Chapter Twenty-One
Sadie could feel the tension build. At first, Sam stiffened only slightly, but the more Walter put on his show in front of everybody, the more Sam started to tense up. She wasn’t scared that he would do something, since there were too many people here, but she could tell that Sam was about to snap.
Heck! She was about to snap herself. Her uncle was the most insufferable person on Earth and the fact that he’d shown up once again was not only annoying, it was infuriating.
Either way, Sadie was determined not to let him ruin this lovely occasion.
She was about to correct him and proudly tell him about Ruby’s christening when Sam’s arm slipped from her shoulder, and her husband stormed inside the house.
Walter didn’t see it, because he was too busy entertaining the crowd with his nonsense, but Ellen came immediately to Sadie’s side.
“I need to go to him,” Sadie told her friend with a worried look.
“Go,” Ellen told her with a quiet voice. “Daniel and I will make sure to keep Walter in check. He only puts on a show because the two of you are here and he can rile you up.” Daniel stepped next to Ellen and grunted.
“I wish I could…” he started, but Ellen put her finger over his lips and shook her head at him.
“We don’t wish those things,” she said to him. “Not even on Walter.” Daniel stared at her with a deadpan expression.
In that moment, Ruby came running by, catching Walter’s attention.
He spun around and followed the little girl, so Sadie instantly stepped in Ruby’s way and picked her up. Glaring at her uncle, Sadie turned back to Ellen and Daniel with a nod, then she walked straight inside the house, despite Ruby’s loud protests.
The foyer was quiet, though Sadie could hear her uncle’s overly dramatic and surprised lamenting from the outside.
“Sam?” Sadie called out to him, hoping that he would announce himself in one of the rooms. He didn’t. “Let’s go find your father,” Sadie said to Ruby. “He still hasn’t brought you your gift yet. Maybe he is picking it up now.”
Ruby’s eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically.
They went and looked upstairs, but the bedrooms were empty. Sadie walked back downstairs and searched in the sitting room, then the dining room—almost missing Sam standing next to the window in the darker corner—brooding.
“Papa!” Ruby called out to him. Sadie put Ruby down and she ran to him. He opened his arms wide and picked her up with a smile.
“Found me,” he said, shooting Sadie a pointed glance, as Ruby snuggled into the crook of his neck. Sadie could tell that she was getting tired after a long day. Sam was still tense.
“Are you all right?” she asked cautiously. This time, Sam didn’t answer her immediately, which told her that he wasn’t. “I’m sorry about my uncle…” Sam scowled, shaking his head.
“No! That’s not… Don’t apologize for him,” he quickly said. “Whatever he does, it’s not your fault.”
“I just feel guilty, because he is my uncle,” Sadie said quietly. “I wish he’d just leave us alone!”
“So do I,” Sam replied. “What do you think he meant by what he said earlier?” Sadie shrugged.
“I have no idea,” she said. “As far as I know, nothing has changed. And when I spoke to my lawyer a few months back, he reassured me that Walter has no legal claim to this ranch, since I am the daughter and therefore the sole heir. There is no will that states anything otherwise, so whatever Walter thinks he knows… he doesn’t. ”
“So, he lied,” Sam said. “Again.” Sadie nodded slowly.
“I can’t wait for him to leave so that we can enjoy this evening in peace,” she said honestly. Sam exhaled a long breath.
“Me too,” he said quietly.
The way he was standing there in the slightly dark corner enhanced his dark features, though his gaze was still as bright as ever.
When Sadie looked up and straight into his mesmerizing blue eyes, her breath hitched.
This handsome man was her husband. Every time she came to this realization, she couldn’t believe her luck—even though she knew that it wasn’t luck, but rather divine intervention.
The silence between them stretched out, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Sam closely studied her face, and Sadie noticed that his breathing slowly calmed down, relaxing her, too.
The room was quiet, no noises from the porch could be heard in here. It was peaceful and somehow soothing. Exactly what both of them needed in that moment. Sam reached up with his hand and softly caressed her cheek with the knuckles of his fingers.
Sadie was so caught up in the tender touch and his eyes; at first she didn’t notice that he moved. He was still holding a very sleepy Ruby, though she had turned her head the other way. Sadie didn’t realize that he slowly leaned closer toward her.
The air between them felt charged in a way it sometimes was shortly before a thunderstorm. The blue in his eyes seemed to darken a little, making his gaze all the more intense.
Then he put his finger beneath her chin, lifted it up toward him and brushed his lips over hers. They were warm and soft. Time stopped.
Sadie was surprised and her heart beat so fast she thought it might break out of her chest. A million butterflies whirled inside her belly, almost making her dizzy with excitement.
When Sam started to pull back, she almost sighed, because she instantly missed his closeness.
Sadie wasn’t willing to let him go just yet.
She did something she never thought she’d do. She lifted both of her hands, cupped his face and pulled him back toward her, so he would kiss her again.
For a split second he didn’t give into her pull and stared at her in shock, but then he wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulled her close to him and kissed her again.
It was still tentatively, still very tenderly, but something much more powerful slowly seeped into that kiss. It was intoxicating.
Sadie held onto his shoulders, soaked up his heat permeating into her body and relished this amazing feeling of completely being wanted in that moment.
A quiet whistle cut through the stillness of the room.
Sadie was so enthralled in their kiss that she didn’t recognize it as real, but when Sam gently pulled away from her and straightened up, she quickly came to and spun around.
Ellen and Daniel were standing in the doorway with wide smiles on their faces.
Sadie blushed, but when she looked up at Sam, he just grinned at her. The strangest part was that it didn’t feel awkward. They had just been caught kissing in a dark corner, yet it didn’t feel wrong. Not at all. In fact, it felt so very right.
“Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen-Brown,” Daniel said with a soft chuckle. “We leave you alone for two seconds and this is what you are doing?” he mock-scolded them.
“May I correct you there, sir? This is my wife, so I am allowed to kiss her,” Sam said matter-of-factly. “Whenever and wherever, might I add.”
“Whatever happened to your agreements? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that your marriage was real!” Ellen said with a laugh. She was clearly excited about this new development.
“And here I thought it was real,” Walter’s voice sounded in the hallway right behind her. “Are you telling me that it’s not?”
“What are you doing in our house?” Sam asked him with a thunderous voice. Ruby woke up and instantly started crying. Sadie quickly took her from him.
“Ah, I just followed these two inside,” Walter volunteered.
“And I am so very glad I did,” he added with an arrogant smirk.
“I knew you were lying to me the entire time! Thanks to that little snippet of information, I’ll be able to overrule the decision on the inheritance and this ranch will finally be mine! ”
“I was only joking!” Ellen exclaimed angrily, but Walter only laughed.
Sam stormed toward him with long strides.
“Sam! Don’t!” Sadie called out to him, but he didn’t listen.
Daniel stepped into Sam’s way to stop him just in time. By the looks of it, Sam was ready to lynch Walter right there and then.
“Get out of my house!” Sam said to him with a growl. “I swear, if you don’t leave right now, I can’t guarantee what will happen to you!”
Walter scoffed at that, but he did back up when Sam attempted to free himself from Daniel’s strong hold and was almost able to reach him. Walter held up both hands and retreated back into the hallway.
“Leave!” Sam said again, louder. “Now!”
“Sure,” Walter replied with a chuckle. “But don’t get too comfortable. I’ll be back. Then you’ll have to leave.” He twirled around and marched victoriously to the front door, slamming it quite roughly in his wake.
Sadie wanted to scream, but with Ruby on her arm, that wasn’t an option.
Devastation washed over her all over again. Looking back at Sam, Daniel, and Ellen, she released a heavy sigh.
“Don’t worry, Sadie,” Daniel said to her. “Everybody knows that he’s a liar, so his word carries no weight.”
“That’s true,” Ellen chimed in. “I’m so sorry I said that, but I didn’t know he was right there!” Sadie put Ruby down and went to hug her friend. Ellen looked utterly distraught.
“It’s not illegal to have a marriage of convenience,” Sam told her. “You did nothing wrong.”
Sadie held onto Ellen and hoped that that was true.
She knew that Walter didn’t have any rights to this ranch without her father’s testament specifically saying that he did, but that never happened. No such will existed.
So, why was she suddenly so nervous?
***
The next morning started with a gray sky and blustery wind, finally announcing that winter wasn’t too far away. The air had a noticeable bite to it when Sadie stepped out of the house for a minute to take a deep breath.
She heard a squeaky bark somewhere nearby, closely followed by Ruby’s loud cackle. Then, a large, fluffy white puppy came bouncing on all four paws around the corner, before it stopped and waited for the little girl to catch up.
Sam’s gift from the day before.