When they had passed through the gate of the perimeter fence, he led Rosie to the shelter of an old tree and they stood in the cool shadows beneath its foliage, facing the homestead. He waited, though the silence was agony.
“Joshua…” Rosie ran her eyes over his face and he felt them there as he would feel her touch. His heartbeat quickened and he licked his lips. Even now, he longed to pull her to his chest and shower her face with kisses.
“Rosie?”
“I have something I need to tell you and I’m…I’m afraid to in case it alters how you see me but also I need to…because I would be honest with you always.”
“Nothing you could say would change how I feel about you, sweetheart.” He stroked her cheeks, rubbing his thumbs over her lips, then he leaned forward and kissed her. Gently. Her fragrance washed over him, sweet and uplifting as honeysuckle, fresh and mouth-watering as apples. He moved in for another kiss but she placed her hand over his lips.
“No. Please. You’ll distract me, and I must say this first or I’ll lose my nerve.”
“Then lose your nerve, Rosie. I don’t care about anything as long as you love me. I want you as my wife. Let’s get married and we can talk later.” Fear throbbed in Joshua’s gut, cold and heavy. He would prefer not to know anything that could alter the course he had chosen. He was exhausted by change, by insecurity, and by the fear that someone would step in and take away the chance he had for happiness with Rosie. He did not want anything, whatever it was, to prevent him taking her to wife.
“Joshua, I must tell you. I will not enter into a marriage when there are things unsaid. I will not.” She shook her head and he watched as her hair swept across her breasts, revealing the tops of the plump mounds, which showed at her neckline. He fought the urge to place a hand there, where amber satin met rose hued skin, so that he could touch her, possess her, caress her in the way he knew she loved. More than ever, she was softer, rounder, more feminine.
“Then speak, for I cannot wait much longer to make you mine for eternity.” He smiled, hoping to relax her, but she bit her lip instead and lowered her eyes.
“Joshua, I love you. With everything that I am, I love you. For a time, I was afraid that you did not feel the same…”
“No! How could I not have? I adore you, Rosie. I am so sorry that I did not sort things out sooner.”
“That is of no consequence now, my love. I know and understand. But when I left and went away I did something bad.”
“Rosie, how could you have done something bad? You are too good, too sweet to hurt anyone or anything.” His heartbeat increased and his blood rushed hot and noisy in his ears.
“Oh, Joshua, that is not true.”
Rosie covered her mouth with trembling hands and gasped repeatedly. Joshua watched as her eyes brimmed with tears that trickled down her cheeks and over her fingers. What could she have done?
“Come now,” he pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head, “tell me and let us become husband and wife.”
Rosie pulled away from Joshua’s comfort then glanced at his face and took a deep breath. How to explain? How could she tell him exactly what had happened to her when she was away and when she thought that they could never be joined in matrimony?
She shivered. Though the day was warm, she was chilled to the bone.
Joshua reached for her but she avoided the comfort of his touch. “No, Joshua. Let me speak then you can decide if you still want me in your life.”
Her stomach churned and her throat ached. She longed to forget, to move on, to push her sins from her mind and become Mrs. Joshua Hampton, but she had to do this first.
“When I went away, I thought it was for the best. I believed that I could set you free from any obligation and that I was doing the right thing.”
“Oh, Rosie, did you think that I wouldn’t come after you?”
She shook her head. “I had hoped…I guess I knew… Oh, what’s the use? I did what I hoped was the right thing.”
“But of course it wasn’t, sweetheart. I love you and I need you by my side.”
Oh please repeat that in five minutes’ time.
“I hadn’t been feeling well for a while but I attributed it to heartache at knowing that I should leave you. Only, when I was away I discovered that I was, in fact, with child.” Rosie worried her lower lip and stared hard at the ground. She fixed her eyes onto a tiny bug that gripped a blade of grass and watched as it held on in spite of the persistence of the breeze. She felt like that bug, hanging on for dear life, afraid that she would be unsettled any moment.
“You are with child?” Joshua grabbed her hands and pulled her close. “Oh, Rosie, that is such good news. I am to be a father.” He cradled her to his chest and Rosie’s vision blurred.
“Wait, Joshua. Please. Wait.”
He released her gently then tipped her chin up. “What is it?”
“The woman, Mrs. Appleby, who I lodged with, suggested that if I was to be alone then I might not want…” Her throat closed over. “I might not want to…to keep the child.”
Joshua scanned her face. His eyes were blank for a moment then, as realization dawned, they filled with what Rosie could only describe as terror. He opened and closed his mouth as if searching for words he was unable to find.
Rosie placed a trembling hand on his chest and smoothed it over his shirt front.
“Joshua… She took me to a midwife…a local woman who examined me and confirmed that I was indeed expecting a babe. She gave me a paste, an herbal concoction, which she told me to consume. But only, and she stressed this, only if I would wake the following morning to find myself bleeding.” The words seemed to fill her mouth with the salty tang of blood, and bile rose in her throat.
Joshua pushed his hands through his hair and turned to gaze out across the plains. His jaw twitched and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Joshua? Tell me what you’re thinking, please. I cannot bear it.”
He paused and swallowed before turning back to face her. “So there is no child.”
“No, Joshua, no.”
“Oh, Rosie, I am so sorry, I—”
“No, my love, what I mean is that I returned to my lodgings with the paste and spent the afternoon in thought. I remembered in vivid detail every kiss we had shared, all the plans we had made, and most of all how much I love you. How completely you lift my heart when you smile and how much I adore holding you to my breast. How much…” A sob strangled her words. “Joshua, I could not do it. I resolved to find a way to keep the babe, to make a life for us, even if I could not be your wife, and even if you would not be able to care for us.”
Joshua eyed her stomach. When she placed a hand there, he covered it with his own, and she was immediately reassured by the warmth of his touch.
“You need worry no longer, Rosie. I will provide for you both.”
“But can you ever forgive me?”
“Forgive you? But what for?”
“I thought, if just for the briefest time, of destroying our child. Surely that is unforgiveable?”
Joshua smiled as he ran a finger over her cheek then settled his hand on her shoulder. “Rosie, whatever you thought, you did not do it, and I am convinced that you never would have. You are a good woman, and I know how much you adore children. You would never have killed our baby…whatever you thought lay ahead of you.”
Rosie’s heart thundered and she focused on slowing her breathing. It would not be good for the little one if she became distressed. And now, all would be well, for Joshua Hampton didn’t hate her. He understood why she had considered doing the unthinkable. Why she had not done it. That she never would have done it. For he knew her and loved her and she could ask for no more.
“Now, I have one more question for you, Rosie.”
She steeled herself, preparing for whatever it might be.
“Will you marry me today and be mine for the rest of your days?”
She smiled and took his hands, moving into hi
s warm embrace.
“Yes, Joshua Hampton. I am ready to become your wife.”
Joshua’s eyes changed then, and Rosie sighed as she registered the desire within them. He took hold of her shoulders and moved her gently around the tree so that it obscured them from the house, then he kissed her with a warmth and passion that made her heart swell and her body tingle.
Rosie leaned against the thick, hard trunk, allowing it to support her as Joshua ran his large hands down her sides then up over her stomach to cup her breasts through the soft fabric. Her nipples pebbled beneath his familiar fingers and heat rushed through her body.
“Joshua…we can’t…not here!”
Please, here. Now.
“I can’t wait until later, Rosie. I need you so badly.”
Rosie glanced around the tree and was glad to see that her brothers were still busy arranging the yard. “We might have a little time.”
“Yes.” He lowered his head and kissed the tops of her breasts until she moaned with the heady need that flowed through her veins. Her body was so responsive, so sensitive, and she longed to feel Joshua’s hands all over her as he buried himself deep inside her.
Suddenly wanton, she lifted her skirts and slid down her bloomers then grinned as he loosened his trousers. The bulge beneath his belt informed her that he was ready to make love to her.
“This is…naughty, Joshua. A little wanton, don’t you think?”
“It will be our final time before we marry, Rosie. I think we can indulge ourselves.” He raised his eyebrows and Rosie giggled in response. They were to be married. They would have a child. Everything would be just fine and dandy.
Joshua freed his length and Rosie whimpered at the jolt of desire that curled in her sex. She wanted this man. To be joined both physically and emotionally with him.
He took her thighs in his hands and lifted her so that her legs rested around his waist then he slid slowly inside her. Rosie rested her head on his chest and allowed the gentle rocking of their bodies to carry her along the pleasure wave. The summer breeze toyed with her hair, Joshua’s strength held her in place and their bodies met as they joined in the instinctive pursuit of ecstasy.
In mere moments, Rosie felt the hot rush of intense ripples as they spread from her core and exploded in all the parts of her that made her a woman. Then Joshua increased his pace and soon swelled inside her before filling her with his heat and covering her mouth with his own.
“My wife,” he whispered when he pulled away from their kiss.
“Always,” Rosie replied as she met his satisfied gaze.
Chapter Twelve
Rosie stood on the porch and looked out at the yard. Her brothers had done a good job of creating an aisle out of the benches taken from the house, which Catherine had hastily adorned with a variety of wild flowers plucked fresh from the prairie. A gentle breeze cooled the warm afternoon and carried with it the scents of summer, of home and of hope.
“Are you ready, sister?”
Rosie met Kenan’s warm brown eyes and smiled. Her lips twitched as she did so, betraying her nerves and high emotions.
“Yes, brother. I am ready.”
Kenan held out his arm and Rosie took it. Her stomach fluttered so she placed her free hand over it gently. Yes, little one, time to create our family. She frowned as she cupped the slight bump. Had it been the child moving then and not just her anxiety like butterflies within? No, it’s too soon. But the thought that there was a chance, however small, that she had just felt her baby quicken within her womb brought tears to her eyes. She would be a wife and a mother. The two things she had longed for yet never really believed she would gain.
Suddenly, a sweet tune began inside the homestead. It seemed to come from deep within, quiet and calm but then increasing in strength. It grew and grew, getting louder by the second, until Emmett appeared in the doorway. He flashed Rosie a grin before deftly stepping past her, the small Irish fiddle tucked under his chin as he played an old, haunting and familiar tune.
It proved too much, hearing a song that her father used to play, and Rosie gave in to the torrent of emotion as the tears coursed down her cheeks and sobs wracked her chest.
She blinked as Joshua appeared at her side and pulled her into his strong embrace then held there until her shaking ceased.
“Rosie…sweetheart. Emmett did not mean to upset you so. He thought only to play a tune that would remind you of your father and happy memories.”
Rosie sniffed and patted a handkerchief Joshua had placed in her hand to her eyes.
“Oh my darling, I am just extremely happy and I think that”—she lowered her voice—“the pregnancy is making me more emotional.”
“I know.” He kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her lips. “And I am happy, too. But I’m also keen to get through the day so that I can hold you in my arms and snuggle you in my bed as my wife.” He pressed his lips to her ear. “The tree on the prairie was wonderful but not as comfortable as a bed will be.”
Rosie’s cheeks warmed and she glanced around them, but her siblings, sister-in-law and the preacher were standing a respectable distance away.
“Shall we try again?” Joshua asked.
“Yes. Let’s.” Rosie nodded.
Joshua made his way over to the preacher, where he stood grinning back at her.
Rosie held a hand out to Kenan. He took his position at her side again and Emmett began a new tune, then Rosie began the happiest walk of her life.
When they had reached the end of the aisle, Kenan kissed Rosie’s cheek then gave her hand to Joshua. Kenan stared at Rosie for a moment, his eyes like burning coals, and she realized that he was filled with a mixture of happiness and nostalgia. As twins, they had always been close, and for a long time he had been the main man in her life, but now he was giving that position to another. As it should be. But for a man like Kenan, handing over responsibility was tough and he would worry, no doubt, about whether Joshua was up to the task.
Rosie, however, had no qualms at all.
Joshua squeezed her fingers and she felt that he was trembling. He shifted from one foot to the other as if standing barefoot on hot sand. He’s nervous, poor love. In spite of his reassurances, he is anxious, too. Rosie leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “All will be well, my love. This is as it should be.”
Joshua’s eyes lit up and he kissed her quickly, causing her to giggle.
“Now, now, Mr. Hampton, there will be time enough for that later,” the preacher scolded.
“Yes, sir.” Joshua nodded. He removed his Stetson and placed it on a nearby bench.
The music slowed then ceased and Emmett came to stand at Kenan’s side. Rosie glanced around her. Kenan stood with his arm around Catherine and she rocked gently, nursing the babe to her chest. Matthew was grinning as if he’d just won a hand of poker and was about to collect his winnings. Emmett still held the fiddle and bow in his hands as he waited for the preacher to begin. And Joshua was at her side, tall, handsome, muscular. A man. Her man. Soon to be her husband.
It was perfect and she vowed to treasure this moment forever so that she could relate it to her children and one day her grandchildren in vivid detail.
“Let us begin.” The preacher opened a small, battered bible and started to read a sermon. Rosie listened to the familiar words and tried to focus her eyes on the religious man, but Joshua’s presence ignited her senses and sent a warm glow throughout her body.
“And do you, Rosie Duggan, swear to take this man—”
“What’s that?” Joshua raised a hand to shade his eyes as he peered into the distance. A cloud of dust swirled around, obscuring their view, but Rosie could hear the far off hoofbeats of several horses. Her chest tightened and a chill crept over her despite the warmth of the day. It had all been too good to be true. She should have known it.
She had come so close to becoming Joshua’s wife, but now someone or something was about to put a stop to her dreams.
Joshua wrapped
an arm around Rosie’s shoulders and pulled her close as it became clear who rode toward the homestead.
“Your family,” Rosie whispered, resting her head against his chest.
“What in the hell are they doin’ here?” Joshua growled as he squeezed Rosie even tighter.
Her heart thumped, and she longed to scream with the unfairness of it all. Why were they coming to her home? Today of all days.
But she knew. All too well. They came to stop her wedding. To crush her dreams. To steal away her happiness.
“Are they here to cause trouble?” Kenan stood at Joshua’s side and frowned at the approaching crowd.
Joshua shrugged. “I…I guess so… I told them we were getting wed, but I didn’t think they’d come, so I guess it’s trouble they’re after.”
Kenan turned to Catherine. “Take Rosie and the little one into the house. Stay there.” He glanced at Rosie then back at his wife. Catherine nodded.
“No, Kenan. I want to know why they’ve come. I’ll not hide away inside.”
“Rosie—” Joshua pressed his lips to her forehead and cupped her face in his warm hands. “Go inside. Please. It might not be pretty, and I’ve no desire to see you upset on our wedding day.”
“Joshua, I can’t. I’m sorry but I need to know the truth. I need to hear it. There’s no sense in hiding from it.”
He paused for a moment and Rosie trembled as she held his gaze. She willed him to be strong and to do the right thing. To do what he needed to do, not what he thought was best for everyone else.
“You’re right, sweetheart. It should all be out in the open now. But whatever they say, you remember that I love you and that we’re”—he offered a shy smile—“we’re almost wed.”
Rosie tried to return the smile but her lips refused to cooperate. They remained tight and pained, locked in a grimace of anxiety as her lover’s relatives reached the perimeter fence.
“Afternoon!” Dylan Hampton dismounted and tethered his horse to the fence then walked the remaining distance to stand before his son. He was followed by two of his sons and, Rosie lowered her eyes to hide her surprise, by his wife.
A Rancher for Rosie Page 10
