A Groom for Ruby

by Laura Ashwood

  Cullen nodded and quietly left the house. Ruby sat back down on the bed and covered her face with her hands and cried. Cyrus had been right. She was nothing but bad luck, and bad luck attracted bad luck.

  The next day Ruby had Cullen hitch Buckshot up to the buggy. She needed to get away. To think. To talk to her friend. They hadn’t spoken except what was necessary as to not upset Everett. She brought the buggy to a stop in front of the Gruby house. Lotty opened the door and took one look at Ruby’s red, swollen eyes and sent Amos out to the barn to find something to do. Ruby climbed down and Lotty put an arm around her and led her into the house.

  “Ruby, what happened?”

  Ruby wiped her eyes and told Lotty everything. The woman sat across from her in total silence. It was the first time that Ruby had seen her speechless.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Ruby’s shoulders slumped.

  “That’s quite a story,” Lotty said.

  “He says he’s changed.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “I don’t know.” Ruby thought of all the times she’d been told at the orphanage that she was going to finally be adopted, only to find out that another, prettier girl was chosen instead. And all the times Cyrus told her he’d taken care of something, only for her to find out that he hadn’t. “I’m not sure I can,” she admitted.

  “Has he given you a reason not to?”

  Ruby thought about that for a minute. “No,” she admitted.

  Lotty let out sigh. “He was on his way to Dakota Territory when he came to Last Chance, right?”

  Ruby nodded.

  “He had money. He didn’t need to answer your advertisement.”

  Ruby lifted her eyes and listened.

  “Now, admittedly,” she said holding Ruby’s gaze, “I don’t know Cullen very well. But I know that in the time he’s been here in Last Chance, he’s given you and that little boy a good home when he had absolutely nothing to gain from it.”

  That was true. “But he wasn’t truthful–”

  “Wasn’t he? Did he lie to you about his past?”

  “Well…no, but…”

  “I’m not going to tell you what to do, Ruby. But I know that people do change. He was a young man that made some foolish choices, and it sounds like he was punished for them. Love changes people and that man loves you, Ruby. He loves Everett.”

  Ruby furrowed her brows and looked at her hands. Could he love her?

  “Love is accepting someone for who they are, even at their weakest, without judgment. Do you love him, Ruby?”

  Did she? She knew that he made her feel things she’d never felt before. That so many times she was sure he was about to kiss her, and when he didn’t she was left with a longing that seemed to go through to her soul. She knew that the thought of losing him was more than she could bear. Was that love? Her gaze flew up to meet Lotty’s.

  “That’s what I thought,” she smiled warmly. “Go tell him.”

  Ruby stood and Lotty hugged her tightly.

  “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but you’ve been such a good friend, Lotty. Thank you.”

  “Friendship isn’t about how long you know someone, it’s about who walks into your life,” Lotty replied. She walked Ruby to her buggy and waited until she climbed up into the seat, then waved as Ruby drove away.

  On the way home, Ruby thought about what Lotty told her about Cullen being in love with her. Her stomach grew tense and her heart felt heavy. He didn’t know her secret. That would change everything.

  She brought the buggy to a stop at the barn and climbed down. She could see Ben and Cullen looking at something near the waterwheel that powered the sawmill. Her eyes scanned the property for Everett, who was usually not very far from Cullen. Her breath caught in her throat as she spotted his small form slowly making his way across the frozen pond adjacent to the barn. His arms were stretched out in front of him and Ruby could see a small rabbit hopping in front of him, oblivious to the danger of thin spring ice.

  “Everett, stop!” she shouted. The boy stopped and turned to look at her at the same time Ruby heard a sickening crack and she watched in horror as Everett disappeared beneath the ice. She ran as fast as she could to the pond, but the hole where Everett fell through was too far for her to reach safely. “Cullen!” she screamed. “Cullen, help!”

  Cullen must have seen what happened because he was there before Ruby could call his name again, Ben right on his heels.

  “Ben, you stay here, I’ll need you to help me back,” he ordered and ran onto the ice. There was another loud crack and the hole widened, sucking Cullen down into its darkness.

  “No!” Ruby cried and tried to run toward the hole. A strong hand gripped her arm.

  “No, Miss Ruby,” Ben’s urgent voice pleaded with her. “You can’t go in too.”

  Seconds seemed like hours as she stared at the hole and suddenly Cullen’s head popped above the surface. Where was Everett? Cullen took a deep breath and disappeared underneath the water once again. Ruby felt like the life was leeching out of her as she waited, barely daring to breathe. Lord, please be with Cullen and Everett. Guide them to safety…I need them, Lord. Tears ran freely down her face and she pressed her fist against her mouth to keep from screaming.

  Once again Cullen’s head broke the surface of the water, and this time she could see he had Everett clutched in his arms. The boy wasn’t moving. Ruby’s heart pounded in her chest as she watched Cullen use his free arm to widen the hole as he worked his way closer to where she and Ben stood. Ben reached a long arm forward and grasped Cullen’s hand, pulling him and Everett to safety.

  Ruby felt the color drain from her face as Cullen placed Everett’s limp form on the ground and roll him onto his side. He firmly hit the child between the shoulder blades with the palm of his hand. Nothing happened. He did it again, and a gush of water flowed from Everett’s mouth and he began to sputter. Ruby burst into tears and dropped to her knees and cradled the coughing child in her arms.

  His lashes fluttered and he looked up at her. “D-did I c-atch the b-b-bunny?”

  Ruby let out a short guffaw and pulled him close. “Oh, Everett.”

  “We need to get him warm,” Cullen said through chattering teeth.

  Ben pulled Everett from Ruby’s arms and ran toward the house. Once inside, he lay Everett on the floor in front of the fireplace.

  “Get out of those wet clothes,” Ruby ordered Cullen, while she pulled Everett’s wet clothes off of him and wrapped him in a blanket. He shook uncontrollably. Cullen came out of the bedroom in dry clothes, his teeth still chattering and his lips an odd shade of blue.

  She had to get them warm. She sat Everett on the floor as close to the fire as she dared and grabbed a couple more blankets. Wrapped one around Cullen’s shoulders, she guided him to the rocking chair, then wrapped the other around Everett and placed him in Cullen’s arms. She poured hot water from a pot on the cook stove into two mugs and had them drink it, silently giving thanks at the same time she prayed for them to be all right.

  Several hours later, Everett and Ben played happily with the ark. His fall through the ice all but forgotten. Cullen’s lips were no longer blue and he sat at the table sipping a cup of coffee. Ruby, overcome with the pent up emotion that now wanted to flood through her, went into the bedroom and closed the door. She walked over by the window, covered her face with her hands and silently cried.

  The door creaked open and Cullen stepped into the room. He pulled the door shut behind him and pulled Ruby into his arms. “He’s going to be all right,” he said. “We can take him into town so Heather can look at him if you want, but I think he’s going to be just fine.”

  Ruby looked up at him through her tears. “I…I thought I lost you both,” she cried.

  He tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “You aren’t going to get rid of me that easily,” he said.

  “I’m bad luck,” she sobbed. “I bring bad luck.”

  “Ruby,
it was an accident,” he reached for her but she stepped back.

  “You don’t understand,” her breath hitched. “I prayed for Cyrus not to come back. I prayed something would happen to him so he wouldn’t come home. And then they all died,” she covered her face and began to sob again.

  Cullen pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “You had nothing to do with that, Ruby. None of that was your fault.”

  She looked up at him, desperately wanting to believe him. He wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

  “Sometimes bad things just happen,” he reassured her. “You didn’t make it happen.”

  She lowered her head. She had to tell him. Ruby stepped out of his embrace. Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe. “I can’t be what you want, Cullen. What you deserve,” she sputtered.

  He looked at her and shook his head.

  “I can’t give you children.” There. She’d said it. She couldn’t give him the one thing that a wife was supposed to give her husband.

  Cullen cupped her face in his strong, calloused hands. “Let me tell you something, Ruby Parker. You are my family. You and Everett. I have everything I need, everything I want, right here. That is, if you’ll still have me,” he said, his eyes again pleading for her understanding. “I’ve truly changed, and I’ll spend the rest of our lives proving it to you if you let me. I love you, Ruby Parker. I love you just as you are.”

  She stared into his eyes, and in them saw acceptance and love. She felt a strange flutter in her stomach and her gaze dropped to his lips. She stood on her toes and closed her eyes as she brought her mouth to his. He froze for an instant, but then kissed her back with a passion she didn’t know was possible. Love, she thought. This is love.

  Epilogue

  June, 1879 – Last Chance, Nebraska

  Cullen finished cutting the last board and stretched his back. The sun’s position in the sky told him it was nearly time for dinner and he walked to the house. He walked past the garden and smiled at the neat green rows of vegetable plants poking through the dark soil. He thought back to the day they planted the seeds. Ruby kept slipping bean seeds into the holes he’d made for the corn, and then stand at the end of the row and giggle at him. Since she’d proclaimed her love for him, they’d become incredibly close. He hadn’t known love like theirs was even possible.

  His brother, Ben decided to stay in Last Chance. With Frank gone, he had nowhere else to go. Cullen knew Ben had no desire to continue his criminal life. He’d just been following what Frank did. He’d been doing that his entire life. Cullen and Ruby talked about it, and decided to let Ben have the house and land she shared with Cyrus. The small cabin was perfect him. Once Ruby had decided to let their past go, she and Ben had become good friends.

  “Everett,” he called. “Wash up for dinner.” The boy was playing near the barn with the puppy he’d gotten for his birthday. The Gruby’s dog, Dash, had puppies in late January, and Lotty kept one aside for them. It had been hard waiting until Everett’s birthday to give him the pup, but it was the perfect gift for his first real birthday. The little dog was all black with one speck of white on the center of his head, and Everett named her Dot.

  Cullen stepped into the house and was surprised to find Ruby sitting at the table, her head on her arms, fast asleep. It was the second time that week that he’d found her asleep at the table. He touched her arm and she slowly woke, groggily wiping her eyes. It seemed to take her a minute to get her bearing and when she did, she jumped to her feet.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she said in a voice that didn’t sound at all normal.

  Cullen watched the color drain from her face and her eyes roll back in her head as she pitched forward. His arms shot out and caught her before she could fall and he carried her into their bedroom and lay her on the bed. He went back out to get a damp cloth and gently wiped her face with it until her eyes fluttered back open.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” she struggled to sit but Cullen stilled her. “I’m just so tired.”

  He could see she was tired. Fatigue painted light purple shadows under her eyes. She’d also been ill, barely eating enough to keep a bird alive. Worry ran through him as he thought about what he should do. She needed to see the doctor.

  “You rest, I’m going to run into town with Everett and fetch the new doctor,” he said.

  “No,” she protested weakly. “I’ll be fine.”

  Cullen’s jaw tightened. “It’s not open for discussion, Ruby.”

  She let out a sigh. “All right, but bring Heather. I don’t know the new doctor.”

  He brushed a hair back from her face and cupped her cheek. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and straightened. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, you just rest awhile.”

  “Thank you, Cullen. I love you,” she said softly as her eyes drifted shut again.

  A short time later, Cullen returned with Heather. Ruby was still sleeping and he gently roused her. Heather sent Cullen out of the bedroom so she could examine Ruby.

  “Is she going to be all right, pa?” Everett asked, worry etched in his small face. There had been no lasting effects from his fall into the pond, but he wouldn’t go near it anymore.

  “Mrs. Barnes is going to check to make sure,” Cullen said.

  The minutes slowly ticked by as he waited, anxiously tapping his fingers on the table. Finally, the door opened and Heather motioned for him to come in.

  “Can I come too?” Everett asked.

  Cullen glanced at Heather and she nodded. He walked into the bedroom, filled with trepidation. He couldn’t stand it if anything was wrong with her and he said a quick prayer. Ruby was sitting on the bed and he stood next to her.

  “What’s wrong?” Cullen asked. “Will she be all right?”

  Heather grinned. “She will. She has morning sickness.”

  Cullen blinked and glanced at Ruby, who looked as confused as he did.

  “She’s going to have a baby,” Heather laughed. “It should come right around Christmas, if my guess is right, and it usually is.”

  Cullen stood unable to move or speak while her words sunk in. Ruby was pregnant. They were going to have a baby. He let out a whoop and picked up Ruby, swinging her in a circle. He abruptly stopped and placed her back on her feet. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” he shot a panicked glance at Heather.

  She laughed again. “She’s pregnant, Cullen, she’s not going to break.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Ruby looked up at him, relief washing over her features.

  Cullen gave a light shake of his head, not sure what she meant.

  “Don’t you see?” She gave him a bright smile. “It wasn’t me that couldn’t have a child, it was Cyrus.”

  Understanding came over him and he pulled her close.

  “Does that mean I’m going to be a brother?” Everett asked.

  “Yes,” Cullen and Ruby said in unison as their eyes met.

  Everett let out a little whoop and danced a silly little jig with Dot nipping at his heels, sending everyone into peals of laughter. Their little family, already full of love, was growing.

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  The story continues in the next Blizzard Bride’s story!

  A Groom for Rachel (Blizzard Brides #9)

  Nineteen-year-old Rachel Kayden’s worst nightmares never included being widowed a month after she married John. She decides her marriage vows also meant caring for their horse ranch regard
less of the hardships.

  Rachel’s mother never wanted her to marry and leave home. John’s death gives her the perfect reason to try and force Rachel to return home.

  Samuel Ashworthy, the son of a prominent Philadelphia furniture manufacturer, refuses to marry any of the women his father chooses. He seeks adventure, and the West appeals to him, but his father has threatened to disown him if he leaves. When he inherits his grandfather’s racehorse estate, Samuel no longer needs to remain in Philadelphia.

  A newspaper advertisement seeking a husband might be the answer, but Rachel’s mother has other ideas. Will a young couple brought together by unthinkable circumstances find love or live a life of convenience forced on them?

  Grab your copy of A Groom for Rachel now!

  The Blizzard Bride Authors

  Christine Sterling

  Cat Cahill

  Heather Blanton

  Laura Ashwood

  Lynn Donovan

  Marianne Spitzer

  Marie Higgins

  Marisa Masterson

  Marlene Bierworth

  Parker J. Cole

  Patricia Carroll

  www.theblizzardbrides.com

  About Laura

  Laura Ashwood has been in love with books since she learned to read. Growing up in a somewhat nomadic family, books were always one constant place where friends and adventures were guaranteed. She now lives in rural NE Minnesota with her real-life hero, and writes sweet romances, many of which are set in the small towns she loves.

  When she’s not working at her day job, hanging out with her amazing husband, writing, or reading, Laura likes to create culinary masterpieces, crochet and sew, hunt and fish with her husband, spend time with their children and four adorable grandbabies, and drink copious amounts of coffee.