by Merry Farmer
“You may hound me,” Solomon went on. “You may destroy my business and take all my money, but you can never take Honoria away from me. I might end up without a penny to my name, but I will be the richest man in the world as long as I have my wife by my side.” He turned to Honoria with a wide smile. “My beautiful, clever, vibrant wife, who I will love for all of our many, many days.”
For a moment Honoria’s heart stopped in her chest. “You…you love me?”
Solomon blinked, looking startled at her question. “Of course I do. Didn’t you know?”
“No!” She broke out in trembling from head to toe. “I…I knew you cared for me and that you…that we enjoy each other.”
“No, no!” Melinda slapped her hands over her ears again, squeezing her eyes shut. “It’s too disgusting. I don’t ever even want to think about it!”
“I love you,” Solomon said loudly, drowning out Melinda’s whine. “I love you more than anything I’ve ever known.”
“And I love you,” Honoria was quick to tell him. She hugged him tight, but then leaned back so she could study his handsome, joyful face. “I’ve loved you for so long. Longer than you could ever guess.”
“And we both have so much time ahead of us to love each other,” he added, then kissed her soundly.
Somewhere on the edges of her awareness, Honoria heard Melinda squealing again and Vivian making some sort of snide comment. It didn’t matter. Bebe was jumping up and down and clapping, and her father had turned to say something low and bitter to Rance, but that didn’t matter either. All that mattered was that she was alive, she was in Solomon’s arms, and not only was he not angry, he loved her.
When at last she burst through heaven and landed back on earth once more, it was in time to hear Rex growl, “Get off my property, the both of you. I never want to see either of you again.”
Honoria took a breath and turned to face her father with defiance. “Well, you’ll have to see us, Papa. We live in the same town, and with Solomon’s bank on the mend, we’re not going anywhere. You can complain about it all you want, but I’m still your flesh and blood, and all of the children Solomon and I have will be your flesh and blood too.”
The thought sent Honoria’s heart soaring, even though Rex cursed and spit in the dirt. He didn’t even reply. He grabbed Rance by the sleeve and marched away with him.
“Darling, let’s go home,” Solomon said, taking Honoria’s hand. “There’s nothing for us here and everything for us back in town.”
Honoria smiled like she had never smiled before and leaned into him for another kiss. She turned to go with him, but at the last minute gasped and turned back.
“Bonnie,” she called to her friend.
Bonnie was watching them with a sad smile, but blinked and stood straighter at her name. “What?”
“Come back to town. You don’t have to marry Papa. I’m sure we can figure out how to finance your efforts on behalf of the girls.”
Solomon sent Honoria a confused and gently wary look.
Bonnie must have seen it. She sighed and shook her head. “I’ve made my bed, honey. It’s about time I lay in it.”
“But—”
“Nope. It’s already decided.” Bonnie cut her off before she could say more. “I knew this day would come, and I accept it as the price I must pay.”
“Ugh, she’s so melodramatic,” Vivian snorted. She grabbed Melinda’s arm and turned to go inside. Before they took more than a few steps, Vivian turned to Bebe. “Bebe! Come! Now!”
A stricken Bebe looked between Vivian and Honoria, at a complete loss.
“Bebe!” Melinda added her command to her sisters.
“If you ever need me, I’ll be there for you,” Honoria told Bebe.
Still looking miserable, Bebe nodded, then scurried after Vivian and Melinda.
“She’ll take you up on that offer in time,” Bonnie sighed.
“Will you take me up on it too?” Honoria asked.
Bonnie shook her head. She didn’t say anything more except, “You two go on before your father takes it into his head to do something stupider than he’s already done.”
Hard though it was, Honoria accepted Bonnie’s choice. She squeezed Solomon’s hand. Together they turned and walked back to his horse. Solomon helped her to mount, then climbed up behind her.
“I meant what I said,” he insisted as he reached around her waist for the reins. “I would happily lose everything else now that I have you.”
She twisted to face him as well as she could, laying a hand on the side of his face, “And I would gladly die if it meant that you could be happy.”
He laughed. “Lucky for us, we don’t have to worry about that for years to come.”
Epilogue
It’s strange the way life works. It was only two weeks later that Honoria was back in Dr. Meyers’s office, being examined once more.
“Are you certain your original diagnosis was right?” Solomon asked, pacing the tiny space to the side of the examination table where Dr. Meyers worked.
“I’m certain,” Dr. Meyers, chuckled. How he could be so light-hearted when she was feeling so poorly was beyond Honoria.
“We can’t be too careful,” Solomon went on. “I’ve already experienced the pain of thinking I was going to lose my wife once. I’m not in a hurry to do it again.”
“Well, you’re in luck.” Dr. Meyers helped Honoria to sit up, then stepped back from the table. “It’s early days still, but I think I can make a definitive diagnosis as to Honoria’s condition.”
Honoria’s heart sank. “It’s the strain of making a break with my family, isn’t it?” she blurted. “It was so traumatic, and I’ve been so tired and nauseated since then.”
Dr. Meyers hummed and tilted his head to the side. “It does have something to do with family.”
Solomon let out a heavy breath and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve been working hard on finding forgiveness for that lot, but so help me, if they take my darling Honoria away from me again…”
“It’s not that.” Dr. Meyers continued to chuckle.
Honoria wasn’t sure she was in the mood to listen to someone who should know better behave so callously at such a serious time. “Then what is it?” she asked.
“I know Rex Bonneville is mighty keen to have a son,” Dr. Meyers went on. “But it looks like he’s going to end up with a grandson—or granddaughter—before that.”
“If he thinks—” Solomon started, but stopped flat a second later. His mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide.
The news took Honoria completely by surprise as well. At the same time, she knew instantly that it was true.
“A baby!” She exclaimed. “But…but we’ve only been married for a little over a month.”
Dr. Meyers shrugged. “Not to be indelicate, but as long as the two of you are enjoying a normal, healthy marriage, it is very possible for a baby to come along so soon.”
Solomon laughed and slapped Dr. Meyers on the back. “I wouldn’t say our marriage has been normal, exactly. But you’re right, a baby is possible.”
“Not just possible,” Honoria said, hopping off the table. “It’s factual. We’re having a baby!” She rushed into Solomon’s arms, barely able to believe how blessed she was. One minute she’d been certain she was going to die, and the next she was about to bring a new life into the world.
“Now, there are still complications that can occur,” Dr. Meyers went on as if delivering a speech he was honor-bound to share. “But Honoria is extremely healthy, as we all now know, and in the prime of her child-bearing years. I think this pregnancy will proceed without trouble.”
He gave them more information and made sure they knew what they needed to do, both for Honoria’s health and for the health of the baby. Afterwards, both equally stunned, Honoria and Solomon headed out of Dr. Meyers’s office and down Prairie Avenue toward Station Street in a daze.
“We’re going to be a family,” Solomon spoke at last, hugging Honoria’s ar
m tightly as he escorted her.
“We’re already a family,” Honoria giggled. She couldn’t seem to stop herself once she got going. “I hope we do have a boy,” she went on. “It would be grand to nurture a little Solomon, Jr. as he grew to be a fine banker, like his father.”
Solomon laughed. “I think I’d rather like to have an Honoria, Jr. if it’s all the same.”
Honoria swatted at his arm, her heart so light she thought she might float. “If it is a girl, can we name her Ariana? After my mother.”
A fond smile spread across Solomon’s handsome face, made even more handsome by pure bliss and contentment. “Ariana Templesmith. I think I like it.”
They continued on in a cloud of delight, walking arm in arm as if the world didn’t matter. The only thing that threatened to upset the perfection of the moment was the sight of Bonnie fussing with a carpetbag as she waited on the platform of Haskell’s train station. She was dressed in full travel regalia, complete with gloves and a veiled hat.
“Bonnie!” Honoria let go of Solomon’s arms and rushed over to the edge of the platform.
“Take it easy, Sweetheart,” Solomon called after her.
Honoria was certain that was the first of many ways that Solomon would wrap her up in cotton-wool during her pregnancy, but at the moment, she had bigger concerns. “Are you running away at last?” she asked, stepping up onto the train platform and taking Bonnie’s hands. “Thank God!”
“No.” Bonnie laughed, though there wasn’t much humor in it. “Just taking a short trip.”
“Where?” Honoria blinked, confused. Solomon stepped up to the platform and walked to her side, resting a hand on the small of her back.
“To Everland,” Bonnie explained.
“Everland?” Solomon frowned. “Whatever for?”
Bonnie sighed. “I told Rex I had something I had to take care of before I could marry him.”
“And it’s in Everland?” Honoria asked.
Bonnie nodded.
“Whatever is it?” Solomon followed.
The corner of Bonnie’s mouth twitched with mischief and something Honoria couldn’t quite name.
“Before I can marry your father, I’ve got to divorce my husband.”
Yes, I can hear you right now saying, “Whaaaaaaaaat? Bonnie is already married? When? How? Who? What’s going on?” Yes, it’s true. Because historically speaking, not all mail-order bride stories worked out back in the days of the Old West. The law wasn’t always around to help people cut ties legally either. But sometimes, if people let enough water run under the bridge, old misunderstandings could be mended. One little trip to Everland might give Bonnie and a certain Rupert Cole a second chance to fall in love. Be sure to find out in late October in His Secret Bride!
If you haven’t checked out the Everland series by Caroline Lee, you might just want to do that before His Secret Bride! The Everland series starts with Ella, and you can get your first glimpse of Rupert Cole in book two, Little Red!
Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.
About the Author
I hope you have enjoyed His Forbidden Bride. If you’d like to be the first to learn about when new books in the series come out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it! For a complete list of works by Merry Farmer with links, please visit http://wp.me/P5ttjb-14F.
Merry Farmer is an award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn't have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have topped the Amazon and iBooks charts and have been named finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.
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Acknowledgments
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my awesome beta-readers, Caroline Lee, Carly Cole, and Jolene Stewart, for their suggestions and advice. And a big, big thanks to my editor, Cissie Patterson, for doing an outstanding job, as always, and for leaving hilarious comments throughout the manuscript. Also, a big round of applause for my marketing and promo mistress, Sara Benedict.
And a special thank you to the Pioneer Hearts group! Do you love Western Historical Romance? Wanna come play with us? Become a member at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pioneerhearts/
Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.