James nodded in agreement. “You can count on it.”
They all watched as Daniel sauntered away down off the ranch to get back to the jailhouse. They had decided to hold the wedding at the ranch because of the space—it was bigger than Merrick’s place.
“We’re going to set up some places to eat. We’ll find you guys in a few minutes, okay?” James said.
Lyla nodded and reluctantly let go of his hand. She knew that she was going to spend the rest of her life with him, but still, she enjoyed every second by his side.
“Well, we finally did it. It’s kind of hard to believe that we are both married,” Karen said as they watched Merrick and James leave.
“Yes, it’s kind of hard to comprehend.”
“I’ll bet the day that you stepped off the stagecoach, you weren’t expecting to marry the sheriff and stay here with your son, were you?”
Lyla laughed. “If someone would have told me that was going to happen, I would have laughed at them and told them they were plumb crazy.”
Joey ran up to them and stood in front of them, looking at them curiously. “Why are you both dressed the same?” he asked.
“Because we both just got married,” Lyla said, kneeling so she’d be on Joey’s level.
“Why did you get married?” Joey looked confused, and had just as many questions as usual.
“Because we both love someone very much, so we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with them.”
Joey seemed to understand this. “Oh, so, can I get married?”
Lyla and Karen laughed. Sometimes, Joey said the cutest things. “I suppose, if you are older one day and like a girl very, very much, you could certainly marry her.”
“But what if I want to get married now?” James looked up at her insistently.
“Well, only grown-ups can get married, but I think that you’ll find that you will be grown-up before you know it. Right now, you should just enjoy being a boy.”
James nodded and after a moment he took a step back. “Okay, I’m going to go get some food now.” With that, he turned on his heels and ran toward the food tables, where James and Merrick were already dishing up some plates of food.
“We should go get something to eat, too. I’m starving,” Lyla said.
“Me, too. Let’s go.” They walked through the people, stopping every once and a while for someone to offer them congratulations or wish them luck. It took a while to reach the tables of food, but it was worth it. Lyla’s stomach growled.
She was hungrier than she’d thought. She grabbed a plate and began to fill it with food.
When she was sure she had enough, she followed Joey to a nearby table where the men had set up chairs and sat down beside Joey and Karen. A few minutes later, James and Merrick joined them.
“Who would have known this is how it would end?” James said with a grin, setting his plate down on the table.
“I don’t think this is the end,” Lyla said. “I think this is just the beginning.”
Chapter 39
Lyla held a picnic basket in one hand and Joey’s little hand in the other. They were walking beside James, down a tiny path that led to the river.
It was one of those bright, warm days that wasn’t too hot and wasn’t too cold but just right. Lyla and James had decided that it was the perfect day for a picnic.
It had been nearly four months since they had been married, and it was about time that they had gotten out to do something as a family.
Lyla had never been to the river before and was eager to see what it was like. She and Bonnie had prepared a large lunch, and Lyla had been looking forward to this all day.
“You’re finally going to see our fishing spot,” Joey said, jumping up and down as they walked. “There’s always a lot of fish there and it’s great for putting your feet in the water. Are you going to put your feet in the water, Mama?”
Lyla’s heart filled with love when Joey said ‘Mama,’ just like it did every time that he said it.
He had just started a few weeks ago, out of the blue. Lyla wasn’t sure what had made him start referring to her as Mama instead of Lyla, but she certainly wasn’t going to complain.
She and James had decided that when he was older, maybe seventeen or eighteen, but old enough to understand, they would tell him how she really was his mother, in more ways than one.
“I don’t know if I will or not.” Lyla wasn’t sure how she felt about putting her feet in the water. The last time she had set foot in a river several years ago, she’d gotten leeches stuck to her skin. It wasn’t an experience she wanted to repeat.
“Of course she will, Joey. It’s something that I’m sure she will love,” James put in.
Lyla gave him a look and he laughed.
“Look! There it is, up ahead!” Joey grabbed James and the two ran up ahead toward the river Lyla could see rippling behind the field of grass in front of them.
“Look at the two of them go. No one would ever know that he wasn’t always Joey’s father.” Bonnie shook her head back and forth and watched Joey and James with a smile on her face.
Lyla kept their slow pace and glanced down at her stomach, touching it tenderly.
She had some news for James, and she planned to tell him today. They were expecting an addition to their little family.
She had just found out a couple weeks ago and had been looking for the perfect time to tell James and Joey. She hoped they would be happy about it.
Finding out she was with child had brought her mixed emotions. The last time she’d found out she was pregnant, it had started a long line of catastrophic events.
She knew James wasn’t Frank, and things would be different this time. She would just have to keep that in mind.
She watched as James and Joey romped and played. They had rolled their pants up to their knees and were wading in the river, splashing each other.
Lyla and Bonnie laid out a large blanket and began to unpack the lunch they had prepared.
They’d made big turkey sandwiches, along with sliced apples and oat cakes. There was a large thermos of cool milk, some cheese, and a freshly-baked apple pie.
“It all looks so wonderful. We should call the boys up to eat.” Bonnie glanced at Lyla. “Are you going to tell him today?”
Lyla raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Tell him what?”
“That you’re pregnant,” Bonnie replied in a low voice.
“How-How did you know?” Lyla felt relieved somehow that somebody knew besides her, but it was beyond her how Bonnie had found out.
“You’ve been touching your stomach when you think no one is looking, and you have a strange air about you. I actually suspected several weeks ago.”
“I’ve only known for a couple weeks. Do you think they’ll be happy?”
Bonnie looked shocked. “Of course they will! They’ll be overjoyed.”
“I hope so. I guess… well, we’ve become so used to it just being the three of us, I hope James will be happy that we are about to get a little bit bigger.”
Bonnie smiled, reaching out to pat Lyla’s tummy. “I’m sure that James will be overjoyed to welcome this little one. Do you hear me?”
Lyla nodded, though she didn’t feel completely convinced. “I’m going to tell him after lunch.”
Before either of them could say anything more, James and Joey joined them, and they all began to eat.
Through the entire meal, Lyla tried to imagine what James’ reaction would be. By the time Bonnie suggested she go play with Joey for a while so that Lyla and James could have a moment together, Lyla was so anxious she felt as if she were going to burst.
“What’s wrong?” James asked once his mother had left.
“What do you mean?” Lyla wasn’t sure how to answer that.
“You look like something’s wrong. I could tell from the moment that we started eating lunch.”
“I actually have something to tell you, and I don’t know how you’re going to react,” she
confessed, looking away.
“Well, as long as you aren’t planning on running away, I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”
“Okay, how would you feel about another baby?” Lyla asked.
“I don’t know. I mean—” Suddenly, realization dawned on James’s face. “You mean… You’re—” James leapt up and threw his hands in the air. “We’re having a baby?”
Lyla smiled at his excitement. Bonnie had been right; it was a good reaction. “Yes, we’re having a baby.”
“When? Wow! This is so…I didn’t not expect that.”
“In around six months more or less,” Lyla added.
James reached down and pulled her up by the hands, then swung her around in a sort of jig.
Just at that moment, Joey came back. He watched them both for a few moments, then put his hands on his waist. “What’s going on? Why are you so happy? Aren’t you going to tell me, so I can be happy, too?”
James dropped Lyla’s hands and turned to Joey, lifting the little boy up and swinging him in a circle above his head. “We’re having a baby!”
Joey looked confused as James set him down. “You’re having a baby?” he asked James. “I didn’t know you could have a baby.”
“No,” James laughed. “Lyla is having a baby, but it’s going to be all of ours because we are a family.”
Joey looked over at Lyla. “Where is it?”
“It’s here, in my stomach. It will be here in about half a year. Before you know it, the time will come.”
“Oh,” Joey looked disappointed.
“What’s wrong?” Lyla asked.
“I thought it was already going to be here, or we were going to go get it now.”
Through giggles, Lyla explained to him that babies took time to grow big enough to be born, and that it wasn’t so easy and that they had to be patient.
The rest of the afternoon passed too quickly, and soon they were walking back to the ranch. Lyla and James were arm in arm, with Joey walking with a tired stride behind them with Bonnie. He yawned loudly and they all laughed.
“It’s hard for me to believe sometimes that all of this is real.” Lyla was thinking out loud and was almost surprised that she had spoken the words.
“I know what you mean. Lyla, I want you to know that you are the most special thing that has ever happened to me.”
“You really mean that?” Lyla looked up at his face, which seemed intense and almost sad. “I know that we have a really hard life ahead of us. We’re going to have so many hardships and challenges to get through. But I know we can do it as long as we do it together.”
Lyla nodded. “I know that this might seem a little out of place, but the day I met you, I kind of hated you. I never expected to fall in love with you. I never expected to fall in love with anyone. But you changed my life and my whole way of looking at things.”
They paused a moment and James reached out and put his hands on either side of her face. “I love you, Lyla.”
Lyla stared up at him. “I love you, too, James.
Lyla let herself enjoy the closeness she felt to the one man who had made her life complete. She was right where she belonged.
THE END
Can't get enough of Lyla and James? Then make sure to check out the Extended Epilogue to find out…
What if the ghosts of the heroes’ past are not laid to rest just yet?
How will Lyla find the courage to face someone who has deeply hurt her in the past and suddenly reappears in her life?
How will the relationship between our beloved couple evolve and how will they manage their newly made family?
Click the link or enter it into your browser
http://loreleibrogan.com/lyla
(After reading the Extended Epilogue, turn the page to read the first chapters from “A Bride to Soothe the Wounded Rancher”, my Amazon Best-Selling novel!)!
A Bride to Soothe the Wounded Rancher
Introduction
Fern has always minded her own business and just wanted to start a new life on her own. But when the false accusations of a man in town make her drunk father demand that she gets married, she will have to find an immediate solution. With nowhere to turn, she flees to the West as a mail-order bride for a mysterious stranger. And as more pieces from her husband’s past and present turmoil come to light, Fern is not sure if what she feels deep inside is fear or love. Will she eventually be brave enough to see the man who is hidden behind the deformed face?
Charley’s life during the last years has been quite solitary. His scars have disfigured not only his face but his soul too and the ghosts from his past don’t let him move on. Only until a beautiful woman appears in his life aiming to become his mail-order bride, there forms a ray of hope in his darkness. But will he let her touch his heart and heal his wounds? Or will he repel her too, afraid that there is no one in this world who could have true feelings for him?
Just when Fern and Charley succeed in putting together pieces that were broken for years, will their past leave them alone for long enough to enjoy it? Or is the situation about to get unstable once again, bringing about consequences they couldn’t even imagine?
Chapter 1
Fern paused outside the small townhouse where she had lived all of her seventeen years of life. It was a tiny house, squished between a row of others just like it. That’s what it was like when you were from a poor family. You were lucky to have a house to live in, and extra space was a luxury that many couldn’t afford.
The day was a dark one. It looked like it wanted to rain, even though it was barely dusk. She glanced back down the street where she had come from to see someone else disappear into their home.
The town was small, and it seemed that most everyone had the same habit of turning in quite early.
She adjusted the basket of clothes under her arm and squared her shoulders before opening the door. The house was quiet and had a homey smell that always made her feel more relaxed. Fern closed the door gently behind her. Chances were, her father was still awake, but she could certainly hope he was already sleeping.
“Fern, is that you?” his voice slurred, causing her to jump and gasp. Her father appeared at the doorway, a bottle of whiskey in his hand.
“Yes, I’m sorry I’m late. The Withers had a guest and needed me to stay a couple of hours longer than I anticipated.” Fern set the basket she was carrying down on the table and held back a sigh.
“So, you figured you would just stay and not even call me?” Her father’s voice slurred in an unnatural way, and Fern tensed. Tonight was going to be a difficult one.
“It’s my job,” she said.
Her father ran a shaky hand over his chin which was covered with stubble from the last few days of no shaving. His eyes looked bloodshot and angry. She looked away.
“Your job? I provide for this family!” Her father’s whiskey bottle slammed down on the wooden table.
Fern jumped a little but tried not to show her discomfort. Inside she felt like a tight spring, ready to explode. She tried to stay calm.
A Treasure Brought by Fate: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 29
