by Merry Farmer
“Talia?” He jumped off of the boardwalk in front of the saloon and ran to meet her. “Talia, sweetheart, are you okay?”
Instantly, a thousand visions of the woman he couldn’t live without lying pale and sick in a bed rushed to his mind. He tried to dismiss them as nonsense, but the fear that he might lose her still clung to him. Especially since she had taken up Dean Meyers’s offer of going to work for him as a nurse. More than half of Dr. Abernathy’s patience had dumped that lecherous old charlatan to follow her to Dean’s practice. That only meant that Talia had twice the workload and even more exposure to who knew what illnesses.
“Trey.” She smiled at him when they met in the street. “I’m so glad I found you.”
She leaned into Trey’s embrace when he put his arms around her. Trey’s mind spiraled through a dozen thoughts. Was she feverish? Was she about to faint? Had the heat done something to her? Was there another epidemic? One that would be worse this time because of the heat?
“What’s wrong, sweetheart.” He tried to be calm as he stroked her face and felt her head for fever. It was hard to tell if the heat coming from her was just summer or if she was sick. “Did something happen at Dr. Meyers’s office? Does he have a patient with something contagious?”
“He does have a patient in need of attention,” Talia said, glancing up at him even as she clung to him.
“Oh no. Is it influenza again?” Trey’s heart raced.
Talia shook her head.
“Cholera?” He nearly choked on the word.
She shook her head again, smiling this time.
“Diphtheria? Consumption? Scarlet fever?”
She shook her head over each one, her smile growing. “It’s not contagious. Well, at least not like that. But somebody did give it to me.”
“So you do have something,” Trey gasped, panic rising. “What is it? Who gave it to you?”
She rocked back on her heels, though still in his arms. “You gave it to me.”
“I…what?” He frowned in confusion.
“Or perhaps I should say you gave him to me. Or her.”
Trey’s panic-soaked mind took far too long to catch up to what she’d said. When it did, his mouth fell slowly open. He gaped at her. “Him or her?” he asked, voice weak.
Talia nodded, beaming. “Dr. Meyers confirmed it just now. I had to run over and tell you.”
“You…whaa?” He blinked, a whole new kind of panic flooding him.
“Mmm hmm.” Talia giggled and gave him a quick hug. “You’re going to be a father, Sheriff Knighton.”
Trey could only gape at her for a moment as fireworks went off in his brain. All those fussy, squirmy, naughty children that were running all over Haskell. He was about to have one.
“I…I don’t believe it.”
Talia lost her smile. “Are you disappointed?” she asked.
Her voice was so small that it broke Trey’s heart. Broke his heart and helped him to see his true feelings. His shock faded away, and an enormous grin took over. “Not at all.” He squeezed Talia tight, lifting her off her feet and spinning her in a circle. “We’re going to be a family.”
“We are.” She continued to giggle, even after he put her down and kissed her.
Trey thought about the family he’d lost when he was a boy. He spotted Sam watching him and Talia from the boardwalk in front of the saloon, arms crossed, out of the corner of his eye and thought about the family he’d found. And when he looked at Talia and leaned in for another, deep kiss, his heart overflowed with joy at the family he would soon have.
I hope you have enjoyed His Magical Bride! I guess Trey turned out to be the marrying kind after all. But what about Sam Standish? He’s sent for his bride, Julia, but is a saloon really an appropriate place for a young wife? And what is Sam going to do when he finds out that his new bride is, well, a little clumsy? You can find out this summer with His Innocent Bride!
Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.
About the Author
I hope you have enjoyed His Magical Bride. If you’d like to be the first to learn about when new books in the series come out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it! For a complete list of works by Merry Farmer with links, please visit http://wp.me/P5ttjb-14F.
Merry Farmer is an award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her cats, Torpedo, the grumpy old man, and Justine, the hyperactive new kitten. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn't have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have hit the Top 100 at Amazon, iBooks, and Barnes & Noble, and have been named finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.
@MerryFarmer20
merryfarmerauthor
merryfarmer.net
[email protected]
Acknowledgments
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my awesome beta-readers, Caroline Lee, Julie Tague, and Jolene Stewart, for their suggestions and advice. And a big, big thanks to my editors, Cissie Patterson and Carly Cole, for doing an outstanding job, as always, and for leaving hilarious comments throughout the manuscript. And a second round of thanks to Julie Tague, for being a truly excellent assistant!
And a special thank you to the Pioneer Hearts group! Do you love Western Historical Romance? Wanna come play with us? Become a member at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pioneerhearts/
Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.
