by Chloe Carley
“I’m so happy for you.” Lily stopped Riley and hugged her neck. Riley had to bend over because Lily’s stomach was so big these days.
“Don’t have that baby until we get back,” Riley said.
“You’re only going to be gone a few days.”
“I know.”
Sara Jane was next and grabbed her for a quick hug. “I have to admit that was pretty special to watch.”
“Got the bug, do you?” Riley asked with a smirk.
“Only if there’s a man out there that won’t try to control me, expect me to cook and clean to exclusion, and doesn’t mind a little friendly competition.”
“Oh, he’s out there, you just haven’t been looking,” Riley said cryptically.
“What’s that supposed to mean? What do you mean, he’s out there? Riley, answer me,” Sara Jane called out after her as she hurried to the wagon with Gideon.
“You just like to stir things up, don’t you, little bit?”
Riley gave him a broad smile. “A little excitement is good for everyone.”
He lifted her into the wagon, stealing another long kiss for the crowd’s enjoyment, and then hurried around to the other side and climbed aboard. Polly and Jasmine were standing a little way off, having come to the wedding, but they had stayed in the back, not wanting to create a ruckus if anyone objected to their presence.
Riley waved to them and promised, “I have a plan, and I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”
“Have a wonderful honeymoon. You both deserve it,” Jasmine called out.
Polly wiped her eyes and waved. “Congratulations. You made a beautiful bride.”
“Thanks to you,” Riley called back. Gideon took her hand and then started the horses forward. “Bye.”
Everyone wished them farewell, and then it was just her and Gideon. She leaned her head against his arm, still finding it hard to believe she was living this wonderful life.
“Happy?” he asked.
“Immensely. Today was a good day.”
“It’s not over yet,” he reminded her.
Riley blushed, knowing he was referring to tonight, when they would spend the first of many nights together. Polly and Jasmine had made sure to tell her exactly what to expect. Pearl had taken her aside when she saw how overwhelmed she was and explained that marriage and the marital bed was God’s design and something to be treasured and enjoyed.
That had set Riley’s heart at ease, and while she was a bit nervous, she trusted Gideon and knew that he wanted only the best for her, as she did him. They gathered up their belongings once at the ranch house, and he set her on Storm’s back and climbed up behind her.
“Ready to start our married life, Mrs. Lawson?”
“To repeat someone else’s words from earlier—absolutely.”
Gideon kissed her and off they went. To begin the next chapter of their lives. Together. The way things would be from now on.
THE END?
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Blurb
Brought together by Divine intervention and united by fate, how can Isabelle teach Joseph the ultimate lesson of forgiveness?
When the dazzling and feisty Isabelle Taylor returns to her home town for her father’s funeral, she is devastated. Blinded by her grief, she blames the Sheriff and his Deputy for her father’s involvement in a gunfire that resulted in his death.
When the composed yet romantic, Joseph Stewart was offered a job as a Deputy, he thought that life was finally giving him a chance. A chance he wasn’t willing to throw away just because the Sheriff can’t do his job.
As 3 brothers are accused of the Mayor’s death, Joseph is distraught by their appearance. How could they resemble his long-dead father?
While Isabelle and Joseph are waiting for the trial, they find solace in one another and heal each other's wounds.
But when Joseph reveals his big secret, everything will hang by a thread.
Will Isabelle be able to handle the truth, or will her love for Joseph disappear forever?
"Unlocking the Deputy's Heart" is a stand-alone Christian Historical Romance Novel with no cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after. Buy it now to discover Isabelle's inspirational story today!
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Unlocking the Deputy's Heart
STAND-ALONE NOVEL
A Christian Historical Romance Novel
by
Chloe Carley
Chapter One
A Deputy’s Duty
Joseph Stewart took his duties seriously. As the sheriff’s deputy it was his job to ensure law and order in the town of Little Hope.
The life of a soldier had given him a discipline that was lacked by other law enforcement officials; he often found them to be lazy, his fellow deputies more interested in drinking in the saloon than attending to their duties. Sheriff Monroe Quentin knew that Joseph was different, and thus entrusted him with greater responsibility than he did the others.
It was Joseph’s job to make a tour of the town’s perimeter, checking the fences and ensuring that no signs of bandits or undesirables could be seen. The town of Little Hope lay nestled amidst the Texan Hills Country, and its rural location ensured that it was often the focus for those intent on causing trouble.
“Not on our watch, son,” Monroe Quentin used to say as he and Joseph shared a drink.
The sun was high above as Joseph rode steadily along the track by Skull Gully, the scrubby bushland to his left stretching off up into the hills.
To his right were fields of crops, and he had already noted several places where the fences were damaged. So far, he had met no one on the track, and that was just how he liked it, for Joseph favored his own company over that of others.
He had always been a loner, happy with his own thoughts rather than requiring those of others to intrude upon him. He was chewing on a piece of straw, the only sound the gentle clip clop of his horse Sandy, the dry road throwing up its dust and dirtying his shoes. A fact which Joseph resented.
“You keep throwing up that dust, Sandy, and my boots will be covered before we return home.” He patted the horse, who neighed as if in response.
Across the fields of corn, he could see the homesteads, laid out like children’s toys on the horizon, and further on the buildings of Little Hope, the church tower being the highest point before him, the hills behind. It was a peaceful scene—so he was startled by the sudden noise coming from up ahead.
It did not take him long to realize what was happening, and pulling Sandy up, he turned the horse to ride off the track and up onto higher ground. There, ahead of him, charging at full pelt, was a herd of longhorns belonging to Mr. Heck Carter, the only homesteader this side of town who kept cattle and who was notorious for allowing his fences to fall into disrepair.
“Gee up, Sandy,” Joseph said, urging the horse up a little higher to avoid the stampeding cattle.
Then he saw with horror that it was not only the longhorns running along the track. A short distance away a man was fleeing for his life as the cattle charged at full pelt behind. There would be no escape for him; if he tried to run to either side, he would be caught by the h
erd, and if he fell then he would be crushed.
With little thought for his own safety, Joseph charged down the hill and onto the track, just as the man was beginning to lose his pace. Joseph urged Sandy on and leaned over to pull the man up onto the horse, which galloped out of harm’s way just as the longhorns thundered past, throwing up a cloud of dust in their wake.
“What were you thinking?” Joseph cried to the man as he pulled Sandy up and sat breathing heavily, coughing a little as the dust settled about them.
“I… I am sorry. They caught me off guard—that darn Heck Carter, I’ll see to it that he fixes his fences,” the man replied.
It was only then that Joseph realized who it was that he had just rescued from the stampeding longhorns. The voice of the man was unmistakable—none other than Casey B. Taylor, mayor of Little Hope and the most prominent man in the district.
Joseph took off his hat and turned to the mayor, who thanked him once again and shook him by the hand.
“I thought I was a going to get it there, son. They just charged out of nowhere. I had nowhere to run except forward and my breath was giving out. If you hadn’t been there, then, well…” His words trailed off as he realized just how close he had come to certain death.
The longhorns had now stopped and were ambling along the track. They looked almost peaceful as Joseph trotted the horse through them, though it would take only a sudden movement to turn them deadly once again.
“You had a lucky escape, Mayor Taylor,” Joseph said. “A lucky escape indeed. Why ever were you walking out here? It’s not a safe place these days, what with outlaws and bandits, not to mention stampeding longhorns like that.”
“Well, like I said, that Heck Carter will be getting a visit from me soon enough and a fine from Sheriff Quentin if he doesn’t fix his fences,” the mayor said. “My horse went lame on the track, that’s all.”
“Do you want us to go back and get it? I’m sure we could lead it safely back to town,” Joseph said, pulling up Sandy and turning her round back toward the track.
“No, son, you’ve done enough for me already. You’ve done a brave deed today and I’ll be sure not to forget it,” the mayor replied, slapping Joseph on the back. “You’ve not been long in these parts, have you?”
“I come and go. I was here first some years back and then went off west, then came back here around two years ago. I’ve been deputy for eighteen months now.”
“That’s right. Joseph’s your name, ain’t it? You came in with old William Cassidy, didn’t you?” the mayor said.
“That’s right, I lived with him for a while but now I rent rooms in the town from Mrs. Eliza Talbot,” Joseph replied as they rode into Little Hope.
“And a veteran of the Civil War. You’re a fine young man and we have much to thank you for, much to thank you for indeed. If only more young men were as brave as you are. We’re glad to have you here in Little Hope, and it certainly brought me some luck today,” Casey said.
“Well it’s better than none,” Joseph said, smiling a little at his reference to the town, which was named after its founder, Mr. Palmerston Hope. He’d been a noted benefactor who, at only five feet four inches, had stood well below even the shortest of men. “I was just doing my duty, sir. Those longhorns would have trampled you to death if it had been a moment later,” Joseph said, sounding quite matter-of-fact given the ordeal which both men had just endured.
“Well, son, I can tell you that I will always be grateful to you for what you have done today, and I can assure you that I will not forget this act of bravery. If there is anything whatsoever that you need, all you have to do is call at the mayor’s office. Casey B. Taylor will see to it that you are provided for. In fact, as a token of my appreciation, I should be very pleased if you would come and share a drink with me at my home today,” the mayor said as he dismounted and dusted himself off.
Joseph was not one for accepting such invitations. He had planned to pay a visit to William that day, or perhaps just enjoy a quiet drink in the saloon. It seemed, though, that he had no choice but to accept, and thanking the mayor, he arranged to call at the mayor’s house at six o’clock that night.
He watched as the mayor ambled off, greeting passers-by as he went. It was still a mystery as to why he had been walking that far out of town in the first place. The track led nowhere in particular—just to one or two outlying ranches which were generally avoided by most folk.
But Joseph dismissed such thoughts. The mayor could do as he wished; it was his town, after all.
After attaching Sandy’s reins to the hitching post outside the sheriff’s office, he went inside to find Monroe Quentin hard at work, his desk covered in a myriad of wanted posters, the hardened faces of the most wanted men in Texas looking up at him.
“I was wondering where you’d got to,” Monroe said, not looking up from his work.
“There was a stampede out on the Skull Gully track. A herd of Heck Carter’s longhorns charging through the fences. Thankfully, no one was hurt,” Joseph said, looking down at his shoes, which were filthy with the dust.
“Ain’t no one walks along that track,” Quentin said. “Unless they’re up to no good.”
“The mayor was there. I had to scoop him up onto Sandy, otherwise he’d have been killed,” Joseph replied, taking off his boots.
At this, the sheriff put down his pen and looked up. “Mayor Taylor? Whatever was he doing all the way out there?”
“He said his horse was lamed. I’m going to go over and speak with Heck Carter; this is the third time his cattle have strayed in as many months,” Joseph said, beginning to polish his shoes back to their original shine.
“I’ll see to Heck Carter,” Monroe replied darkly, though his expression quickly changed. “And it seems we have a new hero on our hands, Rescuing the mayor from a herd of longhorns has got to be worth at least ten acres of land,” he said, smiling at Joseph.
“He’s invited me for a drink, but as I told him, I was only doing my duty. Mayor or not, I would still have scooped him up,” Joseph said.
“Of course you would, and that’s what makes you a fine deputy. You’ll be sheriff one day—of that I have no doubt. These folks’ll be the death of me,” he said, pointing down to the grim faces on the wanted posters.
“Any news come in on the hunt for Frank James?” Joseph asked.
“Nothing at all, though two more saloons were held up in this past week alone. It’s only a matter of time before trouble comes to Little Hope. Anyway, you take the rest of the day off; you’ll want to polish those shoes before drinks with the mayor tonight,” Monroe said, laughing to himself as he went back to scrutinizing the wanted posters.
Joseph put on his boots and went out into the town.
His lodgings were just across the street, and Mrs. Eliza Talbot was sweeping off the veranda when he approached. She laid down her brush and smiled at the young deputy.
A widower of twenty years, his landlady let out three rooms in her boarding house to an assortment of local men. She was glad to have Joseph as a boarder. The deputy kept some order around the place. Her other lodgers were somewhat lacking in morals though regular in their payments.
