by P. Creeden
“I just don’t want to embarrass you or look foolish.”
His heart warmed. “I think it would be impossible for you to embarrass me. You are smart and pretty and talented. You are a far better wife than I deserve. I only...”
She waited a tick before asking, “Only?”
He swallowed hard and shook his head. He was going to say that he only wished that they could have met and made the decision to get married in their own time, but he just wasn’t sure how she’d respond to that. Especially if she wasn’t feeling the same way about him as he did for her. His affection for her grew each day... each moment that they knew each other. It amazed him that it could be true. He used to dread these dinners with his grandfather because Grandfather would take the opportunity to lecture him about whatever the older man felt Marcus needed to change. But now the dinners were an opportunity to get to know and spend time with the woman who’d agreed to be his wife. A woman he didn’t deserve. Finally, he answered. “It’s nothing.”
Although her brow furrowed, Bethany didn’t ask him further about it and let the statement go, setting her hand upon the table as she tipped up her drink. Her small, delicate hands were pale and very feminine. He wondered how much smaller they were than his own. And remembered the feel of them through her gloves. But she wasn’t wearing any gloves now. He imagined that they were soft and even warmer than they were with the bit of fabric between their touches. His heart began to pick up speed and he averted his eyes while he took a sip from his own glass.
It wasn’t just that she was smart and pretty. She was smarter than him, and prettier than he deserved. Actually, he didn’t deserve to be her husband at all. He didn’t win her hand or even earn her respect before thrusting this marriage upon her. And she seemed to take everything in stride. He found her nothing shy of amazing and didn’t feel himself worthy of her. That made him sad and determined. He needed to do something that would prove to both himself and her that she’d made the right choice by letting him become her husband. But what?
Bethany felt out of her element at first, but as she became more knowledgeable about the workings of the ranch and how much each thing cost, she was beginning to understand the delicate balance in it all. When she went to the kitchen to discuss with the cook what they might need to order for the next month, she found the servants were very cooperative with her. In fact everyone had been welcoming. She couldn’t have asked for more.
Well, she did want more of one thing. It would have been nice to be able to spend more time with Marcus. She looked forward to their dinners together each evening and they often spent a long hour or so past dinner at the table. The servants would even clear the table and they would continue to sit and talk for a long while. Was it just her imagination, or did he seem to enjoy their time together as well.
On the night before the party, they continued talking well into the night, when the clock in the main hall struck ten p.m. both of them turned toward it, surprised. Bethany groaned. “I guess I need to head to bed. I’m not sure what will be expected of me tomorrow at the party but I want to be well rested and prepared.”
“You’ll be fine,” Marcus said, standing at the same time she did. “I know you will be.”
Together they started to walk out of the dining area and then stopped in the doorway. Bethany’s heart beat hard against her chest. Over the several days she’d been getting to know her husband and it was getting harder to say good night each time they were together. For a long moment, they just looked at each other. Then Bethany spied what hung over their heads and her eyes went wide before she could get control of them.
“What is it?” he asked and looked up too.
There, hanging over both of their heads, was a ball of mistletoe. When Marcus’s eyes came back down, his gaze brushed across hers before settling on her lips. Subconsciously, she licked them. One of his hands moved up and gently caressed her upper arm. She shivered in response to his light touch through the fabric. His eyes became hooded and then he leaned in toward her. This time, he didn’t hesitate. His lips came fully upon hers and he kissed her. She tilted her head a bit and leaned into him making his light kiss a little deeper. His arms came around her, one across her shoulders, the other, her waist. She held his upper arms, feeling the hard muscle under his cotton shirt. He deepened the kiss and the heat between them intensified.
Though she didn’t want to, she pulled back slightly and looked up into his eyes. Had he only kissed her because they were standing under the mistletoe? Or did he kiss her because he wanted to? He leaned toward her and rested his forehead against hers. “It’s getting harder and harder to say good bye to you each night,” he whispered.
Her eyes went wide and she swallowed hard. “Do you mean that... are you saying that...”
He pulled back, his eyes filled with worry. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pressure you into anything. I’m fine with keeping our marriage as it is. A contract only. You can help me run the ranch and by doing so, you’re more than earning your keep here. I... I just let my own feelings and desires sway me a bit. Forgive me.”
Her heart melted in her chest. “There’s nothing to forgive. I... I don’t want just a contract marriage. I think I’ve been in love with you from the moment we met. Even before I knew you were my intended.”
He huffed a laugh. “Good thing it was me, then. I’d hate to have had you fall in love with someone else before meeting me.”
“Oh, I doubt very seriously that would have happened. I’ve been around plenty of men over the past year since losing Scott... I’ve never felt for any of them the way I felt for you. It was providence.”
“Fate,” he said.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Then I have a confession to make, too,” he said, his finger lightly caressing her arm again. The light fabric doing nothing to bar the heat of his skin or hers. “I’ve never even been moved by a woman until I saw you that day on the train platform. And the more I got to know you the more I fell in love with you. And I feared...”
“Feared?”
He swallowed hard before continuing, “I feared that I wasn’t good enough for you.”
She blinked twice and then shook her head. “You? Not good enough for me?”
His lips drew thin as he nodded. “You rescued this ranch. If it weren’t for you, I could have lost it and every one of the employees would have been lost with it. You saved Christmas for everyone on the ranch and gave me a reason to want to have the party and celebrate. You rescued me from having to try to play the part of businessman and rancher. I cannot thank you enough for coming into my life.”
She huffed a laugh. “Do you know that the day you sent the telegram to the Stewart family was the first day that I’d met them all?”
He blinked. “What? Are you not Mr. Stewart’s niece?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m cousins with Claudia, but not related to Mr. Stewart in anyway. I’m a relation on her maternal side.”
His eyes went wide, and he stiffened. “But you are Scottish?”
She nodded. “Yes! Utterly and wholly.”
“Thank goodness,” he said, letting out a breath and relaxing once more.
“But I’d been in an accident. Nothing horrid. I just was unable to pay for my hospital stay, which ended up being a full week. The Stewart family sponsored me through our church. Then Mrs. Stewart discovered that I was also a blood relation. It’s because of that that I was there at the Stewart’s house soon after they got your telegram.” She laughed again and shook her head. “It was actually Claudia’s younger brother who came up with the idea that I could take his sister’s place.”
He blinked a couple times. “Surely that was providence again. Still, what possessed you to do it, though?”
She furrowed her brow and thinned her lips as she thought. “I had nothing. Nowhere to go, no one to love. The holidays were coming, and things were going to get harder as the winter wore on. The Stewart family had been welcoming and warm to me
, and I knew that it would help them if I agreed, as well. I prayed about it and felt a prompting in my spirit that I should go.”
“And here you are,” he said as he pulled her into him and embraced her.
Every bit of his love for her was there in his embrace. The warmth. The comfort. The feeling of belonging. “I... I don’t know if I can have children. I’ve already had two miscarriages.” Her voice wavered and cracked as tears spilled over her cheeks.
Slowly he pulled back. Using his thumb, he wiped away her tears. “It’s all right. If we have children, then we’ll count it a blessing. If we don’t, we’ll still count it a blessing. I have you and that’s more than I ever knew I needed.”
She wrapped her arms around him and held him tighter than she had before. What had she done to have God bless her with a husband like Marcus? Together, maybe they could have a life where they could work together and accomplish anything. As long as they were together, that was all that mattered.
Epilogue
One year later...
“Hurry up, Marcus!” Bethany called. “The guests are arriving!”
“I’m coming,” he called back, but she waited in the hallway, wringing her hands in front of the door of the guest room that used to be hers when she’d first arrived at the ranch a year before. When he finally came out, he held their son, Gavin, in his arms, dressed in a red and green shirt for the party. On his head was the tinsel and wire halo that Galena had made for him. Bethany laughed and shook her head.
“Exactly what kind of angel is he supposed to be with all that?”
“A perfect one,” Marcus said, cuddling the two-month-old to his face. The infant closed his eyes and grunted, fussing that his normal bedtime was getting interrupted by all the excitement of the day. Marcus cradled the child in his arms, treating him as the delicate gift he was.
The two of them wore shirts that matched but had the red and green portions on opposite sides. Bethany stepped forward and pulled the tinsel halo from the baby’s head and immediately, the infant began to settle down. Then she set the halo on Marcus’s head. “You’re the one who should be the angel.”
And she pushed off onto her tip toes to plant a kiss upon his cheek. He groaned and looked at her, his eyes becoming hooded.
“I think you took the words from my mouth. You are.” He leaned in toward her and kissed her on the lips, holding her gently across the shoulder with Gavin in between them. Their son was named after Marcus’s grandfather.
Downstairs, a knock sounded at the door, announcing the arrival of their first guests. Marcus pulled away with a frown. “I guess we’ll have to save all that for later. Right now, let’s introduce our little bundle of joy to the rest of the world.”
She laughed and nodded and took her husband by the elbow as they started down the steps. Bethany’s heart burst with the kind of joy she didn’t think was possible after losing her first husband, but now her life had gone a way that she’d never expected. She’d gotten a miracle and been rescued by providence. And this year, for Christmas, she could ask for nothing more than she’d already been given. Instead, she just gave thanks.
the end.
Don’t miss the rest of the Christmas Rescue Series if you love Western Historical Romance with a Christmas Theme:
http://bit.ly/ChristmasRescue
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.
If you enjoyed this story, look forward to more books by P. Creeden.
In 2020, she plans to release more than twelve new books!
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More Books by P. Creeden
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