His eyes gleamed with wetness. “I never hated you,” he swore. “I just hated that I loved you so much. If I hate anyone, I hate myself. I wasn’t understanding enough...” He trailed off, shaking his head.
The sound of chair legs scraping across the floor made Allie look over. She’d nearly forgotten that Helen and Kitty were in the room.
“Come, Helen,” Kitty said, taking her sister’s arm.
Helen pressed her hands to her chest, and a couple tears spilled down her cheeks. “It’s so romantic,” she whispered.
Kitty cleared her throat and pulled Helen into the hallway, where a door shut.
Matt swallowed, his throat bobbing. “I forgot all about them.”
“I did too,” Allie laughed.
“Maybe we should have let Helen stay.”
Allie laughed, shaking off some of her anxiety. Everything was happening so fast. First Mr. Burke’s friend, then Matt protecting her, then Matt telling her he loved her… There were so many things begging for Allie’s attention, and she didn’t know what to consider first.
“I love you,” Matt said again, making the choice easy.
“You do?” she breathed.
“Oh, Allie.” Matt’s hand slipped lower, going around to press lightly against the back of her neck. “It’s part of why I’ve been so torn up.” He made a pained face. “Not the whole reason, since I’m plain stupid.”
“Don’t,” Allie cooed, trembling under his touch. With their hands locked, and his palm against her neck, they were they closest they’d ever been. Delicious, dizzying sensations swept through Allie, to make thinking and speaking extraordinarily difficult.
“You saved me,” he said, ducking his face lower and peering into her eyes. “Ma told me what happened. You didn’t have to come into that barn, and yet—”
“And you saved me,” she pointed out. “You did not have to cover for me. You could have turned me into that man.” She shuddered and briefly closed her eyes. “I don’t understand it. How did he find me here?”
“Mines,” Matt spat bitterly. “That’s his name. And I think it was a coincidence. I met him the other day, and he said he’s traveling west on business. Sounds to me like he stopped in here by chance. He should be gone on tomorrow’s stagecoach.”
Allie nodded, though the fear from the run-in still had her feeling sick.
“Don’t you worry. No one is going to take you away from me.”
Allie pressed her lips together, but it didn’t stop their trembling. “You mean that?”
“More than I’ve ever meant anything else… Other than I love you.”
A sheepish look came across his face, and he started to look down, but Allie was too overwhelmed by emotion. She tipped her face forward, closing her lips over his.
Matt froze in shock, but a second later he came back to life.
Both of his arms went around Allie’s lower back, drawing her in close, as his mouth moved against hers. Heat flooded through Allie, and her heart brimmed with joy.
Too soon, Matt pulled back.
“Allie,” he whispered, his exhale dancing across her cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she breathed.
“No.” He rubbed her lower back. “Don’t ever say that again. I’m sorry.”
Allie dropped her face into the crook of his neck with a chuckle. It was so warm there, she wanted to never leave.
“How about we move on?” she asked. “We are both sorry, and I love you as well.”
“You do?”
She leaned away just enough to look at him. “I love you very much, Matthew.”
A grin stretched across his face, and this time he was the one who went in for a kiss. Allie twisted her fingers in his shirt, lifting herself onto her tiptoes in order to kiss him more fully. When she drew back, she found him wearing another wide smile.
“Does that mean you’ll accept this?” he asked, digging in his pocket and bringing out a handkerchief.
Allie held her breath as he unwrapped the object. As she expected, it was Nicolette’s ring.
“I should have taken it the first time,” she murmured.
“I thought we agreed we’re not fixating on the past,” Matt said, taking her left hand.
“Then let’s not,” she agreed. “Yes, I would love to wear your mother’s ring.”
Matt slipped the ring onto Allie’s finger, with her wiping away tears the whole time.
“We’re engaged,” he said.
“Were we not before?”
Matt’s eyes shimmered. “This makes it official.”
“Yes,” she sighed happily. “It does.”
The sound of a door opening down the hall made them both look over. Helen emerged from her bedroom, her chin tucked.
“Carry on,” she said. “I am only grabbing something from the pantry.”
“Helen,” Kitty chastised, emerging from Helen’s room with her hands on her hips. “Get back in here.”
“It’s all right,” Matt answered, draping an arm over Allie’s shoulders as they both turned to look at the other two. “We’re all settled up in here.”
He caught Allie’s eye, and they grinned at each other.
“What is that?” Helen stared at Allie’s hand. “Oh my goodness...”
Kitty gasped, and the sisters rushed forward at the same time. They began talking at once, gushing over the ring and expressing their happiness.
“I knew you would make up,” Helen sighed.
Kitty pulled Allie into a tight hug. “You deserve it,” she whispered into Allie’s ear.
Allie blinked back her tears. Her heart, she was afraid, wouldn’t be able to take any more emotion.
“Your ma will be so pleased,” Kitty told Matt as she released Allie.
“Yeah, she will,” Matt grinned, looking to Allie. “How about we tell her now?”
“That sounds wonderful,” Allie laughed.
With her hand in his, Matt led her outside to the stable, stopping halfway across the yard for another quick kiss. Allie did not even bother looking around for Mr. Burke’s horrid friend. She no longer feared him.
With Matt on her side, she no longer feared anything.
“Let me help you,” Matt said, as she reached for Trigger’s saddle.
Though she could easily pull herself onto the horse’s back, Allie gave Matt her hand and allowed him to help her up.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
Matt gazed back at her in response, and the heat there made Allie grin.
At that moment, it seemed that she would be smiling for the rest of her life.
They rode back to the farm, Allie’s back pressed against Matt’s chest. With his strong arms around her, she felt as if she were melting away, becoming part of the sky and the wind.
The sight of the charred barn made Allie’s emotions turn, her stomach dropping the instant it came into view.
“It’s awful,” she commented.
“Some of it has fallen in,” Matt answered, taking Trigger to a spot in the field beyond. A temporary shelter for the animals had been put up there, with logs set up for walls and a large piece of stretched canvas providing shade.
Harold came out of the shelter as they rode up, and even with his hat, Allie saw the way his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“There you are,” he said, looking at Matt. “Your ma is worried sick. She’s about to go looking for you so she can drag you back to bed.”
“Sorry, Pa,” Matt answered, her chest vibrating against Allie’s back as he talked. “I had something important to take care of. It couldn’t wait.”
“Apparently so.” His gaze flicked to Allie, and she felt her face warm. “Well, I imagine that ring on Allie’s hand will make Ma forget all about any other transgressions.” He grinned wide. “Good to see you two worked it out. And just in time for the new foal.”
“Oatmeal gave birth?” Allie asked.
“She’s about to,” Harold nodded.
Allie felt Matt tense behind her. “She�
��s gonna need help,” he said.
Allie turned in the saddle to face him. “Go. I’ll find Nicolette.”
“Or you can help.”
“Me?” She blinked in disbelief. “I know nothing about birthing.”
“But Oatmeal likes you. You’ll be able to comfort her. Plus, I want you there.”
Allie swallowed the lump in her throat, excitement and anxiety rising in her chest. She slid from the saddle, though, tying Trigger up in the shade at the mouth of the shelter before traveling further under the tarp.
Oatmeal lay at the far end of the shelter, on a bed of hay. The other animals had given her a wide berth, as if understanding she needed her space. Her labored breaths filled the air, and Harold and Matt squatted down at her side.
“Good girl,” Matt told her, patting her neck. “It’ll be fine.”
A warm feeling took over Allie. Yes, everything would be all right with Matt around.
“We’ve got a hoof,” Harold announced.
Allie stood back, allowing the men to do their jobs and help Oatmeal give birth. Out came one hoof, and then another.
Suddenly, the foal was out so fast that Allie would have missed it if she blinked too long.
He or she lay sprawled out on the hay, all gangly limbs and neck. Allie gasped in joy, covering her open mouth with her palms.
“Goodness,” she breathed. “It’s a foal.”
“That it is.” Harold grinned over his shoulder at her.
Oatmeal lifted her head, looking over at her new baby. Matt, too, was glowing. Standing, he came and wrapped his arms around Allie.
“Look at that,” he said into her hair.
“Look at that,” she repeated, too dazed and amazed to come up with her own unique response.
A foal. A ring. A blossoming of love and trust. Two people who had saved each other in the span of twenty-four hours. Quite suddenly, life was bursting with newness.
Allie didn’t know where to put her gratitude first. Her world was too full. All she could do was hold Matt tight and let the joyful tears flow.
31
31. Matt
Chapter Thirty-one
Nat rolled up the thin blade of grass, stuck it between his two front teeth, and whistled through it. He waggled his eyebrows at Matt, who scowled.
“What?” Nat asked, leaning back against the sun-covered building. “You never learned that trick?”
“I don’t feel like doing tricks right now.”
Nat chucked the grass into the street and looked around the hotel’s corner, making sure they were still alone. “I still can’t believe it all.”
“I wouldn’t either if I hadn’t seen it all with my own eyes,” Matt answered.
Nat knew Allie’s full story, including the part about Mines. That brought the count of people aware of “Melissa’s” real identity to six. It felt like a high number, but each of those people had sworn to take the secret with them to the grave. Matt never doubted Nat, Kitty, or Helen’s commitment for an instant. Also, Allie trusted them all, so that was doubly good for Matt.
“And she saved your sorry rear end, on top of it all.” Nat grinned cheekily. “What a woman.”
“My woman,” Matt jovially answered.
“You can have her.” He winked. “With my blessing. I’m marrying my own sweet one in a few weeks.”
Matt crossed his arms and smirked. “Maybe settling down will be just what you need. It’ll curb that attitude of yours.”
Nat pulled a face. “Hey, now. You’re one to talk. Maybe settling down will be just what you need.”
“Likely so,” Matt answered, something else already drawing his attention.
The stagecoach had pulled up to the front of the hotel, and the few passengers were boarding it. Matt’s jaw tightened as Mines come out the front of the hotel and climbed into the coach. If he suspected he was being watched, he didn’t show any sign. He simply walked straight ahead, face down against the sun, and cane leading the way.
Matt frowned to himself. Why did a healthy man like Mines need a cane, anyway? It was such a nice one that it was probably nothing more than a show of wealth.
If that was true, it made Matt like him even less.
The driver closed the stagecoach’s door, climbed onto the front board, and took the reins in his hand. Satisfied, Matt slunk back around the side of the hotel, where Nat leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets.
“Giddyup!” the stagecoach driver called, and the horses and coach passed right by Matt and Nat.
Matt pushed his hat further down his head, giving his eyes as much shade as possible. The stagecoach rolled away from town, growing smaller as it slowly ate up some distance between Shallow Springs and California.
At the dip in the road, it disappeared. Since the road curved there, it wouldn’t come up again.
That was it. The last Matt would see of Mines… hopefully.
“You satisfied?” Nat asked. “Now that you’ve seen him leave yourself?”
Matt grimaced. “Not fully.”
“Why? He won’t be back.”
Matt cast him a disbelieving look. “You don’t know that for sure. He’s not staying out west. Soon as he returns to New York, he might tell his grimy Burke friend about what happened, and then Burke will come out here to make sure himself that the girl he’s looking for isn’t really here.”
Nat shrugged. “That’s supposing he actually cares about where she is.”
“He cares enough that he told Mines about her.”
“Fair. But you also have to consider that Burke would have to come all the way out here himself. Or send someone else. And they don’t have a photograph of her, do they?”
“I don’t think so,” Matt said.
Nat nodded in satisfaction. “Then you’re all good.”
Matt didn’t feel “all good.” A worry still sat in his core, and he didn’t know if it would ever go away. He’d finally become brave enough to let go of the past, to look beyond the pain and see how lucky he was. Doing that had made the agony he’d been carting around loosen up and dissipate into thin air, almost as if God had snapped His fingers and made it happen in an instant.
The best part was, to Matt’s joy, Allie had accepted him with open arms.
Now that he had her, he would never let her go. He would devote every day and night for the rest of his life to keeping her and making her happy. If that meant sleeping with one eye open, so be it.
“I’ll feel a mite better once she has my name,” Matt admitted. “And her old life will be harder to trace.”
Nat nodded. “Makes sense. You got a date yet for this occasion?”
“I was thinking whatever day you’re doing it,” Matt teased.
Nat guffawed and punched Matt in the shoulder. “Love makes you playful. I like this new Matt Denton.”
Matt shrugged and turned away, suddenly feeling bashful in front of his best friend.
“It looks good on you,” Nat said, “really. I’m not joshing.”
“Get on.” Matt started walking backward. “You coming to our barn raising?”
“I don’t have anything better to do.”
Matt waved his hand dismissively and turned, headed for the hotel’s hitching post and Trigger. What Nat had said about him acting different was probably true. It had only been a day since he and Allie had confessed their love to each other, but, even with the worries about Mines, it had been the best twenty-four hours of Matt’s life. He couldn’t wait to get back to the farm and see her smiling face.
My future wife.
The happiness he’d felt when she’d first come to Shallow Springs and he’d begun falling in love with her was back, but this time it was twice as strong. They’d been through some trials, and that had brought them closer.
With that realization, Matt almost couldn’t worry about whatever was to come next. They’d face the future hand-in-hand, and they’d always come out with more grit, more steel in their spirits.
; With fresh confidence, Matt set toward home. He was so distracted thinking about Allie that he didn’t notice he was passing the Rosses’ until someone called his name.
“Matt!” Sheriff Ross waved him down from the front door. “Hold on there!”
Her Unexpected Destiny_Seeing Ranch series Page 20