Chapter 34
“We’ve got to help Red and Cassie take the outlaws back to town, honey.”
Abby jerked her chin up. “What do you mean ‘we’? I don’t have to go.”
Wade did his best not to let his exasperation show.
“Quit scowling at me, white man.”
His best was apparently not very good. “Just ride with us, please, Ab?” Wade was begging.
He was planning to spend the rest of his life begging, because he was planning to spend it with the stubbornest woman he’d ever known.
He accepted it and looked forward to a lifetime of being overpowered.
Never ever would he hear those sweet words, “Yes, Wade.”
“Are you all right, Cassie, honey?” Red had brought Cassie inside to drip dry.
“Yes, Red.”
That sounded so sweet, Wade felt a little like crying. But there was no use in it, like crying for the moon. He loved Abby and that was that.
They had Harv and Sid tied up, both still sleeping like babies, while they waited for the rain to stop.
The other two outlaws were out in the weather, but Wade couldn’t get worked up about their being uncomfortable.
If they thought rain was unpleasant, wait till they felt the business end of a noose.
“What I don’t understand is the massacre of your village.
” Red interrupted the wrangling that Wade and Abby had been doing for the last hour.
He spoke calmly because he had Michael cradled in his arms. They’d made a little bed for Susannah out of a blanket that wasn’t soaking wet. She’d slept through everything.
The night was wearing on, and they were in no hurry to head back to Divide—especially Wade, because he couldn’t convince Abby to go along.
Glaring, Wade said, “You were the only witness to what these men did to your village. You’ve got to come in and tell the sheriff.
The rustling, the kidnapping, the assault on you will send them to jail for a few years, but they need to hang or stay locked up for life.
With you as an eyewitness, they’ll hang. ”
“No white man hangs for killing Indians.” Abby practically spat the words.
Sorely afraid she might be right, Wade tried another argument. He backed her up against the wall and kissed the living daylights out of her.
She’d kept Harv’s gun, tucking it in the belt of her deerskin dress. She had her knife too.
Wade was through thinking of himself as a coward. He was holding Abby close, and she was armed to the eyeballs. That made him a brave man, indeed.
She wasn’t shooting him, though. And she didn’t even go for her knife.
Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back like a house afire.
With the tiny corner of Wade’s mind that wasn’t overwhelmed from the feel of her holding him, Wade realized he should have kissed her the minute Sid collapsed.
He’d wanted to, but she’d really had bloodlust in her eyes, and truth be told, he was a little scared she’d hurt him.
Also, there was the knife in her teeth. That could have gotten ugly.
Red cleared his throat.
Wade came to his senses…or as close as he’d ever get with Abby in his life. He pulled back about two inches, no more. “How could you run off from Pa’s like that?”
“Your father is an insulting, cruel tyrant. I couldn’t bear another moment in his presence.”
“All right. I know how that feels. That’s no excuse for leaving me.”
“No excuse? I wasn’t going to make you choose between your family and me. I know things are bad between you and your father, but…the day may come when you want to return to him, and I will never do that. And I won’t make you choose me over him. You’d come to hate me.”
Wade looked into her eyes. He could see her now. The sun was rising. The darkness had turned to gray. The rain had ended. Daylight would come again. “I will never hate you. You didn’t ask because you knew I’d come. You’re making this excuse because—because you love me.”
A fire lit in her eyes. A clear desire to be her usual blunt self and hurt him. But deeper, under the hostility, hurt and fear. She’d lost so much.
“You’re marrying me, Abby. We will go wherever we need to to find a home, but we’ll do it together. Don’t you dare make up an excuse about why it won’t work. I love you, and we will travel through this life together, alone in the wilderness if that’s where we’re happy.”
As she shook her head, her fear drew closer to the surface, almost visible, as if she was daring to show what was in her heart. “There’s nowhere we can both be happy.” Her arms were still around his neck.
“I’m happy now. Aren’t you?”
She flinched, tightening her arms as if her mind told her to let go of him but her body wouldn’t obey. Well, he wanted all of her—body, mind, and heart. Although right now, her body felt really nice. “Abby, I can be happy by your side. I need nothing else.”
Their eyes held. Wade closed the distance between them, and this time, the kiss was pure tenderness. It was a promise. She nearly crushed him with her warrior’s grip, giving her promise back.
When Wade raised his head this time, she smiled. The fear was still there, but she was brave enough to face that fear.
“Um…I have a bona fide preacher’s license. I can perform a wedding ceremony.”
Wade turned to Red and smiled. Wade slid his arm around Abby’s waist so they could face Red, side by side.
“I say yes.” Wade looked at Abby.
“And Cassie and I can get these men to town. We left the horses with the other outlaws, and we’ve got horses enough to carry these two.
We can manage. You can say your vows and go start your lives together anywhere you want.
” Red smiled. “But if you’d like to stop by our place once in a while, we’d love to see you. ”
Cassie came and relieved Red of baby Michael. She slipped the little tyke onto the blanket beside Susannah. “I’ll be a witness to the marriage. I think you need a witness, Red. I don’t think those unconscious men really count.”
Red shrugged. “I’ve never done this before, so probably having someone witness it is a good idea. Although you’d think me bein’ a witness and them being witnesses oughta be enough. I mean, I’m a parson. I should be trustworthy.”
“Yeah.” Wade nodded. “And why would we lie? But we’d like you to witness our wedding, Cassie.” Wade looked at Abby. “If there is one. What do you say?”
Abby sighed and looked disgruntled, but that was pretty much how she looked all the time, so Wade didn’t let that discourage him. It just helped him to fully accept the life he was signing up for. And if she stayed by his side, that was all he would ever ask for.
The wait was nearly unbearable. The sun rose a bit more as Wade watched Abby’s heart battle her mind.
Finally, she smiled. “I say yes.” Her arm around his waist tightened. “And since I can’t get shed of you, I’ll ride along to deliver these men and tell the sheriff my story. I want the white world to know what happened to my people. I want someone to admit that the true savages are these outlaws.”
Wade jerked his chin—a happy, contented, slightly-frightened-of-his-wife man. “So how about we wait and get married in town so everyone in Divide knows I’m the luckiest man alive?”
Abby leaned against him a bit. Wade hadn’t plumbed the depths of the happiness he and Abby could find together.
“I wouldn’t even mind inviting your odious father. I’d like that horrible yellow dog to see that we are wed to each other. It will make him sick. I’d like to be watching when his stomach turns at the sight of his son’s choice of a wife.”
“Please, Abby.” Red raised his hands as if to surrender. “All this mushy sentiment is too much for me.”
“We can invite Pa, but we’re getting hitched whether he shows up in town or not.” Wade hooked his arm through Abby’s. “Let’s get to town and get on with starting the rest of our lives.”
Their future was unplanned.
Their destination unknown.
But wherever life led them, they’d go together. God had at last granted Wade an end to his loneliness.
“Whom shall I fear?”
And here he was marrying the scariest woman he’d ever known.
And that made it official. Wade was a brave man.
“Whom shall I fear?”
Those old, painful words Wade had battled to hold close and claim as his own now sang like a blessing raining down on his new life with his wildflower bride.