by Sy Walker
“You can't do that. Please, let's just go. We can be happy anywhere, as long as we are together,” she begged.
“No, I will not have them hanging over used like a cursed specter. This ends tonight,” he said sternly.
“Promise me that you are coming back to me,” she pled, looking at him as though she might never see him again.
“I swear on my love for you that I will,” he said, his heart overflowing with love for her. He swooped down them and kissed her, gently at first but the kiss deepened as her arms wrapped around his neck. When he finally pulled aware, the broad smile on her face made his heart soar.
“Be safe and return to me soon,” she commanded.
“I will,” he said as he grabbed the gun again and walked out the door.
He was gone for 5 days. They were the longest days of Lacy’s life. Each moment, she was consumed by fear of what could have become of him. Each time she heard a noise, she had a mixture of joy that he might have returned and terror that it was Baron and his men who had come back.
On the fifth day, she heard the beat of the hooves of one lone horse and she knew in her heart that he had returned to her. She dropped the knitting that had been in her hand and ran out the door with the puppy close behind her.
“You're back,” she cried, throwing herself at him the second he got off the horse.
“I told you I would be,” he said with a laugh as he pulled her in to an embrace.
“What happened,” she asked.
“I picked them off one by one,” he said, pulling off his hat and running his hand through his tangled hair.
“You killed them?” she asked solemnly. Though she knew that he had only done what he had to do, she hated for him to have to bear the burden of more blood on his hands.
“No, that part of my life is behind me. I just had to get them each alone. Together they are no match for a man fighting to protect what he loves,” he said, smiling down at her.
“What did you do,” she asked, confused.
“I just had to round each one of them up. Then I delivered them to the town where we robbed that last bank. I left them tied up with the money in front of the sheriff's office,” he explained, unable to hide just how proud he was of himself for managing to accomplish it.
“Won't they tell the sheriff about you?” she asked, worried that he would be taken from her just as they had both realized the depth of their love for each other.
“It is over. Nobody would believe them. Besides, with the money returned they have no reason to keep looking for me,” he explained with a laugh.
“We are free then?” she asked, unable to believe that they were really free.
“Yes and now I have a question for you,” he said.
“Yes?” she answered before he dropped to one knee before her.
“Will you be my wife?” he asked as he took her hands in his.
“We are already married, you silly man,” she said as tears of joy filled her eyes.
“Legally yes, but what we have now is more of a business arrangement than a marriage. I want you to truly be mine. Be my wife and let me love you for all the days of our lives,” he said, looking so sincere that she felt as though her heart was about to burst in her chest.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she said. With that, he surged up and swept her up in his arms.
“We will have a good life, I promise you,” he said, burying his face in her hair.
“We already do,” she said with a smile.
With that, he carried her across the homestead to a large old tree that stood beyond the barn. There, in his favorite spot on their land, they said their vows again to each other. This time, there was no one but the two of them, vowing anew to spend their lives together, this time because of the love that bound them. As they spoke the words to each other again, their souls and hearts became one.
Return to TOC
Runaway Christmas Bride
Chapter One
New York City, 1872
Anna McLeary’s skin itched all over as she hurried away from the large house behind her. Mr. Marino and the fellas were playing poker and drinking whiskey, so unless they dumped their alcoholic beverages all over the floor, they wouldn’t miss Marino’s wayward housekeeper. At least, she prayed that was the case. Sometimes, Marino’s boys liked to include her in their fun, whether she wanted to be involved in it or not. Past memories shot through her mind, making her tremble harder and move faster.
Marino was a tyrant—as a foster parent and as a man in general. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, Anna had wished that crime boss had never found her alone and starving on the streets. His offer of food and sheltered had tempted her, and then it made her addicted to the twisted sense of security is large home supplied.
Now, at the age of 23, she was finally running away. With a dress stolen from one of Marino’s late night guests and with a purse full of money, she darted down the streets and toward the reassuring sounds of carriages and honks hummed in the distance—to the busier part of the city; that was her ticket to freedom, or at least it was a place to hide. Perhaps, for a time, Marino wouldn’t find her amidst the crowds.
Anna’s heart hammered, her mind reeling at her own actions. Fear and a strange, backwards sense of guilt jittered through her, chilling her blood. What if Marino did catch her? He had destroyed her snow globe—the one her father had made her—just because she had left the house without his permission one night to buy groceries.
Tears welled in her eyes and she choked on the air she was sucking in so readily. She wiped at her eyes and nose without slowing down.
That snow globe had meant everything to her. The little cabin inside of it—surrounded by tiny trees—it looked like a safe haven; it looked like home.
She pushed her way past several people once she was in the heart of the city. Though many of them cried out with rightful outrage, no one cared enough to stop her. And so lost in her panic, she hadn’t cared enough to apologize to them.
Her eyes darted over the shops’ signs as she traveled from street to street. A carriage hustled by her rapidly and forced muddy water to stain her dress, but the shock of this fueled her to move faster.
“Run,” she whispered to herself, not realizing she was speaking the words out loud. She felt like an animal that had been caged all of its life, and now, it was mere inches from freedom; it was so close, she expected to lose it at any second. “Run, run.”
When her eyes came upon the office she was looking for, her heart stuttered for a brief moment. Then it quickened up again as she ran inside the building.
The man in there—the only person there—jumped in his seat at her abrupt arrival. Blinking owlishly at her as she panted before, he shifted his glasses on his face and stood up from his desk. “Is there something I can help you with, ma’am?” With languid strides, he walked around his desk and stopped when he was standing right in front of her. “Forgive my forwardness, but something seems to be troubling you.”
She could have laugh. Instead, she swallowed down the bile that tainted the back of her mouth and stepped forward. “Sir, do you have any young gentleman in an isolated area looking for a wife?”
He smirked kindly at her. “Well, darling, this is an office for marital arrangements. Most of the men who pay for their ads to be posted in the paper contact us first.”
“I know,” she said impatiently. She looked over her shoulder, her skin so itchy now it was burning her. If Marino discovered he had stolen this dress from one of his women…. Anna shivered and looked back at the man. “Please, tell me if there is a man in the middle of nowhere—far, far away from anything and anyone.”
The man made a noise of thought and rubbed his chin. Completely unbothered by her obvious state of distress, he leaned back against his desk. “Now, there is one man that fits that description. I mean, most of these men live on ranches, you know, but this man live all alone in a cabin, in the woods. He—”
“Perfect,” she sai
d. She tossed the purse to him, and he wildly flailed out his hands before dropping it. She didn’t care. “Tell him a new wife will be on her way to him as soon as possible.”
The man eyed her. “Ma’am, that is not how this works. You and the gentleman must correspond with one another in a telegram to ensure that there is consent from both parties.”
Anna clenched her teeth together to keep them from chattering. Fear was slowly turning into anger, but she continued to shake with the former. “Sir, does this man currently have any suitors?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Does he want a wife?”
The man sighed. “He claims to, yes, but I still have the responsibility to—”
“What is the problem? He has paid you, hasn’t he? And I am willing to pay you, too. Inform him he has a wife, and tell me where to go so that I can meet him and marry him.”
The man eyed her again. Then, with obvious reluctance, he leaned forward and picked up her purse of money. He weighed it in his palm—shook it about a bit—and pursed his lips out with intrigue. After he peeked into the purse, satisfaction lit his eyes and he shrugged. “I suppose this man was rather eager, as well,” he said, walking around until he was behind his desk. He opened a drawer, shifted some papers in there, and then took out a few specific pages. “Here it is, now. The man you want to marry—his name is Earl Smith, and he lives in Springwater, Colorado.”
Chapter Two
Springwater, Colorado
Having written down the directions the man in the office had given her, Anna traveled from the Colorado train station with nothing but the clothes on her back and the money in her purse. She headed for the small town Springwater, though—based on what the man had told her—Earl didn’t actually live in the town; he lived in the forest that surrounded the town, which was fantastic, as far as Anna was concerned.
The mere fact that she was several states away from Mr. Marino put her mind at ease. She was less frenzied as she traveled from one Colorado town to another. She bought food and clothes for herself in each town, and when she changed out of her stolen dress and into one of her new ones, she started feeling less like a stranger to this state and more like she belonged in it.
She was out of money by the time she reached the outer edge of Springwater’s forest, but she wasn’t worried. If anything, she was eager. There was a hop in her step as she walked through the forest with her bag swinging back and forth in her hands. In the back of her mind, she knew should be weary of wildlife, but she couldn’t help but focus more on thoughts of her future husband and her future home. She grinned, thinking about how handsome he might be—how lovely their home.
Anna mentally shook those thoughts from her head. It didn’t matter if her future husband was ugly and if the cabin was horrid; as long as she wasn’t anywhere near Marino and his fellas, she would be fine.
When she found the dirt road the man from the office back home had mentioned, Anna nearly squealed with delight. She was almost there. She would have run up that dirt path if she hadn’t been sore, but she was a city gal, and all this trekking through Colorado had taken a lot out of her; sleeping on the street hadn’t done much for her muscles either.
By the time she saw the cabin up ahead, it seemed like a Godsend. Despite the ache that pulsated through her entire body, she walked quickly to the cabin’s front door and dropped her small bag of new clothes. Standing before this door—being in front of her new home—she felt safer than she had in years, the calming sensation bringing tears of relief to her eyes.
Inhaling a quivering breath, she raised her fist and knocked on the door.
She waited several seconds, her ears straining to hear even the smallest of sounds. When she didn’t hear anything, she knocked on the door again.
Footsteps and other indistinct sounds could be heard on the other side of the door, and Anna leaned back on her heels and willed herself to be patient. As she waited, her gaze wandered to the right, and it was there that she spotted a barn through the trees. There was also a long fence that surrounded it and the large valley behind it. In the back of her mind, she wondered what the sky looked like from that open valley—no trees cluttering her view.
The door opened, making Anna jump and look forward. The man before her was tall and bearded, his green eyes so vibrant that she was mesmerized by them.
“Yes?” he said, eyeing her.
She jumped again and blushed. “Oh, hello. I’m Anna McLeary.”
He continued to stare at her.
“Your new bride?” she said. Nervousness and embarrassment jittered through her. “You are Earl Smith, aren’t you?”
His eyebrows shot up. His facial muscles went slack for a second before he clenched his teeth and narrowed his gaze. “I would have received notification of your arrival if that was true.”
“You didn’t get a letter from…” Anna realized she didn’t even know the man’s name from that office back home. Panic constricted her lungs, quieting her voice. “From the office?”
“What?”
She flinched. “He said you were looking for a wife and that you were having a difficult time finding one because you live in the middle of no—” She stiffened when Earl deepened his glare. “Here. Because you live here, which I think is lovely.”
“Look,” Earl said, his lips curling downward as he spat out the word, “I don’t trust easily. Now, if what you’re saying is true, then a letter will come to me to prove that.”
Anna relaxed. “Yes, exactly.”
“So you won’t mind sleeping in the barn until that happens.”
“Of cour—wait, I beg your pardon?”
“I don’t care that you’re a woman. I don’t trust you. I don’t even know your name.”
“Anna McLeary.”
“Nice to meet you, Anna. Are you willing to sleep in the barn for days? Weeks?”
Anna thought about Mr. Marino. “Yes, I am.”
Earl cocked an eyebrow. “Is that so?” He made a noise of thought. “Well, then, you won’t mind doing some work around the barn, too. To pay for your keep while you’re here.”
Again, Anna thought about Mr. Marino. “Are you going to beat me? Threaten me? Have your friends hurt me?”
A look of disgust flashed over Earl’s face. Then he sneered at her. “What if I do?”
“Then I’ll leave.”
A silent moment past between them, Earl still sneering at her and Anna waiting patiently for him to do something horrible. She wasn’t really worried though—she couldn’t imagine anyone being worse than Marino—and Earl obviously noticed that. Clearly annoyed, he huffed and leaned back.
“Fine,” he said. “You can stay in the barn and work for your keep until I get that letter that may or may not show up here.”
“It will,” she said, smiling with triumphant.
He rolled his eyes. “Wait here.” He slammed the door in her face before she could respond.
“Sure thing,” she muttered, sagging a little with relief and exhaustion. This man was going to be more troublesome than she thought, but again, as long as he wasn’t Marino, she would manage.
When Earl opened the door again, he had a few blankets in his arms and he was walking past her and toward the barn. “Come on,” he said, sounding annoyed.
Anna grabbed her bag and did as he instructed.
Chapter Three
The following weeks were awkward and grueling as Anna struggled to learn how to milk each cow, how to clean the horse’s stall, and how to deal with a chicken who kept eating its own eggs. She had never done any kind of work outside when she was in New York, and her lack of experience was obvious. Earl griped at her when she didn’t complete a task quick enough—when she wasn’t working hard enough to earn her grip.
A sense of loathing was starting to build up within her—due to her own sense of feebleness and to Earl’s harsh behavior—but she still felt better here than she had in New York City. Earl never went near her, much less laid a hand
on her. If the worse he did to her was complain and criticize, she would be fine. And, whether Earl wanted to acknowledge it or not, she had been getting better at handling the animals—at outside-work, in general.
When the letter arrived, Earl actually looked surprised and guilt-ridden. Standing before her in the barn, he held the letter by his side and blew out a breath. “You weren’t lying.”
She glanced between his face and the paper he held. “I wasn’t.” Behind her was the pile of hay and blankets she had been using as a bed the past couple of weeks. Beside her feet was her bag, half-opened and stained with various brown spots now.
She didn’t want to think about what those brown spots were made of.
Earl pressed his lips together in a thin line and glanced at her bag. “Well…we should get married then. I know the church in town. We can get it done in a matter of days.”
“Oh,” she said, disappointment tainting her sense of validation. She hadn’t expected love-at-first-sight, but a little romance would have been nice. “Alright. That would be nice.”
Earl scratched the back of his neck. He seemed to sway toward her a bit before he turned and picked up her bag of dirty clothes. “Sorry,” he said quietly, sounding as if he was spitting out the word. He hesitated, his eyes glued to the bag in his hands. Then he swiftly walked toward the barn doors. “I’ll get things ready for our journey into town.”
She smiled at his retreating form. Romantic or not, this was progress, and she could appreciate that. He no longer saw her as a suspicious stranger, trying to swindle him, but as his fiancé. He was being polite now, even if it did look it pained him to be that way. Again, he was much, much better than Marino.
