by Barbara Goss
“Just curious.” She thought she’d ask about Ned’s horse to calm his suspicions. “What kind of horse does Ned ride?”
“Surely, you’ve seen his horse. He still rides Brandy, his stallion.”
How could she forget? The first day they met, they’d ridden from Victoria to Hays double, and on the way back is when they’d first kissed.
“Where does Maria live?” she asked.
“About two miles down the road from Travis. Why?”
“I just wondered,” Ellen answered.
“So, what time do they usually race on Saturdays?” she asked.
“I haven’t been keeping that close a watch on them, Ellen.”
“I just don’t want to run into them.” She turned. “Well, I’ll be getting home now. Thank you for the tour.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Late on Friday, Ellen slipped Travis's hunting knife into her saddlebag, sneaked from the house, and saddled a horse. She smiled to herself—it was almost too easy.
She’d learned from Peter Balcomb where Maria’s house was located and she rode, shivering, down the dark road. She could barely see the trail and was relieved to finally see a light in the distance—she knew it must be Maria’s house. As she crept closer, she saw the porch light was on, but none of the windows in the house displayed any lights.
Common sense told her someone was due home if the porch light had been left on. At the sound of a buggy wheeling toward her, she ducked behind the stable. She watched as an older man and woman jumped down from the vehicle and walked up to the porch. They spoke softly to each other as they climbed the stairs. She guessed this was Ned’s uncle and Maria’s mother. They kissed and embraced, and then the man got back into the buggy and drove away.
Maria waited until the lights had all gone out in the house before she crept noiselessly into the stable and searched for Maria’s horse, which she found in the first stall. As the horse moved nervously, she saw the woman’s saddle hanging over the partition. She really couldn’t believe how easy this was.
Ned ate his breakfast swiftly.
“What’s the hurry?” Hugh asked. “You’ll get colic eating like that.”
“I overslept. I’m supposed to meet Maria at ten and it’s almost that now,” he said between bites. Finally, he threw his napkin on the table and rushed out to saddle his horse. He knew Maria would already be saddled and prancing around her yard, awaiting him. He hated to keep her waiting and lead her to think he would be an irresponsible husband.
Last night had been the toughest night he’d spent with her yet. He wanted her so badly. Her kisses drove him wild, and when his hands spanned her tiny waist, he envisioned her as only a husband could view her. That was when he’d called it a night, rather abruptly. There was nothing he wanted more than a wedding night filled with discovery and delight, all without guilt. He knew other men had tasted the pie before it was out of the oven while betrothed, but he wanted the assurance of a blessed marriage from God when they did it the right way. He’d searched the Bible for all the references to marriage.
June seemed so far away. Usually, he’d think up things for them to do other while courting other than romancing. It was just too difficult for him to kiss and embrace her and get all heated up. He thought it must be easier for Maria to resist temptation because she seemed to want to romance all the time; he could relate to Adam and his temptation from Eve.
Just seeing Maria look up at him with her sensitive blue eyes made his heart pump faster. Her love for him was written all over her face whenever she looked at him. He had no doubt about her love for him. He felt fortunate that he’d finally been able to appreciate the prize God had gifted him with—at a time when he needed it most, too.
He urged Brandy to a faster trot. He couldn’t wait to see her. Each time he rode to her place it felt as if it was their first courting.
He rode up to the house and sure enough, she was seated on her horse she'd named Geronimo. He tried to pull his horse close enough to give her a greeting kiss, but Geronimo would have none of it.
“All right, Geronimo, I’ll kiss my future bride after our race.” Ned blew her a kiss, which she grabbed with her hand and put to her lips.
“I’m ready when you are,” she said, and trotted alongside him toward his house.
When they got to the old cattle drive trail, they stopped. The trail was mostly straight, with only one curve around a copse of trees. It was dusty and wide but due to lack of use, weeds grew here and there, threatening to eventually cover the trail completely.
“We’ll finish at the birch tree, like last time,” Ned said. Although he knew Maria to be an excellent horsewoman, he always cautioned her. “Be careful, love.”
They started to gallop and had almost approached the curve, when a shot rang out nearby. Both horses reared slightly and Maria and Ned fought to control them. When Ned had finally calmed his horse and saw that Maria had, too, he turned and saw Balcomb riding toward them. Was he crazy, scaring their horses like that? What could he possibly want and why now?
“What do you want, Balcomb?” Ned spat. “Can’t you see we’re busy?” Ned looked down at the smoking gun still in Balcomb’s hand. “Or is it a gunfight you want this time? If it is, I’ll go and get my gun.”
“Calm down, Benedict!” he called out. “I have something urgent to tell you. Do I have your permission to approach?”
Ned wondered what could be so important he needed to shoot a gun to stop them. He’d be madder than a hornet if it was just to offer an apology or money again. He took a few minutes and then looked to Maria. She nodded.
“Approach, and do it quickly, please,” Ned shouted.
Balcomb slid off his horse and holstered his gun before walking to where Ned and Maria were sitting on their horses.
“I think you should check Maria’s saddle and horse for something. I’m not sure what, but I think some mischief may be afoot,” Balcomb said.
Ned’s first thought was that this was a waste of time and Balcomb just wanted to find a way to ingratiate himself to save himself a beating.
Ned slid from this horse, walked to Maria’s horse, and helped her dismount. “What makes you think something is wrong with Maria’s horse?”
“I had lunch with Ellen the other day and she practically gave me an outline of her plans. I went along with them to learn more. She was interested in your Saturday races, and where Ellen lived. She also expressed a wish that she might be rid of Maria.”
Ned heard Maria gasp. He drew her to him and kissed her forehead.
“All right, Balcomb, if it will satisfy you, I’ll check the horse.”
Ned released Maria and bent to check each foot of the horse for something that might set the horse off, and then he checked the saddle., but It all looked fine. Then he ducked under the horse’s belly and saw it.
“What the blazes is going on?” Ned yelled. “The flank strap is cut almost through!”
Balcomb looked surprised, too, and he also squatted to take a look at the strap. “That would have given before you got to the finish line.”
“It’s hanging by three threads!” He pulled Maria close again.
“Balcomb, how do I know it wasn’t you just trying to be the hero and get on my good side?” he asked.
“I guess you don’t know, and I can hardly blame you for thinking that. I can only tell you I have no grudge against Maria. If it had been me, I’d have cut your flank strap, not hers,” he said. “But since what’s happened to you, I’ve been going to church and trying to atone for my actions. I’ve tried to approach you so many times to apologize.
“I had a strong suspicion Ellen would try something like this. You see, I took her for a tour of our stables. She wanted to know what Ellen’s horse looked like, where she lived, and she fiddling with a saddle strap on the wall the whole time she was asking all those questions. I just put it all together. I figured it would happen either this Saturday or next. She must be mighty anxious to get you back.�
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“And she thinks that once she’d harmed Maria I’d go back to her?”
Balcomb nodded.
“I wouldn’t go back to her if she were the last woman on earth. Ellen’s a she-devil.”
Ned then realized he owed Balcomb for coming forward. He cringed thinking about what might have happened to Maria had Balcomb kept silent. He put his hand out to him.
“Your debt to me is paid in full, Balcomb,” he said loudly. Then, in a softer voice, he said, “Thank you.”
Peter Balcomb shook his hand. “Someday, I hope you’ll let me tell you what really happened that day.”
“I’ll give you that,” Ned said. “Maria could very well have been killed had the strap broke at the speed we’d have been racing. I can well afford to forget all about that day.”
Balcomb tipped his hat and mounted his horse. With a final wave, he rode away.
Ned pulled Maria close and held onto her tightly. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you’d have been hurt.” He squeezed her even tighter. “I think I need to have a talk with Travis and Robert. This will stop here,” he said firmly. “He kissed her forehead then her cheeks, as he held her head in his palms. “I love you too much to live even one day without you, Maria.”
Maria spoke for the first time. “Is Ellen so malicious that she’d resort to murder?”
“I wouldn’t have thought so. I’m going right to speak with Travis and Robert right now.
“Shall I go along?” she asked.
“No. I’m going to see you safely home, first, but I’ll come back when I’m done.” He helped her up onto Brandy, and he mounted behind her. It reminded him of the last time he’d ridden double with a woman, but this time his feelings weren’t physical. Instead, they were filled with a protective love. They pulled Geronimo behind them, and just as they’d reached her house, the saddle fell to the ground. Maria and Ned exchanged a look and his arms tightened around her. He had to keep her safe, but how?
When they’d dismounted and walked to the porch, Ned said, “Would you mind terribly if we didn’t have a big, fancy wedding in June?”
“What?” she asked. “You’re canceling our wedding?”
“Sort of. I want to keep you safe, and that means being with you day and night. I want to get married right away.” He looked at her, and she looked up at him with wide eyes, and then she broke out in a wide smile. “I’d love it,” she whispered.
Evaline seemed overly surprised to see Ned at the door and invited him in. She whispered, “Ellen’s here. Would you prefer to talk with Travis outside?”
“No, I want you to gather everyone to the sitting room. I have something to tell all of you.”
Evaline looked puzzled, but she called everyone to the sitting room, including Ellen, who strode into the room with confidence. Ned wondered if Ellen thought they were gathered together to hear the sad news that Maria had died.
When all eyes were on him, he cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Robert. “I want you to take that she-devil of a daughter home, now!”
No one said a word. They all seemed shocked.
Travis spoke first. “What happened, Ned?” He said it like he knew something bad had happened.
“It seems someone cut the strap on Maria’s horse so she’d have a terrible riding accident today. Had it not been for Balcomb’s warning, I’d be in mourning right now,” he snarled.
Ned pointed his finger at Ellen, “You will go back to England where you belong. Had anything happened to Maria, I would have strangled you as sure as I’m standing here.”
Ellen stood, showing embarrassment as well as shock.
“Balcomb’s lying!” she shouted. “How do you know he didn’t do it?”
“He proved to me he wasn’t lying, and I believe him, however, I don’t believe a single word that you say,” he spat.
Travis stood and spread his arms out to silence everyone, as each of them had begun to speak at once. “She is no longer welcome in this house.” He gave his father-in-law an apologetic look. “I don’t care where she goes, but I’ve had it with her.”
Evaline stood and put her arm through her husband’s. “I agree.”
Robert sat still looking angry, but confused, as well. “I don’t know how soon we can sail back.” He thought for a few moments, and then turned toward Ellen. “We leave right now. Pack your things, missy. We’ll take a train to New York and get on the first ship going to Europe.” Ellen stood still until Robert yelled, “Now!” loudly.
When she’d left the room, Robert stood, approached Ned and put a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless, ashamed, and angry, all at once.”
“Just make sure she’s gone. Just in case, I’m marrying Maria as soon as I can.”
“That’s a good idea,” Robert said. “At any rate, as soon as I have her safely across the ocean, I’ll send a wire so you can relax a bit and enjoy your newly married life. I wish you the best, Ned.”
Ned and Maria stood before the altar as Reverend Moran voiced the words that would forever join them. Travis, Evaline, Hugh, and Vera all watched tearfully.
Maria looked up at him with trust and love and he returned it with a look he hoped showed her how much he loved her. He vowed to protect her, always.
Hugh would stay, living with Maria and Ned, until his marriage in June. They decided that it would be a double wedding, as Ned and Maria repeating their vows with them, since all the arrangements had already been made.
Maria slipped the nightgown that she and Evaline had picked out from the mercantile, over her head. It was white, sheer, and lacy. She felt almost embarrassed for Ned to see her in it, but he was her husband now, and since she’d forgotten to take a robe into the room where she was changing, she really had no choice.
She took the pins from her hair and let her long, heavy curls flow down to her waist. She looked in the mirror. Within the hour, she’d no longer be a virgin. She pinched her cheeks to make them rosy. Would tonight turn out to be a night to forget, or one to remember? She didn’t know what to expect. She loved Ned with all her heart, and the fact that he hadn’t laid ever lain with another woman made her happy. She’d be his first, and he’d be hers, as well. Would they know what to do?
She opened the door to the spare bedroom and walked to Ned’s room where he was awaiting her. When she walked in, he was sitting up in bed, propped up by pillows. He turned and stared at her, making her want to cover herself. Instead, she just walked faster to the bed and made a move to jump under the quilt rapidly, but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist.
“You look ravishing,” he said softly, “more beautiful than ever before, and you’ve always been lovely.”
She crawled beneath the quilt, but her husband had another idea. He pulled the quilt down and sat up to gaze at her.
She felt herself blush. “Please, Ned. Turn out the lamp.”
“I will,” he said. “I just wanted to remember the sight of you before…forever.”
He lay back down and turned her chin so she would to face him. “I love you with all my heart. I promise to always protect and cherish you. I meant every word of my vows. You will be my first love and my last love, I promise you. If there were one hundred Ellens wanting me, then there would be one hundred disappointed Ellens. I only have eyes for you.”
“The lamp, Ned,” she whispered, not wanting him to see the tears his words had brought on. It was as if his words were wrapped around her heart and they were squeezing it.
Without turning off the lamp, Ned kissed her on each cheek. “We’re going to make babies, raise a large family, and grow old together. Can’t I at least cherish the sight of you for a few moments before having to turn out the lamp?”
Maria rubbed his chest, loving the feel of the muscles from his hard work on the ranch. Her hand drifted up to his neck. “Just this first time, at least, won’t you put the lamp out?”
Ned smiled. “All right, but tomorrow it stays on.”
“We’ll do this tomorrow, too?” she asked.
“And the next day, and the day after that.” He reached over, put out the lamp, turned, and pulled her against him. “I love the feel of your body against mine. Do you know what God says about marriage?”
She nodded, and then realized he couldn’t see it in the dark. “That it’s sacred?”
He ran his finger through her hair. “And the two shall become one flesh.”
She put her arms around his neck then and whispered, “Let it begin.”
THE END
Will Peter Balcomb’s older brother Rance find true love? Watch for book #3.
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Other books by Barbara Goss:
1. Forbidden Legacy
2. Captured Heart
3. Stolen Heritage
4. Dangerous Illusions
5. Silent Love
6. The Final Vow
7. The Kissing Bridge
8. Drawn from Darkness
9. Temptation by Moonlight
10. The Romantic Ruse
11. Shadow of Shame Book 1
12. Shadow of Deceit Book 2
13. Shadow of Regret Book 3
14. Shadow of Hope Book 4
15. Shadow of Love Book 5
16. Shadow of Second Chances Book 6
17. Shadow of Faith Book 7
18. 7 Shadow of Shame package: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KAAWFP2
19. Sunshine in the Rain and Yesterday’s Rain Part 1 and Part 2
