by P. Creeden
“Miss Amanda!” Sobs distorted the words as more cries came from the child’s lips.
Amanda rushed down the steps, finding the child at the bottom, collapsed in a heap. “Victoria! Are you okay?”
The child blubbered, shaking her head. “I fell down the stairs. I was looking for you. I saw you go in here with Daddy yesterday, but the door closed behind me and I found another door, and I opened it and fell. My leg hurts.”
After setting down the lantern, she began to examine the child’s leg.
“Is everything all right down there?” Miss Garnet called.
Amanda faced the steps and cupped her hands over her mouth so she didn’t have to raise her voice so much that it would scare the child. “I found Victoria. Go tell the men!”
“Oh! Thank heavens,” Miss Garnet said just before her silhouette disappeared from the doorway.
“See, Victoria, everything is going to be all right now.” Amanda offered the child her best smile before lifting the leg again. She pressed on parts of it to determine where the pain was and found the area right under the child’s ankle bone bruised and just a little bit swollen. “Good news—I don’t think it’s broken.”
The child blubbered, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Victoria!” Mr. Gould’s voice called down from the top of the steps. Though it was possible for the man to duck and slide in sideways, another silhouette, who Amanda imagined was Nate stopped him.
Nate’s voice carried in. “Do you need help, Amanda?”
Amanda put one arm under the child’s arm and another under her knees and lifted, drawing herself to her feet. “No, I’m fine. Victoria’s light as a feather. We’ll be upstairs in just a moment. She’s okay. It’s just a sprain.”
“Do you see that lantern right there?” Amanda asked, trying to get the child’s attention on something other than her pain. “Grab it by the handle, will you? My hands are too full.”
The child nodded, and when Amanda tilted toward the lantern, Victoria picked it up and held it behind Amanda, casting the stairs in front of her in shadows. But it made no difference. Amanda knew the way by heart and stayed focused on the silhouettes at the top of the steps, particularly Nate’s. Slowly, his features came into view and even with the shadows over them, his eyes held their angelic glow. She really, truly loved him and just needed him to realize that they belonged together. Without a doubt, meeting Mr. Gould, a man utterly unlike Nate in every why, helped her come to terms with the fact that there was no other man in this world for her quite like Nate was. She’d recognized it in him when she was nine years old, and nothing he had ever done had changed that feeling in her.
When they reached the top of the steps, Victoria went happily to her father’s arms.
Nate
After a late breakfast, Mr. Gould leaned back in his chair and nodded toward John. “Well, the snow fall is not enough to keep us here, overstaying our welcome, Mr. Tripp.”
John frowned. “There’s no need to hurry.”
“Nonsense!” Mr. Gould leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “We’ve taken too much of your time and given you too much of an adventure this morning. I’m sorry that we’ve imposed this much.”
“It’s true that the roads are passable,” Nate chimed in. “But that doesn’t mean that they will be if you head into Belle or try to make your way up to Ft. Bridger. We may have gotten only about two feet of snow here, but they may have gotten three feet or more just a few miles up the road. You know how the weather sometimes can be here in Wyoming.”
“If that’s the case, then we’ll find a hotel in town.” Mr. Gould’s expression was fixed with determination. “I’ve made a great deal of mistakes in the past twenty-four hours, and I’d really not like to embarrass myself further. You all have been nothing but kind to me, and I’d still like to purchase Victoria a pony for Christmas if it would be all right if we come get him or her in the spring.”
John nodded. “That would be just fine.”
They shook hands on the deal.
Together, the men worked toward shoveling a path from the house to the barn. It took the rest of the morning, and they ended up eating a quick dinner before hitching up the wagon and sending the Gould family off toward Belle. Nate agreed to guide them part of the way up the road on his horse before turning back and heading for home.
They nodded their goodbyes and then Nate led them down the path. Eventually, Mr. Gould pulled the wagon up so that he was directly beside Nate on the main road. “You know, that Miss Tripp is quite the woman. If you don’t make your intentions known soon, another might come along and snatch her up.”
The back of Nate’s collar heated. “I don’t need you to tell me.”
Mr. Gould laughed. “Somehow I think you do. She’s been sitting right in front of you, showing you what a great wife and mother she would be. Victoria even recognized it in her. And worse yet, Amanda looks at you with so much love in her eyes, I can feel it from three feet away. Regardless, you just sit there doing nothing. You should have proposed to her already. How long has your wife been gone?”
He didn’t have to answer. It was none of this man’s business. But at that moment, Nate felt a little bit cowed. And somehow it felt right. He needed the scolding. “Fifteen Months. She got a fever.”
“Then you should thank God that your child didn’t get a fever, too. And you should thank Amanda that she keeps on waiting for you to get your head out of the snow and see what a perfect second wife she would be.”
“Amanda deserves to be someone’s first wife.” Nate’s heart broke, even as he said it.
“Amanda deserves to be happy. And, so do you. She can be happy as your second wife, provided you work toward making her happy. It’s not hard when the work’s half done. She already loves you and the sorry look on your face when you talk about her being someone else’s first wife tells me that you love her, too. If you love each other, you will be able to make each other happy. Just take the leap.”
As if on cue, Nate’s heart jumped in his chest. As wrong as the man was about so many things, he was right about this one. Nate needed to let himself be happy. He’d been afraid he’d be betraying his wife’s memory by being happy without her there, but would she have wanted him to be miserable? And he didn’t want to take away from Amanda’s potential happiness by trying to make himself happy. But if this man was right, then she would be happiest with him. He needed to find out.
He turned toward Mr. Gould, who looked down on him with a smile. “I can take it from here. Go on ahead.”
With a nod and a tip of his hat, Nate raced back to the Tripp Ranch
Chapter 11
Amanda
The horses bolted from the stable out to their corral the moment she opened each of their doors. They were used to spending as much time as possible outside of the barn, so staying in for the storm had put a damper on their normal activities. They ran and bucked, throwing up clods of snow into the air. The five-acre corral where they let the six or so horses they kept in training at all times was already getting torn up and spotted with mud.
Then she heard a whinny. At the same time, all the other horses heard it, too, stopping where they stood, heads up and tails up in the air, staring down the path to the main road. Then a flash of chestnut red between the trees struck her eyes before Nate came riding around the bend on May. Amanda’s heart leapt. But her stomach also sunk. She couldn’t let false hope get her too happy when there might be something wrong. She pulled her leather work gloves from her hands and called to her father up in the hay loft. “Dad!”
He answered right away, “I see him, honey. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Amanda headed out to the door of the barn, and Nate came loping up, dismounting before the mare had stopped fully. He landed on his feet, reins in his hand, but bent over, trying to catch his breath before speaking. A warm hand landed on Amanda’s shoulder as her father came up and stood beside her.
Finally, Nate stood up st
raight and met eyes with her father. “John, I’m here to ask for Amanda’s hand in marriage.”
A gasp came to Amanda’s lips and then her breathing froze. She was afraid to inhale again, that somehow if she could just freeze this moment in time by not breathing, it wouldn’t go away. They were words she’d wanted to hear for so long but never thought she would. And this time, Nate had said them.
Her father laughed. “It’s about time, son.”
Her breath came back to her as her father released her shoulder, stepped forward, and pulled Nate into a hug. Tears stung her eyes as she swallowed. “Do you mean it?” she asked in a whisper.
When her father let Nate go, Nate nodded to her. “I mean it, Amanda. I’ve loved you for a long time. Maybe at first, that love for you was like I’d have love for a little sister. But it didn’t stay that way. I was afraid to admit my feelings for you for months now. I was afraid to ask you to marry me, because these feelings felt selfish. I felt like I might be taking you away from something better and asking you to be stuck with me.”
“I’d love to be stuck with you,” she said with a laugh.
His smile widened, and he stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. It wasn’t the same kind of brotherly hug he’d given her in the past. This time it felt like he never wanted to let her go. And the tears that had been threatening to fall finally slipped down her cheeks.
Nate
Even though he was planted firmly in May’s saddle as he rode up to the house with Amanda, he might as well have been floating on air. This was the best decision he’d ever made, but there was still one thorn that remained in his happiness. One thing that kept him from being completely content—he had to break the news to his aunt Eugenia.
Once they made it up to the house, Nate helped Amanda unsaddle her pony, Lilly, and they let the two of the mares out into the paddock with the colt, who still didn’t have a name, but was very happy to see another horse in his vicinity. The three of them started kicking up snowballs the minute they were let loose in the corral. Amanda didn’t have to come with him. He was ready to face Eugenia alone on this, and he hated to think of what awful things the woman might say about his future wife in disapproval. But it made no matter. He was a grown man, and he’d already made his decision on this.
Those reassurances didn’t help settle the butterflies in his stomach, though, as he stepped onto the porch of his house and kicked the snow from his boots. The door came open, and Emma rushed out to greet him. “Papa!”
Her little body slammed into his legs. He’d missed her so much. Once he’d grabbed her under the arms, he pulled her warm cheeks to him and planted a kiss.
“Cold! Papa, your lips are cold! Stop it.” She squirmed.
But that only made him increase the number of kisses and the speed with which he landed them upon her cheeks. Giggles and shrieks and kicks filled his heart with joy.
“Nathan!” His mother’s voice floated toward him like sounds from a wind chime, but it was soon followed by that racking cough. He frowned a bit and put Emma down.
Emma promptly rushed over to Amanda and slammed into her, too. “Miss Amanda!”
Amanda picked his daughter up and the three of them quickly made their way inside, enveloped by the warmth of the house. He was glad to have chopped that wood before the storm. Glad he didn’t put it off.
Eugenia stood in the kitchen doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. When Amanda stepped into the house with Nate, her brow furrowed. “What’s going on?”
His mother took Emma from Amanda’s arms, and looked over at Nate expectantly.
He took a deep breath and then put an arm around Amanda’s shoulders. “I decided to ask for Amanda’s hand in marriage this morning. We’ll be married as soon as the preacher allows us to say our vows.”
Nate’s mother squealed. “It’s about time!”
He looked at her with confusion. Emma did, too. His daughter asked, “What’s about time, Gramma?”
With a big smile on her face, Nate’s mother said, “Amanda’s going to be your new mommy.”
“Wait!” Eugenia said, stomping from the kitchen. Her worried eyes fixed on his but flitting over toward Amanda.
And Nate’s heart sunk. He set his jaw and planted his feet, preparing for the fight, pulling Amanda just a little bit closer to him.
Eugenia shook her head, but her voice was soft. “Are you sure, Nathan? Really sure? She’s not the lady I would have picked for you. She’s a bit rough around the edges, don’t you know?”
He nodded. “I know, and I’m sure. I will have Amanda for my wife, and no one else.”
His aunt let out a sigh, but then turned to Amanda with a genuine smile and opened her arms wide. “Then, welcome to the family, Amanda.”
Nate released his wife-to-be and let Eugenia pull her into a tight hug, patting her on the back several times. When they pulled apart, Eugenia had tears watering her eyes. And the last knot in Nate’s chest loosened. He finally felt truly ready to be happy and couldn’t wait to start his life anew with the one woman who could make him feel this way.
“They are having a big wedding on Christmas day, inviting any couples who want to join. I couldn’t pick a more perfect time for the ceremony,” Aunt Eugenia said, swiping at her eyes.
Amanda met eyes with Nate and smiled at him, too. That sounded like a great idea to him too. It would make this the best Christmas, and his heart couldn’t have been more full.
About the Author
P. Creeden is the sweet romance and mystery pen name for USA Today Bestselling Author Pauline Creeden. She loves a good mystery and grew up watching Colombo, Perry Mason, and Murder, She Wrote. Books have always been a focal point of her life, from Nancy Drew and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to thrillers like John Sanford.
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!
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.