The Christmas Vow

by Shanna Hatfield

  “I think that can be arranged.”

  “Oh, goodie!” Toby pulled on Adam’s hand as they stepped outside the restaurant. They sauntered to Arlan and Alex’s house where Adam retrieved his hat while answering multiple questions from Toby.

  “Is Mr. Arlan your brother?” Toby asked as they walked back out to the street. “He looks like you.”

  “That’s right, Toby. Arlan is my brother, so that makes him your uncle and Alex your aunt.”

  “You mean I get a new daddy and an uncle and aunt?” Wonder filled the boy’s voice as he stopped and stared at the big man beside him.

  Adam swung Toby into the air and settled him on his broad shoulder as they resumed their jaunt through town. “You sure do.”

  “I’ve never had an aunt before. Will Aunt Alex like me?”

  “She already likes you,” Adam assured the child. In fact, he didn’t think there was a child in town Alex didn’t like. Although he’d noticed she had a few favorites like Percy Bruner, the son of the mercantile owners, the little Jenkins girl, and Tom Grove.

  Despite the tales around town about Fred Decker being a holy terror, Alex seemed to have tamed the beast well enough. After Alex and Arlan helped send his outlaw father to prison, the boy and his mother had both settled down considerably.

  “I like her, too. Mama said next year I’ll go to school. I hope we live here so Aunt Alex can teach me.”

  “Everyone says she’s a very good teacher.”

  Toby nodded in agreement. He bounced and thumped Adam on top of the head with his hand as he caught sight of Erin Dodd walking along the boardwalk with her father. “Oh, Daddy! It’s Erin! Can we see Erin? Please?”

  “We can if you settle down and quit beating my head.” Adam crossed the street in a few long strides and set Toby down so he could give Erin a hug as she and the pastor approached them.

  Adam shook hands with Chauncy and pointed to the two little ones, happily chattering with each other.

  “Beautiful morning, isn’t it, Adam.” Chauncy smiled, glancing around him for Tia. “Where’s your wife?”

  Adam swallowed hard at the mention of his wife. He still hadn’t quite come to terms with the fact he was not only a married man, but wed to the woman who’d haunted his dreams since he was a teen. “Yesterday was quite exhausting for her, so Toby and I decided to let her sleep in this morning.”

  “A long night?” Chauncy teased, elbowing Adam in the ribs.

  Adam scowled at him. “It’s not… it wasn’t…” He released a sigh. “She needed her rest. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “Whatever you say.” Chauncy held out his hand toward his daughter. “Come on, sweet pea. We need to get going.”

  “But, Daddy,” Erin whined. “Can’t Toby and I play?”

  “Not today, pumpkin. Maybe another day.”

  Erin’s bottom lip rolled out in a charming little pout that would have softened the most hardened heart.

  Her father appeared immune to her manipulative tactics as he took her hand and grinned at Adam. “We’ll have to plan a play date another time.”

  “Sure, Chauncy. Just let us know. I’m sure Tia would be happy to have Erin visit.” Adam tipped his hat to Erin and winked at her, turning her pout into a smile.

  “Your new daddy is pretty, Toby.” Erin giggled then skipped down the sidewalk with her father.

  “I thought girls were pretty,” Toby said as he took Adam’s hand and they meandered toward the mercantile.

  A disquieting feeling settled over Adam. He covertly glanced back over his shoulder to see Mr. Nivens sneaking along behind them. If the man thought he’d snatch Toby on Adam’s watch, he’d better think twice.

  Unobtrusively changing direction, Adam made his way to the bank. When he opened the door and ushered Toby inside, Luke and Arlan both stared at him in surprise.

  “Good morning, Toby.” Luke hunkered down and greeted the boy with a friendly smile. “Are you helping Adam today?”

  “Yep. Mama’s tired so we’re letting her sleep. That’s what nice mens do.”

  Luke choked back a laugh and waggled an eyebrow at Adam. “You’re right. That is what nice men do, especially if they’re the reason your mama is so tired today. The day after her wedding… to Adam… as his wife.”

  Adam glowered at Luke. “That’s enough discussion about my wife. I was hoping the two of you could keep an eye on Toby for a minute.”

  Toby’s little brow puckered into a frown. “Are you leaving me here? Aren’t you having a good time with me?”

  Adam picked up Toby and cuddled him to his chest, wondering how the boy had worked his way so thoroughly and completely into his heart in such a short time. “I’m not leaving you here, Toby. I saw someone outside I need to speak with and I don’t want you to get cold while you wait. I thought you might like to visit Uncle Arlan and have him show you how he opens the big safe here at the bank.”

  “I can watch you open the safe?” Toby turned to Arlan, captivated by the idea.

  “You sure can. Come on. I’ll show you how it works.” Arlan held out a hand to Toby.

  The little boy hugged Adam then wiggled down and hurried over to his uncle. “I can’t wait to tell Erin.”

  Luke walked Adam to the door, realizing something was amiss. “What’s wrong?”

  “Mr. Nivens, the judge’s hired man, has been following us around town all morning. I thought he might have left town. No one’s seen him since the cat attacked him.” Adam inconspicuously glanced out the window, seeing the man in question hiding around the corner of the building across the street. “Evidently, he hasn’t given up yet.”

  “Do you need some help?” Luke asked, tipping his head in the direction Adam indicated.

  “I think I can handle him, but I’m trying to figure out how to sneak up on him. If I walk out of here without Toby, he’ll know something is up.”

  Luke pointed to the back of the bank. “Come on. I have an idea.”

  At the back of the bank, Luke pushed away a false wall, revealing a hidden door. At Adam’s questioning look, Luke shrugged. “You never know when you’re going to need an escape route.”

  Luke unlocked the heavy metal-lined door and slid it back, glancing both ways in the alley. No one was around so Adam stepped outside and kept to the alley until he made his way a block down the street.

  Using a passing wagon for cover, he crossed the street and went down another alley, coming up behind Mr. Nivens. The idiot did a poor job of hiding in the shadows across from the bank.

  Adam wrapped a hand around his neck and jerked him back before the man had time to react.

  “Mr. Nivens, I have a message for you to give your employer. If he ever wants to see his grandson again, he will leave Tia and the boy alone. They will arrange to visit him when they are good and ready and not a minute before. He has no right to that child and he never will.”

  Adam gave the man a shake. “Is that understood?”

  The man bobbed his head up and down as best he could with the stranglehold Adam had on his neck.

  “Tia and Toby are under my protection now and I won’t stand for any further interference from the judge. You make that clear to him. If he tries anything, anything at all, they’ll disappear and he’ll never see that child again. Not ever.” Adam turned loose of the man’s neck and spun him around. “I better not see you around town again. If I do, you might live to regret it.”

  “You don’t know who you’re messing with,” Nivens sniveled as he backed away from Adam. “The judge isn’t gonna like this one bit. My orders are to come back with that boy and the judge doesn’t particularly care how I get him.”

  “Unless you’re deaf, I’m not repeating myself. Now haul your sorry backside out of town while you still have the opportunity to leave in something besides a pine box.”

  Adam pushed past the man and started back across the street when he heard a loud pop. Pain burned across his left side.

  He glanced back as Nivens hols
tered a gun and turned away with a sneer. Adrenaline shot through Adam and he took three running steps, tackling Nivens before he could get away.

  “I suppose I should thank you for being a terrible shot,” Adam growled as he punched Nivens in the face repeatedly. A hand on his shoulder stopped him and he glanced up at Arlan.

  “Stop, Adam. He’s unconscious.” Arlan stared at the man. “He won’t appear quite the same with that broken nose.”

  “I don’t rightly care.” Adam staggered to his feet and fought a dizzy spell. When he swayed, Arlan noticed the blood dripping from his side.

  “He hit you? Luke and I heard the shot, but thought he’d missed.” Incredulous, Arlan started to wrap his arm around Adam, but his brother pushed him away.

  “I’ll be fine. Can you haul this piece of garbage down to the sheriff’s office? I guess I should probably have the doc stitch this up before I head home. I don’t get the idea my wife would appreciate the job.”

  Despite the situation, Arlan smirked. “I don’t believe she would. Luke can get the sheriff while you and I go visit Doc. It’ll just take…”

  Arlan glanced up as the sheriff ran their direction along with a few of the townsfolk.

  “What’s going on out here?” The sheriff took in Adam’s pale face and the blood-drenched snow around him as well as the man he’d searched all over town for twice after he attempted to attack Tia.

  “I see you found Mr. Nivens. Mind if I take him off your hands?” The sheriff grinned at Adam as he motioned to Douglas from the livery to help him drag the man back to the jail. He studied Adam a moment and shook his head. “You better have doc take a look at that wound. You wouldn’t want to make your new bride handle that mess.”

  Adam sighed as Luke hurried outside with Toby. He stopped to lock the bank door then followed the little boy as he raced over to Adam.

  Tears streamed down the child’s face as he studied his new father. “Are you going to die, Daddy?”

  “No, Toby. I’m not going to die, but I do need to go visit the doc and have him fix this scratch. Do you want to come along?” Adam tried to offer the child a reassuring smile while he grew increasingly lightheaded.

  “Sure!” With the morbid curiosity of youth, Toby brightened at the prospect of watching the doctor in action.

  “Toby, you hang onto my coat while Mr. Luke and I help your daddy to the doctor’s office,” Arlan instructed as he got on one side of Adam and Luke took the other. Together, they half-dragged Adam to the doctor’s office.

  Since the office was empty, Doc ushered them into an examination room.

  Luke tried to get Toby to go with him to the waiting area, but the boy refused to leave. “It’s okay, Luke. Thank you,” Adam said with a clenched jaw as the doctor helped him remove his coat and shirt.

  “Try to stay out of trouble for the rest of the day,” Luke grinned as he left, returning to the bank.

  Arlan watched him leave then smiled at Toby. “You want to go with me to get Adam a shirt and coat.”

  “No. I’m going to stay right here with my daddy. He might need me.” Toby crossed his little arms over his chest and widened his stance.

  Arlan nearly choked watching him. Adam always made the same move when he stubbornly refused to change his mind. Amazed by the similarities between the golden-haired boy and his dark-headed brother, Arlan nodded his head.

  “Okay, Toby. You keep a good eye on my brother until I get back.”

  Solemnly, Toby agreed. “I will, Uncle Arlan.”

  “Don’t bother with a coat, Arlan. Just bring me something to wear home,” Adam said, staring at his brother.

  Arlan nodded his head then rushed out as the doctor studied Toby. “Young man, if you think you could climb up on that chair, you can help me stitch up Adam.”

  When Toby rushed to do as he asked, the doctor chuckled. “You better take off your coat and mittens first, son.”

  Toby yanked off his mittens and nearly ripped the buttons off his coat in his haste to remove it. When he’d tossed everything into a corner out of the way, he scrambled onto the chair the doc had moved near the examination table, yet out of his way.

  While Toby removed his outerwear, Doc had cleaned the wound. Fortunately, for Adam, it grazed along his side. Although it had missed his ribs and hadn’t hit any organs, the flesh wound wouldn’t heal well without stitches.

  “We better wash your hands first, Toby.” The doctor helped him scrub his fingers and dry them before setting him back on the chair.

  The doctor laid a pair of scissors, bandages, and gauze on a tray then handed it to Toby. “Can you stand right here beside me and hold that tray? It would be a big help, Toby.”

  “Yes, sir.” Toby held very still, watching the doctor insert the needle and thread into Adam’s skin and pull the edges of the wound together.

  Adam sucked air through his teeth then glanced over his shoulder at Toby and winked at him. “This is quite an adventure for our first day as father and son.”

  “Only you could get shot the day after your wedding while taking a boy out for breakfast.” Doc mused as he stitched the wound. When he’d made a dozen neat stitches, he knotted the thread and cut the end. He rubbed an ointment over the wound then covered it with gauze and wrapped a bandage around Adam’s midsection to hold it in place.

  Once he’d secured the end of the bandage, he took the tray from Toby and set it on the counter. He washed his hands then opened a drawer and removed a peppermint stick, handing it to the child. “You did a fine job, young man. Thank you for your assistance.”

  “Thanks for letting me help, Doc!” Toby jumped off the chair and stuck the candy in his mouth, sucking on the flavorful stick.

  Doc turned back to Adam. “You make sure that bandage gets changed daily and if it feels hot or looks infected, haul your sorry self right back here.”

  “Thanks, Doc. I’ll take care of it.”

  Doc ruffled Toby’s hair as the boy picked up his coat and put it back on then sat down on the chair and twirled the peppermint stick around and around in his mouth.

  Arlan reappeared with a new shirt for Adam then helped him put it on. “If I left it up to you, you’d either have worn your bloody clothes or gone home half naked.” Arlan raised an eyebrow, daring his brother to argue.

  “You know me well, brother. Now, help me off this table because I’m not sure my legs are gonna hold me.”

  “I can help, Daddy!” Toby volunteered, rushing around to Adam’s left side.

  “Thanks, Toby.” Adam rested a hand on Toby’s head as Arlan bore much of his weight on his right side.

  “You boys stay out of trouble, you hear?” Doc cautioned as he held open the door and the three of them stepped outside.

  “Do you want me to secure a buggy, Adam? Are you sure you can walk home?” Arlan’s concern rang heavy in his voice.

  “I’ll be fine, Arlan, but I wouldn’t mind a little help.” Adam leaned on him for support while his hand rested on Toby’s little head.

  “If you pass out before we get there, I’m not lifting you up,” Arlan warned.

  “Wouldn’t expect ya to.” Adam’s words started to slur.

  Arlan hurried their pace as they turned the corner and made it up the steps to Tia’s front door.

  “Toby, can you open the door?” Arlan asked as the child pushed back the screen door.

  “Sure, Uncle Arlan. Mama keeps a key right here.” Toby fished into a crack between the porch floorboards and pulled out a key then inserted it into the lock. Unable to push it hard enough to open it, Arlan somehow managed to keep Adam upright while unlocking the door.

  Toby rushed inside ahead of them. At the noise, Tia breezed out from the kitchen. Her warm smile turned to shocked dismay as she took in Adam’s white face and Arlan’s strained look.

  “Where do you want him? He’s about to pass out, Tia,” Arlan warned as Adam started to lose his balance.

  “Oh, gracious! Right this way!” She rushed down the ha
ll and opened the door to Adam’s room, hurriedly turning back the covers she’d just finished straightening not ten minutes earlier.

  Arlan carefully moved until Adam collapsed on the bed.

  “What on earth happened?” Tia glanced from her husband to her brother-in-law, waiting for an explanation.

  Toby yanked on his mother’s hand. “The bad man Crabby doesn’t like shot my daddy.”

  Tia’s hand fluttered to her chest and she gulped in air. “Good heavens!” Her frightened gaze turned to Arlan. “Will he be okay? What can I do?”

  Arlan grinned as he carefully rolled Adam onto his back and removed his boots. “Just keep an eye on him. The bullet grazed his side, but it made a nasty wound. Doc gave Adam twelve stitches. He lost quite a bit of blood, mostly because this fool decided to tackle Nivens after he’d been shot and pummel the thug half to death.”

  All the color drained from Tia’s face. Adam had been shot because of her, because of his involvement with her and Toby.

  Arlan glanced over at her. “You don’t look well, Tia. Do you need to sit down?”

  Drawing a deep breath, she willed herself to calm down. “I’ll be fine, Arlan. Thank you. Now, tell me what I can do to help my husband.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Adam thought he’d go mad from restless boredom before Tia agreed to let him get out of bed.

  A wry grin spread across his face as he thought about his new bride keeping him in bed. Unfortunately, it was because of the wound in his side and not any ardent intentions on her part.

  Since Nivens shot him, Tia had fussed over him until he thought he’d lose his mind.

  Although he’d slept most of the day yesterday, he’d been eager to get up this morning. However, his wife insisted he stay in bed and rest one more day.

  Every hour or two, she checked on him, bringing him a cup of tea or something to eat.

  Every time she bent over the bed to straighten his covers and fluff his pillows, Adam tamped down the urge to pull her into his arms. Her luscious scent filled his nose while his fingers itched to reach out and unpin the rich, thick waves of her tea-colored hair.