Chapter 15
The look on Violet’s face when she opened the door told Clay something was definitely wrong. She stepped aside and motioned for him to enter the house, and the shock he’d felt when Daisy ran out of the mercantile turned to dread.
He’d imagined asking Daisy to marry him so often it felt as if he’d done it dozens of times now, but not once in all those daydreams had she run from him.
She’d always smiled and screamed yes and thrown her arms around his neck, happy and demanding they not waste a single moment before running off to find a preacher.
Instead of the bliss those daydreams always produced, he’d had to look at the faces of everyone in the mercantile staring at him, still down on one knee, as the girl of his dreams ran out of the store without answering him.
Embarrassment had heated his body. Not only had she not immediately said yes to his proposal and fallen into his arms as he’d imagined she would, but she’d run, and the entire town had seen it.
“Is she here?” He asked, the ring box still clutched in his hand.
Violet nodded and said, “She’s up in her room. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
“Explaining?” His brow scrunched in confusion.
“She saw you and Veronica in the livery stable last night. She ran out there to greet you and found you in that girl's arms.”
He shut his eyes, his breath freezing in his lungs. “She saw that?”
“Oh yeah. And that’s not all.”
His eyes came open at that. “What do you mean?”
They both glanced at the stairs when they creaked. Daisy was at the top of them, staring down at him.
“I’ll let you two talk,” Violet said, then headed down the hallway to the kitchen.
Daisy came down the steps slowly and never once looked up at him.
When she reached the landing, she walked past him into the room to the left of the front door.
He followed her into what looked like a fancy parlor with a red velveteen sofa and chairs.
The white lace curtains allowed the sun to shine in, and the space looked cheery—even though there was nothing to be cheerful about at the moment.
Daisy sat on the edge of the sofa and smoothed her skirts around her legs. He eased into the chair across from her and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, waiting for her to look up at him. When she did, he said, “Veronica threw herself at me last night. What you saw meant nothing.”
She swallowed, her throat moving with the action. “And the day I saw the two of you kissing?”
His heart nearly stopped. He remembered that day. Remembered Veronica pulling him into the small space between the dress shop and mercantile before he’d even seen her. She’d wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him before he even had time to blink.
“You saw her kiss me,” he said slowly. “I was not an active participant in the act.”
She glanced at her feet. “I don’t know if I believe you.”
He waited for her to look up, but she never did. Sliding off the chair, he got to one knee in front of her and lifted her head. “I have never wanted Veronica and never will. She grabbed me by the arm when I walked by her, and she pulled me into that alleyway and kissed me.”
As he always did, he said each word slowly, forming each one in such a way she would have no trouble understanding what he was saying.
He repeated it anyway—just to be sure—and added, “I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you, Daisy.
I might have come to Silver Falls to marry Rose, and even been a willing participant in her little competition to win her hand, but the moment I saw you in the crowd, I didn’t even try anymore.
I lost on purpose because she wasn’t the prize I wanted.
It was you. It has always been you. It always will be.
I love you, Daisy Campbell, and nothing will ever change that. ”
Why did seeing those words on his lips hurt so much?
Because you’ve wanted them so badly.
He repeated himself more than once so she’d understand everything he said, and even though she knew it was tiring for people to repeat themselves, she loved him more for doing it.
Most wouldn’t bother, but every time he spoke to her, it was in a slow, steady cadence of words he used just for her.
The fact that he did it made the love she felt for him intensify into something consuming.
Knowing he wanted to marry her should have had her dragging him to the nearest preacher herself, and had he said they'd live here in Silver Falls, she would have, despite what she’d witnessed between him and Veronica.
It still hurt. Seeing them together like that would forever be in the back of her mind, but she believed what he’d said.
She knew Veronica instigated those encounters, so she couldn’t stay mad at him for it.
But moving to Butte? Moving away from her family?
Her heart ached at the thought. “I can’t leave my family, Clay. ”
He lowered his head, staring down at her hands before taking them both in his own. When he looked back up at her, he smiled, the small tilting of his lips telling her it was forced.
“I love you.”
“I know,” she said.
“And I think you love me back. Where we live shouldn’t matter. Your family will still be here, Daisy. You can visit whenever you need to.”
“But I won’t be able to. You’ll not have time to bring me back as often as I’d want, and I’ll get stuck in Butte.”
“Stuck?”
The word seemed to resonate with him in a way it didn’t with her. He glanced away, his hands firm against her own, and after a small squeeze, he looked back at her and stood.
“I have to leave tomorrow.”
The words caused panic to set in. She’d waited for him for over a month, counting the days until he came back. Was she really going to let him leave without her?
“I’ll come see you before I go.” He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on the lips before turning and heading for the door. She watched him go, her heart breaking with every step he took away from her, and she never moved until Violet peeked around the corner long minutes later.
“What are you doing, Daisy?” Violet walked into the room, her expression filled with disappointment. “Don’t let him leave without you.”
“I can’t live in Butte, Violet.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
“Because isn’t an answer. What are you so afraid of?”
She swiped at her cheeks when tears tickled a path down them. “My family is here.”
“And we’ll always be here. That won’t change.” Violet sat beside her on the sofa and grabbed her hand. “Do you love him?”
More tears clouded her vision. “Yes.”
“Then don’t let him go. I promise you, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you do.”
She already did, but how could she leave? How could she walk away from her family? “Who will take care of Gramps? Who will cook his meals?”
“I will.” Violet grinned. “He probably won’t like it, but he won’t starve.”
Violet raised a hand and wiped Daisy’s falling tears again, smiling before saying, “Clay loves you, Daisy. Do you know how rare that is? People go their entire lives waiting for it, and many die without ever experiencing it. Don’t let him go because you’re scared to leave.
You should be more scared of the alternative.
Living the rest of your life alone will be a miserable existence when all you had to do was have a little courage and take the hand offered to you. ”
She didn’t catch every word Violet said, but she understood enough to know what she was saying.
Finding someone to love you, who you loved in return, was a gift.
She knew it was, but could she really leave her family and move so far away?
It terrified her even to think it, but deep down, she knew the question she should be asking herself was, could she let Clay leave without her?
Bright morning sunlight flooded the small room behind the jail. It took Clay less than ten minutes to gather all his things. He pulled the strings on his travel bag tight to secure everything inside and turned back to look at the room he’d called home.
The day Josiah had offered it to him was still clear in his mind.
It was the first time in his life he’d had a place to live that wasn’t bartered or temporary.
It had been given to him freely, with no arrangements whatsoever, and he would have been perfectly happy there for years for no other reason than Daisy was three houses down.
But he couldn’t see her living here. It wasn’t a proper home.
It wasn’t meant to be, and she deserved more than this.
He wanted to give her a house she could be proud of, and now he could.
Sharing the profits the livery stable in Butte earned, he could give her everything she ever wanted. All she had to do was accept it.
He shut the door of the little room behind the jail and headed to the livery stable.
The horse Liam named Bran was a beauty, his coat so black it shone in the sun.
It nickered at him when he opened the stall door to let him out.
He took his time saddling him and securing his bag so he’d not lose it on the long ride home, and knew he was stalling when he’d untied the bag and secured it two more times.