Epilogue
It was a successful wedding and a joyful, if chaste, honeymoon. Now they were galloping away from the fort. Delaney had a new name and felt like a new woman, and she was glad for it.
“Oh, just come on up here,” Morgan called out. “You’re being a stubborn, ridiculous little pill.”
Roz was tagging along, behind them about fifty feet away, with Jesse riding beside her. Delaney had to admit that she was acting like a stubborn little pill. She didn’t think “ridiculous” was fair, though. Delaney admired Roz’s grit.
But Morgan had absolutely forbidden her to come along with them. Roz had smirked at that, waited for Delaney, Owen, and Morgan to ride off, and then she and Jesse mounted up and followed them at a distance.
Marley had stayed behind to let his leg finish healing up.
He wasn’t up to the search for Tex, and he wouldn’t be heading back to Denver for a few weeks either.
Maybe he’d wait until the train was running again.
He wired the man who’d appointed him to his post and was ordered to stay put until he was well again.
Boone and her parents had opted out of the search, too. Boone’s head still hurt too much to ride a horse for any length of time. As for Delaney’s parents, they’d’ve probably gone along just to keep an eye on Delaney. In the end, they decided to trust Owen to take good care of her.
Owen told Delaney later that he was honored by their decision.
Grizzly said he was going to put the word out about Tex and Stella being missing, so if anyone saw them, they’d report it to the fort commander.
Shaking his head, Owen had said to Delaney, “If anyone sees Tex, they wouldn’t need the word put out, would they? Tex would just talk to them and use what information he gleaned from that to catch up to his comrades. It’s not like Tex is hiding from us.”
“Do you suppose he’s come across other people out there in the wilderness?” Delaney was going on the assumption that he and Stella had survived the fall and their river ride. And she recalled how utterly amazed Roz had been to see them. Not many folks up there among the peaks.
As they rode southward, they soon came into view of the Front Range of the Rockies. How were they ever going to find Tex and Stella in such vast and rugged mountains?
“I need to get back home and fetch my cows,” Roz said.
“We ain’t bothering with your livestock until we find Tex,” Morgan said. He could sure be a cranky man, although at the same time he’d let Jesse ride along on his right, Roz riding on his left.
“I meant after we find Tex.” She gave Morgan a wide smile, who seemed to forget he was being cranky as he locked eyes with her for a long moment.
Owen and Delaney brought up the rear. Owen had told her that Morgan was the man they wanted in charge once in the wilderness. Delaney, figuring this way she could get more attention for herself from Owen, didn’t protest.
She reached her hand out to Owen, and he took it. “Are we going to call this our honeymoon?” she asked.
Owen looked at her and chuckled. “Nope, we’re not. But when we’re done here, and before your pa puts me to work at the fort, I thought we might head to Iowa and look up my folks. We could take the train, which would be a faster way to travel there.”
Delaney said, “I’d like that. And if they’ve moved on, we’ll see if we can find them maybe.”
Owen leaned over and kissed her. “Any honeymoon we go on isn’t going to have three extra people along. I’d prefer your undivided attention, Mrs. Riley.”
The look in his eyes and the warmth of that kiss made Delaney’s heart race.
“Besides getting ambushed by the Duncans and driven deep into the mountains, I’d say more than anything, you ambushed my heart, Owen.
And I’m thankful for it. Going to Iowa to visit with your family for a bit sounds just right. ”
Holding hands, stealing a kiss now and then, talking quietly, planning their future together, they rode along while enjoying the summer sun—until Morgan turned the group toward the west and into the wild.