Instead of arguing, he got to his feet and took a menacing step forward. That had Ruby backing up, until she bumped into the bride.
“Millie. I have to see you,” he bellowed. “Now.”
Millie touched a hand to Ruby’s arm. “It’s all right,” she whispered. “You go now and join Quent. Tell Dan we’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.”
When she and the others were gone, Millie looked up to find Malachite staring at her so intensely she felt her heart leap to her throat.
“Have you changed your mind?” she asked.
“About you?” He shook his head. “Never.” He caught her hands in his. “But I’d rather face a dozen Diablos than have to face that crowd downstairs.”
“It will all be over in a little while. And then there will be just us.”
“Us,” He spoke the word like a prayer. “I honestly thought I’d spend the rest of my life alone. Just me. But now, in a few minutes, I’ll have a wife and three beautiful daughters.”
He removed the leather strip from around his neck. “I’d be honored if you’d wear this.”
Millie turned to allow him to tie it. Then she touched a hand to the shimmering green stone that seemed to pulse with heat and life. “I’ll wear it with pride. Always.”
“Always.” He drew her close for a long, slow kiss.
A moment later they stepped apart when little June tugged at their sleeves.
“Malachite?”
He knelt down so that his eyes were even with hers. “Yes?”
“After you and Mama are married, is it all right if I call you Pa?”
He had to swallow twice to get rid of the lump in his throat. But he managed to say, “That’d be fine. But you don’t have to.” He turned to include April and May. “I understand that you already have a father.”
“That’s right. April said we’re the luckiest girls in the world.” June’s little hand found its way into his big one. “’Cause now we have two daddies. One in heaven, and one here with us.”
He couldn’t help himself. With a sigh he gathered the three girls close and crushed them to him, burying his face in their hair, brushing his lips over their soft cheeks.
“And both of your fathers will always look out for you,” he managed to whisper.
They looked up as a shadow fell across the doorway. “I was sent up here to tell you folks to get a move on,” Cookie said around the stump of a pipe in his teeth. “You got a lot of family and friends downstairs waiting for you.”
Family and friends. Those words brought a smile to Malachite’s lips.
He straightened, still holding little June in his arms. Then, with April clutching his hand and May clutching her mother’s, they started down the stairs.
“I don’t think this is the way it’s supposed to be done,” Millie whispered. “I think it’s supposed to be just the bride, not all of us together.”
“It’s always going to be all of us together.” He paused to press a kiss to her lips. At once he felt the rush of heat. Whatever frustration he’d been feeling, it was gone now. And in its place was the most amazing feeling of peace.
He’d come to Hanging Tree, Texas, at war with himself, seeking vengeance. What he’d found was the most astonishing legacy. A history he hadn’t known. A history of fierce independence, of diversity and, most of all, love. He’d found an abundance of strange women who were slowly becoming sisters. And best of all, a woman and her daughters who charmed him, who delighted him, who filled up all the empty places in his life. Who loved him without question. Who allowed him to love in return.
Love. That was the legacy of Onyx Jewel. He was a man who’d loved often. And well.
As Malachite, son of Onyx Jewel, took the last stair and began the walk toward the preacher, still holding on to Millie and her daughters, he felt suddenly overwhelmed by all the love.
“Thank you,” he whispered to the father he’d once rejected, “for leading me here to the greatest treasure of all.”
The End
If you enjoyed Malachite, I would be honored if you would tell others by writing a review on Amazon.
Thank you!
Ruth Ryan Langan
Note from the Author
I hope you enjoyed reading The Jewels of Texas series as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Malachite is the fifth and last in the series. It was my intention with this book to bring the story full circle, discovering Onyx Jewel through the eyes of his son, seeing the growth of his very large, very diverse family.
I used the stallion Diablo as a metaphor for Malachite, and he, in turn, for his father and the founder of the dynasty, Onyx, who are all wild creatures, strong, independent, wary of people, but capable of great loyalty and trust once they have formed a loving bond. The Jewels personify the men and women who stir my imagination. They are legends who forge their own trails through a primitive wilderness. And along the way they manage to find friendship, laughter and the most precious treasure of all... true and lasting love.
The Jewels of Texas Series
Diamond
Diamond Jewel is a spoiled, willful hellcat, bent on avenging the murder of her beloved father. When down-on-his-luck rancher Adam Winter is found not-guilty of the crime, Diamond refuses to believe in his innocence and sets out to mete out her own justice. But something about this mysterious stranger stirs her blood in other ways. Diamond may be a master gunfighter, but she's a babe-in-the-woods when it comes to matters of the heart. Though both fight to deny their feelings, love has a way of conquering all.
Pearl
Prim and proper Pearl Jewel arrives from Boston as soon as she reads of the death of her beloved father. She receives a frigid reception from Diamond Jewel, who considered herself the only child and heir of her father's successful ranch, until the arrival of this stranger.
Cal McCabe, Diamond's ranch foreman, is a hard-as-nails cowboy with no ties. He likes it that way. But he can't deny an attraction for this shy elegant woman he can never have.
Jade
The Rev. Wade Weston is haunted by a sordid past, and declares war against sin in the small town of Hanging Tree, Texas.
When exotic Jade Jewel announces plans to build a pleasure palace, the peace of the entire community is threatened. What is worse, this woman arouses a passion in the good preacher that threatens his very soul.
Ruby
Ruby Jewel, fresh from the Louisiana bayou, is all curves and passion and heat.
Marshal Quent Regan is a straight-arrow lawman who has his doubts about Ruby's honesty. But his obsession with this sultry beauty threatens to have him breaking all his long-held rules.
Malachite
Yet another Jewel heir emerges from the wilds of Montana. Malachite is as wild and untamed as the devil stallion he vows to vanquish. But even a man as strong as this Comanche warrior cannot conquer the way his blood rages for gentle widow Millie Potter. In her loving arms this lonely heart has found a home.
Visit Ruth's website at RyanLangan.com
for more information and to purchase.
Titles by Ruth Ryan Langan
Now Available as EBooks
Historical Romance Classics
Heart's Delight
Paradise Falls
Ashes of Dreams
Duchess of Fifth Avenue
Captive of Desire
Passage West
Nevada Nights
September’s Dream
The Heart’s Secrets
Destiny’s Daughter
Texas Heart
Texas Healer
Texas Hero
Texas Historical Romance Box Set
Mistress of the Seas
Deception
Christmas Miracle
Angel
Irish Historical Romance Classics
The O’Neil Saga Trilogy (Rory, Conor, Briana)
The Jewels of Texas Historical Romance Series
Diamond
Pearl
Jade
>
Ruby
Malachite
Exciting Highlander Series
Highland Barbarian
Highland Heather
Highland Heart
The Highlander
Highland Heaven
Contemporary Romance Classics
This Time Forever
To Love a Dreamer
Just Like Yesterday
No Gentle Love
Cross His Heart
Whims of Fate
Mysteries of the Heart
Star-Crossed
Hidden Isle
Family Secrets
The Proper Miss Porter
Eden of Temptation
Beloved Gambler
Visit Ruth's website at RyanLangan.com
for more information and to purchase.
Ruth Ryan Langan
New York Times best-selling author Ruth Ryan Langan, who also writes under the pseudonym R. C. Ryan, is the author of over 100 novels, both contemporary romantic-suspense and historical adventure. Quite an accomplishment for this mother of five who, after her youngest child started school, gave herself the gift of an hour a day to follow her dream to become a published author.
Ruth has given dozens of radio, television and print interviews across the country and Canada, and has been quoted in such diverse publications as The Wall Street Journal and Cosmopolitan. Ruth has also been interviewed on CNN News, as well as Good Morning, America.
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