Running From Forever

by Cat Cahill

  Rayburn laughed, but there was a sharp edge to the sound. Thomas smiled just a little. Rayburn had been caught, and he knew it.

  “I suppose he told you that,” Rayburn said. “Another lie. I had it made in Denver.”

  Caroline’s eyes narrowed. “You said you found it.”

  “You misunderstood.”

  “I don’t believe she did,” Thomas said. “There’s an inscription on the inside of the band.”

  “And?” Rayburn said.

  “What does it say?” Thomas dropped his hands to his sides, waiting as Rayburn blustered.

  “I’ve had this for years. How would I remember such a thing?”

  “TJD. Thomas Joseph Drexel. My father’s initials.”

  Rayburn locked gazes with him. And if hellfire was here on Earth, it was certainly in the sheriff’s eyes right now.

  “Let’s get on with it,” Sheriff Young said. “Just remove the ring and let’s have the answer.”

  Rayburn remained still, before finally pulling the ring from his finger and handing it to Young, who held it up to the light.

  “TJD.” Young held the ring in his hand and turned to Thomas. “You’re correct, but I’m afraid that doesn’t prove anything except that Sheriff Rayburn found your ring somewhere back in that mining town.”

  Thomas didn’t dare hope too much. He’d waited for so long, and now, here he was, on the verge of being free. “I lost that ring in a lockbox. The same lockbox of money that went missing that day.”

  “And how would we know that’s true?” Sheriff Young asked.

  Rayburn watched Thomas, a challenge written all over his face, while Caroline smiled at him encouragingly.

  “Because a few railroad employees helped me search for it after we filled the box with money and closed it up. We came to the conclusion that the ring had fallen into the box. I’d planned to look inside for it after we’d delivered the box to the mine office. You see,” Thomas said, his voice even, “that ring was the only thing I have left from my father.”

  Rayburn swallowed. “That proves nothing.”

  “On the contrary,” Sheriff Young said. “If the witnesses tell the same story, it proves Drexel here didn’t steal the money.”

  “What are you implying?” Rayburn took a step forward.

  “I believe you know,” Young said. “It appears you took that money, Rayburn.”

  Rayburn laughed, but no one else joined him.

  “I’m afraid I’ll need to place you under arrest,” Young said. He waved a hand at the deputy, who unlocked a cell on the other side of the drunk man, who’d appeared to sober up and had been watching the scene before him play out with interest.

  “You won’t put me in that cell.” Rayburn turned and pushed past McFarland and the women.

  “Stop him!” Miss May shouted as Rayburn ran for the door.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Caroline had grabbed the cell bars to keep from falling as Sheriff Rayburn pushed her aside. Mr. McFarland and Sheriff Young raced after Sheriff Rayburn, the deputy and Penny right behind them.

  “I need out of here,” Thomas nearly growled at the bars. “I swear, if they let him get away . . .”

  Caroline placed a hand over one of his. “They won’t.”

  His eyes met hers, and almost instantly, he calmed. “Thank you, for all of this.”

  Her breath stilled. “I refused to sit idly by once I saw that ring. It made me realize . . .”

  Thomas covered her hand with his other one and smiled. The warmth from his touch radiated through her entire body, and all she wanted to do was melt away these bars that stood between them so she could find herself in his arms again.

  Instead, her brother gripped her arm to pull her away. “I’ll thank you kindly to remove your hands from my sister.”

  Caroline shook him off. Thomas didn’t move his hands, but he studied Quentin from head to toe. “I mean her no disrespect. In fact . . .” His eyes returned to Caroline, and she wished they’d never leave her again. “She’s everything to me. And all of me belongs to her, whether she knows it or not. You took my heart weeks ago, Caroline.”

  Every part of her went weak, with relief or happiness or surprise, she didn’t know. Perhaps all of those at once. She could feel Dora and Millie move closer, while next to her, Quentin stiffened.

  “How dare you,” he said quietly.

  But Thomas pretended not to hear. His entire focus was on her. When she lifted her hand to the bars, he grasped it. His touch warmed her body to its core. She never wanted to let him go.

  “Caroline Beauchamp,” he said. “I love you.”

  Her lips parted, and tears pricked at her eyes. Quentin made some sort of incomprehensible noise, while one of the girls behind her sighed. There was so much she wanted to say to Thomas—needed to say—but he continued before she could speak.

  “I know I’m not much now. I don’t have anything to give beyond my undying devotion to you. But I’ll work hard until we have everything we ever dreamed we could—money, a business, a home as grand as you want it, anything that would make you happy. Because making you happy is all I want to do.” He dropped to one knee, not letting go of her hands. “Please do me the honor of giving me your hand in marriage, my Caroline.”

  The tears fell fast now even as Millie squealed and grabbed on to Dora, while Quentin bristled.

  “Are you mad?” her brother sputtered. “My sister isn’t marrying some . . . some . . . ruffian outlaw. Our father won’t hear of it.”

  “Father isn’t here,” Caroline said, her tears quickly turning into righteous indignation as Thomas stood. “And Thomas is no ruffian outlaw. He’s an employee of the Gilbert Company who has just cleared his name from an unfortunate incident in which he was forced to defend himself.”

  Quentin stared down at her. “Who is his family? Where is he from? How will he provide for you in the manner you deserve?”

  Caroline looked him right in the eyes, her chin lifted. “Why, Thomas is from Texas. I don’t know his family, but he’s been on his own since he was seventeen. And he’ll provide for me just fine, thank you. Besides, I’m not afraid of a little hard work if it’s needed.”

  Dora’s arm encircled her waist, and Caroline leaned into her friend. Millie moved forward and said, “Caroline was named head waitress. She most certainly can take care of herself, if she needs to.”

  Quentin slammed a hand against the bars. “I won’t hear of it. You’re returning with me. Father’s business, our entire livelihood, depends on your return.” He turned to Thomas, his face twisted into a look of disgusted victory. “I don’t suppose she shared her engagement with you. She’s been betrothed to a man in Boston since April. She signed a contract, with our father’s blessing.”

  Caroline felt as if all her joy in hearing Thomas’s proclamation of love melted out of her with Quentin’s revelation. While she’d told Thomas she was expected to marry Mr. Wiltshire, she hadn’t been exactly forthright in sharing the extent of her commitment.

  “I’m aware,” Thomas said. Glancing down at Caroline, he added, “Miss May told me everything.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said to him, her voice barely a whisper. “I should have told you about the contract and the engagement. I . . .” She bit down on her lip, hoping to forestall more tears as her heart started to rip in two. “It’s part of why I can’t marry you now.”

  Thomas’s face hardened. He held tightly to her hands. “Do you love him?”

  Caroline laughed, short and heartless. “No. Not at all. I despise him. It’s nothing more than a business transaction between him and my father to save my family’s company.”

  “Contracts can be broken.” Thomas turned to Quentin. “Particularly if they were signed under duress.”

  Quentin shifted, his eyes darting between Caroline and Thomas. “My sister was not under duress. She agreed with her own free will.”

  They both turned to Caroline. She wanted to shrink into the bars, into the
safety of Thomas’s arms. But now was a time to be brave. If Penny hadn’t taken off after Sheriff Rayburn, Caroline knew she’d remind her of that. “I felt I had no choice. He is an evil man. Quentin, please, you don’t hear the whispers among the ladies.”

  “Rumors, that’s all,” Quentin said.

  “He’s been married twice before,” Millie piped up. “And both of his wives met ill ends.”

  If a look could wither a person, the one Quentin gave Millie would’ve done just that. But Millie simply stood taller as Dora held even more tightly to Caroline’s waist.

  “That’s why I left,” Caroline said to Thomas. “Yes, I was tired of hiding, but I was more afraid of what Mr. Wiltshire would do if he found out about you.”

  “You were trying to protect me.” Thomas’s voice cracked as he spoke.

  Caroline nodded.

  He rubbed a thumb over her hand, his eyes cast downward as if he didn’t know what to say. Finally, he looked up, his entire soul bared in his eyes. “Do you want to return to Boston?”

  “No. I want to stay here. With you,” she added quietly. Her heart pounded, but she felt lighter than she had in months. The truth—all of it—was out there now. She couldn’t blame Thomas if he no longer wanted her. It would hurt, and she wasn’t sure if her heart would ever fully mend, but at least she’d be free of the trapped, and terrifying, life she would have lived if she’d returned to Boston.

  “Then, sir, I believe you have your answer,” Thomas said to Quentin before returning his attention to Caroline. “And my offer stands, if you’ll have me.”

  She blinked at him, unbelieving. She’d kept so much of the truth from him. She’d hurt him badly when she left. “Are you certain?”

  “I’d want you even if you’d married this Wiltshire and he divorced you,” Thomas said. “Whatever hold that man—or your family—might have had on you is gone now, if you simply say the word. If he feels the need to come here and do me harm, rest assured I can defend the both of us.” He glanced up at Quentin. “And you can relay that message on to him.”

  It was as if an anchor had been holding her to Boston, a chain she’d dragged with her all the way across the country. And now it was broken. She could leave all of that behind and start anew.

  With Thomas.

  She let one of his hands go and turned to face her brother. “Quentin, I love you and I love our family. But I will not go back to Boston, and I refuse to marry Mr. Wiltshire. My future is here, in the Colorado Territory. I’m breaking the engagement. You can tear up that contract.”

  Quentin breathed heavily, looking between her and Thomas. “You realize you’re forcing your own family’s company into the ground?”

  “Is the company worth my life?”

  Her brother stared at her, his jaw clenched. And said not a word.

  “I’ll read your silence as a no.” Caroline turned to Thomas, who gave her a proud smile. “Thomas, I’d be honored to be your wife.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew this was who she was meant for —this brave, rough-around-the edges man. Without him, her life would be empty.

  Behind her, Quentin huffed. She heard him push past the girls and march toward the door.

  Dora whispered something to Millie, and they silently followed, leaving Caroline and Thomas alone.

  “If only these bars weren’t here,” he said as he brushed a hand over her hair, letting it linger on her cheek.

  Caroline pressed her face into his palm. She’d missed him so much since she left Crest Stone. “It won’t be long before you’re finally free.”

  “Every moment I can’t wrap my arms around you is a moment too long.” He pulled her gently forward, until their faces were barely an inch apart.

  “I could go see if the deputy left his keys on the desk.”

  “Don’t you dare go anywhere.” His breath was warm against her face.

  She closed the tiny distance between them and met his lips. A million emotions stirred inside, all of them breaking free after being hidden, buried, ignored for so long. His fingers tightened around hers as she gripped one of the bars with her free hand.

  When they finally broke apart, she felt as if she’d run for miles. “I could do that forever,” she said, breathless.

  A smile curved Thomas’s lips as he looked down at her. “I’m not opposed to that idea. I don’t suppose any minister will perform a wedding inside a jail?”

  Caroline laughed until his lips crushed hers again. She’d never been happier to belong to someone, forever.

  Epilogue

  The first people through the door of the just-opened Crest Stone Mercantile and General Store were exactly who Caroline expected them to be. She stepped as gracefully as she could off the small stool behind the counter, where she’d been arranging the store’s most expensive trinkets on shelving Thomas had built himself. Then she ran to her friends who stood in the doorway, their faces filled with awe as they took in the store and its variety of goods.

  Caroline embraced them all in turn, and then the questions began.

  “How did you arrange this all so nicely?” Dora asked as she ran a finger over a bolt of poplin. “It looks so different from when we lived here!”

  “Is there anything that isn’t in this store?” Millie added.

  “Please say you have hair combs. I broke one this morning, and I don’t think I can wait until after Sunday services to buy a new one,” Penny said.

  Caroline laughed. “We do have combs. And just about anything else you could want. Or we will, anyway, once more shipments arrive.”

  “Thanks to your brother,” Thomas said as he came out of the storage room and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  Caroline leaned back until her head rested comfortably in the crook of his shoulder.

  Penny giggled. “We’ll let you two be. Come on, girls. Let’s see what this place has to offer.” They disappeared down one of the aisles, and their exclamations of surprise over what they found echoed through the room.

  Caroline rested for a moment in Thomas’s arms. Now that Sheriff Rayburn was in Denver, awaiting trial, and Quentin had informed Mr. Wiltshire of Caroline’s decision and Thomas’s veiled threat, they’d both felt more free than they ever had before. It turned out that Sheriff Rayburn and the mining town’s former sheriff, Ratterman, had planned to steal the company pay together and frame Thomas for the theft. They’d paid a couple of miners to hide with a wagon nearby, ready to run with the lockbox. When it all went wrong, Sheriff Rayburn simply cut his friend out of the plan and adjusted it so that Thomas would still take the blame.

  “Happy?” Thomas asked, his chin resting on Caroline’s head.

  “More than I ever thought possible.” Caroline turned to face her husband.

  Husband. The word would never stop sounding marvelous and exciting. Despite the fact that they’d been married a few weeks now, Caroline felt just as she had on her wedding day. The minute Thomas had been let out of jail—or rather, several minutes, as they’d had to listen to Sheriff Young go on about how irresponsible and foolish Penny had been, following them when they went after Sheriff Rayburn—he’d found a minister in Cañon City who agreed to marry them in his own home. With only the girls and Mr. McFarland in attendance, they’d promised each other forever. Caroline didn’t mind that it wasn’t traditional. It was perfect for them, and neither of them wanted to spend another moment apart. She’d only wished her brother could have accepted her decision and been there for her. But he’d more than made up for it later.

  “You’ve done wonders with this place,” he said, touching his forehead to hers.

  “You’re the one who turned it into a store,” she reminded him. “And a home.”

  After realizing there were other businessmen in Boston willing to help Beauchamp Imports survive without requiring a sacrifice from their family, Quentin had offered to provide collateral so Thomas could purchase the goods needed to sell in the store. The Gilbert Company had agreed to lease this
old farmhouse to Thomas. The comfortable old home’s parlor, dining room, and sitting room were now Crest Stone’s first place of business aside from the hotel. Thomas and Caroline had taken the upstairs as their home, and Caroline planned to use the kitchen not only for their meals, but to prepare baked goods for sale in the store. There was still a lot of work to be done to the building, and many more goods to be added to the shelves, but in just a handful of weeks, they’d prepared enough to open the store.

  “Just imagine how we’ll see this town grow,” Caroline said as Thomas dropped kisses along her forehead. “This is only the beginning, and you’ll be part of it.”

  “We’ll be part of it,” he said before catching her chin in his hand and capturing her mouth with his.

  There was nothing more Caroline could want.

  THANK YOU FOR READING! Now you have to find out what adventure awaits Penny when Sheriff Ben Young comes to the Crest Stone Hotel and Restaurant. Their story, Wild Forever, is next, and is available here: http://bit.ly/WildForeverBook. For more Gilbert Girls news, sign up here: http://bit.ly/catsnewsletter I also give subscribers a free Gilbert Girls prequel novella (it tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. McFarland), sneak peeks at upcoming books, insights into the writer life, discounts and deals, the opportunity to join my advance reader team, inspirations, and so much more. I'd love to have you join the fun! You can also find me on Facebook at: http://bit.ly/CatonFacebook and on my website http://bit.ly/CatCahillAuthor

  Turn the page to see a complete list of the books in the Gilbert Girls series.

  Books in The Gilbert Girls series

  Building Forever

  Running From Forever

  Wild Forever

  Hidden Forever

  Forever Christmas

  The Gilbert Girls Book Collection One (Books 1-3)

  Other Historical Western Romances by Cat

  A Bride for Isaac (The Proxy Brides, Book 34)

  About the Author, Cat Cahill