The Marshal Takes a Bride

by Renee Ryan

For himself.

  “I’m sending you straight to Satan’s playground,” Trey said.

  “No need to rush things.” A smile slid onto his lips as he focused on the gun pointed at his head. “I’ll be there soon enough.”

  Trey began to pull the trigger, but a soft, willowy thought of Katherine tugged his finger away from the metal.

  Trey shut his eyes and tried to concentrate on his bride. But, still, his hand itched to finish the deed he’d waited four long years to accomplish.

  It won’t bring Laurette back.…

  Katherine’s words echoed through his head, knifing through his white-hot anger.

  Vengeance is mine, the Lord said…

  The command stopped Trey cold. What was he doing? He was about to kill in the same manner as had the man lying in the bed before him.

  In that moment Trey knew he’d never be free if he killed Ike in cold blood.

  Freedom would only come from letting go of his hatred.

  Trey finally understood the healing power of giving mercy where it wasn’t deserved. And from now on, he would leave final justice up to God. But just as he lowered his weapon, a shot rang out.

  A burning sting spread through Trey’s right arm.

  Pain exploded in his head.

  He paused. Staggered backward. Lifted his gun.

  Another shot rang out.

  Trey’s hand went limp, and his gun slipped from his fingers. Instinct had him dropping to the floor as another shot blew toward him.

  This one hit Trey high on the shoulder.

  Ike’s laughter rang shrill and cold-blooded, and was the first thing Trey heard as he swam out of the vicious black pain in his head.

  Trey reached for his gun again, just as Logan burst into the room. With a split-second sweep, the deputy took in the situation, shifted left and jumped on Ike.

  Before Trey could scold his deputy for rushing into open fire, a numbing blackness consumed him. This was it, then.

  The end of the fight.

  But was God taking him to heaven? Or sending him to hell?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  From the moment Trey left Charity House, Katherine hadn’t been able to shake the notion that he was in trouble. And this time it was more than a selfish fear based on lack of faith.

  It was a certainty.

  So when the news came that her husband had been shot in the process of capturing Ike Hayes, her greatest concern was that she wouldn’t get to him in time. That she wouldn’t be able to tell him how much she loved him, and how sorry she was that she’d sent him away angry.

  Oh, Lord, I pray Trey’s wounds aren’t serious. Forgive me my insecurities and lack of faith in Your will for our lives together. Please, please, give me another chance to show Trey how much I love him.

  As she waited on the front lawn of Charity House for Marc to bring the wagon around, she continued praying, silently, fervently, asking the Holy Spirit for the words when her mind went blank from her overwhelming fear.

  Finally, the sound of horse hooves broke through her prayers, and Marc pulled to a stop right in front of her. His set expression showed the same concern and apprehension she felt in her own heart.

  “Don’t worry, Katherine.” He hopped down and came around to her side. “Logan said it was just his arm.”

  Katherine nodded, petrified the deputy had skipped over the details of Trey’s injury for fear she wouldn’t be able to handle the truth. What if his injury was life threatening?

  No. The Lord commanded her to “Fear Not.” For Molly’s sake, as well as her own, she put on a brave face and pretended all was well.

  Kneeling in front of her little sister, she swept the hair away from a tearstained cheek. “Don’t worry, Molly, I’ll bring Trey home. We’ll get him well, just like you two helped me.”

  Molly’s face collapsed into a mutinous expression. “Don’t want to stay,” she whined, taking a shuddering breath after she spoke. “I want to go with you.”

  “We’ve been through this already. You have to stay with Laney.”

  “No.” Molly stomped her foot, becoming the unruly child she’d been the day they’d argued over a bath. “I want to go with you.”

  Katherine held on to her temper. Barely. “Mattie’s isn’t a place for little girls. Marc and I are going to bring him home, as soon as Dr. Shane finishes stitching up his wounds.”

  Molly’s face turned red with rage, and she opened her mouth and screamed. At the top of her lungs. Loudly. Uncontrollably. Barely taking breaths in between.

  Katherine had seen her share of tantrums, but nothing quite like this one. She looked helplessly to Laney, then to Marc.

  Laney sighed, lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  Molly raised her voice even louder. “I want to see my daddy.”

  Marc touched Katherine’s sleeve. “You might as well let her come. She’ll just make herself sick. And that won’t do anybody any good, especially not Trey.”

  Realizing this was not a time to play the stern parent, Katherine nodded. “All right, Molly. You can come with us.”

  It took a moment for Katherine’s words to sink in, but once they did, Molly sucked in a deep gulp of air. Blinked. Then grinned through her tears. “I get to see my daddy first.”

  “That, young lady, is out of the question,” replied Katherine.

  Molly opened her mouth to start screaming again, but Katherine wouldn’t have it. “If you so much as make a squeak of protest again, you’re not coming with us.”

  Molly’s mouth gaped open, but mutiny soon rose in her gaze.

  Little sister eyed big sister. “No,” Katherine said.

  Molly’s eyes darted to Laney.

  Laney shook her head. “Don’t do it, Molly.”

  Molly shot a silent appeal to Marc.

  “You’re on your own if you scream again,” he said.

  Pursing her lips, Molly said, “I’ll be second, after Katherine.”

  Katherine lifted the little girl into her arms, kissed her on the cheek. “Good choice, Molly.” She hugged her tightly against her. “Now let’s go get our Trey back.”

  Trey sank into the blessed softness of the pillow beneath his head, gritting his teeth as Dr. Bartlett sewed up the last wound on his shoulder.

  “I’m almost done, Marshal.”

  Trey nodded through the agony, taking each sliver of pain as his due. Considering the situation, he was fortunate to be alive. According to the doctor, he’d been unconscious for over an hour. During that time Logan had dealt with Ike Hayes’s arrest and subsequent journey to his new residence in the Denver jail. In the meantime, Dr. Bartlett had orchestrated Trey’s transfer to this room in the back of the brothel.

  Trey knew he owed his deputy his life. No amount of thanks would be enough. And no amount of apologizing could erase the agony he’d put Katherine and Molly through in his quest for vengeance.

  Katherine had warned him that vengeance was God’s alone. He’d even agreed with her, in theory. But when he’d had an opportunity to confront Hayes face-to-face, he’d taken it.

  In the end, Katherine had been right to worry. Trey had been so consumed with hate, he hadn’t taken the precautions to protect himself.

  Now, as pain screamed through his body, he realized his mistake. He wasn’t in charge of his own life. He’d never been. God was the only one who controlled a man’s destiny. Trey just hoped it wasn’t too late for atonement.

  Lord, forgive my pride and arrogance. I’ve lived with a hard heart these past four years. Help me to change.

  Dr. Bartlett tied off the last stitch. “Okay, Marshal, that should do it.”

  “Thanks.”

  “It’s going to hurt like the dickens for the next week or two.”

  “Nothing I don’t deserve.”

  Dr. Bartlett didn’t respond. Instead, he gathered his things, dropped various instruments into a black leather bag. “Just make sure you keep the wounds clean and free of infection.
”

  He turned, then pinned Trey with a glare.

  “What?” Trey asked, knowing he didn’t really want the answer.

  Shaking his head, Dr. Bartlett sighed. “Just get well.”

  Trey squeezed his eyes shut a moment, flinching at the underlying warning. “I will. For Katherine and Molly.”

  Dr. Bartlett nodded, his eyes holding a solemn expression. “They deserve nothing less from you.”

  Before Trey could comment on that remark, Katherine rushed into the room, looking wildly around her. She appeared frantic, out of breath. And he’d done that to her.

  Her gaze finally connected with his. “Trey.”

  She seemed to put all her love, worry, anger and affection in that one word.

  Trey lifted his head to greet her, but in his hurry, he shifted his arm at the wrong angle, and pain exploded through him. Gulping through the agony, he collapsed back onto the bed. “I’m sorry, Katherine.”

  She hurried to his bedside, her eyes filling with tears. “Oh, Trey.” She looked at his torn shirt and gasped. “There’s so much blood.”

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” said Trey.

  Dr. Bartlett, brutally honest man that he was, had the audacity to offer his professional opinion. “Actually, it is as bad as it looks. If he gets an infection, he’ll lose the whole arm. Maybe even his life.”

  Worry flickered in her eyes but was instantly replaced with steely determination. She knelt beside Trey and brushed her fingers along his cheek, the tender gesture belying her heated tone. “I’ll nurse him back to health myself.”

  As Trey touched her lips with his good hand, she captured his wrist and sighed. “I love you, Trey.”

  Pleased with her declaration, he gave her one of his rare smiles. “I love you back, Katherine.”

  Dr. Bartlett cleared his throat. “I’ll just leave you two alone.”

  Trey waited until they were alone before speaking his heart. “Once I’m well, I want us to buy our own house and start our new life together. You, Molly and me.”

  A spark of hope welled into an inferno in her eyes. “I like that idea.”

  With his good arm, he pulled her onto the bed with him, winced, swallowed hard, then smoothed his fingers through her hair. “Walk in faith with me, Katherine. Let’s take life day by day. Revel in what we have, and don’t worry about what we could lose.”

  She shifted off the bed, knelt before him and took his hand in hers. “First, help me to understand why you went after Ike Hayes. And I won’t ever bring it up again.”

  After all they’d been through, he needed to tell his wife the truth. Only then could they move forward. “You were right, Katherine. By seeking vengeance, I kept Laurette alive in my heart.”

  He saw how painful this was for her to hear, but she urged him on anyway. “Go on.”

  Katherine Taylor Scott was the bravest person he knew. He wanted to follow her lead. “Because I wasn’t able to save her, I thought if I avenged her death, I could make it right.”

  Her warm fingers rubbed his palm. “Oh, Trey, what happened on your ranch wasn’t your fault.”

  He blew out a long breath. “I thought God had abandoned me that day. I still don’t think I’ve completely forgiven Him, or myself, for what happened. Change that drastic doesn’t come quickly. But I want to find my way again.”

  Her gasp of hope tore through four years of well-laid defenses.

  “I had the chance to shoot Ike, but I walked away.”

  “Oh, Trey. You gave him mercy, only to be shot for your efforts.” Her eyes were glazed with worry.

  “I got careless. If I had been less driven by my hunger for blood, I wouldn’t have let my guard down.”

  She gave him a soft smile. “That’s one mistake I’d like to ask you not to make again.”

  She looked so flustered and beautiful and full of love for him. How could he not love her with all his heart? He inhaled, exhaled slowly, until his breath became normal again.

  “From this point forward, I’ll leave vengeance to God,” he said. “Even though I’m still an Old Testament man at heart, I’m working on the rest.”

  “Through Christ, all things are possible, my love.”

  “Yes. Yes.” He lifted her chin, commanded her gaze. What he had to say was too important for her to miss. “Every time I face a gun, I know I risk my life. More importantly, I now realize just how much my death would hurt you.”

  Her eyes filled with tenderness and love. “Yes, Trey, your death would hurt me, as much as Laurette’s has hurt you.”

  Why had it taken him so long to see the truth? “I’m sorry, Katherine.”

  The sheen of tears in her eyes spoke of acceptance, forgiveness…trust.

  Certainty filled him.

  They’d come so far. But the next step was his alone. “I’m giving up my position as a U.S. marshal.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re what?”

  He shifted uncomfortably under her glare. “You heard me. I won’t risk dying and leaving you and Molly alone.”

  She smiled at him, but the silent accusation in her eyes told a different story. “So you would quit for Molly and me?”

  How could he find the words to tell her she made him want to be a better man? The man he’d thought he’d buried with Laurette. “By resigning my position as marshal of this territory, I let go of Laurette. And I commit to you and Molly, once and for all.”

  She angled her head at him, blinking back tears. “You’d do that for us?”

  Trey had no more defenses left. “Yes, and for our future together as a family.”

  She dragged in an uneven breath, swallowed and then gave him a nod. “No.”

  “You—What did you say?” He shot up in the bed, ignored the pain shooting through his arm. “But I…We…”

  “Stop sputtering, Trey. As much as I appreciate the gesture, you can’t resign. The territory needs you, and when you offered Ike mercy, you let the past go at last.”

  He released a short hiss. “What if I die?”

  She threw his own words back at him, the ones he’d used on her that first time, in Marc’s study. “One day, we all die.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know what you meant. And, if that awful event happens, then I’ll mourn you for the rest of my life. But until that time, we must live every moment together. Fully. Completely. As a family. For however long our forever turns out to be. We must put our future in God’s hands and live one day at a time.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “You wouldn’t be the man I love if you weren’t also a federal marshal.”

  He hooked a tendril of her hair around his finger. In spite of his sins, God had blessed him with a woman to love not once, but twice. The first had been the delight of youth and dreams, while the second was a strong, mature love that would last the rest of his life.

  “I’m still an insufferable, mule-headed pig,” he said, unwilling to leave anything unsaid.

  “I love you anyway, Marshal Scott.”

  With his good arm, he pulled her into his embrace, then smiled into her hair. “You’ve made me a happy man, Mrs. Scott.”

  Molly sprinted into the room, skidded to a stop when her eyes landed on Trey. “Daddy?”

  Trey kept Katherine clutched against his chest, but he gave Molly a huge smile. “Hi, kitten.”

  Molly tore around the side of the bed and peered at her sister. “What’s Katherine doing to you?”

  Trey chuckled, then turned his expression serious. “She’s hugging me.”

  Two little eyebrows lifted over wide eyes. “Do you want her to hug you?”

  “Oh, yes. Means she loves me.”

  Molly shifted from foot to foot, then peered around Katherine again. “You know, Daddy, I love you, too.”

  Trey opened his arm wider, his heart filling with joy. “Then you better join us in this hug.”

  Molly bounced into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him and her s
ister.

  With a big smile on his face, Trey pulled his women close and accepted the first in a lifetime of hugs.

  Epilogue

  Six years later

  Ethan Wendell Scott IV pressed his compact little body closer to his big sister. “You gotta save me, Moll. I don’t wanna take no stinkin’ bath again this week.”

  Those big round eyes and trembling lower lip reminded Molly of her own predicament six years ago. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

  “That’s what you said the last time.”

  “Well, this time it’s a good one.”

  He nodded in satisfaction, grinning up at her with little-brother devotion. “I knew I could count on you.”

  Molly grinned back. Ethan was her favorite little brother, even if he was her only little brother.

  But, really, what’s not to love? she thought. The little boy could spit as far as any of the Charity House orphans and twice as far as she could. In her book, that made him pretty special.

  Trying her best to look stern, she glowered at the big man looming closer and closer. She couldn’t help but think her dad got bigger and handsomer and kinder every year. One day she wanted to marry a man exactly like Trey Scott.

  Not that she’d admit it now, when he’d turned into the stinkin’ enemy. She scooted her brother behind her, mutiny twisting in her heart. No one would stand in her way as she protected the boy.

  “You can’t have him,” she warned. “I mean it.”

  Stopping inches in front of them, Trey widened his stance, then settled into the standoff as though he had all the time in the world. “Hand him over.”

  “Never.”

  As they continued to stare at one another, Molly allowed a rebellious smile to lift the corners of her lips. A swift glimpse to her left revealed an opening in the hedge. Mentally, she measured the dimensions. The hole was the perfect size for a forty-pound boy and his eleven-year-old big sister.

  “We’re getting out of here, Ethan,” she whispered from the corner of her mouth. “Just follow me.”

  Inching across the grass, Molly tugged her little brother toward freedom.

  The enemy matched them step for step.