by Sara Jolene
She took a full, deep breath and lowered her head toward her hands still in her lap. She couldn’t watch him for this part. “Archibald knows me. He knows my story, where I come from. He knows that men treat me the way they want. He knows I’m not a lady.”
She held very still and very silent.
She waited.
And waited. She tried not to even breathe, but he was quiet and still for so long she hadn’t a choice. She sucked in a breath and began to tell him more. “When I was …”
Otto interrupted her. He’d gotten out of his chair again and moved to stand before her. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face so that she was forced to see him. She was surprised by the knowledge she saw there.
“Marry me.”
Otto knew that she was going to protest. He knew that she thought he didn’t know what he was getting himself into—but what she didn’t know was that he had an ancient spirit guide for a guardian angel, and that angel had been leading him down a path that led straight to her. Tecu was right once again.
It hadn’t taken Otto long to figure out he was an angel. He’d known since the moment Sophia’s face had fallen when they’d first met that he wasn’t real. He was also sure Tecu wasn’t the only one. Too much good had been happening in a such a ramshackle of a place for there not to have been intervention.
There was something about Creede. It was the little town that could. No matter how bad things got, it always fought back. The fact that there were angels there didn’t surprise him. A place like that had to have them.
Otto focused on the woman in front of him. She was completely perfect in every way. Her past didn’t matter to him. She was where his life was headed. He just needed her to know it, too.
After the words left his mouth he stared into her eyes, watching as several emotions passed through them. When he saw where they landed and she went to open her mouth to say something, he felt it was the perfect moment for him to swoop down and kiss her. He even started to move in, but then he thought better of it. He wanted her to know he respected her. He would treat her like the lady she was. He wouldn’t treat her as callously as Grady and so many others had.
“Otto, you don’t know though. You’re not understanding. My past. It’s important. Even though I wish it weren’t.”
He shook his head. “I understand just fine, thank you. I’m just not caring about it, though. Your past doesn’t concern me, other than I wish it didn’t happen to you.”
There was a spark in her eye. “That’s exactly what I mean.” She tried to lower her head.
Otto wouldn’t let her. “Now you’re the one who’s not understanding. I don’t care about what happened for me, I care for you. I care because I wish you hadn’t had to endure that.”
He couldn’t contain himself much longer. She was so beautiful it took his breath away. She was so sweet. So kind. So strong. “Marry me.”
He waited as patiently as possible for her to look back at him. She couldn’t lower her head, but Otto had no control over her eyes. She had them scanning every corner of the room, looking anywhere other than at him.
“I can’t marry you, Otto. Everyone from Creede to Bachelor, all the way to Denver and Durango knows who and what I am by now. No one will want to buy anything from you or have you repair their wagons and buggies. You’re better than that. Too good for that.”
Otto shook his head. “I don’t care. We’ll move, we’ll leave Creede. We can leave Colorado completely if need be. We can go east, move to a city.”
Sophia laughed and it was the best thing he’d ever heard. She smiled and tried to stand. This time Otto let her. He stepped back just enough to give her the room she needed, but not far enough that once she was standing there’d be room between them.
Once they were face-to-face, she took a last look in his eyes before popping up on her toes. “I’m sorry, Otto.” She kissed him briefly on the cheek before ducking beneath his arm and heading for the door.
Otto panicked. She was really leaving. She’d walk out the door into an unsafe town and ride away from him. He didn’t even know if she’d come back. Several scenarios ran through his mind, and each outcome that didn’t have her in it hurt him in a way he’d never been hurt before. His insides felt raw as he beat her to the door and held it closed.
“At least come work with me at the livery. You’d be around horses, and you’ll make the extra money you need to support Mrs. Sanderson and yourself.” The part he left off was that he’d be able to watch over her. To protect her.
Otto watched as she seemed to mull it over. He held his breath while she deliberated and he planned.
She nodded. “I’ll be here at dawn tomorrow.”
Otto dropped his arm and let her open the door. At least she was coming back. Once he got her working with him regularly, he’d win her over. Otto knew now what his path was, who he was supposed to be with. Mortimer’s question from the other day came back to him. He knew the answer. He even knew who he needed his bride to be.
He ticked off time in his head as he planned how to win her over. He waited no more than two minutes before heading out of the house to follow her home. She would never go back and forth alone again. He’d make sure of it.
He stepped out into the daylight—and into Tecu.
“I’ll go. You stay. She’ll be looking for you.”
Otto smiled. “I thought you were my guardian angel.”
“Figured that out, now, have you? Took you long enough. But if you’ve gotten that far, then you know that watching over her and watching over you is the same job.”
Otto couldn’t argue.
Stepping out of that house had been the hardest thing—yet the easiest thing—Sophia had ever done. She knew saying no was what was best for Otto, which made it easy … but she had wanted to tell him yes so badly it physically caused her pain. She’d seen the whole thing as she’d sat there in his kitchen. Their lives together could have been wonderful. They would have had at least one baby, and she’d have been the happiest, most doting mother around. She’d have a man who loved her despite the fact that she couldn’t cook a single dish. They’d work together by day and sit by the fire together by night. But it was nothing more than a dream … and an unattainable one at that. She couldn’t have him. She couldn’t have that life, because back before she even had a chance, she’d been molded into someone else. The person she was in her dream was who she’d have been if her parents hadn’t died—if she hadn’t been forced to live with her predatory uncle and sell her wiles.
She found Marigold right where she’d left her, hitched to the post outside the livery. She climbed into the saddle, feeling more downtrodden than she had since she’d arrived at her uncle’s saloon in Denver. She remembered the way her uncle’s eyes had lit up when he’d seen her for the first time. She didn’t have a name for the emotion she’d seen at the time, but she had a name for it now. Greed. He’d seen her and immediately knew he’d be using her and her body as a commodity. And she’d been too young, too scared, and too helpless to do anything about it.
She straightened her spine as she settled onto Marigold’s back. She steered them both toward the front of the livery. She’d go back and fetch her bag from behind the mercantile. She would not flinch when the folks in town looked at her like she was tainted. She would hold her head high because she wasn’t that little girl anymore. She’d lived and she’d learned and she was strong now. She wasn’t going to let a snake like Archibald Grady, like her Uncle Richard, tell her who she was. She was determined to make herself a new life … and she was starting right that moment.
Chapter Six
She couldn’t remember being so excited. Sophia dressed in her second favorite gown and tended to Mrs. Sanderson early that morning. She didn’t test her luck again by cooking fresh bacon and eggs. She’d saved some cooked bacon from the previous morning, so she gave that and a large slice of bread with butter to Mrs. Sanderson before making sure she was settled with her book. Sophi
a had been eager to saddle Marigold and ride into town to help Otto at the livery. Her movements were quick, and her nerves were on high alert.
She made her way to the barn and had saddled and mounted the mare in record time. The ride into town was beautiful, if a bit chilly. She was glad she’d remembered to put on her shawl as she’d left the cabin. The town of Creede came into view, and her heart started to race. No amount of excitement could have made her forget the events of the day before, and she was more than nervous at the idea of seeing Mr. Grady again.
Riding had quickly become a natural action for her. She felt just as sound on Marigold’s back as she did on her own feet. Maybe even more so; Marigold was faster and stronger than Sophia could ever hope to be. There was a soothing quality to the motions. She’d been surprised at first how naturally it all had come to her. She was getting used to the idea now, though. As she rode, she let her mind stray to the question Otto had asked. She had wanted to say yes. To tell him that she was slowly falling for him. That the amount of things they had in common would outweigh everything else, but she couldn’t. She hated who she’d been forced to be. She’d allowed herself to hope, but it was quickly being taken away.
If only she hadn’t told anyone. Maybe then it wouldn’t matter as much. The girls in the cellar all knew her story. They’d spent hours and days talking, and at one point or another, they’d each shared a great deal about themselves. At the time, it hadn’t meant much. She hadn’t thought she’d live to see the sun again, let alone be free to live her life as she saw fit. She’d told them everything.
She could remember it like it was yesterday, sitting at her school desk and having Miss Moody call her from her seat and tell her that word had just reached town that her parents had been killed. She remembered feeling completely paralyzed. Her limbs had gotten heavy and seemed impossible to move. She couldn’t speak—didn’t, actually, for almost a fortnight.
Miss Moody had been the one who ended up looking after her. She’d contacted her father’s only brother. Sophia had never met him. He lived too far away in Colorado for them to have visited. Her father had told her stories, though, about how they’d been as children. His brother had left Shadow Point as a young man in search of his fortune. The gold rush had come to the West, and he’d wanted to cash in on his share. Her father hadn’t seen him since. They’d written each other, and her pa had shared some of the letters with her. Her uncle had become a businessman. He’d made the money he’d been searching for and had used it to build several businesses.
When Miss Moody had told her he was coming to fetch her, she had felt … nothing. She’d been so numb. She’d lost everything and would go to live with a stranger. He’d been really great at covering his true nature, as well. Miss Moody had thought him wonderful and was excited for Sophia to have such a lovely place to go. A new adventure, she’d continued to tell her.
Sophia had never had the heart to tell her otherwise. They’d written to each other secretly over the years. Her uncle never would have allowed it, but she’d had a few helpers back in Denver. As she steered Marigold as far from the charred ruins of The Nugget as possible, she realized she hadn’t let Miss Moody know she’d left her uncle. She would write her that evening.
It was early enough that most of Creede wasn’t awake. Sophia was grateful there were few watchful eyes out as she rode the rest of the way to the livery. She couldn’t help the smile that widened across her face. Otto was in the corral with a beautiful chestnut stallion. Sophia stopped and watched as Otto worked with the horse. She sucked in and held her breath as the animal reared up and lunged for Otto. When he ducked out of the way, she felt the air rush from her body, and all the tension went with it.
He was amazing to watch. It was like he could read the animal’s thoughts. He moved just before the horse did. He circled around and spoke to the stallion before he calmed enough for Otto to put his hands on him. Once he did, Sophia couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The horse seemed to physically relax at his touch. She saw the tight muscles of its hind legs loosen, and its head—held high in defiance only moments before—was now nuzzling Otto’s neck in compliance. Sophia wished she’d gotten to see the beginning of the session. Otto was truly amazing.
She immediately knew the moment he saw her. The hair on her arms tingled, and her back automatically straightened. He stood still, staring at her and petting the horse he’d been working with as he waited for her to ride to the fence.
There had been the briefest of moments when he’d asked her to marry him that she’d actually considered it. He was a handsome man … not that that mattered when it came to having a husband. He was kind to her and made her laugh. It wouldn’t have been the worst thing to be married to him—but then she’d remembered why he was asking. He wanted to protect her, that was all. He didn’t love her. She appreciated him wanting her to be safe, but that was simply because he was a good man, not because he had special feelings for her.
She pulled in a long, deep breath, dust catching in her throat and threatening to make her cough. She bit it back and tried to relax in the saddle as she and Marigold approached the hitching post behind the livery.
Otto came around from the corral. “How was your morning ride?”
“Enjoyable, thank you.” Sophia lowered herself to the ground while Otto busied himself with securing the mare to the post. “How about yours?”
“Getting better with each passing moment.” He caught her eye at the end of his statement.
Sophia felt her cheeks flush. “What are we doing today?”
Otto’s body was tingling. He hadn’t had a woman around for any length of time … and even then it had been his sister. Thinking about Hattie reminded him of how much he missed her. She was still young enough that she held on to an innocence about the world.
Clay took a breath and shook his family from his thoughts; he had to focus on Sophia.
“First I’ll show you the livery. We’ll feed the horses, and then I have a small space where I keep the ledgers and office things. Maybe you could straighten that for me.”
Otto tried to slyly move a few steps further away from Sophia as they walked. His body was still humming from working with the stallion that morning. Royce Clark had brought him the horse to train as his main range rider. The horse was strong-willed and skittish—two traits that Otto seemed to have a knack for relieving a horse of. He enjoyed his time with the horses. He was at home with them, like it was what he should be doing. He felt drawn to life in the corral, just like he was feeling drawn to Sophia. It wasn’t something he could describe. He just knew that his hand wanted to touch hers … and that it wouldn’t be proper, so he had to keep away.
Propriety was important in their situation. He didn’t want to be the cause of Sophia’s reputation being tarnished. After she’d left yesterday, he’d finished the wagon he’d been repairing, then spent time visiting some others in town, particularly Mortimer. He wanted to know who had witnessed the scene in the center of town yesterday, and what the folks had to say about it.
Mortimer was always a big help. He talked to everyone. Otto hadn’t been surprised when Mortimer set into him the moment he walked into the mercantile.
“You’re sweet on that Sophia, aren’t you?” he’d hollered over the counter.
Otto hadn’t been able to deny it, nor did he want to. He approached the man at the counter. “Finding that I just might be. What’s it to you?” He laughed.
“Guess I’ll only be ordering one bride to come west then.” Mortimer shuffled around some of the things on the counter.
Otto nodded. “I reckon so. Though I’m not sure Miss Perkins feels the same about me.”
Mortimer laughed. “She seems like a runner. Good thing I don’t need to tell you what happens when you tighten the reins on a filly.”
Otto nodded in agreement. He did know. “Anyone come in here talking about yesterday?”
“A few. You know how this town gets. These men are bigger gossips tha
n a town full of grannies.”
Otto shook his head and laughed. “I’ll be sure to let them know you think them all like grannies.”
“You do that.” Mortimer paused before leaning across the counter. “Everyone’s talking but the thing is that they just want to believe the rumors are true. If they are, that would mean something to these men, but as far as I can see, you’ve cared for her as your own, therefore, rumors or not, Miss Perkins is one of us and off limits.”
Otto straightened himself away from the counter. “Be sure everyone sees that too?” It was a statement but his tone suggested otherwise. He needed to be sure he could count on Mortimer. He needed Sophia to be safe.
Otto and Sophia walked and talked about the differences in wagons, buggies, and carts as he showed her the livery. They talked about the horses as he introduced her to each one and showed her how to feed them. Just as he’d suspected, she seemed perfectly at home in the barn. He laughed a little to himself when Ash got upset at her leaving his stall to go over and meet Opal.
“You have the three horses ?”
Otto continued to move the hay between stalls. “These three here are mine. Opal, Poppy, and Ash. The rest of the beauties there at the end belong to others in town. I house and feed them. Not everyone has a place to house a horse.” Otto moved down another stall. He watched Sophia closely. She did so well with the animals.
“Have you always loved horses?”
“Yes. When I was really little on the reservation, I was riding before I could walk. My father was great with horses. When I got older, I used to take off for days at a time. I’d sneak a mare out of the barn, and we’d go on our own adventure. My mother had fits about it.” He laughed a little. “I suppose they were warranted fits. My father always told her he’d discipline me, but when we’d get out to the barn, he’d only ask about the days I’d been missing. Where we went, what we did, if we saw anything new.”
“And when you got older? How’d you come to be in Creede?”
