His Prairie Sweetheart

by Erica Vetsch

  “I don’t belong here. You’ve maintained it all along, and I’ve proved it.” The bitterness of her words coated her tongue. She hung her head, feeling small and broken. “Just let me go.”

  “I can’t.” He stepped close, close enough for her to see the torment in his gray eyes. “If I let you go, I’ll be losing something too precious to me to bear.” His voice got husky, and his hands covered hers.

  “Savannah, I was wrong from the outset. I was so wrong I don’t know why you didn’t hit me over the head with one of those many bags of yours. You coming here was the best thing to ever happen to me. Stop blaming yourself for something that didn’t happen. It’s not a crime to be a greenhorn, though I’ll admit I made it sound like one.” He squeezed her fingers.

  “Savannah, I love you. I want to marry you and walk beside you the rest of my life. You’ve taught me so much already about being brave and taking on new things. You’ve brought your Southern culture up here and melded it with these hardy Norwegians, and we’re better for it. You’ve embraced your students and their families with an open heart. Can’t you open it a little further and embrace me, too?”

  She lifted her eyes to his, doubt squeezing her chest. He loved her? He didn’t think her coming here a mistake? He thought she had value?

  “But what about everything you said? What about my unsuitability?” She had to make sure. “You were so angry when you found us ready to head out into the blizzard. You said...” She stopped.

  “I was an idiot of the first water. I take it all back. Hiring you was the best thing Tyler ever did. From the first minute I saw you, I was a goner, and I was fighting it because I didn’t want to be hurt again. But every time I turned around you were doing something sweet and thoughtful and brave.”

  She felt as if she were stepping out onto a frozen lake, testing the ice to see if it would hold her. “You’re serious?”

  “I’ve never been more serious. When I think of all the ways you were proving me wrong every day you were here... The way you worked the trade of school supplies for winter clothes so you wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings, the way you rode Elsker across the prairie with your hair flying free, the way you’re willing to try out everything in Norwegian culture. Even that first Sunday, when you worshipped openly even though you didn’t understand a word of the service or the songs, I couldn’t help but admire you. It all adds up to the fact that you’re the perfect woman for Snowflake. The perfect woman for me.” He pressed his forehead against the cell bars, closing his eyes as if bracing himself for bad news.

  Hope and happiness had her standing on tiptoe, clinging to the bars. “Are you sure?”

  He raised his head, eyes snapping open. “More sure than anything.” His chest heaved as he drew a huge breath. “Savannah Cox, will you marry me?”

  She’d just opened her mouth to answer when the door banged open and Aunt Carolina barged in, followed by Elias’s parents and brother. “Savannah, what are you doing in that cell?” her aunt demanded.

  “I’ve arrested her for breach of contract, and I’m holding her until she agrees to stay in Snowflake.” Elias spoke without breaking his gaze from Savannah’s. A teasing light glowed there, and she bit her lower lip, unable to believe what was happening. Love shone in his eyes, and all she wanted was for everyone else to leave and for there to be no more bars between them, metaphorically or physically.

  Tyler stepped forward. “Elias, as much as I appreciate the gesture, I don’t think throwing her in jail is the answer. It might cost me my job and my political aspirations, but I think you should let her go.”

  “Nope, not until she agrees to marry me.”

  Savannah tried to smother her smile, but couldn’t. She blinked back happy tears.

  Aunt Carolina laughed and clapped. “Finally, you’ve both come to your senses. I thought he was really going to let her leave.” She put her arm around Tova and hugged her. “All our late night talking and worrying was for nothing.”

  Elias shook his head. “You two have been conspiring? I’m not even surprised.”

  “Not conspiring. Praying.” Aunt Carolina raised her eyebrow at Elias’s mother, who nodded.

  “And maybe a little conspiring.” Tova giggled. “I am so happy for you both.”

  “Let her out, son.” Ian Parker tossed him the keys.

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because she hasn’t given me an answer. You all barged in at the crucial moment.” He put his hands on his hips. “Well, Savannah, what’s it going to be?”

  Savannah’s lips trembled as she looked from one dear face to another. She had rocketed from despair to delight, and all because Elias loved her.

  “It’s going to be yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.”

  The keys rattled in the lock, and he swung the door wide.

  Elias gathered her in a hug that lifted her feet from the floor. He glanced at the onlookers and shrugged. “I hadn’t counted on an audience for this, but right now, I don’t care.”

  She wound her arms around his neck, knocking his hat off, and raised her face to his. “Me, either. Oh, Elias, I love you so much. I think I’ve been waiting for this all my life.”

  “Me, too.”

  His kiss sent shivers through her, and she had to hang on tight lest she spin off into space. His hold tightened, and his whiskers rasped on her cheek. Dizzy, near to bursting with happiness, she tunneled her fingers in his hair and kissed him back, trying to show him how much she loved him.

  “Tyler,” Ian said. “I think we’re going to need a special dispensation from the school board. Looks like the teacher will be getting married before too long.”

  Elias broke the kiss with a laugh, and Savannah tucked her head under his chin, clutching his lapels. Her cheeks were flushed, she knew, and all she wanted was to be alone with him. His arms stayed around her, and his heart thundered under her ear, twin to her own racing pulse.

  “Guess I’ll have to take it up with the school board, but I don’t think anyone will mind as long as she’s staying in Snowflake for good.”

  Epilogue

  Savannah stepped down from the sleigh, turning back to make sure Charlotte and Virginia were following. Her sisters shivered and hurried toward the church. Lars drove the horses around to the leeward side of the building, grinning and red-cheeked.

  Someone had swept the steps free of snow from the night before, but huge flakes drifted down from the clouds, dotting Savannah’s dark cloak with bits of frozen lace.

  “I can’t believe you want to live here. You’ll turn into a block of ice.” Charlotte’s teeth chattered. “All this snow and it’s only February. You still have weeks of winter left. I’d be surprised if you see the ground before June.”

  Savannah stepped into the vestibule, her heart knocking against her ribs. She couldn’t help but compare this day to her supposed wedding day last summer. Her arrival this time was much more subdued, her dress simpler, the flowers made of silk instead of coming from Aunt Georgette’s garden. The guest list was much smaller, but it contained everyone she loved.

  Butterflies attacked her stomach, and her heart skipped and hopped, making it difficult to breathe as she battled her nerves and her memories.

  “We were about to send out a search party.” Father, immaculate in a black frock coat, checked his watch. He’d arrived last night, spoken at length privately with Elias and given his blessing. “You look suspiciously happy.”

  She gave him an unsteady smile. “Were you this nervous on your wedding day?”

  “Probably worse.” He shot his cuffs. “Until I saw your mother walking down the aisle. Then I was fine.”

  If only Savannah could see Elias right now, perhaps she wouldn’t feel so wobbly.

  “Here, let me help you.” Charlotte reached for Savannah’s hood
. “I hope you didn’t crush your dress.”

  She couldn’t answer, as her thoughts tumbled with the questions that had plagued her in the middle of the night—silly questions, but ones she couldn’t seem to quash. What if Elias wasn’t there when she walked up the aisle? What if, like Girard, he abandoned her at the last minute? It all felt so foreign and yet familiar.

  “You look beautiful.” Charlotte stepped back, and Virginia handed Savannah a bouquet of white silk roses.

  Savannah smoothed her gown, not the elaborate satin and lace she’d worn in Raleigh, but an ivory woolen dress with pale blue lace trim. Her hair fell in waves and curls to her waist. So strange to have her hair down during the day, but it was the Norwegian custom.

  Tova peeked around the vestibule doorway, cradling a square carved box in her arms. “You are ready?” she whispered.

  “Almost.” Savannah swallowed hard. “There’s just the one thing.”

  “Here, I will help.” Tova opened the box. “You are a beautiful bride. My son is very blessed, and so is our whole family.” She lifted the silver crown from the box.

  “You’re so generous to lend me your wedding crown.” Savannah bent her head, and Tova put the small, gleaming circlet on her hair, her eyes misting.

  “I did not have a daughter to pass it down to. You make my heart happy by wearing it.”

  Virginia helped pin the veil in the back. Savannah checked her reflection in the small mirror by the door. “Now I feel like a Norwegian bride.” All around the top of the crown, tiny silver snowflakes stood up on each of the points.

  Tova hugged Savannah one more time and left them, giving the signal for the music to start. Aunt Carolina had vetoed the psalmodikon as the only form of music and hired a string quartet from Saint Paul to play. It was amazing, all that she’d accomplished in two short weeks. Everything from the dress to the music to the flowers, to getting the rest of the family here.

  Aunt Carolina had hit Snowflake like a blizzard.

  Charlotte and Virginia began their slow walk up the aisle, and Savannah took her father’s offered elbow.

  “It’s not too late to change your mind, you know,” he said, covering her hand with his. “Are you going to be happy so far from home?”

  They rounded the corner and entered the sanctuary, and all her fears and nerves slipped away. She raised her chin and took a deep breath. Elias stood at the front of the church, handsome and manly in a dark suit. His eyes locked with hers, and she could see the pride and love shining there. In that instant she knew that wherever he was would always be home for her.

  “I am home. And I’m very happy.”

  When she reached Elias’s side, he took her hand, squeezing her fingers gently. “You look beautiful.”

  She remembered little of the service beyond the certainty in Elias’s voice when he said, “I do.”

  “You may now kiss your bride.”

  The kiss was a promise, and when he finally took his lips from hers, he rested his forehead against hers and whispered, “I love you, my little Snowflake bride.”

  Applause burst out around them. Savannah laughed, looking from one familiar face to another, filled with joy.

  “Get ready,” Elias whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. “Norwegians love a good party.”

  They were swept outside and into a sleigh, the first in a cavalcade of wedding guests headed toward the schoolhouse. Elias kept his arm around her and piled on the lap robes as Lars drove.

  Savannah and her sisters had spent the previous day, with the help of her students and under Aunt Carolina and Aunt Georgette’s direction, decorating the schoolhouse for the reception. The women of Snowflake had brought out their best hardanger tablecloths and silver and rosemaled serving dishes.

  Elias helped her from the sleigh, taking her hand and guiding her up the steps. “So much seems to have happened to us in this little schoolhouse. And here we are, set to make some more memories.”

  Wedding guests flowed around them in the foyer, laughing, talking. Savannah found herself tugged away from Elias and into a crowd of ladies who removed her cloak and fussed over her. Tova beamed, Ian chatted with her father and people found places at the long tables they’d set up. Agneta and Per entered, Per looking thin and drawn from his illness, but on the mend. Savannah’s students took people’s coats and passed around glasses of punch.

  Savannah leaned to the side to see around Aunt Carolina, only to find her new husband’s eyes on her. He winked and grinned, then excused himself from the knot of men surrounding him and threaded his way toward her.

  “That’s enough monopolizing my bride.” His hand reached through the ladies and clasped hers. “Ma’am, the sheriff wants a word with you.”

  The women giggled and gave them indulgent smiles as Savannah went into his embrace. Heat swirled in her cheeks as Elias put his arm around her waist and guided her to the head table, where her teacher’s desk normally stood. “Your chair, Mrs. Parker.”

  Like the ceremony, much of the reception passed in a blur for Savannah. The food, the speeches, even the dancing. The only element in focus, the only thing that stood out for her, was Elias. Holding her hand, touching her shoulder, brushing her curls off her face. He was the pivot point of her world, and she suspected it would be that way for the rest of her life.

  Finally, he stood and held her chair, tucking her hand into his elbow and working his way toward the door. Laughter and teasing followed them through the room and into the foyer, where Elias took her navy cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. He eased her hair out from under the collar, lingering over the task.

  “I’ve wanted to touch your hair since the moment I met you.” He threaded his fingers through her curls. “You have beautiful hair, Mrs. Parker.”

  Her breath caught in her throat, and she had to try twice before any words would come out. “I don’t think I’ll ever tire of you calling me Mrs. Parker.”

  He brushed a quick kiss across her lips. “You ready to go home?”

  Savannah followed him out into the cold. The snow had stopped, and overhead, an indigo sky strewn with diamond-point stars reached from horizon to horizon. Lars drew the sleigh up to the door, and Elias handed Savannah into the backseat.

  Once they were on their way, with Elias’s arm firmly around her, tucking her into his side, she stiffened. “Elias, where is home?” She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought to ask earlier.

  He laughed, hugging her. “I wondered when you’d get around to that. Actually, I have a house. I started building it a couple years ago and never finished it. It’s about a half a mile from my folks’ place, on the farm property. This past two weeks, while you were getting ready for the wedding, I was working on it. I had a lot of help, too. Nearly every man and boy in the township showed up to plaster and paint and build furniture. Ma and Agneta brought your trunks and harp over this morning while you were sequestered with your aunts and sisters, getting all gussied up.” He took advantage of her astonishment to kiss her again. “And I have to say, they did a first-rate job. You are the most beautiful bride I ever saw. When you rounded the corner at the church and started up the aisle, I almost had to sit down to catch my breath.”

  “I was so nervous, remembering last time, afraid maybe you wouldn’t be there. Then I saw you and everything was fine.” She laid her head on his shoulder, relishing the strength and security of his embrace.

  They drew up before a pretty little white house. A furry mass rose from the front porch and shook his coat, sending snow flying. With an eager bark, Captain flew down the stairs to cavort in the drifts alongside the sleigh.

  Lars dropped them off and pulled away, and Elias turned to Savannah, sweeping her up into his arms and striding up the steps. Savannah let out a shriek and flung her arms around his neck, laughing.

  He opened t
he door and stepped across the threshold, easing her to her feet, but keeping his arms around her. Using his boot, he shut the door, leaned down and whispered, “Welcome home, Mrs. Parker. Welcome home.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE COWBOY’S CITY GIRL by Linda Ford.

  Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010003

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for coming along on this journey with Savannah and Elias. In their story I got to combine so many of my special loves: history, romance, Minnesota, pioneers and storytelling. I admire the brave and hardy souls who left everything familiar to come to a new land where they hoped to accomplish their dreams, not only for themselves, but also for their children. I wonder if I would have their bravery and fortitude in a similar situation.

  Another thing I love is connecting with readers who enjoy the same things I do, and I hope you come find me at my online home at www.ericavetsch.com. There you can find links to my Facebook page, learn about my writing and sign up for my newsletter.

  Warmly,

  Erica Vetsch

  Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!

  Do you want to earn Free Books and More?

  Join Harlequin My Rewards points program and earn points every time you shop.

  You can redeem your points to get more of what you love:

  Free books

  Exclusive gifts and contests

  Book recommendations tailored to your reading preferences

  Earn 2000 points instantly when you join—getting you closer to redeeming your first free book.

  Don’t miss out. Reward the book lover in you!

  Click here to sign up

  Or visit us online to sign up at

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010001