An Obsessive Bride

by Elliee Atkinson

  She put one hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. She turned delighted eyes up to him. “Yes, I do think we will.”

  “You think we will? Surely you mean you know we will.”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “Yes, we will.”

  He turned to her and pulled her close to him. His breath on her ear made her feel weak. He practically had to hold her up.

  “Oh, Gabe, I am so happy we met. I am so sorry such bad things had to happen to you for us to meet. But I’m glad we’re together now.”

  She felt him nod. “I am happy, too, Claire. You are a remarkable woman. I can’t believe I finally found you.”

  He pulled back and they gazed into each other’s eyes. After a moment, they turned and began walking again, her arms laced through his. He pushed his hands casually into the pockets of his jeans. He could smell berries coming from her hair. He wondered how she managed to make that happen. He ran his eyes over the loose blond curls. She had pins and barrettes jutting out where they didn’t belong. It looked cute to him.

  “You know,” he said. “We could always go back and talk to Cousin Mark about getting some cleaning supplies and going out to the cabin. We could spend the evening there cleaning it. Making it ready for when we move in.”

  “It sounds like you want to get married soon,” Claire said, feeling an edge of excitement slide through her.

  “I don’t know why we should wait. I’m not talking about tomorrow. But I don’t want to wait until next year, either. What do you think? Do you want to wait for a while?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t see why we can’t do it soon. Maybe… a month? Two months?”

  He chuckled. “Let’s say two months. If we feel like we can’t wait longer, one.”

  She laughed with him. “Okay. Two months or one. We’ll figure it out.”

  “Yes, we will. Together.”

  She turned to go back toward the house and he turned with her. They joined hands as they walked back. “I think we’ll have an easy time working on things together, don’t you?” she asked in a soft voice. He nodded.

  “We’re a good match.”

  They rounded the corner and noticed the men were no longer on the porch. The wagons were still there.

  “They must have gone inside. Let’s go tell them the good news. They will want to congratulate us.”

  “Oh, Gabe, you didn’t say what the sheriff is going to do about… about what you…”

  Gabe shook his head. “Oh there’s no need to worry about that, Claire. He is going to Kentucky to talk to the sheriff in Cooperstown. He’s going to explain the situation and see what can be worked out.”

  “Do you think you’ll go to prison?”

  “No. They’re going to try to find Annie. I’m sure they’ll find her. She’s a very noticeable woman.”

  “Oh?” Claire looked at him through narrow eyes, feigning jealousy. “Should I be worried? She may come and find you.”

  Gabe laughed. “No, she won’t. She’s not like that. We were only friends. And the way we parted, well, I’m sure she would really rather not ever see me again. I did kill her brother, after all.”

  “Did they get along well?”

  Gabe shrugged. “As well as any brother and sister, I guess. I never noticed any particular fondness or dislike from either of them to the other. So… I really never thought about it. But when she and I became friends, it was like he became a completely different person. And not a happy, nice one.”

  “Well, if I ever see her, I will thank her. If it hadn’t been for her, you wouldn’t have come here.”

  He shook his head, taking her hand and bringing it up so he could trace lines on the top. The gesture filled Claire’s heart with joy, love burst through her with every heartbeat. She sucked in a light breath and looked at his hand holding hers, his finger running over her skin lightly. “You’ll never meet her, Claire. I don’t want you ever involved in my past life. I don’t want anything from there to touch you here. To touch us.”

  “I love you, Gabe. I will always love you.”

  “I love you, too, Claire. Forever.”

  EPILOGUE

  EPILOGUE

  Gabe looked up at the sky as the wagon rolled down the street. He was a little nervous, knowing it was the first day of school for Claire this year and she had several new students. She didn’t know what he was doing or what he was bringing to her. The rest of her students and of course, Miss Berry, knew what was going to happen that day.

  The sun was burning bright in the sky but winter was going to set in soon. The leaves were on the ground and the wheels of the wagon crunched over them.

  The schoolhouse wasn’t far away. He could see it in the distance. He looked at Mark when his cousin laughed. “What?” he asked.

  “Why are you so nervous? You look as wound up as an old grandfather clock. Relax. She’s going to love it.”

  “I know. I just… I guess I’m just excited. I can’t wait to see her expression. She’s going to be so happy.”

  “I am sure she will. But relax. Just relax. You’re going to have an attack.”

  “I need a drink.”

  Mark laughed again. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not a drinking man, my friend. You just stay away from the spirits.”

  Gabe chuckled. “All right, I’ll do that.”

  They pulled up in front of the schoolhouse and both men jumped down. The building was quiet. Miss Berry knew they were coming and had rounded everyone up in certain places so they would be able to surprise Claire.

  Mark went in to check on what they needed to do. He came back out moments later and told Gabe it was time to unload it.

  Gabe went around the back and climbed into the wagon. He lifted one side of the new desk he had made for Claire. Mark got the other side. They lifted it out of the wagon and carried it carefully to the front door.

  Without much struggle, they took the desk into the building and went directly up the stairs without stopping.

  Gabe was backing up the stairs, gripping the desk tightly. He could hear Claire talking behind him. She was giving a lecture to her students. He heard her voice cut off in the middle of a sentence and knew she’d seen him. He glanced over his shoulder when she stopped talking to see the look on her face.

  Her mouth was open and one hand was placed against her cheek. Her eyes were open wide.

  “Gabe!” she cried. “Oh, Gabe, what is this?”

  Mark stepped up on the second level and he and Gabe put the desk down where it was. Mark leaned on it to catch his breath. “I think I should have asked one of these fine young men to carry this desk up here, Claire,” he said breathlessly.

  She giggled and covered the distance so she could run her fingers over the fine, smooth wood. She looked up at Gabe. “Did you make this?”

  “Yes. By hand. I put a few special features in there. Some things I think might make it easier for you to be a teacher and do your teaching thing.”

  Claire giggled. “Oh, Gabe.”

  “I like how you say that. I’m going to have to keep doing things to make you say that.”

  “Is this an early anniversary present?” Claire asked, running her fingers over the top of the desk as she moved close to him. She looked up into his eyes. “Or is this an 'I love you' present?”

  “It’s definitely an 'I love you' present,” Gabe replied. “Because you’ll be getting something else for our anniversary. I won’t neglect even one opportunity to celebrate having you here.”

  The kids in the classroom behind him were all standing on their feet, watching and talking to each other. Claire looked back at them. “You all knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”

  Several of the students laughed and smiled. “Yes, ma’am.” She heard.

  “Well, you’re all very good at keeping secrets. And on the first day of school, too.”

  “I didn’t want you having to spend even one day of the school year using that desk and getting splinters. Now you have something
beautiful and new to make you feel special every day when you come in.”

  “I love it, Gabe. Thank you so much.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’ll tell you what.” Mark came around the desk and looked at the male students in the front row, the oldest boys in the school. “You boys come help me take this old rickety desk outside. We’ll bust it up and use it for firewood this winter. Can you do that?”

  “Of course, Mr. Anderson.” Three of the boys in the front row stood up and followed him to the back of the room. They picked up the old desk easily and went to the stairs. The new desk was blocking their way, so they picked it up and took it back to the place the old desk had been.

  “Do you want to keep your new desk here, Mrs. Stapleton?” One of the young boys called out to her. She nodded.

  “Yes, Alexander, that’s fine.”

  They set the desk down and came back for the old one.

  Mark, Gabe and Claire stood watching them take the desk down the stairs.

  “Now see, this old man could have saved himself a lot of trouble and back pain by getting them to do that in the first place.” Mark looked at Gabe. “See, that? We did the hardest part, bringing the new one up.”

  Gabe put his arm around Claire and squeezed her shoulders. “I don’t mind. I’ll never mind working hard for the woman I love.” He leaned down and gave her a kiss on her sweet lips. His heart filled with love for her.

  “I’m so happy, Gabe. You make me so happy.”

  “Not in front of the children, please,” Mark said. “Don’t forget they are right behind you.”

  Claire looked at the children, who were watching with delighted eyes. “If you children want to see me kiss my Gabe, raise your hand.”

  Everyone in the class raised their hand. Claire laughed when Mark raised his with a sheepish look on his face.

  She looked up at her husband. “Are you ready to plant a kiss on me, my husband?”

  “I am. I certainly am.”

  He lowered his head and touched his lips to hers. The kiss lasted long enough for Mark to whistle.

  “All right, lovebirds. That’s enough. Young eyes watching.”

  Gabe and Claire pulled away from each other laughing.

  Claire’s heart was filled with warmth as she took in the love that filled the room.

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  ALSO BY ELLIEE ATKINSON

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  Book 1 Link -> Love’s Battle Won

  Family of Love Series

  Book 1 Link -> Handsome Widower’s Second Chance

  Book 2 Link -> An Uncivilized Romance

  Book 3 Link -> Saved By An Angel

  Book 4 Link -> Snatching the Bride

  Book 5 Link -> The Pursuit

  Book 6 Link -> An Unexpected Dilemma Bride

  Book 7 Link -> The Cripple’s Bride

  Book 8 Link -> An Obsessive Bride

  Acknowledgement

  Thank you for taking your time and energy to read “An Obsessive Bride”. Without your continuous support, I would not have written this book.

  Wherever you are, I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart. I also want to thank my wonderful Facebook fans, my advance copy reviewers and beta readers in advance for making this series a success.

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  Publisher’s Notes

  This book is copyright © 2016 - 2018 by ELLIEE ATKINSON & GREEN HOUSE PUBLISHING CO.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real or dead people, places, or events are not intentional and are the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.