Chapter Seven #2
“I’ll catch you anytime, darlin’,” Micah said with what he hoped was calm amusement.
Her proximity, the feel of her in his arms even as he quickly removed his hands, showed him how much his wife affected him.
Now wasn’t the time for his thoughts to go there, especially when Ellie was so nervous for their announcement.
Taking her hand once more, Micah started their forward motion again.
Leading the way through the front door of the wooden, clapboard ranch house, Micah quickly located the crew of folks ready to celebrate Jacob and Callie.
All eight of the children, from Cecily right down to Reuben, had taken their places in the kitchen as though they’d gathered to pray before the meal.
Folks still stood, and Isaac, Louisa, Jacob, Callie, and Pastor Jim all stood among the children.
Abe stood off to the side speaking when Micah and Ellie entered the room. “Yeah,” he said from the doorway. “Tell us which Sutton brother is going to be the first to the altar.”
Well, now was probably as good a time as any to say it.
Standing there next to his older brother, Micah clasped Ellie’s hand even more tightly.
The way she shook, it wouldn’t surprise him if she ran right out the door.
“I hate to tell you both,” Micah said. “That’ll be me.
Ellie and I got married this morning in Lawrence Junction by the judge there. ”
A body could’ve heard a pin drop in the breaths which followed his words.
Callie and Louisa both looked like they’d seen a ghost, while Jacob simply studied the two of them.
Pastor Jim studied their clasped hands with measured suspicion, but it was Isaac who broke the silence.
“You two got married? Is this a joke, Micah?” He stepped forward, also eyeing their hands before looking straight to Ellie. “This is something you wanted, Ellie?”
Anger and hurt bubbled in Micah’s veins at the idea his brother would even suggest he might’ve forced her, but Ellie spoke before he could.
She straightened her shoulders, and he could feel the fire running through her own blood at the insinuation.
“Of course, this is what I wanted. Micah would never force me.”
Micah swallowed down the hurt at his brother’s question and tried to focus on the fact the woman beside him had defended him, but it was Jacob who broke the silence next.
“Then I suppose congratulations are in order.” He pulled his own hand from Callie’s, and the couple moved toward Micah and Ellie.
As Callie pulled Ellie into a hug and exchanged a few whispered words with her, Jacob put out his hand. “You beat us all, little brother.”
“It wasn’t intentional,” Micah admitted.
He hadn’t come clean to his brothers yet regarding Ellie’s trust or the stipulations, but he would in due time.
For the moment, he’d bask in the feeling of Ellie beside him and the feeling of knowing someone like her was his to protect.
He’d love her too, if she’d let him. The woman’s kindness, beauty, and easy way with women and children had told him everything he needed to know about her.
Add in the spunk he’d seen from her when she was backed into a corner, and he was half gone over her already.
The rest of the party continued, and Micah noticed Ellie routinely trying to move focus back to Jacob and Callie so as not to spoil their day.
Neither seemed to care, so focused on each other they wouldn’t have minded if a stick of dynamite blew up in the pasture.
Later, as the party had begun to disperse, it wasn’t Isaac who came and found him, but Pastor Jim.
A strong hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed a little tighter than normal. “Come with me, son.”
Rather than respond, Micah simply followed the man who’d come to feel protective of Ellie in the time she’d stayed in the clinic.
He was the closest thing she’d ever had to a loving father, so Micah didn’t take offense when Jim led him out the back door and over by the barn to talk.
He was a large man, with a few inches and twenty pounds or so on Micah’s six-foot-three frame, though he didn’t intimidate like he probably should. Jim Thorn was far too kind for that.
“Tell me how this happened, son. I know you, and I know you wouldn’t take advantage of her. How’d you end up married?”
“You know the trust she’s got in California?
Tom Goddard doesn’t believe they can enforce the stipulation regarding children, but he and Judge Coin agree the marriage one will stand.
I believe she deserves everything good in the world, and she deserves to take every dime her snake of a grandfather left her.
I don’t plan to take a dime from her, and if she chooses to walk away after she gets her money, I won’t stop her.
” The thought settled in his gut like curdled milk on a hot day, but he’d meant it when he said he’d never trap her.
“Or, if she gets the money and chooses to give it all away, that’s her choice. I’ll support her.”
Jim crossed his arms over his chest. “So why not let her stay on the ranch and not worry about the trust? Or wait until she’s been here longer to see if she falls in love with you? Is there some sort of timeline on the money?”
“One year from her grandfather’s death, and we’re coming up on six months now.
We’ll have to go to California to stand before a judge there before the funds can be released, and that judge will have to agree with Judge Coin regarding children.
I did make sure she knew she was welcome on the ranch regardless.
She wants to have some control over something in her life, and I believe she deserves to have it. ”
The man let out a long sigh, studying the lush green pastures despite the winter season.
His breath frosted the air, but if he was cold, he didn’t let on.
“I reckon you two made the best choice you could under the circumstances. You take care of her, all right? Don’t push her into anything she’s not ready for.
” He stared Micah down, his gaze tough and assessing, but kind.
“You know me, Pastor Jim. You know the kind of man I am.” He’d had a flash of hurt at his brother’s suspicion, but Pastor Jim’s didn’t feel the same. Rather than accusatory, it felt protective of both of them. “I’d never hurt her.”
Pastor Jim clapped a hand on Micah’s shoulder and squeezed lightly. “I know you won’t, son. You’re a good man, as good as any I know, and I have the privilege of knowing many. Make me one promise.”
“Yes, sir?”
“When things start to get rocky, come see me. You can’t expect smooth sailing in a marriage pushed out to sea during a storm. It can make your future years stronger, your ability to weather future storms more manageable, but it won’t be calm waters at first. Don’t try to handle it alone.”
He was right. Even though it was only a marriage of convenience, Micah couldn’t help but hope it would one day turn to more.
If they had any hope of that, they’d need help.
He’d need the help of the Almighty, the One who apparently did care about the lives they led there on earth.
They’d need the community of those around them, especially Ellie, who’d finally gotten the friends she’d longed for. “You’ve got a deal.”