "They're all out on the ranch. I'm supposed to text as soon as you get here, and they'll come right home. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but they couldn't spend the day sitting around. There's always work to be done on a ranch." Linda led the way to the huge living area. "Can I get you anything to drink while you wait?"

  Lachele nodded. "Sweet tea would be great if you have some."

  "I do. I'm a Texas girl born and raised. We're required to have sweet tea at all times." Linda hurried to the kitchen to get two glasses of iced tea while Lachele sat down on the couch and waited.

  Linda handed Lachele her glass and s
at down opposite her. "Thank you for coming all this way. I know this isn't how you usually do things."

  Lachele frowned. "It's not. I travel all the time to interview people. It's the idea of choosing four women for four men that's strange to me. Usually before I send a woman out, I have everything planned. I even help plan most of these weddings. I certainly don't leave the matchmaking to chance."

  "But I'll be here supervising everything. There will be no hanky-panky going on under my roof."

  Lachele laughed. "More than anything, I want to make sure the girls are provided for. I'm here to interview your sons and put them through my rigorous testing, but before I even start that, we're going to get some ground rules set."

  "That sounds fair to me. Do you want me around for this discussion? Or do you want me to make myself scarce?"

  Lachele thought about that for a moment. "I think I want you to stay. I want you to know the rules that I'm giving the boys, so that you can help me enforce them. I have a feeling they listen to you."

  "Not as much as I'd like." Linda frowned.

  Lachele laughed. "I have a son too. I don't think they ever listen. Did you only have boys?"

  "Yes, I always hoped for a daughter, but my husband died before I had any." Linda smiled. "I love my boys more than anything."

  Lachele looked at her watch. "How long before the boys get here?"

  Linda laughed. "They'd get here a lot quicker if I actually texted them." She pulled her phone from her pocket, and quickly texted them all. "So sorry about that. That's what happens when you're my age. Your mind starts to go."

  "Oh, I know."

  "I think it's the horrormones."

  Lachele laughed. "That's gotta be it." She liked Linda. She had one of those personalities that everyone liked.

  "Are you going to stay here while you're in town? Karlan told me the testing would take several days."

  "I made a reservation at the hotel in town, but if you don't mind, I'll stay here. I drove past and it looked a little scary. I think you and I would make great friends."

  "Oh, I know we would."

  Both women turned and looked at the door when they heard it open. Lachele patted her chest as four sexy cowboys walked into the house. She looked at Linda. "You did good!"

  Linda laughed. "I'm pretty proud of them."

  As they filed into the room and sat down, Linda introduced each of them. She indicated each man as he sat down. "That's Karlan, he's my oldest. He's the mayor of Culpepper, as well as being in charge of this ranch. Next comes Cooper, he's more the foreman around here. Then we have Kolby. He's Cooper's right-hand man. And youngest is Chris. Chris is our black sheep. During the school year, he's a traveling science teacher. He goes to the different homeschool families and teaches chemistry and physics."

  "And why does that make him a black sheep?" Lachele asked.

  Karlan raised an eyebrow. "Because he's a science nerd instead of a rancher. He helps out around his other stuff."

  Lachele grinned. She took a sip of her iced tea before starting the conversation she needed to have with the men. "Before I even start the testing, I want to make it clear that we'll be doing things my way. If I'm going to send girls out here to spend time with you, taking them away from their lives, I need a guarantee of marriage. I'm going to ask you all to sign a contract, that states if one of the women isn't married within a month of coming here, she shall be compensated ten-thousand dollars to start over somewhere else. Do any of you have any arguments with that?"

  The men squirmed as they looked at each other. "I don't think so," Karlan said, the spokesman for the others. "According to Grandpa's will, we're required to get married within six months. And one of us has to have a wife who is expecting within a year."

  Lachele jotted down a quick note. "So you need brides who are willing to have babies right off. I'll make sure of that with my questions to them. Second provision is that you have to stay together for one year. I'd rather you let me choose which bride is for each of you, but I won't require that."

  Karlan frowned. "I know that's how you usually do business. I appreciate you making an exception for us. Is there anything else we need to know before we get started on the testing?"

  "No. Those are the only special rules I am making for you. I do want to make sure that the girls stay in this house with your mother until you are married. Don't you boys be trying to lure those girls back to your own houses." She'd been told from the beginning that each of the men had their own house on the ranch.

  "No, ma'am. We're too afraid of our mama for that."

  "You sound like smart men. So, who wants to be tested first?"

  "I'll go first. I’m the oldest, so I'll be the guinea pig." Karlan got to his feet. "Do you want to do it here? Or back at my place?"

  Lachele looked at Linda. "Do you mind if we do it here?"

  Linda shook her head. "Not at all. Why don't you two work here in the living room, and I'll go get started making lunch. The rest of you boys can scatter. Come back in an hour for lunch."

  Lachele watched as the younger three boys followed their mother's orders. She liked this family already.

  * * *

  Lachele checked into the hotel the girls had told her she should go to. She wasn't sure why they wanted her to meet them in a hotel rather than in their home, but she was willing.

  Her cell phone rang as she walked into her room. She didn't bother to check the number as she swept her finger across the screen and put the phone to her ear. "This is Lachele."

  "This is Hope Quinlan. Are you here?"

  "Yes, I'm on the third floor in three-fifty-two. I have a suite, so come on up."

  She pulled her suitcase into the bedroom, and closed the door. The suite was huge. There were two bedrooms and a large sitting area. There was even a small kitchen. It would be the perfect place for her to entertain the sisters while she put them through her rigorous testing.

  She put the drinks and snacks she'd purchased away and walked to the door of the suite. She opened it and saw four young ladies, the one in front with her hand ready to knock.

  "You must be the Quinlan sisters. I'm Dr. Lachele."

  The girl in the front, a pretty, slim, blonde smiled. "I'm Hope."

  Lachele opened the door wide. "Come in. I can't wait to get started." The girls filed into the room. "Have a seat. Do you want anything to drink?"

  Hope, who seemed to be the spokesperson for all of them, shook her head. "We just stopped and got something to eat about an hour ago. I think we're all set for a while."

  Lachele sat down in a big, comfortable chair. "Well let's get down to business then. Tell me why you're interested in finding men this way."

  Hope exchanged looks with her sisters. "Let me start by introducing everyone. This is my sister Joy, that is Faith, and over there is Chastity." She pointed to each sister as she spoke. "We're something of a novelty in our town. We’re the only quadruplets who have ever lived there."

  Lachele frowned. "And you want to get away from being famous?"

  Joy shrugged. "In a way. We live in a tiny, little town. We can't blow our noses without someone telling our parents about it. There are six girls in our family, and we all have these ridiculous names. It's like we're part of the trick pony show. We’re expected to march in every parade. And none of us are allowed to get jobs. Our father thinks that would make us unladylike."

  "We all have college degrees, but we’re not allowed to use them. Our father said the only thing we were allowed to get degrees in was homemaking. Mama called it getting our MRS." Hope crossed her ankles and folded her hands in her lap.

  Lachele frowned. "But you're not allowed to work?"

  "Of course not. Daddy says he makes enough money that none of us should ever work. Our jobs are finding husbands. He doesn't realize that all the boys in town think of us as such an oddity that nobody's willing to ever ask us out. Not that he'd let us go. We're supposed to find husbands, who are willing to court us, not date us, and are w
illing to do all of this under his watchful eye." Hope shrugged.

  "And how do you feel about that?"

  Joy shook her head. "We all want to be independent. We've just never been allowed to be. That's why we want to get away more than anything. We want to be able to live our lives the way we want to live. Not constantly under someone else's scrutiny."

  Lachele nodded. "I can understand that. How do you feel about having children right away?"

  Hope smiled. "I love kids. I want at least a dozen. If I could have one in my arms tomorrow, I'd be thrilled."

  "Okay, good. The men I have in mind for you four are asking for something different than I've ever done. They want me to send four women, and then they would be able to choose from the women sent. I'm making special provisions for this. The four of you would live with their mother. They'd be required to marry you within a month or they would have to pay you ten-thousand dollars apiece for relocation costs. There would be my normal contract to sign that requires you to stay together for at least a year."

  The sisters exchanged looks. Finally, Chastity asked, "What if they want some of us and not all of us?"

  "Then some of you marry and some of you won't. Is that a problem?"

  Chastity shrugged. "I guess not. We've never really been separated before."

  Faith frowned. "I can't imagine some of us staying there and some of us moving away."

  Lachele looked between them. "Well, if two of you end up marrying the brothers, the other two would have twenty thousand dollars. You could put down roots right there in town and marry someone else there, still staying close."

  That seemed to relieve all of them. "So how do we get started?" Hope asked nervously.

  "I'll interview each of you. The tests take hours. Are you all staying the night here in the hotel?"

  "Yes, ma'am," Hope replied. "Our parents know we're here in Paducah for the weekend. We told them we were going to the wedding of a college friend and needed to stay in town."