Renee Ryan (22 page)

“That’s up to you.” Shane began gathering his things and placing them in a large leather bag. “Just make sure he isn’t left alone for any considerable length of time.”

“Annabeth, you cannot stay in this brothel overnight,” Mattie said. “Your reputation—”

“Is already ruined,” Annabeth finished, wondering why such a thing had ever mattered to her. “Hunter’s well-being is more important than what small-minded people say about me.”

“If you remain here through the night, won’t the people at Charity House wonder where you are? And what about Hunter’s little girl?”

Annabeth’s hand flew to her throat. How could she have forgotten about Sarah? She’d all but promised the girl that Hunter would come to Charity House later tonight.

How would Sarah take the news of her father’s injury? For a brief moment, Annabeth considered withholding the information from her. But she discarded the notion in the next breath.

They couldn’t start life as a family keeping secrets from one another, even secrets that hurt.

“Shane, may I ask one last favor of you?”

With a snap, he closed the medical bag. “Of course.”

“Would you be so kind as to stop by Charity House and let them know where I am, and why, then ask if someone would be willing to escort Sarah—”

“I’ll fetch the girl,” Mattie offered.

“You—” Annabeth’s mouth fell open “—you...will?”

“Hunter will want her here when he awakens.”

Annabeth stared into her mother’s eyes, eyes that had gone soft with emotion. “You care about him.”

“If you love the man—” Mattie lifted a shoulder in a careless gesture “—then I love him, too.”

Annabeth hugged her mother with fierce abandon. There were no words of affection exchanged. That wasn’t Mattie’s way. She did allow Annabeth to cling to her for ten full seconds before wiggling free.

“Yes, well.” Turning her back, Mattie swiped at her cheeks once, twice, then lifted her chin. “The sooner I leave the sooner I can return. Come, Shane, we’ll walk out together.”

At the door, Mattie looked back over her shoulder. “I’ll tell Jack to check on you shortly.”

“That’ll be fine.”

Alone with Hunter, Annabeth hurried to his side. She lowered to her knees and took his hand in hers. Pressing her forehead against his knuckles, she lifted up a prayer of gratitude to the Lord. Hunter was alive. Everything else paled in comparison.

She let loose the yearning and the ache and the hope she’d been barely reining in since he’d been shot. She’d come so close to losing him, all because he’d been willing to sacrifice his life for hers.

“Oh, Lord, bring him complete and enduring healing and a speedy recovery.” She placed a kiss on his hand, and then lifted her head.

Hunter was watching her, his eyes full of tenderness. “Don’t look so tragic, Annabeth.” He touched her wet cheeks. “I’m not dead yet.”

She gave him a soggy smile. “You’re awake.”

He attempted a smile in return, but only managed what looked like a wince. Tiny lines of pain rimmed his mouth. “My throat’s on fire.”

“Here, drink this.” She poured him a glass of water and helped him take a sip. And another. After the third he placed his head back on the pillow and shut his eyes.

He was fast asleep before she’d set the glass back on the table.

As she watched him slumber, perched on a chair beside the settee, she felt a new kind of peace, an assurance that they were not only going to be good for each other, but good to each other.

A half hour later, his eyes opened again. “You realize you have to marry me now that I took a bullet for you.”

She laughed, bolstered by the realization that he was finding humor in the situation already. “When you make a grand gesture you go all out.” She combed her fingers through his hair, then cupped his cheek. “I like it.”

“I can give you words, too.” He turned his head into her palm, pressed a kiss to the tender flesh. “I love you, Annabeth.”

She sighed. Fighting for his life, the man was still charming. “Hunter Mitchell, you don’t play fair.”

“No, I don’t.” His eyes fluttered shut again. “You should remember that.”

He was asleep before she could respond, a convenient trick of his. But at least the smile still played across his lips and his color was returning.

Everything was going to be all right between them. Better than all right, nearly perfect.

About an hour after Mattie left for Charity House, the door flew open with a bang and Sarah rushed into the room. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks. “Where is he?” She looked frantically around the room, her gaze darting around without focus. “Where’s my pa?”

Annabeth rose from her perch beside Hunter and was halfway across the room when he answered the question himself.

“Over here.” He lifted his head slightly.

Sarah sped to his side, but halted several feet back. She clasped her hands behind her back, as if afraid to get too near. “Pa? You don’t look so good.”

He beckoned her to him with a half wave.

Sucking in a huge gulp of air, Sarah glanced to Annabeth for confirmation.

“Go on, darling,” she urged, her hands gently guiding the girl toward the chair she herself had just vacated. “Sit here and talk to your father.”

Eyes wide, her gaze narrowed in on the bandage covering most of his chest and half of his shoulder. “What happened?”

He gave her a sanitized version of the afternoon’s events.

“You mean...” Sarah’s eyes grew wider. “The bad guy shot you while you were trying to save Aunt Annabeth?”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Annabeth confirmed.

“Oh, Pa. You’re a hero!”

“I’m no hero.” The words rasped beneath a long exhale. “I merely did what had to be done.”

“Say what you will, Hunter Mitchell.” Annabeth moved in closer and peered over Sarah’s head. “You’ll always be my hero.”

“Mine, too,” Sarah declared.

“
Mine,
too,” Mattie said from behind Annabeth, making all four of them laugh. Hunter a bit more subdued than the rest.

His gaze locking with Annabeth’s, he gave her a crooked smile. “Guess all I need is a sunset and a white horse to make the picture complete.”

“Plenty of time for those,” she said, touched he wanted to give her the fairy tale. How could she not love this man? “Let’s get you healed first.”

He reached up. Understanding the silent summons, she took his hand in hers. For a long moment, neither said a word. They didn’t need to speak. They communicated in their own private way, inside the stare, using a silent language that was all theirs.

“I never asked you properly. And I certainly never used the right words. I love you, Annabeth.” His words swept over her, soothing away the last of her doubts. “Will you be my wife?”

Before she could answer, Sarah gasped in delight. “Say yes, Aunt Annabeth.”

Taking her eyes off Hunter, she looked over at the child, the very happy child. “You approve?”

“I do, I do.” She bounced in the chair. “Say
yes.
”

“You heard the girl.” Mattie patted Annabeth’s arm. “Say yes to the man.”

With a happy sigh, Annabeth turned back to Hunter. It mattered that the two most important women in her life supported their marriage.

And yet, she hesitated. She believed Hunter loved her, but did he love her unconditionally and without reservation?

She needed to know his heart.

“The last time we had this discussion, you put restrictions on your offer.” She ignored his wince and pressed on. “What sort of marriage do you want with me, Hunter?”

“A real one, the kind the good Lord intended between a man and woman.” He held her gaze, communicating his message with an intimate smile on his lips. “There will be no secrets between us, no barriers. With Christ at the center, our marriage will be full of faith, hope, mutual trust and—”

“Love,” she added.

“And love.” He pressed a kiss to her hand. “Definitely love.”

There was only one thing to say to that. “Yes, Hunter. Yes. I want to be your wife, in every way that matters.”

Sarah cheered.

Mattie sighed.

Hunter grinned. “I knew you’d come round to my way of thinking.”

Seeing that they were of a like mind, Annabeth simply returned his smile. Lost in Hunter’s stare, she felt each of their pasts melt away and reveled in the future before them. A future as husband and wife built on a foundation of faith in God, enduring love and family.

Epilogue

O
n the day of her wedding to Hunter, Annabeth stood outside the chapel situated directly behind Charity House. The sun was making its slow, colorful descent behind the mountain peaks. There was still a lot of daylight left, but the western sky was turning an orangey pink.

Having forgone tradition, Annabeth chose to have her mother give her away. As soon as Mattie joined her outside, they would begin their walk down the aisle.

The guests had already arrived and taken their seats. Much to Annabeth’s pleasure, every member of Hunter’s family was in attendance. Their presence was proof that they fully supported her union to the returning son.

The Mitchells had even embraced Mattie as one of their own. For weeks now, each one had put their own form of subtle, albeit loving, pressure on the infamous madam to sell her brothel and move to the Flying M.

Their efforts had not been wasted. Mattie had begun negotiations with several potential buyers.

God had blessed Annabeth beyond measure. She couldn’t wait to begin her future with the man she loved and the child they shared.

As if sensing her eagerness, Mattie chose that moment to exit the church. With a worried expression on her face, she hurried down the steps. “Hunter is nowhere to be found.” Her anxious gaze landed everywhere but on Annabeth. “And I’m afraid Sarah is missing, too.”

Despite Mattie’s agitation, this news did not alarm Annabeth. Hunter had warned her that he planned to pull Sarah aside before the ceremony for a private father/daughter moment. If Annabeth knew her man—and she liked to think she did—he was presenting the child with another doll for her collection, this one in a wedding dress to commemorate the special day.

“It’s all right, Mother. They’ll be here shortly.”

The sound of pounding horse hooves had her turning to look toward the west.

A jolt of surprise went through her. And then came the joy. It reared up from her toes and settled in her throat.

“Oh, my,” she said, her breath stalling in her lungs.

“I say.” Mattie shook her head. “That boy certainly knows how to make a grand entrance.”

Not a grand entrance, a grand
gesture,
the grandest of them all, because there he was, her man, riding atop a white horse with a coat so pristine it looked too perfect to be real.

Sarah was balanced on the saddle in front of him, smiling broadly, a new doll clutched in her hand.

As if wishing to create the best possible effect, Hunter had timed their entrance perfectly. By the time he reined in his magnificent steed, the sunset had reached spectacular proportions, creating a perfect backdrop for man, horse and child.

“Oh, Hunter,” Annabeth whispered. “You magnificent man.”

Their gazes collided and she felt the impact all the way to her toes. Her eyes filled.

“You were right, Pa. We did make her cry.”

Eyes filling all the more, Annabeth laughed. “Happy tears, Sarah. I’m crying happy tears.”

“Those are the very best kind,” Sarah decided, then looked over at Mattie who’d become suspiciously quiet. “Look, Pa, Miss Mattie’s crying, too.”

“Will wonders never cease?”

Appearing highly pleased with himself, Hunter set Sarah carefully on the ground then dismounted behind her. He approached Annabeth with the hint of a grin flirting in his eyes and dancing on the edges of his lips.

“I can’t promise the fairy tale everyday of our lives. There will be ups and downs, easy days and hard ones, good times and bad. But, Annabeth, my love—” he kissed her square on the mouth “—with the Lord as our guide—” he kissed her again “—I promise to stand by you all the days of our life together.”

“I thank God for you, Hunter Mitchell.” She lifted on her toes and kissed
him
square on the mouth. “I’ll thank Him every morning, noon and night, until the day I die.”

Laney popped her head out of the church. “It’s time.” She eyeballed Hunter. “Come inside and take your place.”

He turned to Annabeth, a question in his eyes. “What do you say the four of us make the trek down the aisle together?”

“I can’t think of a better way to start off our life as a family.”

Arms linked, the four of them entered the church together. The assembled guests drew one, great collective breath and then broke out in applause.

Annabeth couldn’t think of a more perfect beginning for her marriage to the man she loved, or a stronger testament to the family they’d already begun.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
The Baby Compromise
by
Linda Ford.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing
The Outlaw’s Redemption,
the sixth book in my Charity House series. If this is your first book in the series, welcome. I hope you enjoyed Hunter and Annabeth’s story. If you’ve been with me before, welcome back!

Many of you requested Hunter’s book after he showed up in
The Lawman Claims His Bride
. Thank you for the much-needed nudge. I wasn’t sure where his story was headed, but I knew he needed his own happy ending. Like many of you, I adore wounded heroes in need of redemption. When a woman is the catalyst for that journey, well then, I say, more the better.

The most rewarding part about writing a series of connected books is the opportunity to revisit characters that once had a starring role in their own stories. It’s always fun to see where their journey has led them and what advice they have to give. One character in particular just wouldn’t go away, no matter how often I tried to shove her aside. Mattie Silks. The ornery madam has given many of my characters fits, especially the heroes, but she’s also shown a surprisingly tender heart under that hard exterior. Just as Hunter tells her, it’s never too late for any of us to change. Isn’t it a joy to know God never turns away those who seek Him?

The Charity House series isn’t complete. Molly Taylor Scott is all grown-up now, as are Hunter’s younger siblings. Those Mitchell men fall fast and for keeps. Their sisters are the same. I’m looking forward to sharing some of their stories with you.

I love hearing from readers. You can contact me through email at
[email protected]
or at my website,
www.reneeryan.com
. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter.

In the meantime, Happy Reading!

Renee