A Sheriff's Fugitive Bride

by Blythe Carver

  She closed the book with a smile. “I couldn’t stand to be away. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “How could I ever mind?” He wanted to ask her. He wanted to ask her then and there. The words were on the verge of tumbling from his mouth.

  “Your sister tells me you were quite active earlier today.” She looked down at him, and only then did he note the blankets being pulled down and a spot of blood on his nightshirt. He’d bled through his bandage. “When I saw it, I was alarmed.”

  “I didn’t mean to alarm you.”

  “Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to be out of bed for very long? To say nothing of walking up and down the stairs!”

  “I had important business!”

  She was good and worked up now, waving her hands about. “Nothing is so important it couldn’t wait, Rance Connelly. You don’t seem to understand how important you are. If anything were to happen to you, all because you wouldn’t follow the doctor’s orders and stay in bed as any sane person would do—”

  “I want to marry you, hang it all!”

  She froze, hands in mid-air, mouth hanging open.

  He regretted it instantly. “Forgive me. You deserve so much more than this. More than me. But that’s what I was doing today. I was speaking with your father’s lawyer. I wanted to know if marrying you and bringing you here to town would put the estate in jeopardy. That’s all. And I didn’t wanna receive the man while in my nightshirt.”

  She lowered her arms inch by inch. Her chest rose and fell at an alarming rate. “You want to marry me?” she breathed.

  “I do. Don’t you know I do?”

  “Oh.” She placed one hand over her heart. “Oh, I can’t breathe.”

  “Do try.”

  “I’m trying. Oh, my goodness.” She stood, pacing the room. “Oh, goodness gracious. This isn’t—this isn’t at all what I expected. Oh, heavens.”

  “Are you going to faint?”

  “I don’t think so. I just can’t—I can’t think—it’s all too much—”

  “I’ll call Martha up here if you think you’re going to faint. There isn’t anything I can do to help you. You’d better try to calm down.” Was this truly happening? It was all wrong.

  “I’m trying. I am.” She sat again, eyes closed now, breathing slowly and deliberately. “All right. Fine. I’ll be fine.”

  “Well, I’m glad of that,” he replied. “But what of your feelings on it?”

  “Of course.” She stared at him, unblinking, as though it were the simplest thing in the world. “Of course, I’ll marry you. That’s what I want. I just didn’t ever expect you to ask. And not like this!”

  “It’s all wrong, I know. I should’ve—”

  “No, I don’t mean that.” She left the chair in favor of sitting on the edge of the bed. He got the hint of lavender from her hair, which was quickly becoming his favorite scent thanks to her. “I never expected to feel this way. I’ve imagined this so many times. Man-crazy, Molly used to call me. Not that it ever mattered or that I was ever entangled with a man before I met you. But I used to dream, oh, you can’t imagine how much I did.”

  “It was nothing like this,” he surmised with a sinking heart.

  “My dear, this is so much better. You’re so much better.” She touched his cheek. “I’ve never been so happy, or so proud. I would be proud to be your wife, and honored that you think I’m worthy of spending your life with. I’m quite overwhelmed, in fact.”

  He took her hand, kissing her palm, then pulled her in for a kiss to seal their engagement. He wanted to more, much more, but injury and propriety had other ideas. He settled for what he could get, as it meant a kiss from the woman he loved. His future bride.

  Unshed tears sparkled in her eyes when the kiss ended, and they both laughed. “It seems like nothing has gone the way I thought it would,” she chuckled.

  “How could you have imagined I would put you in jail?” he teased.

  “Yes, and after you did, I certainly wasn’t in the mood to marry you.” She ran a hand over his hair, then down the side of his face until it eventually rested over his heart.

  He covered it with his own. “So long as this heart beats, I will take care of your heart. I will cherish you. Protect you from whatever life brings. I will wake up every morning and fall asleep every evening loving you. No matter what else happens, Phoebe, I will always be loving you through it.”

  She rested her cheek against his shoulder. “What else could I ask for?”

  They stayed that way for a long time, just the two of them in their own private world. Whispering and dreaming like two happy children, weaving their future.

  Epilogue

  “Would you please hold still? I’ll never get the veil pinned on properly if you can’t stand still long enough.”

  “I don’t even see why you insist I wear it,” Phoebe hissed. “We’re only going before the judge.”

  “This is my veil, and I want you to wear it,” Molly reminded her. “Besides, it would be nice for you to follow at least some of the conventions. Of all the Reed sisters to rail against a big, lavish wedding, you are the last one I would’ve chosen.”

  “That doesn’t matter to us,” Phoebe said for what felt like the hundredth time. “We only want to be married, with all the people we love around us. Nothing else is important.”

  She meant it with all her heart. Incredible, really, how meeting the only man she could ever imagine marrying had utterly upended everything she thought she wanted. All she wanted now was him. No more dreams and fairy stories. Just him, and their life together.

  Even if they were starting a bit slow.

  J.J. Brown was still working on their behalf, trying to make it possible for her to live with her husband always. Until then, she would live in their little house half of the week, then the rest at the ranch. It saddened her terribly to think of those long days without her husband, but it wouldn’t be forever, and it was better than nine entire months without him.

  He had his work to keep him busy, and his sister and nephew to keep him company. They’d asked Sally Foster to come tend house while Phoebe was away, and Martha planned to employ her on the other days of the week. Now that she was planning to take in boarders, she would have the money to hire help.

  “Perfect,” Molly decided, stepping back. “You are a beautiful bride.”

  If she was beautiful, it was because she felt so happy. No, joyous. Like she might float clear away if someone didn’t hold onto her. Her blue silk and a simple clutch of wildflowers from Martha’s garden might not have been the grandest decking out a bride had ever seen, but she felt like a queen.

  Better yet, she knew Rance would see her as one.

  “Be happy, my dear,” Molly whispered, kissing her cheeks and dampening them with her tears. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Thank you, always.” They embraced before leaving the tiny antechamber beside the judge’s chambers, a room which was fairly packed with people. All of them waiting to witness the ceremony.

  Her sisters were there, all of them weeping into their handkerchiefs at the sight of her. Happy tears, or so she hoped. Cate cried loudest of all, which did not come as a surprise. Lewis smiled, nodding, his eyes warm and encouraging.

  Then there was Martha, also weeping, and Jesse. He looked up at his mother as though he’d never seen such a thing. “Why is everyone crying, Mama?” he whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. This turned tears to laughter.

  “Because we’re so glad, little one.” She beamed. “Because Uncle Rance is going to marry Peepsy, and she looks so beautiful.”

  Rance stepped up beside her. “Yes, she does,” he breathed, taking her in with a look of awe. “She is beautiful.”

  If a man could be beautiful, he was. He was absolutely radiant. Like a gallant prince or a brave knight in one of her old stories. A dashing hero.

  Then again, he was her hero, was he not? He’d saved her life and risked his own to do it. He was everything she�
�d ever hoped for, and he swore to continue to be.

  Judge Cavanaugh waited before his desk. “Are we prepared to begin?” he smiled benevolently.

  Phoebe looked at Rance, who offered his arm. She took it with a catch in her throat and a throb in her heart. “I believe we are,” she whispered, smiling joyfully at the man who would soon be her husband.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from the next in the series!

  Excerpt: An Undercover Detective’s Bride

  Rachel Reed left Baltimore with a secret that none of her sisters are aware of. A secret so sinister she fears that drastic means need to be taken to protect herself and the ones she loves. She’d hoped she’d left the secret behind in Baltimore, until one fateful day a presence on the streets of Carson City brings the whole matter full circle.

  Mason Murphy’s on a mission to protect a witness from a group of criminals with one intent—leave no witnesses.

  Matters become complicated when the witness is the woman he fell in love with. A woman who left Baltimore abruptly and without notice. He could have lived without her. Maybe. But he can’t live with the knowledge that a band of thugs wants her dead.

  Chapter 1

  Rachel Reed wondered how her sister Phoebe managed it.

  Spending half of her week with her husband, and, much of the time, his boisterous young nephew.

  “And this is the garter snake I found yesterday down by the pond.” Young Jesse showed off his treasure with pride. He held the wriggling snake aloft, staring up at it with the sort of unfettered joy afforded only to the very young, especially when they happened to be little boys who thought nothing of keeping snakes as pets.

  Not that Rachel had very much experience with little boys. She merely assumed they were the opposite of young girls, and that was a subject with which she had much experience. Growing up with four sisters had taught her quite a lot.

  “You know Miss Reed has no interest in your garter snake.” Jesse’s mother Martha, a bustling type of woman whose work never seemed to end, hurried down from the second floor with a bucket in hand. She brushed back a long, dark strand of hair from where it had fallen over her forehead. “That is hardly the sort of thing you wave in a guest’s face, Jesse, and I raised you well enough to know that.”

  She and Rachel exchanged a look.

  “At least, I think I raised him better than that. Sometimes it’s difficult to say. There are moments when I’m nearly certain he came from an entirely different world.”

  Rachel was uncertain what was expected of her in this situation. Should she agree with this near-stranger? Should she say that yes, young Jesse did indeed seem to come from a world of his own? Just how did women with husbands and children react in situations such as this one? She certainly did not wish to cause offense.

  There was nothing in the world she wouldn’t do to avoid causing strain in Phoebe’s life. This was Phoebe’s sister-in-law after all, and the two of them had grown quite close over the several weeks which up to that point constituted the length of her marriage to Sheriff Rance Connelly.

  “Boys and girls are so very different.” Yes, that seemed neutral enough. She reached for her teacup, lifting it to her lips with a small smile. “Many was the time my mother voiced her thanks for having birthed nothing but daughters.”

  Jesse, while in the act of returning his treasure pet to its box, looked at the both of them with a comical frown. “Why was she thankful for that?” He asked, puzzled.

  His mother was barely able to suppress a laugh. “You’ll find out one day,” she assured him with a fond smile, reaching out to run a hand over his thick shock of curly hair.

  He ducked out of the way, giggling madly before dashing off for the door leading to the rear yard. With a sigh, his mother turned to Rachel. “There are times when I fear the far-off ‘one day’ I always speak of when my son asks uncomfortable questions is coming sooner than I could have ever anticipated. Such as when he ducks away when I try to pet him.”

  “I think you have plenty of time before he begins wearing long pants.”

  She laughed merrily. “Then again, there are times when I look forward to that day with great excitement. It would be lovely, no longer being forced to share my home with a menagerie of snakes, toads, spiders, and the occasional earthworm.”

  Rachel had no idea how the woman managed. She had no idea how anyone with children managed. Her sister Holly had been a teacher back in Baltimore, and even a fraction of the day which she’d been forced to spend with a room full of children had often left her weak, grouchy, and with an aching head.

  To spend one’s entire day, from dawn until dusk, solely responsible for the well-being of a small person who one also happened to love a great deal left her feeling amazed and slightly worn-out.

  Footsteps came from the stairs, and a moment later her older sister came into view. “The upstairs is as clean as we can possibly manage,” Phoebe Connelly announced with a tired sigh. “And I’m quite certain that I shall sleep for a week once this is said and done.”

  Martha’s brows lowered. “It seems the woman my brother hired to manage the house in his absence did very little housekeeping. But she was quick enough to take his money, I assure you. Outright thievery.”

  Rachel held her tongue on this. It seemed to her the house was in fair enough condition. Nothing had been stolen, after all, nor was there any damage in sight. What more could a person expect? And just how much filth could accumulate in a house when no one lived there?

  If there was anyone to blame, in her estimation, it was Rance. But what did he know? He was just a man, one who’d been living as a bachelor at the time.

  Phoebe lowered the bucket to the floor, stretching her back and shoulders, raising both arms over her head. “I told you time, and again, I can manage. You need not expend yourself so.”

  “Nonsense,” she said, shaking her head at her sister-in-law. “You know I would never leave you with a new house to clean entirely on your own before you settled in. I’m only sorry now that bringing Rance in to live with me left you with this business to sort out.”

  This house was a good deal smaller than the home Martha had shared with her late husband, in which she currently raised their son. Purchased when Charles was alive, and there was still hope of filling so many empty bedrooms with children, it left her with far too much space and too much to keep up with on her own.

  Rance had been generous in agreeing to stay with his sister and nephew, offering protection and support in those early, trying days. Now that he’d found his bride, however, there was no continuing that arrangement.

  Which was why Martha had taken in not one but two boarders, both of them young women whose weekly rent meant added security, and whose presence in the house meant companionship.

  Rachel imagined, too, that the poor woman needed a new start. Many was the time her sister Cate had nearly swooned over the heart-wrenching situation. “Imagine. Losing one’s husband so suddenly, to such a silly yet tragic accident.” Had she placed the back of one hand to her forehead and fallen, limp, onto the velvet sofa in the parlor, it would have come to no surprise to any of her sisters.

  They had all long since accustomed themselves to her flights of fancy.

  This was one situation in which it was difficult to find fault with Cate’s reasoning. One moment, the man had been alive. Young, healthy, full of life and vitality. The next, he was gone. Fallen from the roof while in the act of repairing a broken shingle.

  Fate could indeed be cruel, the way it twisted and turned. The way it took a life while seemingly on a straight, determined course, and set it on a new course with no preamble, no advanced warning. Nothing whatsoever to give a body the chance to accustom itself before an entirely new situation was at one’s doorstep.

  She knew this all too well. All of her sisters did. They had gone nearly overnight from a family of five motherless girls, all of them fighting to maintain their place in society, living in a comfortable home in a fashion
able part of Baltimore and doing what they could to stretch the dwindling family fortune as long as possible by taking employment and doing their own cooking and washing, to five co-owners of a family ranch none of them had visited in fifteen years.

  And they were managing again. While none of them had been particularly pleased or delighted with their new lot in life. In fact, Cate had gone so far as to attempt an escape, much to her detriment and the brief loss of her eyesight, they had all adjusted. The ability to adjust was a characteristic they shared, just as they shared their hair and eye color.

  She supposed a woman had to be willing to adjust if she was to make her way in an often-unpredictable world.

  At least Phoebe had married a man with a pleasant home. She looked around with a smile, admiring the simple yet charming surroundings. Perfect size for a childless couple, yet with two additional bedrooms on the second floor for when they decided to start a family.

  “And what do you think?” Phoebe pretended to offer this question casually, taking a seat across from her sister. She lifted the lovely embroidered cover from the teapot and poured herself a cup, adding two lumps of sugar to the steaming brew before lifting it to her lips.

  Rachel knew her too well. It meant a great deal that her sisters approve of this new arrangement. While it would still be a matter of months before she could take up permanent residence in this home, according to the terms of their father’s Will which demanded all five girls live on the ranch for one year, it was hers in spirit. She was proud of it, the only thing which had ever truly belonged to her.

  “I think it is just perfect for you,” Rachel assured her with a wide smile. “I think you’ll be very happy here.”

  Rather than beaming in pride and relief, Phoebe placed cup on saucer with a slight frown wrinkling her brow. “You sound fatigued. Anyone would believe it was you who just finished scrubbing an entire floor’s worth of rooms from front to back. What’s the matter?”