Chapter Twelve
Ellie’s face felt hot, her breaths quick as she felt the beads of sweat dotting her forehead.
She stood with Micah in her and Louisa’s cottage a few days later with a blanket covering her canvas.
“I feel so nervous to show you.” Biting her lip so hard it smarted, Ellie tried to stop the shaking in her hands and knees.
Showing someone your art was vulnerable at the best of times, but showing Micah?
When no one else save Miss Lutken had ever even seen it?
It felt like she’d laid her soul bare in front of someone and handed them a knife.
Micah stood from the small loveseat in the living area, his body almost comically large in the small cottage.
His very presence took up so much space, rendering her even smaller and more vulnerable as he moved closer.
Gently, he lifted his thumb and pried her lip from her teeth before placing both hands on either side of her face.
His head lowered, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead and effectively bringing a calm she barely recognized to her whole system.
What had been a kaleidoscope of emotions and fear a moment before dulled, unfolding into the peace of a cool breeze on your face during the scorcher of a hot summer day.
“I’m going to love it because you did it,” he said as he ran his thumb over her cheek.
“You don’t have to be afraid - it’s just me. ”
Inhaling his scent of leather, grass, and a little dust from the barn he’d been working in earlier, Ellie took a deep breath.
“All right, here it is.” Best to get it over with.
As much as she tried to look away, Ellie couldn’t move her eyes from his face as she removed the cloth over the painting.
A look of disappointment or confusion in his eyes might have shattered her, but at least she’d know where she stood.
Still, what she hadn’t pictured was the pure and utter awe in his navy blue eyes.
Her painting, one of the ranch as winter slowly made its way into spring, had felt cathartic to create.
It was actually her exact view through the window of the cottage, with the wooden barn in the distance and the windmill and rolling hills dotted with cattle in the background.
The sunshine beckoned flowers and greener grass from the earth, but the grass was still dotted between browns and greens for the moment.
Micah gasped, reaching for her hand as he knelt to move closer. “Ellie, this is…”
Her heart pounded as he searched for the words, hoping against hope they’d be positive.
“It’s what?” Her words were barely more than a whisper.
The canvas and paints he’d purchased for her that week were a statement of belief in her skills even when she’d never shown him.
Would he regret spending his money on such frivolities now?
“If you don’t like it, I can repay you for the supplies once-”
His head whipped toward her, but she didn’t so much as flinch.
It was a testament to how much she’d grown to trust the man before her, the one who was so quiet and stoic around others but gentle and chatty with her.
“Ellie, it’s beautiful. I think you’ll have magazines back East fighting over your paintings, especially when you and Louisa get some stories together to go with them.
” He gestured towards the art supplies. “As for those, it wouldn’t matter if it was awful. You enjoy creating art, right?”
She nodded, unable to respond due to the lump in her throat.
“Then you’ll have art supplies for the rest of our lives, and you won’t pay me back a cent.” The hand he’d dropped a moment before lifted to below her chin, bringing her gaze up to meet his. “You’re enough, Ellie. Just as you are.”
Tears pricked her eyes, remembering the one time she’d ever asked Grandfather for art supplies after she’d finished her schooling with Miss Lutken.
“Grandfather…he thought my art was silly. He said he wouldn’t spend anything on supplies, and he laughed at me when I asked.
” She had felt humiliation when Grandfather had brought up the topic again in front of his business partner, Percival James.
The two of them had made her feel even smaller with their cruelty over her ‘silly little hobby,’ and effectively squashed her desire to pursue it further.
Micah’s eyes darkened, and she saw the tension in his shoulders despite not feeling a bit of it in his touch.
“The more you tell me about your grandfather, the more I wish I could somehow bring him back to life and plant my fist in his nose.” His words were calm, but there was a promise within them, one with grit.
His lips lowered closer to her, his careful question of whether she would welcome his kiss hanging in the air.
She had all the ability in the world to pull back, but she didn’t want to.
As his lips were less than a hair’s breadth from hers, the door flew open.
Isaac and Louisa stepped inside as Ellie jerked her body backwards as though she’d been caught doing something bad.
Louisa’s eyes widened, her face reddening in a way which told Ellie exactly how much they’d seen, but Isaac’s chuckle behind her had the heat rising to Ellie’s own cheeks. “Oh goodness, I’m so sorry, I-”
“Don’t worry about it,” Micah replied with the tiniest bit of a growl under his words. Wrapping his arm around Ellie, he pulled her close to his side, and she did her best to draw from his calm and complete lack of embarrassment. “Ellie was showing me some of her art.”
At his words, Louisa’s gaze flew to the canvas Ellie had completed in watercolor, the one which showed the Sutton ranch in all its glory, and gasped. “Oh Ellie, it’s perfect.” She rushed forward and bent forward to study every detail, gushing excitedly over each one.
Ellie blossomed under the praise, moving from his hold to discuss techniques and inspiration for every piece, even down to including the cottage window panes in such a way to make a body think they were looking out a real window.
As the women talked, Micah went to stand beside his brother.
“Couldn’t have waited five more minutes?
” His words were soft, barely more than a rumble so he didn’t embarrass Ellie further.
Isaac’s continued chuckle beside him told Micah exactly how little he regretted the intrusion.
“It wasn’t intentional, but the timing was perfect.
” Isaac sobered a little, gesturing out the door where Micah spotted a rig he hadn’t seen in the front yard before.
“I figured you’d want to know Mr. Goddard is here.
He has the papers for you and all the information you two need to go to California to plead your case to the judge. ”
He spoke softly too, but Ellie apparently heard them. She rose from where she’d focused on the painting with Louisa, her once pretty pink cheeks now devoid of color. “So this is it?”
Mr. Goddard appeared in the cottage doorway, his suit jacket and tie still firmly in place.
In his hand, he held a thick leather file folder with a strap holding it together.
“Afraid so, Mrs. Sutton. If you want your inheritance, you’ll have to return home briefly.
You’ll need to stand before Judge Edwards in Cartwright, as he’s the federal judge for the area. ”
Ellie shook her head, her eyes flashing with a fight Micah wasn’t sure he’d seen before.
“California isn’t home. It never was.” With another deep, shuddering breath, Ellie crossed the cottage to stand next to Micah.
She stood close enough to touch him, and he wrapped his arm around her once more.
“This is my home, and going to California will be a bump in the road to my future here.” He could feel her shaking, but she stood tall anyway.
That was all right, she could shake all she needed to.
He’d be steady for her for the rest of their lives, and he was so proud of her ability to stand now.
Micah removed his Stetson and bent to place a kiss to her blonde hair, pulled back into a loose bun at the nape of her neck.
It framed her face, making her already delicate features even more beautiful after she’d filled out with a few months of proper food after her capture.
“It sure will.” Raising his head, he hung his Stetson on the hat rack and reached for the folder Mr. Goddard carried.
“Thank you for your help with this, sir. We appreciate it more than you know.”
He knew Mr. Goddard had given them a discount on his fee, but he’d have paid far more to give Ellie the option to put this behind her.
He wasn’t anywhere near as rich as her grandfather, but his stake in the ranch and relatively low overhead for years meant he had plenty to pay Mr. Goddard and work on the little cabin he’d begun over in his favorite grove of trees about a fifteen minute walk from the main house and cottage.
He’d not pressure Ellie to live in it with him, well aware it may be years before she was ready to share his bed, but it would be there to provide them a roof and a safe home whenever she wanted.
Mr. Goddard nodded, his smile soft and understanding as he studied them both.
“I wish the best for the both of you, and I look forward to hearing how it went when you return. Truly and I will be praying for you everyday.”
Once he left, Micah could feel the anxiety rolling off his bride.
Louisa had tried to return to talking about her painting, but the unfortunate reminder in the air of the trust and their impending travel had dampened the moment.
Rather than try and manufacture it, Micah took Ellie’s hand. “Take a walk with me.”
She nodded, her hand still trembling as they waved goodbye to Isaac and Louisa.
Micah led her down the path, feeling her relax as they moved.
They were about halfway down the path when Ellie spoke, breaking the silence.
“I don’t know what I’m hoping for in California, but I know what I’m afraid of. ”
“What’s that?” Of course, she’d be afraid of coming in contact with the men who’d captured her with Brent, of speaking with her grandfather’s business partner - the one responsible person Micah might actually have the chance to confront.
“I…I’m afraid things are going to change between us.”
“What do you mean?” That hadn’t been in the vicinity of things he’d imagined her fearing. What could change between them?
Ellie continued to stare straight ahead, but her hand in his remained firm.
“I guess I’m afraid you’re going to realize how much trouble it is if the judge sides with Grandfather’s estate.
I know you keep saying the money’s mine and you’re here regardless, but how can you possibly mean that?
Then, if we do get the money, what man could resist it?
” She bit her bottom lip like she always did when she was anxious, and he could feel the tremble in her hand as she spoke.
No other words could’ve broken his heart further.
Micah had known how little she trusted men, but he’d convinced himself he’d gained hers.
Still, in this moment, she’d trusted him with her fears.
That was something worth fighting for. “I can’t do anything to prove my honesty to you other than to keep moving forward as we have.
I’ll pray you’ll one day trust me implicitly, but I understand it’ll take time. ”
Breathing in the reality of her upbringing and doing his best to surrender his anger to God over the whole situation, Micah continued their walk down the long dirt path.
When they’d finally reached the wood pile and beginnings of a cabin he’d started, they came to a stop.
“Right here’s going to be the front porch,” he said as he led her toward the early stage structure.
“It’ll be one room for now, but I’m planning to add another room this summer once we get our cut from the May cattle drive.
Ellie’s mouth opened into an ‘O’, and Micah continued.
“I’ve ordered a woodstove from Dallas, but I figured you’d want to pick out your own linens and such.
Abe’s building me a couple of pieces of furniture, and we’ll add to them over time.
” He turned Ellie to face him, his earlier anger all but dissipated.
It had never been directed at her, but he was thankful he’d had the ability to let it go before she thought it was.
“I don’t care how long it takes for you to trust me, Ellie, but I can’t make it happen any faster.
Instead, I’ll continue to prove myself, to prove I’m in this for the right reasons. ”
Ellie’s eyes misted, a tear spilling over onto her cheek. “I’m sorry I’m not there yet.”
Micah’s thumb brushed over the tear, effectively drying it as he cupped her face the way he’d done in the cottage earlier. “I’m not normally a patient man, but you’re worth waiting for.”