My Secret Alpha Step SEAL

by Paula Mabbel

  Mr. Roberts had mentioned in his letter that he lived in a big city, and if Abbie was completely honest with herself, she had to admit the thought of that didn’t thrill her. She had never before seen a town like this one, and it was nice.

  That night, Abbie sat awake on the edge of her bed. She could see outside from where her bed was, and the sky was beautiful. It was filled with all kinds of stars, and the moon was breathtaking.

  You should get some sleep, she thought. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and you are going to want to be light and fresh to meet your new husband.

  Abbie chuckled to herself at the thought of it, and lay down on the bed. She found it hard to believe that the next day was to be her wedding day, but it was true. She was too excited and too nervous to sleep, but she did her best anyway.

  There was no sound in the whole hotel, besides the slight hum that was coming from downstairs. Abbie figured the sound of the saloon was going to keep up through the night, but it wasn’t loud enough to bother her.

  Suddenly, she heard something. She held her breath so she could hear better, and the sound came again. She had heard the sound before, years ago… the sound of someone picking a lock.

  She froze, but after a few seconds she realized it wasn’t her door that was being unlocked, but rather the door of the room next to hers. She lay there in the dark, trying to decide what to do.

  She heard a shout, then a shot.

  Suddenly, she was that little girl in her bedroom once again.

  Abbie wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.

  Part of her wanted to get up and run away, as far and as fast as she could go, part of her wanted to dive under the blankets and forget about all of this. She wondered if it was a nightmare, but with the feeling of the cold sweat on her forehead, she knew that she was wide awake.

  Everything was moving so quickly, yet so slowly at the same time. She didn’t hear anything after the gunshot, her ears were ringing so badly.

  Then, Abbie made a choice.

  You can either lie here and regret it for the rest of your life, or you can go help that person in the next room, like you should have all those years ago.

  Abbie tried to get up, but she couldn’t move. Her fear paralyzed her on the bed. She took a deep breath, and calmed her thoughts. Then, with every fiber of her being, she got up.

  She crept over to the door and paused.

  She could hear someone in the next room. They were going through something. Abbie didn’t think. Her initial impulse was to run into the room and see what she could do to help, but she realized that could be dangerous.

  It would also be a bad idea to try to get across the hall. If the intruder saw her, he could shoot her, too. She had to get help somehow.

  She didn’t know what to do, so she just did the first thing that came to mind. She ran over to the window, and opened it. There were people all around on the street, but they likely didn’t know what had happened.

  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and screamed.

  *****

  Chaos ensued as people rushed into the building, and Abbie could hear there was a scuffle taking place in the other room. She was feeling braver now, knowing that it was only a matter of seconds before there would be more help on the scene, so she carefully walked back over to the door.

  She didn’t hear anything coming from the room now, but she could hear men running up the stairs, so she moved into the doorway. Suddenly, a man shoved passed her, roughly pushing her aside, and causing her to cry out in surprise and pain.

  He kept going, and she didn’t get a good look at him, but she could hear the other man that was still in the room. Abbie lit a lamp that was near the door, and light flooded the room. There was a man, on his knees with one hand up on the bed, the other hand clutching his side.

  Abbie hadn’t actually seen a lot of violence in her life, but it was easy for her to see that the man had been shot. She couldn’t tell if it was a dangerous wound, but she knew that she had to help.

  “Oh my goodness! Are you quite all right?” She asked, running over to him. She took the shawl off from around her shoulders and bunched it into a ball, then pressed it to the man’s side.

  He moaned and gasped as she did so, but he didn’t pull away.

  “That… That man! He must not get away! He- you… you saved my life.” There were great beads of sweat forming on the man’s brow, and he tried to stand. Abbie shushed him, and helped him crawl back into the bed.

  “Help is on the way… don’t you worry.” She said soothingly, just as a sheriff and two deputies burst through the door.

  “What happened?” The sheriff demanded, and Abbie started to explain what she had heard, but she was interrupted by the man on the bed. Soon, the doctor came into the room, and everyone started talking at once. Abbie felt shy and as though she were in the way, so she silently crept back to her own room, and closed the door.

  The next morning, Abbie woke up late, and hurried to get dressed.

  I mustn’t miss the stage! She thought to herself as she tied up the back of her dress.

  It had taken her a long time to fall asleep the night before, but when she finally did, she slept hard. So hard that she didn’t hear the school bells ringing in the morning, and now she feared she was going to miss the stage.

  She hurriedly tied on her bonnet, then grabbed her parcel and hurried out the door.

  “I say there! Miss!” A voice called to her from the room she passed.

  Abbie hesitated, considering ignoring the voice and hurrying down to the stage, but with a pang of guild she turned and went back.

  “Yes? What is it? I am afraid I am in a terrible hurry.”

  “Could you come in here, please? I never got the chance to introduce myself last night, or to thank you for what you did.”

  Abbie sighed and went into the room. She found the man from the night before, lying on the bed with his side wrapped in a bandage. He smiled when he saw her, and Abbie couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was.

  “I’m Charles Turner. That was really brave what you did last night. He was going to kill me… I am ever indebted to you Miss…?” He let his voice trail off, and it took Abbie a second to reply.

  “Abbie” she said.

  “Abbie. Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” He winked at her.

  Abbie blushed, but she tried to hide it by changing the subject. “Why did he want to kill you? Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It really isn’t any of my business.” Abbie turned to walk away, but Charles stopped her.

  “He owes a lot of people a lot of money, and it is my job to collect it from him. He just figured if I were gone, he wouldn’t have to worry about it I suppose.” Charles spoke in a very matter of fact manner, and he had a way about him that held Abbie’s attention.

  “Now, let me ask you something that is none of my business,” he said. “Why are you here in this hotel, and why are you leaving so early in the morning? Moving to Montana are you?”

  “Not quite,” she replied. “I am a mail order bride on my way to Oregon State. There is a man there I am to marry, and this was just a stop along the way.”

  Charles’ countenance visibly fell as she spoke, and he didn’t say anything for a second. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Abbie, he merely said,

  “I see. Well I thank you again, Miss. I wish you best of luck and all the happiness in the world in your new life.”

  There was a touch of a cold attitude when he spoke, and he turned away to face the wall. Abbie was torn. Part of her wanted to explain herself, part of her wanted to defend herself. Either way she felt that this stranger had overstepped his bounds with his attitude about her journey.

  “Is there anything wrong with being a mail order bride?” She asked, coyly.

  “Not at all,” Charles said, rolling back around to face her. “It’s just that, I would expect a girl as pretty as you are wouldn’t need to post mark herself in order to get a husband.”

/>   Abbie could feel her cheeks burn. She knew this was a touchy decision to make, but she felt judged by this man. She didn’t know why that bothered her, but she wanted him to approve of what she was doing, not question it or criticize it.

  “Well I did. Now if you will excuse me, I have a stage to catch.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and turned to leave, but he stopped her once more.

  “I’m afraid you are going to have to sit and think on your decision a bit longer, Miss,” he replied, rather flippantly.

  “The stage has just left.”

  *****

  Abbie sat in the rocking chair that was in her room. She was furious with the man in the room next to her, but she didn’t know why. She had hurried down to see if she could catch the stage, but he was right, it was gone.

  Once it started, it waited for no one, and she was stuck in Montana for another night.

  There was a part of her that couldn’t believe how forward that man was, but on the other hand, there was a part of her that wondered why she cared so much. He was just another stranger to her, yet what he had said about her choice to be a mail order bride had gotten under her skin more than all the criticism in the world from Prim or Marge ever would have.

  He thinks he has life figured out, lying in there with a gunshot wound. Ha! If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t even be here to tell me that I was making a foolish choice.

  Abbie’s attitude would fluctuate greatly as she sat in her room. One minute, she wanted to go down to the street and shout out to the world what she was doing, then the next minute she wanted to go into his room and tell him he was right, and she didn’t know what she had been thinking.

  Yet no matter what she was feeling, she couldn’t bring herself to walk into the hallway again. His door was open, and she didn’t want him to see her.

  But you should pull your hair back in case he does see you… she thought, then she buried her face in her hands. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, she felt like doing both.

  What’s wrong with me?! How can one man have this kind of effect on you? You want to see him, but you don’t want him to see you… this makes no sense! He-

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She opened it to find the sheriff standing outside with one of his deputies.

  “’Scuse me, Miss, but I wondered if I might have a few moments of your time. I have a few questions to ask you about last night, and I was wondering if you would join us in the room with Mr. Turner to get this all straightened out.”

  Abbie’s heart fluttered, then sank. She knew she really didn’t have a choice in this, and she was going to have to go with them, back into that room, but she really didn’t want to.

  All she could do was nod, and follow the sheriff into Charles’ room.

  He was sitting up on the bed now, with a shirt on over his bandage. He smiled at the sheriff, but his face really lit up when Abbie walked into the room. The sheriff said it was going to be brief, and he really just needed to hear from both of them what they saw and what happened, and determine who was really involved.

  Abbie did her best to remember all of the details, and she answered his questions as best as she could, but when he asked her what her business was in Montana, her cheeks burned.

  “I’m a mail order bride, just passing through.” She kept her eyes on the ground, and she spoke quietly.

  “Very good.” The sheriff wrote down a final note in his pad, then he bid them both good afternoon, and left. Abbie had felt Charles’ eyes on her for most of the conversation, and it made her feel uncomfortable, yet excited, all wrapped into one.

  “Well I suppose that is it then, goodnight Mr. Turner.” Abbie gave him a slight curtsy, and turned to go, but as usual Charles wasn’t about to sit and watch her just walk away.

  “I was wondering if you might join me for dinner,” he said with the same elegance he always held.

  Abbie was taken by surprise. She could tell that he liked her, but she didn’t expect him to be forward enough to ask her out to dinner. She was also surprised at herself. She would have thought that her reaction would have been to decline, and hurry back to her room, but she hesitated.

  “Mr. Turner, I am to be married tomorrow… I don’t know if it is entirely appropriate for me to be out to dinner with another man on the eve of my wedding night.” Although she was filled with all kinds of emotions, she kept them all at bay and held perfect composure.

  “Oh come on! It isn’t as though you are engaged. You haven’t even met this guy, which makes me feel like I have more right than he does to take you to a dinner. Besides, as you said, you are going to get married tomorrow, so you won’t ever again have a charming young man ask you to a dinner. May as well make the most of it while you still can.” He winked at her, and Abbie could feel her cheeks flush red hot.

  She knew he had a point, and a large part of her did want to go out with him. After all, she hadn’t been engaged, nor had Mr. Roberts told her she must travel and dine alone.

  Charles could be right, and this may be the last time I can get out and do whatever I want. It’s only dinner, it isn’t as though it is going to hurt anything. I don’t even have to tell James that I went.

  A slow smile spread across Abbie’s face, and she blushed again.

  “Let me grab my coat,” she said.

  *****

  Abbie didn’t want to admit it to herself or to anyone else, but she silently wished that this night would never end. Charles was able to get around just fine if he took his time, and he was a perfect gentleman to her.

  They went down to a family restaurant that was across from the hotel and the saloon, where a man played violin music as they ate. Abbie had never seen such a place, and she fell in love with everything about it.

  “So tell me about yourself, Mr. Turner. You already know so much about me, but all I know is that you are a bounty hunter.” Abbie didn’t know how else to phrase it, and she hoped it wouldn’t offend him, but he laughed.

  “I have to say, I have been called a lot of things, but never a bounty hunter. I am afraid you have me slightly confused with a different kind of profession. Think more taxes.” He winked at her, and she smiled.

  It was hard to feel embarrassed by him, he made everything so light and relaxed. Abbie was finding it hard to focus on the fact that she was leaving tomorrow. The more they talked, and the more she learned about Mr. Turner, the more she wished it was him that was waiting for her in Oregon.

  “You have me curious, and I know you don’t want to talk about it, but honestly… why are you a mail order bride? With that smile, and those eyes… I would have to think that you have all the young men falling into line waiting for you.” Charles spoke between bites of stew, but his charm never faltered.

  “Well you see it isn’t quite so simple as you would think. I have had a bit of a… oh how should I say it? I am not the most social of people.” Abbie was hoping she could avoid telling him about her past, but he seemed to be infatuated with every part of her.

  “Why? A girl as pretty as you should be to every dance, every ball, and every party imaginable. Unless, that is… you have a protective father, don’t you?” He winked at her, but his remark made her face fall.

  “I’m sorry, did I offend you?” Charles asked, worried that he had said the wrong thing, but Abbie shook her head.

  She related to him the events of her childhood, and how that had made her fearful of the world. She told him how there was a lot of memories that were coming to her mind the previous night when he had been shot, and how she felt responsible for the death of her parents.

  “That wasn’t your fault, Missy,” he said gently, then his voice took on a more serious tone. “Abbie, you have to realize that bad things happen in life; that is a large part of what life is. What matters isn’t what happens to us, what matters is who is there to help us through it.”

  Abbie wanted to cry and hug him, but she fought the tears and the impulse. She smiled at him a
nd thanked him for listening, and Charles took the cue to change the subject.

  “I’ll tell you what, let’s do something fun. I say there!” He motioned to the man with the violin. “Play us something lively, Old Chap!”

  The man struck up a merry tune, and Charles jumped up, pulling Abbie up with him.

  They spent hours dancing and talking together, but it only felt like a few minutes to Abbie, before he was dropping her off back at her door.

  “I had a wonderful night tonight,” she said.

  “As did I.” Charles replied, and though it was clear he should be going, neither one wanted him to. Abbie didn’t know what else to say, but she didn’t want him to leave. It was clear that he felt the same way.

  “I suppose this is goodnight, Little Missy,” he said at last, with a smile.

  “I don’t want to leave.” Abbie suddenly blurted out. She surprised herself with that, although it was how she had felt all night, she was going to hold it in. she had made her choice, and James Roberts would be waiting for her in the morning.

  “Then stay.” Charles whispered to her, leaning in and kissing her on the forehead.

  Abbie spent the night sleepless, tossing back and forth on her bed, torn with her decision. She had never had a night with anyone like she had with Charles. He was kind, he was a gentleman, and he understood her.

  She had come out here to marry James… so what was she doing? It felt so wrong to her. She had never seen him before, but she could picture his face, heartbroken when she never showed up, or even worse, writing to him and telling him she had changed her mind.

  Both choices seemed good, yet both seemed bad. Abbie had wanted a change, and she had gotten one, but now she wasn’t sure if she liked what the change was. Or where it was taking her.

  The next morning, sunlight woke Abbie. She was up a lot earlier than the day before, and she hurried to get dressed.

  I can’t miss the stage again…. I simply can’t!