Maria slowly looked up and into his eyes, her own misting.
Diego cleared his throat before he spoke again. “I am no longer needed. I know I have no right to expect that you’ve waited, that your heart belongs to me. But I have hope—still.”
Her mind was a jumble and her thoughts spun in her head. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Could this be true? Yesterday, the possibility of ever seeing Diego again was impossible, at least to her. Was he really kneeling before her now? Had all that changed in an instant?
She opened her eyes and it was true—her handsome Diego knelt before her, asking that she be his.
They both looked up as a buggy passed by, Tripp and Sadie waving, Suzanne in the back. Both twins held—well, a twin, and Tripp’s smile was broad.
“Look at what happiness they’ve found,” she said quietly as she turned back to her long lost love and reached for her hand. “I suppose it’s never too late to try for that. Without the children, of course,” she said quickly.
“I would have been honored to be a father, as well. But at the moment, I would be honored if you would consent to be my wife.”
Maria’s stifled a gasp with her fingertips as he took her hand and kissed it again, anxiety clouding his eyes.
“Oh, my goodness,” she said, thoughts of Katie flooding her. It was almost as if she could hear her friend whisper into her ear. “Say yes, Maria. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”
“Yes, yes. Of course, I will,” she cried as she threw her arms around Diego and vowed never to let go again.
Chapter 16
Sadie stretched as her two bundles of joy slept soundly beside her. She looked for Tripp as the sun streamed in the window, landing softly on the babies, swaddled in the pink blankets she’d brought them home in the night before.
The aroma of coffee wafted through the open door and she smiled, wondering if her husband had been able to sleep. He’d been up with her most of the night, worrying that the girls weren’t warm enough—all three of them. His girls.
She pulled herself up on her elbows, resting her head against the big mahogany headboard and adjusted the pillows behind her as quietly as she could so as not to disturb the little ones. The sun peeked over the mountains in the distance and ice crystals dotted the bottom of the window panes.
After so much commotion, she hadn’t been sure she could relax, but she stretched again, knowing she’d gotten some sleep. Maybe it was since she was in her own home. Staying at Archer Ranch had been a blessing, but the night before, as she put on her sleeping gown and settled the girls beside her on her comfortable bed, and Tripp carefully draped the down comforter in just the right places, she knew she was back where she belonged.
All of the trepidation she’d felt days ago at Suzanne’s house—about being a mother, or especially being a mother to twins—was gone. All she felt was gratitude and joy, for her friends and family in her new home of Tombstone and especially in her own bedroom, with her brave, talented husband.
Reading Katie’s journal had been the best Christmas gift she’d ever received. After Maria’s wise counsel and sharing time at the Archer house, surrounded by love and care—she just knew that she would do her darnedest to be as good a mother as Katie—and Maria. And while there’d likely be lots of tears and maybe a scraped knee or two, she and Tripp would keep these girls safe, warm and loved.
“Can I interest you in some tea?” Tripp said as he nudged the door open with his foot and entered with a tray of biscuits, honey and a steaming tea pot.
“I thought I smelled coffee,” Sadie said, frowning.
“You haven’t had coffee in months,” he said as he set the tray on the vanity. “I thought you’d lost your taste for it.”
Sadie laughed and brushed her finger over one of the baby’s foreheads. “These two kicked up a storm when I drank coffee, and I stopped so they wouldn’t kick their way out. If Clara hadn’t brought me some the first morning I was at Archer Ranch, these two might not be here yet. I’d love some, but maybe tomorrow,” she said.
“I’d be happy to fetch some for you now, Sadie,” Tripp said as he poured himself a cup of tea.
“No, please don’t go. I’d love a cup of tea, and we have some important things to discuss.”
Tripp glanced at her, his eyebrows raised as he poured a cup of tea and set it on the nightstand beside Sadie. He stepped back and sat gingerly at the foot of the bed, his eyes on the twins.
“I think they’re sound asleep. Don’t worry,” she said as she sipped her tea, closed her eyes and sighed. “Did you get any rest? I thought I heard you slip out after we were in bed.”
“I did,” he said as he ran his hand over Sadie’s feet. “After yesterday, I had an idea and I wanted to talk to Gabriel about it.”
“Oh?” Sadie frowned. “Is everything all right at the restaurant?”
Tripp stood and crossed over to the window, looking out toward the Occidental—his other baby. “Yes, actually. Better than all right.”
Sadie smiled as one of the twins yawned, made a cute baby sound with her mouth and fell back to sleep. “How so?” she asked, looking up at Tripp. He’d turned away from the window, his expression one of awe and love.
“After being away from you, and so worried when I came back, and—well, with twins, for goodness sake—I realized I need to be home more. At least for a while. And spending so much time with the Archer family, and having been gone to get the burros, I wanted to see how Gabriel had fared.”
“You’ve trained him well, but even I was a little unsure how he’d do on his own. Well, he’s got help, but still. You’re the chef.” She smiled up at her talented husband, wondering what he had in mind.
“Well, thank you, but all of Tombstone knows that we’re expecting a new addition, and maybe now when they hear we’ve been blessed with two, they’ll understand when Gabriel makes their supper rather than me. For a while, anyway.”
He crossed over to the vanity and re-filled his cup, sitting back down on the foot of the bed.
“You taught him expertly, it seems.” Sadie laughed and untied her braid, unweaving it. “I never thought you’d leave the Occidental in someone else’s hands. For any reason. But while not you, Gabriel’s very good.”
“Yes, yes he is,” Tripp said as he reached for Sadie’s brush on the vanity. “And he was quite willing to take over. A little nervous maybe, but I reminded him I wasn’t far away. The miners can still have their meat pies, even with us at home.”
Almost as if on cue the mine whistle pierced the air. Both the twins jumped, and both Tripp and Sadie stopped talking, holding their breath to see if they’d wake up and start the commotion all over again.
The girls fell back to sleep quickly and Sadie whispered, “I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to have a conversation again while they’re sleeping.”
Tripp stood and nudged for Sadie to turn slightly. He began to brush her hair in long strokes, careful not to jostle the bed and awaken the babies.
He whispered, “I just want to be here, to help. With family. I didn’t have much of a family when I was younger, and I want it to be different for them. I’m not sure I’ll do a good job of it, but I’m determined.”
Sadie reached for his hand, stopping the brush in mid-air. She turned to him, her eyes glistening. “Tripp, that would be wonderful. I would love for us to have some time alone with the girls and—well, get our bearings, for one. But you did have a family,” she said as she reached over to her nightstand for Katie’s journal. “I’d like to read you something.”
“I have been truly blessed to have had a fine husband help me raise our seven beautiful children. And today, I am even more blessed to add another—a child of our heart if not our bodies. Tripp Morgan was sent to us, and Beau and I agree that he is to be part of our family, our second son. He is talented, kind and sorely in need of love—which the Archer family will deliver to him in buckets and buckets.”
Tripp stiffened as Sadie rea
d aloud—quietly, so as not to disturb the twins—and he rubbed his eyes. “Katie was the mother I never had. And Beau—the best father a man could be. I was quite fortunate that they took me in.”
“There’s more,” Sadie said and she cleared her throat.
“These children—eight of them now—have enriched my life beyond measure. What a gift to be their mother, and I’ve done the best I could to show them love. As I look back at the beginning of this journal, I can’t imagine what I was so nervous about—they all have been the greatest blessing of my life. All eight of them.”
Tripp leaned forward and kissed Sadie on the cheek and she closed her eyes, the warm radiating all the way to her toes. “She was an amazing woman and mother—and you will be the same,” he said. “To...to...these girls,” he said as he stood back and laughed, his arms folded over his chest. “They don’t even have names yet and I have to say, I can’t tell them apart for the life of me,” Tripp confessed as he set the brush down on the vanity. “How is that going to work?”
Sadie frowned and looked down at the babies. “Katie said that she named them first, then tied a pink ribbon around one’s wrist and a yellow ribbon around the other’s. At least until they got bigger and there was another way to tell them apart. We could dress them in different clothes, too,” she said, glancing over at the stack of baby clothes she’d been given the day before.
“Ah, I suppose that would work,” Tripp said as he rubbed his chin. “But we still need to name them.”
Sadie could hardly believe that they hadn’t talked about names. She’d intended to bring it up for months, but they’d both been so busy with the restaurant that it just hadn’t happened. And she was glad it hadn’t, because after her time at Archer Ranch, and the arrival of two of them, she knew just what she’d like to name them. And she was almost certain Tripp would agree.
“I’ve thought about it quite a bit over the past week, Tripp. I have an idea.”
Tripp looked up from the babies and into Sadie’s eyes. Holding his gaze, she rested her left hand on the baby beside her. “I think that this one should be Katie,” she said slowly as she rested her right hand on the other. “And this, Maria.”
Tripp sat stock still for a moment as he looked from Sadie to each of his children. He took a deep breath and stood, walking over to the wardrobe and reaching for a pink ribbon and a yellow one. He turned toward the babies, laying the yellow one next to Maria and the pink one next to Katie. “All right, Katie is pink and Maria is yellow.”
Both the girls stretched, as if agreeing with their decision.
He looked up at Sadie, his eyes bright. “Thank you, Sadie. The names are perfect, and I’m grateful.”
She reached out and placed her hand on his arm, their babies between them. “I’m grateful, too, Tripp. I never imagined when I got on that train in Chicago that I would be this happy, this blessed.”
Tripp leaned his forehead on hers and sighed. Sadie felt his heart reach over the three of them, and she basked in the warmth of his tenderness.
They both sat bolt upright as the girls, in unison, started to squall. Her eyes wide, Sadie looked at Tripp, whose eyes seemed even wider.
“Well, here we go,” he said with a grin. “Merry Christmas.”
Tripp lifted Maria gently into his arms and crossed to the window, the warm sun settling on her forehead. Sadie’s heart warmed as he rocked back and forth, cooing to the little one.
She gently lifted Katie into her arms, brushing her finger over the infant’s cheek. She leaned in and kissed her softly. “I love you, Katie. I promise we’ll do our best to make your grandma proud,” she said as she pulled the infant close and snuggled her cheek against the baby’s soft skin.
Maria squawked in Tripp’s arms and he flinched, wide eyes turned toward Sadie.
She laughed and nodded at the baby. “You, too, Maria. You, too.”
Epilogue
“I do,” Maria said as she fingered the soft linen of her white dress as she and her new husband stood in front of the roaring fire in the parlor at Archer Ranch, the pastor smiling down at them.
It had been a whirlwind week since Christmas, and after she and Diego had decided they’d marry, not a single Archer would let them wait. So a New Year’s Eve wedding it was, then.
Her breath hitched as she heard the pastor say, “You may kiss the bride,” and she closed her eyes, almost overcome with emotion that Diego was back—her Diego. And kissing her, no less, in front of all of these people.
Well, not people, exactly. Family. They were all here, their eyes glistening as she glanced about the room to their applause. She turned back to Diego, who stood proud in his traditional finery—black bolero jacket and pants adorned with silver down the sides, black boots shining. His black hair gleamed, and she rubbed her lip as his mustache tickled her a second time as he leaned in for another kiss, laughter ringing around the room.
“Stop, Diego,” she whispered. “Not in front of the children.”
His head fell back as he laughed. “No children here. Just people who love you, my dear, as do I. And I’ve waited long enough. I don’t want you to leave my side,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.
They turned toward their family and Maria wasn’t sure the smile would ever leave her face. All of her dreams had come true, and as she looked down the row of Archers and their friends—Hank and Clara, Rose and Michael, Meg and Sam, Saffron and Adam—she wondered who would be next to marry. And find the happiness that she now had.
They moved forward into the room as the pastor closed his Bible. She was busy for quite a while with hugs from all the girls while Diego’s hand must have become sore as he received hearty handshakes from all the men.
No one had let her lift a finger, and she looked around once more at the parlor of the hacienda she’d lived in most of her adult life—white velvet bows had replaced the red ones of Christmas and where had they found flowers in winter? Dozens of roses adorned the tabletops and a beautiful red and white arrangement rested on the center of the long table that it was usually her job to fill with food for the family.
“Maria, you and Diego head over to the table and eat first. It would have been much better if you’d been cooking, but we did our best,” Saffron said as she pecked Maria on the cheek after a thorough hug.
Sadie came forward and handed Maria a rose, accompanied by a hug. “I wanted to thank you for sharing Katie’s journal with me, Maria. I’m not sure I would have made it without her. At least not as well,” she said as she squeezed Maria’s hands. “Thank you.”
“Oh, you certainly would have, little one. I’m sure of it,” Maria said as she searched Sadie’s eyes. Motherhood became her, and she’d been overcome by tears when she and Tripp had announced the babies’ names. She couldn’t remember ever feeling more honored. Now she and Katie would live on through these twins, friends forever, and she dabbed at her eye.
“I think we should eat something, Sadie, if you’ll excuse us. It’s been a busy week,” Diego said as he bowed at Sadie and steered Maria over to the food table.
“Oh, Diego, look at what the girls have done for us,” she said as she clasped her hand to her chest. It was a feast, the likes of which she hadn’t seen since Katie had been alive.
“Oh, girls, you outdid yourselves,” she cried as she turned toward the room.
Pepper looked down and shifted her feet. “Tripp helped,” she murmured as she nodded at her older brother.
“Oh, Tripp, thank you,” Maria said as Tripp crossed the room and embraced her.
“It’s the least we could do to thank you, Maria. We all want your happiness. You deserve it,” he said as he shook Diego’s hand heartily with a bright smile.
“Oh, I’m overwhelmed,” Maria whispered to Diego as he nudged her toward the punch table, pouring a glass and handing it to her.
“No need to be, Maria. We’ve waited for this day for many years, and now that it’s here, only happiness li
es before us.”
She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, wondering how she’d gotten so lucky in her later years.
“And when we arrive back in Mexico, you will find new friends. It will be an adventure,” he said as he tightened his arm around her shoulders.
Her head flew up and she glanced about the room, all of the family chattering to one another and admiring the new babies. She looked up at Diego as her heart skipped, and took a step back.
His eyes twinkled and he tried to stifle a laugh and she playfully tapped him on the shoulder. “Oh, you’re awful. No teasing like that.”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” he said as he brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “I have no intention of taking you away from your family.”
She sighed deeply as she looked at the Archer’s—Katie’s and her own—and her eyes met Beau’s. He held up his punch glass and winked at her and she nodded in return, turning back to Diego.
“Yes, my family. And now yours, too,” she said before she rested her head on his shoulder once more. And a vision of Katie passed before her closed eyes, her memory of them sitting in the kitchen laughing as vivid as if it were real. “Thank you, Katie, for everything.”
Sage Archer finds love in the next book in the Wild West Frontier Brides series.
Coming soon
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Reading order:
Wild West Frontier Brides Series
The Chef’s Mail Order Bride
Christmas at Archer Ranch Page 7
