Chapter Six
Rachel didn’t think it could get any worse. She was getting married to a man who clearly didn’t want to marry her, and be put into a position that she couldn’t get out of. Mostly because she had no choice.
She hadn’t thought about marriage much, but when she did, she expected it to be with someone who would love her and worship the ground she walked on. That’s what she wanted. But now she was going to marry the town marshal, who was looking as if he was heading for execution.
She did feel a pang of sympathy for Nate. He didn’t want this either, but they were both forced into this. He’d begrudgingly agreed to the marriage as she had, out of circumstance, not desire.
The next couple of hours were almost like being in a tornado.
She’d been whisked away to the chapel by Isabelle, who had been leaning in, listening at the door instead of giving them space.
Then she’d urged Rachel to choose one of her own dresses to get married in, settling on a plain white dress that had seen better days.
There were comments about taking her to the dressmaker to get new clothes, but she refused.
It felt like she was being passed from one person to another without a care about how she felt. Had Miriam cared about her at all? She’d raised Rachel for twenty-three years. Did that mean she was fed up with her? That she wanted to get rid of her? The thought made Rachel want to cry again.
“Oh, don’t be scared, dear.” Isabelle brought out a handkerchief and gently dried Rachel’s eyes. “You’ll be happy eventually. I know this is not how you wanted things to go, but you’ll be happy about it soon.”
Before Rachel could offer a retort, there was a gentle tap at the door, which opened to a tall, broad man with a round face who stuck his head into the room.
“Ah, Jack!” Isabelle beamed at her. “This is my husband, Jack. He’s going to walk you down the aisle.” She patted her husband on the arm. “I’ll be out in the chapel. See you shortly!”
She hurried out, leaving Rachel and Jack staring at each other awkwardly. Rachel chewed at her bottom lip and looked away. Jack cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry you’re going through this, Miss Bell… Rachel. If I’d known my wife was going to do this, I would’ve told her to stop. She shouldn’t…”
“It’s not your fault, Mr. Mercer,” Rachel said quickly. “You don’t need to apologize for something you didn’t have a hand in.”
“I know…”
“It’s the only thing I can do. I’m in an impossible situation.” She looked down at herself. “I didn’t think it would be like this. As if I was… well, going to something bad.”
Jack attempted a slight smile, but it didn’t work. He stepped toward her and took her hands. It took everything in Rachel not to snatch her hands back. She wasn’t used to being touched by strangers.
“Isabelle is a stubborn woman, but she has a good heart. She just doesn’t like listening to others, especially when it comes to Nate.”
“He hates this as much as I do.”
“I know. We’ve been friends since we were children, and I know what Nate is like.”
He managed to widen his smile. “I know for certain that he’s a good man. He’s dependable and loyal, and when he says he’ll look after you, you can be guaranteed that he’ll follow through.”
“Even if he doesn’t want to?”
“His promises are solid. I know you’ll be safe with him.” Jack squeezed his hands and released them. “Don’t worry about anything with Nate. Once he’s calmed down, you two will be friends. Nate will make sure you’re safe and well.”
Rachel didn’t answer that. She didn’t know how to respond. Jack might have some faith in Nate softening to her, but she couldn’t see it. All she saw was going from one prison to another.
And it was the first time she’d seen the orphanage as a prison, and it felt like a slap in the face.
Not long after, Rachel was ushered into the chapel, and Jack was walking her toward the altar, where the pastor was waiting with Nate and Isabelle.
Two little boys stood on either side of Isabelle, dressed smartly and giving her shy smiles.
From their complexions and features, they were definitely her children.
Isabelle stood beside Nate, holding onto his arm as if she expected him to bolt.
Then when Rachel stopped beside him, Isabelle let her brother go, giving Rachel a wink as she stepped back with her children to stand with Jack.
The ceremony passed by in a blur. Rachel barely understood what was going on, the words washing over her.
The pastor had to repeat her name three times to get her attention, and even then Rachel stumbled over what she was meant to say.
Standing opposite her, Nate looked as if he was on his way to his court sentencing, his expression grave.
She told herself this was practical, and she needed to remember that it wasn’t a love match. She was giving herself the shelter and safety she truly needed. If Jack was right and Nate was a good man, then everything should be all right.
Even so, it didn’t make her feel any better, knowing that her future had been taken out of her hands.
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the pastor said, his voice breaking through her daze. “You may kiss the bride, Marshal Calloway.”
From the look on his face, he would rather do anything else.
He hesitated, and then took her hand. Rachel’s heart pounded as he raised her hand to his mouth, never taking his dark green eyes off her.
He kissed her knuckles very gently, his lips barely grazing her skin.
Rachel felt a shiver down her spine, unable to look away.
How was a simple kiss like that more intense than a real one?
Not that she’d been kissed before, but if this was how a kiss to the hand made her react, surely a kiss on the mouth would make her swoon.
Then he pulled away abruptly, and she was left swaying as he headed back down the aisle. Isabelle hurried over to her, beaming, as she kissed Rachel on both cheeks.
“Welcome to the family, Rachel!” she squealed. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thank you,” Rachel whispered. She didn’t know what to think. It felt like she was floating, unsure of whether to be relieved or disappointed with her current position.
Jack coughed and took Isabelle’s arm.
“I think we should let Nate and Rachel be alone. He’s got to show her to his house, after all.”
“Oh, yes!” Isabelle grinned. “I hurried over once he left this morning and made sure the place was clean and tidy for you. You two will be absolutely fine in there.”
His house. Rachel felt her stomach twisting inside. She was naive, but she knew what was expected of brides. Then again, this marriage was so unconventional she didn’t know what was going to happen.
She allowed Isabelle and Jack to take her outside into the snow, where Nate was waiting impatiently with a horse and cart. Her belongings were in the back, covered with a sheet. Nate was holding onto the reins, not looking at her.
“It’s too wet to ride in the cart,” he said gruffly. “It’s not too far. We can walk.”
“Oh, Nate!” Isabelle said, but Nate ignored her, tugging the horse into walking. “Rachel, I’m…”
But Rachel was already hurrying after him, tugging her coat on. It wasn’t thick enough, and she longed for the coat that Clarence had given her. It would keep her warm, even in all this snow.
She wanted to cry, but how was that going to help? Nobody was going to be comforting her. And Nate would rather be anywhere else.
They turned a couple of lefts and ended up at a solitary house under a large tree.
It looked like it could’ve been built from a painting.
Rachel stopped and stared in surprise. She didn’t expect this.
She had thought it would be smaller, more tumble-down.
Instead, Nate appeared to live in some comfort.
She really shouldn’t assume things about others. So, this was to be her home. She needed to calm down and stop thinking up scenarios in her head.
That was easier said than done.
Nate lifted the suitcase and crate off the cart and took them into the house, Rachel nearly slipping on the porch before going inside.
She walked straight into a sitting room that looked warm and inviting.
The fire was burning brightly, and she could feel the heat tickling over her skin.
She shivered as the warmth seeped into her body.
“I’ll… I’ll put your things in your bedroom,” Nate said awkwardly, carrying the crate toward the stairs. “You have a look around down here and make yourself at home. I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared up the stairs before she could reply, and Rachel was left looking around. It was neat and tidy, almost a little too much. Isabelle’s standards of cleaning were likely very high. Did that mean Nate’s as well? That didn’t make her feel any better.
She wandered through the sitting room and into the kitchen, which was also a dining room.
There was a view out the back. There didn’t seem to be a garden, but the back of the house opened right onto the edge of the woods.
It was getting dark, so the shadows were getting longer and it looked a little ominous.
“It’s not always like that.”
Rachel gasped and spun around, bashing her hip against the sink. Nate was standing in the doorway, watching her with a smile that could’ve been a grimace. He nodded at the window.
“On a good day, you can sit out there and watch the sun go down behind the mountains. And there are plenty of places to explore and go for a walk.”
“I see,” Rachel mumbled. “That’s what you normally do, is it? When you’re off-duty?”
“I try to. But I’m barely off-duty since I’m the only lawman in the town.”
“Isn’t that wrong, though? Shouldn’t there be two of you, at the least?”
Nate grunted.
“Not what the mayor says. We’re small enough we don’t need more than one marshal.”
Rachel didn’t think that was right. She was sure things were rough, and even if nothing happened, all the pressure would be on his shoulders. She felt a stab of sympathy for him.
“Anyway, we can explore when it’s daylight and the snow’s melted. I wouldn’t recommend going out there on your own if you don’t know the area.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s dangerous terrain even without the snow.
I snapped my ankle when I was younger by not looking where I was going.
And I’ve been here all my life.” Nate pushed himself off the doorframe.
“Your room is ready. I’ve made the fire up for you.
If you want to rest, you can. Unless you want to have something to eat… ”
“Actually, I think it might be a good idea for me to get some sleep,” Rachel said quickly. “It’s been a long journey.”
If she was honest, she didn’t think she could eat a thing. Something passed over Nate’s face, but then it was gone. He turned away abruptly.
“Then come with me.”
Her heart pounded so hard that it felt like her head was pulsating.
Rachel found it difficult to breathe, but she clutched the banister and followed Nathan upstairs.
He stopped at the first door and opened it.
Rachel looked in and saw it was a small bedroom with a bed in the middle, the sheets neatly folded down and the fire burning away.
Across from the fireplace was the window, which looked out into the snowy street.
It was very pretty, especially with a frozen brook coming through the street, darting out from under a low makeshift bridge before disappearing out of sight.
The sight had to be beautiful in the spring or the summer.
“Your belongings are in here,” Nate said, pointing at the cases on the floor that she hadn’t really paid attention to. “You can do this room however you want. And you should be able to sleep well enough.”
“But…”
“But what?”
Rachel gulped, aware that her face was getting very warm.
She looked around the little room, trying to take comfort in the clean quilt and the space he had made for her things.
It was kind of him, she supposed. Practical.
Respectful. Still, the careful distance in it made her chest feel strangely tight.
“Where are you going to sleep? In here?” The question felt indecent the moment it left her mouth, but she had to know. They were married now, even if neither of them seemed to understand what that meant.
His eyes widened as if he was horrified at the thought. He shook his head.
“No, this is the guest bedroom. My room is next door.”
Relief rushed through her first, sharp and immediate. Then something else followed, quieter and far more embarrassing: disappointment.
“Is it?”
“I barely have anyone staying, but Isabelle always tidies up in here just in case. That reminds me, I need to stop her from coming over all the time. It’s really annoying when she does that.”
“I see.”
Rachel knew she should be relieved that they weren’t sleeping in the same bed.
Nate had given her safety, shelter, and a door of her own.
She should have been grateful. But some foolish part of her wondered whether he had placed her here out of kindness—or because the thought of being near her was truly so unpleasant.
“All right. Thank you, Marshal… Nate,” she managed to smile, and nodded.
He didn’t answer, simply staring at her with a look that she couldn’t decipher.
Then he turned away abruptly and left the room.
Rachel closed the door, and then looked about her room.
It was beautiful; she had to admit that.
Far bigger than her room at the orphanage.
She checked the wardrobe and dresser, and saw there was more space than she’d ever had.
When she sat on the bed, it sank under her weight.
It was very comfortable, no lumps anywhere, and the bed didn’t sound like it was broken.
She lay down, staring at the ceiling as she tried to comprehend what had happened that day.
She’d been tricked and lied to, and now she was a married woman. Rachel felt like she’d been tugged in different directions, and she didn’t know what to do.
Tears weren’t going to fall, but she felt like she was falling into a deep hole, and she didn’t know how to get out of it.