Chapter Twenty-Three
Luke’s ranch — Early afternoon
Day of the Christmas Dance
Despite Luke’s racing mind regarding their plan to capture the gang the following night, he tried to be present in the moment while he was at home, spending time with his family.
Belle and Simon were playing on the floor—again in front of the crackling fireplace—which elicited a content smile from Luke as he remembered how he had fallen asleep with all of them right there in that same spot just a few nights before.
He wasn’t sure if Madelaine was aware of the fact that they had slept right next to each other for a few hours with him curled around her. He still thought about how close her body had been to his and how her head had been resting on his arm when he woke up that night.
She’d still been fast asleep when he’d gotten up and carried every one of them back to their room, carefully laying them down on their bed before tucking them all in with a nice thick blanket. Madelaine hadn’t stirred, so he assumed that she wasn’t aware.
He and Caleb enjoyed a glass of fine port as they watched the children play. Both women were back in Madelaine’s room, getting her ready for the dance later today. Unfortunately, Evelyn wasn’t feeling well, so she and Caleb had decided to stay home and watch the children instead.
Getting Madelaine ready was a frenzy nonetheless, with lots of giggles and chatter coming down the hallway, and Luke could sense her excitement as she prepared for the big event.
The day after Luke’s apology, when he’d found Madelaine out riding Tinsel for the first time, he had sent both women to the general store to pick out any fabric, ribbons, and lace they liked, so they could sew themselves new dresses for the dance.
Apparently, there was a big hype about some new kind of fashion that had come out, and all the women in town were seemingly obsessed with this new dress style.
Evelyn and Madelaine had both been ecstatic when they got ahold of the pattern for it, and they had spent hours upon hours working on their dresses to get them ready for today.
It was such a shame that Evelyn had fallen ill, and he felt truly sorry for her that she would miss the dance, but Luke couldn’t deny his curiosity to see the new dress on Madelaine. Her excitement was contagious.
The clock on the mantel chimed at four o’clock. It was time to leave.
“Are you ready? It’s time to go!” Luke called down the hallway as he rose from his chair.
“Yes! She is ready! Are you ready to see her like this?” Evelyn yelled back, and both women burst into another fit of giggles. Luke heard the sound of crisp fabric rushing toward him.
“Tadaaah!” Evelyn sang, before she held a handkerchief in front of her reddened nose.
Luke’s heart stopped a beat, and his brain stopped working completely when Madelaine entered the room.
She was stunning.
Her glossy black hair was tied back in an elaborate style, but there were several curly strands hanging down from her temples, framing her face beautifully.
In the back, Evelyn had worked blue and purple ribbons into her hair, which looked like silky flowers that matched her blue satin dress.
The wide skirt was embroidered with hundreds of flowers in white, darker blues, and purple tones, and the colors somehow showed off the complexion of her skin, even though her long white gloves reached all the way high up over her elbows.
“Do you like it?” Madelaine asked. She twirled in a small circle, which showed off how prettily the fabric flowed around her. Her vivid green eyes sparkled as she looked up at him.
Luke opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He had no idea what exactly the fashionable style differences were, but he did immediately notice the off-the-shoulder neckline, which showed off the gorgeous curves of her shoulders and elegant neck.
So far, he’d only ever seen Madelaine in practical, modest woolen dresses, which never revealed a single part of her female figure.
This was entirely different, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“You look beautiful,” he finally managed to say before swallowing hard.
“You look very handsome yourself,” Madelaine said with a warm smile. Luke had worn his best suit, but now he wondered if it was good enough and whether he should have had a new one made to match his wife’s modern fashion style.
Evelyn giggled. “I told you he’d like it,” she said proudly, winking to Madelaine.
“Now I can’t wait to see yours,” Caleb announced as he looked at his wife, besotted despite her sickly appearance. Evelyn rolled her eyes, but she still smiled at him.
Before Luke’s eyes could pop out of his skull, Evelyn wrapped Madelaine in a soft purple shawl, then draped her thick winter coat over her, hiding her magnificent appearance from him.
“Have fun, you two! Especially you, Mrs. Cross!” Luke’s heart skipped a beat when he heard those words. “Have a glass of punch for me,” Evelyn said, waving to them from the front door, as Luke led Madelaine outside toward the waiting carriage.
Tonight, Alvarez had strapped Tinsel to the small two-person buggy, which was light and easy to pull. Madelaine was clearly happy to see her mare eagerly bobbing her head, ready to go. Luke took the reins and didn’t even have to click his tongue—the horse started to pull immediately.
The light was fading fast as they travelled at a relaxed pace toward the fairgrounds on the other side of town. The air was crisp, and Madelaine clearly could not contain her excitement. Luke noticed that she hadn’t stopped smiling. Well, neither had he.
After they’d dropped off Tinsel in a safe and comfortable spot at the stables, which provided her with lots of hay, Madelaine put her hand around Luke’s arm, and the two of them walked into the large, illuminated barn.
The place was abuzz with chitchat and laughter, a band was playing light-hearted music, and several couples had already taken to the wooden dance floor.
The barn was lit up by several huge chandeliers, loaded with candles, as well as several tall torches and candelabras dotted around in convenient places.
It kept the large room at just the right temperature so the guests could take off their winter coats and show off their garments.
Given the theme of the night, every nook and cranny was decorated with Christmas ornaments—garlands and wreaths, nutcrackers and gingerbread houses.
In each corner stood a large round table loaded with delicacies for every taste—savory sausages, cheeses and ham, sweet cakes, cookies, and bowls full of bright red punch.
Luke picked the nearest table, filled one of the small glasses with punch, and handed it to Madelaine.
“I have never tried this before,” she said with a glint in her eyes, as she tentatively brought it to her lips.
“It’s sweet. Just like you,” Luke said teasingly, and Madelaine almost choked on a laugh. When she tasted it, her eyes went wide.
“Oh! This is good!” she said. “It’s dangerously good.”
Luke didn’t say out loud what he was thinking in that moment, but his smile was mischievous enough to make Madelaine’s cheeks turn pink.
Before they left, he had promised himself to have fun tonight, to enjoy his new wife and this lovely evening—to forget about everything that lay ahead for just a few hours—so he took her gloved hand in his and kissed the back of it.
Madelaine blushed profusely. She looked around as if checking to see if anybody noticed it, but Luke only laughed. “My beautiful wife!” he exclaimed loudly. “Would you allow me the first dance?”
He barely gave Madelaine enough time to put her drink down before he led her into the middle of the dance floor, where he pulled her close to his body. She looked so gorgeous, she smelled amazing, and the shimmer in her stunning green eyes showed a note of mischief as she grinned up at him.
“That was obnoxious,” she said, bursting into a little giggle. It was adorable.
“I had to tell everybody in the room that you are taken, my dear. You turned way too many heads during your entrance,” Luke admitted, which promptly colored her cheeks again.
“You jest,” she said as she gracefully followed his lead to the music.
Luke learned yet another thing about his remarkable wife—she was a fantastic dancer.
If his hand pushed her a little too tightly against his body, Madelaine didn’t complain, and the two of them whirled in grand circles around the room.
Luke loved the feeling of her in his arms, and if there weren’t so many people around, he wasn’t sure he would be able to contain himself. His gaze fell to the beautiful curve of her lips, and she inhaled a sharp breath, turning her head sideways with a cheeky little grin.
But then her grin faded abruptly, she stumbled in the middle of the dance, and all the color drained from her face as she stared with wide eyes at something behind Luke.
Luke turned around to follow her eyes, and before he noticed him, the man was already on his way toward them. He walked with angry strides, and as he came to a stop right in front of them, Luke finally got a good look at the man he was going to arrest in less than twenty-four hours.
“Madelaine!” Phineas called out, extra loudly. Apparently, that was the only way this man talked—yelling at everybody.
Madelaine inhaled a sharp breath. There was a forced smile on her hardened face. “Phineas.”
“What in the world are you doing here? And with this man?” Phineas didn’t acknowledge Luke on a personal level. Luke came to the conclusion that he probably wasn’t tall enough to look him in the eye like a real man would.
“This man is my husband,” Madelaine announced, clinging ever so tightly to Luke’s arm. Before she could introduce Luke to her cousin, he extended his hand himself.
“Luke Cross. Nice to meet you.”
Phineas turned to the side, pushed out his chest, and glared at Luke with a menacing stare. He had to raise his chin to do so, and Luke wasn’t sure, but was this scrawny-looking man standing on his tiptoes?
“I can’t say the same,” Phineas said, his face a mask of disgust. “I am her fiancé, and I will marry her!”
Madelaine scoffed a laugh; Luke raised one eyebrow. “You must be deaf. I am already married. You are no longer my fiancé, cousin!” Madelaine spat, putting full emphasis on the last word. “You never were, actually,” she added, pulling her lips into a thin line.
“I always get what I want,” Phineas said, overly confident. “And I don’t care what I will have to do to get it!” Phineas turned his head and looked Luke straight in the eyes as he said this last part.
Luke gritted his teeth but didn’t let anything show on the outside. What he would give to punch this man right now. After all, Phineas could be the one who murdered his family, and that thought alone made bile rise up in his throat.
“You won’t this time,” Madelaine said. “I have proof that my father’s ranch belongs to me, and I will never allow it to fall into your greedy hands. Your days are numbered.”
Phineas didn’t react the way Luke expected. Instead, he burst out laughing, which turned a few heads their way.
“Oh, really? Are you sure about that?” Phineas said cockily.
“I’ve sent some of my men out to visit a couple of ranches in your neighborhood.
” Once again, he said the last part directly to Luke, before his head swiveled back to Madelaine.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be out, gallivanting around like some cheap skirt while you leave Simon and little Belle alone at home! ”
Madelaine released a wail. Phineas bared yellowing teeth in a menacing grin, his face pulled into the ugliest visage Luke had ever seen.
Then Madelaine turned on her heel and ran toward the exit.
It took Luke everything he had in him not to lose control in that moment, but he left the despicable human being where he stood and chased after his wife.
She’d run out the door without grabbing her coat, so Luke had to snatch it from the hook it was hanging from, abandoning his own, before he followed her outside.
She was already inside the carriage, taking hold of the reins, ready to take off.
“Madelaine!” Luke yelled as he jumped onto the seat next to her, draped the coat around her shivering shoulders, and took over the reins.
“Hurry! Hurry! He’s going to do something to the children!” Madelaine screamed hysterically. “Oh, please, God! Don’t let anything happen to them! Please, God, protect them! I can’t take it! I can’t lose them, too!”
Luke urged the mare to run faster, pushing the poor horse to her limits. For the first time in years, he raised his face to the heavens, praying to a God he wasn’t sure would be listening.
“Please, God! If You can hear me, please, don’t let anything happen to them!” he said.
Luke saw the orange glow reaching up into the night sky—exactly above his ranch—and he thought his heart was going to stop.
By the time they finally reached their home, the house was completely engulfed in flames.