Alexander turned around as if he could sense her behind him. “Ashleigh!” His face lit up.
“Oh, Alexander!” Ashleigh walked closer, and he wrapped his arms around her.
Alexander looked around and put a finger to his lips. “Follow me.”
Taking Ashleigh by the hand, he led her around the back, through the side entrance, and into the storeroom. Though it was dim in the morning light, Ashleigh breathed a deep sigh of relief at having such privacy with Alexander.
“I’m so happy to see you. Everything is going wrong!” Ashleigh cried out.
“Sh,” Alexander whispered, running his hands through her hair. He pulled her to his chest and inhaled the scent of her. He could never let her go to California.
“My cousins are forcing me to go with them,” Ashleigh explained, as if she could read his mind. “They’ve stopped paying my rent at the boardinghouse. If I don’t go with them, I’ll never be able to afford to live in Creede on my own!”
Alexander thought quickly. He needed to change his plan slightly, but he could handle that. “Then live with me,” he said simply.
“Oh, Alexander, I’d love that, but what an outlandish idea! We’re not married!” Ashleigh laughed.
Suddenly, Alexander sank onto one knee. He fumbled in his pocket for a moment, then pulled out a small, familiar object. “Ashleigh Steepleton, will you marry me?”
For a moment, Ashleigh was in too much shock to respond. “Yes, I will!” Ashleigh finally managed to say. Alexander slid the ring around Ashleigh’s finger. The intricate diamond fit perfectly.
Ashleigh stared at her hand, overcome with emotion. “This looks just like a ring that belonged to my mother.”
Alexander smiled. “It’s one and the same.”
Ashleigh gasped. “How is that possible?”
“This is going to sound crazy,” Alexander began.
“You’d be surprised at what I believe since moving to Creede.”
Alexander smiled. “I saw your cousin William selling off some items at the mercantile. I can’t figure out why, but something kept telling me I needed to go in there and buy something of his that he’d sold. Mort Jackson showed me what he’d brought, and as soon as I saw the ring, I knew I needed to buy it. So that one day, I could give it to you.”
Ashleigh couldn’t believe Alexander’s story. It was so romantic and generous of him. “I thought William had gotten rid of our keepsakes back in Oklahoma. He said we needed to sell off valuables in order to fund our travels,” Ashleigh explained. “I’m so happy that you were able to buy it and give it to me. This means more to me than I could ever explain!”
Alexander smiled. “I’m happy you like it.”
“I love it! And I love you!” Ashleigh kissed Alexander, realizing that he was her fiancé now. She liked the way that sounded.
Ashleigh frowned as she realized something. “Do you have an amount of time in mind for an engagement? I’ll need to figure out where I can afford to stay between now and the wedding.”
“Why not get married today?” Alexander suggested, a mischievous gleam in his eye.
“Today?” Ashleigh breathed. “Isn’t that a bit fast? Where would we even be able to get married?”
“Reverend Bing and his wife have a lunch reservation today. I think with a little bit of convincing—and maybe some pastries, Reverend Bing loves his pastries—we could get him to perform the ceremony.” Alexander squeezed Ashleigh’s shoulders and lowered his mouth so he was speaking right into her ear. “The sooner we marry, the sooner you and I can begin to engage in marital relations.”
Ashleigh felt her insides flutter with anticipation. She longed for his touch in that way and was comforted that they wouldn’t have to wait very long. Getting married in her workplace wasn’t how she had imagined her wedding, but life didn’t always work out the way you planned it.
“Meet me back here in twenty minutes,” Alexander requested.
“Here? In the storeroom?” Ashleigh wrinkled her nose.
“Make it thirty.” Alexander winked, and Ashleigh giggled. It didn’t matter if they got married in a dusty old storeroom. All that mattered was that they loved and cared for each other.
Ashleigh found Mrs. Graham first. She explained the unusual situation and asked for her permission to work extra hours later in the day to make up for missing responsibilities that morning.
“Of course, dear! We all love Alexander dearly. It’s about time he found himself a good woman. How can I help?” Lydia exclaimed.
“I suppose I don’t really have a wedding dress, flowers, or anything else one might need for a wedding.” Ashleigh was surprised at how calmly she was speaking. Other brides might view her situation as less than ideal, but she was elated to be marrying Alexander.
One thought did weigh on her as she rushed around, making preparations with Lydia. She had always pictured her father giving her away on her wedding day. After her father had passed, the only man she’d want giving her away would be Gilbert. But she and Gilbert weren’t speaking. Plus, he was at work in the mines. She wouldn’t be able to get word to him that she was getting married even if she’d tried.
Ashleigh took a deep breath. Her parents had always taught her to focus on the good and positive things in life. She would follow their advice. After all, today she was forming a new family with Alexander.
As Ashleigh hurried to get ready, she saw a familiar form take shape in the dark hallway.
“So you finally listened,” Ernie said, pretending to be upset. “About time.”
“Thank you for everything, Ernie. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I’m so happy that Alexander and I are going to marry,” Ashleigh told him.
“Well, congratulations. You look wonderful. I know the two of you will lead a long and happy life.” Ernie gave her a hug.
“You seem like you’re saying goodbye,” Ashleigh commented.
Ernie shrugged. “In a way, I am. You don’t need me anymore.”
“Ernie, that’s not—” Ashleigh began to protest. Just as suddenly as he’d appeared, he was gone. Ashleigh knew that he’d told the truth. A sense of peace and calm came over her. Although she hadn’t always agreed with his methods, she had to admit that he had helped her immensely since she had come to Creede.
Thirty minutes later, Ashleigh pushed open the heavy door to the storeroom. She gasped in delight as she saw rows of tiny candles surrounding the upper shelves. The lights danced through the room, making everything seem dreamy and romantic. Alexander stood proudly in a borrowed suit from Mr. Graham.
Ashleigh wore several aprons quickly stitched and pinned together by Mrs. Graham so that they resembled a flowing wedding dress. In her hair she wore a veil made of apple blossoms.
“You look beautiful,” Alexander whispered to Ashleigh. She beamed.
Suddenly, they all heard a clattering sound from the hallway. Everyone looked around. Gilbert, panting for breath, raced into the room.
“Ashleigh! I need to apolo—what is going on in here?” Gilbert inhaled sharply as he surveyed the room.
“I’m getting married,” Ashleigh explained happily. She and Alexander looked at each other.
“Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened. We shouldn’t have behaved the way we did. I’m so embarrassed. I’ve decided not to go to California either,” Gilbert told her.
The Grahams, Reverend Bing, Mrs. Bing, and Alexander all stared at Gilbert and Ashleigh. Reverend Bing cleared his throat. “Well, are we all ready to proceed?”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Gilbert yelped embarrassed.
Ashleigh made a decision. She clasped her hands around Gilbert’s arm. “I’d like you to give me away.”
“You would?” Gilbert’s eyes shone with unshed tears. It meant so much to him that Ashleigh would bestow this honor on him despite his part in what had happened.
Reverend Bing turned to the small group that had assembled to witness the happy occasio
n. “Now, we will begin.”
Everyone heard more clamoring from the hallway and spun around. At the door, William and Philip appeared.
“I couldn’t work, Ashleigh! I kept thinking about you and all of our mistakes!” William cried out.
“Please forgive us, Ashleigh!” Philip joined in.
Celeste put a hand to her mouth, hiding a smile. The Steepleton cousins certainly were passionate, she’d give them that.
“Are we ready to proceed?” Reverend Bing asked again.
William and Philip looked around at the candles and flowers, confused.
Ashleigh nodded. She was ready to begin the rest of her life as Mrs. Alexander Pierce and everything that brought along with it.
Epilogue
“Hm. Isn’t there a young woman who works in the kitchen at Graham’s Grub?” Ashleigh Pierce asked her husband of six months.
Alexander put down his newspaper and smiled. “Yes, there is a new employee. Have you met her yet in church?”
Gilbert Steepleton blushed. “I don’t need to be set up by my cousin and her new husband! Just because you two have found wedded bliss doesn’t mean everyone will.”
“But I want all four of us cousins to marry,” Ashleigh protested. “Wouldn’t it be fun for all of us to have children at the same time, so they can all be friends?”
Alexander pretended to be concerned. “Children? What’s this talk of children?”
“Uh-oh, should I leave?” Gilbert joked. “Do you two need to have a discussion?”
“I don’t think there’s any discussion that needs to be had, because the plan is already in motion,” Ashleigh said, placing a hand on her stomach.
Gilbert covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh, my goodness. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Ashleigh smiled mysteriously as Philip burst through the door. William was a few seconds later.
After Ashleigh and Alexander had married, the triplets had apologized and told Ashleigh they respected her decision to stay in Colorado. They wouldn’t leave her, so they decided to stay, too. Ashleigh had established a weekly Sunday night dinner with her three cousins.
Tonight, Ashleigh planned on making a special announcement.
“You won’t believe it!” Philip shouted, panting for air.
“They’ve caught the men,” William said, similarly breathless. The men looked like they’d run all the way from town to the Pierce home.
“They’ve caught which men?” Ashleigh asked.
“Remember the masked men who tried to rob you and attacked Ned?” William explained.
“Oh, my goodness.” Ashleigh looked at Alexander, and he grabbed her hand.
“They’re under arrest,” William said proudly. “Ned remembered that one of them had a scar on a section of his arm that he could see. I saw the man walking around near the mines and found a marshal’s deputy. Now those men can’t hurt anyone else.”
Ashleigh smiled at her cousins. “I’m so grateful to hear that.”
William, Philip, and Gilbert gathered around the table Ashleigh had set. She couldn’t wait to tell them that she and Alexander were expecting. She noted William’s unruly hair and Philip’s stained shirt. Her cousins were eligible young bachelors. They needed wives to take care of them and give them children, so all of the cousins could grow up together the way they had.
Ashleigh smiled as she looked around the table at her cousins and her husband, placing her hand on the curve of her abdomen, where her child grew. She felt like the luckiest woman in the world, and she couldn’t wait to find out what Creede, Colorado had in store for her family next.
Also by Kirsten Osbourne
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Capturing the Cook Page 12
