“What?”
Her voice was so weak he barely heard it.
“Listen to me. Unbutton your dress and shove it down. It will be easier to pull you up. Your skirts will drag you down.”
“I can’t.”
His gut clenched at the tears in her voice.
“I’m so tired. Just leave me here.”
“I have no intention of leaving you here. I love you, dammit, and I need you. Patty Ann needs you. I will not allow you to die. Now listen to me. Get that goddamn dress off. Now!”
She started fumbling with the buttons. “My fingers are stiff. They won’t work.”
“Concentrate, Julia. Focus on what you’re doing.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“I’m coming down.”
When she didn’t answer, he slid into the water. He waded to her and pulled her over. He tapped her cheek. “Wake up. Julia, wake up.”
“Why? I’m tired.”
She was slowly slipping into hypothermia, something he’d read about recently. He had to get her out of the water and warmed up. He unbuttoned her dress and shoved it down, never undressing a woman so fast in his life. Then he dragged her across the water to the edge of the ditch.
“Pay attention, honey. I’m going to lift you up onto my shoulders.” He shook her. “Do you hear me? Do you understand?”
She appeared to rally herself. “Yes. I understand.”
Before she tried to sleep again, he moved behind her and placing his hands under her arms, grunted as he lifted her over his head to land on his shoulders. He blew the hair out of his face. “Julia. Reach up and drag yourself up onto the ledge. Do you hear me?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded stronger. She wiggled around until he felt her pull up and off his shoulders.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She panted as she crawled onto the ledge, then turned to face him. “How will I get you out?”
When he was able to see Julia clearly, he realized the rain had stopped and the clouds parted to reveal a full moon. The water from the creek, however continued to pour into the ditch.
“You have to tie the rope over the horse’s saddle horn, then drop the rope to me, and move the horse forward so he pulls me out.”
“Okay.”
Julia disappeared, and the water continued to rise. He tried to gain purchase and climb out, but the wall of the ditch just crumbled, chunks of mud falling into the water. Julia reappeared at the ledge.
“I tied the rope on the saddle horn. Here’s the rope.” She tossed the end of the rope to him, and he grabbed on.
“All right, I have it. How’s Patty Ann?”
“She’s curled up in your poncho and isn’t shivering as much as she was. I think she’ll be okay for a while.”
“We have to get you home and into a hot bath.”
“I think we can all use a hot bath.” She continued to shiver, but at least she seemed awake. “I’m going to the horse now and move him forward. Hold on.”
Fletcher wrapped the rope around his chest, tying a strong knot. He waited a minute, then felt himself move up a couple of inches. Then stopped. Another inch, still not far enough for him to grab the ledge. “Julia?”
She appeared at the top of the ledge. “I can’t get the horse to move any more. His feet are slipping under the mud.”
The water had reached his underarms.
Chapter Fourteen
Julia tried hard to control her panic. If she didn’t get Fletcher out of the ditch, he would die. She hurried back to the horse and pulled his reins.
“Come on, Bounty, move.”
The horse stumbled a couple of steps, then slid in the mud and wet leaves. She leaned her forehead on the horse’s muzzle and cried. She was so cold, so tired, and her husband was about to drown right before her eyes.
The sound of footsteps behind her drew her attention. She wiped her eyes and saw three people pushing bushes and small trees aside. When they reached the clearing she was stunned to see Mr. Johnson and his two sons.
“What are you doing here?”
“We came to help, but I see you’re already out.”
“Yes. I mean, no. Patty Ann and I are out, but my husband is still in the ditch. He climbed in to get me out.”
Mr. Johnson pushed Ronald. “Untie that rope from the horse. We’re gonna pull the sheriff out.”
Julia ran to the edge. “Fletcher. Hang on. Mr. Johnson is here with his sons; We’re gonna pull you out.”
“Johnson?”
“Yes. Hold on.”
Ronald did as his father told him, while Julia went to Patty Ann and checked on her. She watched the goings-on with wide eyes. “Why are they here?”
“They’re going to help.”
“Help? They pushed me in.”
“I know, honey, but we need the help to get your papa out. How do you feel?”
“Not as cold, but I still want to go home.”
“Soon.” Julia adjusted the poncho so Patty Ann was covered up better, then joined Mr. Johnson and the boys. They’d taken the rope off the horse, and they were preparing to pull Fletcher out.
“Come here and help, Julia. We need everyone to pull.” Mr. Johnson gestured with his head.
She moved behind the two boys and their father, and when Johnson shouted, “Pull,” all four of them tugged on the rope. The weight of the sheriff and the four of them pulling started the saturated ground around the ditch to crumble. It look a few minutes, but eventually the earth held and they pulled Fletcher to safety.
Julia dropped the rope and ran to him, falling to her knees. He grabbed her close, and they exchanged a muddy kiss. “We have to get you both home and warmed up.”
With the weather now clear, the air had grown colder and Julia started to shake now that the little bit of exercise to pull Fletcher to safety had ended. Fletcher stood and pulled her up. He walked over to Mr. Johnson and held out his hand.
“Thanks.”
The man just nodded turned to his sons. “Jimmy, you take the girl on your horse to the sheriff’s house.”
Julia led Bounty with one hand, and Fletcher carried Patty Ann. The group trooped back through the woods to where the other three horses stood. Jimmy climbed up onto his horse and Fletcher handed Patty Ann to him. He then grasped Julia by her waist and swung her up onto Bounty. He followed behind her.
“Once you drop off the girl, you get yourself home. Do you hear me, Jimmy? You two have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Yes, Pa.” The very subdued two young Johnson boys followed their father out of the woods with Fletcher and Julia behind them.
Julia leaned back against Fletcher and continued to shake. She’d never been so cold in her entire life. Fletcher reached into his saddle bag and took out a small blanket that he wrapped around the two of them. “I’m sorry, honey, but we’ll have to take it slow until we reach the main street or the horse could slip and hurt himself.”
“T-t-t-that’s okay.” She burrowed herself into the blanket until only her head showed.
Once they reached the house, Fletcher jumped down and took Patty Ann from Jimmy’s horse. Without another word, he set her down, helped Julia from Bounty and the three of them entered the house to the sound of Jimmy’s horse leaving.
The next morning Julia peeked in on Patty Ann who was still asleep. She placed her hand on the little girl’s forehead, but she had no fever. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Fletcher had built a roaring fire after they’d returned last evening, and they’d all had warm baths. Julia had reheated the dinner, and the family ate quietly. Then they all retired to bed where she’d slept peacefully wrapped in her husband’s secure arms.
She was standing at the parlor window, watching the sun climb over the horizon, when warm lips touched her neck. “Good morning.”
Julia turned and found herself held close against Fletcher’s warm chest and his strong, beating heart.
“I love you, Julia.” He l
eaned back and looked down at her. “If I lost you, my heart would shatter.”
“And I love you, as well. When I thought you might drown, I realized I would have no life without you.” She gave him a soft smile. “But I guess if your heart would shatter if you lost me that means no babies?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Her shoulders drooped.
His strong fingers cupped her face. “What I meant by that was no, that doesn’t mean no babies. There will be babies, sweetheart. I can’t keep worrying about what Laura went through. As you pointed out, your mother delivered nine times and she is still in one piece. Although how she can be in one piece with nine children baffles me.
“I realized yesterday I can’t control the future. If having babies of your own means a lot to you, then I will do everything possible to make you happy.” He grinned. “And believe me, it will be no burden to help you become a mother.”
She felt heat rise to her face at the memory of how they’d made love the night before. There had been a certain desperation in their joining. A celebration of them both being alive and whole.
“Mama, I’m hungry.” Patty Ann stood a few feet behind them in her flannel nightgown, her bare toes sticking out from under the hem.
Julia’s eyes pricked, remembering Patty Ann referring to her as “mama” when she called from the ditch for help. She reached out, and her daughter ran up to her and accepted the hug from her parents.
They’d just finished pancakes and bacon when a knock sounded on the front door. Fletcher wiped his mouth on a napkin and pushed back his chair. “I’ll get it.”
He returned a minute later with Mr. Johnson, Jimmy, and Ronald trailing behind him. Mr. Johnson turned to Ronald and motioned with his head. “Go on.”
The boy walked up to Patty Ann. “I’m sorry we pushed you into the ditch. We had no idea how serious it was.” He turned and glanced at his father who gestured toward the sheriff with tight lips.
Ronald said to the sheriff, “I’m sorry, sir, for what my brother and I did. We will work at the jailhouse for as long as you want us to.”
“Next,” Mr. Johnson said to Jimmy.
The younger boy stepped up to Patty Ann and repeated his brother’s words and then did the same with the sheriff.
“All right, sons. Off to school. I’ll see you this afternoon. Come right home and start your chores so you can go to the jailhouse and work.”
They both nodded and beat a hasty retreat from the house.
Mr. Johnson drew himself up and rose several points in Fletcher’s opinion. He looked him right in the eye. “Sheriff, my boys are not the only ones who need to apologize. I’m sorry for what my sons did, but I realize my own meanness had something to do with that. I want you to know I will never bother you or your family again.”
“I appreciate that, Johnson, but it seems to me my wife deserves your apology more than I do.”
“Yes.” Still holding himself stiff, he turned to Julia. “Mrs. Adams, I cannot tell you how sorry I am for the way I treated you from the time you stepped off the train months ago. I have also come to realize when I turned you away I made the biggest mistake of my life. I hope you will be kinder in accepting my apology than I have been with you.”
Julia offered him a warm smile. “I forgive you, Mr. Johnson, and I do hope that one day you find a wife to complete your family.”
He smiled back and glanced at the sheriff. “Take good care of her, Sheriff. You definitely have a prize.” With that comment, he turned on his heel and left the room.
“Well,” Julia said as she watched the man leave. “That was something I never expected.
Epilogue
Nine months later
Julia stared down at the thin layer of blond hair on her tiny son. Carol Danvers, the midwife, hustled around the room, straightening up from the easy birth. At least that’s what Carol had told Julia. If that had been an easy birth, she was grateful it hadn’t been a hard one. But now, as she stared at the beautiful baby in her arms, she forgot all about what pain there had been.
The bedroom door creaked open and Fletcher stepped in. “Mrs. Raleigh said I could come up.”
He moved closer to the bed, and Julia gasped. “You look like hell.”
He grinned sheepishly at her. His hair stood on end where he must have run his fingers through it for hours. He was unshaven, his eyes bloodshot and heavy. Since there was no odor of alcohol about him, she couldn’t blame his appearance on a night of imbibing.
“It’s been a long night.” The mattress dipped as he sat alongside here. “Can I see our son?”
Julia moved the blanket aside and watched as her strong, virile husband skimmed his finger over the baby’s cheek, a tear landing on the child’s head. “I’m so happy it’s all over.”
“I love you, Fletcher. So much.”
“Mama, can I come in?” Patty Ann’s impatient voice came through the door.
“Of course, sweetheart. Come see your new brother.”
The girl raced into the room but came to an abrupt halt when she got near the bed. “Oh, he’s so little.” She reached out and touched his tiny cheek. “What will we name him?” Patty Ann asked as she bent to kiss his forehead.
“Your papa and I thought Joseph Stephen is a nice name,”
“Yes! I’ll call him Joey. And I’ll teach him all sorts of things. I’ll take him to school when he gets older, and I’ll help him with his homework, and I’ll make sure…”
Fletcher and Julia smiled at each other as Patty Ann prattled on and Joseph Stephen slept soundly in his mother’s arms.
The End
If you enjoyed reading this book, there are 49 more in the series! Find out about the rest of the American Mail-Order Brides here http://www.newwesternromance.com/
Here is the blurb for Julia’s friend Katie’s book, American Mail-Order Brides: Katie, Bride of Virginia:
A disastrous factory fire ends Katie Maverick’s livelihood and she must find something quick. Convinced to become a mail-order bride, she receives an offer of marriage from Daniel O’Malley.
Only Daniel isn’t the one who put the ad in the Grooms’ Gazette. His business partner, secretly placed the ad in Daniel's name. When Katie arrives, a surprised Daniel agrees to marry her with the idea she could help make his life easier and still the gossip surrounding the death of his wife.
He’s unprepared for the way the bubbly girl from Massachusetts eases his loneliness. Not only is she helpful, she’s breaking through the walls he’s erected around his heart. Troubled by the suspicious vandalizing suddenly occurring in the vineyard, Daniel wonders if things might not be as good as they seem. Is it only coincidental that the damage to his winery coincides with Katie’s arrival?
Could this sweet, innocent woman and his dead wife share a common goal to destroy him?
Here is the blub for Julia’s friend Genny’s book, American Mail-Order Brides: Genny, Bride of Nevada:
A warehouse fire in Lawrence, Massachusetts has taken Genevieve “Genny” Copeland’s livelihood, but opened a new opportunity for her. If she takes the chance, she could have the family she’s always dreamed of but it would mean leaving everything she’s always known. Believing that opportunity only knocks once, Genny gets on a train west to Elko, Nevada and a new life. She becomes a mail-order bride.
Stuart MacDonnell lost his wife in child-birth six months ago. Now he’s left to raise a 2 year-old and a 6 month-old baby alone. He needs a wife but doesn’t want to court someone and pretend to be in love. He’ll never love again, but he needs a wife now and orders a mail-order bride.
Can Stuart and Genny come together and find happiness when they are at odds with each other? Will they find common ground and will love bloom amid the beautiful Ruby Mountains of Nevada?
Turn the page for the first chapter of A Dogtown Christmas, an Oklahoma Lovers story from Callie Hutton.
Guthrie, Oklahoma, 1912. Priscilla Cochran intends to prove to the world she is a grown up
woman, able to take care of herself. She accepts a job as a teacher in Dogtown, Colorado, where the man who hired her thinks she is a woman of “mature years.”
Mitch Beaumont is tired of young women who come to Dogtown and leave in tears because it is not a built up city with entertainment a young woman would want. He has finally secured a teacher for the town who has assured him she is a middle-aged spinster and will be able to last through the hard winters.
Then twenty-year-old Priscilla steps off the mail coach and falls at his feet in the mud.
A DOGTOWN CHRISTMAS
An Oklahoma Lovers Story
Chapter One
Guthrie Oklahoma
October, 1912
Priscilla Cochran gripped her new satchel, her stomach tightening with anticipation. During the time she’d waited with her father, the train platform had begun to fill up with passengers waiting for the train to Denver, Colorado.
“I know I’ve asked you this numerous times, but honey, are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do?” With the strain of anxiety in his voice, her father’s loving gaze roamed her face.
“Yes, Papa. I do.” She gave him a warm smile. “You know I love you and Mama so much, and most times I can even tolerate my brothers. But I need to have my own life. I have to get away from all the family constantly surrounding me.” She hesitated, not wanting to hurt him, but needing for him to understand. “Sometimes I feel as though I am smothered with love.”
“Ah, honey,” he said, tucking a strand of golden brown hair behind her ear, “no one can have too much love.”
She regarded her father, Senator Jesse Cochran, who had been such a major influence in her life. He’d started from dubious beginnings as the illegitimate son of a whore, raised in a brothel, to become a United States Senator. “Oh, Papa. You say that because of your own childhood.”
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