by P. Creeden
Without meeting eyes with any of them, Harper stepped toward his wife and knelt down. Then without a word, he cleaned her feet with his handkerchief and placed the new shoes that he’d bought upon them. Mabel steadied herself by placing a delicate hand on his shoulder. The comforting feeling of her touch did little to douse the agitated fire that had built in him from watching the soldier question and handle his wife. His wife. He truly felt that way about her now. She was the woman he loved—yes, he loved her. And he didn’t want to let her go. He swallowed hard as he finished buckling the second shoe and then took a deep breath before looking up into Mabel’s beautiful green eyes. She blinked down at him, a smile spreading across her lips as she blinked back tears. “How did you... When did you...”
His heart swelled in his chest, the fire in him finally quenched as she grew flustered. He smiled up at her. “As your husband, it’s my duty to provide for you.”
She swallowed, her smile growing wider as he took her hand from his shoulder and kissed her palm gently. A small gasp escaped her lips and then her cheeks reddened.
Then slowly, he released her hand, stood and turned toward the soldiers, an indignant frown tugging his lips while he leveled a glare at the men. “And as her husband, it’s my duty to protect her. So, now, I ask you. What’s this about?”
The blond soldier blinked several times and took a step back. He was several inches shorter than Harper and had to look up in order to meet eyes with him. He swallowed and then finally stammered, “I was just... just making sure Miss Br—I mean Mrs. Jones wasn’t in need of any help. It seems that things are just fine, so I’ll take my leave.”
The second soldier’s eyes remained wide as he stumbled backward with his friend. Then the two of them turned about and made themselves scarce. Even though Harper was glad to see them go, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d really like to chase them each and give them a swift kick in the rear. His hands fisted at his sides as he held himself back from doing anything of the sort. Then he felt a gentle hand on his forearm and his gaze pulled away from the men to meet with Mabel’s emerald one.
She smiled at him. “Thank you for the shoes. I love them.”
With his heart racing hard in his chest, he blurted, “I love you.”
Her eyes widened as her lips parted.
It wasn’t a happy look in her eyes, and fear automatically gripped Harper’s heart. What if she didn’t feel the same about him? What if the soldiers had made her doubt her marriage? What if she’d been considering the annulment that he’d offered her. He suddenly wanted to take the words back. It had been too soon. His timing was terribly wrong.
Then she smiled and shook her head. “I must be crazy, Harper, because everything in me says that it’s too fast. But I’ve never been any more patient than I’ve been delicate. I love you, too, Harper. I think I might have fallen in love with you that day I saw you at the general store—before we’d ever met.”
It was Harper’s turn to gasp. “You remember that day?”
She huffed a laugh. “Do you?”
He nodded. “It had just started snowing and you had bits of white in your hair as you stepped onto the boardwalk.”
“You held the door open for me,” she said.
“You looked up at me as if you couldn’t see the color of my skin or the fact that I was half-native,” he whispered.
“You went outside and pet Jack in such a gentle way that I knew you were a man with a big heart.”
A lump formed in his throat and suddenly he couldn’t speak. He just shook his head. How was it possible that she remembered him? How was it possible that she’d even noticed him? She moved her hand so that she took his in both hers and then squeezed it gently.
“Believe it or not, I love you even more now than I did a moment ago,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on their hands.
Without a thought, he took his other hand and pressed it under her chin and lifted it so that her eyes met his. “I believe it.”
And then he leaned toward her and kissed her gently on the lips. Her eyes closed, and her warm, soft lips parted slightly as she accepted him. He turned his head and deepened the kiss, moving his hand to her waist and drawing her into him. Her form fit into his as the rest of the world fell away and it became just the two of them.
Epilogue
Mabel sat on the front porch of the summer cabin, her feet tired and exhausted in her new shoes. They’d made it through three days of wilderness and succeeded in getting to the secluded lodge. It had been rough, but Mabel had never been one to complain, and she’d done her best to show her husband that she was tougher than she looked and far from delicate. A satisfied smile spread across her lips as she watched the sun begin to set. The late May air still had the slightest chill in it and raised the hairs on her arms, producing goose flesh.
She rubbed her arms gently and thought about getting a shawl, but just as she had the thought, Harper came out of the house and wrapped her in a woven blanket. She eyed the texture. “This is beautiful. Where did you get it?”
“My mother wove it with her mother when she was young. My mother often said that it would be the perfect gift for my wife and my children later, when I found the right woman,” he said, his eyes staring off in the distance.
That smile on Mabel’s lips grew a bit as she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
“My mother always said that a good wife was the best blessing a man could get. That he was lucky to find a woman who would tolerate all of his flaws and agree to spend her life with him, helping him feel complete. I never thought I would ever find such a woman, that I’d ever be that lucky.” His voice grew smaller so that by the end of his statement, he whispered.
Mabel leaned toward him so that her shoulder rested against his. “My father always said that a good, godly man was worth more than all the riches of Solomon. I’m so glad that he found you.”
Harper moved his hand so that he wrapped it around her shoulders and pulled her into him. They had been living as a fully-fledged married couple for a week and it had been blissful, even through the hard trek through the mountains to the summer cabin. But it had been worth it all. The views were tremendous, and this blanket felt like a gift from Harper’s mother herself to Mabel. She could feel the love of the woman that had passed on long before they’d ever met.
“My mother was much like you. Strong, loving, and always in good humor. She made the trek back and forth from our summer cabin to our winter cabin each season. I’m sorry I ever doubted that you would want to do this with me.”
“I would follow you anywhere,” she whispered breathlessly.
He squeezed her tighter, wrapping her into both of his arms. When she peered up at him, she found his eyes still fixed in the distance, but a touch of red coloring his cheeks. She snuggled into him, relishing the warmth, comfort, and protection that he offered.
What if her father had never been caught in that snowstorm? What if she and Harper had never met? How much of life would she be missing out on? Mabel was certain that she couldn’t possibly have been this happy with any other man. God’s blessing was on her life, and she knew it and appreciated it. She was thankful for it. Thankful for Harper, her gentlemanly mountain man.
About the Author
P. Creeden is the sweet romance and mystery pen name for USA Today Bestselling Author, Pauline Creeden. Her stories feature down-to-earth characters who often feel like they are undeserving of love for one reason or another and are surprised when love finds them.
Animals are the supporting characters of many of her stories, because they occupy her daily life on the farm, too. From dogs, cats, and goldfish to horses, chickens, and geckos -- she believes life around pets is so much better, even if they are fictional. P. Creeden married her college sweetheart, who she also met at a horse farm. Together they raise a menagerie of animals and their one son, an avid reader, himself.
If you enjoyed this story, look forward to more books by P. Creeden.
>
In 2018, she plans to release more than twelve new books!
Hear about her newest release, FREE books when they come available, and giveaways hosted by the author—subscribe to her newsletter:
https://www.subscribepage.com/pcreedenbooks
If you enjoyed this book and want to help the author, consider leaving a review at your favorite book seller – or tell someone about it on social media. Authors live by word of mouth!
Love Western Romance?
Join the My Beta and ARC reader Group on Facebook!
I publish 2 new stories per month on average!
More Books by P. Creeden
A Bride for Henry
A spinster raised to run a ranch. An injured man with a broken heart. A wedding neither of them want, but both need more than they will ever admit.
October 1867, North Texas
Brienne Walsh has resigned to life as a spinster and the lone heir to the Walsh Ranch upon her grandfather's death. She's always been too tall, too strong, and too unprepossessing to be appealing to any man. Yet when the bank calls on her grandfather's loan, telling her to either pay the full amount due by the end of the month, or marry, she is thrown into an arrangement she can't abide but must endure.
Love has been unkind to Henry Miller. His first love promised to wait for him to return from fighting for the Union in the War, but when he returned, he found her married to his best friend. The betrayal cut him deeper than the bullet from a Confederate Springfield. He lost his fiancé and his best friend in one fell swoop two years ago, and now he finds himself losing his father and his home in another. With nowhere else to turn, he chooses to follow his father's wishes and sign a document he never thought he'd consider again--a marriage certificate.
A Bride for James
A boxer who’s tired of fighting. A persecuted woman with an unwanted suitor. A marriage neither of them want, but both desperately need.
James Fisher is Champion of the Kansas City Pugilist Society, but it's a title he doesn't wear proudly. When the man he won the last match with dies overnight from his injuries, James doesn't want to see good people hurt for sport. The only problem is that his contract with the Pugilist Society remains in effect until death or marriage.
But who wants to marry a bruised and broken boxer?
When Abigail Lee's house is foreclosed on, she's left desolate but not alone. Her best friend, a former slave, is willing to allow her to live with them. But the people in town don't like her living situation, and an unwanted suitor comes knocking on the door, making threats. Abby doesn't want anyone to be hurt on her account but feels stuck between the frying pan and the fire until Cecilia comes up with a plan.
An Agent for Josie
March 1872
Marriage has always been the furthest thing from Josie Roth’s mind. After all, the majority of men cannot suffer for a woman to vote, much less tolerate one who is smarter than him. For want of a son to take over his practice, her father raised his only child, Josie, to do the job. Even though she graduated summa cum laude at the New England Women’s College of Medicine, many in New England still looked down on her, believing that women should be either nurses or midwives. So, her father decided to take to the rails and travel out West, to Wyoming, and start a practice where there was a shortage of good doctors, hoping she’d be less frowned upon, being a woman.
Billy Hogge worked with Allan Pinkerton as an agent in Chicago before the fire. In fact, as a former fireman, he had volunteered to help bring the flames under control before they consumed the city. When the Chicago office shuts down, he joins the Pinkerton agency in Denver to work on crimes out west. He sees it as a great opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
The two of them meet under the unfortunate circumstance of Josie’s father’s death. But she’s too sick to take care of arrangements, so Billy does them for her. When she finally comes to herself and mourns her father, she discovers that the town in Wyoming isn’t free of the prejudices that she’d been dealing with in the East, and she turns to the Pinkerton agency for employment. What happens when these two find out that the only way to work their next case together is by getting married first?
An Agent for Opal
Opal Cahill was raised as the only girl in a family full of rough and tumble men. They taught her to fight and survive and taught her to push aside fantasies, because reality is as harsh as the rough side of a cat’s tongue. But she could never let go of reading about adventures of life in the west and dreaming that she might one day become a Pinkerton agent, like her hero, Kate Warne. But when her father passes, she’s stuck living in Atlantic City with her cousin who sometimes has them living in rundown shacks and sometimes, high end hotels. Until one day, that odd lifestyle catches up with them both. When Opal must choose a place to go out west, she heads to the Pinkerton office in Denver in the hopes that they might still interview her though it’s months after they originally advertised they were accepting applicants.
Caleb Wade has just come back from going deep undercover. He returns to the Pinkerton office and runs into one of the most stubborn, frustrating, and interesting women he’s ever met. When he finds out that she’s not only his new partner but his new wife, he digs in his heels before he decides to treat it as another undercover act. Together the two travel to Ohio to help Archie’s good friend and owner of the Turner Theater deal with an arsonist who has already succeeded in burning down the theater once and threatens to do it again. Both Caleb and Opal must learn to get past their stubborn ways and work together in order to capture the person who threatens not only the building but the lead actress as well.
Promise of Home
A daring young woman with a disability. An orphan train filled with hope. A dream that won't be denied.
Julia is a deaf girl raised as an orphan who is working with the Children’s Aid Society to help find homes across the country for orphans from New York. But each time one of the orphans she’s grown close to is adopted, she finds her heart breaking. And the farther the train goes, the farther from home she feels.
But feelings can be deceiving. And there might just be a home waiting for her at the end of the journey she didn’t expect.
Brokken Rising
Even the broken can be healed...
Rebecca Walsh has only ever had two loves, her family and horses. But when her father and brother died in the Civil War, her family is left as broken as her home town. When the town sent an advertisement for mail-order grooms, Rebecca didn't have much interest in wooing one. She just hoped the men might save her town, so her family could stay in the only home they'd ever known.
Jake Harper came to Brokken, Texas to leave his name and his past behind. He hoped to find a future that would help him forget the mistakes he'd made. But one of the other "leftover" men in town has been keeping an eye on Jake and his past might be catching up with him. And as he draws closer to Rebecca, his fears multiply.
Brokken Pursuit
Can a broken and forgotten sister get back the future she’s denied?
Hannah Beth Walsh isn’t pretty or capable like her sisters. She can’t attract a husband, even when there’s a town full of eligible bachelors. So, she decides to pursue a career she knows she’s more than qualified for—becoming Brokken’s new school teacher. But when the mayor hires another teacher, not knowing about Hannah’s placement, she’s stuck being a teaching assistant until the end of the term, with the promise that one of them will move on next year.
Oliver Holt lost his leg after serving in the War only two months. To keep his spirits up, he threw himself in his studies in order to be well qualified as a teacher out west. But when he gets to Brokken, he finds himself taking away the position of a fiery young woman who keeps her heart on her sleeve. And he can’t help it, but he’s developing feelings for her.
&
nbsp;
