Last Chance Bride

by Jillian Hart

  “This door is strong enough to withstand a bear attack,” Jacob said as he barricaded the door behind them.

  “Have you had any trouble with bears?” She thought of Emma alone in the house.

  “Not tonight,” he said, then smiled. “I’m teasing. We only had one last year, and when he figured out he couldn’t get into my stable, he gave up and hasn’t been back.”

  “Good.” Libby sagged against the wood wall, then jumped.

  A cow immediately poked her head out of a stall and curled out her long pink tongue.

  “Oh, you nearly scared the life right out of me.” Libby laughed as the cow deftly caught the edge of her coat sleeve between her teeth.

  “That’s Jane,” Jacob explained, “named in honor of our last housekeeper.”

  Libby made herself smile, but her heart tightened a little. Did he consider her simply their current housekeeper?

  “I brought her with me from Kentucky.” Jacob rubbed the cow’s neck. “Since I was bringing Emma, I figured a little girl needed milk to drink.”

  Libby nodded. He had brought stock all the way from Kentucky. A fine cow and the most beautiful horses she’d ever seen.

  “Look, she’s watching you.” Jacob gestured.

  The sorrel mare peeked down at Libby with her fudge brown eyes. She was a pretty animal with a velvet nose and intelligent, pricked ears and a thick red mane. Now that she knew the animal was hers, Libby realized how big the horse was, how powerful.

  “She hasn’t quite trusted me to get up on her back yet, but she will drive just fine. If this snow holds, she’ll let you pull a sleigh to town and back.”

  “She seems gentle.” Libby worried about driving all the way to town.

  “As a kitten.” Jacob turned to grab his coat from the mare’s mouth. “It’s a good thing. Some animals never overcome bad handling.”

  “The past is a powerful influence.” Her heart twisted. For all of them.

  The mare reached out, begging for a treat. Libby had nothing. Other than hay, she didn’t even know what a horse ate.

  “Here, she loves this.” Jacob handed Libby a short length of carrot. “Hold it flat on your palm so she doesn’t accidentally bite your fingers.”

  “Like this?” Nervous, she held open her palm for Jacob to see, but the mare was quicker. That velvet soft muzzle nibbled her hand, tickling her, and Libby felt completely enchanted as the mare seized the chunk of carrot.

  “She seems to like you.” His gaze caressed her with the same tangible weight as if he’d brushed her face with his tender hands. Something began to expand just beneath her heart, and she tried to stop it.

  “D-do you really think I could drive her?”

  “Yes. You are gentle, Elizabeth, and that’s all she requires.” Jacob’s gaze never relented, kept brushing her like a touch. “Do you know how to handle a horse?”

  “No. I’ve never been around one.”

  “That’s hard for me to imagine. I’ve been riding since I was two.”

  “Since you were two?” Libby tried to picture the strongly built, very masculine man before her as a little boy on a pony. She couldn’t.

  “My father bred and sold horses,” Jacob explained, his voice warm, his eyes lighting. “I grew up knowing nothing but horses. They used to be my whole life.”

  She knew so little about Jacob, what life had been like for him growing up, what his parents were like, what were his dreams. She felt closer to him, knowing even this small piece of his heart. “I don’t know how to care for her.”

  “I’ll teach you.” Jacob focused on her face, his gaze narrowing on her lips.

  Libby’s mouth tingled.

  “Of course there’s a lot of pitchforking involved, but I won’t make you clean stalls.”

  “You’re such a gentleman.”

  “Yes.”

  His lips caught hers, gentle at first as if he wanted to kiss away past hurts, old wounds. Libby needed his kiss, his comfort, and she opened up to him. Her heart exploded as his kiss deepened, grew wilder. Heaven help her, but she felt an answering twist of need deep inside her.

  Yes. Libby tipped her mouth up, needing more. Jacob folded his strong arms around her, backed her against the solid stable wall and pinned her there. His tongue laved her bottom lip, then pressed inside her mouth.

  Need speared through her. He felt solid, comforting, exciting. His powerful hands could hurt her, but instead they reached up to cup her face, never asking more from her just as he’d promised.

  Libby didn’t believe in happily-ever-afters, but when she tipped her head back and saw the gleam in his eyes, she began to believe.

  Chapter Fifteen

  He’d asked her to stay for Emma’s sake, Libby thought as she washed the breakfast dishes. She didn’t fool herself, yet she knew he cared for her, too. She clung to that thought, knowing it had to be enough. She’d traveled all this way to meet and marry a man she hardly knew—back in her lonely rented room in Omaha, a friendly relationship with a kind, intelligent man seemed like heaven.

  It ought to be good enough now.

  “Look, my new dress is perfect,” Emma chimed, pounding into the kitchen with bare feet.

  Libby turned from the basin. “It looks beautiful on you.”

  Emma grinned. “You sewed it up really good. I wanted curtains for my room, but Jane said she was too old to sew a lot Her fingers hurt all the time.”

  “Let me guess, you want me to make you some curtains for your room.” Libby wrung out the rag and bent to wipe the table.

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Since Emma was not well enough to go out in the cold to school, she spent the morning at home, wandering around bored. So Libby put her to work helping sort the wash. By then, Emma was ready for a nap and Libby changed the other beds alone, blushing when she stripped her straw tick and remembered Jacob’s lovemaking.

  She had supper ready minutes after Jacob came home, tugging off his boots in the lean-to. He told Emma of the melting snow, of the latest antics of the horses in his stable, of the funny news from town.

  Libby kept her heart still as she drained the water from the potatoes. Steam rose in her face. Jacob said hello to her and thanked her for cooking. All she could remember was his heated, tender touch. Did he remember, too?

  She watched him sit down to the table and listened to Emma’s questions about his day and it filled the silence between them.

  Libby set the potatoes on the table and caught Jacob studying her. She would give every penny she’d earned over the last few months to know what he was thinking.

  Libby held tightly to Emma’s mittened hand as they crossed the icy street from Ellington’s store.

  “What do you suppose your pa will say when he sees all the material you wanted?” Libby asked.

  Emma shrugged beneath her tightly bundled layers. “He won’t mind. He says it’s a womanly thing to want lace and ruffles.”

  “So, what did you cost me?” Jacob leaned against the stable door, framed by solid wood. The tiniest snowflakes fell like sugar between them.

  His dark hair looked rumpled from his work, and the blue flannel shirt she made him hugged his wide shoulders. It was his smile that made her stop in her tracks.

  She loved him. It hit her like a brick.

  Yet the earth didn’t move, the sky didn’t open, the world remained exactly the same.

  “Your daughter cost you a bundle.” She hefted up the thick package for him to see. “You should have come with us, because I have a hard time saying no to her.”

  Emma grinned. “That’s why I like her, Pa. She’s so easy.”

  Jacob tipped back his head and laughed.

  Libby blushed. The child had no notion of what she said. “I’m a pushover for sweet blue eyes,” she muttered instead. “Jacob, it’s not that funny.”

  He winked at her. Humor warmed his voice. “Let me guess. We’re getting curtains.”

  “In every room of th
e house.”

  Jacob lifted the bulky package from her arms. His gaze snared hers. “I guess I can resign myself to a few curtains.”

  Affection filled her. Did he want her the same way she wanted him?

  “Pa! I’m starving. Are you gonna take us to the diner?”

  Libby leaned against the corner post separating the stall from the wide aisle. Jacob felt so distant, yet he stood so near.

  “How about it, Elizabeth?”

  He wanted her with him. She could see that in his eyes. “I’d love to.”

  His smile stretched across his mouth, and she wanted to touch him there, to kiss him again. Need for him simmered in her heart.

  “Pa, you got a new horse!” Emma announced with heart-deep excitement.

  Jacob knelt down to talk about the new boarder, and Libby glanced out on the street. Another stage would leave tomorrow at noon. She wouldn’t be on it. When she asked at the counter, she’d been told the route would be closed in a month due to the harsh winter snows.

  She had a month. It wasn’t enough time to decide the rest of her future.

  “You look tired, Elizabeth.” He touched her arm. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “I’m just hungry.”

  Her hand felt right tucked in his own. When he looked up and saw hope in her beautiful eyes, he felt almost whole again.

  The cabin eased into sight as the horses climbed the slope, pulling the sled along the snow-crusted ground. His day had been long, but lunch with Elizabeth and Emma had brightened it.

  He’d been lonely for so long. But not now.

  He reined in the horses in front of the stable, surprised when two bundled figures crunched through the snow.

  “Pa!” Emma launched herself at him.

  He caught her, laughing. “You’re covered from head to toe. What did you do, bury yourself in the snow?”

  “Miss Hodges said I was well enough to go out to play. We’ve been having snowball fights.”

  “It looks like you’ve been losing.” Jacob’s gaze landed on Elizabeth.

  Slim, shy, she offered him a smile. Her face, pinkened by the cold, looked pretty. More than pretty. He ached to take her into his arms and keep her warm.

  “Pa, can you take us for a sleigh ride? Please?” Emma tugged at his hand. “I promise my cough won’t get worse.”

  “Emma, you’ve been outside a long time.” Elizabeth tucked her gloved hands into her coat pockets. “You must be half-frozen by now.”

  “Pa?”

  His throat constricted. He could see how they would make a family: Elizabeth caring for Emma, Emma between them like a bright shining star. This is what he wanted, a loving home for Emma. This was why he’d taken that terrible risk and placed the advertisement last winter. Jacob’s heart filled with hope.

  “I could take Elizabeth’s mare for a run. She’s been in that stall for a few days,” he said at last.

  “Can we, Pa?” Emma clapped her gloved hands. “It would be so fun.”

  How could he say no? “I have to unhitch the team first and tend them.”

  “I can help!” Emma volunteered.

  He nodded. Elizabeth stepped closer to lay her hand on Emma’s shoulder. So protective. So loving. He could barely manage to utter an agreement.

  “The fire is getting low,” she said quietly as tiny bits of snow filled the air between them. “I’d best head inside and stoke it up, so it’s warm enough to thaw out a certain little girl when she’s frozen solid.”

  Humor sparkled in her sky blue eyes, and it meant the world to Jacob. Few women could be so gentle, so loving to his little girl.

  “I can carry in the wood for you,” he offered.

  “There’s plenty in the house.” Pleasure lit her eyes. She was glad he asked.

  There was supper to check on—the beef vegetable soup was simmering on the stove, and the fire needed wood. She swept the hearth and stopped by the brown-wrapped bundle on the table. A warm feeling slipped through her chest when she fingered the yellow flannel Emma had chosen for another dress, then the flowery muslin folded beneath. How would Jacob react when he saw the tiny pink roses with green stems on white frilly curtains at his window?

  She felt a tiny flutter, and she placed her hand over the spot on her abdomen. Would he feel any different about this baby when it was born?

  A delighted shriek filled the air and Libby hurried to the window. She gazed out at the winter landscape as Jacob led the sorrel mare by her reins. Emma sat on the horse’s back, laughing wholeheartedly. Jacob broke into a jog, and the mare trotted after him.

  Emma spotted her through the window and waved wildly. There was no mistaking that signal. Libby waved back and hurried to the lean-to where she tugged on her wraps.

  “Pa is gonna hitch up the sleigh and teach you to drive!” Emma announced the instant Libby closed the door behind her.

  “It’s true.” Jacob halted the mare only steps away.

  “I’ve never driven before. Is it hard?”

  “Not at all.” Jacob reached into his pocket and withdrew a carrot. “Here, feed your mare. You need to let her know how much you like her.”

  “Like her? Why, I love her.” She could feel Jacob’s gaze on her face as gentle as the snowflakes brushing her skin. Emotion wedged in her throat. The mare nickered in recognition, and Libby dared to reach for her velvet warm nose.

  “What are you gonna name her?” Emma asked.

  “I get to name her?” Libby looked up.

  Right into Jacob’s eyes. “Yes. She was meant for you all along. I always figured you would decide what to call her.”

  Libby’s throat felt so tight, she couldn’t breathe. Her heartbeat thudded dully in her ears. He wanted her. She read it in his stormy eyes. He’d wanted her from the very first.

  “I—I have no idea what to name her,” she finally replied.

  “I’d name her Star,” Emma decided with infinite wisdom.

  “Star, it is.” She felt so happy.

  Jacob’s hand covered hers. “I’ll show you how to hitch her up.”

  Libby wrapped her fingers through his.

  At the stable, Jacob hauled out the leather harness and let Star sniff it before he laid it across her back. He talked about buckles and Libby tried to pay attention. His thick, nimble fingers worked over numerous straps and then stopped to reassure the mare with gentle pats.

  “Can we go fast?” Emma asked.

  “We’ll see.” Jacob promised.

  Libby’s heart skipped when he smiled, a slow sweet curve of his lips, and helped her onto the sleigh’s low board seat. Excitement thrummed through her. She’d never felt so happy or her heart so full.

  Jacob squeezed next to her, his strong shoulder tight against hers. She tried to fight the tingling thrill of awareness possessing her. It was hard. Every touch, every glance reminded her of loving him, of how she wanted him to love her.

  “Now, watch what I do,” he said, leaning close.

  Watch? Heavens, she couldn’t even think.

  Snow floated down in small airless flakes, filling the air with their gentle whiteness. He moved the reins just enough, and the mare tugged the sleigh forward. Soon they were whizzing along the road to town, gliding like air over the ice-slick snow.

  “It feels like flying,” Libby cried out, filled with delight. The tall lengths of the evergreens whipped by with dizzying speed. Cold air rushed against her face. Emma laughed, and Jacob smiled.

  “Here, you try it.” He leaned closer and gently placed the reins in Libby’s hands.

  “Oh!” Her fingers closed around the leather reins, and instantly the thrilling feel of Star’s mouth vibrated against her fingers. She wasn’t just holding leather reins, she was feeling the mare.

  “That’s right. You have a gentle touch.” Jacob’s voice rumbled in her ear.

  His hand covered hers, and she felt his scorching touch through the yarn of her gloves. At Jacob’s urging she tightened the reins just a bit, and Star
changed smoothly from a trot to a canter.

  Wind drove the snow into her eyelashes, and Libby blinked against them. Jacob’s large hands fell away from hers, and she urged Star faster all on her own. They flew toward the cabin, and Libby slowed the mare into a trot to turn her around, then raced her down the long road lined with noble cedars.

  Emma’s laughter doubled. Even Libby found herself smiling. She felt the thrill and the strength of her mare through the reins, the power and the grace. Pride swept through her. This was her mare, Jacob’s gift to her.

  All her worries melted like snow to the sun as the world whizzed by in a blur of white and brown and deep green. They flew over the frozen ground earthbound, but for the first time in her life, Libby felt free.

  She leaned into the wind, her eyes tearing from the cold, and let herself join in Jacob’s and Emma’s joyful laughter.

  When it was too cold for both the sweating horse and Emma, whose cough did worsen despite her promise, Libby left Jacob to tend the horse while she hurried Emma inside the cabin.

  The soup simmered on the stove, ready to eat, scenting the kitchen.

  “Grandpa used to take me for sleigh rides when I was little,” Emma said as she sat down on the nearest chair.

  Libby knelt down before her and tugged off those small winter shoes. “When you were little, huh?”

  “Yep. He would put bells on a real sleigh and they would sing the whole time.”

  Libby tucked the shoes neatly near the stove to dry. “So, you lived with both of your grandparents back in Kentucky?”

  Emma brushed away the melting chunks of snow that had driven past her muffler and coat. They hit the floor in a sloppy mess. “I had my own pony, too.”

  “It sounds like you had a nice life with your grandparents.”

  Emma nodded. “But I wanted to be with my pa.”

  “Of course.” Libby tried to smile at the girl and failed. Jacob had kept so much to himself, even now, when they were forging a friendship. How much would he ever trust her?