His mouth left hers and he whispered her name before he kissed her neck. She was hardly aware of anything but what was happening between them in the bed, and by the growing urgency in his kisses, she suspected the same was true for him. Gripping the sheet beneath her as her body tensed, she let out a soft cry as she climaxed. Her hips stilled and her body shuddered while waves of pleasure crashed over her, each one less intense than the one before it.
Relaxed, she sighed in contentment as his fingers left her body. He shifted so that he was, once again, settled between her legs and his erection touched her tender flesh. Supporting his weight on his elbows, he entered her and she winced at the momentary jab of pain that interrupted the state of bliss she’d been in. He moved inside her, and the initial sting eased. In its place was a different type of pleasure as she became aware of his thickness stroking her the way his fingers had been moments before. She ran her legs down his, savoring the way he felt inside her. He established a rhythm, and she joined him, working in unison until he stiffened above her and found his release. When he collapsed on top of her, she wrapped her arms around him once more and pressed her cheek to his.
His heart beat along with hers, and she smiled when he kissed her cheek. He lifted his head and pressed his lips to hers, their earlier urgency forgotten in the aftermath of satisfying their physical desires. He slid out of her and pulled her into his arms.
“You’re the best thing that’s happened to me, Emily,” he whispered.
“You’re the best thing that’s happened to me, too, Isaac.”
He kissed the top of her head, and shortly afterwards, she realized he’d drifted off to sleep. Still wide awake, she spent the next hour wondering when she should go see her parents. She left the note to let them know she was going to marry Isaac, and even if they weren’t opposed to the marriage as Isaac’s father was, she worried they might not be happy with the way she ran out of the house without telling them.
Sighing, she decided the sooner she saw them, the better, and if they didn’t approve of the way she handled things, then she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, she’d enjoy being in her husband’s arms, thinking of the evening’s events.
Chapter Twenty
Dave knocked on Rick and Sally’s door, a feeling of dread settling in his gut. This was the last place he knew where Isaac might be, and if he wasn’t here, he didn’t know what he was going to tell Mary. It wasn’t like Isaac to take off with his horse and not tell him or Mary where he was going. Something bad happened. He just knew it.
He knocked on the door again, this time his impatience making him use more force than necessary, but at the moment, he didn’t care if he bothered the neighbors. He was at his wit’s end, and he needed to find his son.
The door finally opened, and Rick secured the robe around his night clothes. “Dave? What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry to bother you so late, but Mary and I haven’t seen Isaac since this afternoon. I checked with everyone else and no one’s seen him. Have you?” Dave prayed Rick had because if he hadn’t… Dave didn’t even want to think of the wild animals that might have gotten his boy or the possibility his boy fell off his horse and got hurt—or worse.
To his relief, Rick said, “Yes, I saw him. He was here about an hour ago.”
Dave released his anxious breath. Thank God! “Is he alright?”
“Yes, he’s fine.”
Sally, also in her robe, came up beside Rick and blinked in surprise. “David? What are you doing here at this hour?”
“He came to ask about Isaac,” Rick told her.
“Is he on his way home?” Dave asked, glancing from one to the other.
Rick slipped his hands into his pockets and nodded. “He went home after he left here.”
Further relieved, Dave’s body relaxed. “Good. Mary and I were worried that something happened to him, and when no one else had seen him… So many horrible things went through my mind.” He rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.
Sally laughed. “No, he’s fine. You have nothing to worry about. He and Emily thought it’d be romantic to elope, so they came by here to get married. It was a lovely thing, really, but he should have left you and Mary a note explaining—”
“What?” Dave yelled, another kind of horror creeping up his spine.
Sally’s eyes grew wide and, for a moment she didn’t seem capable of speech.
Rick smiled and shrugged. “It was impulsive of them, but anyone could tell they’re in love.”
“I don’t believe you!” Dave’s face flushed in anger. “How could you marry them?”
His smile fading, Rick said, “I’m a judge. I can—”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I meant, how could you agree to it?”
“Rick’s married plenty of people on a whim,” Sally pointed out, her eyes narrowing at her brother. “I seem to recall you and Mary having Rick marry you, and you didn’t bother telling anyone in the family first. No. You married her, and I had to find out from Rick, and then everyone else had to find out through me.”
“That’s different,” Dave snapped.
“Oh really?” Sally crossed her arms.
Dave glared at her. “Yes, it was. She came here as a mail-order bride.”
“Right. Neil’s.”
At the reminder, his skin prickled. “Well, Neil didn’t want to marry her, and I knew she’d make a good wife so I did. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. And nothing is wrong with Isaac and Emily deciding to elope. They’re old enough to be married, as you were when you married Mary. There’s no difference between what you did and what they did.”
“Are you kidding me? There’s a huge difference. I married a good woman.”
“And how did you know Mary was good? You didn’t know anything about her.”
“I knew enough from watching how she talked to people.”
“You only knew her for…what? Ten minutes? Maybe fifteen? That’s hardly enough time to get to know someone.”
Dave gritted his teeth. “This isn’t about me. It’s about my son.”
“Who’s known Emily longer than you knew Mary,” she argued.
Ignoring her, he turned his attention to a bewildered Rick. “We’ll just undo it. You can get the whole thing annulled. Hurry up and get dressed. We can still stop this thing.”
“No we can’t,” Rick firmly, but kindly, replied.
“We can if you hurry up.”
“Dave, they left an hour ago. He has an apartment in town, which is probably a few blocks from here. It’s night and there’s only one thing for them to do.” He shook his head. “You could be on your way to being a grandfather right now.”
Dave stared at Rick, seeing him but not truly seeing him. A grandkid. A Craftsman for a grandkid? He’d have someone like Cassie or Neil for a grandkid. His family line was about to be tainted.
Rick glanced at Sally. “I think he’s in shock.”
Sally grunted and rolled her eyes. “This is ridiculous. Seriously, David, you’re a grown man. Didn’t you know that sooner or later your children would grow up and have families of their own?”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Dave looked at his sister. “Of course, I know they’re going to grow up and have families of their own. But I expect them to choose wisely when they’re looking for the person they’ll spend the rest of their life with.”
“What’s wrong with Emily?” she asked.
“She’s Neil’s daughter.”
“So?”
“Don’t you remember who Neil Craftsman is?”
“Sure, I do. He’s brilliant when it comes to breeding and selling cattle. You should be glad about that. Emily’s probably as smart as he is, and when Isaac gets his own farm, I bet she’ll know how to breed their cattle so they’ll be good quality livestock. This could be a very profitable thing for your son. They won’t have to worry about money.”
“I don’t care about any of that,
” Dave said. “What good is money when she’s going to make him miserable? Neither Neil nor Cassie thought anything about sleeping around or taking other people’s spouses when they were married to each other. I raised my son to honor the marital vows, and he’s done a stupid thing by marrying someone who wasn’t taught the same thing.”
“Is that what all of this is about?” Sally sighed and shook her head. “Because Neil tried to run off with Mary? David, that was a long time ago. He’s not the same person he was back then, and Cassie left when Emily was young. Emily’s had Sarah for a mother, and I know of Sarah well enough to know she’d instruct Emily in how to honor the marital vows. You’re really overreacting here.”
“You know, Sally, if this was Greg, you’d be as upset as I am right now. But this isn’t about Greg, so what do you care?”
“That’s not fair,” Rick interjected. “Isaac’s our nephew. We care about him. I know a man who does business with Neil from time to time, and Neil’s not the same person he was back then. You can’t judge a person based on who they’ve been. You have to judge them by who they are now.”
“Are you going to tell me where Isaac’s at or not?”
“All we know is that he’s in an apartment.”
“Which one?”
“We don’t know which one.”
Sally gasped. “Isaac’s a married man now. You can’t pull him out of his apartment and take him home like he’s a child.”
Fine. So they weren’t going to help him. Deciding he’d heard enough, he turned around and left. How could they understand? They weren’t there when Mary arrived in Omaha and Neil insulted her because she didn’t meet up to his expectations. Then Neil made it a point to slip in snide comments about Mary whenever Dave had to go with his brothers to do something for Neil, like bring in his stray cattle or help with the harvest.
And then he had to put up with Neil and Cassie using Mary to make Cassie her fancy clothes, something that wouldn’t have been so hard to watch if he hadn’t been aware of how they looked down at Mary. All the things Mary did for them, and it was never enough. The more she gave, the more they wanted. Dave finally had to put a stop to it. And just when he thought he was done with Neil, Neil kidnapped Mary. He’d never been more scared in his entire life. And now he’d never been angrier.
Isaac was too busy judging by appearances, just as everyone judged Cassie based on her beauty when she first came to Omaha. They all thought she was wonderful, and it seemed that he was the only one who wasn’t fooled by her fake kindness. But look at how it turned out! She not only used people, but she also slept around with other men. Was that what Isaac wanted for himself?
When Dave reached his horse, he scanned the buildings in town. Isaac could be anywhere. What was he supposed to do? Go to each one and see if Isaac was there? Dave swallowed the lump in his throat. Ever since Isaac was a child, he did everything he could to protect him from anyone who might hurt him, and now Isaac’s naivety led him to make the worst decision he could ever make. What was he supposed to do when Isaac ended up alone with a child to raise because Emily left him the same way Cassie left Neil? Just how was he supposed to prepare Isaac for something that devastating? And what if he found out Emily slept with someone else and couldn’t be sure the child was even his?
This was exactly why he didn’t want his son talking to Emily. And now what? Was he supposed to go home and wait for his son to tell him what he feared most had come true? The knot in his stomach tightening, he untied the stallion’s reins and gave one last look at the downtown area. If only he knew which apartment his son was in… Shoulders slumped, he reluctantly got on his horse and headed home.
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning, Emily searched through the kitchen and realized Isaac hadn’t thought to buy any food. She turned to him as he came out of the bedroom. “Do you have enough money to get some food at the mercantile?”
With a sheepish grin, he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think to buy any food, but yes, I do have money. It’s not much, but I start work at the lumber store on Monday.”
She was relieved to hear this, though she decided not to voice this out loud. Instead, she went over to him and brushed the blond strands that hung over his forehead so his hair was neatly in place again. This whole thing of being able to freely touch him was all so new yet. Parts of it didn’t seem real. She was afraid she was dreaming and that when she woke up, she’d be stuck in the schoolhouse with a dime novel in her hands while he quietly worked on his math problems. Then they’d be back to where they started.
Isaac’s eyes met hers and he gently took her hand in his. He brought the palm of her hand to his lips and kissed it, sending shivers of delight racing up and down her spine. “You’ve made me the happiest man alive.”
Blushing, she stepped closer to him so that their bodies touched. “You’ve made me the happiest woman alive.”
His grin widened before he brought his mouth to hers and kissed her. When the kiss ended, he said, “We should probably see your parents today.” He glanced at the empty shelves. “After we get food, of course. I’ll get our coats.”
Her growling stomach agreed with him, so she nodded and waited for him as he went back to the bedroom. She scanned the quaint apartment and let out an excited sigh. This was her and Isaac’s home. She could hardly believe she was a wife, and even better, she was married to the man she loved. They had the rest of their lives to be together. Perhaps they could see Alice so she could tell her friend that things were much better between her and Isaac than she thought possible. She had liked him for the longest time, and he was turning out to be a better husband than she imagined.
He returned from the bedroom and she turned her back to him so he could help her put her coat on. As she buttoned it, he slipped into his coat. Then he got his hat while she retrieved hers.
“Should we see your parents?” she hesitantly asked.
“I should go alone. I don’t want you to get caught in the middle of what might be a bad situation. I owe my parents an explanation. I’ll go later today, but I’m not going out there until I know my pa is picking up my sister and brothers at the schoolhouse. My ma can tell him what happened.”
“Do you think he’ll ever accept me?”
He took her hands in his and squeezed them. “I hope so. I know I have to talk to him, but I want to see what my ma says before I do. If anyone can calm him down, it’s her. We’re together forever now. He’ll either accept it or not, but either way, I meant what I said last night about being with you for better or worse.”
“I meant it, too.”
“Are you ready to get some food?”
Her stomach growled again, urging her to hurry to the mercantile. “Yes.”
Together, they headed out the door.
***
When Isaac and Emily arrived at her parents’ house, Isaac experienced a slight wave of nausea. He had no idea if her parents would be angry with him for taking their daughter away without asking their permission first. He should have asked them, or at least let them know. Standing on the porch now with his hand wrapped around Emily’s, he thought over all the things he should have done to prepare them but didn’t.
“I left them a note and promised to stop by as soon as possible,” Emily assured him, probably noting his apprehension.
Maybe that would help. A bit.
The front door opened and Sarah smiled. “Hello, Emily, Isaac.” She motioned for them to enter. “Why don’t you two go into the parlor? Your father’s in there,” she told Emily.
Relieved that Sarah wasn’t yelling at him, he followed Emily into the house and helped her take off her coat before taking off his. He then took off his boots and hat.
Elizabeth ran into the kitchen and gasped. “You two really got married?”
Emily looked at her sister and grinned. “Yes, we did.”
Turning to the cook stove where a pot of coffee was waiting, Sarah waved to Elizabeth. “You can help me.” Glanc
ing at Emily and Isaac, she asked, “Have you had lunch? I can make you something to eat before you leave.”
“Oh, yes, we ate,” Emily replied. “All your cooking lessons paid off.”
Sarah chuckled and told Isaac, “For the longest time, I couldn’t be sure if she was paying attention or pretending to.”
Emily laughed at her mother’s joke. “Come on, Isaac. I want to see my pa.”
Cautiously optimistic, he followed her out of the kitchen while Elizabeth went to help her mother. They went down the hallway and into the parlor where her father was playing a game with Luke and Stan. He stood up as soon as he saw them.
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