Chapter Thirty-Six
Ethan’s kiss had been so soft that Grace marveled at it. Her lips tingled and excitement blazed inside her, as brilliant as the sun. Ethan’s arms were still wrapped around her, strong and warm. Grace let herself relax into his embrace.
She had been terrified as the men had carried her away from camp, but she’d known Ethan would come for her. And he had. She was safe once more. There was still so much unresolved between them, but Grace never wanted to let him go.
“Would you like a moment?” asked Derek, sounding awkward.
Grace blinked. The entirely reasonable question broke through her lovely reverie. To be honest, she had forgotten Derek was there.
“Ah, yes, please,” Grace said distantly.
“Oh. I’ll just—er, wait outside,” Derek stammered.
Grace listened to his retreating footsteps.
Her body felt boneless and worn. The events of the day, and the previous days without eating, had left her weak.
She had mostly ignored her exhaustion in favor of worrying over her father, but it seemed as if all of it had now caught up with her.
It was fortunate that she remained on her knees; if Grace had tried to stand, she suspected that her legs would have collapsed beneath her.
When Ethan leaned back and held her at arm’s length, her body felt cool from the loss of his warmth. His expression was soft and kind. She might have even said loving, and he had said that he did love her, to be fair.
“Thank you, Ethan. I just—I…” Grace stumbled over her words as she gazed tenderly at his face. “I—I don’t know—I just—I knew you would be there.”
“Of course I was.” He said that as if it was the most normal thing in the world, as if running into the face of danger to save her was the only option that existed. “I would have done anything to save you. When Emily said you were gone, I could only imagine the worst had happened.”
Grace’s eyes widened. “Emily?”
“She followed you and saw those men take you,” Ethan told her.
Grace gasped. “Did she- Is she all right?”
“She was worried about you,” replied Ethan. “I imagine she’ll be fine once she sees that you are safe and unharmed.”
Grace nodded, blinking back the gathering tears. She chuckled and dabbed at her eyes. “I’m sorry that I’m crying so much.”
“Don’t be. You’ve gone through a terrible ordeal today.” He paused. “Or rather, several ordeals, as of late.”
And Ethan had been at her side through all of them.
Grace ducked her head, suddenly feeling shy.
He had betrayed her, but she nonetheless found herself attracted to him, longing for his presence.
Then he had saved her. It was a lot to make sense of, and Grace found herself floundering, but only for a moment.
He had made an error, one which seemed so miniscule now.
“And some of those ordeals have been my fault,” Ethan continued. “I wanted to explain myself to you. I never meant for this to happen, or to hurt you. I just—I thought that Derek had become a better man, and I suppose I was moved to confide in him like I never had before.”
Grace bit her lip, trying to understand. She knew that Ethan and Derek had a complicated relationship, and she supposed that she understood what Ethan had been trying to do.
“He didn’t intend on any of this happening,” Ethan added. “Derek didn’t know that those men wanted to steal your money, much less hurt you or your Pa for the cash. It was just…”
“A string of misfortunes,” she said quietly.
Ethan nodded slowly. “Something like that. I understand if you can’t bring yourself to forgive us.”
“There is nothing to forgive,” Grace said. “I—I know you didn’t mean it.”
Even if she wanted to blame Ethan or Derek for what had happened, surely saving her was enough to make amends.
“I am glad to hear you say that,” said Ethan, “because I want to remain in your life. I want to be there for you and Emily always, no matter what the future may bring. That is, if you will let me.”
Grace curled her fingers into his shirt.
Ethan was offering to take care of her and Emily for the rest of their lives.
He knew her secret and had still made the offer.
He’d shown that he was willing to face down menacing gunmen to save her.
Grace found herself struggling to understand how his love could be that deep, for it seemed impossible that she could be worthy of it.
But Ethan did love her. She knew this. And hadn’t he already proven his devotion to her time and time again? Weren’t they already as close as a family could be?
“I am so— Even if you love me,” Grace began softly. “I still contend that you deserve better.”
“I don’t. Even if I did, I don’t want better,” Ethan said. “I want you and Emily. I love you.”
Grace nodded and steeled herself, working up the courage to say, “I want you too. You asked me once if I wanted to marry you, and I refused. Would you ask again some time?”
He didn’t hesitate at all. “Grace, I want you to marry me and be my wife. Won’t you say yes and make me the happiest man in the world?”
Grace laughed, equally delighted and amused. Surely, ‘the world’ was a little hyperbolic. But she couldn’t bring herself to tease him, not right at that moment.
“Yes,” she said. “I will marry you!”
He leaned forward and kissed her again, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, giddy with the joy of kissing him and of becoming his wife-to-be. The prospect of marrying Ethan was everything she’d never known she wanted.
***
Grace kept her arms wrapped tightly around Ethan’s waist as he rode back to camp. She marveled at the strength in his broad shoulders and upper back. Grace had never thought she’d be this close to a man again, but here she was. She was going to marry Ethan.
When they came to a stop outside the camp, Grace briefly pressed her forehead against Ethan’s shoulder.
It would be inappropriate to be affectionate with him in front of others, of course, but she wanted nothing more than to hold him and kiss him and tell him how much she loved him, even with the whole camp watching.
Amos ran to them, Jonathan following close behind.
Both men’s faces held twin expressions of relief, but they still looked tense.
It was as if their bodies had not quite caught up with what they saw in front of them.
Grace wondered if she was the cause, if the camp had panicked after realizing she was gone.
A warmth spread through her chest at the idea.
These people cared deeply for her, as if they were a part of her family.
“Grace!” Amos exclaimed. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” she said. “Thanks to Ethan and Derek.”
Grace glanced at Derek, who looked away. Grace would have never been in danger to begin with if it wasn’t for him, and she did still harbor a smoldering anger for what he’d done. Under the anger, however, she saw a young man who had made a mistake and worked hard to make everything right.
“What happened?” asked Jonathan.
“It was like we thought,” Ethan said to him.
“Bill and his men were stealing from camp. When they learned Richard might have money in his family’s wagon, they tried to break into it.
One of them shot Richard, whether because he caught them stealing or because he refused to tell them where the money was. That part ain’t quite clear to me.”
Amos nodded and shared a knowing look with Jonathan. “That makes sense. One of his fellas came stumblin’ in here just a little while ago. He rallied up the rest of Bill’s men and they all rode off.”
“Probably Mark,” said Derek.
Grace frowned. “Who?”
“The man from the cave,” Derek explained. “The one who fled. He probably took a horse back to camp and warned the others. I did restrain Bill and Ian, but I imagine the rest of Bill’s men would go back for them.”
Ethan grunted. “I don’t suppose there’s any point in pursuing them.”
“We could try,” Amos said, “but I reckon we’d better leave things alone. When we ride into the next town we can tell the sheriff and see what he wants to do, but if we go after those men, people are going to get hurt. Innocent people.”
“And we have to put our people in the wagon train first,” Jonathan said.
Grace looked out to the horizon, as if she might see some lingering shadows of the men, but there was nothing but wilderness as far as she could see. Leaving such men out there in the world to potentially hurt someone else weighed heavily on her heart.
However, she also knew that Amos was right. Kind, innocent people might be hurt if they chose to confront the men again. It was best that the wagon train moved on.
“We’ll leave it to God,” Ethan said.
Grace suspected that he felt similarly, given how his grip tightened on his horse’s reins.
Amos nodded curtly. “Good.”
“Mama!” Emily’s familiar voice rang through the air, and relief washed over Grace, tears springing once more to her eyes.
Her little girl was safe.
Emily held Hannah’s hand, but Grace turned just in time to see her daughter break free and run to her. Grace hurriedly dismounted the horse, her boot nearly catching in the stirrup in her haste to greet her daughter. Her feet struck the ground hard, and then Grace was running.
“Emily!”
Grace scooped up her daughter, all but collapsing in relief. She pulled Emily into her arms, burying her face in her daughter’s curls and holding her so tightly that Grace’s body trembled with the effort of it. Her daughter was safe, Grace was safe, and they were together again.
“Mama!” Emily cried. “I was so scared!”
“I know,” said Grace, petting her daughter’s hair to try and soothe her. “I know, my darling. I was scared too.”
Emily began to cry, her tears soaking the shoulder of Grace’s dress. Her breath came in uneven little hitches as Grace rubbed comforting circles over her daughter’s back.
“Everything is all right,” Grace murmured to her. “I promise. I’m back, and I’m not hurt.”
“I wanted to stop them,” Emily said, sniffing.
Grace shook her head. “No, my angel. You did everything right. You came back to camp and told Hannah, so Ethan could save me.”
When Grace lifted her head, Ethan stood just a few feet away, watching them with a soft smile. Emily rubbed her teary eyes with the back of her hand and let out a small, breathless laugh.
“Don’t cry, Emily,” said Ethan, his voice infinitely gentle.
He crouched beside them and pulled them both into a tight embrace.
Emily’s laughter was like bells tinkling in the air.
He held the both of them, and Grace’s heart swelled with love for this man, as well as joy for her daughter and herself.
She had imagined finding many things along the Bozeman Trail: a new life, danger, hardship, contentment; but she had never, ever imagined that she would find love again.
Safe in Ethan’s arms, Grace knew with certainty that she had made the right choice.
This man was far more wonderful than anything, or anyone, she’d ever expected to find.