A Texas-Made Match

by Noelle Marchand

  They landed on the ground with a rolling thud. A blow landed across Lawson’s jaw so hard that he tasted blood. His gun was wrenched from his holster but Lawson slammed his elbow into the man’s arm, pinning it against the ground and sending the gun sliding in the dirt. Donovan threw his body toward it.

  Lawson channeled the movement while shoving a hand down on the man’s shoulder, then added his own strength until Donovan landed flat on his stomach. He knelt onto the man’s back. Forcing his left arm behind his back, Lawson waited for the fight to drain from Donovan. A string of curses came out instead. Lawson jerked his arm a bit harder. “Watch your mouth. There’s a lady present...I think.”

  He knew the moment the pain set in because Donovan stiffened. A moment later, he went limp. Lawson took that opportunity to scan his surroundings. Ellie was indeed present along with her two brothers. All of them had guns pointed toward Donovan. “Easy, folks. I’m down here, too, remember?”

  Sean was the last to put his gun away. “I thought you needed help.”

  “It looks like I just need some handcuffs.” He took the metal bracelets from Sean and clamped them on Donovan. “He’s all yours, Sheriff.”

  * * *

  Donovan somehow managed to turn his head enough to stare up at her with those desperate, chilling eyes of his. She wanted to turn away from his gaze but it held her still. She shook her head sadly. “The love you want so badly from me I can’t give. However, there is Someone who can love you the way you deserve if you’ll accept it.”

  He grunted as Sean hauled him to his feet again. “Who are you talking about?”

  She gave a small smile and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “God. No, don’t look disappointed. His love is real and powerful. It doesn’t hurt or try to control, like you did today. It gives life, it heals and it fulfills. It did that for me and it can do the same for you if you let it.”

  Donovan stared at her with his eyebrows drawn together, confusion in his eyes, and his mouth slightly agape. Had she been blabbering nonsensically? She realized the rest of the men were staring at her, too. Sean nodded at her as if in a silent Amen. A hint of pride touched Nathan’s smile. Lawson? Well, he just stared at her with that unnervingly intense look he’d perfected at his birthday party.

  Nathan cleared his throat. “Well said, Ellie. Now, I think we’d better get going.”

  Once Donovan was ready to be hauled to the town jail, Sean turned to Ellie and opened his arms. “Come here.”

  She stepped into his embrace as he gave her a fierce hug that nearly lifted her feet off the ground. He set her away from him to look her in the eye. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “If you ever scare me like that again, I’ll tan your hide.”

  She lifted her chin. “I’d like to see you try.”

  He gently cuffed her on the chin, then mounted his horse. Nathan was the next to hug her. “We’ll travel with y’all as far as the farm, then Sean and I’ll go on into town with Donovan. You’d better ride with Lawson.”

  It wasn’t long before the faithful drum of the waterfall filled the air. Ellie caught sight of the abandoned picnic basket and stiffened in resolve. She slid closer to Lawson in the saddle. “Stop the horse!”

  “What?” He glanced over his shoulder in alarm. “Why?”

  “I want to get down.”

  He immediately reined in Samson, most likely realizing she was going to get off whether he stopped or not. She dismounted with his help then placed a hand on his knee to keep him from doing the same before waving her curious brothers on. She turned to stare up at Lawson. He stared right back. “Is something wrong, Ellie?”

  She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and lifted her chin. “We’re doing it again.”

  “Doing what?”

  “The whole thing,” she whispered fiercely. “The whole thing from the very beginning. I’ll go sit on the picnic blanket and you ride in from over there just like last time.”

  Realization filled his eyes along with a hint of wariness. He rubbed his jaw and glanced toward the woods as though avoiding the sight of her and the place of her rejection. She held her breath. Surely he knew that she was asking for a chance to undo the mess Donovan had caused. Please, let me fix this.

  He glanced down at her then gave one almost indiscernible nod before he urged Samson into a canter toward the woods. She rushed to the blanket and smoothed out the wrinkles wrought by the wind before she settled onto it with her book. It seemed like an eternity until she heard the plod of Samson’s powerful hooves. She waited until Lawson dismounted before she glanced up with a greeting on her lips. The intense look in his eyes stole her breath and her words. “You aren’t going to say hello this time, either?”

  She stood to greet him. “Hello, Lawson.”

  “Hello, Ellie.” He lifted her chin to place a kiss on her nose. “Suppose we skip all the rest and just get right down to it?”

  “All right.” She tossed her book aside. “In that case...I love you, too, Lawson Williams.”

  A startled look crossed his face. “You—you do?”

  She giggled. “Of course I do, silly. Do you really think anything other than having a gun at your back would keep me from saying that? I love you and I’ll say those words a thousand times a day if that’s what it will take to convince you.”

  “I don’t know. Just hearing it once had a pretty strong effect seeing as I love you, too.”

  “I know,” she said solemnly. “Which is why I think you ought to marry me.”

  He made a coughing sound somewhere between a choked laugh and a gasp. “Are you proposing to me?”

  “I reckon.”

  “Ellie.” He let out a frustrated groan.

  “What?”

  He shook his head. Catching her left hand, he gave it a quick kiss before stepping back and kneeling at her feet. He pulled a ring from his pocket and presented it to her. “Will you marry me?”

  She stared down at him as confusion gave way to realization. “You had that ring the whole time.”

  He nodded.

  “Then the picnic was...”

  He smiled.

  She gasped. Her free hand covered her cheek as she stared into the woods where her brothers had disappeared with Donovan. “You were trying to propose, weren’t you?”

  He tilted his head as his eyes took on a familiar teasing gleam. “Actually, I’m still trying to propose but I’m not getting an answer.”

  She laughed. “Yes! Oh, yes!”

  He began to slip the ring on her finger, then hesitated. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Of course!” Her heart jumped to her throat. “Aren’t you?”

  He searched her face for a long moment. Finally, he stood to his feet and slid the ring into place. “I’m serious. I’ve never been more serious about anything or anyone in my life.”

  “Lawson Williams.” She stared at him in awe. “Are you crying?”

  He grimaced and scrubbed a stray of wetness from his cheek. “I don’t know. I haven’t done much of it before. I’ve never felt this much love before—from you, God, the town, our families. Maybe it was there all the time but I didn’t trust that it was enough. Now that I do, I feel like my heart is going to burst, it’s so full. I can hardly believe this is happening.” His hand brushed reverently across her cheek, then strayed to her hair. “That somehow God loved me enough to let me end up with you.”

  “In that case, He must love me an awful lot, too.” She smiled and swayed forward to kiss his damp cheek, then leaned against him when his arms encircled her waist. Resting her cheek against his firm chest, she sighed. “I can’t explain it, but somehow I know that it was always supposed to end exactly like this.”

  “I think there’s one thing we forgot.” His voice ru
mbled in her ear.

  She pulled away slightly to look at him. “What’s that?”

  Her confusion was short-lived, for his lips captured hers as completely as he’d captured her heart, leaving her breathless when he pulled away. “How’s that for a finish?”

  “I don’t know. I think it also makes a pretty fine beginning.”

  Epilogue

  The whole town showed for the wedding—or at least it seemed that way from the glimpses of the sanctuary Lawson managed to glean through the crack in the foyer door. Ellie was tucked out of sight in the storage/bride’s room. He’d sent everyone else away in preparation for this moment. He swallowed and straightened his tie a moment before the door opened.

  “Nathan said you wanted to see me.”

  Lawson braced himself before meeting Clive’s gaze. The man seemed just as nervous as he felt. Lawson cleared his throat. “I guess you were surprised to receive my invitation to come here for the wedding.”

  Clive allowed a nod. “I was surprised and pleased. Ellie is a wonderful young woman. I’m sure you two will be very happy.”

  “Thank you. The real reason I asked you here was to tell you something important.” He pulled in a deep breath. “I forgive you.”

  “You forgive me?”

  “Yes.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I know it may seem presumptuous for me to say that since you haven’t said you wanted it but it’s there all the same.”

  “I do want your forgiveness. I just didn’t dare ask for it.” Clive wiped his eyes, which had become suspiciously red. “What made you decide to forgive me?”

  “First of all, I knew God wanted me to do it. Then I realized that despite how it may feel sometimes, I’m not that little boy you left behind anymore. I am a grown man who has been blessed enough to know the love of family, friends and a good woman. The past can’t be rewritten. It is what it is. Now it’s time for me to plan my future.”

  Clive stopped trying to hide his tears and scrubbed his face with a handkerchief. “I know it is too soon for this but I hope that one day that future might include me.”

  Lawson stared at the broken man before him. For the first time, he looked deep enough to see the regret, vulnerability and pain staring back. Gathering his courage, he held out his hand. “It isn’t too soon, Clive.”

  Clive froze in stunned disbelief. Finally, he reached out and grasped Lawson’s hand in a hearty shake. His voice was solemn. “Thank you.”

  Kate stepped out of the bride room and quietly interrupted the scene. “Ellie is almost ready, Lawson. I think you can go to the altar now.”

  With his past behind him and the future promising nothing but happiness, Lawson smiled. “I’m ready, too. Will you tell her I’m waiting for her?”

  “I will.” Kate smiled, then slipped her arms around him in a quick hug. “You’ve always been a part of our family but I’m so glad it’s going to be official.”

  “So am I.” He turned to Clive and grinned. “It’s time to watch your son get married.”

  * * *

  The ceremony was short and sweet. As the rest of the town migrated toward the hotel where the reception would take place, Ellie and Lawson slipped out the back of the church. Ellie wrapped her arms around Lawson’s waist and kissed his cheek. “I am so proud of you.”

  He chuckled. “Why?”

  “Kate told me that you and your father seem to be on better terms. That must have taken a lot of courage.”

  He shrugged, then nodded toward the graveyard before them. “So does this.”

  She followed his gaze to her parents’ tombstones. She sank to her knees in front of them, heedless of the stains the grass might cause on her ivory dress, but aware of Lawson’s supportive presence behind her. Pulling two roses free from her bouquet, she laid one on her mother’s grave, then one on her father’s. Her hand rubbed the names inscribed in cold stone. “I wish you could be here today. Sean walked me down the aisle and Kate helped me get ready. Y’all would have been so proud of them.

  “Y’all would have been proud of me, too.” She smiled and glanced back at Lawson when he stepped forward to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Y’all would have loved Lawson. Perhaps not as much as I do but that’s how it should be, seeing as I’m his wife and all. I love you both. I’ll see y’all one day and when I do I want the longest, fiercest hug any of us have ever experienced. Until then, I’ll just appreciate everything God has given me.”

  She stood to meet Lawson’s gaze and smiled. “He sure has given me a whole lot.”

  “And me.”

  She placed a stilling hand on his when he lowered his head toward hers. “Don’t forget that the whole town is waiting for us at the hotel.”

  “Let them wait.”

  She allowed him one more kiss, then grabbed his hand and hurried him down the sidewalk into the hotel ballroom. The moment they stepped inside, the town burst into applause and the hotel band struck up a waltz. Lawson sent her a sideways glance. She shrugged. “I didn’t do any of this. It was all the town’s idea.”

  “Well, this explains why my mother insisted I brush up on my dancing.” He held out his hand to her. She stepped into his arms and allowed him to lead her around the dance floor. Pretty soon Kate and Nathan joined in, then Sean and Lorelei. Finally, the dance floor crowded with people. As they whirled around the floor, Ellie pulled back slightly to look up at him. “About that Bachelor List...”

  “What about it?”

  She held up a folded piece of paper. “It’s finished. Should we burn it?”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know but I think I’m entitled to look at the finished product first.”

  She tugged him away from the dance floor to a secluded spot near the door to the garden. “Can you believe I did this?”

  “Yes,” he said heartily. She sent him an unappreciative look, which only caused him to laugh. She handed him the list, then watched his eyebrows raise as his gaze darted back and forth from the list to the crowd. Finally, he let out a low whistle. “It would be an awful shame to destroy that valuable information.”

  She searched his face. “Do you really think that I was right—that this works?”

  “Well, it worked for Jeff and Maddie.” He slipped his arm around her waist. “It worked for us.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose it did in a way.”

  “Maybe you were right about all of them.”

  “That is highly improbable.”

  He smiled. “So what are you going to do?”

  She eyed the list, then surveyed the room full of swirling dancers. Her gaze stopped on one slightly morose figure standing sentry behind the punch bowl. Ellie took the list from Lawson and squeezed his arm. “I think I know.”

  She wound her way to the punch bowl and stopped in front of Amy. The girl rushed around the table to give her a hug and exclaim about Ellie’s wedding dress. Ellie thanked her then stepped slightly closer to lower her voice. “I want to give you something. What you do with it is up to you but do try to keep it safe and private.”

  Amy’s brow furrowed. “What is it?”

  “The Bachelor List.” Ellie slipped the folded paper into Amy’s hand.

  Amy froze. She stared down at the paper, then immediately slipped it into her pocket as though sensing its secrecy. “Why did you choose me?”

  “I can’t say, exactly. It just seemed right.”

  Amy nodded gravely. “I’ll keep it safe.”

  Ellie gave the girl a parting hug then returned to her groom, who waited for her away from the hustle of the reception, on a secluded nook of the hotel’s garden porch. “Did she take the list?”

  “She did.” She pretended to dust off her hands. “I believe my work here is done.”

  “Either that, or you sta
rted something else entirely.”

  “That’s what I meant.” She gave him a saucy wink.

  He grinned. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “You’ll figure something out.” She stood on her tiptoes to place a quick kiss on his lips.

  His arms caught her around the waist before she could step away. “I think I just did.”

  “Hmm.” She lifted an eyebrow and glanced down at her left hand then back at Lawson. “I bet this means you’re going to kiss me all the time now.”

  He caught her hand and kissed it. “What do you think?”

  Her lips curved into a smile, issuing a standing invitation. “I think you’d better.”

  And so he did.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt of A Royal Marriage by Rachelle McCalla!

  Dear Reader,

  It is always hard to say goodbye to dear friends so please bear with my sentimentality as we say farewell to the O’Brien family. I hope you have enjoyed their journeys through the pages of Unlawfully Wedded Bride, The Runaway Bride, and A Texas-Made Match to this moment where they are all hopeful, healed and loved. When these characters first formed in my imagination I never dreamed that one of their stories would end up as a published book—let alone that all three would. I am so grateful to God for this moment and all the ones that brought me here.

  Now, it’s time for me to somewhat reluctantly move on to new characters and new stories. I won’t have to go far for the little town of Peppin, Texas is ripe with romance. So while this may be an ending it is also, as Ellie said, “a mighty fine beginning.”

  Thank you for reading my books! I’d love to hear from you. Connect with me through my website at www.NoelleMarchand.com. You can also find me on Goodreads, Facebook and Twitter.