by P. Creeden
His whole face softened as the tension in his shoulders visibly relaxed. “I can do that.”
Ruth cleared her throat. “It’s settled then? The only thing that I ask in this is that we wait for the wedding until I can walk with my lovely niece down the aisle. Can we postpone it until I’m well enough to?”
Ethan met eyes with Tabitha as he nodded. “Yes.”
A little over a month later, while the talk of the town had become the sudden growth of people, trains, and barn raising, weddings had also ruled the summer. And though, in comparison, Tabitha’s and Ethan’s wedding was smaller than most, Tabitha couldn’t have been happier to wear her light blue dress and walk down the aisle with her Aunt Ruth. Over the past weeks, she and Ethan had taken many long walks, had long talks as they watched the sun set on the porch after dinner, and gotten to know each other so well, they could finish each others sentences.
As Tabitha looked up into the eyes of her husband, her heart ached in her chest, but this time there was nothing but love there—no guilt, no fear.
Perfect love casteth out fear.
The two of them had decided to keep God at the head of their marriage, with the belief that His perfect love would heal their wounds and help them to grow together. When it was Tabitha’s turn to say her vows, she had to do it past a clenched throat as tears spilled over her cheeks. She meant every word. She would love, honor, and cherish Ethan until death, though she hoped that would be far off into the future.
After the pastor pronounced them man and wife, Ethan pulled her into his arms for their first kiss. When their lips met, a fire ignited in Tabitha’s core. She gasped, and when he pulled back, she could see the passion in her husband’s eyes. Then he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her through the small crowd of people who were there with them as rice flew over their heads. He pulled her all the way out of the rectory and down the street the short way to the house that Ethan had been fixing up for them. His childhood home. When they reached the door, he held both her hands in his. “Tabby, I’m so happy that you came to Belle. I don’t know what I would have done without you. You rescued me.”
She shook her head. “No, Ethan. You rescued me. Without you and Ruth and Belle, I could still be that scared little widow who was afraid to leave her house in Boston.”
He shook his head and rubbed the tip of his nose against hers as he pulled her into him. “Either way, we’re together now. And I want to stay that way until we’re old and gray.”
Tabitha’s heart swelled in her chest. “That’s exactly what I want too.”
He smiled as he leaned in and kissed her lips again. That fire burned brighter inside her, and she gasped again as he lifted her up into his arms. When he pulled back, he had a playful look in his eyes.
“Then let’s start growing old together,” he said and carried her over the threshold and into her new life.
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About the Author
P. Creeden is the sweet romance and mystery pen name for USA Today Bestselling Author, Pauline Creeden. Her stories feature down-to-earth characters who often feel like they are undeserving of love for one reason or another and are surprised when love finds them.
Animals are the supporting characters of many of her stories, because they occupy her daily life on the farm, too. From dogs, cats, and goldfish to horses, chickens, and geckos -- she believes life around pets is so much better, even if they are fictional. P. Creeden married her college sweetheart, who she also met at a horse farm. Together they raise a menagerie of animals and their one son, an avid reader, himself.
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More Books by P. Creeden
A Bride for Henry
A spinster raised to run a ranch. An injured man with a broken heart. A wedding neither of them want, but both need more than they will ever admit.
October 1867, North Texas
Brienne Walsh has resigned to life as a spinster and the lone heir to the Walsh Ranch upon her grandfather's death. She's always been too tall, too strong, and too unprepossessing to be appealing to any man. Yet when the bank calls on her grandfather's loan, telling her to either pay the full amount due by the end of the month, or marry, she is thrown into an arrangement she can't abide but must endure.
Love has been unkind to Henry Miller. His first love promised to wait for him to return from fighting for the Union in the War, but when he returned, he found her married to his best friend. The betrayal cut him deeper than the bullet from a Confederate Springfield. He lost his fiancé and his best friend in one fell swoop two years ago, and now he finds himself losing his father and his home in another. With nowhere else to turn, he chooses to follow his father's wishes and sign a document he never thought he'd consider again--a marriage certificate.
A Bride for James
A boxer who’s tired of fighting. A persecuted woman with an unwanted suitor. A marriage neither of them want, but both desperately need.
James Fisher is Champion of the Kansas City Pugilist Society, but it's a title he doesn't wear proudly. When the man he won the last match with dies overnight from his injuries, James doesn't want to see good people hurt for sport. The only problem is that his contract with the Pugilist Society remains in effect until death or marriage.
But who wants to marry a bruised and broken boxer?
When Abigail Lee's house is foreclosed on, she's left desolate but not alone. Her best friend, a former slave, is willing to allow her to live with them. But the people in town don't like her living situation, and an unwanted suitor comes knocking on the door, making threats. Abby doesn't want anyone to be hurt on her account but feels stuck between the frying pan and the fire until Cecilia comes up with a plan.
An Agent for Josie
March 1872
Marriage has always been the furthest thing from Josie Roth’s mind. After all, the majority of men cannot suffer for a woman to vote, much less tolerate one who is smarter than him. For want of a son to take over his practice, her father raised his only child, Josie, to do the job. Even though she graduated summa cum laude at the New England Women’s College of Medicine, many in New England still looked down on her, believing that women should be either nurses or midwives. So, her father decided to take to the rails and travel out West, to Wyoming, and start a practice where there was a shortage of good doctors, hoping she’d be less frowned upon, being a woman.
Billy Hogge worked with Allan Pinkerton as an agent in Chicago before the fire. In fact, as a former fireman, he had volunteered to help bring the flames under control before they consumed the city. When the Chicago office shuts down, he joins the Pinkerton agency in Denver to work on crimes out west. He sees it as a great opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
The two of them meet under the unfortunate circumstance of Josie’s father’s death. But she’s too sick to take care of arrangements, so Billy does them for her. When she finally comes to herself and mourns her father, she discovers that the town in Wyoming isn’t free of the prejudices that she’d been dealing with in the East, and she turns to the Pinkerton agency for employment. What happens when these two find out that the only way to work their next case together is by getting married first?
An Agent for Opal
Opal Cahill was raised as the only girl in a famil
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Caleb Wade has just come back from going deep undercover. He returns to the Pinkerton office and runs into one of the most stubborn, frustrating, and interesting women he’s ever met. When he finds out that she’s not only his new partner but his new wife, he digs in his heels before he decides to treat it as another undercover act. Together the two travel to Ohio to help Archie’s good friend and owner of the Turner Theater deal with an arsonist who has already succeeded in burning down the theater once and threatens to do it again. Both Caleb and Opal must learn to get past their stubborn ways and work together in order to capture the person who threatens not only the building but the lead actress as well.
Brokken Rising
Even the broken can be healed...
Rebecca Walsh has only ever had two loves, her family and horses. But when her father and brother died in the Civil War, her family is left as broken as her home town. When the town sent an advertisement for mail-order grooms, Rebecca didn't have much interest in wooing one. She just hoped the men might save her town, so her family could stay in the only home they'd ever known.
Jake Harper came to Brokken, Texas to leave his name and his past behind. He hoped to find a future that would help him forget the mistakes he'd made. But one of the other "leftover" men in town has been keeping an eye on Jake and his past might be catching up with him. And as he draws closer to Rebecca, his fears multiply.
Brokken Pursuit
Can a broken and forgotten sister get back the future she’s denied?
Hannah Beth Walsh isn’t pretty or capable like her sisters. She can’t attract a husband, even when there’s a town full of eligible bachelors. So, she decides to pursue a career she knows she’s more than qualified for—becoming Brokken’s new school teacher. But when the mayor hires another teacher, not knowing about Hannah’s placement, she’s stuck being a teaching assistant until the end of the term, with the promise that one of them will move on next year.
Oliver Holt lost his leg after serving in the War only two months. To keep his spirits up, he threw himself in his studies in order to be well qualified as a teacher out west. But when he gets to Brokken, he finds himself taking away the position of a fiery young woman who keeps her heart on her sleeve. And he can’t help it, but he’s developing feelings for her.
Promise of Home
A daring young woman with a disability. An orphan train filled with hope. A dream that won't be denied.
Julia is a deaf girl raised as an orphan who is working with the Children’s Aid Society to help find homes across the country for orphans from New York. But each time one of the orphans she’s grown close to is adopted, she finds her heart breaking. And the farther the train goes, the farther from home she feels.
But feelings can be deceiving. And there might just be a home waiting for her at the end of the journey she didn’t expect.