Tears welled in Dora's eyes. Grace, the stubborn one, called her momma. "You're certain?"
"Yes," Grace said.
"Yes," Ella said.
Ben held out his arms and said, "Momma."
Unable to resist, she reached down and picked him up and he gave her a slobbery kiss that melted her chest.
This was so right, how could she say no? Glancing at Jesse, the man she loved with all her heart, she said, "Yes, I'll marry you."
The girls jumped up and down and Ella took her hand. "Grace and I planned the wedding while you were gone with Uncle Jesse. You should get married at home out in the sunshine."
"Sounds like a wonderful idea, Ella."
"Come on,” Jesse said, “let's head home. We have a wedding to finish planning."
The baby in her arms, Jesse took her hand and the girls followed them toward their wagon. Dora's heart overflowed with love. In searching for her dead husband, she found a man she loved and a ready-made family of her own. Now her life was complete.
Chapter 14
One Year Later
The mid-wife glanced at her. "One more push and the baby will be here."
Jesse lifted his wife's back helping to give her more strength. "Come on, honey, you can do this. This has been your dream."
Exhausted, Dora gave one last huge push, putting all her remaining energy behind this final effort and suddenly she felt the infant leave her body.
The woman laughed as she wiped the child's face clean of the mucus and a healthy cry ensued.
"A son," the woman said, holding up the child for Dora and Jesse to see.
Tears ran down Dora's cheeks and even Jesse was crying.
"I never believed this would happen," Dora cried.
The mid-wife cut the umbilical cord, wrapped the baby in a blanket and handed him to Dora. She gazed down at her son and then at Jesse. "He's a miracle child."
Jesse kissed his wife and stared at their son. "No, honey, he's the product of love. Maybe the reason you never had children before was because there was no love. This time, there is so much love in this home, he was bound to come along."
Dora knew the words he said were true. In all her years, she could not remember being this happy. And this child made them complete. The baby opened his eyes and gazed at his parents.
"Welcome, son. You are so wanted and loved," Dora whispered, gazing at the marvel in her arms.
Outside the bedroom, they could hear the children's voices. They had been ordered to remain there until Jesse opened the door. But her children probably had their ears pressed to the door listening and would know the baby had arrived. "Unless you want a mutiny, you need to let them in."
Placing his lips against her mouth, he gave her a quick kiss. "Do you know how much I love you?"
"As much as I love you."
He grinned, kissed the baby’s forehead, and warned him. "Better get tough fast, little man. You've got two older sisters and a brother who are dying to meet you."
When Jesse stepped away from the bed and outside the door, she heard him giving instructions to their children. "Remember, the baby just arrived and your mother is feeling tired. Three minutes to say hello and then bed time."
"Is momma all right?" Grace asked.
The child worried if she got a cold, probably because of the death of her own mother and her father. The girl was growing into a beautiful young lady and had become her biggest helper especially during the unexpected pregnancy.
"She's tired, but she's fine," Jesse assured her.
As Jesse cracked the door open, the three of them ran into the room. Ben had grown into a tenacious little boy and pushed his sisters out of the way as he rushed to her side. "Momma, is it a boy?"
"Yes, son, the baby is a boy. A little brother for you," she said, holding the child so Ben saw him.
"Yeah, now it's two and two," he said.
Not that Ben was an underdog. He managed to control his sisters and keep them in line.
Each child was unique in their own way and Ben was all boy. Needing to touch him, she reached out and ruffled his hair and realized how much she loved her life.
Ella came to the bed and she gazed at her and the baby. "Do you still love us?"
The question stunned her, considering she spent nine months telling them this didn't change her feelings for them. "More than ever. Because you were my children first and led me to Jesse. Without the three of you, I wouldn't have a family. Now we're just a family of six, not five."
Ella leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "He's so tiny."
Grace stood off to the side as she always did, observing and taking everything in. Instinctively knowing how nervous she could become, Dora took her hand. "Grace, you are our oldest, and you are each special to your father and me. We love all of you and now there’s a new member of our family."
“What’s his name?” she asked.
“We haven’t decided yet,” Dora told her. “What do you suggest?”
“Jesse, after Papa,” she said.
Dora squeezed her hand. “I like that idea. We’ll talk about it.”
Jesse wrapped them in his arms. "All right, your mother needs to rest. Time you younglings went to bed."
Dora blew them all a kiss and watched as her husband ushered them out the door. After shooing them off to bed, Jesse returned to her and leaned down, watching their son sleep on her chest.
"When I married you, I accepted we would not have children together. And if we never have another one, it won't matter. You're all that matters to me. You are still the love of my life."
Dora's heart overflowed with love. Marrying Jesse had been the best thing she'd ever done. Reaching up, she kissed him while holding their son in her arms. "Dear husband, you make my heart complete," she whispered.
A Burning Need for Revenge
Addie King will stop at nothing to get her revenge. Not even a Texas Ranger can slow her down. But she’s more than happy to wreck havoc in the lawman’s life, if he gets in her way. Until the night she realizes she may have met her match.
Texas Ranger, Wesley Selig knows that a savage gang is being run from Central Texas and is determined to find who they’re working for. Only problem a devious redhead who is under the false belief she’s a bounty hunter. Determined that only she will bring in the ruthless outlaws, they play a dangerous game of cat and mouse, until she’s caught in his trap.
Can the lawman and the bounty hunter bring in the mysterious ringleader creating mayhem in the county? Or will her need for revenge and his need for justice tear them apart?
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Sylvia McDaniel
Published by Virtual Bookseller, LLC
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design: Dar Albert
Edited by Tina Winograd
Release date: July 2019
ebook ISBN: 978-1950858-040
Paperback ISBN:
This book and parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the author and publisher, except as provided by the United States of America copyright law. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This is Advanced Review Copy #4537. If found on a pirate site, you will be prosecuted.
Created with Vellum
Chapter 1
Racing across the lawn in the darkness, eighteen-year-old Addie King skipped out of washing the supper dishes by disappearing to the outhouse.
Hopefully by the time she returned, her brother and sister would have everything washed and dried. Then she could go back to reading her new favorite book, the Bumbling Bounty Hunter.
Tonight, she wanted to finish the story before she went to sleep, so that tomorrow she would give her full attention to her chores.
An owl hooted as she sprinted through the grass. She hated going out at night, but sh
e disliked washing dishes even more. The distant neighing of a horse sent a tremor of unease down her spine. Papa's horses were in the barn and usually quiet.
As she shut the outhouse door behind her, she quickly did her business. Just as she was about to return to the house, she heard a team of horses, their hooves thundering into the yard. Shouting and cursing and gunshots firing off in the air sent a trickle of fright racing down her spine.
"Frank King, show your face," a voice shouted.
Addie glanced between the cracks of the wooden door and saw seven rough looking men with guns and torches had surrounded her home. What could they want?
A shiver of anxiety gripped her. Papa had been talking low to her mother about trouble. Glancing around, she wanted to run to the house, but she would have to run right by the frightening men who blocked her path.
Her father stepped outside with his rifle. Being the most peace-loving man in the county, Papa never carried a gun.
The leader held a burning torch in his hand. The glow from the flames was high enough for her to see his hardened features. Framed by coal back hair, a jagged scar ran down the left side of the leader’s face, his beady dark eyes sent a shiver through her.
"The Colonel gave you until last night at midnight to agree to sell your property. The deadline has passed. Are you selling?"
With a gasp, she watched her father raise his rifle in his arms---not pointing the muzzle at anyone but using it almost as a shield. "We're not selling."
In the hellish glow of the torches, she stared at the threatening man, fear paralyzing her. A grin spread across his contorted face like he was delighted her father had refused the man's offer.
"Last chance. The Colonel will give you a thousand dollars for your land."
Defiant, Papa spat on the ground. "We're staying."
A laugh of pure pleasure came from the ugly man's lips. The sound eerie in the flickering light.
"Shoot him," he commanded.
The men raised their guns and fired, their muzzles flashing light. An anguished cry stuck in her throat as her father crumpled to the ground.
Addie covered her mouth to muffle the terror that escaped with her voice.
Screaming, her mother ran from the house, her skirts flowing behind her as she knelt beside her husband. Another round of gunshots and Addie jerked as gunfire felled her mother's body onto her dead husband. Tears streamed down Addie's face.
She wanted to run to her parents, but fear kept her in hiding. With a sob, she stared at each man and committed his face to memory. They would not get away with murdering her parents.
Then in horror, she watched as the ruthless men began to set fires around the wooden home. At the last moment, they tossed their torches through the windows as the house exploded with smoke and flames.
Oh, how she wanted to race to her brother and sister but knew she would only become another of their victims. Her chest ached with anger and fear and the need to scream her frustration.
"Put those bodies in the house and then lay some arrows around the home. It needs to look like an Indian attack," the scarred man ordered.
With despair, she watched as they tossed her parents’ bodies into the flames.
Laughing, the gang rode off into the night. She burst from the outhouse, running to the house, screaming their names.
"James, Sammie," she cried pleading with God to let her save them.
When she tried to enter the house, the flames pushed her back, and she knew. No one could live through that inferno.
Sinking to the ground, a soul wrenching animal cry tore through her body. Everything she had known and loved had been ripped from her life.
The memory of the scar-faced man came to mind. Who was the Colonel? Rage overcame her and while she wanted to scream, fear of them returning kept her silent.
All night she grieved, planning her escape, her revenge.
And she didn't want any of them to know an avenger would soon be on their trail.
At dawn, she noticed the barn was still standing and hurried inside. She found her father's hidden stash of cash and a set of silver pistols in a cabinet. Thank goodness, he hid some money away from the house. She released all the horses, but her own, which she saddled.
As the sun peeked over the horizon, she took one last glance at the smoldering remains of her home. Staring, she dried her tears and placed her hand over her heart. "I swear on my soul that your deaths will be vindicated. I will find the Colonel and his men. They will hang for murdering you."
Filled with anguish, she climbed into the saddle and forced herself to turn her horse away from her old life. Not trusting the law in Harper's Mill, she rode toward Zenith, Texas. She rode toward the Lipstick and Lead Bounty Hunting School and the beginning of her revenge.
It was his wedding day. Wesley Selig stood at the front of the church, his family and friends watching his bride on the arm of her father walking down the aisle. For a woman in love with him, she didn't appear happy. In fact, her father spoke to her in a low voice as they approached the altar.
Stunning in her white lace dress, her blonde hair curled down her back, her blue eyes filled with tears. He stared. Were they tears of happiness or despair?
They stopped in front of Wesley. "Who gives this woman away?"
"Her mother and I," her father said and placed Clara's hand in his.
The preacher motioned for their guests to be seated.
Clara gazed down at the floor, and for a moment, Wesley wondered what happened to his excited bride. For months, they courted and when he asked her to marry him, she acted thrilled.
For the last week, she'd been distant and even cold. Maybe it was bridal jitters, but now he suddenly wondered if they should marry. He squeezed her hand trying to get a reaction from her, but she refused to meet his gaze.
The preacher droned on about the sanctity of marriage while Wesley gazed at his bride wondering what was wrong. Did she still love and want to marry him? Their vows were forever and if she had doubts, maybe they should wait.
He knew she was the perfect woman for him. Her father, also a Texas Ranger, said they were ideal for one another. Before he ever asked Clara, he sat down with her father and the two of them spoke about how the couple complemented one another.
Yes, he loved Clara, but he didn't want to make a mistake. No, he wanted a marriage like his parents. One that had lasted until they took their last breaths. One that no matter what happened in life, they there for each other.
He wanted a happy, forever-after kind of union.
"If anyone here objects to this marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace."
The church doors slammed open and a man entered on his horse, his guns drawn. "I object. Clara is mine."
Wesley recognized the man's face from wanted poster. James Clemens wanted for robbery, theft, and a whole slew of other crimes. One gun pointed at Wesley, the other he waved over the crowd.
The woman that Wesley thought loved him, brightened. She dropped his hand like a rock, lifted her skirts and ran to the man on horseback.
"Clara, stop," her father stood and demanded, but she didn't look back.
Some of Wesley's law friends began to move toward the gunslinger.
"This ain't worth dying over," he told them as he cocked his guns. "I will shoot to kill. The woman has chosen me over the ranger. Let it go."
With one hand, she grabbed his arm and pulled herself onto the back of his mare. "Happy wedding day, darlin’."
With a gleeful laugh, she hugged him as he backed his horse down the aisle, the animal defecating on the church floor as they left the building.
The sound of horses’ hooves riding away barely reached Wesley's ears as he stood in front of his friends and family, stunned. His bride had chosen an outlaw over him.
The woman he thought he loved wanted a life of crime over the happiness he would have given her.
Three months later, Texas Ranger Wesley Selig sat across from his boss John Campbell in
the Ranger headquarters in Waco, Texas. The sweltering August heat had him sweating along with his nerves, wondering if he would be fired.
He loved his job, though since his botched wedding, life had been difficult to say the least. Humiliated in front of the whole town, the urge to ride out and leave Waco behind had been strong, but he wasn't a quitter.
This too would soon pass.
"A gang of men are terrorizing small towns, farms, and ranches in North Central Texas. While I'm not confident you're ready for a mission alone, I know you would want to go."
That he didn't like hearing. Clara's defection did not affect his skills as a ranger. Though he would be the first to admit he'd been in a depression after she'd chosen an outlaw over him.
Since that day, he’d trained other rangers in the small town of Waco. His superiors watching him like they feared he would crack. No woman would ever make him lose self-control. Especially after Clara, because no woman would ever get close enough to break his heart again.
"The reason I believe you would want to be involved in this mission is because we think James Clemens is a member of this gang. At the last bank robbery, he rode with them."
A grin spread across his face as his boss gained his full attention.
"Where were they last seen?"
"They robbed the bank in Indian Gap. The sheriff chased after them, but they shot him in the arm. Probably would have killed him, but he managed to escape. There are seven men. He recognized James Clemens from your botched wedding."
The memory of that day was still as fresh as yesterday. But now it seemed like more of a nightmare.
Many lawmen from neighboring towns attended his so-called wedding, only to witness his humiliation.
Now Clara belonged to James, but Wesley was determined to bring the man to justice. A sketch of the outlaw's face hung on a wanted poster. It didn't matter the outlaw stole his bride, only that he was wanted by the law.
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