ROMANCE: Holiday Romance: Her Christmas Surprise (Sweet Clean Holiday Romance) (Holiday Bride Book 1)

by Mercy Levy

  James opened his eyes. “Darn mule sure did,” James told Ben. “Fell right down on his own knife. But Pete's start yelling that the fella, the one named Joel, killed Greg and takes off back for town like a hungry dog running home for supper. Shoot fire, I followed after Pete like a scared rabbit. Later that day was when Pete told me to go along with his story or he would cut me up.”

  Ben stood up. Turning around, he looked into Sarah's hopeful eyes. To his surprise, Sarah reached out and took his hands. “Ben, we have to find my brother. Please, help me.”

  “Of course I will,” Ben promised. “But first...” he said listening to the cold winds howl outside, I have to find someone else. I will be back first thing in the morning. You stay right here with Mrs. Mayfield.”

  “Where are you going?” Sarah asked worriedly.

  “To find a man who must be very cold right now...and very scared.”

  Sarah's eyes went wide. “The man who stole the money,” she exclaimed. Reaching out she hugged Ben. “Oh, I knew you're heart wasn't no dead.”

  Ben gently wrapped his arms around Sarah. “You're taking my heart,” he whispered into her ear and then hurried out of the back door.

  Sarah watched Ben leave and then sat down next to Mrs. Mayfield. “You two are meant to be husband and wife. I can tell,” Mrs. Mayfield smiled at Sarah.

  “Do you really believe so?” Sarah asked startled. “I'm a very poor Jew. Why would a man like Ben want to marry a poor Jew?”

  “Your heart is very wealthy, and that's the treasure Ben is after,” Mrs. Mayfield promised Sarah. “Now James, you eat and I'll get the pie ready.”

  “Yes, mam,” James answered politely. Looking at Sarah he lowered his head. “I'm mighty sorry I lied, mam. You must think the worst of me.”

  “I think you are a very courageous man for speaking the truth. If you remained hidden in your lie, you would have remained a coward. Tonight you are a David that slew your own Goliath.”

  Chapter 3

  Hanukkah Miracle

  Ben saw a campfire flickering through the woods. Pulling his gun and tucking his head down against the cold winds, he crawled through the darkness. Easing up behind a tree, he spotted two men sitting beside a campfire. One of the men, Ben noticed, was the criminal he had set free back at the watering station. The second man, he saw, was Joel Goldstein himself. Drawing in a deep breath of cold air, he burst out from behind the tree and ran up to the campfire with his gun at the ready. “Hold it!” he yelled.

  Joel Goldstein didn't look at Ben. Instead, he kept staring at the campfire as the cold winds ripped through his curly black hair as his hungry, thin, face became very still. William, the chubby man, on the other hand, jumped to his feet. “Don't shoot...please, don't shoot me,” he begged through shivering teeth.

  Ben lowered his gun. The icy winds were cutting through the thin brown coat the chubby man was wearing. Joel, he saw, wasn't even wearing a coat. A simple gray shirt tucked into a pair of brown pants protected his body from the icy winds. That's when Ben knew Joel had given William his own coat to wear. “I'm not going to shoot anyone. I'm here to take you into the Sheriff and take Joel Fleishman to his sister.”

  “My sister?” Joel asked keeping his eyes on the campfire. Never the type of man to trust a stranger, he kept very still until he could learn the truth. The mentioning of his sister could be a trick.

  “Sarah Fleishman arrived in Pine Fall on the afternoon stage,” Ben told Joel walking over to the campfire. Putting his gun away, he knelt down and warmed his cold hands. “She is staying with Mrs. Mayfield. Earlier, James Ingles paid us a visit and explained that my brother, Greg Weathers, attacked you and died by falling onto his own knife.”

  “You're the bounty hunter,” Joel said finally taking his eyes away from the campfire and looking at Ben.

  “Yes, and I will be until I find the man who killed my brother,” Ben confessed. Spotting William preparing to run, he shook his head. “I'll track you down if you run,” he told William in a tired voice.

  Joel grew silent. After a few minutes, he spoke. “When your brother attacked me, he confessed a horrible secret.”

  Ben turned his head and focused on Joel, ignoring William. William slumped his shoulders and walked back to the campfire and sat down. “I guess jail is better than starving to death.”

  “What did my brother confess?” Ben asked Joel.

  “I think you know,” Joel told Ben keeping his voice low. “The night your father was killed, where was your brother?”

  Ben felt confusion grab his mind. “Greg found our father dead in the barn.”

  Joel grew silent again. When he spoke, his voice was low. “Your brother told me he killed his own father for less than he was going to kill me.” Drawing in a cold breath of air, Joel stood up. “Have you met my sister?”

  “I am in love with your sister,” Ben confessed feeling tears begin to fall from his eyes. “My own brother...how could he?”

  Watching tears fall from Ben's eyes, Joel put his hand down on the man's shoulder. “Your brother died in my arms. He made me promise to tell you the truth. That's why I didn't run. At death, some men repent of their sins.”

  “Thank you,” Ben told Joel. Wiping the tears away from his eyes he stood up. “We need to get into town. Your sister is waiting. I'll speak with the Sheriff and get this mess cleaned up.”

  Joel began kicking dirt onto the campfire. William stood up and joined him. “I stole the money from my bank because I became greedy. I'm guilty,” he confessed to Ben. “I know I deserve to go to prison. This man didn't run because he wanted you to know the truth...I ran away because I didn't want you to know the truth.” William stopped kicking dirt on the campfire and took off Joel's coat. “Thank you,” he said handing Joel back the coat. “You're very kind.”

  “I meant what I said,” Joel told William and said no more.

  Before dawn arrived, Ben walked Joel and William into Sheriff's Duffy's jail. Sheriff Duffy was just sitting down at a wooden desk with a hot cup of coffee in his hand. He watched Ben walk Joel and William inside and close the front door. “I've already talked with James,” he told Ben and took a sip of his coffee.

  Ben closed the front door and faced Sheriff Duffy. The old sheriff looked as mean as a rattlesnake. “I'm not here to bring Joel Fleishman in. I'm here to bring this man in.” Ben nodded at William.

  Sheriff Duffy glared at Joel. “I almost had you, didn't I boy? Not many men get clear of me.”

  “Almost,” Joel agreed. “I told you I was innocent, but you refused to listen.”

  “Old loyalties sometimes makes the truth a little blurry,” was all Sheriff Duffy answered and offered Joel a kind eye as an apology, momentarily allowing his face to lighten up before becoming mean again.

  “Let's go,” Ben said putting his hand on Joel's shoulder. “Your sister is waiting.”

  Joel nodded his head. Following Ben outside, he tucked his head down against the icy winds. “You said you love my sister? Yet you barely know her,” he said following Ben down the deserted main street as the eastern sky began to glow bright pink.

  “I know Sarah's heart,” Ben called over his shoulder. “I've seen the kind of woman your sister is...she's the woman I need to love.”

  “Are the man she needs to love?” Joel called back to Ben.

  Ben stopped walking. Raising his tired face into the wind, he closed his eyes. “I don't know?” he answered honestly. “I've been a dead man for a long time. But...Sarah, she makes me feel alive again. She makes me...want to believe in...faith again.”

  “She has a way of doing that,” Joel told Ben and slapped him on the shoulder. “But if you are to love my sister, you will have to travel back to Boston with us. I'm ready to sit behind a desk again. Sarah was right. My plans to become rich in the west were foolish.”

  Ben laughed. “Maybe I'm ready to become a banker again. I guess maybe I have a secret to reveal to you and your sister..when the time is right. Now come on
, let' get out of this cold before we catch our end.”

  When Ben and Joel reached the back door leading into Mrs. Mayfield's kitchen, they heard a man scream out in pain. Ben drew out his gun. “What is it?” Joel asked alarmed staring at a small wooden house sitting on the south end of town. “Someone sounds hurt.”

  Ben pushed Joel up against the back of the house. “Listen to me,” he ordered Ben. “Move around to the front door. If anyone tries to leave stop them.”

  Joel looked around and spotted a wooden ax handle. Grabbing the handle, he ran around to the front of the house. As Joel vanished, James cried out in pain again. Not wasting another second, Ben kicked in the back door and charged in. A large man built like a grizzly bear—but having the heart of a coward—had James down on the wooden floor holding a sharp knife to his face. Sarah and Mrs. Mayfield were also lying on the floor with their hands and ankles tied together. “Hold it!” Ben yelled at Pete Longfield.

  Pete Longfield shot to his feet and raced out of the kitchen. Ben began to give chase, but when remembered Joel. Putting his gun away, he ran to Sarah and lifted her up into his arms. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I'm fine,” Sarah said as tears streamed from her eyes. “That awful man was going to murder us.”

  Ben wiped the tears away from Sarah's scared eyes. And then, as if invisible hands pushed his face forward, softly kissed Sarah. “You have taken my heart,” he whispered.

  Sarah stared into Ben's eyes, shocked that a man had kissed her. Yet, the kiss felt natural and needed. The kiss, Sarah felt, was a kiss of love and not fear. “And you have taken my heart,” Sarah confessed, finally understanding why she felt compelled to need a man she barely knew—a man she would spend her life learning to know while offering the deepest love of her heart to him.

  “Hey...what are you..” Sarah heard Pete Longfield yell and then she heard a loud 'thud' and then silence. A minute later she saw her brother appear, dragging an unconscious man into the kitchen with him.

  Seeing Ben holding Sarah in his arms, Joel smiled. “Seems like you two were the ones who really found the gold,” he told Sarah.

  “Oh Joel,” Sarah cried.

  “If someone will untie me, I will make us some coffee,” Mrs. Mayfield said.

  James crawled over to Mrs. Mayfield and began untying her. “I...wasn't a coward.”

  “No,” Mrs. Mayfield promised James.

  “You were a warrior,” Sarah told James.

  Joel stared at James. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for standing for the truth.”

  James, even though his face was bleeding with cuts, smiled. For once in his life, he felt proud of himself.

  Later that morning, as Sarah and Ben sat at the kitchen table alone, Ben brought up the subject of Boston. “I guess you and Joel will be going back to Boston?” he asked taking a sip of hot coffee.

  Sarah didn't answer. Instead, she listened to the winds howling outside. The winds were bringing in an early snow storm. She thought back to the morning in Boston, back to the early snow, the park, the serenity. Then, she looked into Ben's face. No longer did she see a dangerous bounty hunter. Instead, she saw a man whose past had transformed him into a hunter sitting in peace. Why did God cause her to love such a man, she wondered? And then she thought about the strange events that brought her to Ben. “We are meant to be together. This I am certain of, Ben. But I do not want to take you from your home.”

  “My home is where you are,” Ben promised Sarah. Standing up, he walked to Sarah, knelt down, took her hands, and placed his head down on her lap. “You are my home.”

  Sarah placed her soft hand down onto the back of Ben's neck and closed her eyes. “Can you love a poor Jewish woman?” she asked afraid. “I have confessed that my income as a teacher is very little. I have nothing to offer you, Ben.”

  “All I need is your love.”

  “You have my love,” Sarah whispered in a faithful promise.

  Ben leaned up and softly kissed Sarah on her lips. Placing his hand to her tender cheek, he smiled into her eyes. “With your love, I am the richest man in the world.”

  Tears began to fall from Sarah's beautiful eyes. “And with your love, I am the richest woman in the world.”

  Ben smiled. “I have a secret to confess to you.”

  “A secret?” Sarah asked.

  Ben took Sarah's hands and drew in a deep breath. “Before I became a bounty hunter, I worked as a banker.”

  “Yes, I know,” Sarah answered confused.

  Ben stared deeply into Sarah's eyes. For a moment, he remained silent, lost in her beauty, listening to the winds gather the storm over Pine Falls. “Sarah, I didn't leave Denver a poor man. Before I became a banker, I attended college in the east. My parents worked very hard to pay for my schooling.”

  “Ben, I--”

  Ben put his finger to Sarah's lips. “I'm a wealthy man, Sarah. I have invested my money wisely into the railroads. And my money is your money. No longer will you be a poor Jewish woman.”

  “But Ben,” Sarah said in a gentle voice, “being a poor Jewish woman keeps me humble and my heart sincere toward life. I don't need wealth...yet, I have always worried that no man could love a poor Jewish woman. Now you are offering me all you have. But all I want is you.”

  “And all I want is you,” Ben smiled. “And I will spend the rest of my life making you happy, Sarah. Tell me what you want and I'll do anything to give it to you.”

  Sarah reached out and touched Ben's cheek with one hand and placed his hand down onto her tender stomach with her other hand. “I want to be a mother,” she confessed. “I want to give birth to our children and hear the laughter of our children fill a house that will become our home.”

  Before Ben could reply, Mrs. Mayfield walked into the kitchen with Sheriff Duffy. “Ben,” he said in a concerned voice, “you better take the little lady and her brother and get out of town. Pete Longfield got word to his brothers down in Gray Creek and their own their way up here with some hired guns.”

  “Take the wagon out in the barn,” Mrs. Mayfield begged Ben. “I can get some blankets and food up while you hitch up the horse.”

  Joel appeared beside Mrs. Mayfield. “Sarah, we must go,” he said in a worried voice.

  Sarah looked into Ben's eyes as fear gripped her heart. “Ben?” she asked.

  Ben shook his head. “Sheriff, with this storm pressing down, we won't get far. Even if we could get out town, any man on horseback will be able to track and run down a wagon.”

  Sheriff Duffy rubbed the back of his neck. “If you stay here I can't guarantee your safety,” he told Ben. “But I reckon you're right. You better get over to the jail and I'll lock you in.”

  Sarah closed her eyes and prayed. She prayed for a Hanukkah miracle. Had God brought her this far just to die? Surely not. Surely God was about to reveal His great power.

  *

  Sarah watched Joel put on a gun belt. “Aim and shoot,” Ben told Joel patting the gun on his hip. “Don't think twice. The men who are on their way aren't coming here to be our friends.”

  Joel looked at Sarah. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I should have listened to you.”

  Loading a rifle with bullets, Sheriff Duffy heard a large group of men arrive outside of his office on horseback. “Well,” he said, “time to say hello.”

  Sarah ran to Ben. Together they watched Sheriff Duffy open the front door and peer outside. “You men, clear out of here,” he ordered.

  “Give us the man who killed Greg Weathers and attacked my brother,” a drunk man yelled back, nearly falling off his horse.

  “I county fourteen men,” Sheriff Duffy called out to Ben and then refocused his attention back on the street. “Greg Weather's death has been ruled accidental. Now clear out and don't make me warn you again.”

  Sarah watched Sheriff Duffy step outside with his rifle ready to fire at the first man who went for his gun. “Old man, we outnumber you,” the drunk man laughed. “Now you either gi
ve us the man we came for or hang with him.”

  Sheriff Duffy spotted a few sober men reaching for their guns. He fired a shot into the air. “Next shot will be at the first man who reaches for his gun.”

  Feeling like a coward, Joel rushed outside and stood next to Sheriff Duffy. “I am the man you want.”

  “Oh boy,” Ben said and ran outside with his gun prepared to fire. Sarah followed him. If she was going to die, she wanted to die at the side of the man she loved.

  And then, a miracle occurred. First, a heavy snow began to fall from a dark gray sky. Second, armed men began to appear from out of nowhere, aiming their guns at the group of men who had come to murder Joel. And last, Mrs. Mayfield appeared holding a shotgun with James at her side. She fired a warning shot into the air. “Get out of town or sleep in the dirt,” she warned.

  Looking at the all the armed men appearing out of thin air, the group of men suddenly lost all their courage. The drunk man quickly sobered up. “My brother ain’t worth dying over,” he said and kicked at his horse.

  Sarah watched as the group of men raced out of town like the cowards they were. Feeling safe next to Ben, she began looking around for the heroes of the town who arrived like brave soldiers, armed, and ready for battle. The only people Sarah saw standing on the street, though, were Mrs. Mayfield and James. “Where did...they go?” Sheriff Duffy asked throwing his eyes up and down the street. “All the men who...Mrs. Mayfield, where did all the men who were with you go?”

  “It's just me and James,” Mrs. Mayfield called out to Sheriff Duffy.

  Sarah locked eyes with Joel. Joel nodded his head. “Angels,” he whispered.

  Sarah smiled. Lifting her face up into the snow she closed her eyes and praised God for the miracle. “Thank you, God...thank you.”

  Days later, as nightfall began to approach, Sarah took out her parent's Menorah from her suitcase and sat it down on a wooden mantle above a stone fireplace in Mrs. Mayfield's living room. Outside a powerful snowstorm howled as it shunted the day away and allowed the night to arrive. Dressed in a pretty white and yellow dress with her hair flowing freely over her shoulders, she appeared as an angel in the eyes of Ben. “Tonight,” she smiled, “we light the first candle of Hanukkah.”