by Carol Arens
“I couldn’t turn it away. I tried.... I don’t know how....”
“It was Pa that turned the stake away.” Jess looked at his mother.
Bethany cupped his cheeks, then kissed his forehead. “I’m sure it was,” she answered. “He watches over us from above.”
“Not above, Ma. Right here. I saw him as clear as I’m seeing you. He pushed the point of the spike down. After that he went over to Uncle Alden and kicked him in the butt.”
Alden Hanispree fainted. The man holding him let him drop, then anchored him with a boot to the chest.
“I understand, son,” Bethany said. “It’s been a frightening day. It’s only natural that you might imagine your father’s ghost was here. But in the light of day, there is no such thing.”
“Mrs. Murphy wouldn’t say so,” Jess answered. “But Pa wasn’t a ghost, he was more like an angel.”
“I believe you, Jess.” Lilleth spoke up for him.
She did believe it. Trace had been coming down on that spike. She was not the one who had moved it out of the way.
“So do I,” Trace declared. “Never expected to say so, but the fact is, I’m not dead and I ought to be.”
“There’s more to the universe than we mortals can understand,” the pretty older woman declared. She smiled and she, too, looked like Trace. “I understand there’s to be a wedding.”
* * *
Trace stood before the fireplace in the library, kissing his bride...at last. At long last.
The ceremony hadn’t taken place the moment Bethany had been freed, because according to the women of the family, weddings involved more than just the bride and groom being willing.
To his dismay, they had swept Lilleth away an hour after the town marshal had come to escort the criminals to jail, and they had not let Trace near her since.
It had taken four very long days to arrange things to the ladies’ satisfaction. Lace ribbons and satin sashes draped the library from ceiling to floor in what he had been assured was a romantic setting to thrill his bride.
As far as he was concerned, a romantic setting would be Lilleth wearing nothing but blushing skin, soaking in the bath or reclining on the bed...or the stairs.
Since his mother, his sister, and Bethany, too, had their hearts set on all the frills and frippery, the only thing to do was grin through each prewedding task.
At last a feast was prepared and a guest invited. Mrs. Murphy had been confused at first. Wasn’t Lilleth already Trace’s spirit bride?
Happy events, Lilleth had explained to her, were often repeated in the great beyond, given that folks had eternity to celebrate. This pleased Mrs. Murphy no end.
Cooper had come for the wedding, but had been no help in rushing Trace to the altar. Very clearly, he had taken a shine to Bethany...and Bethany had taken, if not a fancy, at least an interest in him.
With Alden going to jail for a very long time, Bethany had become the new owner of the mental hospital. Seeing to the inmates’ comfort and moving them all to the fancy wing of the facility had taken time away from hammering down the wedding details.
The longest delay had been due to the wedding gown. Trace’s mother, Hannah and Bethany had fussed over the secret garment for all the four days.
In the end, with the waiting finished, he had to admit it was worth the delay.
His Lils glided toward him looking as if she were wrapped in the mists of heaven. A lump lodged smack in his throat when she smiled at him.
They stood in front of his brother Jace to recite their vows. Jace was the only Ballentine to not take a position in the family business. His was a higher calling, as he liked to explain.
Finally, the promises were given. Lils was Trace’s from this day forward. He was hers for now and forever more.
Cheers erupted in the library. Lilleth and Trace were now “the Ballentines.” A couple, man and wife.
After a lifetime of wishing, he was finally kissing his bride. His mind itched with visions of things to come later.
A tap on his shoulder reminded him that this was not later.
“I’d like to welcome my daughter-in-law, son,” his mother said.
She wrapped Lilleth in a great hug and whispered in her ear. When his mother transferred her to his father for a welcome, he whispered things, too. Things that made Lilleth grin and nod her head.
If he’d eavesdropped correctly, his father had just given Lilleth a job. Trace would have something to say about her being a spy. He didn’t like it. One investigator in the family was treacherous enough.
Trace snatched his wife back from her brand-new father-in-law and tucked her close to his side. She was his, and that meant protecting her.
“There’s a rule against working in the field when you become a mother,” he whispered in her ear.
“Don’t be silly, Trace.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, looked him in the eye, then rose up on her toes to kiss him. “That’s a weak rule, according to your sister.”
“Rules are rules,” he recited.
“And yet you broke the biggest one of all, and here you are, employed and forgiven.”
“And given a raise,” he grumbled.
“Life is going to be grand.” She patted his cheek. “Not a dull moment.”
“I’m thinking of keeping the library open, right here in Riverwalk.” That sounded safe.
“You’d die of boredom and make me miserable in the process.”
Lilleth wriggled out from under his arm and dashed across the room to embrace her sister.
That one action told him just what life would be like. He would try and hold Lils to him, to protect her as a man ought to, and she would dash away and do whatever she wanted.
Life with Lilleth Ballentine would not be a sweet and predictable fairy tale. He thanked God for that. It would be earthy, exciting and wonderful. She had been right when she told him he would be bored with the life of a librarian, even if it was in the name of safety.
Candlelight, satin swags and the aromas of the feast did make for a night of romance. In spite of his impatience to get to this moment, Trace wouldn’t have changed an instant of it.
The guests would leave soon. Then the night would belong to him and his bride.
The front door opened. Sarah blew inside on a dark cold wind, carrying the latest books she had borrowed. The little girl shivered in her thin coat. It was well past the time that she ought to be out.
Trace took a step toward her, then stopped when he spotted Jess doing the same. The look on the boy’s face was one that he remembered on his own face many years ago.
Jess was smitten. He walked toward little Sarah in a Cupid-induced trance.
Sarah smiled at him. Jess grinned back and lifted the books from her arms.
That just went to show that love was timeless. As far as Mrs. Murphy was concerned it crossed eternity.
Trace caught Lilleth’s gaze from where she stood across the room, speaking to her sister. He nodded his head toward Jess, who shifted from foot to foot, looking nervous and enraptured all at once.
Lilleth elbowed her sister in the ribs, then discreetly pointed toward the children.
Bethany covered her mouth with her hand to hide a chuckle. Lilleth whispered in her ear, and whatever she said made her sister’s eyes widen in horror.
Lilleth laughed out loud, then looked at Trace, the love in her eyes as tangible as a kiss.
His bride touched her heart. She winked and blew him a kiss.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781472004208
REBEL WITH A HEART
© Carol Arens 2013
First Published in Great Britain in 2013
Harlequin (UK) Limited
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
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