The Maverick's Bride

by Catherine Palmer

  “My lord,” one of the servants protested, “this man insists on entering the consulate without invitation.”

  “Mr. King!” Lord Delamere called out.

  “Lord Delamere.” Adam never took his eyes from Emma’s. “Mind if I join you?”

  “Not at all. Welcome!” Delamere turned to the military band. “Carry on, gentlemen.”

  As the music started again, the dancers swung back into the waltz. But no one could refrain from watching as Adam swept Emma up in his arms.

  “You’re alive!” She threw her arms around his neck, unable to believe that he was really here—holding her tight and spinning her around and around.

  “You didn’t really think Bond could get the best of me, did you?”

  “That ol’ tenderfoot weren’t no match for a cowboy!” Soapy exclaimed. “Coulda told you that, ma’am.”

  Adam set Emma down and stepped back to look at her. “The dress makes your eyes look almost blue,” he declared. “Or have you been crying?”

  When she couldn’t answer, he led her out onto the verandah where once they had strolled together.

  “Bond is laid up at the ranch right now,” he told her. “He’s got a couple of slugs in him, if you’d like to practice on someone new.”

  “You shot him?”

  “I couldn’t help but wing him. He was pretty determined, if you’ll recall. I returned your gold to the bank a little while ago. Richards was glad to see it.”

  Emma shook her head. She still couldn’t believe he was here…and yet she could feel his arm around her shoulders, rest her head against his chest, hear his heart beating loud and strong.

  “I wanted to bring you this.” He stopped walking and turned Emma to face him. Reaching into his shirt pocket, he took out the brass ring. It rested on the tip of his right index finger, and he looked down at it as he spoke. “When I first met you, Emma, I knew right away there was something different…special…about you. You proposed that crazy business arrangement, and I went along with it because I needed a nurse for Tolito.”

  “And the money,” she reminded him.

  “I inherited a little shipping business when my pa died. I’ll make things right with him when we meet up again. And now I know we will.”

  Emma smiled. “We can both look forward to reconciliation. God has given us that gift.”

  “Your father was wounded and in pain, but he loved you. And he was right when he recognized my name. Pa wouldn’t leave me the ranch in Texas. I was too unreliable. But he gave the ships to his son who had wandered away and never come home.”

  “Ships,” she repeated. “Then you didn’t need my money at all.”

  “I thought the ranch and Seastar would fill up what I was missing in my life—that empty feeling I tried to ignore. But it didn’t go away…until you came along. Then I had to face the truth, Emma. I don’t want to live without you in my life. Will you come back to the ranch with me? Will you be my wife?”

  Emma looked up into the clear blue eyes. “But what about Clarissa? Your heart belongs to her.”

  She stepped away from him before continuing. “The day we met on the pier, I saw you tear a letter. It blew across my path, part of it, anyway, and I could not resist reading it. She signed it, your wife.”

  Adam shook his head, a slow grin forming at the corners of his mouth. “You read half the letter, Emma. Half. The whole message read, Your wife-to-be. I was engaged to Clarissa for a long time. My parents thought it was a good match. But I’ve never been one to do the thing I was supposed to do. I tore up the letter, remember? And I wrote to her the day you found the locket. It’s over, Emma. It had been for a long time.”

  “I’ve never done what I was supposed to do either,” Emma whispered. “But I know one thing I must do—and that is to spend my life with you.”

  Adam took her into his arms and kissed her lips. It was a lingering kiss, one that erased the bewildered ache in her heart and sealed the vow in his. Then he took her left hand in his and slipped the brass ring onto her finger.

  “Care to dance, Mrs. King?” he asked in a low voice. “I’m not much of a high-toned dancer, to tell you the truth—especially when the prettiest nurse in Africa has got me all knock-kneed.”

  She laughed. “You must pay a visit to my clinic on King Farm about those knees, sir. You’ll find I have a wonderful cure for that sort of thing.”

  “I’ll bet you do.” With a smile, he drew her even closer. “It sounds like our song in there.”

  Emma barely heard the strains of the “Blue Danube Waltz” as Adam led her back into the ballroom and whirled her around the room. The other couples drifted into corners to watch. Emma threw back her head in joy as she swayed close against Adam. Her curls tumbled to her waist, and her skirts billowed around her ankles. But all she knew was Adam’s shoulder against her cheek, his hand at her waist, and both of them moving as one.

  Dear Reader,

  Maybe you’ve never been a nurse in Africa, as Emma was, but all of us have experienced a strong desire to do something meaningful with our lives. Are you doing the important work God prepared just for you? Are you even sure you know what it is?

  Emma felt God “calling” her to become a nurse in Africa. I used to wonder about that concept. As the daughter of missionaries, I’d heard it all my life. People reported that “God called me to do this.” Or “I experienced God’s calling on my life.” Or “I’m definitely not called for that purpose.”

  What is a call from God? What does it look, feel or sound like?

  I’ve been writing novels for twenty-three years, and I knew I was being obedient to the Holy Spirit’s quiet guidance. God prepared me for this “call” in many ways. He gave me a love of reading, an unusual childhood in Africa and Bangladesh, an ear for language, a vivid awareness of sensory details and, of course, the ability to tell a story.

  Two years ago, I experienced a “call” that wasn’t quiet or even rational. While visiting a refugee resettlement area in Atlanta, I felt an overpowering certainty that I was supposed to move to Atlanta and minister to refugees. What? I was living in Missouri…in a house by a lake…in a cozy little town…with family and friends close by. My husband reminded me of all this when I told him about my new “call.”

  I could have chosen to put in spiritual earplugs and continue my former life. But God soon called my husband, too, and here we are in Atlanta! I’m happier than I’ve ever been. Each day is a joyful miracle.

  God may not be calling you to move to Africa, or to help refugees in a city far from home, but He definitely is calling you to do something for Him. Are you listening? I hope so! If you hear His voice and obey, you’ll be blessed a thousand times over. I sure am.

  Love,

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  Emma feels that God has called her to be a nurse in Africa—have you ever felt a similar call in your own life?

  Do you think Cissy makes the right choice when she gives up everything to run away with Dirk Bauer?

  Cissy has fallen in love many times—do you believe her love for Dirk is different? Why?

  Emma and Adam both agree to a marriage of convenience to save people they care about. Do you think this was a wise choice on their part, or could their goals have been accomplished in another way?

  Adam and Emma both follow their dreams to Africa, even though their families disapprove. How important do you think it is to follow your dreams?

  How do Emma’s dreams change over time?

  Although Emma and Cissy had the same upbringing, they are very different. Why do you think they have such different personalities?

  Everyone believes Cissy was killed by the lions, but Emma refuses to give up. Do you think Emma was right not to give up hope? What would you do in this situation?

  Do you think Adam was right to keep secrets from Emma, or should he have told her everything from the start?

  Even though Adam clearly hates Nicholas Bond for assaulting Tolito and Linde, he never t
ells anyone else what happened. Do you think this was the right decision? Why?

  How well do you think you would adapt to living on a different continent?

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-3976-4

  THE MAVERICK’S BRIDE

  This is a revised text of a work first published as THE BURNING PLAINS by Pageant Books in 1988.

  Copyright © 1988 as THE BURNING PLAINS by Catherine Palmer,

  Copyright © 2009 as THE MAVERICK’S BRIDE by Catherine Palmer

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.

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