The Rancher (18 page)

"Say what?" she whispered.

His mouth slanted into a crooked
grin. "Say you'll marry me."

Laurel smiled and leaned in
closer to him. "I'll marry you―
if
you can promise me you
won't go running into any more burning buildings. I'm not sure my
heart can handle that again."

He wasted no time in kissing
her, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her as if he
hadn't been burned. Laurel felt the floor pitch sideways and
grabbed hold of his shoulders while returning his kiss. When he
finally pulled back, they were both panting for breath.

"When?" he asked.

"When what?"

Holden leaned his forehead
against her own, the smile on his face dazzling. "When can we get
married?"

"There isn't a preacher in the
house, that I know of, so not tonight." She stepped back, out of
his arms, and reached for the waistband of his pants." She held his
gaze as she unfastened his pants, pushing the material down over
his lean hips. She cast a look down, his erection growing as she
undressed him. When she had him bare from head to toe, she grabbed
the water bucket, dug inside for the cloth and soap he'd tossed in
and spent the next ten minutes washing every inch of him.

She sat him on the bed when he
was clean, examined his burned side and was happy to see it hadn't
blistered. It wasn't bad. Irritated mostly. Looking up at him, she
said, "I need a horse." At his curious expression, she smiled. "Or
one of your ranch hands to see me back to town."

"You can stay here for the
night."

She raised an eyebrow at him.
"That would be entirely inappropriate."

He reached for her, tugging at
the buttons on the front of her dress. "We'll be married soon
enough. We've nothing to hide."

Laurel giggled and stood to
avoid his wandering hands. "Be that as it may, tongues will waggle
if I stay the night. Not to mention, your daughter is in the next
room. What will she think?"

He stood and Laurel made a point
to keep her gaze on his face. He was still stark naked and seeing
him in the altogether was distracting enough as it was. "There are
four empty rooms in this house. It's also late. You can sleep in
one of the other rooms if it'll make you feel better and I can have
you back to town before a single person knows you didn't sleep in
that miserable little room behind the school."

At the mention of the school,
Laurel knew her position as the town's teacher was as good as gone.
Married women weren't allowed to teach in most areas and she wasn't
sure how laid-back a town like Willow Creek actually was.

"What is it?" Holden asked,
reaching out to cup one hand along her jaw.

She sighed, her chest
tightening. "I'll not be allowed to teach if I marry you."

"There's no reason you can't,"
he said. "And we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

He slipped on a clean pair of
trousers and showed her to the room at the end of the hall,
lighting the lamps after entering. It was a large space, with
windows gracing two walls, lace curtains hanging in billowy tufts
of white froth to the floor. The bed was a four-poster, large
enough to take up most of the room. There was an old rocker in one
corner, a crocheted afghan hanging across the back and a wardrobe
with mirrored glass on both doors. The floor was covered by a large
rug and the room smelled faintly of perfume.

She turned to look at Holden.
"Is this the room you shared with your wife?"

He nodded and walked further
into the room. "It's the biggest bedroom in the house." He stared
across the space, a sad smile covering his face. "I moved down the
hall a few months after she died. I didn't want to be in here
alone." He turned to face her. The smile was gone but she could
still see a lingering sadness in his eyes.

"Do you still miss her?"

"At times." He ran a hand
through his hair. "I miss talking to her. She had an easy smile.
Always found something to laugh about." He smiled again but it
didn't reach his eyes. He met her gaze and sighed. "I'm done
grieving for her. Have been for a long time. But I do miss having
someone here. A man gets lonely after a while and ten years is a
damn long time to be alone."

She crossed the room and wrapped
her arms around his waist, mindful of the burn, and laid her head
on his chest. Neither spoke. They just stood there, holding each
other, comforting and being comforted in the stillness.

He kissed her on the top of the
head after long minutes and pulled back enough to look at her face.
"I love you."

"I love you, too."

He smiled and it reached his
eyes, a glistening look of happiness that hadn't been there moments
before. "As much as I'd like to crawl into that big bed and have my
way with you, I'm not sure I'm up to it."

"I'm not letting you bed me
again until we're properly married, Holden Avery, especially not
with you daughter right down the hall."

He chuckled, gave her a quick
kiss and let go of her. "I'll see you in the morning."

Laurel stared at the closed door
when he left and sighed before taking in the room again. It was
lovely, decorated by his wife, she was sure, and she wondered if
she'd done the right thing, saying she'd marry him. The fluttering
in her chest told her she had but that stubborn part of her brain
that said he'd only betray her later wouldn't shut up.

She turned down the bed sheets
and removed her clothing, leaving her chemise on, and decided to
worry about things tomorrow. She'd had too much happen in too short
of time and truth be told, she was exhausted.

Chapter Twelve

The ride back into town was made
in the predawn twilight and as much as Laurel enjoyed the quiet
ride with Holden on his black stallion, her nerves were a bit
rattled.

She couldn't help but fear
someone would see them. She'd heard enough gossip in this small
community to know tongues would be wagging if they were seen.

Luckily, they made it to the
school without seeing another living soul and Holden helped her to
the ground, gave her a toe-curling kiss and left before anyone saw
him.

She rounded the building and
stopped short when she looked at the door to her room. A bouquet of
flowers lay on her stoop, a bright pink ribbon holding them
together and her mind registered the fact she'd seen them before.
Ethan had been holding them only yesterday as they quarreled in
front of the mercantile. Finding them on her stoop, now, infuriated
her.

Walking up the steps, she kicked
the flowers to one side, opened the door and hoped she didn't find
any surprises inside. Ethan wasn't there, thank goodness, and
nothing looked out of place.

She busied herself with washing,
changing into a clean dress and walked through the door that led to
the school room. Standing at the front of the room, she inhaled the
scent of chalk and musty books. She'd miss this when she had to
give it up. She loved teaching and as much as she loved Holden, a
part of her didn't want to give up something she'd worked so hard
to attain. She'd made sacrifices and hard choices to get her degree
and letting it go would be bittersweet.

* * * *

Holden waited patiently until
Mrs. Jenkins unlocked the door to the mercantile, offering her a
greeting as she smiled up at him.

"You're out and about awfully
early."

"I have a lot to do today," he
said, waiting until she shut the door before walking to the
counter. "Do you still have that case of jewelry?"

She raised one eyebrow at him,
giving him a bemused grin before nodding her head and reaching for
the small box she kept hidden. She laid it on the counter and
opened the lid. "Are you looking for something specific?"

He looked into the box, eyeing
the cluster of pieces and nodded. "A ring. Gold if you have
it."

Mrs. Jenkins fingered the
necklaces and brooches in the box to find a buried treasure of
rings that lay in the bottom. She pulled them all out, laid them on
the lid of the box and smiled. "This is all I have left. A
gentleman was in here just yesterday and bought the nicest one. It
was the only real gold I had, even though it wasn't anything fancy.
Just a simple gold band, really."

Holden looked up. "Anyone we
know?"

She shook her head. "No. I've
never seen him before. He looked to have a bit of money on him, if
you could judge such a thing by a man's clothing. He was wearing a
suit and he talked a bit fancy, too."

Ethan
. Holden knew that's
who bought the ring without being told and he knew the reason he
had. Resentment and just plain jealousy caused his breath to catch.
Was Ethan going to propose to Laurel… again? Try and court her?

Even though Laurel said she'd
marry him, he couldn't rest easy until she'd said, "I do." She had
a history with Ethan, she'd loved the man at one time and even
though she claimed to no longer hold any affection for the man,
Holden wasn't going to waste time waiting for Ethan to make a
move.

He thanked Mrs. Jenkins and left
the store, walking at a fast clip to Morgan's house and pounded on
the door until his brother opened it. "I have to go to Missoula.
Keep an eye on Laurel while I'm gone."

Morgan raised one eyebrow. "Good
morning to you too," he said. "What's going on in Missoula?"

Holden didn't have time, or the
inclination, to get in to it. "Just something I have to do. Have
you seen Ethan Dearborn around town?"

Morgan nodded. "Yeah. He was
having breakfast in the hotel when I passed by there. Why?"

"Don't let him get near Laurel
until I get back." He turned, hurried down the front porch steps
and turned back before exiting the gate. "I should be back by
nightfall but have Percy send one of the men over at the livery
stable out to the ranch and let them know where I've gone."

He crossed the street, gathered
his horse and was riding away from Willow Creek before it dawned on
him that he hadn't even told Laurel his plans. He didn't want to
waste the time going back to tell her and leaned over his horses
back, urging him into a faster run. He was losing time and with
Ethan still in town, he had precious little of it left to make
things happen.

* * * *

It was near noon when Abigail
walked into the school house from the entrance that led to Laurel's
room. Her new friend smiled at her as she laid a basket on the edge
of Laurel's desk.

"I knocked but you never
answered so I let myself in." She uncovered the basket, pulling a
plate of sandwiches out and laid them on the desk. "I thought we
could have lunch together, unless you've already eaten."

Laurel smiled and laid her
pencil down. "I'm starved, actually. I missed breakfast."

Abigail grinned and pulled a
chair up beside the desk. "So I've heard."

Laurel's heart skipped a beat
and Abigail laughed while shaking her head. "Morgan saw you riding
in with Holden this morning but your secret is safe with me." She
blushed, an apologetic look on her face. "In all the excitement
last night, I'm ashamed to say we just plain forgot about you. I
hope you can forgive us."

Laurel smiled, reassuring her.
"It's fine. I wouldn't have wanted to leave before I knew Holden
was all right and had time to talk to him, anyway."

"He was okay, then?"

"For the most part," Laurel told
her. "He had a burn on his side but it wasn't bad, thankfully."

They had their sandwiches, and
discussed the fire in Holden's barn the day before and as much as
remembering still scared her to think what could have happened, she
let Abigail talk.

"I just find it strange anyone
would be so careless," she was saying. "I know a few of the ranch
hands smoke but none of them would be so stupid as to do so in the
barn. It just makes no sense, really."

Laurel hadn't given much thought
to what may have caused the fire but now that Abigail brought it
up, she could think of nothing else. It was hard to tell what
started it, especially seeing how nothing had been left but a
smoldering pile of charred wood but an uneasy feeling churned in
her gut. She wondered if Ethan would be so devious as to start a
fire and knew he was before the thought fully formed.

She ignored the notion. They
finished their lunch, washed it down with a pot a tea and Abigail
was re-packing her basket when Laurel noticed her friend in no
hurry to leave. Abigail sat back down after the remains of their
lunch had been put away and Laurel watched her, curious as to why
she was still lingering. Not that she minded, it just seemed odd.
Abigail had a family, after all. "How are Morgan and
Elizabeth?"

"They're fine. Morgan was
putting Elizabeth down for a nap when I left."

Laurel nodded her head and
waited. Abigail seemed to take interest in the school room, her
head turning in all directions to take everything in. It wasn't
until she saw Abigail look at the small watch pin, which hung from
a chain around her neck, that she grew suspicious. "Are you waiting
for something, Abigail?"