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

by Mercy Levy

  “Neither do I,” Duncan promised.

  Richard stormed out of the Sheriff's office. Duncan watched the man slam the front door shut and then shook his head. “I was going to tell the other ranchers to leave out and take on Crandall alone...but now, I don't think so,” he told Sheriff Mulgrew. “I don't want to see any more good man die...but I can't stand by and let the likes of Crandall take over this land, either.”

  “With Mason dead, Crandall's men will start abandoning him,” Sheriff Mulgrew assured Duncan. “Why don't you walk this nice lady back to the hotel and stay there yourself for the night.”

  Duncan shook his head no. “I need to ride out and talk to the other ranchers. I'll be back in town before the judge arrives.”

  Sheriff Mulgrew disagreed. “Duncan, I'm afraid I'm going to insist you get a room at the hotel.”

  “Please,” Natalie begged Duncan. Looking into Duncan's face, she realized that she was falling in love with the man against her own wishes. And to her surprise, she could clearly see Duncan was falling in love with her, too. How was that possible? How could two people who had just met fall in love so quickly? Natalie didn't even believe in the idea of love let alone believe she would fall in love with a stranger.

  Duncan scratched the back of his head and then slapped on his hat. “I am tired,” he agreed. Unable to take his eyes off Natalie's face, he began to wonder how such an amazing woman could care about him? He was just a poor rancher. “I could go for some coffee.”

  “Me, too,” Natalie smiled.

  Duncan smiled back. “Oh, Sheriff, the money from the bank robbery is hidden in an old well on Crandall's spread. Mason confessed to robbing the banks,” he quickly said before forgetting.

  “I figured it was that snake,” Sheriff Mulgrew admitted. Considering his options, he focused his attention on an old wanted poster. “What say we let the money stand where it is,” he told Duncan and Natalie. “The bank robbery hurt Crandall along with everyone else. If we give him his money back, he might be able to keep on his hired guns.”

  “Good idea,” Duncan agreed. “Ms. McClure, are you ready?”

  Natalie nodded her head yes. Following Duncan outside, she looked up into the clear night sky. “Thanksgiving is in a few days,” she said.

  Duncan kept his eyes forward as he walked Natalie across the street. “That day use to mean something to me.”

  “Me, too,” Natalie whispered. “Back at the pond, I was reminded of the trips my mother and I use to take. We would take trips to the local farms around Boston, pick pumpkins, walk in corn patches, and bake pumpkin pies...oh, this time of year use to be so wonderful and special to me.”

  Duncan stopped walking. Four men on horseback sat staring at him from the Silver Dollar Saloon. Richard Crandall sat in the middle of the men. His son. Brent, sat next to him, looking at Duncan with deadly eyes. Duncan eased Natalie slowly across the street and walked her into the hotel. “Well,” Andy said throwing a book down onto the front counter, “you're alive.”

  “Don't start, okay,” Duncan begged closing the hotel door and locking it. “Crandall's down at the saloon with his son and two other men. It's best to keep this door locked, Andy.”

  Andry hurried to the front door and double checked the lock. “I heard you killed Mason.”

  “Who told you?”

  “One of Crandall's men when he came in here looking for Ms. McClure,” Andy explained. With shaky hands, he walked back to the front desk and leaned against it. Studying Natalie, he noticed the woman staring at his brother in a way that he understood quite well. “Ms. McClure, I'm afraid Crandall has canceled his intentions to pay for your room.”

  “I can pay for my own room,” Natalie assured Andy. Walking to the front door, she checked the lock herself. Why? Glancing over her shoulder at Duncan, she understood why. What she didn't understand was how a stranger was capturing her heart? “Mr. Andrews, have you ever been….married before?”

  Duncan nearly passed out at such a question being presented to him. Andy began laughing. “Oh, there's been a few that's tried to rope him, but my brother gets mighty nervous at the idea of having his saddle broken in.”

  Duncan blushed. “The Lord just never put the right woman on my path, that's all,” he told Natalie. Feeling his face turning red, he quickly took out his gun and began checking it.

  “I have never been married, either,” Natalie told Duncan. Walking across the room to him, she gently took his nervous hands. “I have never been in love either,” she whispered.

  Duncan looked deep into Natalie's eyes. He saw an indescribable beauty whisper to his lonely heart. Beyond the beauty, he saw a lonely, scared, woman who needed to be given love and to be loved. “Faith,” he whispered back.

  “I wish I understood what faith was,” Natalie answered. Letting go of Duncan's hands, she walked away into the empty dining room. Stopping at a window, she looked out into the dark night as the sound of thunder began to echo in the distance. “I wish I had faith,” she said as tears began to fall from her eyes. “Why did you bring me into this man's path?” she whispered to the Lord. A howling wind roaming around outside answered back.

  *

  Louis Crandall climbed down from his horse. Keeping his eyes on the hotel, he gritted his teeth. Tall, strong and undefeated in any fight involving bare fist, his appearance was threatening and intimidating. Hungering to beat Duncan Andrews into the dirt, the way a wild animal hungers to devour an innocent field rabbit, he tapped the gun sitting on his hip as a strong wind whipped by. “You get Andrews gun away and I'll take care of the rest,” Louis told his father.

  Richard, confident that his son would be the one to put Duncan in the grave, dismounted his horse. “You two men go watch the back of the hotel. If anyone tries to leave, shoot them.”

  Two rough looking hired guns nodded their heads and ordered their horses to get moving. Knocking the dust off the gray work shirt he normally worse, Louis glared at the hotel. Never a man to back down from a hards day work or a fight, he felt strong and capable of beating Ducan Andrews into the grave. “Okay, Pa, how do you want to do this?” he asked feeling the wind grab at his gray hat against a powerful gust of wind.

  “No games,” Richard said taking the gun belt and dropping it to the ground. “I'm going to walk up to the hotel and tell Andrews you're waiting to fight him, man to man, bare fist to bare fist. It ends tonight, Louis. Put Andrews in his grave or I'm going to put you in your grave.”

  “The same way you put William in his grave, Pa, is that it?” Louis asked in a low, angry, voice.

  “Don't you dare mention his name to me!” Richard yelled.

  Unwilling to allow his personal anger to take away his desire to take away all Richard had and destroy the man for killing his brother, Louis played it easy. “Sure, Pa. I hear you. I'll take care of Andrews for you.”

  “See to it that you do. With Mason dead, some of the men are backing down on me. Once they see that Andrews is dead, they'll come back around. We'll burn out every rancher in this valley and have take what is rightly ours. We'll soak this land with the blood of anyone who dares to stay and fight.”

  Louis nodded his head. “Go get Andrews, Pa. I'm ready.”

  Richard studied his son. “I'm going to be up on the roof of the general store. If you fail to kill Andrews, I'll take him out with my rifle. It ends tonight.”

  “What about Sheriff Mulgrew?” Louis asked hesitantly at his Pa shooting an unarmed man.

  “He dies, too,” Richard said and walked off toward the hotel.

  Inside the hotel, Duncan walked into the dining room. He found Natalie hugging her arms together, staring out of the back window into the dark. Feeling nervous about admitting that his feelings for the woman to himself, he slowly approached her. “Ms. McClure?”

  Natalie turned and faced Duncan with tears in her eyes. “Ever since my father died I have been so scared...so very scared,” she confessed. “I pretended to be strong and independent, but deep
down...I have been terrified. Of what? I don't really know? You see...my father left me his fortune.”

  Ducan allowed his eyes to soak in Natalie's tear-filled eyes. The urge to reach out and take the broken woman into his arms nearly overcame him. Fighting back the urge, he told himself to listen to Natalie. The woman needed a sincere heart to understand her pain. “You told Crandall the agreed to marry him because you wanted him to scare away some snake in Boston who was being a spur in your saddle.”

  Natalie drew in a deep breath. “Tim Hayton...my father's old business partner. When my father found out Hayton was stealing from the accounts, he ended their business arrangement. Word quickly spread as to why my father and Hayton ended their business relationship. Needless to say, my father gained a great deal of trust while Hayton was condemned for his unethical actions.”

  “This Hayton fella, he wants revenge on you, then,” Duncan said Hearing the winds growing stronger outside, he knew a strong storm was approaching.

  Natalie nodded her head yes. “Hayton is bribing the judges in Boston to attack my wealth. He has already accomplished taking a small bite out of my wealth by bribing a judge to claim that I was responsible for old debts my father owed….old debts my Hayton illegally added to my father's account. My father was an honest business man and he refused to pay any debts Hayton pushed on him. It was foolish of me to agree to marry Crandall. My focus was to scare Hayton away by using Crandall's hard reputation and then leaving Crandall and relocating to Sacramento.”

  Duncan watched Natalie wipe at her soft, scared, tears. “But the trail got might hard, didn't it?” he asked.

  Natalie bowed her head. “Yes,” she whispered. “After my mother died, all father and I had were each other. When my father died last year, I promised myself that I would live in his memory and keep his reputation honorable and his business firm. But when I was faced with the choice to save what was left of my father's money or stay and fight...I ran away like a...coward.” Duncan began to speak, but Natalie raised her hand at him. “But tonight, I saw you face down and kill a deadly man with nothing else but simple...faith.”

  “I had to admit that I was mighty scared,” Duncan confessed. “And don't forget, I was about to throw a white flag into the air, too.”

  “But you didn't,” Natalie told Duncan. “I feel so ashamed of myself. I have failed my father...and dishonored his memory. I ran away from his enemy instead of fighting. I...selfishly...was thinking only of my father's money.”

  Duncan watched Natalie raise her hands to her beautiful face and begin to cry. Walking forward, he took Natalie into his arms and held the woman with warmth and tenderness. “Now, they ain't no need to feel ashamed of anything. It ain't a woman's place to fight a man. I tell you what, I'll go back east with you and have a little talk with this Hayton fella and make him see things the right way.”

  Before Natalie could respond, Andy came running into the dining room. “Crandall...he wants to talk,” he told Duncan paled faced.

  Duncan drew in a deep breath. “Stay here,” he told Natalie.

  Natalie watched Duncan leave the dining room. Cautiously she eased to the dining room door. She spotted Crandall standing at the front desk. “Andrews,” he said in a poison voice, “my boy has challenged you to a bare-fisted fight outside in the street. No guns. If you win the fight, I'll leave this valley. If he wins, you leave. Do we have a deal?”

  Andy nudged Ducan with his elbow. “Don't accept. Everyone knows Louis Crandall is the best bare-fisted fighter in the valley.”

  Sensing Natalie's eyes on him, Duncan looked over his shoulder and focused on the woman. He offered her a quick smile. “Faith,” he whispered.

  “Faith,” Natalie whispered back.

  “Okay, Crandall, I accept,” Duncan told Richard unlatching his gun belt and handed it to Andy. “Let's go.”

  Richard nodded his head and walked out of the hotel. Something in the man's eyes worried Natalie. As soon as Duncan walked outside, she ran to Andy. “That man is up to something. He's not going to let Duncan live.”

  “I know,” Andy said worriedly. “What can I do, though? I've never been good with these things.”

  Natalie looked Duncan's gun belt. Closing her eyes, she saw the image of her mother and father in her mind. Be still and know that God is God she heard her mother's sweet voice speak. God will never leave you nor forsake you. All you have to do is trust that He is God.

  Opening her eyes, Natalie drew in a deep breath. “Faith,” she said. Reaching out, she took Duncan's gun out of the holster.

  “Hey, wait a second, what are you--” Andy began to object.

  “Saving my husband,” Natalie promised Andy.

  Andy stared at Natalie in shock and then came to his senses. “Let me get my rifle, then. I wouldn't be much of a man if I let you go out on the street alone.”

  As Andy rushed to get his rifle, Sheriff Mulgrew was lurking in the darkness. Sneaking up to the back of the hotel, he spotted two men hiding in the shadows. Not wasting any time, he ran up to the two men before they could draw their guns. “Drop your guns,” Sheriff Mulgrew ordered, “or I'm going to drop you.” The two men did as they were ordered to do. “Come on, get moving.”

  Out on the street, Duncan spotted Louis Crandall standing near the saloon. “Lord, win my battle for me,” he prayed walking behind Richard.

  Before Richard reached the saloon, he stopped walking. “If my son doesn't come home before dawn, I'll know that you won this fight, Andrews. I'll leave the valley,” Richard called out over his shoulder.

  Duncan didn't answer. Instead, he watched Richard walk to his horse, mount up, and ride off, leaving him alone with Louis. Louis threw his hat down to the ground. “You ready?” he called out over the wind.

  “No guns,” Duncan called back and patted his hip.

  “No guns,” Louis agreed.

  Just then, the sky opened up and a hard rain began to fall, turning the dry street into one large mud puddle. Duncan nodded his head at Louis. “How do you want to do this?”

  “To the death,” Louis told Duncan ignoring the rain. Balling his hands into two fists, he slowly walked toward Duncan. “You ready, boy?”

  Ducan bawled his hands into two fists. Glancing back at the hotel, he saw the front door open. Natalie and Andy came rushing outside. But to his confusion, they didn't run toward him. Instead, they ran toward the south end of town and vanished behind the livery stable. Looking forward, he was greeted with a hard fist to his face. Stumbling backward, he caught his balance as Louis charged at him like a raging bull. Dodging a quick punch, Duncan counteracted and threw his fist into Louis's gut and quickly pushed the man down to the muddy ground.

  Louis growled and scrambled to his feet. Not wasting a second, he charged at Duncan again, throwing one fast punch after another. Managing to dodge the punches, Duncan cautiously kept backing away from Louis, looking for room to throw his own punches. Knowing that if he had to keep Louis centered in the middle of the street, he kept turning in a circle. He had to wear Louis down. “Fight me!” Louis yelled throwing one deadly punch after another.

  “I am,” Duncan told Duncan blocking his punches. “Don't worry, God is going to win this fight for me.”

  Louis stopped throwing his punches. Breathing hard, he stared at Ducan through the hard rain. “You're no match for me and you know it. You're a coward, just like your Pa was a coward. Yeah, that's right. Everyone knows your Pa was a coward, boy.”

  Duncan felt fury erupt in his chest. Unable to control his anger, he threw a hard punch into the air and caught Louis in the face. Louis began laughing. Before Duncan could react, he threw his own punch and decked Duncan in the face hard enough to rattle a man's skull. Feeling as if a ton of bricks had hit him, Duncan stumbled backward as Louis advanced on him, throwing one vicious punch after another.

  Richard kneeled down onto one knee on top of the roof of Mallor's General Store with his rifle in hand. Spotting the fight down on the street, he saw
his son punishing Duncan with his cruel fists. Taking aim with his rifle, he lined his sight on Duncan. “I'll let my boy make you suffer for a while, first,” he whispered. Appearing like a deadly black widow in the night, Richard grew silent in his dark chamber.

  Spitting blood out of his mouth, Duncan quickly backed away from Louis just enough to avoid another punishing fist. Slowly, he felt his faith begin to drain away like a broken water bottle losing its life-saving water. Throwing a weak punch into the air, Louis easily moved out of the way. Throwing his right fist into the side of Duncan's face he began laughing. “Is that all you got?” he asked watching Ducan tumble down onto the wet street.

  “He...made you lose your temper...” Ducan said and spat more blood out of his mouth. “Be still...and know that God...is God...” Climbing to his feet, Duncan faced Louis once more. Louis grinned and threw a punch into the air. But Duncan managed to dodge the punch. Louis hissed and threw a second punch. Duncan dodged his second punch. “David...and Goliath...” Duncan said into the rain keeping his distance from Louis.

  Louis stopped short of throwing a third punch. Kneeling down, he pulled up his rights pant leg. Pulling out a deadly hunting knife attached to a leather strap, he stood up. “I've had my fun with you. Now you die.”

  “Don't do this, Louis,” Duncan begged. “We don't have to be enemies.”

  Louis spit at Duncan. “Shut your filthy mouth, boy,” he yelled and charged at Ducan with the hunting knife. Ducan, with lightning fast speed, bent down, scooped up a handful of mud, and threw the mud into Louis's eyes just as Louis reached him. Temporarily blinded, Louis began slicing the air with the knife, holding the knife firmly in his right hand, hoping to make contact with his victim. Duncan grabbed Louis's right wrist with his left hand and brought his right fist into the man's face. Louis stumbled backward, letting go of the knife. Unable to keep his balance, he tumbled down onto the muddy street. Yelling in rage, he wiped the mud out of his eyes and went for a gun hidden under his shirt. Left with no choice but to kill or be killed, Duncan threw the knife into the rain just as Louis began to fire on him. Louis dropped the gun and grabbed his chest. “Pa...shoot...shoot...” Louis struggled to speak but dropped dead before he could finish his sentence.