Neither of them said a word as they went into the house they shared for a week but had felt much longer than that. Elena stood in the sitting room, magnificent to look at even in the sorrow that draped her like a cloak.
How long did it take to pack up the few belongings he’d brought with him? Seconds it seemed.
How long would it take to forget this woman who was embedded in his heart? A lifetime.
“I’ll bed down at the hotel in town,” he found himself telling her as he came down the stairs. “I’m going to take care of the repairs and orders we received still. I’ll ask Max Winters to deliver them to the respective ranches.”
“Fine.” She folded her arms.
“Goodbye, Elena.”
The two words together almost brought him to his knees. Despite the fact she belonged to another man, he yearned to take her into his arms and drown in her sweetness.
That was impossible now. He had to let her go.
“Goodbye, Tobias.”
Exiting the house that had become more of a home in the short duration he lived there than any other, he threw his belongings in the wagon. With a flick of the reins, leaving the house on Thornockle street behind.
The trip to town went by in a blur. Before he knew it, he’d found himself in the entryway of the hotel. Ella Grace’s eyes widened at the sight of him. Her mouth dropped open when he asked for a room but she did little else than send one of her employees to prepare a room.
She directed him to wait in the dining room. He stood at the entrance of the dining room, seeing a few people eating their suppers. Then he spied the table where he’d chatted with Elena and Mrs. Edmondson such a short time ago. Drawn to it, he sat down.
The laudanum bottle around his neck felt particularly heavy. He reached inside his shirt and stared at it.
Could he take nothing from his time here in Silverpines? Tobias removed the cord from around his neck and placed the bottle on the table. No, there was something here he’d learned.
He’d embraced a community of people, of women who had banded together in a time of great difficulty. Hard-working, intelligent, and resourceful women.
Not all women were like his mother.
Eustacia Clayborne had solely lived for a life of ease to the extreme and her selfish desires. His father had given into her every whim, going into debt in order to pay for lavish living no one without means could afford.
Then in his tenth year, everything had changed. His mother had started to associate with a group of artists from across the Atlantic. They introduced her to laudanum. After that, she turned into a woman who only lived for the next bottle. Drop after drop and drop. Her moods became erratic and her demands more exorbitant.
The day he found her, horribly still on the chaise in her room, the laudanum bottle had fallen from her fingers.
It was a memento of her that he’d kept ever since.
Now that his ire had somewhat cooled, he knew Elena was nothing like the woman who had given him birth. She wasn’t so selfish that she’d forsake everyone. Though she had lied to him about her marital state, her response to his kisses had been real.
Elena, his heart whispered, if only you were mine.
Restless, he got up from the table and went outside to wander down the main street. His eyes landed on a group of men gathered in front of the saloon. One of the saloon girls looked harassed and a bit of fearful. From her actions, she was telling the men that the saloon wasn’t open. It hadn’t been since the earthquakes. Dr. Richards used it as a place to tend to patients.
That didn’t seem to matter to the gentlemen who loitered there. A tall one in particular drew his eyes the most.
There was something about the man…that wasn’t right.
Tobias came closer to try to hear the conversation. The saloon girl vigorously shook her head. The tall man leaned down and whispered in her ear. What it was, it blanched her skin of color.
With a shaky hand, she pointed to where he’d just come from. Then he heard the woman say. “She married the new blacksmith. They live on Thornockle.”
“Thank you,” the tall man drawled. He trailed his fingers down the side of the woman’s face. A clear look of revulsion came over her. She turned away and hurried inside the saloon.
When the tall man turned around, Tobias stopped cold. He knew that face.
Mace Thorne.
Henry and Cora’s bodies flashed in his mind. This low-down, worthless piece of scum!
“Well boys, seems like my intended tried to get out of our arrangement. She up and married some blacksmith. We can’t have that now, can we?”
Intended? His skin prickled in alarm.
“Does she really think I’d let any man have her?” He took out an unlit cheroot and gestured with it. “Her brother sold her to me and I aim to collect. If I have to shoot her husband, so be it.”
Elena had been telling the truth!
Mace Thorne replaced the cheroot into his vest and then hopped onto his horse and galloped away, heading toward the place where his wife lived unprotected.
Tobias ran down the street and back to the hotel. Elena was all alone with a man who could kill without a second thought. The only thing that stood between her and him was Tobias.
CHAPTER TEN
“Hello, Miss Somersville.”
Elena’s legs almost collapsed from under her. The last person she ever expected to see was Mace Thorne. When she opened the door, she thought for a wild moment Tobias had come back to her. That he’d put the past behind them and they could start anew.
“Mace.” His name made her tongue curl in disgust.
The man’s blue eyes, the same color as Tobias’s but that’s where the similarity ended, stared at her with such wicked intent it made her skin crawl.
“It’s good to see you again. How have things been?” He sounded almost neighborly, as if he dropped by for a quick hello. But she knew what he was here for—her.
“Mace, I’m married now. There’s nothing for you here.”
The smile dropped an inch. “I heard you’d done a foolish thing like that. How devious. Particularly when you knew you were betrothed to me. We signed a contract, didn’t we?”
“Mace, please just go away. Don’t come back here again?”
“Tell me, Miss Somersville—”
“My name is Mrs. Clayborne!” Proudly Clayborne!
Mace’s eyes narrowed on her. The air of darkness she’d felt two years ago was even more pronounced. “You know, the thought of you as my wife did strange things to me. I knew you were waiting for me because we both doubted your brother would be able to raise the money that was due to me.”
“You cheated! Bo told me!”
His hand darted out without warning. His fingers curled around her neck. They tightened like bands of steel. Fear like she’d never known coursed through her. He dragged her forward until she was pressed against him. He wasn’t choking her but with his superior strength, he let her know it was only because he controlled it.
“I don’t like it when people say I cheated, Miss Somersville.” A mad light entered his eyes. “Your brother knew what he was getting into when he sat down to play. If a man can’t control his desires then that’s on him.”
She swallowed. “Please.”
Then like a door, the madness left his gaze, leaving only a cold regard. “Do you have the money that your brother swore to me?”
“No,” she whispered. Two tears leaked out of her eyes.
“Then it’s time I collect my debt,” he added darkly.
Elena sent a prayer upward. Dear God, please save me. Don’t let this man win!
“And I think you lied to me, Miss Somersville. If you were really married, no man would leave you all alone for the likes of me.”
“Get your filthy hands off my wife!”
The sound of a gun cocked behind them. Mace, still with his hands around her throat, turned to look over his shoulders. But his grip had loosened just the tiniest bit. It wa
s enough for her to use every ounce of strength she had to push him away from her.
The surprise of the attack was to her advantage. Mace lost his momentum and fell down on the steps. Elena didn’t look back as she jumped over his prone figure and into Tobias’s arms.
“Tobias!”
His arm was like a vise around her waist. “Elena, are you all right?”
“I am now.” She wrapped her hands around his neck, body trembling with reaction.
“That’s my wife. You take your hands off her.” Mace leapt back up and pulled the gun from his holster. “You got until the count of three to let go of her. She belongs to me.”
“No, she doesn’t! She doesn’t belong to anyone but herself,” Tobias snarled. His body vibrated with rage. “Who she chooses to share her life with is her decision. And she chose me!”
“We have a contract in which her brother and she signed that in the event he couldn’t pay me back my earnings, she would marry me to erase the debt. Now, I’m here to collect. You got two seconds before I shoot you, Clayborne.”
“Slavery is over with, Thorne. And how can you shoot me when you know you need to get out of town before the marshal comes.”
Mace frowned. “Why would the marshal be after me?”
“You killed Henry McIntosh and his wife last month in Astoria. Henry named you as his murderer before he died. The marshal is coming along with his posse. You better get going before he comes.”
“Ain’t no lawman strong enough to take me down.”
Tobias cocked his head. “Marshal Alexzander Sewell isn’t your normal marshal, now is he?”
The arrogance on Mace’s face dropped. For the first time since she’d known this outlaw, a definite sense of unease emanated from him. But why wouldn’t it? Marshal Sewell was a force to be reckoned with. If anyone could take down Mace Thorne, it would be him.
“You’re lying. Marshal Sewell’s not coming here. He would have been here now.”
“Don’t think I won’t shoot you, Mace. You killed my best friend and his wife. You cheated Elena’s brother out of their money. You tried to take my wife and use her for your own rotten purposes. I won’t feel a lick of sorrow for shooting you down like the animal you are. But I’m not going to do what I had planned to do from the moment Henry asked me to take revenge for his death. I’m going to let the law take care of you. Then I’ll watch you hang until dead.”
Mace stood there, his gun cocked and ready. Elena prayed that the threat of their marshal would be enough for this man to ride out of their lives forever.
“I’ll get you for this,” Mace said as he stuffed his gun back into his holster. Tobias kept his gun trained on Mace as he went over to his horse and mounted. “I’ll be back for you, Elena.”
“You try to come back here, Mace, and they’ll be carrying you out of here.”
From the dark, deep tone in his voice, Elena could tell Tobias meant every word.
Mace sent them a dirty look and then galloped away. Tobias’s arms still clasped her tightly to his waist and she clung to him, not wanting to ever let him go.
A few minutes passed and the tension left his body. Tobias put his gun away and stared down into her face.
“Tobias, why...why didn’t you shoot him? Lord knows, he deserves it.” She hated violence but there were times it was necessary.
“Believe me, Elena, I wanted to. I kept seeing Henry and Cora and what he did to them. My finger itched to pull the trigger.”
He paused and didn’t say anything for a long minute. Then he sighed. “I couldn’t become the man he is. And I didn’t want to do anything to put you in harm’s way. I’d already thought I would be too late.”
“But you weren’t,” Elena said, so happy to see him and so happy he’d come back.
“As surely as there is a God above, I know Mace Thorne will get what’s coming to him.”
Tobias drew her closer in his arms. “I love you so much, Elena. I’m sorry for the things I said. For what I thought of you. The idea of you being his wife…” His eyes closed. “I couldn’t bear it.”
“I couldn’t either. Why do you think I sent for you?”
Tobias drew back in confusion. “For me? You placed an ad for a husband. Anyone could have answered it.”
“No,” she said in a soft voice. “I placed an ad for a man of honor. And a man of honor came to my rescue. He gave me hope when I had none. He gave me love when I thought I was unlovable. I love you, Tobias Clayborne. I’m sorry I deceived you.”
“Shhh.” He placed a finger on her mouth, “No need for that.”
The sound of hoofbeats interrupted them. Tobias’s gun was already in his hand and he pushed Elena behind him. She held onto his shoulders. Had Mace come back after all?
The horse halted in front of them and a man she didn’t recognize jumped off its back. “T.D.!”
Tobias’s shoulders relaxed. “Luther?” He put the gun back in his holster and she relaxed.
The man named Luther came up to them. He took off his hat and nodded to Elena. “Was Mace Thorne here just now.” His eyes scanned the area. “He was here, wasn’t he?”
“Yes,” Elena spoke up, “but he left because the marshal’s coming to—”
“No, he isn’t,” Tobias said.
Elena frowned. “He isn’t?”
“No, I lied. The marshal doesn’t even know what happened.”
“Then—” Elena couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Yeah, I beat a gambler at his own game.”
“Mace Thorne is not someone the marshal needs to handle.” Luther’s mouth flattened into a line. “It’s not his responsibility. It’s mine.” The man clapped Tobias on the shoulder. “Mace Thorne won’t have another opportunity to bother anyone else ever again.”
He nodded again to Elena and got on his horse and rode away.
They stared after him for a moment. “I got a feeling Luther’s going to take care of that scoundrel better than I can.”
When Tobias turned back to her, his eyes were filled with all the love he held for her. He dipped his head and their mouths met. No shyness, or tentativeness. Just a sweet acceptance that she was his and he was hers.
She raised herself on her tiptoes and allowed herself to get lost in the taste and touch of him.
His breath was ragged when he drew away much later. Eyes warm with desire he asked. “Can we make this a marriage in truth even though I won’t know what I’m doing?”
Elena grinned and cupped his face in her hands. “Well, blacksmith. The forge is stoked. You might as well strike while the iron is hot.”
Tobias swept her up into his arms and carried her to their marriage bed to do just what his wife asked of him.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Parker J. Cole is an author, speaker, and radio show host with a fanatical obsession with the Lord, Star Trek, K-dramas, anime, romance books, old movies, speculative fiction, and knitting. An off and on recovering Mountain Dew and marshmallow addict, she writes to fill the void the sugar left behind.
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WORKS BY PARKER J COLE
Edgy Christian Romance Novels
The Sins of the Flesh Series:
Many Strange Women (Book 1)
Solomon Greene wants an ugly wife. Celeste Martin wants a husband. They strike up a deal and get more than they bargained for.
The Other Man (Book 2)
Leah Westwood has to make a choice
between fantasy and fidelity. Easy…right?
Vengeful Vows (Book 3)
Hell has no fury like an ex-lover scorned.
Sweet Inspirational Novels
Michigan Sweet Romance Series:
The Cure
Can two betrayed hearts ever be healed?
Time to Say Goodbye
Will they ever say goodbye to their distrust?
Contemporary Romance Novellas
Java Blend
Java Rift (coming soon)
Thriller Novel
Dark Cherub
Two friends. Two choices. And the mistake that brings the world to the brink of destruction.
Western Historical Romance
Wanted: Man of Honor (Silverpines Series)
Join the Silverpines Readers’ Group on Facebook
Anthology Works
Birds of Passage Anthology: April and Mr. Grim
Realms of Our Own: Godforsaken
WRITING AS PARKER PAYNE
Ascent of the Gem Bearers Series
The Druid’s Spear (Book One) with Lee Thornton III
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