A Convenient Christmas Bride and The Rancher's Christmas Proposal
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Rhonda Gibson
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53
Chapter One
Sheriff Josiah Miller peered out his cabin window into the darkness, searching for a plausible explanation for the uneasiness shivering down his spine. What had set off the warning bells in his body?
His twin daughters snuggled deeply under their covers, sleeping soundly on this cold winter’s night, and for that he was thankful. No worries on that front because he’d just checked on them. So what accounted for the dull disquiet that had him pacing the floor, looking out the window every few seconds?
They were in the midst of a fierce snowstorm and it was only October. Maybe that’s what had him skittish as an unbroken mare. Signs pointed to a harsh winter. He dreaded it. Lonely nights out in the cold could work on a man’s mind. He shrugged his shoulders in mock resignation.
Dratted snow! He blamed the white stuff for his dismal thoughts.
Josiah stopped pacing midstride and slowly turned back to the window. Snow swirled about, creating almost zero visibility. In spite of the fire that burned in the fireplace, he shivered, not only from the cold pressing against the glass but from the banshee-like wails of the wind.
On nights like this he missed Mary the most. If she were alive, Mary would be humming and the aroma of fresh baked bread would draw him to the kitchen. How often he’d slipped up behind her, slid his arms around her waist, kissing her, tickling her, till she cut him a slice. She’d scold him for his impatience, but always with a twinkle in her eyes that belied her words. She knew how to make a home cozy and warm; a place where he longed to be. Now, when it was too late, Josiah realized how much he missed her and the home they’d shared.
Perhaps he should begin looking for a wife so that his twin daughters wouldn’t have to grow up motherless. Raising them alone was hard. Finding a babysitter even harder. They needed a mother’s love and he needed help.
Shadowy movement beside the barn caught his attention. Josiah focused intently on the area. There. Right at the front edge by the door something moved again. His eyes weren’t deceiving him. What in the world could that be?
He cupped his hands around his face and pressed his nose against the cold windowpane. His breath fogged up the glass. Josiah wiped away the condensation. Could it be an animal? Had his horse gotten out of the barn into the snow and cold? Josiah grunted, tempted to leave the beast to his own devices, but he wasn’t a coldhearted man and knew it was a disgruntled thought he’d never act upon. A lawman’s horse was as important to him as his right arm.
At the door, he eased his warm feet out of his slippers and into heavy boots. He pulled his fur jacket off the coatrack, thrust his arms inside and then put on gloves. Pulling his hat down tight on his head and wrapping a long woolen scarf around his face, Josiah stepped out into the freezing, swirling snowstorm.
Gripping the rope he’d tied from the rail of the porch to the barn door, Josiah gave a little tug. It held fast. That was reassuring. Some men got lost in a storm like this and died feet away from their barn or house. Josiah had no intentions of dying like that.
After he’d inched away from the house, he glanced over his shoulder. He could barely see the light from his front window. His chest bumped into something and he turned back around. “Well, I’ll be.”
A small mule waited patiently, head down, nose almost touching the snow. “So it was you instead of my faithful horse that I saw out here.” Josiah reached out and touched her nose. Warm air filled his glove. “Poor thing, must be half frozen,” he muttered.
A soft thud sounded beside the animal as its rider fell into the snow. Josiah eased around the mule to see who it had been carrying. Yards of dark fabric covered the woman’s legs. A scarf much like his own covered her face. He reached down and lifted her out of the snow.
The woman sagged against his chest. In a weak voice that sounded low and scratchy she moaned, “Please, take care of my mule.”
He couldn’t make out her face, but her voice sounded familiar. Her wet dress, slightly frozen in places, pressed against his coat and he felt no warmth from her whatsoever. Big brown eyes beseeched him, glazed with what he could only assume was a fever. “Now don’t you go fretting, ma’am. I’m not one to leave an animal out in this storm.”
Josiah looked to the mule. He could take care of only one of them at a time. “Sorry, lil’ feller. I’ll be back as soon as I get your mistress settled.” He weighed his options for a few moments, then decided there was nothing for it but to place the woman over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He had to have a hand free to hold on to the line and be guided back to the house. Expecting a fight, he immediately knew her condition to be serious when she only groaned slightly. He grabbed the rope in his gloved hand and headed back to the house.
His thoughts bumped together as he worked to get there. What a night for being out in this weather. Where had she been going? And why couldn’t it have waited until after the storm. The woman slumped limply against him as she lost consciousness.
Out of breath from his battle through the snowdrifts, bearing the slight weight of the woman, Josiah gave a sigh of relief to find the bottom step of the porch. He pulled her closer to his chest and carried her the rest of the way to the front door.
Wet clothes added weight to her body. In the light from his window he could see that her hood had fallen back and brown hair spilled out over the fabric. Deep brown eyes fluttered open for a brief moment, causing Josiah to gasp as recognition gripped him.
“Anna Mae?”
“Josiah.” His name whispered across her lips as she slipped back into unconsciousness.
His name, spoken in a weak and tremulous whisper, was the sweetest sound he’d heard in a long time. As long as she could speak, he had a chance to save her. His heart leaped in his chest with fear as her breathing became raspy. Josiah pushed the door open and carried her to the couch. He laid her down gently. Now what was he going to do?
“I suppose I should get that wet cloak off of you. I’m sure you’ll feel much better once that is removed.” Whiskers scratched his palm as he rubbed his jaw.
Carefully, he shifted Anna Mae up and about until he was able to remove the heavy, wet cloak. He lowered her. Brown hair that he’d only seen up in a bun now cascaded about her shoulders in a soft curtain of silk.
Anna Mae Leland was the town’s schoolteacher and a good friend of his sister-in-law, Emily Jane Barns. What had she been doing out in this weather? He’d known her only a few months but Josiah believed her to be a sensible woman. So why was she traveling in a blizzard? And where had she been going?
He walked to the door and looked out at the shadow of the mule. His gaze moved back to Anna Mae. Both of them needed immediate care, both needed warmth.
Josiah tossed more wood on the fire and then went into the bedroom where his girls slept. He pulled blankets from the chest at the foot of the bed and carried them back to her. Should he try to make her more comfortable by getting her into dry clothes? Or leave her in the wet dress? The thought came that she needed another woman, not him. He tucked her tightly within the blankets.
Unsure what to do for her next, Josiah decided to take care of the mule. He opened the door and stepped out into the raging blizzard. He’d been in enough storms in his lifetime to know that this one was going to be long and hard.
His gaze moved back to the window, which offered light and comfort. What on earth was he going to do about the woman resting on his couch?
For the first time since her arrival at the farm, Anna Mae sat at the kitchen table with the Miller family. It had been all she could do to walk the short distance from the bedroom where she’d been for over a week.
The day before, her fever had finally broken, and she’d awakened and explained to the sheriff that she’d been lured out into the storm by Bart, her ten-year-old student. She’d told him it was probably just a prank but still hoped he’d check on the boy. Josiah assured her that the boy was probably home before the storm ever hit. She latched on to that small ray of hope, trying hard to be very thankful.
But now she had other problems. She traced the outline of a knot in the wooden table. “What am I going to do? As soon as word gets out that I’ve been here throughout the entire storm, the school board will fire me for sure.” She rested her arms on the tabletop and dropped her head on them. Weakness overwhelmed her. Her throat still hurt, but not like it had.
“Here, drink this.” Josiah placed a hot cup in front of her.
She raised her head. Rose and Ruby, the sheriff’s two-year-old twins, sat on their side of the table motionless, watching the adults. Each held a handful of eggs and a piece of bread.
Josiah dished scrambled eggs onto a plate and set it before her. “I don’t see what the fuss is about, Annie. We’ll just explain what happened and everything will be fine.” He returned to the stove.
“Eat?” Rose asked hopefully.
“Not yet. Let me get my plate and we’ll be ready,” Josiah answered, pouring coffee into another mug and bringing it and his plate to the table.
Anna Mae tried to think of the children as chaperones, but didn’t believe the school board would go for that. No, she was doomed.
“Please don’t call me Annie, Sheriff Miller. And I really don’t think they are going to care what my excuse is. They aren’t going to approve of my staying here with you for so long.” Anna Mae sighed. She’d asked him not to call her Annie before but it didn’t do much good. He seemed to enjoy teasing her.
The big sheriff shrugged his shoulders and sat down at the table, his plate heaped with eggs, bacon and bread. “I believe you are wrong. All they have to do is take one look at you and know you’ve been sick.”
Did she look that bad? Anna Mae tucked a stringy hank of hair behind her ear. Sadly, he was right. She knew without looking into a mirror that she was a sight.
“Now don’t go fussin’. All I meant was that you’ve lost weight and the luster in your eyes hasn’t quite come back. If you add that to your scratchy sounding voice, well there’s no mistaken you’ve been under the weather.”
“Eat now?” Rose pleaded, looking from one adult to the other.
Josiah’s gaze moved to the girls. They sat poised at the table just as they’d been moments ago. “We best pray before these two get tired of waiting and start throwing those eggs at us to get our attention.” A wide grin spread over his face just before he bowed his head to pray.
Anna Mae couldn’t concentrate on his prayer. Just like before, she was out of a job and it wasn’t even her fault. If Bart hadn’t lured her out into the storm, she would be home in her room at the boardinghouse.
As soon as he said amen, Anna Mae asked, “Did you go check on Bart?”
Josiah laid his fork down. “Haven’t had a chance to but I’m sure the boy is fine. If he weren’t they would have sent out a search party for him, and I’d have been the first one they came to for help. Why don’t you tell me how that happened again?”
Anna Mae sighed. “I was at the school grading papers when Bart came running inside. He asked me to go with him into the woods. He said Miles Carter, one of the smaller boys in my class, was hurt and I was the closest adult who could help him.” She took a sip of her coffee.
“Go on.” Josiah helped the girls with their meals and ate his breakfast at the same time. Her heart went out to him. She would have been dead now if he hadn’t helped her. He already had so much to do and he’d stayed with her during the worst of her illness. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles, showing his lack of sleep since her arrival.
She focused on her story. “He’d already brought the little mule to the front of the school so we left almost immediately. At first I believed him, but the deeper we went into the woods the more I began to doubt his story. I knew Bart was still sore that he had to stay in at lunch and sweep up the school, but I really hadn’t thought he’d do spite work.”
“Spite work?” The sheriff turned quizzical eyes on her.
“That he’d leave me alone.” A deep sigh slipped from between her lips. “I was wrong.” Anna Mae set her cup down and reached for her fork.
He looked up and smiled. “Well, no matter what brought you here, it’s nice to see you up and sitting at my table, Annie.” A wicked twinkle entered his eyes.
She almost corrected him again, but he’d saved her life so she decided he could call her whatever he wanted to. “It’s nice to be here, Sheriff Miller.”
He bent over to pick up the bread Rose had dropped. When he straightened he asked, “Then what happened?”
“Bart distracted me by saying he thought Miles was directly in front of us. While I focused on the spot where he pointed, Bart took off, leaving me alone in the woods. I never even saw him go.” Anna Mae felt foolish, but continued on. “The sky had become overcast and I couldn’t get my bearings. I think I wandered around at least an hour before it started to rain, and then the rain quickly turned to snow. It got so bad I couldn’t see two feet in front of me, so I decided to give the mule her lead, praying she’d take me back to the schoolhouse.” Anna Mae shivered. “I was so cold and wet.” Just the memory of the sharp pain in her chest as she breathed in the icy air sent another shiver down her spine.
“It’s a good thing your mule found my place. I hate to think what would have become of you,” Josiah stated, before dishing more food into his mouth.
“Thank you for saving my life.”
He held her gaze as he swallowed and then said, “That mule out there saved your life. All I did was keep the fever down and get a little water in ya. Now eat up.” He waved his fork toward the plate in front of her. “You tell the school board what you just told me and I’m sure everything will be fine.”
The eggs scratched as they went down, and Anna Mae turned her head to cough. The cough seemed to come and go, but at least her chest no longer burned from the pain of it.
Once the coughing subsided, she asked, “Do you think it’s safe to go to town today?”
He shook his head, gently wiping eggs off the side of Ruby’s mouth. “Not with a wagon. That rainstorm we got right before the snow turned into a layer of ice. Besides, it’s best to stay out of the cold air and let that cough heal.”
“But the longer I stay here...” She left the words hanging in the air.
“Nothin’ to do for it. I can’t have you and the girls out in this weather.” He sipped his coffee.
He was right. If it were just her safety, Anna Mae felt sure she’d risk going out. But it wasn’t just hers, it was the twins’, too. She sighed.
“If you need something, I can take Roy and go out.”
“Roy?”
A grin split the sheriff’s face. “Yeah, my horse.”
“You named him Roy?” Anna Mae felt a chuckle rise in her sore throat. The big black gelding Josiah rode looked like anything but a Roy. Her papa had a business associate named Roy who was old, bent over at the waist, and sported a bald spot right in the center of his hair. Other than their names, there were no similarities between the fine-looking horse and the balding old man.
“Now don’t go makin’ fun of Roy, he’s seen me through some rough weather. I believe he could get me to town without too many mishaps.”
The thought of Josiah out on ice and snow with his horse slipping and possibly breaking a leg didn’t appeal to her at all. She shook her head. “No, I don’t need anything. Just wanted to get back before the school board missed me.” She spooned another bite of egg into her mouth, worry making the food flavorless. She brushed crumbs from her lap. If the board were to see her wearing Josiah’s shirt and long johns, she’d be in more than a heap of trouble. She’d be run out of town on a rail.
Thankfully, his shirt covered her to right below the knees, but still her cheeks flushed every time she remembered struggling into the clothes that belonged to the sheriff.
Shortly after she’d arrived, Josiah had insisted she put on dry clothes. She’d been shaking so badly from the cold and the fever that consumed her body that it had taken much longer than normal for her to change. Concerned, he’d threatened to come in and help her. She’d managed to get them on before he’d made good on his threat, but was so exhausted she’d fallen into a deep sleep. Hopefully, she’d be able to change back into her own dress right after breakfast.
Josiah pushed away from the table, taking his and the twins’ plates with him. The little girls were covered in egg and wet crumbs. “Maybe, if the sun comes out full force, we’ll be able to get to town in a couple of days.” He raked the scraps into the slop bucket and carried it to the back porch to be thrown out later.
Anna Mae offered, “I can help you with that.” She pushed away from the table and immediately felt the weakness in her limbs.
“Nope, you are just recovering.” He walked over to her and placed a hand under her arm. “I’ll help you to the couch and you can rest there until you need to return to bed. I don’t want you to come down with another fever.”
Tears filled her eyes as he walked beside her into the sitting room. Josiah had been so nice to her. He’d saved her life and then tried to make her comfortable during the worst of her sickness. Anna Mae vowed that during the time she had to stay here, she’d offer her help and make herself useful.
“Why don’t you bring the girls in here and I’ll read to them,” she said, hoping he’d at least let her help out in that way.
“Now that’s a right nice idea. Give me a minute to get them cleaned up and I’ll put them in the corral.” He waited until she seated herself on the sofa, then handed her a small quilt before he returned to the kitchen.
Anna Mae stared into the fire, disturbing thoughts troubling her. Would she have a job when this was all over? If not, where would she go? Would this town be as hard on her as her hometown had been? Fears and past hurts ran deep within her. How she hated this feeling of uncertainty. She’d just lately felt secure enough to put down roots. As if she finally belonged. Now her very livelihood could be decided by others known for judging harshly.
Without warning, Anna Mae remembered the shame she’d felt when her ex-fiancé, Mark Peters, had left her standing at the altar. She’d given up her teaching job to marry him. She’d thought he loved her, but he’d left the night before their wedding and had a note delivered at the hour of the marriage ceremony. Fresh tears filled her eyes, for just thinking of it shattered her. Not because she’d loved Mark to the point of distraction, but because he’d made a laughingstock of her. The whole town had shaken their heads and secretly called her a fool. With her teaching job no longer available, Anna Mae had done the only thing she felt she could do. She’d answered Levi Westland’s ad for a mail-order bride.
But thankfully, God knew that Levi wasn’t the man for her, and had sent Millie Hamilton to be his new bride. Anna Mae had breathed a sigh of relief the day Levi announced his intention to marry Millie, confirming in Anna Mae’s heart that she was meant to be a schoolteacher and a spinster.
“I wish you’d stop worrying about the school board. Whatever comes, we’ll face it together and I’ll make sure that they understand.” Josiah placed the girls into what he’d called the corral, made of boards and fabric, and stood to smile at her.
Lost in thoughts of the past, Anna Mae needed a moment to reorient herself. She longed to trust in Josiah’s assurances, but she was reluctant to place her faith with a man again.
