The Widow's Captive

by Lucette Nell

  Her gaze locked with his and he released a low whistle. Light danced across her face. A beautiful face he wouldn’t mind seeing every day. A smile tugged at her pink lips and heat coursed through him. Did she know what was going on in his head? He tried to look away, but couldn’t. Drat. Being cooped up in this cabin was playing tricks on his mind. No wonder old Hanson was stark crazy. How long would this blasted blizzard last?

  “Is it still snowing heavily?” She started parting Lily’s hair into three equal sections.

  It took a moment for him to realize she spoke. He held his hands out to the fire and flexed his fingers. “Afraid so.”

  “It’s awful.” Ethan shivered and hugged himself. “We’re never leaving this cabin.”

  “Never?” Lily straightened. Wide, frightened eyes met Jonah’s.

  “The blizzard won’t last forever,” he said.

  “What will we do if it does?” She nibbled her bottom lip.

  Adeline tapped Lily’s nose and smiled. “It won’t, honey. Soon it will stop snowing and we’ll leave.” With a broad red ribbon, Mrs. Spencer secured the thick braid and rose from the bed.

  “To Hollow Creek?” Jonah stared into the crackling fire. The clasp around his chest intensified at the idea of them leaving. He fought the urge to shake his head. He’d barely met them.

  She nodded but kept her head lowered. “For a while. We like to keep moving. Adventure awaits us.” When she lifted her head, a strained smile tugged at her lips.

  Jonah narrowed his eyes. The uncanny idea that she wanted to avoid him throbbed inside him.

  “I hate adventure,” Lilly muttered and pouted.

  Adeline twisted her head, revealing faded bruises at her throat. She thought you would hurt us. Ethan’s words echoed in Jonah’s head. He slapped a piece of oak against his palm before tossing it into the fire.

  She stiffened. With a tug at her collar, she moved to the table.

  Jonah stood and followed. Gripping the back of the chair he leaned forward. “You want to keep moving because of Ward.” He kept his voice low and tightened his hold on the chair.

  Howling wind permeated the cabin for a moment.

  “I just need a place to rest and think where would be best for me and my family. I can’t expect to stay at Ben’s aunt’s indefinitely.”

  He rounded the table and stopped in front of her. Mere inches separated them.

  6

  The muscles in Adeline's shoulders coiled. She chewed her lip. Her cheeks burned and her heart pounded. He was so close, she caught a whiff of wood smoke and leather. Clasping her trembling hands together, she took a step back before she did something foolish. Oh, if only we could stay here, in this cozy little cabin. Running was exhausting. Why couldn’t Ward grow tired and leave us in peace? She brushed her fingers across the fading marks. Next time, Ward might kill her. She couldn’t take that chance. Her hand stole across her belly. Lord, please, provide for us. She combed her hair back and glanced at her children, content in a game of checkers.

  “Did Ward do that?” Sheriff Hale pointed at her throat.

  Instinctively, she covered it with her hand as she lowered onto the chair and studied the dancing flames.

  “I saw the bruises, Mrs. Spencer. No need hiding it.” He pulled a chair away from the table and sat down across her.

  “I’m not even sure I should trust you.” Even as she said it aloud, she knew it was futile. She trusted him.

  “If I were here to do something, don’t you think I would’ve done so already?”

  With a stiff nod, she wrung her fingers. She turned her head. An invisible fist clenched around her spine and she closed her eyes a moment.

  “The bruises, Mrs. Spencer?”

  She tugged at the frayed lace of her sleeve. “My late husband suspected his brother was part of a local bank robbery.” She rubbed her palms together. “Ward is convinced Ben took money he’d hidden in the church. Ward caught up with us in Denver. He lost his temper when I didn’t know what happened to the money.”

  “And he tried to strangle you.” Sheriff Hale rubbed his chin with his knuckles.

  “Yes.”

  “How did you get away from him?”

  The knot in the back of her neck was hardening. “Ethan shot him.”

  Sheriff Hale straightened, and his jaw dropped. “What?”

  “Ethan…shot him. It couldn’t have been more than a mere graze on the arm.”

  A frown marred Sheriff Hale’s forehead. “Do you know what happened to the money?” He leaned back into the chair.

  “I think Ben found the money and returned it to the sheriff. But he didn’t mention anything about it to me.” Yet another thing Ben didn’t think she needed to know.

  “Is that why you left Pueblo?”

  She shifted on the chair. “Ben wanted to get away from Pueblo before people discovered Ward’s involvement in the robbery.” At least, that’s what she’d figured from the bits and pieces he’d dropped. Miles of loneliness and hours of terror flooded her. The myriad of arguments she’d had with Ben every inch of the way crushed her. Tears burned her eyes and she sniffled.

  “Mama, I’m bored.” Lily’s tiny voice sliced through her thoughts.

  “You just don’t like losing.” Ethan leaned back on his arms, the smile on his face victorious.

  In a few days, it would be Christmas. Their first one without Ben. The unseen fist tightened around her lungs this time. Ben’s affection toward their children had never been a secret. “Let’s make Christmas ornaments.”

  “What for? We don’t have a tree.” Ethan crossed his arms and stretched his legs in front of him.

  “We don’t need a tree, Ethan.” She smiled. “Let me start on the salt dough.”

  “But we’ve always had a tree on Christmas.” He stared at the fire, blinking fast.

  “I have some string. We’ll hang the ornaments around the cabin.” She patted his shoulder. “The cabin will look so pretty.”

  Lily clapped her hands and looked at the sheriff. “Will you help us make Christmas ornaments?”

  He smiled. “I haven’t made any since I was Ethan’s age.” He pulled up a shoulder. “I don’t think I remember how.”

  “It’s easy. Mama can help you.” She giggled.

  “You think so?” His smile sped up Adeline’s pulse.

  “Sure she will, won’t you, Mama?”

  Nodding at Lily even as her muscles tightened, Adeline forced a smile. She didn’t want to help the sheriff make Christmas decorations, not when his mere presence was enough to melt her insides. It would be best to avoid him. She ought to concentrate on getting her children safely to Hollow Creek. And stay ahead of Ward. Sheriff Jonah Hale was a distraction she couldn’t afford. After planting a kiss on the tip of her daughter’s nose, she gathered the ingredients to make the dough.

  Ethan sat on the stool, arms folded and lips pinched.

  “What’s wrong, Ethan?” Adeline straightened from the slab of rolled-out dough and wiped her hands on her apron.

  “I don’t want to make silly Christmas decorations.” His lip quivered as he stood and kicked the checkerboard. Light and dark pieces skittered across the floor. “I hate Christmas.”

  Lily gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

  Ethan lowered his chin to his chest.

  “Don’t say that, Ethan. Christmas is a wonderful time. Because of Christmas, you’ll get a chance to see your father again one day.”

  He blinked and wiped his nose. “But God took Pa away.”

  His voice was so fragile that tears threatened to overwhelm Adeline. She squeezed his shoulder. She didn’t want to embarrass him in front of Sheriff Hale, especially after he was trying so hard to be brave. He blinked and sniffled.

  Careful of her stomach, Adeline knelt in front of him. “Oh, Ethan, God didn’t take Pa away.” She brushed his hair away from his face and caught his chin between her thumb and forefinger. “It was an accident.” She took her son’s hands
and rubbed them. “Remember I told you how much God loves us.”

  “Yes. But why would God take Pa when we needed him so much?” Tears shimmered in his eyes.

  Her throat tightened. She opened her mouth, but when no sound came, she shot a beseeching look at Sheriff Hale.

  “Your ma’s right.” He pushed away from the table and rounded the piece of furniture. He dropped down on his knee beside her and rested his hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

  Ethan scuffed the floor with the toe of his boot.

  “And because God loves you and your Pa, He made a way for the two of you to be reunited in heaven one day.” Sheriff Hale gave her child a reassuring smile. “Do you know John 3:16?”

  The boy sniffled again and nodded.

  “I know it too.” Lily stood and rocked back and forth on her heels. “For God tho loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whothoever believeth in him should not perith, but have everlasting life.”

  Sheriff Hale’s grin broadened and he tousled her hair. “I’m impressed, you little imp.”

  She giggled.

  Moisture burned Adeline’s eyes and she wiped them away. Stop being silly. Maybe a moment outside in the freezing night was exactly what she’d need to get her mind to start working again.

  The sheriff returned his attention to Ethan. “Jesus gave His life for us, so that one day, we can be in heaven, together with Him and all our loved ones.”

  “Do you understand, Son?” She wrung her hands to keep from pulling him closer.

  “I think so.” He rubbed his eyes and sat a little straighter.

  “And that’s why we celebrate Christmas, right?” Lily clapped.

  Sheriff Hale chuckled and stood. “We celebrate Christmas because it’s Jesus’ birthday. And because He was born and died for us, as I said before, we get to be reunited with our loved ones one day.” He gave Ethan’s hair a tousle. “Now come on, those decorations won’t make themselves, you know.” Ethan yielded and helped create misshapen stars and snowmen ornaments with glee. Lily wanted hearts and flowers, but Ethan put his foot down.

  Once they finished shaping the dough, Adeline baked the decorations. While they were threading string through the holes, she tried to concentrate on the booties, but instead, she studied Sheriff Hale. He’d already answered Lily’s endless questions. Now it was Ethan’s turn.

  “Have you ever been shot?”

  “Nope. Never. But once I got kicked by a mule.”

  “Really?”

  Right before Adeline’s eyes her son was transforming from the solemn-faced boy he’d been since Ben’s death to the grinning little rascal she missed.

  “Yep.” Sheriff Hale’s forehead puckered in concentration. “Broke my arm.”

  “Did it hurt?” Lily wrinkled her nose.

  “Like the dickens.” He smiled and then looked up. A rush of heat invaded Adeline’s cheeks and she dropped her head, but not before she mouthed the words, “Thank you.”

  “Do you think being shot would hurt more?” Ethan stabbed the string through his last ornament.

  “I guess so.” Pulling the strand through a badly disfigured snowman, he sat back to study the interior of the cabin in the soft light, looking for a spot to hang the ornaments. His lips twisted in a grin. “I doubt anything would hurt more than being walloped against the head with a skillet, though.”

  Adeline’s breath hitched when his eyes met with hers. His laugh washed over her and some of the tension in her eased.

  “Won’t your family miss you?” Ethan asked.

  “I live in my aunt’s boardinghouse.” He fingered the snowman in his hand. “I guess she’ll miss me a little. I’ve been away over Christmas before.”

  “Where’s your Mama?” Lily’s brow puckered.

  “My folks are in heaven too. I have a sister in Texas.”

  “Then you would’ve been alone over Christmas?” The look on her face tugged at the corners of Adeline’s lips. Sweet, innocent Lily.

  The sheriff ran his fingers through his hair. “I would’ve been with Aunt Gene.”

  Lily swung her short legs. “Oh. But I’m glad you found us, now you can be with us.”

  Adeline twisted her head. Sheriff Hale’s smile stirred her insides. She had no idea why Lily’s words would have her experience a fuzzy sensation, but she couldn’t deny it. She was glad Jonah Hale found them when he did.

  7

  A kick to the ribs informed Adeline that she'd sat up too fast. Rubbing her stomach with one hand, she ran her other hand through her hair. She desperately needed to wash it. Where was the sheriff? Her knotted muscles relaxed when she spotted his saddlebags still slumped in the corner. He was coming back.

  Movement at the hearth caught her attention. “What are you doing awake?”

  Ethan straightened. “Sheriff Hale said he needed to check on something. He woke me to bar the door.” Her son jerked his thumb toward the door, barred by the heavy plank.

  “Where’s his gun?”

  Scrunching his face at her, he crossed the distance between the hearth and the cot.

  “It’s still where you’ve hidden it.”

  “How long has he been gone?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She let a breath feather through her lips as she braced her weight on her elbows. If Sheriff Hale wanted to do something to harm them, he certainly would’ve done so already. Beside her, Lily murmured in her sleep. Adeline had planned to reach Hollow Creek before the baby’s birth. Time was running out. Beyond the frost-covered window, snow continued to blow sideways. If the storm didn’t let up soon, her baby would be born in the cabin. Heat rushed to her cheeks. With the sheriff stuck with them.

  Her lower back aching, she stood and stretched.

  Outside something thumped against the door. Adeline stifled a gasp and stared at the wooden slab, her throat dry. The skillet was too far away, sitting on the stove. She pulled Ethan close.

  “Open up. It’s me.”

  Sheriff Hale’s muffled voice on the other side of the wood caused her knees to buckle. Thank you, Lord. As determined as she’d been not to rely on a man again, she couldn’t help finding his presence reassuring.

  She unbarred the door and it opened on complaining hinges.

  Sheriff Hale sauntered in, a pine not much taller than Lily rested on his shoulder. The scarf covered his lower face, but the corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled.

  “What do you think, buddy?”

  Ethan stared at it, his lips twitching.

  The sheriff set the tree in a wooden pail, Ethan’s hero-worshipping gaze fixed on him.

  Adeline’s heart swelled. It wasn’t the prettiest or biggest tree she’d seen, but he’d chopped down a tree. In this weather. For her children.

  “Oh, Jo—Sheriff Hale, it’s perfect.” She was about to fling her arms around him when Lily released a window-rattling screech of excitement. The girl rushed out of bed and jumped up and down around the tree until Adeline imagined the lone window rattled.

  Adeline’s gaze met and locked with Sheriff Hale—Jonah's. Thank you. He’d never know how much his gesture meant to her.

  His smile was tender enough to melt snow. He nodded.

  “This is the prettiest tree ever.” Lily clapped her hands and threw her arms around his legs. “Thank you!”

  He brushed her dark hair from her face. “It was my pleasure, Miss Spencer.”

  “Why don’t we get those Christmas decorations on the tree?” Adeline suggested.

  Laughter filled the room as the children hung the strands on the tree. When the ornaments had been arranged, Lily tugged on Adeline’s skirt.

  “Can we sing Christmas carols? Like we used to with Papa?”

  Blinking hard, Adeline swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

  “Silent Night” resonated inside the cabin. Adeline sighed and closed her eyes. Jonah had a nice, rich bass voice, almost nice enough to make her forget about the storm. Almost.

 
“What’s your favorite carol, Sheriff Hale?” Ethan asked.

  “I like ‘Silent Night.’”

  “Mama likes it too.” Lily smiled up at Adeline. “It’s her favorite.”

  “I like ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ most,” Ethan said.

  “Haven’t sung that one in a while.” Jonah ran his hand through his hair.

  Ethan grinned and with twinkling eyes, he led them into singing the carol.

  Jonah winked at Adeline.

  Cheeks burning, she dropped her chin.

  ****

  After the dishes were washed, and the children had fallen asleep, Adeline joined Jonah at the Christmas tree and handed him a cup of coffee.

  “Thanks.”

  She nodded and took a sip from her coffee, finding the warmth comforting. She had been convinced this Christmas would’ve been a dire one, only God sent Jonah on their path. Under God’s gentle hand, her nightmare was taking a turn for the better. God was good.

  Jonah touched a snowman ornament and smiled.

  “What are you smiling about?” she asked. Memories of Christmases past piled one upon the other in her mind. The fondest being the puppy Ben had surprised them with two years ago. She still didn’t quite understand why he’d insisted they leave Lady behind when he hauled them from everything dear and familiar.

  “When I was younger, my aunt would let me hang an ornament on the tree every night from December first until Christmas Eve.” He took a sip from his coffee. “For every ornament I hung, I had to name something I was grateful for and explain why.”

  “That’s so sweet.”

  “Yep.”

  She clasped her hands. “And what are you grateful about tonight?”

  When he met her gaze, her throat parched dry.

  “That…” He jabbed his hands into the pockets of his pants and dropped his chin to his chest and chuckled. “You didn’t crack my skull with the skillet.”

  She managed a strained laugh. Oh, you foolish woman.

  “Your turn.”

  “That you’re not working for Ward.” She gasped before he could respond.

  “What’s wrong?” His brow furrowed.

  “Nothing.” The baby awarded her with powerful kick. If she was blessed to have a dozen more children, she’d never tire of the experience. “The baby’s getting annoyed with the sleeping arrangements.”