by Caroline Lee
His free hand rose to brush against the scarring at what had once been his eye socket. “You're the only one who has ever seen beyond the damage, Pearl Shelby. In the last twenty years, people have only seen one side of me. You cared enough to see the rest of me, to make me see myself. To make me think about who I was, and who I wanted to be.”
He dropped her hand, but only long enough to wiggle his mother's gold ring off his smallest finger. “When I heard the reverend’s plan, I thought this was the dumbest scheme I'd ever heard. But now?” He snorted slightly with laughter. “If you say yes, Pearl, I'm going to march over there and shake Hammond’s hand.”
He held the gold ring up between two fingers. She knew he’d worn it for many years, and she thought about what it meant to him. That little ring wasn't just a piece of jewelry, wasn't just a memory of his mother. For twenty years, it has been a reminder of his hidden self. The man his mother had died believing him to be. Who he wanted to be.
And now, he was offering it to her.
Could she do it? Could she take the sheriff—the man—as her future? He'd met all of her objections and countered them with reasonable arguments. If he really didn't care about her past, if he really wanted to just focus on the future, then who was she to tell him no?
So her throat was dry when she asked him, “If I say yes to what?”
“Somewhere in the last five days—hell, it's only been five days?—you showed me what love could be.” He lifted the ring a little higher. “I love you, Pearl.”
I love you. How long had she yearned to hear those words again? How many times had she dreamed of hearing them from him, but dismissed it as impossible? I love you.
She wanted to scream, I love you too! But her heart was stuck in her throat, and she couldn’t make a single peep.
His smile was back. “Marry me, Pearl. Build a future with me. Not as Draven, but as Gilder.” He scowled threateningly. “Although you better not ever tell anybody that's my name.”
She felt the laughter bubbling up inside of her, like a spring of joy she couldn't contain, even if she wanted to.
“If you're willing to trust me with that kind of secret” —she took the ring out of his hand, and slipped it on her fourth finger— “then I suppose I should trust you with my future.”
He captured both of her hands in his and brought them to his lips. She felt his scars brushing against her fingertips as he kissed her skin. But the feeling was pleasant and made her tremble from something not at all like fear. She loved this man. She loved the way he made her feel, and the way he felt under her touch. And now, they would have the rest of their lives to love one another, and be loved.
“Well, Sheriff Draven,” she asked shyly, “when are you willing to stand up in front of the preacher?”
He kissed her fingertips again. “How about right now? Hammond should be down at the Golden Nugget Saloon—either drinking coffee at his table or upstairs in his room with his new wife. I could convince him to stand up with us in front of that dumb Christmas tree.”
Without giving her time to agree, he jerked his head towards the outer room and the jail cell. “Soon, I'm going to have to head to Denver with Abernathy. I could drop him with one of the judges I know, but I was thinking about just letting Maybelle's family know his plans. They could get in contact with Maybelle in San Francisco, and she can press charges. That way you don't have to be involved at all. What do you think?”
“I think you know me better than anyone would have guessed, myself included.” She shuddered slightly, remembering the evil look in Abernathy's eyes. “I just want this whole thing behind us.” So they could get on with their forever.
He nodded firmly and used his grip on her hands to pull her towards him. Wrapping one arm around her middle, he crushed her hand—and his mother's gold ring—between their two beating hearts.
“I'll wait until the real railroad representative arrives,” he whispered against her hair. “I think Mr. Stiles might like to meet his impersonator, and an extra week in my cold jail cell might make Abernathy more willing to talk to the judge. Do you want to come with me?”
The offer took her by surprise, and she leaned back slightly. “To Denver?”
“Yeah. As a honeymoon.”
A honeymoon? Her eyes widened. “You mean it? You’d be willing to take me—?”
His exasperated huff ruffled her hair. “I’m not going to let you out of my sight, soon-to-be-Mrs.-Draven. I love you.”
Would she ever tire of hearing that? “I know it might be a little hard for you to say that, but I hope you understand I’m a little…unsure. Of myself.” She buried her burning face against his neck, and mumbled the rest. “I hope you don’t mind reminding me once a month or so?”
She felt, rather than heard, his rumble of laughter. “Pearl, I’ll tell you three times a day if it’ll help.”
His laughter made her feel less awkward. “Only three?” she asked against his shoulder.
“Yeah,” he drawled. “So you better choose when to hear them wisely.”
“Maybe…” She pulled back, tilting her head to look into his face. “Maybe right now?
“I love you, Pearl.”
When he lowered his lips to hers, she felt her worries and fears melting away. This is where I belong. Here, in this home, with this man. This was her future, and she was blessed to have a man who didn’t care about her past.
When they pulled apart, she was disappointed, but he dropped another kiss on her nose.
“I love you.”
Her eyes widened in mock surprise. “That was four! Four times in one day?” she teased.
“Well,” he drawled, his smile growing, “it is our wedding day. I’m willing to make exceptions.”
Our wedding day.
“I love you, Gilder Draven.”
“Enough to promise never to tell anyone my first name?”
Laughing, she threw her arms around his middle. “I love you enough to promise you anything you want!”
“Good.”
He scooped her up into his arms, and she squealed as he strode for the door. “Then let’s head on down to the saloon so the reverend can marry us for real, and we can come back here and continue what we started earlier.”
She was smiling when she wrapped her arms around his neck. “What? Our kiss?” She wouldn’t mind continuing that later.
“No.” He smiled down at her. “Our forevers.”
Keep reading for a sneak peek from The Goose: The Sixth Day!
And for those of you who thought Draven sounded familiar, that’s because he appeared in my gender-bending fairy tale spoof, The Prince’s Pea. Check out what he’s been up to, and how a case of mistaken identity—someone who looked enough like him to fool a mob!—lands one hero in hot water in this fun reimagined fairy tale.
If you’ve enjoyed Draven and Pearl’s redemption story, I urge you to friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter; I frequently post fun bits of social history that I find while researching my latest book. Do you like reading historical westerns, and like hanging out with others who do too? Join us on the Pioneer Hearts Facebook page, where we have the most wonderful discussions, contests, and updates about new books!
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Dying to find out who the next couple is in our Twelve Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides series? Here’s a letter from the bride in The Goose: the Sixth Day.
Dear Mr. Thornton,
I received your letter today, and I am truly looking forward to traveling to Noelle and meeting you in person. Mrs. Walters has told the brides about Noelle, and it sounds like a pleasant town to settle. You expressed some concern about my adjusting to the remoteness of the Colorado mountains, but I can assure you that this will not present a problem. I am quite u
sed to living a simple life and prefer the country to the hustle and bustle of a large city.
Knowing that you used to be a miner gives us a common ground. My father was a gold prospector in the Montana Territory. When my mother passed away about seven years ago, my father gave up prospecting and we settled in Virginia City, the capitol of the territory. With the recent passing of my father, it is time for me to find a new place to call home. His last wish was that I find a good man to marry.
Your ranch sounds absolutely wonderful, and I believe it will be the right fit for me. I was very pleased to find out that you have a great affinity for animals, and especially horses. I, too, love animals, and have a pet of my own. I know he will thrive on a ranch as opposed to living in town. The move from Montana Territory to Colorado has upset him somewhat, but I am confident that he will settle in right away on the ranch, as will I. I look forward to our meeting, and count the days until Christmas Eve.
Yours truly,
Molly Norris
This series is so much fun, and I know you’ll enjoying finding out how Storm Thornton takes to Molly’s “pet” as much as I did! Click here to get The Goose: the Sixth Day!
Other works by Caroline Lee
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ACKNLOWEDGEMENTS
First of all, I owe a debt of gratitude to Elisabeth Burke and Kit Morgan. Last year I woke up from a dream and thought “Wow, that would make a great multi-authors series!” After pondering it for a while, I reached out to these two ladies to make sure I wasn’t crazy…and they agreed! I mean, they agreed it would be a good series, not that I was crazy. Anyhow, we met in person and sat down to hash out the over-arching plot, and the rest is history. Thank you, thank you, ladies, for making this series happen. Without you, I’d still be sitting here wondering where my subconscious comes up with such wild ideas…
Thank you to all of my fans; readers who enjoy historical western romance! I couldn’t do what I love without your support. I owe a grand debt to my critique partners Alyssa Mierta and Merry Farmer. Also, my editor CM Wright is pretty awesome.
Thanks are owed to my Cohort. If you’re on Facebook, and you adore my tales enough to want to help brainstorm the next one and promote the current one, drop me a line about joining Caroline’s Cohort. The more, the merrier!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caroline Lee is what George R.R. Martin once described as a "gardener author"; she delights in “planting” lovable characters in interesting situations, and allowing them to “grow” their own stories. Often they draw the story along to completely unexpected--and wonderful!--places. She considers a story a success if she can re-read it and sigh dreamily... and she wishes the same for you.
A love of historical romance prompted Caroline to pursue her degrees in social history; her Master's Degree is in Comparative World History, which is the study of themes across history (for instance, 'domestication of animals throughout the world,' or 'childhood through history'). Her theme? You guessed it: Marriage throughout world history. Her favorite focus was periods of history that brought two disparate peoples together to marry, like marriage in the Levant during the Kingdom of Jerusalem, or marriage between convicts in colonial New South Wales. She hopes that she's able to bring this love of history-- and this history of love-- to her novels.
Each one of the books in her Sweet Cheyenne Quartet has reached the Best-Sellers list on Amazon, and all are available in e-book and paperback formats.
Caroline is living her own little Happily Ever After with her husband and children in North Carolina.
You can find her at www.CarolineLeeRomance.com.
