“You’re locking me in?”
“Just until you father gets here.”
“My father.” She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. “Why do you have to bring my father into this?”
“Isn’t speaking to your father the proper action?” He wiped his face and hands with a towel.
With that, he left the office, leaving her locked inside the cell in her Valentine’s Day dress, feathers floating around and roses tumbling from her rumpled locks.
She sincerely hoped no hardened criminals wandered in.
Half an hour later, she heard horses pull up in front of the jail, followed by the opening of the door.
“You have a dangerous felon in your cell?” her father said. “What do you want me to do?”
“I believe when you see who that felon is, you’ll understand.”
She buried her face in the froth of white lace.
“Amanda, is that you?”
She looked up.
“My daughter is a felon?”
“Well, Mr. Hanson, one definition of a felony is breaking and entering. I don’t know if that covers stealing a set of keys from the sheriff’s desk and locking herself in a cell.”
Amanda’s father looked at the sheriff. “My daughter took your keys and locked herself in a cell?” He slowly turned to study Amanda, shaking his head. “I spoiled you. I gave you too much. Bennett,” he said, and turned back toward the sheriff, “on her deathbed, her mother made me promise to take care of Amanda.” He shook his head again. “I tried. I cannot account for this.”
“Father,” Amanda began, “I can explain.” But the more she thought about it, the more she decided she really couldn’t. She buried her head in her dress again.
“Sounds as if she may need another man to take over, one who is not daunted by the difficulties and dangers that life with her seems to promise.”
Amanda stood up and marched to the bars. “Another man to take over?”
“Miss Hanson has stated that she’d like to marry me.”
Her father fell onto a chair. “I never thought she’d be so forward. I do apologize.”
“What would your response be if I were to ask you permission to marry your daughter?”
Her father clutched his chest and seemed to be having a heart attack.
“Father, are you all right?”
After he took a few deep, shuddering breaths, he said, “You’d do that? You’d take my daughter off my hands? I warn you, as much as I love her, she’s a bothersome filly. She gets something in her mind and no one can change it.”
“Father!”
“Yes, sir. I’m aware she’s a bothersome, stubborn filly.”
“Sheriff!”
“But, Mr. Hanson, I have become one of those ideas that she won’t change her mind about.” He shrugged. “She’s made my life hard, but if she’s determined to marry me, we should probably just go ahead.”
Fanning himself with his handkerchief, her father stood and walked to the cell. “Is the sheriff right? Do you want to marry him?”
She flounced toward the bench and threw herself on it. “I don’t have the least desire to marry someone who says I am bothersome and stubborn.” Tears began to seep from her eyes.
“Mr. Hanson, before I attempt to persuade your daughter to marry me, would you be agreeable to such a match?” the sheriff asked.
“Sheriff, I’ve waited years to find a man to marry her. She’s turned down every single one. My daughter is my only family. There’s no one to inherit the ranch. As long as I’ve known you, I’ve been impressed by your hard work and honesty. I’d be very happy if you would marry her and take over the ranch when I’m gone. Hold it in trust for your children.”
She reached her hand through the bars. “Father, you’re not dying soon.”
“No, but it’s going to happen someday.” He extended his hand to the sheriff and glanced at his daughter. “She doesn’t look happy with you now, but if you can persuade her, she’s yours and so is the ranch.”
Amanda watched in amazement as they sealed the deal. A handshake between men, that’s what she’d become. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the hem of her dress, only to discover lace did not absorb tears well at all.
“Good day and good luck, Sheriff Bennett.” Her father closed the door behind him, leaving her in the cell while the sheriff watched from a few feet away.
“Please let me out,” she said in a small voice. “I’m sorry I’ve bothered you. I’ll never bother you again. I promise.”
“Does that mean we won’t be getting married?”
“That’s exactly what it means.” Suddenly angry at his teasing, she leaped to her feet, took two steps to the door and grasped the bars. “Let me out of here now,” she shouted.
He unlocked the door but pushed her back inside and then locked the cell behind him, and tossed both sets of keys out between the bars.
“Why did you do that?” Her head snapped up to study his face.
“I thought you might need a few minutes to cool off, and I didn’t want you getting away before we came to an agreement.”
She took a few steps back until she ran into the bars on the other side of the cell. “An agreement about what?”
“Our wedding.”
“But you don’t want to marry me.”
“I’ve wanted to marry you ever since the first time we met, but I told myself I didn’t have the right.” He took a step closer to her.
“I never…” She couldn’t move any farther.
He took another step.
“What changed your mind?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“Well, you seem absolutely determined to marry me, and I would hate to disappoint you.”
She wanted to argue with him, but she couldn’t. Instead, she allowed him to lean closer, dizzy with the nearness of him.
“That kind of determination deserves a reward. Besides, I’ve always had a weakness for a forward little flirt. I just never thought your father would agree to my courting you. When you locked yourself in my jail, I decided that would show him the peril my life was in and he’d agree, if only to avoid the scandal.” He put his arms around her and searched her face. “Do you truly love me or has this all been a game?”
“I love you,” she whispered. “I’ve never said that before, to any man.”
He nodded. “Will you marry me?”
She narrowed her eyes. “So that you can have the ranch?”
“Now that you mention it—”
She kicked him in the shin. He smiled at her.
“Because I love you more than I thought possible,” he whispered.
“Oh.”
“I don’t want the ranch for myself. Your father wants it held in trust for our—” he paused to clear his throat “—for our children, Amanda.” He studied her face for a moment, his eyes full of yearning. “Will you please marry me?”
She nodded and he finally kissed her. Kissing was something the sheriff did very well, which didn’t surprise her one bit.
Then he pulled out another key ring and opened the door.
“Where did you get that?”
“You don’t think I’d enter a cell with a very angry woman and not have a means of escape, did you?”
“Well.” She took his arm and held it firmly. “I’d hoped, perhaps, we could spend a little more time here.” She gave him the smile she’d learned he could not resist. “To discuss the wedding, you know.”
“Hello, hello!” Amanda shouted from outside. Annie heard her phaeton stop and the jingle of the harness as her friend tossed the reins onto the seat.
It was Saturday morning. Did Amanda have more to tell her about her campaign to win the sheriff?
“Matilda?” Amanda called from the door.
“I’m right here.” Annie stacked the slates and stood, wondering what had sparked such excitement in her friend’s eyes. Indeed, Amanda almost flew around the classroom with the grace and splendor of a butterf
ly.
“Tell me. What is it?”
Amanda stopped and put her hands to her mouth for a moment as tears came to her eyes. “I’m getting married.”
“What?” Annie stared. “The sheriff?” Annie nodded her head. “But I can’t imagine he’d ask you to marry him or that your father would approve.”
“He did and he did. In fact, they both did.” Amanda threw her arms in the air and laughed.
“Isn’t it wonderful?”
Annie gave her friend a hug. “Tell me everything!”
Amanda settled on a bench and regaled Annie with one of the funniest tales she’d ever heard. She was amazed by Amanda’s boldness and wished she could have seen the sheriff’s reaction.
“Oh, my.” Annie shook her head in disbelief. “How is the sheriff? Has he recovered?”
“He’s very happy.” Amanda laughed.
“You’re exactly the right woman for him. I’m glad he finally figured that out.” As she’d predicted, the man had never stood a chance against a force of nature like Amanda.
“I’m not sure he even realizes what happened, but I don’t care.” Amanda wiggled on the bench. “Now let me tell you all the plans. We’ll be getting married the next time Reverend Thompson is here.”
“So soon?”
Amanda sighed and squeezed her friend’s hand. “Oh, yes. That soon.”
Chapter Fifteen
Annie brushed down the new gray skirt Lucia had made her and tugged the collar of the white basque. The earrings Amanda had given her swung merrily. With a twist, she wound her thick hair into a bun on top of her head, stuck in several hairpins and smoothed the sides back. Her hair had grown in the nearly five months she’d been in Trail’s End, as had her wardrobe. Now the owner of four skirts and seven tops, she felt very stylish. With stockings to go with her two pairs of shoes, a new petticoat, two plain cotton nightgowns and a pretty shawl, she had nearly filled her dresser. And she had a nice amount of money in the bank.
She hadn’t seen John in a week, not since Amanda’s wedding. But he’d sent a note with Ramon telling her he’d be by early this evening.
But she was ready early, had planned that because she needed some time in prayer. She patted her hair once again, then entered the schoolroom and sat on the bench next to the large window overlooking the grove of trees behind the building.
“Loving and forgiving God,” she began. She paused, studying the scene outside. The trees were beginning to bud with that pale, sweet greenness that announced the coming of spring and birds flitted through the branches. “Dear God, You have give me so much. Please help me find one more thing—the wisdom to know what to do next.” She dropped her face in her hands to listen. If she’d learned anything besides what she’d picked up from all the books she’d studied, it was how little patience she possessed, how difficult she found it to listen for the leading of her Lord and her Savior. She slowed her breathing and bowed her head, waiting.
“Matilda?”
Feeling quieted and filled, she turned toward John.
“I knocked and called but no one answered so I came in.” He looked down at her for a moment with a hint of a frown.
“I’m sorry.” Should she explain? She hated to discuss her faith. Of course, she couldn’t discuss it with most people. They wouldn’t understand how God had changed her. With John, she worried that saying she’d been praying might sound…well, pretentious, but how else could she account for her behavior? “I didn’t hear you because I was praying.”
He sat on the bench in front of her and looked into her eyes. “You were praying? Do you pray a lot?”
She smiled. “I don’t know what a lot means. I pray when I feel the need, when I am overwhelmed or happy or worried or…I don’t know. I pray whenever I need to.”
John considered that. “Does God always answer you?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Well, if you don’t know if God answers you,” he said, “why do it?”
“I’ve learned God’s response may not be immediate. And because God has given me courage and strength and hope and forgiveness every time I pray.” She looked into his eyes. “Doesn’t that happen when you pray?”
“I don’t pray a lot.”
“But you go to church every Sunday.”
“Yes, but I go to be an example. Faith,” he said, “hasn’t been that important to me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, surprised by his admission.
“But I’m not here to discuss faith,” John said decisively as he took her hand and stood. “Why don’t we go outside?” He led her to the spot where she often watched the children at play.
Once he sat down next to her, his voice and his expression became serious. “Matilda, do you know how much I care about you?”
She nodded.
“When I can work in a few minutes to see you, I feel as if I’m sneaking around.”
That would be hard on a man as principled as John.
“I can think of only one way to be together.” He stood and walked a few feet away before turning back, his hands behind his back and his expression even more solemn. “Farley tells me Amanda and the sheriff will be having an ‘at home’ on Saturday. I’d like to escort you.”
“What?” The idea astonished her. “But, if you do that, if we go together, people will think we’re courting. They’ll know how we feel.”
He laughed. “Yes, that’s what I hope.”
“But this is so…so personal.” Could she express this more clearly without hurting his feelings? How could she explain the fact that she did want him to court her and her reluctance to tell the world? “I’ve always been a private person.”
He sat beside her and seemed to think about his words before he spoke. “I’m tired of seeing you only now and then. I want to be with you more, and I want everyone to know that we’re together.”
She’d both feared and hoped this would happen. Because John had such strong principles, hiding their relationship would eat away at him, deception would wound him.
She’d been through so much. After such a life, didn’t she deserve happiness finally? After going through such horror and turmoil, didn’t she finally deserve to be loved and cared for?
Looking into John’s eyes, she saw that his solemn facade only disguised his vulnerability and yearning. She couldn’t turn him down. She’d deal with the problems her response might bring later, but not now.
“I’d like that.”
The joy on John’s face convinced her she’d made the right decision. He let out a deep breath, smiling broadly.
“You’ve made me a happy man.” He leaned forward and put his cheek next to hers. “I’ll be by tomorrow evening at eight.” As he spoke, his words tickled her ear. Reluctantly, he stood and looked at her, love shining in his eyes. “Goodbye, my love,” he said.
She watched him leave, noticing a lightheartedness in his step as he ran toward Orion and mounted. After she could no longer see him, she closed the door.
She smiled again. She now understood what love meant, and she realized that she had been in love with him for some time. Why John cared for her she couldn’t guess, but he did and she wouldn’t argue with him about that.
The sheriff never stopped smiling. He looked like a different man during the visit he and Amanda made on Friday, the day after their return from their wedding trip.
“I don’t intimidate anyone anymore,” he said as he sat beside his wife outside the schoolhouse. “This town’s going to be overrun by thieves and killers, vicious men, heartless criminals and the dregs of humanity, all cheering because Sheriff Cole Bennett has fallen in love.”
“And you don’t mind at all.” After patting the sheriff on the arm, Amanda turned to speak to Annie. “Cole bought the sweetest little house for us. Daddy had moved us in while we were gone.”
“Little is the important word. There’s barely enough room for two—not much space for her huge wardrobe or all those shoes and wraps and hats an
d gewgaws.”
“Who needs all that when I have you?” Amanda teased. He smiled at her. “We stopped by to make sure you know about the at home we’re having at my father’s house tomorrow.”
“Yes, I do.” It was, Annie realized with not a little trepidation, time to tell Amanda. “John will take me.”
“John?” Amanda tilted her head. “John Sullivan?” Her eyes brows shot up. “John will take you?” When Annie nodded, then she leaned forward. “Are you and John courting?”
Annie nodded.
“Well, my, my, my.” Amanda leaned back against her husband’s arm. “When did this happen?”
“Little by little, over a few weeks. I’m not sure I realized it.”
“I swan! Are you happy? Well, of course you are.” She turned toward her husband. “Cole, would you please go check on the horses? I need to talk to Annie.”
“Bossiest woman in Texas,” he said with a grin as he moved toward the carriage.
“Tell me everything,” Amanda said.
“John and I felt an attraction for each other, and he asked to court me.” She leaned closer to Amanda. “Now, you tell me all about marriage. Is it marvelous?”
“Oh, Annie.” Amanda sighed. “It’s the most magnificent thing in the world. I’m so happy and so in love and Cole is amazing and he loves me.” A giddy smile covered her face. “There’s a lot it wouldn’t be proper for me to tell an unmarried woman, but being married is wonderful if you’re married to a man who really loves you.”
With that Amanda leaped to her feet, pulled Annie up and gave her a quick hug. “We’ll see you—and John—tomorrow,” she said as she ran to join her husband.
Annie watched her friends drive off. She’d never known two people who truly loved each other and made each other happy. She’d thought her parents had been happy once, but she didn’t remember exactly. Could a happy marriage have disappeared so quickly and left behind a person as miserable as her father?
Annie believed it was possible for a marriage to work. Perhaps love could be enough to bring two different people together. Maybe love could build a bridge between them.
Second Chance Bride Page 17
