Chapter Seven
Ellie felt the bite of her nails pressing into the palms of her hands as she struggled to get control of her nerves.
Lawrence Junction wasn’t far from Cloverdale, and it was where the circuit judge stayed most of the time as the town was the largest in the area.
Her stomach rumbled, the bouncing of the rig nothing compared to the swirling inside her.
Her heart pounded in her chest, and catching a deep breath felt nearly impossible.
She’d noticed Micah looking her way more than once, the unspoken question of whether she was really sure about all of it on the air. She’d done her best to smile and reassure him, but she knew it likely looked like more of a grimace than a real smile.
Mr. Goddard, who’d accompanied her and Micah from Cloverdale, stood at the bottom of the steps to the courthouse and reminded her of how she’d always imagined a concerned but loving father would look. “Are you two sure about this, Ellie? Micah?”
Removing his Stetson, Micah nodded. “I’m sure, sir.
Thank you for coming with us, and for verifying with the judge regarding the stipulations of the trust. I know it’s not a perfect solution, but at least it feels like a solution.
” He turned to Ellie, his navy eyes darkened in a concern altogether different but no less meaningful than Mr. Goddard’s.
Finally, he spoke the words hovering behind his eyes the whole time.
“Are you sure? I stand by everything I said. We’ll help you until you get on your feet regardless of what happens here today, and you’ve got a place with us as long as you want one. ”
He meant it. She knew he did. With Isaac and Louisa engaged and Jacob and Callie newly engaged themselves, there would be room once more in the cottage for her to live.
In fact, she and Micah had decided she’d stay there for the time being even after they said their vows.
It was too much for her to move in with a man when she still woke most nights in a cold sweat from nightmares.
Louisa was always kind, acting like Ellie’s thrashing hadn’t woken her, but Ellie knew better.
“I’m sure. I trust you, and this is the way I can finally beat my grandfather at his own game.
” It was true, and she meant every word.
If her grandfather was still alive, she wouldn’t have wished any ill will to him, but the cruelty he’d shown her and her mother over the years was too much to ignore.
The money was hers, and she’d donate it or put it in a box under her bed or build something beautiful with it - whatever she chose.
“Decisions have been made for me my entire life. The money means I can make some of my own.”
Micah smiled softly, reaching up and smoothing a lock of her blonde curls behind her ear. “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”
Guilt pricked at her regarding his role in all this.
Could she really ask Micah to marry a woman who’d likely never be able to share a room with him?
Much less a bed? After years of her mother’s instruction to never trust a man and the rough way Brent had treated her during her capture, the idea of sleeping in the same space as a man sent chills down her spine.
Fighting to keep memories from their time on the road with Brent at bay, Ellie shuddered but allowed Micah’s strong presence to pull her back to the present. “You’re sure about this too? I know you said you were, but-”
“I don’t say anything I don’t mean, darlin’, and I never go back on my word.
” Micah leaned forward and placed a ghost of a kiss on her forehead.
Somehow, while any time Brent touched her felt like hot irons and rose briars on her skin, Micah’s felt like the rose petals - velvet and soft with the comfort of a spring rain.
His skin was calloused from hard work, but his touch was gentle and kind. “Mr. Goddard, can we have a minute?”
“Of course, I’ll go check in with the clerk and file your paperwork.” There was very little Ellie had on her save for the trust documents, but Micah at least had a little more identification. “Come on in when you’re ready.”
As the man climbed the steps, Ellie watched him retreat for a moment inside the small wooden building acting as the courthouse when she turned to find Micah watching her.
“This isn’t about guilt?” For reasons she couldn’t pinpoint, the idea he’d only marry her out of guilt felt wrong.
It was ridiculous, as convenience wasn’t any better reason, but it landed differently in her heart.
“You’re not going to regret this, especially when I can’t give you what a man wants of his wife?
” Her face flamed, but Micah was too much of a gentleman to embarrass her further.
“I’ll only take what you can give, and not a thing more.
” Micah paused, glancing down at the ground before speaking again.
“When you and Brent were on the road, would I be correct to assume he…touched you without your consent?” His own face reddened, but Ellie knew it was in anger directed at a dead man.
Micah’s jaw clenched, but he waited patiently for the answer.
“He didn’t actually force himself on me completely,” she said honestly.
“The men who helped capture me wanted to, but he said if I was pregnant before the marriage license was signed it might nullify something in the trust. He didn’t know anything about the actual documents, and I’m not sure what his plan was since he didn’t know I had them on me.
The money was all he really cared about.
Once I started to lose weight on the road and allowed myself to become as unkempt as possible to keep him away, I think he grew disgusted by me. ”
It had been intentional, even down to her desperately smearing the horse’s manure onto her clothing before they got on the train in a desperate attempt to deter any ideas he might’ve gotten later.
Her hair would’ve already been a mess, but she helped it along by refusing to wash it in the creek they’d camped by after they hopped out of the cargo car on the train they’d stolen passage on.
She’d smeared coal dust on her skin and clothing as well.
Micah’s teeth clenched so tight she was afraid he might break a tooth before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Taking both her hands in his, she could almost see the rage in his eyes cooling.
“How any man could ever be disgusted by you is beyond me, but I’ll thank God everyday he didn’t force himself on you.
You flinch at my touch, and I saw some of your injuries myself, so I know he hurt you, but… ”
“Me too,” she whispered through a lump in her throat. “It’s a small grace in an awful situation.”
Micah pressed his forehead to hers, and they stood that way for a minute before he squeezed her hands. “Are you ready to become Mrs. Ellie Sutton?”
Drawing from his strength, letting the security of the safety she always felt with him wash over her, Ellie nodded. “Let’s go.”
Ellie paused at the bottom of the ranch house’s steps, her eyes going wide with panic.
“Are you sure we need to tell them right now? Jacob and Callie just got engaged, and they’d rushed back from Lawrence Junction to make the engagement party Isaac and Louisa had been planning at the house.
They’d have waited a few more days, but Mr. Goddard said Judge Coin was going to Austin for some meetings at the state house and would be gone for nearly a month.
They’d had no choice but to say their vows that day or risk running the clock out even further.
“I don’t want them to think we’re stealing their thunder. ”
Honestly, as long as Jacob and Callie had pined for each other, Micah was a little surprised they hadn’t run off to get married themselves.
He didn’t like that Ellie clearly still felt so out of sorts with his family, but at least these nerves were ones he could more easily calm than the ones outside the courthouse.
He’d been half convinced she’d back out before they arrived, and he couldn’t blame her if she had.
Micah chuckled, taking her hand in his to calm her fears.
He’d have pulled her into his arms, but wisdom told him he needed to be patient with any shows of physical affection.
She hadn’t winced or showed any signs of nerves at hand holding or even the whisper of a kiss he’d placed on her head at the courthouse or the tiny peck he’d given her when the judge announced them man and wife, but he wouldn’t push his luck.
He’d rather pluck out his own eye than give her a single reason not to trust him.
“Jacob and Callie got engaged barely a month after Isaac and Louisa. I don’t think anyone’s going to feel like we’ve stolen anyone’s thunder.
” Besides, his brothers weren’t like that anyway, nor were the women they’d fallen for, but Micah got the idea Ellie hadn’t had many female friends over the years.
It made sense she’d be protective of the ones she’d acquired. “It’s going to be fine.”
Ellie took in a shuddering breath, but she nodded quickly as though steeling herself to get whatever would happen over with.
“All right, let’s go tell them.” She started up the steps a little too quickly and got briefly tripped up on her dress.
Thankfully, Micah still had a hold on her and was able to catch her before she went tumbling.
As he steadied her, their eyes met, and Micah saw Ellie’s breath catch in a way to make him wonder if they could one day be more than a marriage of convenience.
He wanted to. He knew good and well he’d be a goner for this woman with a heart of gold and a spine of steel before long, but she had to be the one with the reins. “Th…thank you,” she said softly. “Guess I got a little overzealous.”