“Stop lying!” Isabella’s face was furious. “At least face consequences like a man!”
Suddenly Donald roared and lunged forward, catching Isabella by the shoulders and turning her around.
She screamed and tried to pull away.
Holding her in front of him, Donald grabbed a letter opener and held the point hard against the skin on her throat.
She went still and silent, her eyes wide as she looked at Tom, her breath coming in short panicked gasps.
Tom let go of the man he held and the police constables made to rush Donald.
Donald yelled, “Stop!” Edging toward the back door, he said, “Don’t follow me! Don’t take another step forward!” With that he turned and ran through the kitchen out the back door, dragging a panicked Isabella with him.
Tom was the first after him, the policemen trying to keep up. As he ran, Tom drew his knife.
Hearing the men behind him, Donald turned and grabbed Isabella close to him again, the letter opener digging into her neck. “I’ll kill her! Stop now or I’ll–”
With a heave and a sharp whistle, Tom’s knife flew forward, landing smack into Donald’s face.
Isabella screamed and jerked away as Donald fell.
Tom opened his arms and Isabella ran to him, sobbing, her breath now coming in huge gasps. His arms closed around her and held her tight.
The policemen, gasping for breath, finally caught up with them.
The constable looked at Tom, then Donald, then back at Tom, his eyes wide. “I saw the whole thing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
At first, Tom said nothing, just holding Isabella who clung to him as if her life depended on it. Finally, he looked up and asked, “Am I going to be charged?”
The constable shook his head as one of his men left to get extra help. “I’ll take care of everything, son.”
Tom took Isabella back to the house after Donald was taken away and once they were inside and had the house to themselves, Isabella calmed enough to sit.
For a long while they did nothing but sit. Finally, at the crack of a log and a shower of sparks, Isabella spoke. “I don’t want to talk about Donald any more tonight,” she said as she sat on the sofa watching the flames.
“Then we won’t,” Tom replied. Rising, he went over to the fire and added another log, then taking the poker, moved the logs as she watched.
“That was three,” she whispered. “I should have known there would be three.”
“Hmm?” He turned and looked at her. She’d spoken so softly he hadn’t fully heard her.
“Three. Grandmother always said it came in threes. You saved my life at the train station, and at the gorge and now tonight. That makes three.”
“What comes in threes, sweetheart?”
“Trouble. Grandmother would always start counting if there was a death in the family. She would not relax until she knew what was the three, the third bad thing. Then there’d be no more trouble. Tonight was three.”
“I see,” he said. He came to sit beside her and put his arm around her. “Three or no three, there’s not going to be any more trouble. I will see to that.”
She laid her head upon his shoulder. “I am glad there won’t be. So many things have happened since I came to America. But if not for those things you would not be here with me.”
“That’s right.” He kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair. “I’m glad that I am.”
“I’m glad too.” She looked up at him. “Stay here with me? I don’t want to stay in this house by myself.”
“Yes,” he said. “I understand.”
“Will you hold me again tonight?”
“Of course.” He hugged her close. “Any time you want. I like holding you.”
She smiled. “I like it too. This is my favorite place to be. Here in your arms.”
****
Now that Donald was dead and Isabella had the house to herself, she asked Tom to help her sort through the accounts and the legal documents so she could discover just exactly what her situation now was. If Donald’s financial affairs were desperate enough, she might be in a worse situation than when she had arrived in Yellow Springs with only herself and her belongings.
But then, one day, Tom came barreling through her front door, not even bothering to knock. “Isabella!” He cried out in a happy shout. “Isabella, it’s legal! It’s all legal!” You’re not going to believe this!”
“What?” Isabella asked, hurrying out of the study. Tom was standing in the parlor with his back to her, holding a stack of papers in his hand. As he turned, she saw the beaming smile on his face and started smiling herself, though she did not know why.
“The inheritance! Donal’s inheritance of one hundred eighty thousand dollars! He was legally married, so he got the money from his grandfather’s estate, but he’s dead now, so-”
Isabella’s mouth dropped open and her eyes bugged, her hands flying to her face. “Oh gud!” She screamed.
Tom leaped towards her, throwing his arms around her waist and spinning her as she clung to his neck and he laughed. “If I didn’t want to marry you already I sure do now!”
“Marry me, Tom! She shrieked, stupidly happy at her amazing fortune. Tom stopped spinning around and set her down, crushing her close in a passionate kiss. When they broke, Tom went down on one knee so hard it thumped the floor, but he didn’t even wince.
“Isabella, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” She shouted again, laughing. “Yes, Tom!”
*****
Incredibly, there was even more happiness for Isabella to find later. When going through Donald’s desk, they came across a stack of letters and telegrams addressed to Isabella.
“Oh Tom!” She looked at him, her eyes bright. “They’ve written to me! Every single one of them. They didn’t forget me.”
“Of course they didn’t.” He smiled. “How could anyone?”
She tore the letters open one right after the other and read each through while he waited patiently. When she finished, eyes bright with happy tears, she nearly exploded with all the news she had to share. “Tabitha went to Missouri to be with her cousin. Trinity went to West Virginia and married widower John Witherspoon. Hope went to Newark, New Jersey and married Roscoe Edwards who has an eight year old ward,” Isabella said. She paused and placed her hand on Tom’s arm, her blue eyes wide. “Oh but Lilly.”
“The one who was like a sister to you?”
“Yes, that’s Lilly. She had a narrow escape too. Lilly went to Chicago, Illinois to meet Wilber Hardesty but he didn’t really want a bride. He wanted a saloon singer and upstairs girl! She escaped with the help of Seth Reagan. They married in Chicago and traveled back to Seth’s Straight Arrow Ranch in Clear Creek, Kansas.”
Her hand tightened on his arm. “Thomas. It is not so safe becoming a mail order bride. There are so many dangers.”
“I’m glad your friends are all right. And I’m glad I got to you in time.”
“I’m glad too.” She smiled at him.
“You’ll want to write to them to let them know what happened and that you are safe now.”
“Yes. I must do that right away.”
****
Taking her hand, Tom asked, “Do you still love this house? Or does it have too many bad memories for you to want to live here?”
“You banish the bad things when you are near,” Isabella smiled.
Tom knew this to be true, for he had been there for enough of her nightmares, which had become less lately. “We might purchase it, if you would like that,” he said.
“Yes, Tom, I would love that,” Isabella said. “Though there are some things I would want to change.”
“And repair,” he said, thinking of the dent in the wall and the damaged wallpaper where the soup stains had never come out. He would remove anything like that which could serve as a reminder. Donald’s desk and chair had to go. His personal belongings had already been donated. Only the furniture remained.
>
“Perhaps we might redecorate some of the rooms,” she said. “And put a gazebo in the garden.” Her face lit at the thought.
Tom, who was glad to see more and more of that smile, said “Anything your heart desires.”
She smiled the deepest smile of all. “That is easy, for the only thing my heart desires is you.”
It took some time to sort through all the legalities, but at last everything was straightened out so that the house was purchased and Isabella and Tom could be married.
Their wedding was a small affair, with several of his family members in attendance and four of the men he had worked with at the Pinkerton agency.
Tom assured her that she was the most beautiful bride he had ever seen and perhaps it was the glow, for she wore her mother’s dress though it was out of fashion and she carried her father’s Bible, though it was worn. Tom had insisted on it, knowing how much it meant to her to be surrounded by these pieces of her family. Filled with the love she received from him she had blossomed and the happiness which shone from her eyes made her all aglow.
Though she was more than a bit nervous on their wedding night, after Tom declared he would kiss every inch of her and banish even the ghost of a memory of what had gone before, she relaxed into his arms, knowing she was safe and very well loved.
It was no surprise to any at the wedding who had seen the happy couple together when Isabella gave birth nine months later to their first son.
THE END
If you enjoyed reading this book, there are 49 more in the series! Find out about the rest of the American Mail-Order Brides here:
http://www.newwesternromance.com/
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Other Books By Debra Parmley and Robert Arrow:
Fairy Tale Romance:
The Twelve Stitches of Christmas
Contemporary Romance:
A Change of Scenery; Book One in the Deep Nest Guardians series
Other Books By Debra Parmley:
Historical Romance:
A Desperate Journey
Dangerous Ties
Trapping the Butterfly, Book one in the Butterflies Fly Free series
Contemporary Romance:
Aboard the Wishing Star
Vague Directions
Jenna’s Christmas Wish
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