High Plains Passion

by Beaudelaire, Simone

  “How big?” Lydia demanded, “and who's paying for it?”

  “The biggest you can make in half a day, and never mind the costs. It's covered, no matter what.”

  Still puzzled, Lydia shooed her friend out of the apartment and stripped off her clothes. Noting quite a quantity of blood on her dress did little for her composure, and the ache of her bullet-grazed hip snapped the remaining thread. Choking sobs rose up in Lydia's throat, almost cutting off her breath. She sank to the floor in her torn bloomers and sweaty, dirty chemise and cried like she hadn't cried since her parents' deaths.

  “Well?” Kristina demanded, “what did she say? Did you have to tell her anything?”

  Becky shook her head. “She looks a little lost, but I think she's going to do it. Now, did you do what I asked?”

  Kristina held up the length of fabric to which a paper pattern had been pinned. “Just finished. Are you sure I'm up to this?”

  “Of course,” Becky assured her. “You have nimble fingers. Just follow my directions and don't fret. I'll do the detail work.”

  “Okay,” Kristina agreed, sounding doubtful. “I'm not very good at sewing, you know.”

  “You just don't want to pay attention to it. But for Lydia?”

  “For Lydia, I'll try. Can we talk music to keep my mind off it?”

  “Of course,” Becky agreed with a laugh. It sounded strained. About as strained as I feel. It's going to be a while before life goes back to normal.

  A quiet knocking roused Dylan after not nearly enough hours. “Who is it,” he called.

  “It's Cody,” the pastor's softly-accented voice replied. “May I come in?”

  Grumbling, Dylan made his way to the door and yanked it open.

  “You look terrible,” Cody said.

  “Glad to know I'm consistent,” Dylan quipped weakly. “Come on in, pastor, but I can't promise much hospitality.”

  “You don't need to,” Cody replied. “I have to warn you. There's a plot afoot and you're involved. I don't think you can get out of it, so you might want to, you know, take a bath. Change into clean clothes.”

  “I've had about all I can take of secret plots,” Dylan commented, stomping into his kitchen. Cody trailed after him.

  “I'm sure that's true,” the younger man agreed, “but this one isn't dangerous, at least I don't think so. See, last night, when they were hiding out in the church, my wife and Rebecca Heitschmidt decided it was high time you and Lydia got married.”

  “I agree,” Dylan said as he filled a kettle and lit the stove. “Maybe now that the robbers are gone, we can get around to planning it.”

  “Well, um, you won't have to.”

  Dylan stopped scooping grounds into the coffee pot. “What exactly do you mean, preacher?”

  “I mean that Mrs. Heitschmidt and Kristina have taken it upon themselves to marry you two… this afternoon. They're making a dress. Can you imagine, my Kristina, sewing?” He chuckled. Dylan gave him a sour look. “They've fooled Lydia into baking her own cake. But if you don't clean up and put on a nice suit, you're going to look mighty silly. I felt like I needed to warn you.”

  Dylan sighed. “Cody, I feel like I've been rode hard and put away wet. The last thing I want to do is some fancy party making.”

  “I know,” Cody replied, looking sheepish. He ran his hand through his hair, loosening the black curls from their pomade. “I wouldn't suggest it myself, but if married life teaches you anything, it's that you don't fight women over the small things. They're all feeling their oats today, and it's best if we let them have their way.”

  Dylan frowned at the kettle, willing it to boil faster. “Oh, all right. I guess the result is the same either way.”

  “It is. And it means the next time you sleep, it will be beside Lydia. Having a wife is pretty nice.” His expression softened into a private smile

  Ah, that does sound good, Dylan thought. Like Jesse said, she's soft and warm. Though tired, Dylan's sex responded to the memory of his and Lydia's previous passionate encounters. Okay, maybe this plan has merit. “I'll take a bath, preacher. Thank you.”

  “I'll be by to collect you at 4:30. The wedding is at five.”

  Dylan nodded and poured the boiling water into the coffee pot.

  “Oh, and sheriff?” Dylan looked up from his brewing coffee. “It's three fifteen. You might want to get a move on.”

  Dylan scrunched his face in answer.

  “Smells great in here,” Allison said, letting herself into the kitchen of the café. With one arm she clutched her son to her chest. With the other she led little Melissa.

  “For some reason, your sister wanted me to make a big spice cake. I just finished it. Do you know what it's for, Allie?”

  “Yes,” Allison replied, and her tone of voice drew Lydia's gaze. The blond woman had a teasing smirk on her face.

  “What is it?” Lydia demanded.

  “Come with me,” Allison urged, gesturing with her head.

  Lydia took in her friend's appearance. “You look might fancy. Should I change?”

  “No,” Allison said, “Not yet. Come on. Leave the cake. We'll be back.”

  Bemused, Lydia trailed after them, through the dining room and out into the chilly street. Allison turned left and angled across the street. A gust of cold autumn wind cut through Lydia's dress. Baby Peter began to fuss.

  “Hurry,” Allison called over her shoulder. “It's too cold to be out like this for long.”

  “Where are we going?” Lydia demanded, hoping for a clue.

  “The vicarage,” Allison replied.

  Well that tells me nothing. Thankfully, the small house lay only half a block from the café. Lydia and Allison had arrived quickly at the door and hurried inside. The parlor, much smaller since the interior walls had been added, seemed far too crowded with women. Kristina immediately grabbed Lydia's hands and maneuvered her into an armchair.

  “What's happening?” she demanded. Becky pulled the pins from her messy semblance of a bun and produced a brush as though from thin air.

  “We're getting you ready,” Kristina informed her.

  “For what?”

  “You'll see,” Allison teased. She sank to the sofa and unbuttoned her blouse, positioning the baby on her breast.

  “Am I late?” Addie asked. “Sorry, I was still tired.” The plump curve of her growing baby pushed out the front of her dress almost past the point of decency.

  “No ill effects, Addie?” Lydia asked, momentarily distracted from her puzzlement.

  “No,” the tiny redhead replied. “Nor from my homecoming either.” She giggled at her own naughtiness. “The little one is still tucked away safe and no signs of trouble.” Lydia could see that, though Addie's words sounded light, tension crumpled the corners of her eyes.

  “I would like it very much if someone would tell me what was going on,” Lydia commented.

  “You and Sheriff Brody are betrothed, right?” Becky asked around a mouthful of hairpins.

  “Yes, why?”

  “Well, you won't be for much longer.” Kristina pulled a length of butter yellow satin out of a black garment bag.

  “What?” Lydia tried to rocket out of the chair.

  Becky pushed her back into the seat. “Not the best way to phrase it, Kristina,” she said. Grabbing a section of Lydia's hair, she began braiding it. “Okay, we're close enough now. You can find out.”

  “We didn't like that your wedding planning time got interrupted by… all this,” Allison said.

  “So, what, you did it for me?” Lydia guessed.

  Heads nodded.

  Lydia's throat burned and her eyes stung hard. “Goodness. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.”

  “Well, take it from us married ladies,” Kristina said, “either one is possible, and either one is fine. How's that hair coming, Becky?”

  “Getting there,” Rebecca replied. “Give me ten. Lydia, when James and I married, I got so nervous, I almost fainted. I wanted to
spare you that. Did we come close?”

  “After everything that happened yesterday,” Lydia informed her friends, “a little thing like getting married isn't going to cause much more than a flutter.”

  “I'm with you there,” Addie agreed. “I'm ready to retire from crises for good. How about you?”

  “Definitely,” Lydia agreed.

  “So, um, do you need someone to… explain your wifely duties to you?” Kristina asked, her face flaming to match her hair.

  “Oh, er, no thank you.” Lydia's own cheeks burned. “I know what I need to know.”

  “Not that they're duties, you know,” the pastor's wife added. “Being married is really nice.”

  “Oh, I know,” Lydia blurted. “I mean… that is…”

  “Don't worry,” Addie urged. “Not everyone behaves themselves like a pastor. As long as you get married, it doesn't much matter.”

  “I agree,” Lydia said.

  Dylan stood at the front of the church, Cody above him in the pulpit, Jesse, James, Wesley and Rob arrayed behind him, all dressed in their Sunday best, washed, shaved and ready. Sweat moistened the sheriff's palms and he shifted his weight from one shoe to the other.

  Kristina poked her head in the door, and then scuttled up the staircase to the choir loft, where she took a seat on the organ bench. Moments later, glorious music bellowed from the pipes, defiantly cheerful after such a terrible night.

  She set a tempo perhaps a bit fast for processional music, so that when Sarah, Rob's sweetheart, walked into the room in a red gingham dress, she walked a bit unevenly.

  Behind her, Allison a baby in one arm made her way up the aisle. A quick scan of the congregation revealed Melissa sitting with the Spencers, Allison and Rebecca's parents. Rebecca came next, smiling, arrayed in scarlet, a cleverly cut gown that concealed the curve of her advancing pregnancy.

  Dylan couldn't help but smile to see Lydia walking in arm-in-arm with Addie. Those two are stuck for life, he thought. I'm so glad they both came out of it safe. Sunlight poured through the broken stained-glass windows and illuminated the bullet holes in the walls. We've come through a lot, but we're still here. Still ready to face the future together. Hope lives on. Love lives on. Suddenly, the wild plan to go along with this spur-of-the-moment wedding seemed, not strange, but perfect. His gaze settled on the woman he loved. Her dark hair gleamed in the late-afternoon sun. Her eyes glowed with the light of love that lit up her face brighter than the sunset outside. Dressed in a simple, yellow gown that set off her olive skin to perfection, she looked like an angel, come down from heaven to lead him to salvation.

  She drew near and he reached out one hand and clasped hers, accepting all that their future together would mean. She took that final step that placed her directly beside him, and at the peace of their love settled over the congregation.

  Epilogue

  In the end, it took far less time to clean up the church than it did to clean up the frightened and wounded spirits of the little town on the prairie. While nearly everyone survived the attack, something was lost. Innocence, trust. The knowledge that their world was safe and everything would be fine.

  Still, life went on, the way life always does.

  Addie and Jesse's baby arrived right on time, a healthy – if tiny – girl with a shock of reddish hair and plump cheeks no one could resist kissing. She could have been named for a record of most-kissed baby. She grew up healthy and happy, with three annoying younger brothers who kept her humble.

  Allison and Wesley's son was the first of six children they had together, along with Melissa. As time passed, the connection between them grew, as did their patience with and affection for each other. Despite their rocky start, they developed into a mature and enviable relationship that quite set the tone for other marriages in the town.

  Cody and Kristina never did have children, but they truly didn't mind. In later years, they said the whole church was their family, and not having small fry to contend with left them time to be more involved in the community. They felt no regret.

  Becky and James's daughter, born only a week after the Wests', quite charmed the town… until she learned to walk. It was only then that they realized two mild-mannered parents could produce a hellion. They managed her, but only just. Still, they loved her, and each other, with a joy and gratitude that would never end.

  Billy Fulton married a former saloon girl named Julie, and if she had to handle managing the family, well, he provided for her, and loved her better than any other man could have done. Eventually she came to be accepted in the town, starting with Allison and her friends, of course.

  The rest of the saloon girls eventually moved on, and what happened to them, no one ever knew. Allison told everyone she hoped they were happy. She meant it.

  And as for the sheriff and his bride… two years after the attack on Garden City, Lydia shocked the town – and herself – by proving the doctors had been wrong. Her typhoid fever had not rendered her sterile. The discovery, at five months into the pregnancy, that she was expecting caused a flurry of nerves on the part of her husband, that resolved in a healthy delivery of a big, chubby and adorable son, and three years after that, another.

  And in this way, though it didn't banish the memory of evil, love did heal wounded hearts, restore shattered lives and bring back a measure of peace so that Garden City, Kansas, once again became a place people were proud to call their home on the High Plains.

  Author's Note

  Garden City, Kansas is a real town – a cattle town on the High Plains of Western Kansas, with brick streets downtown, a few stunted trees, and a wind that never stops blowing. Nowadays, it's an interesting mixture of quaint and modern, but back in 1889, it was a new town, only a couple of decades old. The timeline I've created deviates a bit from historical accuracy (the town actually sprang from one man's vision in the 1870s rather than being incorporated from an existing settlement), but I've worked hard to maintain the accuracy other than that.

  And the Fulton family really was the foundation of the town. Fulton Street is still a main commercial thoroughfare in their honor. However, the Fultons mentioned in this story are my own creation, not based on the historical family at all.

  Other Books by Simone Beaudelaire

  When the Music Ends (The Hearts in Winter Chronicles Book 1)

  When the Words are Spoken (The Hearts in Winter Chronicles Book 2)

  Caroline's Choice (The Hearts in Winter Chronicles Book 3)

  When the Heart Heals (The Hearts in Winter Chronicles Book 4)

  The Naphil's Kiss

  Blood Fever

  Polar Heat

  Xaman (with Edwin Stark)

  Darkness Waits (with Edwin Stark)

  Watching Over the Watcher

  Baylee Breaking

  Amor Maldito: Romantic Tragedies from Tejano Folklore

  Keeping Katerina (The Victorians Book 1)

  Devin's Dilemma (The Victorians Book 2)

  High Plains Promise (Love on the High Plains Book 2)

  High Plains Heartbreak (Love on the High Plains Book 3)

  High Plains Passion (Love on the High Plains Book 4)

  Devilfire (American Hauntings Book 1)

  Saving Sam (The Wounded Warriors Book 1 with J.M. Northup)

  Justifying Jack (The Wounded Warriors Book 2 with J.M. Northup)

  Making Mike (The Wounded Warriors Book 3 with J.M Northup)

  Thank you for taking time to read High Plains Passion. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.

 

 

 
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