“Yeah, answer that,” Cal snarled.
“She’s a lying whore.”
Cal drew his gun and rammed it into Alex’s stomach. “You lying sonofabitch. If Laura said she didn’t sign the paper, that’s the end of it.”
“Sheriff, I know my rights. She pays me the money or she works it off on her back.”
“She’s under age,” Cal snapped, “so it wouldn’t be legal even if she did.”
“True,” the sheriff agreed.
“Her guardian signed also, see?” Alex jabbed his finger at the document. Alex Trembath, guardian of Laura Prentice.”
“How could you be my guardian, I didn’t know you until I nearly drowned.”
Alex gave an evil smirk. How could she have ever thought him handsome and gentlemanly?
“Your mother asked me to be your guardian before she returned to England.”
“Liar,” Laura shot back.
“Read all the document, Sheriff. A Judge and a Federal Marshal wouldn’t lie.”
Laura stared into his eyes and shivered. He had the look of a mad man.
“Sonsofbitches would if they were regulars at the Gold Anchor,” Cal growled. “Just the type of establishment they would frequent. What did you offer them? Free sex for life?”
“It seems legal to me,” The sheriff frowned. “Did your mother organize a guardian for you?” He was obviously trying to find a way out for her. “Before she left.”
“I don’t think so. I can’t go back to that place.” Laura shook from head to toe. “I’ll kill myself first.”
“I’ll be her guardian.” Steely determination edged Cal’s voice. “As her husband.”
“Husband!” The sheriff looked as if a ton weight had suddenly been lifted off his shoulders, and Laura couldn’t believe her ears.
“That throws a completely different light on the matter, Trembath.”
“She isn’t married,” Alex snarled. “No one would want a filthy whore like her for a wife.”
Cal drew his gun. “We’re on our way to see the preacher right now. Care to stop us?”
“I’ll be accompanying them as a witness,” the sheriff said.
Alex’s face contorted with rage. “You’re welcome to her. She wasn’t much good in bed anyway.”
Cal’s fist slamming into Alex’s face sent him flying backward on to the floor. Groggily he got to his feet. He pulled out a derringer from his pocket and raised it. A shot rang out, and clutching his chest, Alex crumpled and fell across the sheriff’s desk.
Cal holstered his gun, raised his leg and kicked the body to the floor and Laura watched in stunned silence.
“I’ve never seen a man draw so fast,” the sheriff said. “I did hear of one who could. You’d have to be Caleb Donnelly.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Help me get this piece of rubbish out of my office, then I’ll go for the undertaker.”
The moment the men left the room dragging Alex’s body with them, Laura collapsed into a chair. She was free of him and the Gold Anchor. She couldn’t believe how Cal had stepped in to save her. Much and all as she wanted to, she wouldn’t hold him to his marriage proposal. Being an old maid wouldn’t be so bad now she didn’t have to live in fear.
****
“I’ll go see the undertaker then meet you at the preacher’s place.” The sheriff laughed. “You’re a mighty lucky man, Donnelly. If I were twenty years younger, I’d get hitched to Laura myself.”
“She’s mine,” Cal said. “And always will be.” He left the sheriff and strode back into his office. He was probably grinning like a weasel in a hen house. “You ready, darlin’?”
“You don’t have to marry me.”
“What!”
“I know you only said it to save me from Alex.”
“You don’t want to marry me? What in tarnation do you want, Laura? I thought you had feelings for me.”
“I do, Cal, I love you, that’s why I won’t force you to marry me.”
“Tarnation, woman.” He leapt across the room, and cupped her face between his hands. “I love you, Laura.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Probably from the first time I saw you hovering over me like an angel sent from heaven. I’m the one who should be hesitating about wedding you. I’m not good enough for you, never will….”
Her kiss cut off his flow of words. His mouth soon took control of hers as he deepened the kiss. His hand went to her breast. Finally, when he raised his head passion had darkened his eyes to navy.
“Let’s get ourselves over to that preacher man. I want us wedded and bedded before the day is through.”
“That’s a proposal no woman could refuse.” She laughed, feeling so happy she thought she might burst.
“I wonder if the general store sells wedding rings,” he mused as he clasped her small hand in his large one.
****
The next day the sun poured through the cabin window. They lay in bed, sated after hours of passionate lovemaking, Laura ran her finger across the puckered skin on Cal’s wound. “It’s healed well, but you’ll always have a scar.” She brushed it with her lips.
“I’ll always be thankful for it. It brought Flame back into my life.”
“Flame!” She stiffened in his arms.
“You know, I dreamt about you for weeks after our encounter.”
“Cal.”
“Well, I did, then when you found me on the trail, I always had a feeling we had met somewhere, somehow before. I thought I was messed up in the head because I nearly died. Does that make sense? It was a dim room and I was drunk, yet I remember your hair, how soft you felt.”
“Up until the night you came there, I had only worked down in the saloon of the Gold Anchor, enticing men to buy drinks and spend their money. You were to be my first client, so they gave me something so I wouldn’t make a fuss. I saw you face through a drug induced haze I suppose.”
She rested her hand on his heart. “I do remember stealing a cowboy’s money, and I hated myself for doing it, because he’d been nice, but I had to get away from that place. I would have killed myself or become so addicted to the drug they gave me, I couldn’t have lived without it.”
“If I hadn’t been so drunk, I would have realized something wasn’t right.”
“The moment I found you near those trees, Cal, I had the strangest feeling we’d met before.”
“We shouldn’t look back, darlin’, not now we’ve found each other again.”
“Wait.” She slid off the bed. “I’ve got something for you.” Naked, she padded over to the dresser and retrieved the neatly folded waistcoat. “This belongs to you I believe.” She returned to the bed and handed it to him.
“You kept it.”
She smiled at the shocked expression on his face. “I always hoped I’d be able to return it with the money I stole. Well, I haven’t got the money yet, but….”
“Oh, darlin’, I love you and I never thought I’d ever say those words to a woman. Come back to bed.”
“What about the milking and….”
At the moment, your husband needs you more than a cow does.”
Eagerly she jumped back into bed and returned to his loving arms.
Epilogue
Twelve months later
Laura sat in the parlor mending Cal’s socks. Two month old Christina lay in her crib. By the tufts of baby hair already visible, she was probably going to be a red-head, but she definitely had her father’s bright blue eyes.
Cal would be home soon. She had made what the English called Cornish pasties for supper. Finely diced vegetables with a small amount of minced meat, encased in pastry with a ridge of pastry at the top to hold it together. It was one of her mother’s recipes.
Apparently the wives of Cornish miners thought of the idea of the ridge along the top so their men could hold on to it with grimy hands without getting the rest of the pastie dirty. She didn’t know whether it was true or not, but it sounded reasonable.
How could a mother do that? Laura glanced down at Christina. I’d kill to keep my child safe and happy. No sacrifice would be too great.
“I’m home, darlin’,” Cal called out as he strode into the parlor. “How’s my two beautiful gals going?”
“We’re well.
“I’ve got good news.”
“What is it?” She dropped her sewing into the basket and leapt to her feet.
“You are now looking at the new sheriff of Forked Creek.”
“Oh, Cal, congratulations. I knew you’d get the job even without Sheriff Davies’ recommendation. No town would turn down the opportunity of gaining a lawman like you.”
“I think you’re biased. It means moving into town.”
“I know. We discussed all of this when the sheriff mentioned he was retiring, and we can still keep the ranch going. I can do some cooking for Peggie at the diner. It would be perfect for us.”
“As long as my two beautiful gals are happy.” He glanced from her to the baby and back to her.
He pulled her into his arms and gave her a long, passionate kiss, and there was nowhere else she wanted to be. After so much pain, they now had many happy years to look forward to.
Cal turned his head and whispered in her ear. “I’m the luckiest man in the whole of South Dakota, and it’s all due to you, darlin’.”
The End
If you enjoyed reading Flame’s story, a short review on Amazon would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. Margaret
Books by Margaret Tanner
Western Romance
Claire – Women Betrayed Series – Book 1
Tess – Women Betrayed Series – Book 2
Lily – Guilford Crossing Brides – Book 1
Freddie – Guilford Crossing Brides – Book 2
Alfie – Guilford Crossing Brides – Book 3
Alex – Guilford Crossing Brides - Book 4
Beltane Bride
Edwina, Bride of Connecticut
Cowboy Christmas
The Sheriff’s Outcast Bride
The Cowboy And The Quaker
Savage Possession
His Brother’s Wife
Fiery Possession
Gunslinger’s daughter
Historical Romance
Pearl Harbor And More Anthology
A Rose In No Man’s Land
Reluctant Father
We Never Said I Love You
Daring Masquerade
Allison’s War
Rich Man’s Folly (Sequel to Allison’s War)
Lauren’s Dilemma
Falsely Accused
Contemporary Romance
Baby Maker
Haunted Hearts
About the Author
Margaret Tanner is an award winning, bestselling Australian author, who mainly writes Historical Romance and Historical Western Romance. She loves delving into the pages of history as she carries out research for her novels. No internet site is too boring, no book is too old or tattered for her to trawl through, no museum too dusty.
Her love of Westerns came about because of the movies and TV shows of her childhood. Some of her favorites were Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train and Little House On The Prairie.
Many of her novels have been inspired by true events, with one being written around the hardships and triumphs of her pioneering ancestors. She once spent a couple of hours in an old prison cell so she could feel the chilling cold and fear.
Apart from her family and friends, writing is her passion.
Margaret is married with three grown up sons and two gorgeous little granddaughters.
Website: http://mjljtanner.wixsite.com/fictionalromance
Website: http://www.margarettanner.com/
Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/margarettanner
Book Bub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/margaret-tanner
Be the first to know when Margaret Tanner’s next book is available! Follow her at http://bookbub.com/authors/margaret-tanner to get an alert whenever she has a new release, pre-order, or discount.
Flame Page 7