Chapter 41
Chapter
James pulled the door closed behind him, his eyes locked on Noreen as the people around her dispersed.
Brother Cowan shepherded his womenfolk and the schoolmarm back toward the parsonage.
Mrs. Barker and Miss Stafford strolled toward the boardinghouse.
Connor Reed—after shooting a wink James’s way—offered to escort Mrs. Clevenger home, creating a blessed moment of privacy James refused to waste.
He moved toward her and she toward him, the pull between them stronger than ever.
He ached to hold her, touch her, kiss her until he could no longer breathe, but she’d been through an emotional storm tonight, and what he wanted didn’t matter as much as what she needed.
So he restrained his desires, only allowing himself to take her hand and caress it with the edge of his thumb.
“Are you all right?” He searched her face for clues to how she was faring, but her dark brown eyes glistened with such adoration that all those desires to hold her rushed back with renewed ferocity.
“I am. Thanks to you.” She stepped closer and placed a hand on his chest. “You’re amazing, James.”
The muscle beneath her fingers twitched, and his heart took off at a gallop. “I, uh, had a lot of help. Your mother. Martha. Even Mrs. Barker . . .” Her hand smoothed the fabric of his shirt, and he lost his train of thought.
“Yes, they all played a role, and I’m incredibly grateful. But you, James, you pieced everything together. You convinced the sheriff.” Amusement twinkled in her eyes. “Gracious, you even convinced Mr. Taggert.” Her gaze grew serious. “I owe you my life.”
“I was just doing my job, Noreen. You don’t owe me anything.”
“I disagree. I do owe you something. The truth.” Her lashes dropped over her eyes, and James’s gut twisted. “I’ve been keeping a secret from you.”
Well, he wasn’t about to let her tell him here.
The sheriff could barge out of the jailhouse at any moment.
James hooked her fingers onto his arm and led her away from the building, not stopping until he was sure they were out of earshot and even eyeshot.
Whatever her secret was, he’d find a way to handle it. Find a way to support her, protect her.
He turned to face her, bracing himself for her revelation. “You can tell me. Whatever it is, we’ll face it together. You have my word.”
She smiled, an expression so tender, it left him a bit bewildered. No guilt or shame darkened her gaze. No embarrassment. A bit of nervousness was in evidence as she nibbled the edge of her lip, but Noreen had never been one to let a few nerves derail her.
“And you have my word.” She slipped up to him and cupped his jaw in her hand.
His pulse leapt, and his breathing grew ragged.
“My word that I will love you for the rest of my days.”
Love him? She loved him?
“I should have told you sooner, but I was afraid I wasn’t good enough for you. That I would damage your career or blacken your good name. But love is supposed to cast out fear, not succumb to it, so I’ll not hold mine captive any longer. I love you, James, with all my heart.”
“Noreen. I . . .” Anything resembling intelligent thought drained straight out of his brain.
She loved him! He couldn’t think past that remarkable statement. His chest expanded as his joy swelled so rapidly that he struggled to draw breath.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he tugged her even closer, splaying his fingers wide upon her back as he pressed her to him. Her hand slid from his face and came to rest directly over his heart.
Man, but she felt good. Soft and warm. And the way her breath caught in her throat as they came together? His pulse might never recover.
“I think I started falling in love with you the first time you fixed my supper at the jailhouse.” He smiled as he tucked a stray curl behind her ear, then let his fingers linger on her face, tracing the silky skin of her cheek.
“I’d always admired your spunk, the way you never backed down from a fight you believed in.
But when I got to know you and saw the tender heart hidden behind the bold reformer, I fell hard. ”
Bending his head, he inched his way down to her slightly parted lips, craving a taste more than he’d ever craved anything in his life. Stopping a hairsbreadth away, his gaze met hers, and his gut tightened at the desire shining in her glossy brown eyes.
“I love you, Noreen.” His voice grew husky. “Always and forever.”
Her eyes widened slightly at the use of the phrase she and her mother shared, then the edges of her lips turned upward as she reached a hand to the back of his neck and drew him the rest of the way down.
His mouth met hers, and it was all he could do not to moan at the bliss that shot through his core.
Everything about her was perfection. The way her body fit against his.
The bold way she met his kiss with an eagerness that heated his blood.
The way her fingers twined in the hair at his nape, sending delightful shivers coursing over his skin.
The way she clung to him as if she had no doubts that they belonged together.
James deepened the kiss as his heart resonated with certainty. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman. Teasing her until she laughed, walking hand in hand by the millpond, sharing quiet meals in a home all their own, guarding her back as she worked to change the world.
Loosening his hold slightly, he lifted his head. Her moist lips glistened, tempting him to return for another taste, but he resisted, another matter pressing in with more insistence.
“Noreen?” He stroked her arm and waited for her eyes to flutter open.
Her lashes lifted.
“Marry me?”
She tilted her head and shot him a look full of sass that almost distracted him from the hint of insecurity lingering in her gaze. “Are you sure you want to tie yourself to a temperance lady? I’m bound to cause you no end of trouble.”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” He tightened his hold on her. “A little trouble now and then keeps life interesting.” He winked, earning her grin. “I’d marry you tomorrow if you let me.”
Her expression grew serious as she slid her hand down the lapel of his coat in a terribly distracting manner. “We might need a long engagement.”
“How long?” He’d wait as long as necessary and spend the time courting her properly. Convince her that he’d not change his mind, no matter how much trouble she got herself into. Still, the sooner he could make her his, the better.
“Long enough for me to finish paying my debt to Mr. Taggert.” She jutted her chin in that stubborn way of hers that warned she’d battle if he tried to argue.
He immediately swallowed the offer to pay the fine for her. As his wife, she’d have access to his bank account, and he’d happily provide for her in that way.
“When I marry you, I want no blemishes on my lawful record. Once I’ve paid my debt with my own earnings, I’ll take your name. Not a moment before.”
She’d said when not if. James grinned, too happy to fret about how long he might have to wait.
“Guess I better start payin’ you for the suppers you bring to the jailhouse, then. I plan to tip generously.”
She giggled and shook her head. “You scoundrel. I’ll take payment for the ingredients and not a penny more.”
“Nope. You gotta charge for your time and the delivery fee. I insist.”
Her eyes danced as she swatted his arm. “You’re ridiculous. Who argues to pay a higher price?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “A man who doesn’t want to wait fifteen months to marry the woman he loves.”
A pretty pink colored her cheeks. “I’m hoping it won’t be more than seven or eight months.
My mother and I were talking at the Cowans’ earlier today.
If Arthur is convicted, she wants me to come live with her.
I’m thinking of taking her up on the offer.
Allow the two of us to get to know each other again.
” She grinned up at him. “Plus, it would save on boardinghouse fees.”
“Sounds like a brilliant plan.”
Speaking of boardinghouses, he really needed to get her back to hers before tongues started to wag.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then loosened his hold and extended his arm.
She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow, and he hugged her hand against his ribs.
This was what he wanted. To walk through life with Noreen at his side.
“So are you going to get a new spiffy handkerchief with those embroidered flowers that you and your friends seem to like so well?”
A smile tugged at her mouth that hinted at secrets he might never understand. “No,” she said. “I think I’m ready to retire that particular design. I’ll just keep on with my plain ones until I have new initials to embroider.”
His chest puffed a bit. “So in six months?”
She nudged him with her shoulder. “Eight.”
James chuckled. “We’ll see.”