Wild Passion

by Dawn Luedecke

  Chapter 24

  “Are you certain?” Carrie asked for Beth as the doctor placed the stethoscope around his neck. She grabbed Beth’s hand and squeezed. She’d fled to her friend’s house only to find her bent over the bushes behind the kitchen sicker than she’d ever been before. Ignoring her own immediate needs, she’d rushed Beth to the doctor’s. Leaving a note for Garrett to let him know they’d return shortly. Carrie mentally shook her head. Thankfully this doctor was not the one who’d administered the chloroform to Simon.

  Interrupting her thoughts, the doctor nodded. “Yes, ma’am. It’s going to be a Christmas baby.”

  Beth gave a happy giggle, but placed her hand over her mouth as if holding back the urge to vomit. “Garrett’s going to be surprised. And pleased.”

  “You should start feeling less queasy in the next week or two. Just try to keep food down as much as possible, and stay well hydrated. And rest. Lots of rest.”

  “No problems there,” Beth said, and stood. “It seems that lately I do nothing but expel what I eat, followed by a lot of sleeping.”

  “Now for you, young lady.” The doctor faced Carrie and pulled the stethoscope over his ears.

  “Me?” Carrie leaned away from the doctor’s hand as he extended the mouthpiece to her stomach.

  “Yes. I suspect you’re a few weeks further along than Mrs. Jones.”

  Carrie shook her head. “There’s no way.”

  The doctor frowned, sat back, and pulled his earpiece down. “Are you certain? You’ve got a little bump forming there.” He poked at her stomach and made her wrap her hands around her middle. “Good you aren’t wearing a corset. Have you felt any of the symptoms your friend has?”

  Carrie shook her head numbly. The thought of Simon’s child filling her belly sent a riot of emotions coursing through her thoughts. Elation. Fear. Desperation. She couldn’t be pregnant.

  She snuck a peek at Beth, who stared wide-eyed at her. Carrie’s face grew hot, and she gave a desperate whisper of a chuckle.

  The doctor adjusted the stethoscope and leaned into her stomach. “Yep. There’s a little one in there. I’d say you’re about to start looking less like you overate and more like you’ve got a baby hidden away.”

  “Beth,” Carrie said her friend’s name with distress.

  “It’ll be fine,” Beth all but whispered.

  The doctor frowned. “I take it the father isn’t in the picture?”

  “I…he…” Carrie stuttered.

  The doctor waved off her poor excuse. “Ain’t no business of mine, but you may want to consider getting hitched. Don’t want your baby growing up without a male figure in his life to guide him.”

  “It’s a boy?” Carrie asked, but the question sounded dumb, even to her.

  “No telling. I was speaking generally. Point is, you need to figure things out soon.” The doctor stood and motioned toward the door. Both she and Beth followed, although Beth with more of a bounce in her step than Carrie.

  Once they were on their way down the street and clear of anyone who could overhear, Carrie leaned in toward Beth’s ear. “What am I going to do? My father kicked me out of the house this afternoon when I rejected Thomas’s hand in marriage. I can’t go back there.” She sniffled as tears rolled down her cheeks. “My life is falling in on me, and I can’t see how to dig myself out.”

  “Bosh,” Beth replied. “We all know whose baby that is. And don’t you dare keep that little one from my brother. Else I’ll never let you over to let the kids play.”

  She didn’t know how to answer Beth’s response. She needed to tell Simon. Maybe even trust in him. “Can I stay with you until I figure things out?”

  “Of course, but don’t wait to tell Simon.” Beth locked arms with her and hugged her close. “We’re going to be sisters.”

  Beth’s excitement was contagious, but at the same time Carrie’s nerves made her nausea worse. Would Simon welcome a little one as Beth suggested? Would he run or insist on marriage? She didn’t want to force Simon into marriage, whether by guilt over having ruined her or because of a baby. She wanted a husband who loved her for being her. He’d yet to tell her so in person. Sure she’d heard it in her passion-filled dreams when they’d spent the night alone in the mountain cabin, but the real Simon had never confessed such a thing. And even though she was adventurous enough to venture into a logging camp, she wasn’t brave enough to throw herself at him like the weak woman deep inside her—who sounded a lot like her mother—wanted to.

  Carrie and Beth walked together, both consumed in their thoughts until Beth’s house came into view. Simon’s carriage was parked on the street out front.

  “Looks like we’ve both got some talking to do.” Beth let go of Carrie’s arm as she led the way up the staircase. “You take the study, and I’ll talk to my husband in our room.” She peeked over her shoulder and smiled as Carrie tossed her a pleading stare. “And don’t worry. Garrett will be fine with you staying here. Set yourself up in the spare room at the end of the hallway upstairs.” She opened the door and ushered Carrie through. “I assume you brought bags with you before you picked me up out of the bushes?”

  Carrie nodded but wrung her hands as her heart sought out the sound of Simon somewhere in the house. “I left it in the kitchen.”

  “Good luck with you.” Beth headed toward the gentle murmur of the men’s voices occupying the study.

  As Carrie stepped tentatively through the door, Beth ushered Garrett out and shut the door behind her. Leaving Carrie to face her truth alone.

  “Are you all right?” Simon’s face dropped in concern, and he rushed to grab her hands to lead her to a nearby seat.

  “No,” she started. “I have something I need to talk to you about.”

  “First,” he interrupted. “I need to tell you…Aunt June…I mean, I heard that you rejected your father’s proposal.”

  “Proposal?” she scoffed. “Don’t you mean business deal?”

  Simon rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and paced before her. “Yes. Business deal. But you need to know that what I did, accepting the challenge, it was all for you.”

  “To rescue me?” She pinched her lips together to stop her chin from quivering.

  “No.” He stopped pacing and spun around to face her. “To rescue me. Don’t you see? You are the only thing in this world that makes sense. The only person who can make me the man I’m supposed to be. Without you, I’m nothing. I know you have plans for your future, but I’m asking you, pleading for you to consider me as an alternative.”

  “Simon…” she sniffled as tears rolled down her cheeks so fast they wet her blouse. She no longer wanted to hold in the emotions she’d staunched for who knew how long. “Simon, I need to tell you—”

  “Please.” He dropped to one knee before her and scooped her hand up in his. His palm warmed the chill in her fingers and loosened the knot in her stomach. “I promise I’m not your father. You will be my partner in everything I do. We’ll make all of our decisions together, no matter if they lead us down the wrong path. I love you, Carrie. I live for you, and you alone.”

  Her chin quivered, and she no longer tried to stop the movement. She placed a hand over the babe growing in her stomach. “I hope you don’t live for me alone.”

  “What?” Simon paused, taking a quick glance at their hands as she took his and placed it over her stomach. He swallowed hard and fear seeped through her body. Did he understand? Immediately regret professing his love? God, she couldn’t live with herself if that happened. Not when she’d finally given in to her heart and admitted to herself she loved him.

  “I’m going to have your baby.” She bit her lip and cried. Searching his face for how he felt.

  To her surprise, he bent down and gently kissed her stomach. When he stood upright and pulled her up with him, his chest shuddered as if he held back tear
s.

  “I stand corrected.” He kissed her hard and wrapped her tight in his arms. “I live for us, and us alone.”

  “I love you.” She finally confessed on a new wave of tears. The damned emotions were running too wild for her liking, but she suspected she’d have to get used to such a feeling.

  “So you’ll marry me?” He leaned back and peered down at her face. “No matter what happens in our future? You’ll promise to always be here with me?”

  “Yes,” she all but cried out.

  “Even if I went into business with your father?”

  “Did you?” she asked, not knowing what answer she wanted to hear.

  “Yes. I bought half of the company.”

  “With pelts?”

  To her relief, he shook his head. “No. I had planned to. Gathered most of what I needed to beat Thomas to your father, but then the weasel stole it and beat me to your parents’ house.”

  “So how did you buy out half of his business?”

  “I brought him an offer he couldn’t refuse—a deal with Wall for leather straps for his contraptions, and the cow hides from Wall’s ranch to make them with. And the sheriff being there to arrest Thomas helped sway their decision. Turns out the law likes to know when someone is a thief and a murderer.”

  “A murderer?”

  Simon nodded and gave a quick account of the conversation he’d had with Thomas the night she’d spent alone with her mother in the parlor. Relief over so many things eased the tension in her shoulders, and she leaned into Simon’s embrace. “Does this mean my father doesn’t want to disown me anymore?”

  “I don’t know, but if you want to have a relationship with him, I’ll be here for anything you need.”

  “I don’t care about my father, but my mother is fragile. She needs me. Even if it’s just to listen to her meaningless prattle over tea.”

  “I think you’ll be able to have whatever you want in life, my love.”

  “With you to love me, I already do.”

  Simon bent down and kissed her again. A kiss different from the rest. One that brought focus to the little bundle in her stomach, and one that made her feel as though her heart was free. Free to love and be loved. A mirror to the plea that had brought them together.

  All I ask of you is to love me.

  If you enjoyed Wild Passion, be sure not to miss the first book in Dawn Luedecke’s Montana Mountain Romance series,

  WHITE WATER PASSION

  Elizabeth Sanders isn’t afraid of anything, except what will happen to her beloved town if the Big Mountain Lumber Mill is destroyed. When she overhears a plot to do just that, she vows to put a stop to it, even if it means dressing as a young lumberjack to expose the saboteur. There’s only one problem with her plan—her brother’s handsome friend and fellow logger Garrett Jones, who arouses a desire within her soul as fierce as the river rapids.

  When Garrett discovers that the odd new lad on the crew is in fact Beth, he’s shocked. A logging camp is no place for a young woman—especially the spirited beauty he’s admired for so long. Keeping her safe is easier said than done, however, as the attraction between them flares into true passion. As the danger mounts, Beth and Garrett must work together to survive the last log run down the wild rapids and claim any chance of saving the mill—and their chance at a future…

  A Lyrical e-book on sale now.

  Read on for a special excerpt!

  Chapter 1

  Missoula Montana, 1888

  Elizabeth Sanders could vanish right now, and no one would notice. She blended in with every other woman by wearing her matching pinstriped walking skirt and blouse. Each store clerk and patron in Missoula, focused on their affairs without a care to their neighbor, would fail to notice if she walked through Higgins Street naked, let alone disappeared into thin air. They certainly wouldn’t look twice when she came back this way a different person.

  Hundreds of people bustled in the heat of the Montana sun doing the same old things, the same old ways, with nothing to show for their trouble but dirty shoes. If Elizabeth was going to get her shoes dirty, she preferred to have fun doing it…the Devil May Care way.

  Navigating the pedestrian-riddled streets was treacherous at best. Times like this made her wish she’d taken her grandmother’s buggy. At least then she wouldn’t be jostled around like a dirty shirt in a churning wash bin. A deep exhale boosted her determination enough to risk a step to the side to duck around a particularly slow matriarch. The small triumph lasted only a moment before she slammed into a hard chest.

  The soft fabric of a well-tailored suit skimmed her cheek a split second before warm hands reached out to steady her. The touch—firm, yet gentle—made her feel like she now balanced on the back of a high-strung and wild mustang as it fled down a hill with uncontrolled freedom. She hadn’t needed the extra hand. Wasn’t in danger of falling over. What sort of dullard rescues a woman in no need of liberation? She pulled away and adjusted her skirts as he let go. Her mind focused once more.

  “Pardon me.” She glanced up to a familiar face. One she’d seen many times in her dreams. Her breath failed as her brother’s friend, Garrett Jones, peered down at her with silver-clouded eyes. Oh, how he made the world spin whenever he drew near. His handsome, yet rugged, face made her fingers ache to touch the severe lines of his jaw. The rich scent of tobacco infused with lavender and some sort of citrus drifted on the breeze. Eau de Cologne. A fragrance only the wealthiest of men in Montana could afford. A scent belying the canvas pants, spiked boots, and sturdy cotton shirt he sported every time she’d seen him on the train platform.

  “Elizabeth.” Did he say her name, or did she dream the word? Oh to be noticed by a man like Garrett Jones. The only man who could make butterflies flit around in her stomach and fear slide through her chest in the same confusing moment. The hem of her dress hovered mere inches from his feet. Her face heated and heart began to pound. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her eyes off the man who led the Devil May Care boys. The man who held her future in his hands if she succeeded in becoming part of his crew at the logging camp. If things went the way she planned, she’d be staring into his amber and steel speckled eyes for the rest of the season. Did he truly recognize her after all these years of no more than a passing glance?

  “Terribly sorry, sir.” She shifted her bag to the other hand. “I didn’t see you.”

  He shook his head, but remained silent. The gray in his eyes shone in a color she couldn’t quite name, but it softened his jagged expression enough to make her blush once more. A slight movement in his right hand caught her attention as he tapped his leg with his index finger and shuffled his feet, but his chest remained still. After a brief, uncomfortable silence with Garrett offering no more than a fleeting glance, she chewed on her lower lip.

  “I suppose I should get going.” She took a half step around him, and stopped.

  He nodded and gave a bow with an air so refined she paused in surprise. Throughout her years in Montana, she’d grown used to the hard and less-than-mannered ruffians who usually passed her on the street. Even those on the social circuit rarely bowed in such a stiff and crisp manner. He’d certainly never shown such niceties where she was concerned. With one last look at his emotionless face, she nodded and stepped around his broad frame. She locked eyes with him, and felt his gaze follow her while she walked by. Beth forced herself to keep a steady breath as she left.

  She hugged her satchel and skirted the shadows until she rounded the corner of a residential street, and all but ran the remaining distance to her friend Carrie’s house. She rapped on the large pine door, and took a quick step back as it swung wide open. Finally, she was here. Now she had to force herself to follow the plan.

  “It took you long enough, Beth.” Carrie grabbed her arm and yanked her into the foyer.

  As the huge front door closed behind her, Carrie s
hoved her forward, causing her to trip quite improperly into the adjoining parlor. Swinging around, Beth flinched as Carrie peeked down the hallway and slammed the parlor door. Carrie pivoted, and shifted her weight onto one leg. “Well?”

  “Well, what?” Beth dropped her satchel next to the cold fireplace, trying not to smile at her friend’s trepidation, letting the emotion bring her focus back to the issue at hand. She faced Carrie as if nothing out of the ordinary were about to happen.

  “Well, what did he say?”

  “He?” The image of Garrett on the street took over her thoughts. His strong shoulders, the stiff way he’d bowed, and the whisper of her name on his lips. There was no way Carrie could have seen the awkward exchange, was there? Beth peeked out of the large bay windows across the room, but as she already knew, the view to where she’d bumped into Garrett was blocked by several houses and streets.

  Carrie rolled her eyes. “You darned well know who I’m talking about. Your brother.”

  “Yes, of course.” Gracious be, where was her head? Stuck back on Higgins Street and Garrett’s disarming gaze. “Simon said yes.” Beth raised her chin, and silently dared her friend to argue. She couldn’t be swayed. “Tomorrow, I will become a logger.”

  Carrie dropped her shoulders in defeat, but she folded her arms and glared in a blatant show of disapproval. “Please tell me you are going to help with the cooking, or at least cut the trees like your brother.”