by P. Creeden
His smirk slipped from his face, replaced by a frown. He shook his head. “It’s not like that, Clenna. I’m not trying to make you do anything you don’t want to do. I’m not saying that we’ll behave like husband and wife right away. I’m just saying that I have affection for you, Clenna. And I don’t know what love feels like, but I don’t want to just end this right now. I don’t want to get back to Denver and then be like strangers. I want to give our marriage a try. If you’re not happy, then we can get an annulment later. But I want to at least get the chance to make you happy.”
Clenna blinked at him, a warmth spreading in her chest. She whispered, “I have affection for you, too.”
Then they just sat and stared at each other for a couple minutes.
The smile returned to Ben’s face as he pushed himself back on his chaise lounge. “Then how about we send a telegram to Archie tomorrow morning instead of getting on the train. We can spend a few days here in Cheyenne and just get to know each other. Maybe we’ll know what we want to do after that.”
Slowly, she nodded. And just like that, she started to look at Ben as a potential husband instead of just her training agent. His handsome, rugged face appealed to her, and suddenly she found the smirk to be a little less annoying, perhaps even alluring.
Epilogue
Ben
A few days turned into a week, and by the following Friday, Ben’s heart fluttered every time he saw Clenna. It was no longer a question of whether he was in love--he was smitten with her. He held her by the hand, filling his palm in a comfortable way that could only come from her and led her to the back of the building.
“Where are we going?” she asked, the smile on her face letting him know that she was worried, but trusted him. He loved that about her, that he could tell everything she felt by the expression in her emerald green eyes.
“It’s a surprise.”
She frowned. “You know I don’t like surprises.”
He laughed. “I know. But you’ll like this one. Come on.”
He opened the door and slipped into the darkened hallway.
“What are we doing here?” she whispered.
He squeezed her hand. “You’ll see in just a moment.”
She groaned and it made his heart flutter.
They reached the door at the end of the hallway and pushed it open. Bright light flooded them, and Ben had to blink to get used to the change in intensity. As his eyes cleared, Clenna gasped and squeezed his arm. His smile got impossibly wider as they took in the white flowers and candles that lit the rectory of the church. And there, in the front pews sat Declan, James, Mr. Baker, and the Innkeeper, Reginald, and his wife. Everyone turned to them with smiles, except for Barb, the innkeeper’s wife, who was crying.
As they stepped up to the front, where the priest stood, a woman played the piano. Clenna gasped again. “What’s going on?”
He smiled down at her. “This time, let’s do it in the house of God, with your family present. Let’s get married. And this time it won’t just be on paper.”
She blinked up at him, her eyes getting misty. With a swallow, she nodded.
Ben’s heart soared in his chest, everything felt perfect and surreal. Clenna was the perfect wife for him, and he knew it the first time he saw her. Spending the past week with her had proven what he’d first believed. This time, the priest had them say the vows that confirmed love and faithfulness, and Ben was more than happy to say, “I do.”
When it was Clenna’s turn, she giggled, nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks as she repeated the priest’s vows.
Then the priest said, “You may kiss the bride.”
In his chest, Ben’s heart pounded as he took Clenna in his arms and pressed his lips against hers. Her soft lips sent warmth all the way through his body, and he wanted more of them, but the cheering and clapping among their friends and family made her smile against his mouth. He pulled back and looked into her happy emerald eyes with only one thought in his mind. His wife.
About the Author
P. Creeden is the sweet romance and mystery pen name for USA Today Bestselling Author, Pauline Creeden. Her stories feature down-to-earth characters who often feel like they are undeserving of love for one reason or another and are surprised when love finds them.
Animals are the supporting characters of many of her stories, because they occupy her daily life on the farm, too. From dogs, cats, and goldfish to horses, chickens, and geckos -- she believes life around pets is so much better, even if they are fictional. P. Creeden married her college sweetheart, who she also met at a horse farm. Together they raise a menagerie of animals and their one son, an avid reader, himself.
If you enjoyed this story, look forward to more books by P. Creeden.
In 2018, she plans to release more than twelve new books!
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More Books by P. Creeden
An Agent for Josie
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Marriage has always been the furthest thing from Josie Roth’s mind. After all, the majority of men cannot suffer for a woman to vote, much less tolerate one who is smarter than him. For want of a son to take over his practice, her father raised his only child, Josie, to do the job. Even though she graduated summa cum laude at the New England Women’s College of Medicine, many in New England still looked down on her, believing that women should be either nurses or midwives. So, her father decided to take to the rails and travel out West, to Wyoming, and start a practice where there was a shortage of good doctors, hoping she’d be less frowned upon, being a woman.
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The two of them meet under the unfortunate circumstance of Josie’s father’s death. But she’s too sick to take care of arrangements, so Billy does them for her. When she finally comes to herself and mourns her father, she discovers that the town in Wyoming isn’t free of the prejudices that she’d been dealing with in the East, and she turns to the Pinkerton agency for employment. What happens when these two find out that the only way to work their next case together is by getting married first?
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When Abigail Lee's house is foreclosed on, she's left desolate but not alone. Her best friend, a former slave, is willing to allow her to live with them. But the people in town don't like her living situation, and an unwanted suitor comes knocking on the door, making threats. Abby doesn't want anyone to be hurt on her account but feels stuck between the frying pan and the fire until Cecilia comes up with a plan.
A Bride for Henry
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Brienne Walsh has resigned to life as a spinster and the lone heir to the Walsh Ranch upon her grandfather's death. She's always been too tall, too strong, and too unprepossessing to be appealing to any man. Yet when the bank calls on her grandfather's loan, telling her to either pay the full amount due by the end of the month, or marry, she is thrown into an arrangement she can't abide but must endure.
Love has been unkind to Henry Miller. His first love promised to wait for him to return from fighting for the Union in the War, but when he returned, he found her married to his best friend. The betrayal cut him deeper than the bullet from a Confederate Springfield. He lost his fiancé and his best friend in one fell swoop two years ago, and now he finds himself losing his father and his home in another. With nowhere else to turn, he chooses to follow his father's wishes and sign a document he never thought he'd consider again--a marriage certificate.
A Pony for Christmas
A childhood crush, a widowed father and an interfering Aunt. Can Amanda's dreams of being Nate's wife come true this Christmas?
Christmas 1880 in Belle, Wyoming ~
Amanda has been in love with Nate since she was nine years old. Now she’s grown up, and he still treats her like a little sister. When he became a widower raising an only daughter, just like her father, Nate stole her heart just a little bit more. This Christmas, his Aunt Eugenia is in town, determined to find him a suitable wife before she leaves for the new year. But can Amanda recover from a bad first impression in order to be considered a candidate for the position?
Brokken Rising
Even the broken can be healed...
Rebecca Walsh has only ever had two loves, her family and horses. But when her father and brother died in the Civil War, her family is left as broken as her home town. When the town sent an advertisement for mail-order grooms, Rebecca didn't have much interest in wooing one. She just hoped the men might save her town, so her family could stay in the only home they'd ever known.
Jake Harper came to Brokken, Texas to leave his name and his past behind. He hoped to find a future that would help him forget the mistakes he'd made. But one of the other "leftover" men in town has been keeping an eye on Jake and his past might be catching up with him. And as he draws closer to Rebecca, his fears multiply.
