“All the fish we ate in New York was brought in by huge fishing ships. I’ve never even seen a creek fish before.”
“I’d venture to guess they’d look a lot the same.”
“The different fish often tasted different,” Annabelle said.
“Same here,” Colten nodded. “But still taste like fish all the same.”
Annabelle laughed. “The same way a sheep tastes the same as a cow?”
“Yup,” Colten said. “Same and different. A cow doesn’t taste like a fish.”
Annabelle laughed and Colten’s arms tightened around her. She turned to face him, needing to feel his full embrace. She kept hold of the fishing rod, but brought her other hand to his shoulder then up along his neck and then the back of his head to pull him down closer to kiss. He obliged without a complaint and they lost themselves in a kiss for only a moment before she felt the tug on her pole.
“I got something!” Annabelle squeaked and turned around, pulling hard on the pole and in the process yanking a fish out of the water and onto the grass.
The poor thing flopped about and she squealed. “Get it!”
Colten took her pole and moved it far enough from the water that it wouldn’t manage to get back to the creek with its continued flopping. She watched in amazement as Colten took care of the fish, unhooking it from the hook, and then untangling the line while still holding the fish in one hand.
He put it inside a canvas pouch and turned to her with a big smile. “Excellent catch. Now to get a couple more about that size and we’ll have enough for dinner.”
It didn’t take long before they had bagged another three fish and Colten declared it enough.
“Now that you’re mostly wet already, should we try out swimming?”
Annabelle looked at the water. “Are you sure it isn’t going to be too cold?”
“Not the part where we dug it out to give a quiet swim place. It’s got some sunshine on it, and it doesn’t get as much of the cold fresh water straight from the snow melt.”
“I suppose I could learn,” Annabelle said. “But don’t be too disappointed when you see how much I really don’t know.”
“We’ll have to walk a little way to the left. Let me just tie this pouch in the water to keep the fish fresh.”
When he finished, he wiped his wet hands on his pants and went to the wagon and took the blanket from the picnic basket. “This will be to wrap up in after you get out. Hopefully you won’t be too cold, but you never know.”
“Thank you, Colten.”
They walked together in silence and Annabelle wondered if he was as nervous as she was. She glanced at him and thought he looked just as relaxed as ever. She needed to get over her concern. They were married. It didn’t matter if he saw her in her underclothes while they swam. She could do this and be just fine.
When they reached the pond that had been made, Annabelle looked it over. It didn’t seem that deep and with the heat of the day and the sun shining on the pond, it would definitely be warmer than the water directly from the creek.
Colten took off his boots and stockings as she did the same. She stepped behind a tree and slipped out of the outer dress, keeping her underclothes on and then when she heard a loud splash and a moment later a shout from Colten. Annabelle darted out from behind her tree, fear gripping her heart until she saw his head and upper body dripping with water.
“Are you all right?” Annabelle asked, her arms wrapped tightly across her middle.
“Yes,” Colten said. “The best way to get in is to do it all at once. It’s only cold for a moment, then it feels great.”
Annabelle shook her head. “You scared me half to death. I thought you’d fallen in.”
“Nope,” Colten said. “Not fallen, jumped. Now you do it.”
“I, um, I’m not sure I want to anymore.”
“You can’t change your mind on me like that.” Colten said. “How else can I teach you to swim if you don’t get in the water?”
“You know, I’m not sure how important it is for me to know how to swim.”
Colten laughed helping to ease her worry that he might be mad. He moved until he was lying on his back in the water, then after a moment he straightened back up, standing once more and revealing his chest, outlined so wonderfully with the water pressing the fabric against him.
“It might not be all that important to swim,” Colten agreed. “But it does feel nice. And I’m getting my clothes clean at the same time. But you could stay there in the heat and I can admire you from afar.”
Annabelle did feel rather heated, and not all of it was from the temperature. She placed her bare foot into the water and though it was cold, it wasn’t too bad. She closed her eyes and decided she would just do as he had done. Without allowing herself to think it over too long, she ran forward and gasped in surprise at the way the cold water gripped her tight.
Her bare feet slipped in the muddy bottom and her left foot hit a jagged rock that made her pull it back in pain just before her head went under.
Seconds later, before she even got her own footing, strong hands found their way under her arms and she was pulled up and out of the water, crushed against Colten’s chest.
She sputtered for a moment, and pulled her arms free of his embrace in order to wipe her face off just as Colten asked, “Are you all right? Did you swallow any water?”
“I’m fine,” Annabelle said after a moment. “Just colder than I’d anticipated and I hit my foot. Thanks for helping me get steadied.”
She tried to step back a little, feeling her feet barely touching the ground, but Colten kept a tight hold around her. She didn’t try again to move away, instead loving the way it felt against him. His body was warm and solid and a perfect contrast to the cold water all around them.
“Maybe I don’t want to swim,” Annabelle said softly after a moment. “I like this part too much.”
A deep rumble started up from Colten’s chest, sending heat waves through her middle, but that was nothing compared to the way she felt herself light on fire when he kissed her.
She didn’t know how long they kissed, all she knew was she didn’t want it to end. Eventually, it did stop, but instead of letting her go, Colten kept hold of her waist and moved further into the center of the pond.
“First thing we need to do is get you used to the water.”
“I forgot all about the water with your kisses,” Annabelle said, then felt her cheeks heat up. But Colten just kissed her again.
“Now,” Colten said. “We’ll let you try floating on your back. I’ll hold onto you so you won’t sink, but you need to learn the difference in the way your body works inside the water.”
Colten slowly moved one hand to the upper part of her back, then reached down and tucked his hands behind her knees, then lifted her and lay her back in the water. “Relax your whole body. Trust me. I’ve got you.”
“I do trust you,” Annabelle whispered. “I trust you more than any person I’ve ever known.”
***
Colten felt the power of her words. He would do everything he could to keep that trust and to be worthy of it. He still couldn’t believe this incredible and lovely woman in his arms was his. He’d only been married to her for two days and already he thought he might possibly lose his heart to her. If he hadn’t already.
He carefully talked her through what she needed to do to relax and float in the water. She still had her eyes closed as she faced the sky and he took a moment to appreciate her beautiful face and neck and shoulders, trying to keep his attention to her head so he didn’t get distracted by her figure in front of him and accidentally drown his wife.
She took to floating with ease and he gently spoke. “I’m going to remove my hands from under you. Keep yourself just like you are, and you’ll see how simple it is to float.”
He took his hands away from her back and she only faltered for a moment before she steadied herself and floated easily.
“You’re doing
it, Annabelle. I’ll have you swimming in no time.”
The two practiced for a while more, and Colten did his best to not hold and kiss her too much, but she never seemed to mind at all when he pulled her close and held her tightly in the water.
It was a good thing that boarding house was mostly finished. Colten looked into the sky, making a guess that it was around three in the afternoon.
“It’s probably about time we finish up here and go dry off. You’ve got lots more fabric than I do, so if you want to squeeze some of the water out and sit on that rock and wait for a bit, I’ll go back to the wagon and bring it closer. Go ahead and use the blanket to dry your feet off so you can get your boots back on.”
“Are you sure you don’t want any help?” Annabelle asked as Colten dried his feet and slipped his stockings on as quickly as possible before shoving his feet into his boots.
“Only have the one horse. It won’t take long to harness him again. So go ahead and start drying off, then you can put your outer dress back on.”
He turned around and left the water, needing to put some distance between them so he didn’t see her get out with the water making the fabric cling to her. She was already too tempting and he didn’t want to make her worry about his self-control. He would treat her right. She deserved that. Besides, knowing that he could still be trusted made the anticipation that much better.
CHAPTER NINE
Annabelle removed the blanket from around her now that most of the dripping water had been absorbed. She was still too wet to put the outer dress back on quite yet so she lay back on the large rock, loving the way the warmth from it heated her back just as much as the sunshine above helped her warm up in the front. She closed her eyes, allowing the sun to do its work. She listened to the sounds of the running creek nearby and the birds chirping in the trees.
They weren’t as vocal now that they had gotten out of the pond, so she heard the sounds of footsteps. Perhaps Colten had returned for something. She opened her eyes and turned toward the sound, only to discover it wasn’t Colten. She scrambled for the blanket to wrap it around her as the cold blue eyes of another man stared at her.
“This the one?” he turned to look into the bushes nearby.
“That’s her,” the voice said, and Annabelle’s stomach dropped. It had to be Lester. From the slurred speech, she was almost positive. Then when he stepped out into the sunlight, Annabelle frowned.
“You had better leave me alone. My husband will be right back.”
“I don’t think so,” the blue eyed man said. “Frank will see to that.”
There were at least three of them then. She looked around, trying to find some way to escape. She couldn’t go behind herself unless she wanted to get trapped in the small pond. And that wouldn’t stop these men from coming after her.
“What do you want?” Annabelle asked, hoping she could offer them money. Lester had been happy to get rid of her before for money.
“From what I hear,” the blue eyed man said. “You broke a promise to Lester here. And he’s paid me to make you keep that promise.”
“I didn’t promise him anything,” Annabelle said. “I only agreed to come out here and meet him and then we would decide if we suited.”
“But you saw that other guy and changed your mind,” Lester spat. “To me, that don’t seem fair. I was the one who paid for you to come out.”
Annabelle shook her head. “You did no such thing. I had to sell my mother’s locket to buy the ticket out here. Your money only covered some food for the journey.”
“Sounds like you took his money willingly with the intent to marry him. I think you ought to honor that commitment.”
“I can’t,” Annabelle said, trying to make them see reason. “I’m already married.”
“Not for long,” Lester said. “And don’t you worry none. I don’t mind marrying you anyway even if you’ve already been with him.”
“You can’t do this,” Annabelle said, wishing she’d put her stockings and boots on. She wouldn’t get far trying to run bare footed through the undergrowth.
The crack of a rifle split the air and Annabelle gasped.
“What did you do?” she screamed.
“Now you’re no longer married,” the blue eyed man said, darting forward and grabbing her roughly.
“No!” Annabelle screamed, more in fear of what had happened to Colten than what her fate would be. She struggled against the man and felt her feet sink into the mud as she tried to run from him. She only managed to slip and fall to her hands and knees before she was in the air and slammed roughly over the shoulder of the blue eyed man.
She screamed and kicked while pounding at his back with her fists.
“You hold still or I’ll knock you out.”
“You put me down!” Annabelle screamed.
“Not till Lester tells me where he wants you.” The man jerked her roughly, forcing her belly against his shoulder and knocking the breath out of her
“I am not Lester’s property,” she wheezed. “Let me go.”
“If you don’t want Lester,” the man said, “I’m sure we could find someone else who would take you.”
“No!” Annabelle shouted. She tore at the man’s back, pulling the shirt up and ripping his flesh with her fingernails.
He screamed in pain and yanked her off his shoulders and slammed her onto her feet. Annabelle tried to gain her balance enough to fight again and run, but he slapped her across the face, knocking her down.
Memories of the same treatment in New York flooded her, but this time, instead of cowering, something inside snapped. She didn’t want to endure this ever again. If they had killed Colten, she didn’t want to live without him. Not with men like this.
She grabbed a rock twice as large as her fist and lunged at him, slamming it against his leg. She heard a crack seconds before he screamed. She pulled back again to strike him once more, but she was grabbed by the hair making her vision blur with the pain.
“She’s not worth marrying,” Lester shouted. “I’m gone.”
The blue eyed man yanked her head back, making it difficult to breathe. She grabbed his hands where they held tight to her hair and struggled to free herself from him, but he hit her again and she fell limp. At least she didn’t have to endure his attack anymore was the first thought that came to mind. The second was that she hoped she could slip away into death and find Colten on the other side.
***
Colten bent down to fix a problem with his boot a second before the blast of a rifle put a hole in a tree right where his head had been. He dropped flat to the ground and looked to where he’d heard the shot. In the bushes to the right, he caught sight of someone struggling with the single action rifle as he tried to reload. Knowing he only had seconds, Colten jumped up and barreled toward the man. As he tackled him, the rifle flew out of his hands at the same time he heard Annabelle’s screams.
Colten pulled back his fist and slammed it against the man’s nose, feeling it crack under his knuckles and the man spasmed then went limp.
Colten grabbed the rifle, not waiting to find a bullet to reload and ran through the trees back to Annabelle. Her screams of terror and the sounds of men shouting fueled his legs as he covered the distance in seconds. He reached the small clearing where he’d left Annabelle to find her fighting a man who had a fist wrapped around her hair and his other hand raised to strike her.
Before he could reach her, she was knocked unconscious and Colten saw red. From the corner of his eye, he could see another man running away, but since he was no threat, Colten raised the rifle like a club and swung it around, taking aim at the man’s head.
Colten’s cry of rage caught the man’s attention and he turned in time to see his end just seconds before the rifle stock made contact.
The man fell limply onto his back and didn’t move. Colten pulled Annabelle away from her attacker and checked her over. She still breathed steadily and he prayed she would wake. He looked around, wa
nting to be sure there was no more danger. The man who’d run as Colten reached the clearing was long gone. And he wasn’t even sure who he was. Colten had knocked two out, but was there more than just the three? And who were they?
He didn’t remember ever seeing either of these two men. He was sure they didn’t live in Birch Creek and had never been to the mercantile before. Maybe they were drifters. He would have to make sure the people in Birch Creek knew there was danger.
They would have to send for a sheriff or a marshal to come to the area if this kind of thing could happen here.
Colten held Annabelle close, rocking her against him. As he looked down at the swollen eye that was developing, he gripped her tighter, knowing if he even moved over to the man who’d done this, he’d kill him dead if he wasn’t already.
But the swelling was a good sign. She was still alive and she still breathed.
He looked once more at the man and saw the rise and fall of breathing. Knowing he couldn’t just leave him here in case he woke up, but not wanting to let Annabelle out of his sight, Colten lay her gently on the ground and moved over to the man. His shirt was torn so Colten ripped it off the rest of the way and used it to tie the man’s hands behind his back. At the sight of the bloody gashes on the horrid man’s back, Colten felt a surge of pride in Annabelle for fighting so hard.
Colten next took the belt from the man’s trousers and trussed up his feet then used more of the ripped shirt to connect his feet and hands together behind his back. He would get Annabelle to safety then come back with others to help him take care of this man.
Colten propped the gun against a tree, then scooped Annabelle up into his arms as gently as possible, then returned to get the rifle in case the other man who’d run returned. He walked carefully to the wagon after making sure the man who’d shot at him was still unconscious.
The Clerk's Bride: A Golden Valley Story (The Brides of Birch Creek Book 2) Page 9