Once little Jacob was dressed, Lainie laid him in the center of the bed, covering him with a blue-and-white-striped blanket that Jake had brought from the mercantile.
She ran her fingers across it lovingly as she tucked the edges around the baby.
“You approve?” There was a teasing lilt in his tone.
“Definitely. So soft, and—Jake, are you sure about naming him after you? I mean—we may have a son and—”
“We do have a son, Lainie,” he said firmly, nodding toward the baby. “Little Jake, here. And I feel like you do about him. I don’t know who could do something so unthinkable. But, I’m sure glad you found him, and that he became a part of our lives.”
She nodded, rising carefully from the bed and moving over to the small breakfast table where Jake sat. He stood and pulled out the other chair for her, seating her across from him.
“I…remembered something else at the mercantile.” Jake pulled a box from inside his shirt pocket, then held it out to her.
Lainie’s heart took off at a gallop. Slowly, she took the box and raised the lid. Inside, a beautiful golden wedding band gleamed from a black velvet background.
She gasped. “Oh, Jake, it’s so beautiful.”
“Try it on. See if it fits. Here, let me—” He reached to take the ring from the box and place it on her finger. “I’d never want you to be embarrassed, Lainie. And as soon as we can find a preacher, we’re gonna do it up right—say our ‘I do’s’ and make it legal.”
He glanced at the baby. “More of a Christmas gift than you expected—me, and a baby to boot—but I hope—I hope we can have a good life together, darlin’. At least, I’m going to try to be the man you and little Jake deserve.”
“Oh, Jake…” She shook her head, fighting to find the words she wanted.
“Maybe I didn’t ask the way I should have, Lainie…” Uncertainty filled his voice. “Will you marry me?”
“Oh, yes!” She stood up and he rose, taking her in his arms. “Yes,” she repeated, nestling into his strong embrace.
“I’m so full of plans and dreams.” He laughed, holding her close. “Best Christmas I’ve ever had—a few days late, but—”
“Jake Diamond! Open up!” a voice called from the hallway. “Sheriff Goudy. I need to talk to you right now.”
Lainie drew back from him as he turned toward the door.
“No matter what happens, remember I love you,” he said. He reached into his pocket and pressed some coins into her nerveless fingers. “It’s all I have in the world. If—”
“We’ll break it down, Diamond!” another voice shouted. “I’ve got the law here with me!’
“I’m coming! Hold on a minute!”
“Go out the window—” Lainie whispered anxiously.
But Jake shook his head, cupping her cheek with one hand. “No, love. I can’t be on the dodge forever. Not if I want that future you convinced me I had.”
He tilted her lips up to his and brushed a light kiss across them.
“Get to Brett and Angie’s. The money should hold you for a while.” He started for the door.
“Diamond! Damn you, we’re comin’ in!”
Chapter 7
Jake opened the door. “I’m right here,” he drawled with a slow smile. “I was...busy.” His voice dripped with innuendo as he glanced back over his shoulder at Lainie.
“You’re comin’ with us!” a voice demanded from the hallway.
Lainie stepped close to Jake’s side, eyeing the three men who stood outside the door—the sheriff, a deputy, and a gambling man, by the flashy clothing he wore.
“Who are you?” Lainie asked, not allowing herself to shrink from the paunchy gambler’s baleful glare.
“John Thomas Prescott.” He drew himself up, straightening his lapels. “And you, ma’am?”
“I’m Mrs. Jacob Diamond,” Lainie said, laying her left hand on Jake’s arm to display the golden ring. “I’m Jake’s wife. You’re...disturbing our son’s nap, Mr. Prescott.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Prescott sneered. “One reason, anyhow.”
“I’m sorry, Prescott,” Jake said, moving to bar the doorway and put Lainie behind him. “I don’t follow.”
There was a hard edge to his voice that Lainie had never heard. Prescott, for all his flash and style, was dangerous.
But so was Jake Diamond.
“You owe me, Diamond. Left me high and dry in Denver two years ago—”
“Debatable, Prescott. I left you broke after you lost that last high stakes game—”
“And you wouldn’t give me a chance to win it back!”
“I’m not obligated to do that.” Jake shrugged.
“No, you’re not,” Prescott spat. “But you are obligated to let me have a look at that boy you’re passing off as your son.”
Jake stiffened. “Not ‘passing off’, Prescott. He’s mine. I dare any man to say otherwise.”
“He’s not just ‘any man’,” Sheriff Goudy muttered. “He’s got a right—at least, in the eyes of the law in Fort Smith.”
“Now, Arch—” Jake started.
But the sheriff shook his head. “Claims he could be the boy’s father, Jake. Now, open up and step aside. We’ll settle this, once and for all.”
****
Reluctantly, Jake stepped back, allowing the three men inside the room.
“Where—” Prescott looked around quickly, then, spotting little Jake, he headed for the bed where he lay fast asleep.
“I didn’t realize you were married, John,” Jake said casually. His fingers itched to choke the life out of Prescott when he sat on the bedside and reached to touch the baby’s back.
“I’m not,” Prescott responded. “One of the girls, Florabelle, from Miss Lucy’s, claims I—uh—” He glanced up at Lainie, who stood glaring at him. “She claims I fathered a child with her. She said she got rid of it—earlier—you know—whores have their methods. But…I since have found out otherwise.”
Lainie swallowed tightly, but didn’t look away.
The gambler was uncomfortable talking about it in the presence of a lady, Jake could see, but Lainie wasn’t about to do one thing to make it easier for him.
“Well.” Prescott cleared his throat and continued. “I was told that she delivered a baby, but no one knew what she did with it. It came at Thanksgiving. I had thought she’d…well, that she’d taken care of things before…”
Jake let his breath out slowly. He didn’t know much about babies, but Lainie had mentioned that little Jake had most likely been born close to Christmas—and that hadn’t been but ten days past.
“This is my child,” Lainie said.
“You gave birth to him?” Prescott looked up at her, and she sat on the opposite side of the bed, bracketing little Jake between them.
Lainie’s face turned crimson, and Jake took a step toward Prescott, wanting to kick his ass into the middle of next week. But Lainie’s words stopped Jake where he stood.
“He was born with all the love in my heart—all the mother’s love I can give him. And no one, Mr. Prescott, is going to take him away from me.”
“The word is, you checked in without a baby. You left for a while and came back with him.” He nodded toward the child. “I was told you found him.”
“Mrs. Broadner is mistaken,” Lainie declared, hoping that Mrs. Broadner was listening in the hallway so she might understand how important this was. “I had left him with my mother. She’s with the circus—Zelda the Great—” Lainie stood up slowly. “Jake and I—we never had a real honeymoon in a nice hotel. Mama was going to keep little Jake, here, for us for a day or two, but, well—we missed him. So, we went and got him.”
“So, he’s not…mine…” Prescott’s voice trailed away in disappointment.
“No. He’s ours. Jake’s and mine.” Lainie came around the end of the bed to stand beside Prescott. “If you love Florabelle enough to want her child, Mr. Prescott, perhaps you should propose marriage,”
she said gently, all anger gone. “And stop calling her a—a whore.”
He nodded, and had the good grace to flush. “Yes. Perhaps, I should. But I must find the other child…my child.” He stood up, glancing at Jake. “Sorry for the mix-up. I had hoped—well, it doesn’t matter.”
The sheriff blocked the doorway as Prescott turned to take his leave. “So…we’re all square? Because, I don’t want to have to go through this again, John.”
Prescott shook his head. “No. I know.”
Goudy looked at Jake. “How long are you staying?”
“Another day or two. Then we’ll be taking the stage back north.”
Lainie stepped close to him, and he encircled her waist with his left arm.
“We’re headed up to get married proper, with our families there to witness it.”
“And then?” Sheriff Goudy rocked back on his heels. “I don’t want any trouble around here. And a piece of advice: if you plan to raise a family, you need to plan on giving up cards.”
Jake looked down at Lainie. Her heart’s love shone in her eyes.
“No. No trouble. I’m going back to Indian Territory. I’ve got a future with the woman I love, and our son.”
He hugged her close, feeling her heart beating next to his own.
“I’ve just been given the best Christmas any man could ever wish for…I could ask for nothing more.”
“Glad to see it, Diamond,” the sheriff replied. “You know I’m not keen on professional gamblers in my town. Tends to make trouble.” He tipped his hat to Lainie. “Ma’am. Nice to meet you.”
****
Jake and Lainie lay blissfully entangled with one another in the darkness. Their lovemaking had been free and unfettered. Relief at being rid of Prescott and his claims had them riding high on a crest of happiness.
“Lainie…you don’t think Jake really could be John Prescott’s boy, do you?”
“No.” She nestled closer to him.
“How can you be so certain?”
“Florabelle’s baby was a girl. Her sister is raising the baby.”
Jake moved to look down at Lainie, her head on his shoulder. She raised her eyes to his. The firelight cast shadows and lines across them as he touched her hair.
“How do you know that?”
“You were right about my talents, Jake. But, I’m still learning about them—about myself, too.” She bit her lip. “I seem to be able to know about these children. It makes me wonder if—if I’d opened myself to this talent before, if I might not have found Earlie and Angie when their pa took them away. I never dreamed I could do this.”
“But about Florabelle’s baby—”
She shook her head. “I just saw it in my mind when Mr. Prescott became so agitated.” She reached to lay her hand on Jake’s cheek. “He deserves to know, Jake. That baby of his could change everything in his life.”
Jake grinned. “Babies have a tendency to do that,” he agreed, rising up on his elbow to peer at little Jake. The baby slept peacefully in one of the dresser drawers they’d removed and lined with blankets, setting it beside the bed.
“We’ll be leaving tomorrow,” Lainie said. “Maybe—could you give Mr. Prescott an anonymous note?”
“From you, my dearest witch?”
She smiled. “Yes. It just doesn’t seem right not to let him know.”
Jake sighed. “I agree. I want everyone to be as happy as we are, Lainie.” He became serious. “If you know where John Prescott’s daughter is…can you see who Jake’s parents are?”
It had been bothering her. No matter how she’d tried, she couldn’t glean a thing about the baby’s circumstances. She shook her head. “Perhaps it’s best, Jake, that we don’t know; that we love him unconditionally, as we do at this moment.”
“And I do love that boy,” Jake murmured. “It’s funny how one minute, you don’t have any idea that you’re capable of a love so strong, and the next—you know you’d kill anyone who tried to harm him—” He gave a low chuckle. “My whole life has changed—for the better—in the last month. Since I met you.”
He raised a brow and gave her a questioning look.
“Are you sure you only just discovered those witchly talents of yours? You didn’t—um—put a spell on me, did you?” he teased.
She deliberately laid a hand on his him, and he gasped in pleasure. A smile quirked her lips. “It was purely luck of the draw, Jake Diamond. I made a wish, and you came true.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cheryl was born in Duncan, OK, and grew up in Seminole, OK. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma, and holds a B.A. in English. Cheryl lives with her husband in Oklahoma City, OK, where she has been for the past 30 years.
Writing is so much a part of her life that she and long-time friend Livia Reasoner opened a publishing house.
PRAIRIE ROSE PUBLICATIONS www.prairierosepublications.com furthers the historical and western-themed writing offerings of women.
To learn more about Cheryl and her exciting books, visit her at www.cherylpiersonbooks.com
More of Cheryl Pierson Books
The Half-Breed's Woman
U.S. Deputy Marshal Jaxson McCall tracks runaway debutante Callie Buchanan from Washington, D.C., into the unforgiving badlands of Indian Territory. But once the sparks fly between them, can he bring himself to take the beautiful young woman in to face an attempted murder charge?
Callie*s greedy stepfather, a powerful government official, has his own plans for her—a fate much worse than jail. Jaxson must protect her at all costs—even if it means his own death—or losing his heart to “The Half-Breed’s Woman”
Amazon Link
Fire Eyes
Beaten and wounded by a band of sadistic renegades that rules the borderlands of Indian Territory, U.S. Marshal Kaed Turner understands what the inevitable outcome will be for him: death. But Fate and a war party of Choctaw Indians intervene, delivering him instead to a beautiful angel with the skill to heal him. Jessica Monroe has already lost a husband and a brother to the outlaws who tortured Marshal Turner. As the rugged lawman lies bleeding on her bed, she faces a difficult decision. Can she afford to gamble with her heart one last time? For when Kaed recovers, he is sworn to join the other Territorial Peace Officers in their battle to wipe out the renegade gang once and for all. When vengeance is done, will Kaed keep riding? Or will he return to claim his future with the beautiful woman the Choctaw call "Fire Eyes?"
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Winter Magic Page 14