He took the glass from her hand and set it alongside his. Then he pulled the small box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. His hand shook as he opened the lid and turned it so she could see the ring. “I want to ask you properly this time. I love you, Priscilla. I want you alongside me for the rest of my life. I think you are the most wonderful woman I have ever known, and it would be a great honor if you consented to be my wife.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She still hadn’t recovered from seeing the two people she loved most in the whole world facing the mountain lion. She’d spotted them through the window and, with shaky hands, removed her Winchester 1910 from her bedroom and raced outside. If ever she needed to be accurate and fast it was then.
The relief she’d felt as the animal dropped was so overwhelming she knew then her life would not be complete without Mitch. As much as she hated to give up her job, her place was with him, and whatever it took, she would be his.
“Yes, I will marry you. I love you, too, and can’t think of anything I want to be more than your wife.”
He blew out a breath and slid the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. He moved alongside her on the sofa and took her mouth in an explosive kiss that had her reeling. She had to grip his shoulders to keep from tumbling to the floor in a heap.
“I want so much to make love to you right now, but with Ian in your room…”
“It’s not a good idea,” she finished for him. She pulled away. “I better go to bed before we start thinking of ways to change our minds.”
He kissed her hand. “Unfortunately I think you’re right. Good night, my love. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Priscilla walked him to the door where they shared another burning kiss. Once the door was closed and locked, she hurried off to her room, wanting so much to drag Mitch back in. One glance at Ian breathing softly, all snuggled in the cot, and her mind cleared. They would have many, many nights together. Tonight they would behave themselves.
Despite thinking she would never sleep with all that had happened that day, she dropped off into an easy slumber, her thumb rubbing the small diamond on her left hand.
“Miss Cochran. Come on, it’s time to get up.” Ian stood alongside her bed. “Pa’s here and he told me you said ‘yes’ last night. You’re gonna be my ma.”
She opened her eyes and rose up on her elbows. “Yes, I am and I can’t be more excited about it.”
“Me, either. But Pa says you have to get up because he has a surprise for you.”
Another one? “Go tell your pa I’ll be right there.” She threw the covers off and quickly pulled on a dress, not bothering with her corset or putting up her hair. She would have a proper wash and put on fresh clothing after this “surprise” Mitch had for her.
She made her way to the kitchen. Mitch was at the parlor window holding the curtain aside, glancing out. He turned to her. “Oh, I was hoping you’d be dressed.”
Priscilla smoothed her hair back and began to twist it into a knot at her nape when the front door opened. Mama, Papa, and her four brothers all trooped into the house.
Papa walked up to Mitch. “Are you Mitchell L. Beaumont?”
“Yes, sir, I am.” Mitch held his hand out that Papa ignored.
Taking in Priscilla’s appearance, he turned to Mitch. “I don’t know whether to punch you in the nose or shake your hand. First I want to know where you spent the night.”
“Pa went home last night. Me and Miss Cochran slept in her bedroom. I was on a cot,” Ian piped up from the doorway, his eyes large at the crowd in the room.
“Papa, what’s this all about?” Priscilla hurried up to him and grasped his arm.
“This.” He shoved a Western Union paper into her hands. She opened it and read:
Honorable Senator Jesse Cochran (stop) Request permission to marry your daughter (stop) Please consider coming to Dogtown for Christmas (stop) Priscilla misses you and I don’t want Mrs. Cochran to miss the wedding (stop) Mitchell L. Beaumont
“You sent Papa this?”
“I did.”
She glanced back at the paper in her hand. “Miss the wedding? You were pretty sure I would say yes.”
Mitch took both of her hands in his. “That’s right. I had some extra ammunition in case you said no.”
“Extra ammunition?”
“Yes. I had Ray call an emergency meeting of the Town Council. They voted unanimously to allow you to stay on as Dogtown’s teacher even after we’re married.”
Priscilla threw her arms around Mitch and was immediately yanked back by two strong hands. “Don’t you think it would be fitting to be properly dressed, daughter?” Papa glowered at her.
Mama took Priscilla by the hand. “Come. Let’s leave the men to fight this out, and you and I will make you presentable.”
“Wait.” Priscilla pulled away and squatted down in front of Andrew. “Hi there, buddy, I sure missed you. Give me a hug.”
Her brother threw his little arms around her neck. “I missed you, too.” He pulled his lip up. “Look, my tooth fell out.”
“Didn’t fall out, little brother, you knocked it out when you fell out of the tree you weren’t supposed to be climbing.” Her twin Henry ruffled Andrew’s hair then turned to Priscilla. “How ya doin’, sis?”
The sight of all her family members, who she never expected to see right here, crowding her little house had her eyes brimming with tears. “I’m doing fine. Missed you.”
They hugged, and Mama finally dragged her away to the sound of Mitch and Papa’s voices raising. “Mama?”
“Don’t worry, sweetie. If your young man is worthy of you, he’ll be able to handle your papa.”
Confusion reigned as the Cochrans became acquainted with Mitch and Ian. Priscilla and her mama stayed busy cooking the huge Christmas dinner and getting it on the table. They caught up with all the family gossip while the men in her family took turns baiting Mitch. Everyone, however, swooped down on Ian, their acceptance of him an immediate thing.
“I’m so happy to have a grandchild,” her mama said, giving Ian a hug.
“I’m your grandchild?”
“Of course you are, dear.” She slipped him another cookie. The child would probably have a stomachache for days. “Now that your papa and Miss Cochran are to be married, you inherit all of us.” She waved her hand around at Mitch who was dodging questions from Papa, Paul, Henry, and Ben. Only four-year-old Andrew seemed happy to eat as many candy canes as he could before Mama took notice.
Actually, Priscilla was quite happy with how Mitch was handling himself. Even her brothers were starting to look impressed. Papa still glowered.
Mama sat alongside Papa on the sofa and took his hand. “Dear, we knew one day Priscilla would fall in love and marry.”
“Yes, darlin’, but I expected it to happen under my nose so I could be sure there were no shenanigans going on.”
Mama leaned toward Papa and whispered in his ear. He grinned at her then pulled a serious face. “Never mind. That was different.”
Mama smoothed out her skirts and grinned back, a slight pink tinting her cheeks.
Well, then.
Mitch had been through some pretty tough spots in his life, but nothing had him sweating like the four Cochran males pelting him with questions. He should have guessed that a woman with four brothers and a highly respected father would be extremely protective of their women. He ran his finger inside his collar once more, wondering if he’d been crazy to extend the invitation to Priscilla’s family to come to Dogtown.
“Jesse, I think you’ve tortured this poor man long enough. It’s time to open Christmas presents.” Tori sat alongside her husband, bumping him with her hip to allow her enough room. He put his arm on her shoulders and tugged her close, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Both Ian and Andrew raced to the tree where a stack of presents sat, most of them hauled into the house from the two cars the Cochran family had arrived in. Mitch was dying to ask to drive one of them, but he thought it would
be a good idea to get on solid ground with the family before he began to ask for favors.
Everything he’d heard about Senator Cochran turned out to be true. He was a man to be respected and admired. If he hadn’t heard from his uncle about the senator’s background, he would never have guessed it. In fact, never would have believed it if it had come from anyone else.
He couldn’t be happier at how quickly Tori had accepted Ian and told him he was her grandchild now. His son could definitely benefit from some soft, female loving. Mitch tried to ignore the gaily wrapped presents from the Cochrans for Ian under the Christmas tree since he’d never mentioned a son in his wire to the senator. He was probably better off not knowing how his future father-in-law had gained that information. Or what else he’d learned.
Speaking of Senator Cochran, Mitch had a strong feeling he wouldn’t even get to kiss his fiancée as long as her family was around so a speedy wedding was definitely in order.
Priscilla told the story of her parents’ wedding, how her cousins Ellie and Rachel got her mama all ready for the event that she, apparently, wasn’t too happy about.
“That’s right,” the senator chimed in. “I ordered her to be ready to meet me at the church.”
Mitch sat up straight. “Wait a minute. Why did it work for you? When I tried to order Priscilla to marry me, she flat out refused.”
Jesse grinned. “Ah, well, we had a reason to make sure that wedding took place.”
“We do, too,” Mitch said. He realized his mistake the minute Priscilla turned beet red and her three brothers and father sat up straight. Why the hell hadn’t he keep his big mouth shut?
“Is that right?” Paul said.
Tori hopped up. “It’s getting late. and Priscilla and I have a wedding to plan.”
“Please stay at my house,” Mitch said, trying desperately to recover from his blunder. “I have three bedrooms.”
“Yes.” Jesse said as he stood. “However, Andrew and my wife will stay here with Priscilla to keep an eye on her, and my sons and I will stay at your house to keep an eye on you.”
The four men stood and pulled on the cuffs of their shirts and straightened their jackets, staring at Mitch the entire time. He wanted to face that mountain lion again. His chances of survival would have been better.
True to their word, the Cochran men never let Mitch out of their sight. Tori and Priscilla were holed up in her house doing whatever it was women did to plan a wedding. The few times he did see Priscilla—surrounded by her family—she positively glowed. Her mama had brought a wedding gown with her that she had managed to find in Guthrie on the very short notice she’d had.
He did finally get to drive one of the automobiles and promised himself a fancy motorcar would be his next big purchase. He’d learned that Jesse had his two vehicles loaded aboard the trains they took from Guthrie to Denver, and then drove the vehicles from Denver to Dogtown. No mail coach for them.
Once they were more relaxed, he found Priscilla’s papa and brothers to be very nice. Easygoing, staunch supporters of family. Only Ben seemed to have an interest in following Jesse’s footsteps into law. Once he finished college, he’d told Mitch, he was headed to law school. Paul was a pharmacist, and Henry was in medical school. They would certainly be excellent role models for Ian, who they’d taken under their wing.
Ian was in his glory with his new grandma and grandpa. And he’d taken over the supervision of Andrew while the ladies were busy. He seemed confused when Mitch explained to him that Andrew would be his uncle. But then he’d found when the Cochrans were around, confusion carried the day.
It was early on his wedding day, and Mitch was more nervous than he’d ever been in his life. Half the town had been invited, Tori passing out invitations up and down the street. Everyone in Dogtown already loved her as much as they loved Priscilla.
His anxiety climbed way up when a newspaper reporter from Denver showed up to cover Senator Cochran’s daughter’s wedding. Never in his life had he been ashamed of his town, and he wasn’t now, just wished the streets weren’t quite so muddy.
Paul, acting as his best man, walked into the parlor at his house. “You sure you want to do this? You know Priscilla can be a pain in the neck at times?”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“Good. If you weren’t sure, I was going to take you out back and beat the shit out of you.”
“You know, Paul, one day you’ll go through this. I just want you to know I’ll be there to laugh at you and the woman you chose who will also be a pain in the neck at times.”
“Yeah. When I marry, I’m looking for a woman like my cousin Michael’s wife, Heidi. She’s a sweet woman, does what he wants. That’s the kind of wife I’ll marry.”
“Let’s go, men. It’s time to leave for church.” Ben stuck his head in.
“Can I drive?” Mitch asked.
“No.” Paul, Ben, and Henry said at the same time.
As they went out the door, Mitch said, “It’s my wedding day, guys. Come on, let me drive.”
Priscilla studied herself in the full-length mirror her mama managed to get from somewhere. She was still stunned at what Mama had accomplished in little more than a week. She’d put together a wedding the likes of which Priscilla was certain no one in Dogtown had ever seen.
She’d bullied Mrs. Gillis into making a beautiful wedding cake, charmed Pastor Thatcher into allowing them to use the church hall for a wedding reception, and had the café at the end of the street providing chicken, biscuits, and salad for the guests. She’d even put together a three-piece band by cajoling the organist to switch to piano and join two of the town’s fiddle players.
Mama had brought with her a beautiful, white, gathered chiffon dress. Four different kinds of white lace adorned the bodice and sleeves. The lace also layered a white ruffled underskirt. Priscilla put the ring of flowers with the veil that went all the way down to her shoes over her hair. How Papa managed to get flowers in winter was a mystery to her.
A slight knock on her door drew her attention from the mirror. Mama opened the door and stuck her head in. “Papa is here to escort you, honey.” She stepped into the room and covered her mouth with her two hands. “Oh, my. My little girl is all grown up.”
“Oh, Mama, don’t cry. You’ll make me cry and I’ll appear at my wedding with splotches all over my face.”
Mama dabbed at her eyes and held her arms out. Priscilla walked up to her and gave her a hug.
“Be happy, my daughter.”
“Thank you, Mama.” Priscilla picked up her veil and laid it over her arm and took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Watching Mama with her eyes filled with tears had been bad enough, but when Papa took one look at her and blinked rapidly, she thought she would crumble. “Papa, don’t.”
He extended his arm. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Very sure, Papa. I love him so much.”
He took in a deep breath. “In that case, let’s get you to the church. I’m sure there is a very nervous young man waiting there for you.”
They attracted a lot of attention, driving the automobile down the main street of Dogtown, Colorado. Priscilla looked from side to side, remembering when she first arrived in the mail coach. How small and quaint the town looked. Now it was home. The streets were still muddy, the same storekeepers stood outside waving as she rode by, and her entire class of students was lined up in front of the church. All of them with shiny faces and dressed in their Sunday best.
They passed the general store where she first saw Mitch. She had climbed from the mail coach and literally fell at his feet. She smiled at the memory. Who would have thought then that she would one day be riding with her papa to the church to marry the man who had ordered her back onto the mail coach?
Life had its twists and turns.
She waved to all the children as she climbed the steps to the door of the church. Papa held firmly onto her arm as they entered. She gasped at the amount of decorati
ons. Her mama was truly a miracle worker. The music started, and she and Papa walked down the aisle. Mitch was handsome in his suit and tie, with Paul standing alongside him, smiling brightly.
Ian and Andrew waved to her from the pew where Mama had slipped in with them. Papa shook Mitch’s hand, gave her a kiss on her cheek, and placed her hand in her soon-to-be husband’s.
“You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
“And you clean up pretty good yourself.”
Grinning at each other, they turned and faced the pastor who smiled brightly, then in a slow, deep voice began. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in God's presence to witness and to celebrate the marriage of Mitchell Lincoln Beaumont and Priscilla Margaret Cochran…”
“Lincoln?”
Epilogue
Eight months later, Dogtown, Colorado
“Are you sure you can’t make him stay inside for another month?” Mitch stood in front of Priscilla, staring at her rolling belly, his hands fisted on his hips.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Priscilla panted, grabbing the sheets and twisting them. “I can’t make her do anything. She’s telling me what to do.”
“Jesse will skin me alive when this baby comes a month early.”
“Miitttcchhhh!”
Sweat broke out on his forehead. “What? What do you want me to do?”
“Where’s the doctor?”
“I told you already, he’s on his way. He was finishing up his dinner. He said first babies take a long time.”
“How would he know? How many babies has he given birth to?” she growled.
“Why don’t I rub your back?”
She stared panting again. “Not…just…yet.” A low moan started in her throat and then turned into a wail.
“Pa, Mrs. Sweeney is here. She said the doc asked her to sit with Priscilla until he comes.” Ian looked askance from his pa to his ma. “Is Ma going to be all right?”
“Oh, good, good. Yes, that’s a great idea. And your ma is fine. Just a couple of pains.” He began backing away. “I’ll just be, you know, outside.” He turned and fled down the steps.
Merry Christmas, My Love Page 20