by Cassie Hayes
“John, Mary, did you forget anything?” Gemma asked. “John, do you have your horn?”
The children stood in front of the fire, looking miserable. John nodded and pulled the tiny trinket from his pocket to show her. Mary sniffled.
“None of that now, love.” Gemma knelt down in front of the little girl and tilted her head up. She brushed away the tears and smiled. “We’ll see each other all the time, I promise.”
Mary launched her tiny body into Gemma’s arms. Then John joined in. Gemma hugged them both tightly, praying for the chance to have children of her own one day soon.
“Okay, it’s time to go,” she finally said, swallowing her own tears.
After bundling everyone up tight, Gemma picked up one of the bags and swung open the door. A large man stood on the other side, startling a shout out of her. Then she saw who it was and real fear took over. Lizzy moaned behind her.
“Morning, ladies,” Richard Kirk said, bowing low in a mockery of politeness. “I see you two are on your way out. I don’t want to delay you, so I will happily escort you wherever you might be going.”
Gemma looked around and didn’t see anyone watching the exchange, but Annie could easily see them through her front window, if she happened to look. Better to feign normalcy than to cause a scene.
“Thank you for the kind offer, Mr. Kirk, but we’re quite all right on our own. If you’ll excuse us—“
“I will not,” he hissed, leaning in so close Gemma could smell stale coffee on his breath. “Your husband arrested my cooker last night, and now you’re going to make it right.”
Kirk grabbed her arm, half-shoving her alongside him. “Come along quietly and everyone will live happily ever after.”
For a split second, Gemma considered screaming bloody murder. Then the faces of John and Mary flashed in her mind. Even if Kirk was arrested, Lizzy would undoubtedly also face consequences. It would be her word against Kirk’s, after all, and Gemma wasn’t so naive to believe a jury would trust the word of an Indian woman over that of a white man’s who worked for Hudson’s Bay. To deprive those children from their only living parent wasn’t just criminal, it was evil.
Gemma glanced back and saw only Lizzy following along. She must have pushed the children behind the door to keep them hidden from Kirk. Once again, Gemma admired Lizzy’s devotion to her children, and once again she wished her own mother had been so protective. If she had been, perhaps her daughter wouldn’t have a soulless man dragging her away at that very moment.
“Where are you taking us?” she finally asked, when she was sure no one could hear.
“Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open if you want to continue your charade of the blushing bride.” He turned and shot her an inquisitive look. “I wish I could figure out what your play is here. That young Mountie can’t be worth much, if anything, and the good Lord knows there’s not much money to squeeze from these parts anymore, now that most of the fur-bearing animals are gone.”
Gemma thought about explaining to Kirk that she was truly and honestly happy with Colton, that she loved him with all her heart, that she never wanted to tell another lie for the rest of her life. But why bother? He wouldn’t believe her, and he’d probably mock her. She wouldn’t give anyone ammunition to mock her feelings for her husband.
“Playing your cards close to your vest, I see,” he said, chuckling as he led them toward the Indian village. “Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Gemma clenched her jaw tight to keep herself from laying into him, but again realized it would serve no purpose. Over the last few weeks, she’d come to realize how much she wasn’t like Bronwen, and the fact couldn’t have made her any happier.
When Kirk turned down a trail that had seen recent activity, Lizzy stumbled. Gemma caught her before she fell into the snow.
“Are you okay?”
Lizzy eyes narrowed as she watched Kirk plow through the drifts, and Gemma suspected if Lizzy had tucked any kind of weapon in her coat, Kirk would be dead. As far as Gemma knew, Lizzy might very well have something to perform such a dark deed. As lovely as it would be to not have Kirk there bothering them, Gemma couldn’t allow Lizzy to hurt him.
Leaning in close to Lizzy’s ear, she whispered, “Think of John and Mary. Keep their faces in your mind, and remember them when you think about what you’re thinking about. They need you, Lizzy.”
Lizzy snapped her gaze up at Gemma, and for a brief flash, murder lingered in her eyes. Then a sad softness filled them to overflowing. Wiping away a tear, she nodded and followed Kirk.
Kirk kept a sharp eye out as he led them into the woods, but as soon as they were hidden in the dimness, his attention focused on the trees around them. Finally, he ducked down a faint path and into a clearing. In the middle stood a metal contraption Gemma recognized as a still. Her mother had frequented plenty of establishments that had one in the back room
“Welcome to your new position,” Kirk said, turning to her.
“Excuse me?”
He waved a hand at the still and a rickety table stacked with empty Mason jars. “Your new position. Your job.”
Gemma blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”
Kirk grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m talking about you making this right. I had a nice little operation here, with Davidson as my cook and her as my distributor. But now that your husband has caught him with his hand in the liquor jar, so to speak, I need a new cook. That’s you, my dear.”
Gemma could only stand and stare at the lunatic.
“Of course, we’ll have to move the entire operation — probably as close to your house as possible — in case that idiot Davidson talks.” He gave Lizzy a sharp glance. “But I don’t think he’ll talk enough to get you in trouble, will he? Which means he can’t tell them about me, because he knows I’d turn you over in a heartbeat.”
Lizzy blushed and her nostrils flared, as if she was embarrassed and enraged at the same time, but she remained mute. Gemma, however, could no longer hold her tongue.
“No,” she said simply.
Kirk raised one bush eyebrow. “Pardon?”
“I said no. Find someone else. I left Ottawa to start a new life, not become an even bigger criminal than my mother had already made me. I will not make moonshine for you to sell to the Indians.”
She crossed her arms in a huff, as if this put the matter to rest. Kirk threw his head back and guffawed. It took him several seconds to contain himself.
“Oh, you will,” he finally managed, wiping tears from his eyes. “Or there will be consequences.”
“What, you’ll tattle on me to Colton? I’m ready to face him with the truth, so that’s not much of a consequence.”
Lizzy squeezed Gemma’s arm, her eyes filled with fear and warning. Kirk stepped closer to the women, looming over them.
“Oh, it won’t be you that pays the price for your disobedience, my dear,” he seethed. “I may have already burned down the Indian’s house, but I have all sorts of tricks up my sleeve. I’ll start with the Indian’s brats. Then her, then your husband, then maybe I’ll track down your whore of a mother and—“
Gemma saw red and launched herself at Kirk, screaming and kicking and scratching. She couldn’t swear to it later, but she thought she bit him too. He howled and tried to fend her off, but that only fueled her rage. The man deserved to suffer, and if no one else could touch him, she would.
Before she knew what was happening — and long before she was ready to halt her attack — strong arms pulled her away from Kirk and wrapped around her, trapping her. Gemma struggled against her captor, her fierce gaze never leaving her target, but she couldn’t break free. Only when she saw a victorious light shining in Kirk’s eyes did she realize she’d lost.
“Thank goodness you’re here!” Kirk said to the man holding Gemma from behind, then pointed to Lizzy. “I caught this Indian trying to dismantle the still over there. She’s obviously that bootlegger’s accomplice. A
rrest her!”
Gemma’s body went slack, and as the arms holding her loosened, she spun around inside them. Colton stared down at her, a muscle in his jaw clenching as he studied her.
Everything inside her fought against what she knew she had to do. Life without Colton would be meaningless. He’d shown her there was another way to live than the life in which she’d been raised. And it was a life she wanted more than anything.
No, not more than anything.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled away from her husband and met his gaze without flinching. “He’s lying, Colton. He’s the one behind the bootlegging operation. I don’t know all the details, but I know he forced Lizzy into selling his poison to her own people. He threatened to harm John and Mary if she didn’t. He even burned down her house.”
Kirk blustered behind her, scoffing and gasping melodramatically at her claim. “I don’t know what I’ve done to insult your wife, Constable Leeds, but she’s lying. And it’s not the first time she’s lied to you—“
Gemma cut him off. “I’m absolutely telling the truth about him, Colton, but he’s right that I’ve kept certain aspects of my past secret. I’d hoped to keep my shame from you forever, as terrible as that sounds. A wife should have no secrets from her husband. I’m going to tell you everything, even though I know you won’t be able to love me after you know who I am and what I’ve done.”
Gemma took a deep shuddering breath and launched into the story of her past. She left out nothing, including the fact she’d only married him to escape her mother’s clutches. Colton’s unreadable expression never wavered, and Gemma had no idea how to interpret that, but she pressed on regardless.
“Whatever happens between us, Colton, I need you to know that I love you. In the beginning, I hid my past to save myself. As my feelings for you grew, I hid it to save us. Your convictions won’t allow you to remain married to someone such as myself, and I accept that. What I can’t accept is Lizzy being punished any more than she already has been for something that wasn’t even her choice.”
Colton’s gaze finally shifted from her and skimmed over to Lizzy, who stood stock still with her head hanging down. Then he settled on Kirk, whose fists were jammed onto his hips, his face a study in phony shock and blustery outrage.
“You see, Mountie? She’s a born liar. You can’t trust a word out of her mouth. You know, I bet she was in on all of this with the Indian! You should arrest them both, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t.”
Kirk’s implacable expression faltered. “What?”
“I didn’t,” Colton repeated coldly. “Ask you. I didn’t ask you anything.”
Kirk eyes shifted one direction, then the next, as if judging his chances of escape, if it came to that.
“In fact,” Colton continued, taking slow, deliberate steps toward the man, “you already told me everything I need to know. You see, when our neighbor, Annie, saw a strange man leading away Gemma and Lizzy, she immediately ran to the station. We’ve been following you since the edge of town, and heard every word you said.”
Kirk gaped at Colton. Then leaves behind them rustled, and Malcolm stepped out into the clearing. Gemma could almost see the wheels clicking over in Kirk’s head, trying to come up with another lie that would get him out of the truth he’d already admitted. Sighing in defeat, he turned around and held his hands behind his back to allow Colton to handcuff him.
When he turned around again, he shot a glare at Gemma. “Well, at least you know the truth about your so-called wife.”
Malcolm grabbed the man’s shoulder and shoved him toward the path. “And we know the truth about you. All of it, including your forcing poor Mr. Davidson into running the still for you to protect this young woman and her children.”
Lizzy’s hands flew to her mouth as she gasped, and suddenly everything became clear to Gemma. Shamus and Lizzy were in love! Malcolm smiled gently at her and nodded.
“When he heard you and Gemma were with Kirk, he told us everything. He’s waiting for you at the station. Not behind bars.”
Without so much as a look back, Lizzy broke into a run and disappeared into the woods. Malcolm chuckled as he shoved Kirk along after her, leaving Colton and Gemma alone. Her heart picked up its pace as she watched his every move — the deliberate set of his shoulders, the muscle twitching in his jaw, his pulse throbbing along his neck.
She had no idea what their future held, if anything, but she would never regret telling him the truth about herself. The burden she’d been carrying for most of her life had lifted from her shoulders like a flock of birds taking flight. She’d never felt more at peace. Even if she wound up going to prison as her mother’s accomplice, her life would be better for finally taking responsibility for her actions.
“Bronwen Spurling,” Colton said quietly.
Gemma breathed in sharply from surprise, then nodded somberly, dropping her gaze to the ground. “My mother. How did you know her name?”
Colton grimaced. “Wanted poster.”
“That’s what I figured. What happens now? Am I under arrest?”
Colton stepped closer to her, as he’d done to Kirk. This was it, the moment her husband took her into custody. She’d feared it more than anything, but now that the time had come, she was almost relieved.
“No. Unless we get word there’s a warrant out for your arrest, you’re free to live your life.”
Gemma’s eyes snapped up to meet his, and his handsome face went blurry behind a veil of tears. Your life, he’d said. Not our life. Nodding gravely, she turned to follow the others. Maybe Annie would let her stay in their cabin until she could find a way out of Reindeer Rock for good.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”
Colton’s fingers wrapped around her wrist, then spun her into his arms. A soft, sad smile played at his lips — lips she thought she’d never get to kiss again. But suddenly hope was restored.
“I’m sorry, Gemma,” he said softly.
“You? For what? You’ve done nothing wrong!”
Colton grimaced, his nose red from the cold — or maybe emotion. “For not being the husband you could tell your secrets to. You aren’t to blame for your mother’s crimes, Gemma. You stopped as soon as you possibly could, even taking the drastic step of marrying a stranger to get yourself out of a bad situation. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be that stranger.”
Gemma wasn’t sure whether to believe her own ears. “Really? But—“
He stopped her with a kiss, a kiss that thawed her icy fingers and toes, and sent her head spinning. He was kissing her! Snaking her arms around his neck, she pulled him even closer, if that was possible, and pressed her body to his. When they broke apart, their mingled breath fogged up around their heads in frantic pants.
“I was such a fool,” he said, staring into her soul. “I fell in love with you the minute we met, Gemma, but it wasn’t real. I didn’t know you at all.”
Her face froze. Just when she'd thought he was going to make her dreams come true…
“No,” he added quickly, “I mean, what I thought was love, wasn’t. It was a daydream, a fantasy. I loved you for who I wanted you to be. But now I know everything about you.”
“I’m almost too afraid to ask.” She couldn’t stop her voice from shaking.
Colton smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you, Gemma Leeds. I always will.”
Her heart swelled. “In spite of my past?”
“No, because of your past. You wouldn’t be who you are today otherwise, and I love everything about you. Your generosity, your optimism, your determination. But most of all, I love your heart.”
Dropping down to one knee, Colton gazed up at her, just as he had the day they met. Tears burned Gemma’s eyes, but she didn’t dare blink for fear of missing something.
“Gemma Leeds, will you do me the honor of remaining my wife?”
Whatever control she’d managed to hold on to disappeared. Sobbing, she threw herself �
� heart, body, and soul — at Colton. “Yes!” she cried, burying her face in his neck.
A sharp bark brought them both back to the present. Finnegan the fox sat at the edge of the clearing, his brown eyes watching them as he panted happily. He yipped, then trotted off into the woods, as if his work there was finished.
Epilogue
ONE MONTH LATER
The day was sunny and clear. Cold, but clear. Gemma shivered outside the tiny church, thinking about the next few winters they’d live through in Reindeer Rock. Thankfully, she’d have Colton to keep her warm.
“Nice day for it,” Annie said, walking up and looping her arm through Gemma’s.
Gemma smiled. “Couldn’t have picked a better one, at least in the dead of winter.”
A comfortable silence settled on them as they watched people filter into the church, white and Ojibwe alike. John, Mary, Olivia and Lily ran around the side yard in a good-natured game of tag. John being the oldest merely walked fast, to give the young girls a chance at a turn. Finnegan the fox darted through the melee, yipping as the children squealed in delight at his antics and tried to catch him. He was far too fast for their little fingers.
“I can’t wait to have some of my own,” Annie murmured, not needing to explain to Gemma what she meant.
Gemma frowned. “I’m not so sure, anymore.”
“What?” Annie turned a shocked expression on her. “Really?”
“I just wonder if I’d be a good mother.” Gemma had never admitted that to anyone, and the second the words came out, tears pricked at her eyes.
“Why, Gemma Leeds, you will be a wonderful mother! Look how you dote on John and Mary. You care for them almost as much as Lizzy, I dare say.”
That wasn’t the problem. “What if I turn out like my own mother?”
