by Angela Lain
“You can’t stop me.” Faith shook her hand off.
“Leave her be, step-mother.” Flynn’s tone was scathing.
“You can hold your tongue, you misbegotten….” Claudia saw her husband approaching and tempered her words. “Mr. Duncan, do something. Stop her.”
“I believe, despite what I told him, Black Hawk did stop her, that being the whole point,” Duncan retorted. “The question really is why? After what I said to you, Black Hawk, I thought you would be miles away. I suppose I understand the bit about loving her, but what was that about Edward Shelton being a cheat and a liar?”
“Absolute rubbish. He’s from a good family he…”
Hawk cut Claudia off. “All he wants is the dowry. I tried to tell you, but you were so busy thinking I wanted to steal Faith from you, that you didn’t hear me. His father wants your land, so he can look big, Edward Shelton intends leaving Faith here and returning to his life and his mistress in San Francisco.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because he told me so,” Faith stated tearfully. “I tried to tell you too, but no-one would listen, you said I was being emotional.”
“Hmmp,” Craig Duncan turned angry eyes on Hawk. “I’ve always known you wanted her, but I won’t countenance her marrying a half-breed, you know that. If she leaves with you, that is up to her, but she will come with nothing.”
“So be it,” Hawk shrugged.
“Take her, then.”
Craig Duncan turned his back, seized his wife’s arm and hustled the still protesting woman back to the carriage.
Hawk stared after him, any last doubts vanishing in the face of her father’s indifference to his daughter’s fate.
Some people were leaving, most were standing and discussing this excitement. Of the Sheltons there was no sign. Hawk turned to be confronted with the pastor.
“You intend taking Miss Duncan away with you?”
“It would seem the best course of action.”
“And when will you marry her?” he asked shrewdly.
“I… umm.” Hawk glanced at Faith, still clinging to his arm. “That rather depends if she will have me.”
“Have you tried asking?” Jim chortled from behind the pastor.
Today was certainly the day for momentous decisions. Hawk detached himself from Faith’s clutches and dropped to one knee in front of her.
“Please Faith, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She stared at him in disbelief. “But… but I have nothing.”
“So be it. All I want is you, we can take it from there. Will you?” He studied her face as he asked. She might have said she loved him, but he had left her for more than two years, and he’d been back here less than a week. Could she really make such a decision?
“Yes. Yes, of course I will.”
“Good,” Pastor Jennings interjected. “So come back into the church, out of this infernal wind, and we will have our wedding after all.”
“But…” Faith gazed around in confusion.
“Why not?” Hawk questioned softly. He had asked, she had agreed, if he was taking her away from here she needed to be his wife, if only for her own protection. “We have a church, we have a pastor, we even have witnesses.”
“Too right you do,” Flynn grinned at his sister.
The pastor raised his voice to the people still gathered and chattering.
“Come, we are about to hold the wedding service; it is Christmas and all are welcomed.”
***
This was like a strange dream, Faith found herself standing once more at the altar. This time the right man stood at her side. Twenty minutes earlier she had walked to the altar with a feeling of rising panic, this time… this time she just hoped she wouldn’t wake up any time soon.
Pastor Jennings began his speech again, when he got to the words ‘If any man can show any just cause…” Hawk interrupted him.
“I think we already dealt with that one.”
The pastor acknowledged the words with a slight nod and a small smile. “I believe that we did.” He moved on to the important parts.
They exchanged vows, but sadly Hawk had no ring to give her.
After Pastor Jennings pronounced them man and wife and told Hawk to kiss his bride, she found herself enveloped in his embrace once again as he kissed her soundly.
“I’m sorry about the ring,” he murmured.
“It doesn’t matter, a ring is only a visible token, it’s what it stands for which matters.”
As they turned from the altar Faith gazed around the church in wonder, there were almost as many people here as there had been when she had entered to marry Edward Shelton.
Hawk too was looking on in awe.
“You have many friends, Faith.”
“No,” Jim corrected him, “I believe it is you who have many friends.”
Sheriff Bonner stepped forward to congratulate them. “That is true, Mr. Black Hawk. Anyone who was in this town two years ago remembers very well what you did to rid this place of an evil man. Marston was hated, but so powerful that no-one dared stand up to his lackeys. You and your friend did just that. This town will always be grateful. As for this wedding, it has to be said that the Sheltons are not well liked. They are not disliked or feared like Marston, but they are not popular. We all hope that you and Miss Faith, pardon me, Mrs. Black Hawk, will be very happy.”
There was a chorus of agreement from the surrounding crowd.
They stepped out of the church, the sun had appeared as if to greet them, but the day was still cold, and the wind keen.
Faith looked around, her father’s carriage had gone. A number of people stepped up to offer lunch, or some sort of refreshment, but Hawk declined each one.
“Hawk, what are we going to do? Where are we going to go, right now?”
“Right this moment we are riding back to the CD, along with Jim and Flynn, and the rest of the hands.” He wrapped his coat around her shoulders.
“But we can’t. You heard my father, he won’t stop me, but we, as a couple, are not welcomed there.”
“We will not stay long. You need to collect a bag with your necessary belongings, and put on your britches, I’m sure Flynn will back you up. I will saddle your pony, and then we will ride.” He smiled down at her. He caught site of her feet. “What the devil are you wearing on your feet?”
“Slippers,” she stated succinctly.
“Slippers? In this cold? Do women have no sense?” He swept her into his arms. “Your feet will be frozen in no time.”
“It wasn’t my choice,” she pointed out.
“Nor was the dress, but I have to say, you look enchanting.”
“I look ridiculous!”
“No, you look beautiful, desirable, exquisite, alluring… shall I go on? Why do you think I lost my head and snatched you from his clutches?”
She slapped his shoulder. “Are you telling me you hadn’t intended rescuing me until you saw how I looked?”
Hawk regarded her lovingly. “I truly hadn’t come to the church with the intention of disrupting the service, I honestly thought your life with him would be more of what you were due. But then I saw him, standing there all smug and prissy, and I knew he was lying. He would have made your life miserable. Somehow the words just came out.”
He stepped back onto the porch and whistled. Storm came immediately, and he stepped onto the horse with her still in his arms.
“Hawk! I can sit behind you. I am not incapable.”
“You think I don’t know that? No, I want you sat here, on my lap, in front of me. Storm knows how to behave, he will go along with the others.”
Jim and Flynn mounted up and moved alongside, as if flanking and protecting the couple, and they headed for the CD.
***
The wind was cold, and Faith’s wrap had been left in the carriage. She snuggled close in Hawk’s arms, glad for his warmth and strength, and his coat. Glad that he had finally admitted that he wa
nted her, something she had longed for since the day he had ridden away.
“Hawk?” she murmured, still muffled in his coat. “Where are we going to go? Tomorrow is Christmas, there will be no hotels or anything like that to accommodate us, and we can’t stay here on the ranch. Maybe we can stay in town.”
“Not in Broken Ridge. I want to put distance between ourselves and Shelton. He said he had friends, I doubt that is really true, but I won’t risk it. I am sorry that our first Christmas together will not be warm and cozy and we won’t be in church like we should be. Hopefully we can find somewhere for tonight, even if it is a barn, or maybe a stable,” he finished with a chuckle.
“A stable?”
“It is Christmas, maybe tonight in a stable would be a magical thing? We shall see; I’m sure someone will take pity on us on Christmas night. And tomorrow we may even find a town and manage to get to the church. Next year I promise we will have our own place.”
“We will?” she looked up at him trustingly. “But now…?”
“We are going home.”
“Home?”
“It’s a long ride, it will take days, and the weather may not be kind. We will stop in settlements along the way when we can, and we will eat and sleep in those places. When we can’t, we will snuggle up and keep warm together, under our blankets.”
“But where…?”
“Colorado. I know a little place with warm fires and good food and good company. Maybe it will be a little crowded, but we will only take up one small corner. We will be a little late for Christmas, but we will be very welcomed, and I’m sure you will make a lovely new aunty for a small boy called Danny.”
“We are going to join Beth and Morgan?” Faith gasped.
“We are. Every time I have been there they have asked me to stay. This time I will do it, we will do it.”
“Oh, that will be so wonderful.”
He looked down at her. “I’m sorry it will be a cold Christmas. I’m sorry I have no gift for you.”
“But you do! I have you. You are my hero, my savior. I love you Hawk, my gift is the most wonderful thing, my Christmas Rescue.” She snuggled happily back into his arms and dreamed of their future, and the better times to come.
THE END
AUTHOR LINKS.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Angela-Lain/e/B01HUC6XOW
https://www.facebook.com/pg/angela.lain.books
About the Author
My name is Angela and I live in the countryside in Norfolk, UK, with my husband (who is an engineer and always busy) and my horse. My two children have left home, but I help my daughter with her horses and her whippets. I tend both house and garden, rather reluctantly, and I write and read.
For years I had woven stories in my head, when travelling and watching the world go by, when lying in bed trying to sleep, or just when I was transported by a place or an event. The result was several handwritten manuscripts, hard labour over a typewriter and eventually a single romance novel accepted and published back in 1990. Then I gave up for a time. Now the revolution has happened. Computers. The internet. Self-publishing. I felt able to inflict my creations on the world once again.
I write both historical and contemporary romance, although I personally prefer the historical; I enjoy the research. I have written some sweet stories, but most (as one of my lovely reviewers said) are a little bit naughty, I don’t leave at the bedroom door, but sex is part of the characters’ lives, not the main purpose.
I like a bit of adventure, excitement and danger. My characters have been involved on the Oregon trail, in Indian raids in the west, and in the Crimean war. They have been variously stranded in snow storms, caught in tornadoes, kidnapped by ruffians and trapped in cellars. Generally the heroes are tough and noble, and the heroines are feisty and independent. One thing they always get is their happy ending. I don’t like a book without a happy ending, so I really cannot write one.
If you have enjoyed my story it would be much appreciated if you could leave a review.
Other Books by this Author
Historical western romance and adventure
THE BUCKSKIN STALLION – Book 1
VENGENCE – Book 2. (Where we meet Daniel Black Hawk)
THE BRAVE HEART
Historical romance - England and America.
The Buckingham-Brown Series -Chronological order.
RIDE A WILD TRAIL Lance and Kit - 1839-1853
AFTER THE RAIN Rupert and Juliette - 1853
MORE REBEL THAN LADY…Susannah and Flynn-1854-1856
SAVING SOPHIE Sophie and Joshua - 1857
NOT QUITE A GENTLEMAN Carel and Constance - 1848-54, 1858
FOUNTAINS CUCKOO Eleanor and Lucien - 1854-1859
ANGEL’S HERO Elizabeth and Garrett – 1860
VENTURE WEST Alexander, Eddie and Louisa -1868
Companion book
COME HOME TO MY HEART Frances and Leo- 1851-1856
Contemporary Romance
RESCUE ME
CHEQUERBOARD
GAZE AT THE MOON
AVALON