“All my girls are brave, Mary.” Chase’s eyes found Bridget’s. “Every single one.”
Safely home and dressed in warm, dry clothing, everyone clustered around the hearth. Chase had insisted on inspecting all fingers and toes, to make sure that Bridget and the girls showed no signs of frostbite. And he refused to let Bridget leave the rocking chair. He didn’t settle down himself until he’d served her a plate of reheated food.
“You need another blanket?” he asked.
“Wrap one more blanket around me and I’ll melt,” Bridget answered. “I’m plenty warm.”
Pearl and Mary took turns regaling Tom with the story of how they escaped Bad Wolf. When they got to the part about Pearl yelling to Chase that they were on the buffalo rocks, Chase interrupted.
“It was your momma who named them the Buffalo Rocks, Pearl, remember? Because she said— ”
“—they looked like a herd of buffalo all huddled together.” Pearl finished. “And we used to have picnics in the springtime there, but momma always— ”
“—forgot the butter!” she and Chase finished together, laughing.
“Can we have a picnic there in the spring, Papa?” Pearl asked.
He looked at Bridget, his eyes questioning. Asking her approval? He didn’t need it. But she nodded anyway.
“I think a picnic would be a fine thing,” Chase said solemnly. “A very fine thing.”
Christmas dinner was boisterous even by Doyle standards. Pearl couldn’t seem to stop talking. It was as if a dam had burst after three years of silence. Mary had no problem keeping pace, either. The two girls were constantly finishing each other’s sentences. As soon as the meal was over, they both ran shrieking into the front room to play with the yipping, frolicking puppies.
Tom cleaned his plate twice, then sighed happily and asked to be excused. “Bill said he’d show me how to throw a lasso.”
“Don’t stay out too late, there’s church tomorrow,” Bridget reminded. “Don’t wear Bill out.”
The hands had eaten earlier so that Frank and Hob would have time to ride to town for a visit with family. Tomorrow they would all meet up for the Sunday service. Bridget was looking forward to seeing the pastor and his wife again.
After Tom departed, Chase reached across the table and took Bridget’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
Sorry for what? For his angry words this afternoon? A few harsh words were nothing compared to the beatings Bridget had endured at her father’s hand. Chase was a better man than she’d expected. She was glad that he’d finally unleashed the burden of guilt that he must have been carrying around since his first wife’s death.
“I don’t begrudge your time with Ada, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Bridget said, keeping her voice low so Pearl wouldn’t overhear. “That’s between you and her. Just…let’s speak our minds when there’s a problem. No secrets between us.”
“No secrets,” Chase replied. He gazed at her for a moment, as if she posed a mystery he couldn’t unravel. “How did you get Pearl to talk?”
“That was Mary, not me. We’re lucky they just liked each other right off.”
“I wonder.”
“Wonder what?”
“If it’s luck.” He leaned forward. “I think it might be fate. God sent me a Christmas miracle I didn’t deserve.”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
“Maybe not,” he admitted.
“Or maybe it doesn’t matter if you deserve it.” Bridget pointed out. “Maybe it’s Pearl who deserves it.”
“I don’t know why that makes me feel better, but it does.”
Bridget smiled as she stood. “I should do the washing.”
But as she reached for his plate, Chase caught her wrist and pulled her to his side of the table, then scooped her up into his lap. Bridget held her breath. She’d never been this close to a man before. Not even on her wedding day, when he’d given her that hurried peck on the cheek.
As his arms went snug around her waist, he asked, “Why did you choose me?”
Bridget blushed. “Does it matter?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” Was he blushing too? “A wonderful girl like you probably had dozens of men writing to correspond with.”
Was he joking? She shook her head.
“Didn’t we just agree, no secrets?” Chase teased.
He was right, she had to tell him. But how could she? Bridget closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see the hurt on his face. “I have a confession, then.”
“Go ahead.” He hugged her a little bit closer, kissed the top of her head. She liked it.
“I didn’t choose you. Tom did.”
“What?” When she didn’t elaborate, he added, “Bridget, look at me.”
She opened one eye. He didn’t look angry, exactly. Nervous, maybe. For the first time, the thought occurred to her that he was still worried that she’d reject him.
As if she’d leave now, when Mary was already inseparable from Pearl and Tom was discovering he loved the ranching life.
As if she’d leave a man as kind and honest as Chase. A man who swore he’d never hit her, no matter what.
She took a deep breath. “I’d given up on marrying, for Mary’s sake, and Tom’s. Turned down more than a dozen proposals from local boys no different than my Da.”
“But?”
“But Tom put my information in the mail-order bride catalogue. He’s the one who wrote you all those letters.”
Chase turned beet red. No doubt he was remembering the things he’d written in light of the knowledge that he’d been corresponding with her little brother? “You didn’t know?”
“Not until you proposed.”
“And then you read my letters?”
“Several times. I don’t know what Tom wrote to you on my behalf, though.”
He whistled. “You are a very brave woman, Bridget Doyle Williams.”
“I would’ve had to be braver to stay where I was.” She hesitated. “Are you angry?”
He smiled. “If that’s what it took to bring you here, it’s fine with me.”
As Bridget leaned her head on Chase’s shoulder, she heard the plinking tones of the music box. Pearl began to sing along, soon joined by Mary and Tom, the girls’ sweet, clear voices blending with their brother’s.
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright…
Bridget sighed and let the music wash through her. Heavenly peace. That described how she was feeling just perfectly. Everyone she loved under one roof, safe and warm and happy.
Her family.
Chase called finding her a Christmas miracle, but he’d given her a miracle of her own.
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The Mail-Order Brides of Salvation series
Winning the Deputy’s Heart
Winning the Rancher’s Heart
Winning the Doctor’s Heart
Winning the Bounty Hunter’s Heart
Winning the Blacksmith’s Heart
Winning the Wrangler’s Heart (coming in January 2016)
Winning the Homesteader’s Heart (coming in January 2016)
The Mail-Order Brides of Resurrection series
Seven Brides for Seven Lawmen
Samuel’s Secret
Ethan’s Duty (coming January 2016)
The Mail-Order Brides of Laramie County series
All Is Bright: Bridget’s Christmas Miracle
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Faith
All Is Bright: Bridget’s Christmas Miracle (Mail-Order Brides of Laramie County 1) Page 8