The Path To Tame a Wild Heart: A Historical Western Romance Novel

by Melynda Carlyle

  “You’ve made your point,” he grumbled.

  “I don’t believe I have,” Evelyn said. “So, I will keep trying to make it until you listen to me. I’m going to take care of you Lonnie Steele, whether you like it or not because I love you, alright?”

  Lonnie opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly seemed at a loss as to what to say. “I love you too, Evelyn,” he said, simply.

  That’s one way to shut him up, she thought.

  “Now, lean on me for these last few feet,” Evelyn said. “No one is going to think you less of a man. You’ve got a bullet in your leg for crying out loud.”

  “Okay, okay, don’t go on about it,” Lonnie said, taking hold of Evelyn’s arm. “What did I do to deserve you, Evelyn?”

  She shrugged. “Some people are just lucky, I guess.”

  When Evelyn made it to the porch, she sat Lonnie on the porch swing and headed inside. It was a beautiful evening, warm but with a breeze, the kind of evening where you could just sit out and watch the world pass into night-time. Her father was already inside, the men who had brought him back sticking around to make sure he was okay before Evelyn returned. She thanked them and sent them on their way.

  “How would you feel about some pie, Pops?” she asked.

  He smiled at her. “Look at you,” he said. “Look at that smile on your face.”

  He stood up and tottered toward her. She was suddenly on guard, not wanting him to fall down. He took hold of her face and looked deep into her eyes. “You look exactly like your mother when you’re that happy,” he said. “The absolute image.”

  “Thanks, Pops,” she said. “I’m going to get to cooking. Lonnie is out on the porch swing if you wanted to wait out there.”

  He nodded at her and watched him go out. He could already hear Lonnie and Pops talking, the two of them chattering away like old pals. She had gotten used to him dipping in and out of knowing who she was. He would forget again soon, but the moments that it came were blissful.

  Evelyn started to bake, trying to wrap her head around everything that had happened to her today. It was an awful lot to take in. In the space of less than twelve hours, she’d gone from having absolutely no one, to having Lonnie back in her life. Though she would never thank Willard for everything that he had put her and her family through, if it hadn’t been for him stirring up even more trouble, who knows what would have happened?

  You’d still be all alone, she thought, knowing that she would have been too stubborn to go to Lonnie herself, even to apologize. It was certainly something that she needed to work on.

  Her mind wandered to the mayor, and to Rose. She’d been there when she’d gotten out of the wagon, and things seemed to be okay between them, but she would need to apologize. Rose had been nothing but nice to her, even when times were tough. The last thing she’d want to do is keep that bad blood between them.

  She resolved to get through this evening and spend a bit of time taking care of Lonnie, making sure he saw the doctor and got himself fixed up. One step at a time, she would right the wrongs of her past.

  A few days later, Evelyn had managed to get herself into something of a routine. She got herself out of bed in the morning and prepared breakfast for three rather than two; she redressed Lonnie’s injuries like the doctor had shown her and then spent the day doing housework. Rose had been kind enough to open up the hardware store and keep things going while she’d been taking care of Lonnie, though Evelyn knew she would have to go back there eventually. But this morning was a little different. She needed to go and speak to the mayor. It was only her nerves that were stopping her from doing it any sooner, so after preparing breakfast, Evelyn made her excuses and left to head to the mayor’s house.

  “Evelyn!” Rose answered the door, her face suddenly bursting into a great big smile. “I’m so happy to see you!” It was like everything that had happened between them had already been forgotten. But Evelyn didn’t want it to be. She knew she needed to make it right.

  “Rose, I need to apolo—”

  Rose reached out a hand and placed it on Evelyn’s shoulder. “You really don’t have to Evelyn, I—”

  “I want to,” Evelyn said, firmly. Rose took her hand away and gave Evelyn a chance to speak. “You’ve been a wonderful friend to me, Rose, you truly have. When no one else would stick by me, you were right there by my side. You always defended me, heck you even got your father to like me and with everything that had happened…” Evelyn trailed off. Rose knew all that. No use opening old wounds. “I wanted to apologize for the way that I treated you when things weren’t quite going my way. It was wrong of me and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

  There was a silence between them. Rose looked at Evelyn carefully. “It was a lovely speech, Evelyn,” Rose said. “But you didn’t need to say all of that. I know you care for me, I do. I just wish you hadn’t pushed me away so quickly.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry.”

  “Apology accepted.”

  “But Rose, if it’s too much—”

  “I won’t hear any more of it!” Rose interrupted, smiling. Evelyn smiled too. They would be okay. It meant that Evelyn could breathe a little easier. “Do you want to come in? If you’ve got time that is.”

  “Are you parents around?” Evelyn asked. “The mayor did so much for me yesterday, I would love to have a chance to thank him.”

  “He’ll just tell you that it was his pleasure and he was doing his duty and blah blah blah,” Rose said, ushering Evelyn inside. “I want you in here so I can talk to you about this wedding.”

  “Oh, Rose, I don’t know if I’m—”

  “I want to help you plan it,” she said. “I can see it now. We can do it in the town square, invite everybody, because they’ll want to come now that you’re some big hero who shot Wild Willard.”

  Evelyn stopped. “Who told everybody that I shot him?”

  Rose looked a little bit shifty. “Well, I only did it because I wanted everybody to have their stories straight,” Rose said. “Lonnie is a wonderful guy, and I know that if Willard hadn’t shot him first, he would have finished him there and then, but you’re the one who stopped him Evelyn, and you should be praised for that.”

  Evelyn pulled Rose into a hug, squeezing her as tight as she possibly could. “I don’t know what I did in my life to deserve a friend like you Rose, but I’m so grateful to have you.”

  Rose hugged her back. “I’m grateful to have you too,” she said. “So, let’s get to talking about this wedding, hmm? I’ve already got ideas for a dress that we could make, Mama could help out, and the general store would be more than happy to provide the flowers I’m sure!”

  Evelyn couldn’t keep the smile off her face as they talked about the wedding of her dreams. Everything was coming together, and not a moment too soon.

  Chapter 28

  Lonnie waited on the porch for Evelyn to return home that afternoon. He’d spent the morning with her father, the two of them playing cards at the table while they waited for her to come back, chatting back and forth as they often did even when Evelyn was there. He’d gone to have a nap while Lonnie was keen to get some fresh air. It had only been a few days, but Lonnie was struggling not getting to go about as he pleased. He felt a little bit trapped. He enjoyed spending time with Evelyn’s father, of course he did, but not being able to do his job was taking its toll.

  Whenever he got the chance, he would walk by himself, though Evelyn was trying to convince him to follow the doctor’s advice and use a stick. He was a young man. He didn’t want to use a stick.

  Being outside calmed him though. It made him forget about the occasional twinges of pain he felt when he worked himself a little bit too hard, or the frustrations of not being able to help out the citizens of the town he had grown to love. Kecheetah was a beautiful place, and Evelyn had a beautiful home, one that he could certainly get used to spending all his time in.

  He still couldn’t believe how things had turne
d out for the two of them. Of course, it would have been a lot nicer had he not been injured but it had all shaken out in a way that meant the two of them could be together. He was happy. And, from what he could tell, Evelyn was happy too. The darkness that had followed her around ever since he first saw her, seemed to have vanished and been replaced by nothing but light. With Willard gone, all Evelyn had around her were blue skies and that just made Lonnie all the happier.

  His leg hurt a lot at the time, but it didn’t matter so much to him when he thought about Evelyn. She was doing her best to care for him, to keep him out of trouble and make sure he healed in a timely manner. She may have been more relaxed and happier now that Willard was gone, but that didn’t stop her from being a little firecracker. She was still the same feisty Evelyn, but now she was playing nurse rather than hardware store owner.

  He saw her coming around the corner, a big smile on her face as she caught sight of him. He wanted to stand up and run over to her, but she would have scolded him for it, so he remained where he was, sitting on the porch swing.

  “What happened to you?” Lonnie called. “Did you get lost?”

  It was Evelyn who picked up speed, vaulting the fence and running up the path to see him.

  When she reached him, she kissed him hard on the lips, like it was the first time and the last time they would ever see each other. It felt urgent, excitable and it thrilled his heart.

  “What was that for?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “For you, silly.”

  “Well, aren’t I lucky!”

  “You are,” she said. “Let me just go check on Pops. Do you need anything?”

  “I’m quite alright.”

  “Are you sure? I can make you some coffee or some herbal tea, do you want herbal tea?”

  “Evelyn, I’m fine!” Lonnie replied. That had to be the phrase he’d uttered most since he’d moved in.

  Evelyn ran inside for a few moments then came back out with two steaming cups of coffee and a couple of slices of pie. Lonnie widened his eyes at her.

  “I told you I was fine,” he said, though he was already salivating at the sight of pie, and the scent of the coffee was almost too much to take.

  “Well, you never can be too sure,” she said. “Besides, I didn’t want to sit down to talk to you and then have to try and talk over the sound of your stomach growling.”

  “My stomach is—” Lonnie’s stomach growling interrupted him, earning him a withering glance from Evelyn. She was enjoying all of this far too much. “Well, it’s only growling because you brought out pie and it smells so good.”

  Evelyn shrugged. “It’s a blessing and a curse being such a wonderful housewife,” she said. “Have some, it won’t kill you.”

  “Maybe not right away,” Lonnie said. “But I’ve got to be careful or I’ll go back to being a ranger, and I won’t be able to chase anybody because I’ll be all doughy.”

  “Nothing wrong with being doughy.”

  “I’m not saying that there is,” he said. “You’re deliberately misinterpreting what I’m saying aren’t you?”

  Evelyn laughed. “Only because it’s fun to watch you try and work out what’s going on,” she said. “You get this cute little thinking line across your forehead.”

  “You be careful Evelyn Pierce, or I’ll change my mind about marrying you,” he said with a chuckle. Though both of them knew that wasn’t true. Between Evelyn’s incredible baking and her playing nurse with his injuries, the two of them had hardly stopped laughing. They’d stayed up late finding out as much about each other as they possibly could because, now that Willard was gone, they both seemed to feel they could finally get to know about each other’s lives. And the closer he got to her, the more he fell in love with every little part of her.

  “Well,” Evelyn said. “You’ll have a hard time calling off the wedding with all the thought that Rose has already put into it.”

  “What?”

  “She’s gone wedding crazy!” Evelyn exclaimed. “That’s what took me so long.”

  “Well, that makes sense!”

  “We talked about my dress, the church, the flowers,” Evelyn said, listing the things off on her fingers. “We talked about the guest list and what food we should have. She was so excited that I got a little… swept away with it. And then I lost track of time and hurried back to see you.”

  “You didn’t have to hurry back if you were having fun!”

  “Well, I thought it would be courteous of me to at least tell you the plans before she went and started doing it all,” Evelyn said. “I think she wants to invite the whole town.”

  “The whole town?!” Lonnie couldn’t think of a venue big enough to hold everybody in the town. The church certainly wouldn’t. On a Sunday there was never enough space for everybody, people stood at the sides of the pews, hugging the walls, and the whole town didn’t even go to church, much to the priest’s disappointment. “Where on earth does Rose think we can fit the whole town?”

  “Yeah,” Evelyn said. “She wants to do it outside, invite everybody…” Evelyn trailed off. “But I’m not so sure about that.”

  Lonnie looked at her carefully. It was amazing how quickly the excitement had vanished from her. There was clearly something on her mind.

  “Why’s that?”

  Evelyn shrugged.

  “Tell me,” he said. “If I’m gonna be your husband, you gotta know you can tell me when something’s troubling you.”

  Evelyn took a deep breath and took another bite of pie before answering. “I just don’t know if I want the whole town to be there,” she said. “They didn’t like me all that much before and, I don’t know, Rose made it sound like I’m some big hero—”

  “You are!”

  “No, I’m not, Lonnie,” Evelyn said. “It was my fault he was here in the first place, I’m not a hero, I just… cleaned up a problem that I created.”

  Lonnie had to stifle a giggle. “So, you’re a cleaner, then,” he said. “Rose is only trying to give you the most magical day possible, trying to make sure that what you have is a beautiful day where everybody gets to celebrate our love for one another. She can invite the whole town if she wants, she can invite the whole world, but all that matters is that it’s the two of us. You’re the only person I’ll see there anyhow.”

  A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “You really are charming, you know that?”

  “It’s why you were drawn to me, wasn’t it?”

  She scoffed. “I wasn’t drawn to you as much as I was pushed toward you,” Evelyn said. “And I think you’ll find you did a whole lot of the chasing didn’t you?”

  Lonnie shrugged. “Yeah, I did,” he said. “What can I say, I know what I want!” He took a breath and looked out at Kecheetah. “I don’t envy you, you know.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No, and I don’t mind you planning it all with Rose,” he said. “All the dresses and flowers, it’s an awful lot to think about.”

  “Well, with you unable to do anything, we suddenly have all the time in the world to plan a wedding,” she laughed. “Maybe you should extend your recovery time, I’ll talk to the sheriff!”

  “Don’t you dare!” Lonnie said. “I’ll go crazy!”

  Evelyn threw her head back and laughed, the sound of it flying all the way up to the sky.

  “You’re not serious, are you Evelyn, because I’ve been getting better and I really want to—”

  “Oh, stop your bellyaching, I know, I know,” she said. “I was only messing with you. We’ll get you back to work when you’re good and ready and not a moment sooner. Though, Pops will be sad to not have you here all the time.”

  Lonnie perked up at that. “You think?”

  Evelyn nodded. “Yeah. He likes having you here. He seems a little… I don’t know, brighter somehow. He seems more present than he used to be. It’s nice.”

  “Well, I’ll still be around,” he said. “I’m not about to ship you off to some st
ately home and drag you away from your pops. I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “I wouldn’t let you,” Evelyn laughed, getting to her feet.

  “Where are you off to now?” Lonnie asked. “I only just get you back and you’re running off to do something else?”

  “No, silly, I want to show you something, come on.” She helped him to his feet. For the most part he was alright, but when he’d been sitting for a little bit too long, he got a little stiff. He hoped that would fade with time. The doctor said it would.

  Evelyn walked him off the porch, linking her arm in his and taking him around to the backyard. He didn’t know what she was thinking. He’d walked around here before. The doctor had said to get a little bit of exercise when he could, so he’d do laps of the house to keep himself active.