by Sky Winters
“No, I will not let anything happen to you,” he said, pulling her tighter in his arms. They stood there in silence, holding each other when the sounds of hoof steps range through the quiet homestead.
“Do you hear that?” she asked, looking up at him as she spoke.
“Yes, get in your bedroom. I will handle this,” he said, looking murderous as he grabbed his shotgun and walked out the door. She grabbed the puppy and did as he told her because she trusted him completely, no matter how scared she was for his safety.
It took everything in Terrance to leave Lacy’s side. He wanted to keep her close to him so that he could know for certain that she was safe and protected, not to mention the calm that her presence brought to him. Still, he knew that it was safer for them all if Baron did not see her. Baron had always escalated more quickly when females were around and he could not expose Lacy to that.
As soon as he left the house, he was met by Baron, the leader of his old gang and his former close friend, and three others who use to ride with them. They were all still astride their mounts, but Terrance was not afraid of any of them. At one time, they had all been afraid of him. No man is more terrifying than one fueled by anger and grief. Though he had put that in his past, his new found feeling for Lacy made him feel as though there was nothing that he would not do to keep her safe.
“Josiah,” Baron said, his face twisted in a nasty smirk.
“Baron,” he said, bracing himself for whatever was to come.
“You have something that is ours and we want it back,” Baron said without getting off his horse. His expression shifted from a smirk to a scowl and Terrance knew that he was in for a battle.
“It isn't mine and it isn't yours,” he said, his hand on his shotgun ready to raise it at the slightest hint they were going to move towards the house.
“Oh it is ours and I will spill your blood and the blood of that pretty little wife of yours to get it back,” he growled.
“Don't you speak about her and don't you dare go near her again,” Terrance snarled, instantly realizing that he had betrayed too much of his feel for her through his anger.
“Do you care about the poor little thing?” Baron asked, cocking his head with intrigue. “Here I was thinking she was just a part of your little cover here. That surely makes things interesting. You have until tomorrow at midnight. Boys, show him how serious we are,” he said, gesturing to the men behind him. With that, they rode around him towards the house, pulling bottles of oil from their jackets with rags hanging out of them and lighting them on fire.
Terrance was quick enough to shoot the bottle out of one man’s hand, but the man furthest from him was able to launch his through the window of Lacy’s room. With that, Baron and his men road away while Terrance sprinted in to the house to save his wife from the flames that threatened to finish the job that they had started when she was a young girl.
He barreled through the door and burst in to her room. He whipped the jacket off of his back and used it to stomp out the flames before turning to see his wife curled up in the corner, clutching the scared puppy to her chest.
“Lacy,” he gasped, sweeping her up in his arms as she let the wriggling puppy escape her grasp.
“Terry, oh Terry,” she said, burying her head in his chest and letting her tears fall.
“Are you alright,” he asked, his hands running over her arms and back as though he was trying to assure himself that she was really unharmed.
“I'm fine,” she said, beginning to calm down.
“I am so sorry. That must have been awful. You are shaking,” he said as he ran his hand through her hair to calm her.
“It's just the smell of the fire,” she explained, holding tighter to him.
“I love you,” he blurted out, too raw from the fear of losing her to keep his feelings to himself any longer.
“You love me?” she asked in awe, her mouth hanging open in shock.
“I never thought I could love anyone after my family died but I do. I love you Lacy. Having you in my life has healed something inside of me. I thought I put my rage away when I left the gang but I know now that all I did was bury that side of myself. It is having you in my life that has made me feel like it is worth living again. I need you to know that. No matter what happens, I need you to know that and to know that I will never let them hurt you,” he said, kissing the top of her head and holding her close.
“I love you too,” she said, placing her hand on his cheek as she spoke, so mesmerized by the thought that the man that she had come to love so dearly loved her in return.
“Really?” he asked, lifting her up in his arms and spinning her around joyfully. It seemed to odd to have such a perfect moment in the midst of such chaos, but he was so grateful for her that he could not contain the emotion.
“Yes, since the day that you brought home the puppy. It was the first time that I realized the kind of man you truly are. I have never felt so safe in my life, not since the fire. I love you and I trust you to keep us both safe,” she answered.
“I do not know what I ever did to deserve such an angel as you,” he said as she smiled down at her.
“I am so grateful to the Lord for bringing you in to my life,” she said, lacing her fingers through his hair and drinking in the sight of the love on his face.
“It is going to be alright. I have to go out after them. It is the only way, but I swear to you that I will be back,” he said, though he looked like he would rather be shot dead than leave her alone.
“You can't do that. Please, let's just go. We can be happy anywhere, as long as we are together,” she begged.
“No, I will not have them hanging over used like a cursed specter. This ends tonight,” he said sternly.
“Promise me that you are coming back to me,” she pled, looking at him as though she might never see him again.
“I swear on my love for you that I will,” he said, his heart overflowing with love for her. He swooped down them and kissed her, gently at first but the kiss deepened as her arms wrapped around his neck. When he finally pulled aware, the broad smile on her face made his heart soar.
“Be safe and return to me soon,” she commanded.
“I will,” he said as he grabbed the gun again and walked out the door.
He was gone for 5 days. They were the longest days of Lacy’s life. Each moment, she was consumed by fear of what could have become of him. Each time she heard a noise, she had a mixture of joy that he might have returned and terror that it was Baron and his men who had come back.
On the fifth day, she heard the beat of the hooves of one lone horse and she knew in her heart that he had returned to her. She dropped the knitting that had been in her hand and ran out the door with the puppy close behind her.
“You're back,” she cried, throwing herself at him the second he got off the horse.
“I told you I would be,” he said with a laugh as he pulled her in to an embrace.
“What happened,” she asked.
“I picked them off one by one,” he said, pulling off his hat and running his hand through his tangled hair.
“You killed them?” she asked solemnly. Though she knew that he had only done what he had to do, she hated for him to have to bear the burden of more blood on his hands.
“No, that part of my life is behind me. I just had to get them each alone. Together they are no match for a man fighting to protect what he loves,” he said, smiling down at her.
“What did you do,” she asked, confused.
“I just had to round each one of them up. Then I delivered them to the town where we robbed that last bank. I left them tied up with the money in front of the sheriff's office,” he explained, unable to hide just how proud he was of himself for managing to accomplish it.
“Won't they tell the sheriff about you?” she asked, worried that he would be taken from her just as they had both realized the depth of their love for each other.
“It is over. Nobody would beli
eve them. Besides, with the money returned they have no reason to keep looking for me,” he explained with a laugh.
“We are free then?” she asked, unable to believe that they were really free.
“Yes and now I have a question for you,” he said.
“Yes?” she answered before he dropped to one knee before her.
“Will you be my wife?” he asked as he took her hands in his.
“We are already married, you silly man,” she said as tears of joy filled her eyes.
“Legally yes, but what we have now is more of a business arrangement than a marriage. I want you to truly be mine. Be my wife and let me love you for all the days of our lives,” he said, looking so sincere that she felt as though her heart was about to burst in her chest.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she said. With that, he surged up and swept her up in his arms.
“We will have a good life, I promise you,” he said, burying his face in her hair.
“We already do,” she said with a smile.
With that, he carried her across the homestead to a large old tree that stood beyond the barn. There, in his favorite spot on their land, they said their vows again to each other. This time, there was no one but the two of them, vowing anew to spend their lives together, this time because of the love that bound them. As they spoke the words to each other again, their souls and hearts became one.
Return to TOC
Runaway Christmas Bride
Chapter One
New York City, 1872
Anna McLeary’s skin itched all over as she hurried away from the large house behind her. Mr. Marino and the fellas were playing poker and drinking whiskey, so unless they dumped their alcoholic beverages all over the floor, they wouldn’t miss Marino’s wayward housekeeper. At least, she prayed that was the case. Sometimes, Marino’s boys liked to include her in their fun, whether she wanted to be involved in it or not. Past memories shot through her mind, making her tremble harder and move faster.
Marino was a tyrant—as a foster parent and as a man in general. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, Anna had wished that crime boss had never found her alone and starving on the streets. His offer of food and sheltered had tempted her, and then it made her addicted to the twisted sense of security is large home supplied.
Now, at the age of 23, she was finally running away. With a dress stolen from one of Marino’s late night guests and with a purse full of money, she darted down the streets and toward the reassuring sounds of carriages and honks hummed in the distance—to the busier part of the city; that was her ticket to freedom, or at least it was a place to hide. Perhaps, for a time, Marino wouldn’t find her amidst the crowds.
Anna’s heart hammered, her mind reeling at her own actions. Fear and a strange, backwards sense of guilt jittered through her, chilling her blood. What if Marino did catch her? He had destroyed her snow globe—the one her father had made her—just because she had left the house without his permission one night to buy groceries.
Tears welled in her eyes and she choked on the air she was sucking in so readily. She wiped at her eyes and nose without slowing down.
That snow globe had meant everything to her. The little cabin inside of it—surrounded by tiny trees—it looked like a safe haven; it looked like home.
She pushed her way past several people once she was in the heart of the city. Though many of them cried out with rightful outrage, no one cared enough to stop her. And so lost in her panic, she hadn’t cared enough to apologize to them.
Her eyes darted over the shops’ signs as she traveled from street to street. A carriage hustled by her rapidly and forced muddy water to stain her dress, but the shock of this fueled her to move faster.
“Run,” she whispered to herself, not realizing she was speaking the words out loud. She felt like an animal that had been caged all of its life, and now, it was mere inches from freedom; it was so close, she expected to lose it at any second. “Run, run.”
When her eyes came upon the office she was looking for, her heart stuttered for a brief moment. Then it quickened up again as she ran inside the building.
The man in there—the only person there—jumped in his seat at her abrupt arrival. Blinking owlishly at her as she panted before, he shifted his glasses on his face and stood up from his desk. “Is there something I can help you with, ma’am?” With languid strides, he walked around his desk and stopped when he was standing right in front of her. “Forgive my forwardness, but something seems to be troubling you.”
She could have laugh. Instead, she swallowed down the bile that tainted the back of her mouth and stepped forward. “Sir, do you have any young gentleman in an isolated area looking for a wife?”
He smirked kindly at her. “Well, darling, this is an office for marital arrangements. Most of the men who pay for their ads to be posted in the paper contact us first.”
“I know,” she said impatiently. She looked over her shoulder, her skin so itchy now it was burning her. If Marino discovered he had stolen this dress from one of his women…. Anna shivered and looked back at the man. “Please, tell me if there is a man in the middle of nowhere—far, far away from anything and anyone.”
The man made a noise of thought and rubbed his chin. Completely unbothered by her obvious state of distress, he leaned back against his desk. “Now, there is one man that fits that description. I mean, most of these men live on ranches, you know, but this man live all alone in a cabin, in the woods. He—”
“Perfect,” she said. She tossed the purse to him, and he wildly flailed out his hands before dropping it. She didn’t care. “Tell him a new wife will be on her way to him as soon as possible.”
The man eyed her. “Ma’am, that is not how this works. You and the gentleman must correspond with one another in a telegram to ensure that there is consent from both parties.”
Anna clenched her teeth together to keep them from chattering. Fear was slowly turning into anger, but she continued to shake with the former. “Sir, does this man currently have any suitors?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Does he want a wife?”
The man sighed. “He claims to, yes, but I still have the responsibility to—”
“What is the problem? He has paid you, hasn’t he? And I am willing to pay you, too. Inform him he has a wife, and tell me where to go so that I can meet him and marry him.”
The man eyed her again. Then, with obvious reluctance, he leaned forward and picked up her purse of money. He weighed it in his palm—shook it about a bit—and pursed his lips out with intrigue. After he peeked into the purse, satisfaction lit his eyes and he shrugged. “I suppose this man was rather eager, as well,” he said, walking around until he was behind his desk. He opened a drawer, shifted some papers in there, and then took out a few specific pages. “Here it is, now. The man you want to marry—his name is Earl Smith, and he lives in Springwater, Colorado.”
Chapter Two
Springwater, Colorado
Having written down the directions the man in the office had given her, Anna traveled from the Colorado train station with nothing but the clothes on her back and the money in her purse. She headed for the small town Springwater, though—based on what the man had told her—Earl didn’t actually live in the town; he lived in the forest that surrounded the town, which was fantastic, as far as Anna was concerned.
The mere fact that she was several states away from Mr. Marino put her mind at ease. She was less frenzied as she traveled from one Colorado town to another. She bought food and clothes for herself in each town, and when she changed out of her stolen dress and into one of her new ones, she started feeling less like a stranger to this state and more like she belonged in it.
She was out of money by the time she reached the outer edge of Springwater’s forest, but she wasn’t worried. If anything, she was eager. There was a hop in her step as she walked through the forest with her bag swinging back and forth in her hands. In the back of her mind, she knew sh
ould be weary of wildlife, but she couldn’t help but focus more on thoughts of her future husband and her future home. She grinned, thinking about how handsome he might be—how lovely their home.
Anna mentally shook those thoughts from her head. It didn’t matter if her future husband was ugly and if the cabin was horrid; as long as she wasn’t anywhere near Marino and his fellas, she would be fine.
When she found the dirt road the man from the office back home had mentioned, Anna nearly squealed with delight. She was almost there. She would have run up that dirt path if she hadn’t been sore, but she was a city gal, and all this trekking through Colorado had taken a lot out of her; sleeping on the street hadn’t done much for her muscles either.
By the time she saw the cabin up ahead, it seemed like a Godsend. Despite the ache that pulsated through her entire body, she walked quickly to the cabin’s front door and dropped her small bag of new clothes. Standing before this door—being in front of her new home—she felt safer than she had in years, the calming sensation bringing tears of relief to her eyes.
Inhaling a quivering breath, she raised her fist and knocked on the door.
She waited several seconds, her ears straining to hear even the smallest of sounds. When she didn’t hear anything, she knocked on the door again.
