Nathaniel turned at the sound of the woman’s voice. The small woman who’d been sitting with Roger at the ball stood there glaring toward the man. She was slowly walking toward her husband, as though years of anger and abuse had stripped her of any fear. While Roger was being distracted by the confusion over what was happening, Easton snuck in from behind the rock.
Roger’s hand started to shake as he realized everything was falling apart. As Easton came up from behind and made a grab for the gun, Nathaniel leaped forward, grabbing Claire from his grip and pulled her toward him.
Roger managed to break free from Easton, trying to run toward the trees. But just as he did, the spooked reindeer chose that moment to come back in this direction. Tearing back toward his herd, he ran straight into the man, knocking him to the ground.
Nathaniel let the others deal with Roger. Even though he’d spent years wanting to see the man brought to justice, all he cared about in this moment was making sure Claire was all right. But just as he was about to ask her, she went limp against him.
“Claire!” He lifted her into his arms, holding her close to keep her warm as he raced back up the path to the hotel. His legs were like lead and he felt like he couldn’t move any faster as he struggled to get her to someone who could help her. Looking down into her ashen face, his chest squeezed in agony.
Feeling like he was reliving the scene of his brother being killed by this man, Nathaniel was sure he couldn’t go on if anything happened to her.
“She’s going to be fine. She’s lost a bit of blood, and I believe that mixed with some other issues she’s been having, everything was just too much for her.” Sinead’s voice reached her ears, speaking softly over her.
Why was she sleeping? Hadn’t she just been at the ball?
As she struggled through the haze in her mind, she fought to open her heavy eyelids. Pain shot through her arm as she tried to move.
“What other issues?”
She could hear the worry in Nathaniel’s voice as he replied, and she realized someone was holding her hand. Finally, the fog started to lift and she remembered what happened. Her eyelids flickered open, revealing Nathaniel’s face hovering close to hers.
“Claire! Are you all right?” He reached out, pushing some hair back on her forehead.
Squinting, she tried to figure out where she was. Sinead came over, shooing Nathaniel back so she could get a look at her. “We’ve brought you to my new office. I’ve cleaned up your wound and bandaged it, so hopefully it will prevent any infection from setting in. You’re going to have to take it easy for a while and let it heal.”
She met Claire’s eyes knowingly as she continued. “And you did lose a fair amount of blood, so I don’t think I need to tell you that you have to be careful not to overdo it, right?” Claire knew she was referring to the fact that she also had to think of the baby.
Nodding, she promised Sinead she’d get some rest. Suddenly she remembered Annie.
“How is Annie? She fell against the rock. Is she okay?”
“I’m fine, Claire. Thanks to you.”
Whipping her head around to the voice, Sinead was helping her to stand up from the other cot in the room. “I’m so sorry for what my father did to both of you. I knew he wasn’t a good man, but I had no idea just how bad he was. I think Andrea has been oblivious to what mother and I were living with, because she was the pampered princess who didn’t believe her father could do anything wrong. I’m sure by now, she’s heard everything.”
“It’s not your fault, Annie.” Claire moved to sit up, and Nathaniel immediately had his arm behind her to help her. When she was sitting on the edge, he kept his arm holding her up.
“Apparently the man your father was meeting was the brother to David Tompkins, a man who’d offered to testify against him before he was murdered. He says he had a letter that David had written to him while he was being held in the jail saying that Roger had paid him a visit. He’d threatened to kill him if he said anything. David had said if anything ever happened to him, his blood would be on Roger’s hands. David’s brother contacted your father to let him know he had some kind of evidence that could prove he’d killed him. In return for handing it over to him, he was demanding a hefty sum of money. The funny thing is, the letter didn’t really prove anything, but Roger had no way of knowing for sure what all it said. Apparently he wasn’t going to take any chances.”
Claire let herself lean into her husband, thankful he was there to give her strength. Her entire body ached, and right now, all she wanted to do was go home.
Nathaniel nodded toward Annie. “Tell your mother not to worry. She has our protection, and now that your father is in jail, she will be safe from him. We’ll make sure he doesn’t get out.”
After coming over to carefully hug Claire, Annie went to wait by the door. Sinead came over to them, quickly taking one last look at the bandage on her arm. “I’m walking Annie back to her room to make sure she gets settled. You’re free to go home, but only if you agree to let me come and check you out again tomorrow just to make sure everything is okay.”
Claire smiled and nodded, watching her friends leave the room. When she went to stand up, Nathaniel reached behind her legs and lifted her into his arms. “What are you doing? You can’t carry me all the way home. I’m perfectly capable of walking.”
He raised an eyebrow and looked down into her face. “I have no doubt you’re perfectly capable, however I have no intention of finding out. So, could you just do me this one favor and let the man who loves you beyond reason carry you close to him so he knows you’ll be safe?”
They walked out into the cold of the winter night, and he tucked her in tightly so she’d stay warm against him. He’d grabbed the blanket off the cot in Sinead’s office and made sure she was completely wrapped in it. She rested her head against his chest, taking comfort in the heat she could feel coming from him.
As they walked home in the quiet of the moonlit street, she looked up into his face. “Do you realize what you said back there?”
He looked down, and she could just make out the hint of a sparkle in his eyes beneath the shadow of his hat. “You might have to clarify that. I’ve said a lot of things tonight.”
She shook her head and gave a small laugh as she rested it back against his chest. “I love you too, Nathaniel.”
“Could you promise me something now?” His chest rumbled against her cheek as he spoke. “Can you leave the chasing after the criminals to me? I don’t want to have to keep coming to your rescue.”
She pulled her head back and playfully tapped him on the shoulder as he grinned down at her. “Well, to be honest, I think Rocky was keeping a close eye and had everything under control. I have no doubt he’d have stepped in when it came time to need saving.”
As though he heard them talking about him, they heard a loud snorting sound across the road as they approached their house. There was Rocky, nonchalantly digging in the snow to find something to eat as though he hadn’t just had the most exciting night of his life.
“You know, Annie told me how foolish you were back there. I still can’t believe you risked your life, and ended up getting shot, to save a reindeer.” He was shaking his head as they climbed the front steps to their house.
“I’d do anything for the people, or animals, I care about.”
He looked down and smiled at her. “I know. And that’s why I love you.”
Epilogue
The first rays of daylight were making their way into the room as Claire finished preparing the turkey to go into the oven. She’d already been up for a while, quietly working to get everything ready for hosting her first Christmas Day celebration.
“Claire, why didn’t you wake me? I can’t believe I didn’t hear you get up.” Nathaniel came up behind her, putting his arms around her waist as he kissed the back of her neck. “Merry Christmas.” His breath tickled her skin as he whispered the words.
She turned in his arms, reaching up to put her o
wn around his neck. His lopsided smile gave him a boyish appearance when combined with the tousled hair from sleep.
Lifting her head up, she pressed her lips to his. When she pulled back, he grinned down at her. “Was that my Christmas present?”
She laughed softly, and shook her head. “No, I’m saving that for later.”
Pushing herself away from him, she turned back to the stove so she could finish getting everything ready before the guests started to show up.
They’d invited Peter and Sylvia, as well as Annie, Andrea and Mrs. Hastings. They’d been through such a trying few days with everything that happened, Claire couldn’t bear to think of them not having any kind of Christmas celebration.
She was looking forward to spending the day with her new friend, however the thought of Andrea being around for the day was causing her some anxiety. Although she suspected after the events that took place, Annie’s sister might be a bit more subdued.
As she tried to pull away, he held her hand and shook his head, tugging to move her with him toward the fireplace. He motioned for her to sit down in her chair. “I’ve got something for you, and I want you to have it now before the house gets too full.”
The sparkle in his eyes set her heart fluttering. He went over to the small tree they’d set up in the corner and reached in to pull out a square box that had been hidden in the back. He handed it to her, crouching down in front of her to watch as she opened it.
The fire was warm as it snapped in the fireplace, casting an orange glow over them. With shaking hands, she opened the box and looked inside. Reaching in, she pulled it out, tears threatening to spill as she realized what it was.
“Are these my pearls?”
He nodded. “I realized you’d never had the bracelet repaired from when you arrived at the train station, and then you broke the other one the night of the ball. Thankfully, Rocky made sure I got those ones back so I could use them for this.” He reached out and took it from her hands, moving closer to do up the clasp behind her neck.
“I had them all put together to make a necklace for you. I thought it might be safer for you, since you seem to have a problem keeping bracelets intact. I knew the pearls meant a lot to you coming from your friend.” He smiled down at her. “And, I had a locket put in the middle so you could keep pictures of the people you care about.”
She held it up and took a close look at it. The locket was beautiful, shaped in an oval and covered with intricate designs.
“I wonder whose picture I could put in it.”
She laughed as he brought his eyebrows together and huffed indignantly. “Actually, if you open it, you’ll see I’ve already made sure there is a picture of someone rather important.”
Smiling, she looked down again, this time opening the locket to reveal a photo of Nathaniel in his red jacket. Her heart did the familiar flutter she had whenever she saw him.
“Yes, it will do, I guess.” She smirked as he rolled his eyes at her, knowing full well how much she loved having his picture next to her heart.
When he went to stand up, she stopped him, holding on to his hands before he could move. “I have a present for you too.” She reached down to the basket beside her chair that she used to hold her sewing. She’d hidden it inside for the past few days while she finished it.
It was wrapped in brown paper, and he looked at her with excitement as he took it from her hands. “What is it?”
This time, she was rolling her eyes. “You have to open it. I’m not going to just tell you.”
Like a young boy, he ripped the paper away, revealing a small blanket. She held back her laughter as he scrunched his eyebrows together, looking it over, then lifting his confused gaze to hers.
“I’m not sure this will be big enough for our bed.”
Finally, she couldn’t hold her laughter back anymore. Reaching out, she set the blanket on her lap and placed his hands on her stomach.
“The gift isn’t the blanket. It’s who the blanket is for.”
He was looking at her with a blank stare as he tried to figure out what she was saying. Just when she thought she was going to have to come right out and tell him, his mouth opened and he looked down at where their hands rested on the baby.
“I didn’t know what to get you, but then I realized this was the perfect gift. You’ve given me so much. A home, a chance to be loved, and now a family of my own. This is something I can give you.”
He swallowed hard, the muscles in his throat moving as he lifted his eyes back up to hers. If she didn’t know better, she’d almost have believed his eyes were just a bit wet.
Before she could react, he jumped up, pulling her up and into his arms. He spun her around until she was sure she’d be sick. Laughing, she threw her head back and looked at him. “Put me down. With the way I’ve been feeling lately, being spun around in circles isn’t a wise idea.”
He stopped, but still held her in his arms, smiling down into her upturned face.
“That’s the best gift you could have ever given me, Claire. Well, except for the day you showed up on the train and agreed to be my wife.”
His lips found hers, and as she stood in his arms with the warmth of the early morning sun coming through the windows, Claire was finally able to feel the love of a Christmas morning.
It was the greatest gift she’d ever received.
BONUS SCENE:
“I’m sorry for how my sister is acting. The news of everything has been a bit more difficult for her to take. Although, she has confided to me that she had noticed how mean father could be sometimes, but she just didn’t want to deal with it. She said all she’d ever hoped was that she could find someone to marry who could take her away from him.”
Claire looked over to where Andrea sat at the fireplace, staring into the flames as she slowly rocked. She had been moody and withdrawn all day, but Claire hadn’t let it ruin her first real Christmas.
Everyone had brought something to share for the meal, and it was a time of celebration and appreciation for everyone. Mrs. Hastings had a renewed strength, and the color in her face showed just how much she was ready to get her life back.
“My mother has apologized for allowing him to hurt us, but she said she just couldn’t find the strength to leave him knowing how dangerous he was. I don’t think I’ll ever know just how bad it was for her, but I’m glad to have her back.”
“I’m glad everything has worked out, Annie. I worried about what would happen to you if your father was sent to jail, and it tore me apart knowing I might have a hand in doing it.”
Annie laughed and shook her head. “My father never liked me anyway. There was no love between us. Ma says the day I was born with the disfigurement on my lip, he told her to take me to an orphanage. He didn’t want to keep me. But she said she just couldn’t get rid of me. So I think that was the beginning of things getting even worse for her.” Annie reached up and gently touched the scar that spread from her lip to her nose. “At least he did allow me to have the surgery, but now I wonder if the money he used to pay for it was even real.”
Taking her friend’s hand, she squeezed it. “It doesn’t matter now. What matters is that you get to start over. Without needing to worry about him. Nathaniel says with all of the evidence they have now, your father will never be out of prison.”
They looked over to where Nathanial was talking to his parents near the stove. He caught her eye and winked, sending her heart spinning.
“You’re lucky to have a man like him to love you.” Annie’s voice was quiet as she spoke.
Claire looked back at her friend and shrugged. “There was a time when I’d never have believed this could happen for me. So I have no doubt it will happen for you too, Annie.”
Annie shook her head sadly. “Not for someone like me. Can you imagine a Mountie wanting to marry the daughter of a criminal like Roger Hastings? Especially when she isn’t the ideal of a perfect woman.”
Claire tilted her head to the side. “Annie, y
ou’re a beautiful woman, and any man would be lucky to have you. All you need to do is find the right man.” She studied her friend for a moment before continuing.
“And I think I might just know a woman who can help you…”
I hope that you enjoyed RNWMP: Bride for Nathaniel!
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About the Author
Kay P. Dawson is a mom of two girls, who always dreamed of being a writer. After a breast cancer diagnosis in 2011, she decided it was time to follow her dream.
Years of reading historical romance, combined with her love for all history related to the old west and pioneer times, she knew that writing in the western historical genre was her calling.
She writes sweet romance, believing a good love story doesn’t need to give all of the juicy details - a true love story shows so much more.
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Bride for Nathaniel Page 9
