Tommy wrapped his arm possessively around his wife’s waist. “Over at the hotel. Can you believe it? We’re living up in Wichita. That’s not too far. We can see each other as often as we want. Say, you should come by the hotel for dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“Yes. And bring that fellow, what was his name?”
“John Elder,” Ava replied in her breathy voice.
Moira’s tongue felt thick and uncooperative. “How do you know Mr. Elder?”
“I wired looking for you.” Tommy appeared sheepish. “I hadn’t planned on coming out, but he sent the money. Sent enough for both of us. I told him I’d pay him back, but he wouldn’t hear about it. Told me that he owed you and you didn’t like asking for help.”
Don’t answer just yet, John had said. He was waiting. Not because he was uncertain of his feelings for her, but because he wasn’t certain of her feelings for him.
Ava pressed a hand into the small of her back. “My father didn’t approve of our marriage. That’s why we left Fool’s End.”
“And that other fellow.” Tommy’s expression darkened. “This fellow Wendell had a crush on her. Kept stirring up trouble.”
All the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Mr. Grey’s feigned ignorance. Wendell’s anger.
Her head reeled and her attention scattered as they chatted for a few more minutes, catching up on the lost years. When Ava’s eyelids drooped with fatigue, Tommy quickly wrapped up the pleasantries.
He caught Moira in a quick shoulder embrace without releasing his wife. “I’ll see you tonight. Can’t wait to catch up.”
Ava tucked herself against her husband’s side. “I’m sorry about everything that happened. I knew my dad was angry. I never expected him to act so outrageously.”
“Don’t apologize,” Moira said. “You can do me a favor, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Make your peace with him. Your father.”
“But after what he did—”
Moira held up a hand. “He was frightened. He was scared he’d never see you again. Sometimes people do crazy things when they’re scared.”
“I don’t know.” Ava hesitated. “He was awfully mad when we left. He disowned me.”
“At least let him know where you are. That there’s a baby on the way.”
The two exchanged a look.
“She’s right,” John said. “Moira is right.”
“If you think so.” Ava gazed adoringly at her husband.
The pair stared at each other with such devotion, Moira felt her own cheeks heat.
A few moments later, Moira stepped onto the porch and followed their progress. What had she been expecting? Tommy had moved on with his life. She’d been hanging on to her guilt for years. Using it like a wall to keep her from living. From truly experiencing life. She’d been afraid.
The watch had been returned and she didn’t expect a reply.
She hadn’t needed Tommy’s forgiveness, he had never blamed her. She had needed to forgive herself. She’d needed to understand that she’d been a child unfairly tasked with an adult promise. Her brother had moved on with his life. They weren’t kids anymore. Their relationship had changed. They would spend time together, visit, talk, but she couldn’t expect things to go back to the way they were.
That’s what John had been trying to tell her all along. She had wanted to go back and relive the years, take up where they’d left off, when she should have realized their lives would never be the same.
Tommy had a new family. It didn’t mean they weren’t a family as well, just that it had expanded. He was living his life. It was time for her to do the same. And she knew just where to start.
An hour later, standing before the door of the Elder ranch, Moira’s courage faltered. She heard sounds from behind the house and circled around toward the corral. John stood in the center, his sleeves rolled over his forearms. He held a horse tethered by a long rope. The horse trotted around him while John flipped the extra length of cord in a wide arc.
He caught sight of her and did a double take. He clicked and the horse halted. Gathering the rope, he unhooked the lead before strolling over.
Moira’s throat went dry. “I need your help.”
“Miss Moira O’Mara. Asking for help. I never thought I’d see the day. You know, I was asking God for a sign, and I think He just might have sent it.”
“I want to court someone.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “And do I know the gentleman?”
“I believe you’re intimately acquainted with him.”
“I see. And what sort of help do you need?”
“First off, I don’t know where to begin.”
John planted his elbow on the top rail of the fence separating them. “You should tell him how handsome he is.”
“He’s quite the handsomest man I’ve ever seen.”
“And you should compliment his intelligence. Men like to know a woman appreciates them for more than their good looks.”
“He’s quite the smartest man I’ve ever met.”
John hitched his other elbow on the fence and rested his chin on his fisted hands. “And humble, too, no doubt.”
“He’s extremely modest.”
“I’m starting to like this fellow.”
“I’ve fallen in love with him.”
John reached over the fence and cupped her cheeks with his work-roughened hands. “I suppose you ought to start there. With your feelings.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“I know, you already told me.”
“I should have asked you to marry me properly, on one knee and everything. With a ring and some flowers or something. I was too nervous. You want me to try again?”
“Nope. It was perfect the first time.” She smiled. “Thank you for letting me sort out things with Tommy.”
“If you need time with him, I’ll wait.”
“No. I’ve been lingering around the edges of life, not wanting to get hurt. Not wanting to lose people. Now that we’re together proper, I don’t want to waste a single minute.”
He slid his hand into her hair and angled his head. Their lips met in a sweet kiss and Moira sighed. “I should warn you. I have some conditions.”
“Tell me.”
“We’re having dinner with my brother tonight.”
“I can meet that demand.”
Moira kissed him again. “And I want Hazel to live with us.”
“Agreed.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “And I have one condition of my own.”
“What’s that?”
“I want a short courtship.”
Moira clambered over the tall fence and launched herself into his arms. “Agreed.”
Epilogue
One year later
Moira leaned against the stall door and sighed. John joined her and wrapped his arm around her waist, then rested his hand on the slight bump of her expanding stomach.
Five puppies whimpered and snuffed beside their mother in a nest of hay. They were squirming, fluffy bundles of brown-and-white fur, a mix of their sheepdog mother and collie father.
He shook his head. “Hazel, you’re going to name every one of them, aren’t you?”
“I’ve already decided on names,” Hazel declared. “That’s Violet, Rose, Daisy, Marigold and Lily.”
“I should have guessed,” John said.
Champion sniffed around the edges and lay down with a whimper. The mother belonged to their neighbors, the McCoys, but the sheepdog had taken up residence at the homestead shortly after Champion had arrived. The two families had tried to discourage the relationship, but love had won out.
John pointed at Champion. “Don’t look so proud of yourself.”
Moira elbowed him in the side. “You’re one to talk. I believe a certain father-to-be recently bought the general store out of cigars.”
The tips of his ears reddened. “Point taken.”
Moira pecked him on the cheek. “I love you.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Is that all you’re going to say?”
“Kiss me proper and I’ll try again.”
Moira tilted back her head.
“Ah, no,” Tony spoke from the large double doors leading outside. “Are you two kissing again? Give it a rest. We’ve got a visitor.”
John groaned and glanced over his shoulder. “Who is it?”
“You better come see for yourself.”
Moira exchanged a glance with John and shrugged. “I guess we better see for ourselves. Hazel, will you keep an eye on the puppies for us?”
Hazel nodded without looking up. Since the puppies had been born two weeks ago, she’d barely strayed from the barn.
John kept a protective arm around Moira’s shoulder as they emerged into the sunlight.
Her eyes widened. “Darcy?”
“Yep.” Tony smirked. “It’s her all right.”
“Tony,” Moira pitched her voice in a warning. “Be nice.”
“Yeah. I miss you, too,” Darcy grumbled.
She appeared years older than when Moira had last seen her, though only twelve months had passed. Her hair was caught in a loose knot at the base of her neck, with several loose strands falling over her shoulders. Her faded blue calico dress was rumpled and bags showed beneath her eyes.
“Preston is dead,” Darcy said, her expression bleak.
Moira pulled away from John and embraced Darcy. “I’m so sorry.”
She hadn’t thought much of Preston, yet she mourned his passing for Darcy’s sake.
“He got in a fight outside Chicago. Never recovered.”
“Why don’t you come inside?” Moira motioned toward the house. “You can sit for a while and have some lemonade.”
A sound caught her attention, and for the first time she noticed a basket sitting at Darcy’s feet.
Darcy knelt and lifted a bundle into her arms. “This is Preston Jr.”
Tony made a strangled sound in her throat. “You had a baby with that moro—”
“Tony!” Moira shushed her. “Let’s carry the rest of Darcy’s things inside. I believe we all have some catching up to do.”
Moira struggled against her shock and dismay. Darcy appeared too exhausted to answer the myriad questions flitting through her head.
Tony gathered the basket and a satchel and hooked her arm. “Follow me.” She paused and stared at the face peeking from beneath the folds of the blanket. “He’s pretty cute. I guess.”
“Here.” Moira reached out her arms. “Why don’t you let me carry little Preston.”
Darcy instantly relinquished the bundle. “I’m so tired. I don’t think I’ve slept in the three months since he was born.”
She yawned and pressed a fist against her mouth.
“Let’s not stand here yapping then,” Tony said, though her voice had softened considerably since she’d spotted the baby. “Come on inside.”
Moira stood in the fading sunlight and stared at the tiny, perfect infant in her arms. He was impossibly small and light, his eyes closed. He yawned, and his fingers splayed, then fisted once more.
In a few more months, she’d have one of her own. Sometimes she felt so much love for the new life growing inside her, her heart ached from it.
“Oh, my,” Moira crooned. “Isn’t he precious?”
John leaned in. “I should have seen this coming, but I didn’t.”
Her stomach plummeted. “You’re not angry, are you?”
“Of course not. But you know what this means, don’t you? Darcy still has a lot of growing up to do. If we take her in, chances are, we’ll end up raising this baby just as much as her.”
“Would you mind that very much?”
“It’s you I’m worried about.” He rested his hand on her rounded belly.
Moira blinked back tears. She never tired of looking at him. She’d memorized the tiny flecks of gold around his irises. The small creases that appeared at the corners of his mouth when he smiled. Beneath the warmth of his love, she’d learned to love herself. And that realization had opened her heart to a pure joy like she’d never experienced before.
She sighed. “You once said heroes don’t always appear the way we expect.”
“You know I can’t deny you anything when you look at me that way. As though I’m your hero.”
“You are.”
A blush crept up his neck at her compliment. “We shouldn’t make any hasty decisions.”
“Darcy has no place else to go,” Moira said simply. “And we’ve got enough love, it seems a shame not to share it.”
“If you’re certain.”
“All babies are a blessing.”
John adjusted his hat to the back of his head. “It’s going to be crowded when your brother and his family come to visit next week.”
“I know.”
“And Robert will be here the following month to purchase a few horses for his ranch.”
“We’ll make do.”
“You know you can’t save everyone.” He pressed his forehead against hers, the dozing baby between them, the brim of his hat shading them from the last rays of the evening sun. “But I love you for trying.”
“I do have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you going to tell Hazel that some of the puppies are boys?”
John chuckled. “Just as long as she doesn’t name the new baby.”
“But she’s already made a list.”
“Now I’m terrified.”
“She thinks Lancelot is a good name.”
“No.”
“Chester.”
“Definitely not.”
“Aphrodite.”
“Absolutely not.”
Moira trailed him back to the house, calling out increasingly ridiculous names along the way. When he paused on the porch, she smiled. “Thank you for knowing me better than anyone, and for loving me anyway.”
He wasn’t perfect, he had his faults, but then again, so did she. Together they made a good match.
“I love you, too, my fiery redheaded wife.” He scratched his chin. “And I’m kind of warming up to the name Lancelot.”
“No!” Moira shrieked.
They stepped into the house, still laughing, while behind them the setting sun cast golden shadows over the prairie.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from PROTECTED BY THE WARRIOR by Barbara Phinney.
Dear Reader,
I heard from many readers who enjoyed Winning the Widow’s Heart and were eager for more stories about the Elder brothers, so it’s my pleasure to bring you John and Moira. While John Elder is trying to escape his suffocating family, Moira O’Mara is desperate to reunite with her estranged brother.
As an author, I’m fascinated by families. Not only the families we are born into, but also the bonds we create with our friends and colleagues. Family dynamics shift over time, and I enjoy exploring how relationships change and grow through adversity.
While writing The Cattleman Meets His Match, I kept the words Who are you? scrawled on the dry-erase board above my desk. Both John and Moira are struggling to redefine their identities as their families evolve. It’s an experience I believe most of us can relate to on some level.
I love to hear from readers! You can email me at [email protected] or visit my website, www.
sherrishackelford.com. A special thanks to each of you who takes the time from your busy schedule to write a kind note and let me know you appreciate my stories.
Wishing you many blessings,
Sherri Shackelford
Questions for Discussion
John Elder feels overshadowed by his six older brothers. Do you think a person’s placement in the sibling lineup can have an effect on their personality?
Moira is having trouble picturing her brother as an adult. She still thinks of him as her baby brother. Why do you think it’s so difficult for her to admit that he has matured?
Moira doesn’t think of herself as a leader, but she earns the admiration of John and the other girls. Name some of the qualities that make Moira a good leader.
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” (Luke 14:28) I chose this verse as inspiration for the story because both John and Moira are on a mission, but neither of them truly realizes the cost associated with achieving their goal. What are some of the unexpected consequences of the journey they undertake?
Both Moira and John fight their growing attraction. Have you ever held back a part of yourself because of something that happened in the past? What was the outcome?
John feels like a failure because he ended the cattle drive early. Moira feels like a failure because she couldn’t convince Darcy to stay. What did each of them have to learn to be at peace?
When Moira and her brother are finally reunited, Moira must accept that the future she envisioned for them will never be. Have you ever clung to an ideal and found the reality was far different from your imagination?
Though John loves Moira, he realizes she must make peace with her past before they can have a future. He makes the decision to trust in God’s timing. What does the Bible say about patience?
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired story.
You believe hearts can heal. Love Inspired stories show that faith, forgiveness and hope have the power to lift spirits and change lives—always.
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