by Merry Farmer
“No,” Hector panted. “No, you can’t.”
His pleas were ignored. Gunn left the room with a reassuring nod to Mason and a victorious smile for Libby.
“Hector Sterling, I hereby place you under arrest for the murder of Teddy Sims and the assault of Libby Montrose, by the authority invested in me by the town of Haskell and the Territory of Wyoming.” Trey took a pair of iron shackles out of his belt and clasped Hector’s hands together behind his back.
“No, you can’t,” Hector continued to panic.
Trey steered him out of the room.
“I’ll come with you,” Solomon offered. “You might need someone to convince this—what did Mason call him? This slime? You might need someone to convince this slime to stay quiet on the way to the jail. Though it sure is a long, cold walk down to those bars.”
By the time Trey and Solomon hoisted Hector to his feet and carted him out the door, Hector was sobbing.
“So much for him.” Bonnie sniffed and sauntered across the office in their wake. She paused when she reached the door and turned to Mason and Libby. “I’ll just leave the two of you by yourselves for a minute,” she said, then swept out of the room, closing the door behind her.
As soon as Libby and Mason were alone, Libby let out the breath she’d been holding. She felt as though she’d been holding it for weeks. It was the only thing that had kept her upright, and now she sagged as all the weight she’d been carrying left her shoulders. Mason reached out and caught her, pulling her into a tight embrace.
“It’s over,” he whispered, resting a hand on her head and holding it against his chest. “Thank God Almighty, it’s over.”
Bit by bit, her muscles unclenched, her thoughts untwisted, and the fear she’d lived with evaporated. She drew in a breath, filling her senses with the scent of Mason, her husband, the man who had done what it took to protect her and rid her life of pain. She smiled, resting her head against his shoulder. His warmth felt so perfect, so stable.
“Life starts now,” she said on a contented sigh.
“I sure hope so.” Mason closed his arms more tightly around her. “You deserve nothing but peace and happiness from here on out.”
She hugged him, letting the promise of everything that was to come sit between them. Then she let out a breath and leaned back until she could smile up into his eyes.
“You know what surprises me more than anything else right now?”
“How pretty you look without the weight of the world on your shoulders?” Mason answered, bending down to steal a kiss.
Libby laughed, her heart feeling light. “No, the fact that so many people were willing to step forward to help me.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“They don’t know me.” Libby shrugged. “They could easily have believed every lie Hector tried to spread, like those awful Bonneville women.”
Mason shook his head. “Every town has a few bad apples. But Haskell is mostly made up of wonderful, good people. And anyone worth their salt can see that you’re good people too.”
“I try to be.” Libby sighed and hugged Mason again. “As long as I have you, anything is possible.”
Epilogue
Christmas was still a week away, but from the lights, decorations, and festivities in The Village, anyone passing would have thought that it had come early. Even the houses still under construction had been festooned with ribbons and pine and holly. It was the three occupied houses that looked the jolliest, however, and one of those houses was the scene of the most joyful party Haskell had seen in years.
“Isn’t this lovely?” Josephine glanced around at the greenery, red bows, and silver balls that Libby and the boys had hung in the large parlor of their new house. “It warms my heart.”
“Mason and me and Matthew went and picked out a tree ourselves,” Petey rushed to tell Josephine.
“We did,” Mason confirmed. He marched up behind Petey and ruffled his hair.
Petey glanced up to Mason with a smile. “Mason let me help cut it, since I grew up in a logging camp and all.”
“Well, I let you cut part of it.” Mason winked at Josephine.
Libby watched the scene from across the room, her heart doing cartwheels. It was a blessing that Mason got along so well with her boys. Teddy would approve. And while Libby would never let Petey and Matthew forget their father, it was a relief to know there would be a man around to help raise them and to shape them into fine, upstanding men.
She placed a hand on her stomach and smiled. It was a relief to know that Mason would be there to teach and guide the next addition to their family as well.
“It sure does do me good to see you smiling when you think about that baby,” Bonnie said as she slipped up to Libby’s side.
Libby reached for Bonnie’s hand to squeeze it. “I’ve been so afraid this whole time that I could never love a child of Hector’s.”
“No one could blame you for that.” The sadness in Bonnie’s smile suggested she’d seen more than a few girls in similar situations who hadn’t been able to move past the way their babies were conceived.
“This baby has so much to look forward to,” Libby went on. “He or she is going to be born into a wonderful town full of supportive neighbors. They’ll have friends and role models all around them. I certainly believe that that will outweigh the sins of their father.”
Bonnie laughed, hugging Libby from the side. “And this is why you and I are friends.”
Libby smiled. Bonnie was her friend now, although Libby never would have imagined herself saying she was good friends with a woman who owned and ran the kind of establishment Bonnie did. Libby thought she understood why Bonnie had started her place, but there was still so much to learn—about her and about the entire town.
“Mrs. Montrose, I just wanted to offer my congratulations on such a fine shindig,” Cody said, approaching Libby and Bonnie. He winked at the two of them.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Libby said. “But you don’t have to call me Mrs. Montrose. I’m your sister-in-law now.”
“A man can count himself lucky to end up with not one but two fine sisters-in-law.” Cody shifted to stand by Libby’s side, glancing across the room to where Wendy stood with Travis, talking to Dr. and Mrs. Meyers.
“Thank you for saying that, Cody.” Libby patted his arm. “Miriam Long sure missed out on a good man when she refused to get off that train.”
Cody’s smile faded and he lowered his head. “Maybe. Maybe not.” He sighed and looked up at Libby. “There comes a time in a man’s life when he has to look back on some of the poor decisions he’s made and own up to them. I’ve had a lot of time to think in the past two weeks, and it seems to me that I might not have been any more ready to marry than Miss Long was.”
“Oh?” Libby blinked.
“I guess all boys grow to men at some point,” Bonnie said.
Cody sent her a bashful smile. “Maybe.”
“So are you going to send for another bride?” Libby asked. “Third time’s a charm.”
Cody winced. “Not yet. I got a little more thinking to do before I’ll be any use to any woman.” He nodded, then headed off to join the conversation with Travis and Wendy.
Mason was just finishing his conversation with Josephine. He broke away from her and came to Libby, taking her hand and kissing it. Bonnie discreetly stepped away, grinning from ear to ear.
“You’re the prettiest decoration in this entire house,” Mason said, eyes dancing with love.
Libby laughed. “After all the work we went through to put up the rest of the decorations, that’s praise indeed.”
Mason shared her laughter, pulling her into his arms and hugging her. He didn’t fully let her go when he was done, keeping an arm looped around her waist as they surveyed all of their guests.
“Last Christmas, I never would have dreamed this was what my life would be like only a year later,” Libby whispered.
“I’m sorry that the ro
ad to get here was so bumpy.” Mason kissed the top of her head.
“Me too.” Libby sighed. “But—I can’t explain it—it’s like I have had two lives.” She twisted to look up into Mason’s eyes, resting her hand on his chest. “I had a good life with Teddy. He was a good husband. But that life ended, and now this life has begun.”
“I promise I’ll make it a good life,” Mason whispered, resting his large hand over hers on his chest.
“I know you will.” She smiled. “Next year there will be five of us, and who knows how many the year after that.”
“You want to have more kids?” Mason’s brow lifted in hope.
“I want to have your children, Mason.”
“You know I consider this one to be mine.” He lowered his hand to her belly. “In spite of—”
“I know.” Libby cut him off with a smile. “And that’s why I love you. That and so many other reasons.”
He smiled down at her as if the sun would never go out of their lives. “I’ve loved you for far longer than I should have, Libby Montrose, and I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”
“Let’s hope it’s a long one.” Libby let out a breath and folded herself against Mason’s side. “A long life for both of us, filled with peace and cheer and togetherness.”
* * *
I hope you’ve enjoyed Libby and Mason’s unconventional story of love. But what about Cody? Has he really learned his lesson and begun to grow up at last? And is that really the last we’ll ever see of the feisty and dramatic Miriam Long? Or will she have second thoughts on her second thoughts? Find out next in His Tempting Bride, available now!
Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.
About the Author
I hope you have enjoyed His Heartbroken 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 two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. 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 topped the Amazon and iBooks charts and have been named finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.
You can email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @merryfarmer20.
Merry also has a blog, http://merryfarmer.net,
and a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/merryfarmerauthor
Acknowledgements
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my awesome beta-readers, Caroline Lee and Jolene Stewart, for their suggestions and advice. And a big, big thanks to my editor, Cissie Patterson, for doing an outstanding job, as always, and for leaving hilarious comments throughout the manuscript. Also, a big round of applause for my marketing and promo mistress, Sara Benedict.
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.
