She nodded lightly. Oliver led her away.
The ride home was a blur. Amelia fell asleep for part of the way. When she woke, Glenore was in view, but several miles away yet. Oliver cradled her to his body in front of him as he rode.
He looked down at her. “We’re almost there.”
She snuggled closer, feeling a sense of safety being so close to him. He would never allow anything to happen to her. He’d come for her, despite knowing the risks.
He cares. But does he love you the same way you love him?
Amelia hugged Oliver tighter. There would be time for those questions. Now, she just wanted to be home again.
Melvin had ridden ahead, and by the time they arrived, everyone was there to greet her. Joyful exclamations erupted from the men the moment they were close to the house. Russell rushed forward to help Amelia down. He hugged her tightly once she was on the ground. Garrett followed.
Amelia’s head was in a whirl at the welcome home. She wanted to be amongst the people who cared for her, to erase every second of her time with Rayner. She knew it would be a lasting experience, forever burned into her mind. The sooner she could start putting it behind her, the better.
That night, the ranch was quiet but Amelia was still fearful. Oliver sat up with her while Melvin celebrated in the barn with the ranch hands as they rejoiced her return and the end to Rayner’s tyranny in Rattleridge. It wasn’t over yet. His death still needed to be reported, but it was a giant relief to know he couldn’t hurt anyone ever again.
Amelia sat on the rug in front of the fire, holding a cup of tea in both hands. She watched the flames as they flickered in the hearth. Her golden waves cascaded around her shoulders freely. After her bath, and the washing of her hair, Amelia had no desire to be restrained in any fashion. She glanced at her wrists. The marks of the rope marred her fair skin. They would remind her of her ordeal for some time to come.
They’ll go away eventually.
In the meantime, she’d enjoy being home.
I’m not leaving here unless I have to. I may never leave here again.
“Mind if I join you?” Oliver asked gently. He lowered himself to the floor beside her.
Oliver leaned back on his hand and looked at her quietly. “How’re you feeling?” he asked.
“All right, I guess. It still hasn’t settled,” she replied, having difficulty processing that Rayner was dead. She’d witnessed a man’s death and she didn’t know how to feel about it. Part of her was happy he was gone. He was a terrible man who did terrible things. However, it was so awful that death was the only solution to end the strife.
She raised her eyes to Oliver. “Will you tell me now, the truth, why this happened?”
Oliver licked his lips. He nodded.
“My Pop lived an honest life for the most part, but it wasn’t always so. When he was young, he did things—bad things. He robbed banks.”
Amelia’s eyes grew large and her lips parted in silent shock.
“He worked with two men, brothers…”
“Rayner and Vern?” she interrupted.
Oliver nodded. “Yes. Rayner and Vern. My Pop was the leader of the gang in his youth. Then he met my Momma and he changed his ways…for a time. He wanted to make her happy. She made him want to be a better man, and he tried his best to be. He tried to bring Vern and Rayner with him, but it only lasted for a time,” Oliver looked at her sadly.
Amelia reached across the small space and took his hand encouragingly.
He squeezed it gently. “I always heard that there was honor amongst thieves. I never imagined it was true, but it is. However, it wasn’t for my Pop.”
Oliver took a deep breath. “I was fifteen when my Momma died. After that, Pop would spend more and more time away from home with his old friends, Rayner and Vern. I thought they were doing great and wonderful things,” he said with a jaded laugh. “It wasn’t until much later that my Pop finally told me the truth.”
“What truth?” Amelia whispered.
Oliver met her gaze. He smiled meekly. “My Momma was my Pop’s world,” he explained. “He was lost without her. I knew it. I felt the same. I understood that he had to do what he had to do to keep going. I did the same. I ran around and had whatever adventures I could to take my mind off the fact that she was never coming back.”
Amelia could feel the pain in every word Oliver uttered.
Oliver continued. “My Pop wanted to do whatever he could to get the money to make the homestead what my Momma wanted it to be. He wanted it so badly that he was willing to cheat his partners out of their cut of the loot from their crimes. He was the leader, the one responsible for sharing the loot, so they trusted him. He took advantage of that. He gave them one share and himself two. They never checked behind him. They expected him to be honest with them, even if he wasn’t with others. After all, they were partners. They knew him most of their lives, they never imagined he’d cheat them, of all people. However, he did. When they found out, they were livid.”
Amelia’s heart galloped in her chest at Oliver’s tale. The idea that Oliver’s father was a criminal was a thought that had never occurred to her. Now, Amelia was seeing that other’s history could be just as painful as her own. She looked at Oliver sympathetically as he continued.
“They confronted him one day and a huge fight broke out between Rayner and my Pop. The man was always crazy, but he went berserk at being robbed. It was something he did to others. It wasn’t supposed to happen to him. He pulled a gun.” He scoffed, “He denied it later, but my Pop said it was Rayner who pulled the gun.”
“What happened?” Amelia asked through trembling lips.
“My Pop wasn’t about to let him kill him or anything. He fought back. He grabbed for the gun. They wrestled with it and it went off. It was the only reason they stopped fighting, but it was too late. When it was over, Vern was dead.”
“Dead…”
“Yes,” Oliver replied. “Vern was standing nearby. He was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time.” He shook his head and frowned. “Pop said that he didn’t know why Vern didn’t move out of the way. Why did he continue to stand there as they fought over the gun?”
“That’s why Rayner wanted to destroy this place?” she asked.
Oliver nodded. “He was enraged by his brother’s death and he swore he’d get back at my Pop no matter how long it took. It took a few years, but he finally got his revenge.”
Amelia’s head snapped up. “Revenge?”
“The fire,” Oliver whispered. “Three years ago, Rayner came back to town and he and my Pop got into an argument. Melvin was there. He heard everything, but like my Pop, he never imagined Rayner would go as far as he did. Rayner snuck onto the ranch when we were asleep. He cornered my Pop in the kitchen and overpowered him. Then, he set the place on fire with all of us in it.” He stared at her. “He wanted to kill us all as repayment for what had happened to Vern.”
“That’s horrible,” Amelia whispered.
Oliver nodded. “I barely got my Pop out. That’s how I got burned,” he explained. “I got him out, but I couldn’t save him. He was too badly burned,” Oliver continued. “He died a few weeks later. It was a painful, prolonged agony for him until he died.” Tears filled his eyes. “I wanted to get back at Rayner, but I promised my Pop that I’d do better than him. I’d live an honorable life, the kind of life my Momma wanted for me. He didn’t want me getting into trouble like he did. He wanted me to stay as far away from Rayner as possible. He wanted me to fulfill Momma’s dream, so I did. I put aside my anger and did what my parents wanted.”
Amelia stared at Oliver in long silence before she could muster the words to speak. “He spent all those years planning revenge, and you spent all those years trying not to take revenge.”
“Yes,” Oliver answered. “It wasn’t easy. Every time I thought about them, I hated Rayner for what he did. Still, I was determined to keep my promise to my Pop, and Melvin was determined that I would. When Ra
yner came back now, and all those things began happening, I knew he was here to finish what he started. I had survived. Melvin had survived. We made Glenore exactly what my Pop wanted, exactly what Rayner had tried to stop. I knew it was him who shot through the window. I just didn’t have proof, and I couldn’t tell Sheriff Manchester without it.”
Amelia shook her head gently. “Still, you should’ve told me.”
“After everything you’d been through, to finally have the home you dreamed of, I didn’t want you to be afraid to live here,” he explained. “I just wanted you to be happy.”
“You should’ve told me,” she repeated. “Why did you let all this weigh on you alone? I would’ve helped you any way I could.”
“I know. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t tell you the truth,” he admitted. “I couldn’t because of how I feel about you.”
Amelia swallowed to moisten her suddenly dry throat. “Feel about me?”
He nodded. “Yes,” Oliver replied. “How I feel about you.”
They looked into each other’s eyes. Amelia felt her cheeks grow hot and her breath quicken in her lungs.
Oliver scooted closer. He raised a hand to her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb. He smiled gently. “I love you,” he whispered. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me and I didn’t want to lose you.”
Amelia smiled brightly. “I love you,” she replied. “I’ve loved you since the first day I saw your photograph,” she continued. “I only fell deeper in love once I got to know you.”
“I know this may seem crazy, and it’s probably the wrong time, but Amelia…will you marry me?”
Her heart leaped for the sky. “Yes!” she exclaimed. She set the cup aside and threw her arms around his neck. “Yes!”
Oliver squeezed her tight and Amelia hugged him tighter. She couldn’t believe what he’d said, but the joy she felt was indescribable. He pulled back from her just enough to look into her eyes before his lips pressed against her own and she fell into his kiss. She melted. Her mind emptied of every unpleasant thought. The only thing she felt was arms of the man she loved and the knowledge that he loved her, too.
Epilogue
It was early in the morning and Oliver’s heart was stampeding. He was doing his best to be calm but it was almost impossible for him. He paced his room and rubbed his hands together repeatedly. Once or twice his fingers turned to drag through his hair, anything to distract himself.
He could hear the clamor from outside his bedroom door, which didn’t help his overly stimulated mind. Glenore was filled with more people than ever before.
Once, that would have bothered him. Now, he looked at change with delight and optimism instead of trepidation and skepticism.
Oliver lowered himself onto the edge of his bed. He leaned forward on his elbows and clasped his hands together. His green eyes focused on a beetle crawling across the floor. He snickered. “What must life look like through your eyes?”
What did his life look like to those looking down? Were his mother and father looking down at him with smiles? Were they happy with the changes in him? Melvin believed they were. His old friend was over the moon about the transformation in his life. Oliver had to admit, he was too.
Amelia had changed his life. He no longer saw his future as only the ranch and turning it into the dream his mother and father had fashioned. Now, he realized that it was better with the addition of his heart and not his obligations. He always thought his heart was his motivation, but it was only when awakened by a pretty, bold blonde woman, did he realize that there was more to the beating in his chest than he knew.
A long breath slowly meandered its way from between his lips. He wasn’t a man who feared, but he found himself anxious as he sat waiting.
What if she doesn’t come? What if she changes her mind?
“Stop it,” Oliver chided himself. “She’ll be there.”
A firm rap on the door made him look up.
“Ollie?” Melvin called. “It’s time to get goin’.”
Oliver pushed up from the mattress and walked toward the door. He pulled it open.
“Let’s go.”
Smiling faces met him as he stepped into the living room. Several women from town, cooks and maids from the hotel, all were flittering about his home preparing it for the festivities which were to follow.
“Ladies,” Oliver greeted them with a nod.
They giggled and some spoke in turn, but they paid little attention to him. They were there because of Florence and Archibald. Amelia’s friends had pulled out all of the stops Oliver would allow them, to make this day like no other in their lives before. In several hours, it would all be ready.
Oliver didn’t understand the fuss. He was happy for something simple, but Florence wanted to do something lavish. Amelia seemed ambivalent, at first, but soon Oliver saw how excited she became at the wonderful things her friend began to speak about—a six-course dinner, expensive flowers, and a day of pampering.
Amelia’s excitement had swayed him. She’d never been pampered. She’d never had someone cooking for her the way Florence wanted to. It would be like a dream for her ad he wanted her to have a dream day. Oliver had to admit, he was a little excited by the prospect, too. He wasn’t like Florence and Archibald. He didn’t understand their ways or what they felt was important, but they were Amelia’s friends and they had good hearts, that much he could see. They cared for her, and because of it, he embraced them.
“We have a long ride ahead of us,” Melvin stated. His words dragged Oliver from his thoughts.
He smiled. “The best ride ever.”
The other man grinned. “I would think so. Not every day you get married now, is it?”
“No, sir,” Oliver replied.
“Come here,” Melvin called. He turned Oliver squarely to him. “Now, this ain’t how I taught you to tie a tie,” he commented. He promptly untied the knot at Oliver’s throat and began to re-tie it. “It has to be just right, especially today.”
Before, Oliver would have stopped his fussing, but not today. Instead, he stood and smiled to himself as his surrogate father, acted like his real one would have. Oliver had no doubt in his mind, that if his father were there, he would have been proud just like Melvin was. His actions had brought Oliver and Amelia together, his determination that Oliver should not spend his days alone, that had begun a journey none of them would ever forget.
“Much better,” Melvin said, with a firm pat to his chest. “Now that’s how you tie a tie.”
Oliver nodded. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Melvin replied. “Now let’s get going. We don’t want Amelia gettin’ there before we do. It wouldn’t be proper.”
Russell and the other men were waiting for them in the barn. Each man was dressed in his best attire. They grinned broadly at him as he entered through the large doors.
“There he is!” Garrett called.
“Man of the hour!” Russell added. He walked over and patted Oliver’s arm. “Thought you might be gettin’ cold feet,” he chuckled.
“My feet are very warm,” Oliver replied.
“Warm enough to get you all the way to Hidden Lake?” Elmer questioned.
“And further if I had to,” Oliver answered.
“He’d walk halfway to the moon,” Melvin chortled.
“As well he should,” Garrett commented. “Miss Amelia is worth the effort.”
Oliver smiled. “That she is.”
Elmer stepped forward with Oliver’s horse walking slowly behind him. “Thought you might want to save time with getting’ him ready,” he commented. The horse’s coat was smooth and freshly brushed. His saddle sparkled from a recent polish. The men had gone out of their way for him.
“You all are my family,” Oliver said. “And I’m thankful for you.” He shook his head lightly. “You didn’t have to do all this.”
“Of course we did,” Elmer stated. “We couldn’t let you go out there lookin’ just any
way. You have to look your best today. It’s a day you’ll never forget. You should make every bit of it special.”
“Here, here!” Melvin agreed. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Elmer smiled. “Oliver. Your bride awaits,” he stated as he placed the horse’s reins in his hands.
“Then let’s not keep her waiting,” Oliver replied.
They climbed onto their horses and started from the barn. Oliver looked back as they entered the fields, and looked at the house that stood behind them. A lot had changed to the structure in the months since his proposal to Amelia. In anticipation of their nuptials, he’d undertaken an expansion of the property. There was now a clear top floor, the loft space was a larger bedroom for him and Amelia. Melvin would take over Oliver’s old room, and Amelia’s old room was vacant for future additions to their family. There was an additional structure just behind the barn, as well. It was a bunkhouse for the ranch hands. Now, the men who worked the land at Glenore had a proper place to lay their heads at night instead of a makeshift mattress in the loft of the barn.
For the Love of a Wounded Cowboy: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 27