“I do,” he admitted.
Allie twisted her fingers through his. “Then it is not as if we are taking a risk by sharing the truth… but it is more that we are becoming stronger. We have people who care for us, who will help us should we ever need it, who will be there no matter what.”
Matt nodded slowly, letting her words sink in. They filled his soul, buoying up his spirits. Allie was right. No matter what came next, as long as they all stayed together and trusted in each other, things would turn out all right.
It was a truth he’d already known; he just tended to forget it. It was a good thing he had Allie around to remind him of it.
Matt took her second hand, the one with his ma’s ring on it. “I was thinking about the wedding...”
“Yes?” she prompted.
“I’d marry you tonight, if you and Ma would let me.”
Allie threw her head back in laughter. “She wants a proper wedding.”
“I know.” He grinned. “So I best give it to her.”
“So we are not running off and marrying under the light of the full moon?” she teased.
“No… but how about September? Does that still sound good to you?”
Allie beamed. “That will give us time to finish the dress.”
Matt pushed some damp hair away from her face. After their Sunday dinner at the Rosses’ the other day, Allie had spent an hour locked away in Helen’s bedroom with the two sisters. He’d known they’d been working on Allie’s wedding dress, but when he asked about it, all three of them shot him stern looks.
“Can I have a clue yet?” he asked. “Does it have lace? Ribbons?”
Allie good-naturedly pursed her lips. “It is white.”
Matt tickled her side. “Hey, now.”
Allie wiggled away, swatting at his hand. “Don’t ‘hey, now’ me. It’s bad luck for us to discuss the wedding dress.”
“Fine, fine. I won’t ask anymore.”
Matt reached for her, already missing having her close.
“You’re wet,” she complained.
“Not any more than you,” he answered back. “Say, we still haven’t named the foal. You have any suggestions?”
Allie looked at the colt. “Hm.” She twisted her lips, thinking hard.
“Take your time.”
“Don’t rush me.”
“I’m not,” he chortled.
Allie twisted her lips some more. “How about Friday?”
“Is that a name?”
“It is the day of the week we met.”
Warmth filled Matt. “Is it?”
“You don’t remember?”
“I remember.” Matt caught her waist and pulled her closer, so close that their breaths intermingled. He’d forgotten all about going inside and drying up. With Allie in his arms, he was as comfortable as he’d ever be.
“I remember how nervous you seemed,” he added.
Allie winced at the thought.
“Don’t,” Matt whispered.
“Don’t what?”
“Feel bad about the past. It brought us together.”
She blinked, searching his eyes as she considered something. “It made me stronger,” she added.
Matt inhaled long, breathing in the scent of freshly hewn boards, straw, and Allie. He could stay in that stable till the end of time, looking at her and watching her speak.
He’d thought he’d known what love was a week ago, when he’d finally come to his senses and made Allie his. Now, already, love was showing its difference facets. It had all kinds of faces—many that Matt couldn’t put labels to. There was the love he felt when he kissed Allie, the love he felt when they worked side-by-side in the garden, the love he felt when he thought of her one day carrying their babies…
On and on, the list went. Matt hoped it never stopped growing.
“You’re thinking hard about something,” Allie murmured.
His vision came back into focus, and he concentrated on her face. “You.”
Allie bit her lip in delight. “Me?”
“You,” he repeated, pushing more hair away from her delicate features. “You.” Lowering his face, he kissed her forehead.
“You,” he whispered. A kiss to her cheek. A kiss to her nose. Then, finally, a light kiss on her lips.
“Forever,” Matt added, before fully covering Allie’s mouth with his and drinking her in.
Epilogue
Epilogue. Allie
Epilogue
“Twirl around,” Helen instructed, drawing a circle in the air with her finger.
Allie did as requested, and her wedding dress flew about her. Helen squealed in pleasure, and even Kitty clapped her hands together. Allie couldn’t stop an excited giggle from bubbling up her throat, and there was no reason not to, for it was her wedding day!
Halting the spinning, she looked in the mirror in Helen’s old bedroom. The dress had turned out even lovelier than Allie had expected it to. The making of it had become a group project, with many afternoons spent discussing its design. Gemma Reed had stopped by to give her two cents, and a couple times Cadence Johnson, the schoolteacher, had popped in as well.
The visits had been wonderful ones, and as Allie had spent the last two months planning and sewing a dress, she’d been amazed to see her circle of friends grow. Everyone still knew her as Melissa, but she no longer minded. In fact, sometimes hearing people say the name brought her pleasure. It reminded her of the woman who had given Allie a new beginning, a second chance at life.
“Are you nervous?” Helen asked from where she sat on the bed, twisting her wedding ring around her finger. It seemed that Helen’s own wedding had barely occurred before Allie’s was upon them, even though there had been a few weeks between the two.
“No,” Allie answered right away. “It is wild, as I have never liked attention, but I’m not anxious in the slightest.”
Helen sighed in pleasure. “It’s because you know you are marrying the perfect man for you. How utterly romantic.”
Allie felt her smile grow wider. She’d spent the whole morning grinning, having woken up that way, and her cheeks already hurt from it.
A soft knock on the door made the three look over.
“Who is it?” Kitty asked.
“Nicolette.” The door opened, and the mother of the groom stepped in, her eyes wide and her mouth dropping. “Oh, goodness.”
Right away, she began crying.
“It’s all right,” Kitty said soothingly.
“She is simply so… so b—beautiful,” Nicolette blubbered.
Helen patted Nicolette on the back. “There now.”
Stepping forward, Allie pulled Nicolette into a tight hug. “Today is about more than me and Matt,” she whispered. Pulling back, she looked deep into Nicolette’s eyes. “It is about me joining your whole family.”
Nicolette lifted Allie’s hands and kissed them. “Yes, dear, it is.” Dropping Allie’s hands, she dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief and looked around. “Are we ready? The church is full.”
All the attention turned to Allie, and she sucked in a long breath before nodding. “Yes, I am ready.”
Helen rushed forward and lowered the veil over Allie’s face, and Kitty picked up the train. Together, they proceeded out front, to where a carriage waited by the Rosses’ gate. Carefully, so as not to tear her dress, Allie climbed into the carriage. The other three joined her, Kitty picking up the reins, and they were off, on their way to a wedding.
As the wheels rolled through town, the nervousness Allie had believed she didn’t have slowly surfaced. Her heart beat faster, and her hands turned clammy. Most of the town would be at the wedding. She’d never had that many eyes on her before. How would she fare?
Suppose she became sick? Suppose she outright fainted?
“It will be fine,” Nicolette said, noticing the terror. She patted Allie’s hand. “Everyone gets the jitters.”
Allie nodded, by now shaking too much to speak.
&n
bsp; The church’s front doors were flung open, with white ribbons decorating the railings. She could hear people moving around and talking inside, and her nervousness went up another notch.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered as the carriage came to a stop in front of the church.
“Do not worry,” Kitty answered. “We will be with you the whole time. And remember who is waiting for you at the end of the aisle.”
Allie nodded, seeing Matt’s shining face in her mind’s eye. The thought of him made her nerves lessen.
Climbing from the carriage as carefully as she had entered it, Allie went up to the church’s steps. Nicolette rushed ahead and gestured to someone inside, and then everything happened with lightning speed.
The pianist began playing. Into the church Allie went, Helen and Kitty holding up her train. At the end of the aisle, looking even better than she had imagined he would, stood Matt.
He shone as if he were the sun himself, his smile reaching down the aisle and wrapping around her. Suddenly, it was no longer Allie’s legs propelling her forward; Matt’s gaze did all the work. Their union had long ago been set into motion, and at this point, it had progressed beyond anyone’s control.
Too soon, the walk was over, and Allie found herself standing in front of him. He lifted her veil, and Reverend Pullman thanked everyone for joining them to celebrate Melissa and Matthew’s union.
It did not matter that the reverend could not use Allie’s real name. God understood what was happening. Melissa, from where she surely sat in Heaven, did as well. At home, the Dentons’ all referred to her as Allie. In private, Kitty and Helen did the same. For Allie, that was all that mattered.
The vows had already ingrained themselves upon Allie’s mind, and when it came time to recite them, they flowed effortlessly from her lips. Matt’s, as well, seemed to come easily.
“I hereby take Melissa to be my wife,” Matt said, taking the ring that Nat handed him.
Allie stared at the ring, which was set with a tear-drop shaped diamond. She already wore Nicolette’s ring and hadn’t expected a second one.
“It’s beautiful,” she found herself whispering as Matt slipped it onto her finger, next to the first one.
Matt grinned. “Your turn.”
“Oh!” Allie gasped. “I hereby take Matthew to be my husband,” she said, hoping she was getting the sentence correct.
Again, everything seemed to speed up. Reverend Pullman announced them man and wife, and Matt pulled her close for a kiss. Cheers erupted, echoing through the church and drifting out into the crisp, fall air.
Her heart brimming with joy, Allie broke from the kiss and giggled. Matt joined her in the laughter, taking her hand in his as they took their first steps as man and wife.
Out on the church’s lawn, beneath the thick trees’ canopy, the kisses, hugs, and handshakes seemed endless. Throughout it all, Allie held Matt’s hand, clinging to him not in desperation but from comfort. Their palms fit so perfectly together, it seemed preposterous for her to ever let go.
...Until something strange caught her eye. Or, more specifically, someone.
A woman stood apart from the crowd, closer to the graveyard than to the church. With her raven-black hair and nutmeg skin, she seemed familiar. Plus, there was something about the way she was standing—so straight, with her hands folded in front of her.
Allie had known someone who stood like that, who looked like that… someone who had been very dear to her.
But, no. She had to be seeing things.
“Matt,” she whispered, unable to take her eyes off the woman.
Dropping her new husband’s hand, Allie moved across the lawn. With each step, her heart beat louder. By the time she reached the woman, it was all she heard.
They stood staring at each other, an arm’s length away. Behind Allie, people chatted on, but her wedding now seemed a thousand years ago.
“You are a dream,” Allie whispered.
Juana smiled, tears running down her face. “No, I am real as you.”
A choking noise left Allie. Was it a sob or a cry of joy? She didn’t know. Her knees were shaking. She pulled her friend into her arms, sobbing into her hair, pressing her palms against her back and head, unable to believe she was there.
“But how?” Allie gasped, crying into Juana’s neck. “How?”
“I sent for her,” Matt’s voice answered.
Allie loosened her hold on Juana just enough so that she could turn to look at Matt. “But how did you know… What… You’ve been...”
“I picked up the pieces from here and there,” he said. “The things you told me. When Sheriff Ross said he was making that trip to New York last month, it seemed there was only one thing to do.”
Allie’s jaw dropped. “He found her?”
Matt slowly nodded. “Yes.”
Allie pressed her hand to her pounding chest. “He did that for me? For...” She turned to Juana. “For you?”
Juana was still crying—though she smiled at the same time. “Yes, Sheriff Ross came and found me at the boarding house. When he flashed his badge, I was so worried. I thought you were in trouble, and now they were coming for me.” She grasped Allie’s hand. “And then he told me your story and said he had a westward ticket for me.”
Allie’s head spun. It was too much information at once. She turned to look at the crowd assembled around the church and spotted Kitty and Sheriff Ross, who held hands as they spoke with the Garrisons.
Kitty lifted her palm in a wave, and Sheriff Ross looked over as well, tilting his hat at Allie.
Any dams that Allie might have still had built up in her burst. In a few short months, she had experienced more love than she had thought existed in the world. She had been saved, forgiven, cared for, and showered upon by people who only a short time ago had been strangers.
How would she ever repay them?
The second she wondered, she found the answer: no repayment was necessary. When it came to matters of love, all she needed to do was live with an open heart and do good upon everyone she came across.
“You—you are staying?” Allie stuttered at Juana.
Juana laughed, the sound beautiful as bells. “Yes. Your husband has already found me a job. I will be working at Winding Path Ranch.”
Fresh tears overwhelmed Allie, and she covered her mouth with a shaking hand.
“Thank you,” she told Matt. “Thank you.”
She wanted to repeat it a million more times, to fall to her knees and say it to every person in the world, even Mr. Burke and everyone else who had hurt her. For through his crime, and all other injustices, she had come to the place she stood at now.
She had come to love. She had come to freedom.
Submersed in that knowledge, Allie felt as if she were bursting apart, little pieces of her heart and soul flying up into the sky. Without needing to think it, she thanked the ground and the air, everything in existence and even all the spaces in between.
Leaping forward, Allie fell into Matt’s arms. He was ready, catching her and whisking her up. Around he spun her, making her dress fly out. Allie laughed in joy, her happiness taking her so high that she touched the base of Heaven.
And she never came down.
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Her Silent Burden
Preview: Chapter 1
South Carolina, 1883
The ivory was cool under Thea’s fingertips—the only cool thing in the cabin. She slid her hands across the piano’s keys, finishing the canon. She put every bit of her heart and soul into the remaining bars.
Her Unexpected Destiny (Seeing Ranch series) (A Western Historical Romance Book) Page 22
