His expression became ambiguous. Not the stoic, impassive look he used to wear, but more like he had a secret he wasn’t about to reveal.
“Maybe. Not sure yet.”
Not able to hold his gaze any longer, Leah dropped her focus back to the food on her plate. She took a bite of the eggs. They were lukewarm now, not appealing with the knot in her stomach. She tried the fried potatoes. They were probably good, but she really had no appetite. Leah set her fork on the plate and leaned back in her chair.
Gideon watched her, as before. This time, though, he raised a brow. “You get enough to eat?”
She dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. Why was she so nervous? “Yes, thank you.”
He flashed a dimple. “Good. I was hoping you’d like to take a walk.”
Why wasn’t he already in the wagon heading back toward the ranch? He’d been gone for two days. Surely he was worried about Miriam and the animals. For goodness sakes, she was getting worried about Miriam and the animals. Still, she wasn’t about to pass up a chance to spend time with Gideon, as much as she needed to focus on finding a job.
“That would be nice.”
Gideon paid for their meals, helped her with her chair, and then escorted her out the door and onto the dusty street. The breeze played with the tendrils of hair she’d left loose around her face, its freshness releasing some of the tension in her nerves.
“I asked Ol’ Mose to stop in and check on Miriam on his way back through the mountains.” Gideon’s baritone washed through her like a soothing balm.
“Oh, good. I was starting to worry about her being alone for so long. I’m sure she was concerned when you didn’t come home yesterday.”
“Maybe, but my sister’s a tough one. She knows these mountains and how to take care of things.” He paused. “I don’t want her to worry, though.”
They seemed to be walking toward the outskirts of town, and her nervousness slid away as she focused on simply enjoying this time with Gideon. It would likely be her last, but no need to think about that.
He spoke of the supplies he needed to pick-up that day, of the wagon wheels he’d left for repair at the smithy, and other bits of small-talk. The buildings had thinned by now, and they came upon a pretty white structure, with a meadow stretching behind it.
“What a lovely place. What is it?”
“This is the church. Thought you might like to see it.”
“Really?”
He must have heard the surprise in her tone, for he looked at her with a single raised brow. “You don’t want to see it?”
“No…I mean, yes. I mean…I guess I’m surprised Butte has a church. The town doesn’t even have a doctor, and it’s so…rough here.”
His chuckle was deep. They walked a few more moments until they entered the church yard.
Gideon stopped and turned to face her. She glanced up under the cover of her lashes, and the look in his eyes took her breath.
“Leah, I was crazy to let you leave. Will you ever forgive me?”
What? His face was earnest, waiting for an answer. But what was he asking? “Forgive you?”
His emerald eyes twinkled, and a dimple flashed in his right cheek. “Yes, and marry me?”
She might have been knocked senseless…seeing stars…almost incoherent. “Ww…what?”
He stepped forward and reached up to cradle her cheek. His touch was warm and inviting.
“I’m sorry, Leah. I’m not very good at this.”
Her chest hammered. Her breath still wouldn’t come. “Good at what?”
“At saying what’s in my heart. At telling you how much I love you.”
It was what she’d been hoping for, praying for. Her breath came rushing back in one fell swoop. “Oh, Gideon.”
She took his face in her hands, rose up on tip-toes, and answered his question with her lips.
It was the sweetest kiss Leah had ever imagined. A breathtaking exchange of the promise of love. Gideon pulled her to his chest and nuzzled her ear. Leah basked in his nearness, his breath on her skin, his love.
“So does that mean you’ll marry me?” His voice was husky.
“Yes.” She could barely think to string words together.
He leaned back to look her in the eyes, and Leah drank in the sight of him. She ran her hand over his smooth jaw, admiring the strong angles.
“You belong in a mansion somewhere back East.”
Her gaze shot to his. What? No. She wanted to be with him.
“That’s what you deserve, Leah. So much more than that.” His arms tightened around her waist. “But do you think you can see yourself on a ranch in the Rockies?”
She released her breath and snuggled into his chest. “I couldn’t stand it anywhere else.” She felt his breath exhale, and his heartbeat grew strong under her ear.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
Leah could spend the rest of her life listening to his deep voice.
He held her close for a few moments, then spoke again. “So, since we’re here at the church, shall we go see the preacher now?”
It took a moment for the words to register, then Leah sprang back. “Get married now?”
He raised a brow, a devilish grin on his face. “Only if you want to.”
“But what about Miriam?”
He lifted a shoulder. “She’ll be happy.”
“She’ll never forgive you. Nor me. She might even skin you alive.”
Both brows rose now.
Leah brought a hand to her hip. She could see she would have to shake some sense into him. “Gideon Bryant, if you think your sister would ever forgive you for getting married without her there—without her even knowing you were engaged—you must not have met her yet.”
He revealed a rakish grin as he gathered Leah back into his arms. “I don’t think she’d mind so much. As long as I let her say ‘I told you so.’”
~
Leah stood with Miriam in front of the little white church. They were to wait for the cue from the harmonica before entering for the ceremony. A smile pushed through her nerves. Who would have thought Ol’ Mose knew how to play the Wedding March on his harmonica? He was certainly a man of many talents.
“You don’t have to be nervous.”
She glanced at Miriam, whose smile could barely fit on her cute little face. “I’m not nervous.”
One of the girl’s brown eyebrows rose. “If you smooth your dress one more time, you’re going to wear the shine off.”
Leah looked down at her dark green gown. It was one of the few she hadn’t altered to make more practical. And it was her favorite. She rubbed a hand to smooth the fabric.
A chuckle drifted from Miriam. “See?”
Miriam’s giddiness was infectious, but Leah tried to keep her own giggle inside. This was her wedding day, she wasn’t a school girl anymore.
“Really, Leah. I’ve never seen a more beautiful bride.”
Leah raised her eyes to take in Miriam’s face, now as serious as her words. She was such a dear friend. God had blessed her, indeed.
She wrapped Miri in a quick hug. Anything more might bring on tears, and that was not to be allowed right before her wedding. “I’m so glad I have you here,” she whispered. The tears threatened, so Leah stepped back and dabbed her eyes.
Miriam sniffed, her own eyes pools of jade. “I didn’t mean to make you cry on your wedding day. You’re gonna have your work cut out for you with that brother of mine.” Her face broke into a wobbly smile. “But if anyone can handle him, it’s you.”
The clear note of a harmonica drifted through the church door, saving Leah from another teary hug. She inhaled a deep breath and then released it, ran a hand down her dress, and moved through the doorway behind Miriam.
Miriam strolled down the aisle in front of Leah, blocking Gideon from her view at first. Leah released another breath, trying to force down the butterflies flitting about in her stomach.
And then she saw Gideon.
; He stood between the preacher and Ol’ Mose, wearing a long-sleeve green shirt that matched the emerald in his eyes. His hair was trimmed short, his clean-shaven face accentuating every amazing feature. Leah couldn’t take her eyes from him. Didn’t want to. Was she really about to marry this man? Her dreams finally coming true? Moisture threatened her eyes again. But when Gideon took her hands, she forgot about everything but him.
The pastor addressed them, but Leah couldn’t pull her focus to his words. And then Gideon began to speak in his rich baritone.
“I, Gideon Jacob Bryant, take thee, Leah Marie Townsend, to be my lawful wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I plight thee my troth.”
The love in his eyes took her breath away.
She made it through her part of the vows. A sense of peace and rightness overwhelmed her as she promised to love, cherish, and obey this man.
“I now pronounce you man and wife. Gideon, you can kiss her now.”
Heat flooded Leah’s face before she found the nerve to meet Gideon’s grin. He brought his lips to hers in a sweet kiss, but the promise of passion was there. A hoot from Ol’ Mose ended the moment sooner than Leah wanted.
Gideon slipped a hand around her waist and turned to their little party. “What say we celebrate? Lunch at Aunt Pearl’s for us all?”
Ol’ Mose only chuckled and slapped him on the back.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Leah snuggled deeper into Gideon’s side, relishing his warmth as the wagon wound up the mountain road. How different this trip was from the stony silence of their ride down to Butte. On this return trip, not only was Gideon speaking to her, but she was his wife. She was Leah Bryant. Mrs. Gideon Bryant. Her dream had come true.
“When did Ol’ Mose say he would bring Miriam home?” She raised her face to catch her husband’s expression.
“Tomorrow before lunch.”
Since they weren’t planning a wedding trip, Ol’ Mose and Gideon’s sister had conspired to give them time alone at the cabin. But the thought of the night ahead set off the butterflies in her stomach. It would be nice to have Gideon all to herself, if only for a day. Better not to let her mind drift too far into that topic.
“Did I tell you what the sheriff said when you were gone to get the wagon?”
Gideon shifted his weight to look at her. “No, I didn’t know you saw him.”
“He came by to tell us about the wire he received from Richmond.”
“Another one?”
“Yes. They found Simon hanging in his cell at the prison…dead.” Leah swallowed. As much as she’d feared the man, it was hard to think about anyone ending their life in such a way.
Gideon’s hand tightened on her knee.
“Oh.” The word came out in a rasp. Was he angry? Or sad?
“Such a tragedy. The whole situation. I just keep thinking it could have turned out so differently.” Leah watched Gideon’s face, willing him to understand her words. His Adam’s apple bobbed. She kept going. “If he hadn’t been so selfish, none of this would have happened.”
They rode in silence for a long moment, then Gideon finally spoke. “You’re right about it being sad the way he ended. I can’t say I like anything I’ve heard about the man, but no one should get to the point he takes his own life.
“But Leah,” he turned so he could look her square in the eyes. His gaze was soft, but fervent. “If he hadn’t threatened your life, you never would have left Richmond. You wouldn’t have made it to our ranch.”
Leah allowed that to sink in. It wasn’t a theory she’d examined before. “So you think God gave Simon such an evil heart in order to bring us together?”
His gaze was intense. “I think God used the situation to bring you into my life, but he didn’t make Simon evil. If that man hadn’t threatened you, God would have brought us together in a different way.”
How had Gideon become so wise? Leah sent up another prayer of thanks for this husband the Lord had given her. And then she remembered the final part of her conversation with the sheriff.
“I also asked him to send a telegram to my father’s steward, letting him know my location and news of our marriage.”
Gideon nodded. “That’s good.”
“I asked him to keep running the business for now, but we’ll need to decide what to do with everything.”
Gideon’s body jerked. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll turn twenty-three in a couple months. Since you’re my husband, you’ll own Townsend Oil, and the rest of my father’s holdings. They’ll need to know what you plan to do with them.”
The muscles in his jaw worked. The silence grew thick between them, but she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“I don’t want it.”
She blinked. To be honest, she didn’t want the business either, but did he realize how much money he was worth now? “But you have to. It was my inheritence. I heard our steward say one time the oil company makes over three hundred thousand a year.”
Gideon raised a brow at her, then turned his face back to the road. It was hard to read his emotions. Although not quite the impassive expression he used to wear as a mask, this was the closest she’d seen to his old façade. She knew better than to rush him, though. Better to settle in and watch the scenery change as they made their way up the mountain.
After a few minutes that felt like an hour, Gideon finally spoke again. “I don’t know the first thing about oil.”
Leah wanted to interject to say the Directors would teach him all he needed to know. He didn’t look like he was finished, though, so she held her tongue.
“And I really don’t want the money. I kinda had in mind I would support my wife, not the other way around.” He shot her a sideways glance, then focused on the trail again.
But then he released a sigh and turned to face her, threading his fingers through hers. His eyes were kind. “But it was your father’s legacy, what he spent his life building. You decide what you’d like to do with it. If you want us to go back to Richmond, for temporary or for permanent, well…we can talk about it.”
Leah allowed his words to soak in. She didn’t want to move back to Richmond any more than he did, but the fact he would even consider it… Consider leaving the ranch and all he had poured his life into… He would leave it all if she asked him? She brought Gideon’s hand up to her cheek and met his gaze with blurry vision. “No, love. I don’t want to go back to Richmond. I want to stay right here with you.”
He gave her a soft smile, then wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his side. “We’ll figure it out then.”
A few moments later, he asked, “Does the company have good leadership?”
Leah scanned the recesses of her memory. “I think so. Papa always said good things about the Board of Directors. I guess I could send a wire to the steward to make sure.”
He nodded. “Let’s do that. Then we can wait for God to make our direction clear.”
Leah’s heart squeezed, and she stretched up to kiss his cheek. He quirked an eyebrow. “What was that for?”
Leah didn’t try to hold back her smile. “Just because I’m thankful God gave me such a wise husband.”
He gave her a hooded look. “It’s a good thing we’re home now.”
Leah tore her gaze from him long enough to see they were, indeed, pulling into the ranch yard. Her stomach did another flip at the thought of what lay ahead, but she squashed the emotions.
Gideon reined the team in front of the house, climbed down, then reached up for Leah. Instead of helping her down, though, he swept her into his arms and headed for the stairs. She squealed, then wrapped her hands around his neck, giggling.
“I don’t think you’ve carried me since you broke my leg,” she said, not able to resist a little teasing.
He raised an eyebrow. “Yo
u had to go and bring that up, did ya?” An impish grin came over his face. “I guess it was the only thing I could think of at the time to keep you here.”
“Oh!” Leah blustered, then caught the twinkle in his emerald eyes. “You rascal.”
He carried her over the cabin threshold and lowered her feet to the floor. Leah turned to face him, a small distance and a strong awareness filling the air between them.
Gideon’s mouth twitched. “Why don’t you set out a bit of dinner while I put the horses away?”
Leah turned away from him, grateful for the job. “All right.”
After he left the cabin, she scanned the jars and barrels of food in their little kitchen, but everything there would take hours to cook. Her eyes hovered over the salted ham. That’d be perfect with the biscuits she’d brought from Aunt Pearl’s café. Surely she could do something with these.
By the time Gideon was back from the barn, she had the table set and a fire taking hold inside the stone hearth. And her nerves were wound tighter than a concert violinist’s strings. For the first time in a while, she longed for her mother. Or even Emily. Someone who would tell her what to expect and what to do.
Gideon settled his hat on the peg by the door, and turned to survey the table. “Looks good.”
“It’s not much, but it’s ready.” She moved to the stove for the coffee pot, then poured the steaming brew into Gideon’s mug first, and then her own.
Gideon helped her with her chair, then sat and spoke a blessing over their food. The gusto with which he consumed the ham, biscuits, plum preserves, and dried apples, was more than the simple meal deserved.
Leah picked at her own food, mostly to keep her hands from twisting knots in her skirt. There was no way she could eat.
After finishing the last bite of his apples, Gideon set down his fork with a contented sigh. “I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed your cooking.” Smile lines formed around his eyes.
Leah raised her brows. “It’s only been three days. And I didn’t really cook this.” She motioned toward the empty dishes in front of them. “The biscuits were from Aunt Pearl’s.”
Mountain Dreams Series: Books 1 - 3: Mountain Dreams Box Set 1 Page 26