by Rye Hart
But most of all, I felt hope.
Chapter Eight
My first wedding had been simple and I wanted the same for my second, though the local townspeople didn’t really seem on board for a simple wedding. Jared was beloved in this town and everyone had been waiting for him to find a woman to marry. Now that he had, they wanted to make sure he had the most amazing wedding possible.
It was nice to see everyone accepting me with open arms, since I’d been secretly afraid the engagement would backfire. I’d been so terrified of it that I begged Jared to keep everything quiet for a while. When I told him he looked at me with a surprised expression and cocked his head to one side.
“Why in the world would you be nervous?”
I chewed in my lip and rubbed the back of my neck. “Don’t you realize how many women in this town are pining after you?” I’d asked.
He just smiled and tugged me close, kissing my cheek. “Does it matter? I chose you.”
I smiled at the kiss and turned, putting a hand on his chest. “I know, I know. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t women in town who want my head on a plate.”
“Why in the world-“
“You’re such a smart man, but you’re so dense,” I sighed. “They’re jealous. They wanted you, but you chose me.”
“You’re worrying too much.”
I’d doubted him at first, but now that the whole town knew, I was much more relaxed. No one had tried to steal him from me yet, so I figured I was doing alright. Things were falling into place and I could not have been happier about it.
Jared had been away for the last day or so, handling some men who’d been stealing local cattle. This didn’t happen often, but he did have to leave me for longer than a few hours occasionally. His job required so much of him, so I never got onto him about being away. He had a tough job and I understood that. The last thing I wanted to do was nag him.
I hummed softly as I walked into the cabin, nudging the door open with my hip. As I walked inside I noticed that the back door was open. It was a curious thing to see, but not unexplainable. It was spring and the winds were picking up. Sometimes they were strong enough to make the glass in the windows rattle and push open the door if it wasn’t properly latched. I set Gabriel down in his crib and wandered over to the door, closing it and making sure to latch it. I didn’t want any wild animals getting into my house; it was a secret fear of mine that a fox or coyote might make off with Gabriel.
Once the door was secured I turned to grab the basket of food I’d gotten from the market, and when I did I realized I wasn’t alone. The brutish man from the market weeks before stood in the doorway of the kitchen, his frame taking up most of the space.
My blood ran cold and I whimpered, taking a step back. The man just grinned at me and took a step forward, keeping me close. My eyes widened and I turned to run to Gabriel’s crib but I wasn’t quick enough. The man’s hand shot out and grabbed me by the shoulder, yanking me back. I screamed and closed my eyes, turning to dig my nails into his arm.
The retaliation did nothing and he just pulled me closer, lifting me off the ground with ease. Pain burned in my shoulder and tears came to my eyes as I tried desperately to scramble away. Soon my feet were off the ground and there was nothing I could do but scream and kick wildly.
He slapped a hand over my mouth, effectively silencing me as he stared down at me, his eyes narrowed. “You think you can run?” he whispered. “You think you’d get away from me? I’m not going to let that Sheriff make a fool of me. I’ll show him how things are done,” he growled, starting to drag me towards the front door.
Gabriel was screaming his crib, standing up on shaky legs and crying for me. I struggled as hard as I could, but it was no use. He just dragged me through the house and across the yard to a waiting horse. My mind was racing as I realized he planned to take me away and force me to be his wife. My eyes widened at the thought and I pulled against the ropes he began to tie around my wrists. His arm came close to my mouth and I turned my head, sinking my teeth into the tender flesh. He screamed and shoved me away. I stumbled and hit the ground, scrambling to get to my feet.
I ran back towards the house but he managed to grab my long, beautiful curls and pull me back, dragging me toward the horse again. My heart was pounding and I could hear him cursing softly as he started to pull me onto the horse. He tied my wrists to the reigns and I let out a desperate sob.
“We cannot leave my baby! He’ll die! Have you no heart?” I screamed, struggling against the restraints.
“Shut your mouth. I’m not caring for another man’s child,” he smirked and ran his fingers along my cheek. “We’ll have our own child soon enough.”
I let out another shaking sob as the horse turned and set off at a trot. As we rode I managed to find a sharp part of the bridle and started to run the rope along it, weakening it and hoping that soon I’d be able to get free.
We rode away from the town and all hope started to fade. If I could not get out of these ropes soon, my fate would be sealed. We’d been riding for about ten minutes when the loud pop of gunfire rang through the vast plains. The horse reared up, knocking the man off and snapping the rope around my wrists. We both hit the ground hard as the horse took off into the sunset, without a rider.
My captor hopped to his feet and looked around, eyes narrow and aware. Soon enough Jared came into view, his gun pulled free from its holster and aimed right at the man.
“I gave you one warning. I’m not going to do it again,” Jared growled.
Chapter Nine
My eyes widened when I saw Jared approach us, the hammer of his gun pulled back. The man glanced back at me and then at Jared. I knew he was trying to figure out if he could get to me without being shot, but that was clearly out of the question.
“You’re messing with the natural order of things! You don’t know what you’re doing!” the man spat.
Jared just stepped closer, closing the space between himself and the man. “This isn’t the wild. We aren’t animals. Maybe the way you act is acceptable where you came from, but not here,” he growled. “Now you listen, and you listen good.”
The other man frowned, waiting for Jared’s command.
“I want you to get down on your knees and I want you to pray for forgiveness,” Jared told him.
I jumped up. “Jared! What are you going to do? What are you doing?”
“I’m giving this man the chance to repent for his sins before I send him to his maker!” he snarled, eyes raging with anger.
He pressed his gun to the man’s forehead. “Grovel! Beg for forgiveness!”
The man’s eyes were wide and he was pleading for Jared to spare his life, but Jared just stared him down. “I already gave you one chance. Why should I give you another?” he asked.
I ran to Jared and grabbed his arm. “Jared! Don’t do this!” I pleaded, my eyes wet with tears. I dug my fingers into his arm and gave him a little shake. “Please! Please don’t do this!”
He looked at me, his eyes full of surprise and shock. “What do you mean?” he asked, setting his lips. “Don’t you want him to pay?”
“God will make him pay! It’s not our place to decide who lives and dies. I’m here, I’m fine now,” I whispered, holding him close.
He swallowed and closed his eyes, turning to look at me. “I cannot let him get away with hurting you. What if he hurts someone else?”
“God will judge him. God will protect his children. Hasn’t he always protected us?” I whispered. “He brought us together and we cannot question Him. We have to believe that there is a bigger plan,” I whispered, leaning up and kissing his cheek.
Jared’s hands shook for a moment but he finally holstered his gun, clenching his teeth and turning away. “Get out of my sight,” he ordered.
The other man jumped to his feet and ran off in the same direction as his horse. My heart finally started to calm down and I gripped Jared’s arm, looking up at him, smiling shakily. “Thank
you.”
He sighed. “No, thank you. I was blinded my own anger and fear,” he said sadly, reaching out and touching my cheek.
I sighed and leaned into him, nuzzling him gently. “It’s okay. We’re okay now. But we need to get home. Gabriel is alone and terrified.”
Jared helped me onto his horse and we rode back to the house where Gabe’s cries could be heard from outside the door. I ran inside and scooped my child up, holding him close to my chest and trying to comfort him with kisses and kind words. Gabriel sobbed for a while, his tiny hands tangled in my hair. When he finally calmed, I set him down to sleep and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Everything had happened so fast today and my brain was struggling to keep up.
I turned to look for Jared but he’d gone to the bedroom, starting to take off his holsters and uniform. When I entered the bedroom he was down to his shirt and pants and he turned to look at me. I frowned a little and stepped inside the room.
“Don’t you need to-“
“I don’t need to do anything other than be with you right now,” he whispered, walking over to me and wrapping his arms around me. “Everything else can wait,” he murmured, holding me close.
I sighed softly and kissed his neck, resting my head against his shoulder. I leaned into him, allowing myself to feel safe in his arms after this whole ordeal.
“It would be nice if you would stay,” I whispered, finally allowing myself to be weak.
He gripped my shoulders and pulled me away, looking at me seriously. “I have something I need to tell you.”
I looked at him and blinked, unsure of whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. I nodded and pressed my hand to his cheek. “Of course. What is it darling?” I asked, almost hesitant.
“I was so scared. When I heard your screams and when I saw him with his hand in your hair. I was so afraid that I might lose you for good and I’d never be able to tell you-” he broke off, overcome with emotion.
My eyes widened and my heart fluttered in my stomach. “Tell me what?” I breathed.
He took a deep breath. “I was afraid I’d never get to tell you that I loved you,” he whispered.
Tears came to my eyes and I threw my arms around him, holding him tight “I love you! I love you too!” I said.
He rocked me back and forth for a moment, kissing my face wherever he could. “I promise, I’m never going to let anyone hurt you ever again.”
“I know. I love you.”
We held each other for what felt like an eternity, kissing and whispering our love to each other. I knew, in that moment, that Richard was smiling down on us from heaven.
Chapter Ten
We were married shortly after that incident. We were planning on waiting until the fall but ended up being married in the summer. After everything that happened, we didn’t want to waste any more time.
The wedding was beautiful and more than I could have ever hoped for. Everyone came and wished us well, offering gifts of food and flowers. Gabriel was walking by the time our wedding came around and acted as the ring bearer. Jared was kind enough to have a small suit tailored for him.
After the wedding, a peculiar thing happened. The man who had tried to abduct me returned. He’d been unable to find his horse and had tried making it on his own in the wild, but it proved too difficult. He returned to the town and begged forgiveness, admitting that he had been shows the error of his ways. After a little nudging from me, Jared offered him a job as a deputy.
The man’s name was Maverick and he ended up being one of the best deputies Jared ever worked with. As he was integrated into our little town, he used his strength and size for good rather than mayhem. He turned out to be a rather mild-mannered man who loved to read and spend time with the horses. We learned so much about him in the time he stayed with us.
One of the young girls in town took an interest in him and despite his past, the two went on to get married. She was pregnant with their first child and looked like she might pop any day now. Maverick was proof to me that the Lord really did work in mysterious ways.
I smiled softly and ran my hand over my belly, tracing shapes with my fingers. I’d only found out about my own pregnancy about a month previous. I was barely showing but Jared was impressed with the tiny baby bump. He would come home every night and kiss it, offering tender, loving words. He was going to be an amazing daddy, even if he was terrified he might mess up.
When Jared started to worry about his abilities as a father, I would point out the fact that Gabriel adored him. Gabriel knew Jared as his daddy and while I wanted to tell him about Richard eventually, I thought it best to let Jared and Gabriel bond as father and son for now.
Marrying Jared didn’t mean I forgot about Richard. I’d never forget about Richard for as long as I lived. He would always be my first love, but I knew I couldn’t hold onto him forever. He wouldn’t have wanted that for me. I knew that if he could have met Jared, he would have wanted him to take care of me.
“What are you thinking about over there?” Jared called, walking over to me from the river.
He was carrying a net and Gabriel tottered along behind him, holding a small bucket that had rocks in it. I smiled and shook my head.
“Just daydreaming.”
“About what?” Jared asked, settling beside me.
I chuckled and leaned in, offering him a kiss. “You,” I hummed.
He smiled and put a hand on my belly, whispering the words that still made me blush. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Those words were so simple, but they gave me so much hope.
The End
Regency Romance Collection
Lord Pennington’s Christmas Wish
Chapter One
The stallion was a magnificent beast, worth every guinea that Lord Richard Pennington had paid for him. A powerful chestnut with a black mane and tail, El Diablo allowed no one but his owner to mount him and that concession had come with painstaking effort, which he willingly bestowed upon the steed. Perhaps it was because he had so much in common with the high-spirited, purebred thoroughbred which the proprietors of Tattersall’s knew to keep for him because of his discerning eye for horseflesh.
Lady Lenore, his fiancée, had once, in laughing protest, told a gathering of strolling ladies along Rotten Row that horses meant more to His Lordship than even she did. Lord Richard, with a caressing glance of his dark eyes, and a gallant kiss of her hand, had assured her that she was preeminent in his affections and Lady Lenore had been mollified.
They were to wed in just two months, etching into stone their perfect matrimony in a Winter Wonderland celebration sure to bring envy in the hearts of all attending debutantes.
El Diablo recognized Richard as his master because Lord Richard had bested him. He had done so with firmness and with kindness, appreciating the animal’s spirit while curbing his wildness. But El Diablo was not content to be subdued and Lord Richard knew it. He recognized the trait. Wildness called to wildness in the bond between the horse and his master: Lord Richard would not surrender sovereignty of his mount, and El Diablo would never completely surrender to the superiority of any rider. Each one, man and horse, had a pedigree, brains, drive, and a level of arrogance which was followed up with the ability to deliver what was expected of them.
El Diablo was the center of attention when Richard Pennington rode him afternoons on Rotten Row. There was no horse that could compare to him. Nor was there a rider who could compare to Lord Richard in the saddle. Until that day in November when Richard had gone out riding with Lady Lenore and she had proposed a gallop. Ever eager to let El Diablo show his prowess, Lord Richard agreed. They took to Pennington land that Richard had ridden on hundreds of times. He knew every hillock, every slope in the verdant green property that had been home to the Pennington family since the first Earl had been given his title by William III.
No one could be sure what had happened to make El Diablo, while riding at full gallop, sudden
ly halt and throw his rider high into the air, only to fall to ground in a crumpled heap. Lady Lenore had been horror-stricken.
Richard could still hear her voice, months later, ordering and then beseeching him to get up. He recalled her lovely figure, her face stricken with fear and frustration when he told her that he could not move and that she would need to return to the manor and notify his father that medical attention would be required.
The engagement was, of course, called off. No one would have expected a woman of Lady Lenore’s beauty to wed a man who could no longer be a husband worthy of her. The debutantes regretted the loss of their dancing partner, the married ladies sighed that the handsome young lord would no longer be able to flirt with them, and the dowagers whispered that, now that Lord Richard was unable to fulfill his manly obligations, the third son, Gerald, would one day become the next Earl. Not obviously, of course; Richard Pennington was still the heir and unless he sired a child, Gerald was the nominal heir in any case, but when the time came for Gerald to wed, he would be viewed as the future Earl and not the third son. Such a circumstance vastly improved his matrimonial prospects, although Gerald, enjoying his youth and privilege at university, had no thoughts of his obligations to the title as of yet.
His father had wanted to shoot El Diablo, but Richard had refused permission. The horse was his property. He would live. No one would ride him now, fearful of what could happen to them, if El Diablo had been able to throw a rider as experienced as Richard. The horse was let out of his stall daily and allowed to run loose within the fenced-in grounds of the pasture, his own master again. Richard could see the horse from his bedroom; once, when the animal had looked up toward the house, Richard had saluted him. El Diablo was the master.