When he’d placed Annabelle against the wagon he quickly returned to the other man in order to tie him up as well. He rushed back to Annabelle and saw her stirring as if returning to consciousness. He rushed to her side, and held her hand, speaking soothing words. When her eyes opened she cried out.
“Colten, you’re alive.” She reached for him and Colten bent toward her to pull her into his arms.
“I’m so sorry,” Colten said. “I should never have left you alone. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.”
“But you came back. I thought you were dead. How?” She looked around as if she just realized she was no longer by the pond.
“Let’s get you home where you can rest and recover. Are you well enough to ride in the wagon sitting up? Or should I take the wood out of the wagon bed?”
“I can sit. I think.”
He helped her climb onto the wagon seat, then with as much care as he could possibly manage, he urged the horse forward to lead them back to town. He wanted to get her safely inside the house and in the care of his mother before anything else happened.
Then he’d return and deal with these men later.
***
Annabelle could hardly think clearly. Her head hurt abominably and she struggled to remember exactly what had happened. She didn’t want to remember much of it, but she wanted to know how Colten had survived.
“Did you kill them?” Annabelle asked.
“No,” Colten said. “They were both still alive. One got away though.”
“Which one?” Annabelle asked. “Lester?”
“The other man was Lester?” Colten’s voice was hard as iron. “I couldn’t tell. What did he do? I didn’t recognize the other men.”
“Me neither,” Annabelle said. “Lester paid them to take me. Said I belonged to him since he’d paid for me to come.”
“That lying—” Colten stopped speaking and Annabelle was grateful. “Don’t worry about Lester,” Colten said. “I’ll make sure he never bothers you again.”
“But you can’t kill him,” Annabelle said. “I don’t want his blood on your hands.”
“Don’t have to kill him,” Colten said. “But we’ll make sure he’s put away for good.”
The jostling of the wagon made the pounding in her head worse. She leaned against Colten, happy to have his solid body there to keep her grounded. It eased the motion and soothed her soul. Annabelle wrapped one arm around behind him to keep herself steady, then when he lifted his arm to hold her against him, she wrapped her other arm around his middle and held tight.
The solid beat of his heart eased her worry. He was alive and well. She wouldn’t be left alone in a world that held men like Lester and his vile partners.
As they left the grove of trees and entered the wide open area of the valley before them, the sun on her face and arms made her realize she was still only wearing her underclothes. Fortunately, they didn’t pass anyone on the road and as they reached the edges of the town, Colten called out to Michael.
She only understood part of what was said and Michael ran off to do as Colten had requested. When they reached the store, instead of going in the front, Colten took the wagon around the back and called out for his father.
Annabelle’s body refused to obey her request to release Colten, and he calmly spoke to her, convincing her eventually to let go of him so he could help her down and into the house. Her father-in-law climbed up beside her on the other side and helped her keep steady as Colten got off the wagon then reached up to help her.
When they got inside, her new mother was right there to help and Annabelle was carried up the stairs by Colten and laid gently on her bed. When Colten pulled way she cried out. “Don’t leave me.”
Colten knelt beside her. “I’ll be back, my love. I just want to tell Michael and the others where to find those men, and to keep an eye out for Lester. Mother will be right here. I’ll hurry. I promise.”
“Don’t go with them,” Annabelle said. “You can’t leave me.”
“I won’t. I’ll come back. Just rest. Mother’s got you.”
Annabelle took her mother’s hand and held on tightly, refusing to watch Colten leave but knowing he had to. She held tight to his promise and allowed her new mother to wipe her face with a mixture of something that smelled of witch hazel.
Some time later, the rush of boots up the stairs startled her, but Colten came through the door and she relaxed immediately. He returned to the side of the bed and held her hands, freeing up his mother’s hands to help with her injuries.
She hadn’t noticed how roughed up she was at first, but all the aches and pains began to make themselves known. She struggled to hold the tears in, but when Colten removed his boots and climbed onto the bed behind her they fell without her permission.
“Shhh,” he hummed softly as he held her close. “We’re here to take care of you. You’ll be all right.”
His gentle strength and reassuring voice eased her fear. While his mother wiped at the cuts and bruises on Annabelle’s face and hands, her body relaxed against him. More tears fell, helping to wash away the fear and the pain. The love she felt from the man beside her filled in the little cracks and breaks in her heart and soul.
With him by her side, she knew she would come out of this ordeal stronger than before.
After her wounds were cleaned and bandaged, her mother left the room quietly, telling Colten to call for her if she needed anything. As Annabelle basked in the warmth of him there beside her, she finally felt as if she was no longer shaking with cold and fright. Annabelle took in a slow, deep breath.
“I am so very sorry, Annabelle,” Colten said, his face buried against the back of her head. “I wish I knew how to make this right. How to take away your pain.”
Annabelle turned a little toward him, then pulled his hands that had always been so gentle with her up to her lips. She saw the bloody and scraped knuckles, and knew he was in pain as well, but understood even more deeply that it wasn’t a surface pain only.
“You saved me, Colten. I will always be grateful for that. But the pain in my body is nothing compared to the pain I felt when I thought you’d been shot. I will heal from this. But I doubt my heart would have healed if I’d really lost you.”
“I know what you mean,” Colten whispered. “I have lost my heart and soul to you. I love you more than I thought possible.”
“We will be all right,” Annabelle said. “As long as we’re together, we can handle anything that comes against us.”
“I only pray nothing like this will ever come to us again. Or to anyone.”
Annabelle hummed her agreement and kissed his knuckles. “I love you, Colten.”
“I love you.”
And with those words, Annabelle felt herself heal just a little more.
CHAPTER TEN
Annabelle stayed in her room most of the following day, not ready to face the world at first, but by supper time, she joined the Howard family in the dining room. No one talked about her attack, but they didn’t act as if they wanted to avoid it either. Colten had told her they had taken the two men who’d been paid by Lester to the cellar pit Michael and Susan had built near the boarding house to await the arrival of the sheriff.
Lester was still missing, but everyone had their eye out for him. His small lean-to type cabin had been watched since the news of his actions spread and he had yet to return to it.
“I saw the quilt top you pieced together,” Mrs. Howard said. “It is lovely. Is this the one for you or for Susan’s boarding house?”
“I hadn’t decided,” Annabelle said. “I wanted to make as many as possible to let Susan decide.”
“We’ll sure keep the ladies in town busy. Poor Reverend Morrison won’t have his building available for church if we keep setting up these quilts.”
Annabelle smiled, relieved that she felt comfortable enough that she could. She looked at Colten. “I don’t know if this would be possible, but I wondered about having a place built that could b
e used to sew things. Nothing like the factory where I worked, but a place that had a room large enough to hold some quilting bees as well as a machine or two in case anyone else wanted to learn to use one. Then in the front, I’d have room to display the quilts, and any dresses or shirts that I made.”
“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Mrs. Howard said. She turned to her husband and son. “What would it take to build something like that? Would we want to do brick or wood? We could have it attached to the other side of the store and they could share a wall. Unless of course you want to put it somewhere else, Annabelle.” Her mother-in-law reached over and touched her hand then pulled it back gently.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Annabelle said. “And I know it would be a lot of work up front. And Colten suggested maybe the things I sew could be placed in the store front.”
Mrs. Howard seemed to contemplate it for a moment. “We could definitely put your things in there while we wait for your building to be finished. But if this town is going to keep growing, we may need to make sure there is room for all our inventory. And if we build a second section onto the store itself, then part could be used for your work area, part could be to display your clothing and quilts, and we could also have the clothing and fabric we order from our suppliers in there as well.”
As Mrs. and Mr. Howard discussed the possibilities and the logistics of it, Annabelle turned to Colten, hoping he wouldn’t be bothered by the direction things had gone.
“I’m sorry if this will be a problem.”
Instead of looking displeased, he smiled sweetly at her and took her hand. “I see no problem with this idea. I think we can make this work easily. I only have one request regarding the building of the addition to the mercantile and your work shop.”
“What’s that?” Annabelle asked.
“We wait to do it until we get our house built. I have discovered I’m feeling a little selfish of your time and attention, and if my mother continues to monopolize you while we live here, we need to get to our own place as soon as possible.”
Annabelle smiled at him, loving the thought of having a home of their own.
Colten leaned closer. “There’s some good news I haven’t shared yet.” She waited patiently for him to continue as he moved his thumb over the back of her hand. “Michael told me Susan has agreed that the boarding house is done enough to move into. If you’d be willing, we can move into their small cabin within a week. I’d just need to help them load their belongings and take them over to their new place.”
“I could help as well,” Annabelle said.
“We won’t have a lot of the nice things that we’ve got here,” Colten said. “We would have to build a table and some stools. They said we could keep the stove as long as the one they ordered arrives on the train this week as expected.”
Annabelle nodded, thinking it would be easy enough to cook on that stove. And the cabin was small enough, they didn’t need a large table for just the two of them.
“And the bed in my room could be moved over there.” Colten’s voice was softer and the timbre of it sent at thrill through her. Colten looked down. “We’d be starting out small with almost nothing as we put all the money into building a house for us.”
Annabelle placed her other hand on top of his and leaned close to whisper. “Colten, I don’t need much. I came here with nothing and now look at how blessed I am. I have a new mother and father. I have a husband who loves me and wants what’s best for me. I don’t care what we have or don’t have. As long as I have you to share it all with, I’ll have enough.”
Colten leaned over and kissed her softly, and Annabelle didn’t even care that his parents were still in the room talking about the mercantile’s addition. Besides, she wasn’t going to stay here at the dining room table kissing him. She looked up at Colten after the kiss and smiled sweetly.
“I do have one favor to ask,” she whispered.
“Anything,” Colten said.
“Can we change that rule about not kissing in your room?”
Colten’s eyes widened for just a moment, then his gaze turned soft and tender. “Of course my love.”
The two gathered their dishes and took them to the sink, cleaning up after themselves and washing the dishes used to prepare the meal. Colten helped her put them away since she still didn’t know where everything went and his casual touches sent shivers of anticipation through her. He allowed his hand to rest on her waist just a moment longer than necessary as he reached past her to put a tin of salt in the cupboard.
Feeling daring, Annabelle turned to him and placed her hands on his chest, then allowed them to slide up to his shoulders then neck. The kisses that followed got her heart racing and she knew this was only the beginning.
“Are you ready to retire for the night?” Colten asked softly.
“I am,” Annabelle said.
Colten tucked her hand into his and the two slipped quietly up the stairs as his parents continued to go over the details for the addition. When they reached the door, Colten paused and looked at her once more. Without a word, Annabelle turned the knob and pushed it open. She stepped inside, keeping his hand firmly in hers and he followed her in. She stood on her tippy toes again, and kissed him softly, then with more meaning before she reached past him and closed the door.
Colten was all hers. Forever and for always.
EPILOGUE
Colten surveyed the shop he was almost finished with. They had decided to add a second story to the building in order to speed things up with the process. Annabelle and he would live on the top floor and the bottom floor would be where she sewed to her heart’s content.
When the women in the valley had learned they didn’t have to do all the sewing of clothing themselves and that ordering a dress from Annabelle would be less expensive than ordering the finished product from a catalog, things had picked up for Annabelle.
It wouldn’t be more than a month before the place was finished and then they could move her sewing things out of the boarding house room Susan had so graciously exchanged use of for the price of finishing the quilts and curtains for all the rooms.
Annabelle was probably still there.
Colten made sure everything was right with the shop and closed the door behind him before turning toward the boarding house. The night air was getting colder and it wouldn’t be long before they had snow. He tightened his coat around him and adjusted the collar. The brisk walk to the boarding house helped him keep warm enough, and when he knocked on the door it wasn’t long before Michael opened it.
“Come on in, Colten. Your wife and my wife are busy in the back room. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet,” Colten said, following Michael into the kitchen. Annabelle and Susan had gotten into a routine. They would take turns cooking dinner there at the boarding house so Annabelle could continue working late on her sewing until Colten finished up with what he was doing and they would walk home together.
“How’s the shop coming?” Michael asked.
“I’m almost to the point where I’ll be needing to do the trim work.”
“I’m close to caught up with my smithy orders. I’ll come over when I’m finished and help you out on that.”
“Have you finished it all here?” Colten asked.
“Yup,” Michael said with a big smile. “Susan plans to open it up for boarders before Christmas. Though I’m not sure there will be a lot of people traveling to these parts this winter.”
“You never know.” Colten picked up a biscuit and took a bite. The sound of women’s laughter got louder and Colten turned to see his wife holding the newest addition to the Clark family as Annabelle and Susan walked down the hallway and into the kitchen.
“Colten,” Annabelle said, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him. “I didn’t hear you arrive. You just starting your dinner?”
Colten nodded and moved over closer to give her a hug and a kiss. The baby in her arms looked right and Colten felt a moment of long
ing. “You get any sewing done, or did you spend the whole day loving on little Miss Savannah?” He reached for the infant and as he tucked her into his shoulder, she seemed to mold herself to him just perfectly.
Annabelle looked at him with the loveliest expression. As if she was picturing him holding their own child. He had to admit, he wanted that.
“I did a fair amount of sewing. But I thought it might be wise to get a little practice in with a sweet baby like Savannah.”
Colten rubbed the baby’s back and bounced her gently as the words began to sink in. “Did you say practice?”
“I did,” Annabelle said, smiling widely at him. Susan, to the side practically bounced on her toes but didn’t say anything, just moved over to Michael allowing Colten and Annabelle to have their own moment.
“Am I understanding this right?” Colten asked, the hope and excitement rising up in his chest.
“You’ll have to come hold Miss Savannah more often so you’ll be ready to hold your own sometime in the spring.”
“I’ll be a father?” Colten kept hold of Savannah with one arm and pulled Annabelle against his side to hug her close. She wrapped her arms around him, careful of the baby he held.
“Yes.” Annabelle looked up at him.
“Thank you for this,” Colten said and kissed her softly. “Nothing could make me happier.”
***
Dear Grace,
You’ll never believe how things turned out for me. I came here, thinking I’d be marrying the man who’d placed the advertisement, but instead, I must have had some guardian angels watching over me because I was blessed to have Colten instead.
He’s been so good to me. So patient and understanding and he isn’t bothered by the idea of me working and sewing. If you ever wanted to come to Birch Creek, you would have some options.
We’re in need of more women here. And you could always work with me since I know you know how to sew. There is also the option of staying at Susan’s boarding house and either cooking and cleaning for her and the guests that come, or even finding employment here elsewhere. A school teacher is needed.
The Clerk's Bride: A Golden Valley Story (The Brides of Birch Creek Book 2) Page 10