The Sheriff Catches a Bride

Chapter Fifteen



“COME BACK TO US, SISTER. Let us make a gift of you to our brother-in-arms. These infidels will suck out your soul and poison you with their capitalist ways. Give your heart to Allah. Rejoin us, your brothers. Remember the true path!”

Wahid’s voice had thundered through the night air, cutting through the gunfire like a knife aimed at her heart and Fila knew that she couldn’t hide and risk the lives of the women who’d tried to save her. When she stood up, she didn’t expect to survive, but before she died she was determined to finally answer back to Wahid and the rest of the men who had stolen her life.

“You don’t know Allah. You don’t know God. You think you’re martyrs and instead you are nothing! Don’t you have eyes to see? Ears to hear? A heart to feel? Haven’t you noticed the screams and tears of the women you pretend to protect? Haven’t you realized we’re just as real as you are? A woman isn’t a gift—she is a person. I am a person and I say no to you! I was never the woman you thought I was. I was never cowed. I never believed in your cause. And I am living proof that in the end you will fail!”

She expected every moment one of the bullets to tear her heart from her chest, but when the pain came it was her shoulder instead. Although the impact dropped her to the ground, the doctors now assured her she would recover fully. Her assailants had been captured. One had been killed.

It was over—ten long years of terror, hiding, running—over. For the first time in days she drifted into a heavy sleep.

“I WOULDN’T HAVE BELIEVED IT if I wasn’t there,” Ethan said, sitting back against the hospital waiting room seat. “A bison running loose in Carl’s woods.”

“How the hell did it get there?” Jake asked.

Cab thought he knew, but he didn’t have the energy to speak just now. He’d spent the last six hours giving his own statement and helping to take the statements of all the other witnesses and participants of the night’s shootout. It would take weeks to sort this mess out, but he didn’t care.

Rose was alive.

Shaken, but alive. She was being kept under observation in a room down the hall shared with Fila, who’d received a superficial gunshot wound.

Jamie occupied another room with a bullet wound to his hip. Rob shared it, the most seriously hurt of all. He’d been hit just below his left shoulder, far too close to his heart for comfort. The bullet broke two ribs, but didn’t penetrate past them. If it had, he was sure Rob would be dead.

Terrorists in the woods of Chance Creek. Just as Kevin had said.

He still couldn’t decide if the old man got lucky on that one, or if he’d really seen the same men who came for Fila driving through town. Probably the latter, as much as Cab hated to admit it. If he had to start investigating every off-the-wall claim that man made, he’d never sleep.

Better not to sleep than to let Rose venture into danger again.

He’d paced the woods with the rest of the uniformed men after the victims were cleared, floodlights lighting every inch of the ground. When they found Rose’s tree house, he’d nearly broken down. Filled with sleeping bags, clothing and evidence of the two women’s dinner, it was obvious they’d felt safe there, nestled in their hideaway.

He wondered if they’d ever feel safe again. His heart ached for both of them. Hannah, too. The receptionist wasn’t injured but she’d definitely been in shock when it was over. Her face as pale a sheet when they helped her to an ambulance, she kept looking around. Searching for something that wasn’t there.

“I’m glad Rob’s going to be okay. How’s Rose doing?” Ethan asked.

Cab nodded. “Good. But I think I’ll go check on her again.”

He paced down the hall heavily, feeling far older than he had when he got up today. Yesterday. Whenever it was he’d slept last. When he reached the door to her room, he opened it to find Fila dozing, and Jason and Emory Thayer at the side of Rose’s bed. He nearly closed the door again and left them alone, until he caught what Emory was saying.

“Rose knows she made a mistake, Jason. Didn’t you, Rose? Just as soon as you’re home for good, the two of you will get married, just like you always planned.”

Rose looked miserable lying under her covers, and Cab knew instinctively that left alone with Jason and Emory, she’d cave in to their demands. They were too much to face on a normal day. Now she was hurt, terrified. He wouldn’t let them bully her into anything.

He let himself into the room quietly and took a seat on a hard plastic chair near the door.

“Won’t you, Rose?” Emory demanded.

Rose cast a glance at Cab. He met her gaze and held it. He willed her to know how much he loved her. How much he wanted her to be a part of his life. And how he’d back off and let her make up her own mind.

“No,” she said.

“What do you mean, no?” Emory said.

“Dad,” Jason said. “Let it go. I told you; it’s over.”

“You’ve been engaged for six years. It can’t be over.”

“I’m sorry.” Rose touched Jason’s hand.

“Don’t be sorry,” Jason said. “Both of us changed. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Emory turned on him. “What’ll you come back for, if it’s not for her? You certainly won’t come back for me! Who’ve I got now that your mother’s gone? No one!”


Jason turned to him in surprise. “I come back all the time!”

“Twice this year is not all the time!”

Cab stood up, crossed the room and shepherded them both toward the door. When he’d pushed them gently but firmly out into the hall, he said, “Time for the two of you to sort things out between yourselves without putting Rose in the middle of it all.”

SEVERAL HOURS LATER, Jason slipped back into Rose’s room alone and Rose understood he’d come to say good-bye. She knew it was the right thing for both of them, but now it came time to actually do it, she found it harder than she’d expected. They’d drifted apart this last year, but he’d been a fixture in her life for a long time. They’d been friends and lovers, and she’d dreamed for years of a future together. It was hard to let all of that go.

He sat beside her on the hospital bed and took her hand. “I’ll miss you,” he said.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t come to North Dakota and sort things out in person,” she said. “I took the coward’s way out.”

“Rose, whatever you are it’s not a coward. If anyone was cowardly, I was. I didn’t tell you what was going on. I didn’t trust that you would understand.”

“What was going on?” she asked softly.

“I didn’t save up any money,” he said. “I lied to you the whole time.”

Rose blinked. “You didn’t save…” That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. She figured he’d simply found another girlfriend. “What were you doing all this time?”

Jason’s cheeks reddened. “I’m in college, honey. I’ve been in school for nearly four years. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t tell Dad, either. I guess I was afraid both of you would think I was being selfish. I didn’t save a dime for our house. I spent it all on myself. That’s why I had such a hard time coming here and being with you. I felt so guilty every time I saw the ring on your finger. I’d… promised you this life that I didn’t want to live anymore. I don’t want to come back to Chance Creek. I don’t want to settle down. There’s a whole big world out there, Rose. I want to see it. I want to travel. I want to go where the money is. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

Relief flooded Rose. Jason hadn’t wanted to marry her any more than she wanted to marry him. “You can’t blame yourself for your plans changing,” she said. “We were eighteen when we got engaged, for crying out loud. Why did our parents even let us do it?”

“I’m not sure they could have stopped us.” Jason grinned. “I don’t think they wanted to. They wanted our families joined. They wanted us both to stay in Chance Creek.”

Rose nodded. “But you don’t want to stay. I understand that. I understand your wanting more from life, too. I want more from life than I wanted at eighteen, you know. I want to pursue my art. I want a chance to see what I can do.”

He looked down. “That’s the worst of it, isn’t it? I’ve been telling you not to do it. I was afraid if you started spending money on school you’d ask me to help with your rent and all that… and you’d catch me in my lies. I’m such a fool.”

She squeezed his hand. “I don’t hold anything against you, I hope you know that. I was in love with you when I said yes to your proposal.”

“But now you love Cab.”

She looked away, tears filling her eyes. “Yes. I think I do. Just promise me you won’t be unhappy, Jason. Tell me the truth.”

“The truth? It hurts, breaking up like this. It hurts to see you with Cab. But it’s a clean pain. I’ll get over it. Now I can move forward without feeling bad. Know what I mean?”

“Definitely. I can’t wait to hear what you get up to, you know. Send me some postcards.”

“Oh, you’ll hear about me. I promise. I’m going to make a name for myself. And I’m going to come back and spend time with Dad, too. I should have been doing that all along.” He raised her hand to his mouth, kissed it gently, and walked toward the door. “Don’t wait too long to say yes to that sheriff of yours. Make him a happy man, Rose. And let him make you happy, too.”

“YOU KNOW WHAT ALL of this means, don’t you?” Rob said. He lay back in his hospital bed, a bandage wrapped around his chest and an IV in his arm. Cab could tell he was already getting restless. Rob wasn’t one to lounge around in bed unless there was a beautiful woman beside him. He didn’t envy Morgan the task of playing nurse while he recovered. Jamie lay in a second bed, the bandage on his hip hidden from view by his covers.

“What?” Cab asked. He, Jake, Ned, and Luke sat in a semi-circle around the room. Morgan, Claire, Autumn and Ethan were conferring in the waiting room about how best to arrange things at the ranch now that two of their men were laid up.

“We’re going to have to take ourselves bison hunting. Won’t Cody be pleased?”

“Hannah’s not going to like that,” Jake drawled. “Did you hear her going on last night? About how the bison saved everyone’s life?” Cab shot him a look. He’d heard Hannah going on. He’d also seen Jake hovering around the pretty blonde, putting an arm around her to help her into the ambulance. These Matheson boys had a history of capitalizing on traumatic events.

“It did save people’s lives,” he pointed out. “No telling what it will do next, though.”

“We can hunt it down and have a bison roast,” Rob said. “Hell, we don’t even have to hunt it; we can just sic Cody on it. Wasn’t he dying for the chance?”

“You’re not hunting anything,” Cab told him. “And I don’t want Cody anywhere near those woods.”

“How did it get into Carl’s woods anyway?” Jamie asked. He shifted in his bed and winced at the pain. There would be no lasting effects from the bullet grazing his hip, but he’d be sore for a while, Cab figured.

He decided it was time to tell them. “Hannah brought it there,” he said. “Seems Cody had the bright idea to take her by the place where he was going to hunt the bison and it turned out there was only one, kept in a pen barely big enough for it to turn around in. When she saw the situation she decided she couldn’t stand for it.”

“How the hell did she move it?” Jake said, sitting forward in his seat, his hat in his hands.

“With that horse trailer she had.” Cab shrugged. “Maybe that bison knew a good thing when it saw it.”

“That’s… insane,” Rob said.

“Actually, turns out the thing was hand-raised as a pet before its original owner gave it up. As far as bison go, I guess it’s pretty gentle.”

“Does she plan to keep it for a pet?” Jake asked.

“She told me she meant to find a bison ranch that raises and treats them ethically. Hannah’s no vegetarian,” Cab smiled, “but she doesn’t believe in cruelty.”

“She stole that animal, though,” Rob pointed out. “Won’t she be in trouble?”

“I figure I’ll offer the owners a fair price for it, point out that what they’re doing is illegal and she won’t have to give it back. She’ll have to find a better place for it than Carl’s woods, though.” He chuckled.


“She can keep it at our place. I’ll even pay for it,” Jake stated, taking the bait Cab had laid out for him so cleverly. Yep, Jake was stuck on Hannah, no doubt about that.

“Our place?” Ned asked.

“Why not?” Jake challenged him.

Ned shrugged. “What about that foreign girl—Fila?”

“She’ll stay at the Cruz ranch until things are sorted out. A lot of people are going to be interested in what that girl knows,” Cab said grimly. “Best for her to be among friends until that all plays out. Claire says she’ll find a lawyer who can help prove Fila’s citizenship. We’ll go from there.”

“What about Rose and Jason?” Rob asked him. “They still broken up?”

Cab nodded.

“Time for you to go buy that ring.”

“WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW? When you get out of here?” Autumn asked Rose. She’d slipped into the room and tiptoed past Fila’s sleeping form to take a seat near Rose’s head.

Rose couldn’t sleep in the hospital’s antiseptic atmosphere so she welcomed the distraction. “I’m not entirely sure,” she confessed. “I don’t think I can live out in the tree house anymore.”

Autumn chuckled. “I can see why.”

Rose’s eyes filled with tears. “I’ll miss it, though. I liked having a place of my own.”

“I have an idea,” Autumn said. “You know the old cabin on our property—the one Jamie lived in back when he was a hired hand? Rob and Morgan are staying there now until they build their house in the spring.”

Rose nodded.

“Well, Rob has his own cabin sitting empty on the Double-Bar-K. He and his folks were arguing when he left home and moved to our land with Morgan, but that’s all sorted out. There’s no reason he and Morgan can’t shift their quarters over there for the winter and you can take the cabin they vacate.”

“Oh, no,” Rose said. “I’m not going to kick Rob and Morgan out of their home. He’s just been shot! Besides, I can’t afford it. I need to save every penny because I want to enroll in school.”

“Well, I have an idea about that, too,” Autumn said. She played with the covers on Rose’s bed, pleating the top sheet in her fingers. “I know it’s not much to offer, but I really need help with the guests, especially this spring.” She laid a hand on her belly. “Morgan has been a godsend but the minute the ground warms up she’ll be frantic getting her vineyard planted. The job doesn’t pay much, but you could have the cabin rent-free. You know what the work entails since you’ve helped out in the past.” She trailed off, looking uncertain. “You probably don’t want to do it.”

“Are you kidding?” Rose said. “I’d love to! When I helped out over the summer I had a blast. I should have quit the jewelry store back then, but I was so set on staying there while I waited for Jason.” She sobered. “But I do want to go to school.”

“We can arrange your hours around your classes,” Autumn said, her eyes lighting up at Rose’s response. “It would be so much more fun working with you than hiring someone I don’t know too well. There won’t be too many hours at first,” she cautioned Rose. “But it will pick up as the spring goes on.”

“That’s terrific!” Rose said. “And Fila’s staying at the Big House for a while? It’ll be like a party.”

Autumn grinned. “I think Mia might move in, too. I can’t wait.”

Rose pushed herself up on her elbows. “They could share the cabin with me.”

The corners of Autumn’s mouth drew up even higher. “I think I’ll keep them up at the house. I have a feeling someone else will want to move in with you before too long.”

“I’M SORRY it’s not much of a hideaway anymore,” Cab said two weeks later as he stood with Rose at the base of her tree house. A first snowfall covered the ground, hiding all traces of the investigation of the site except for a few torn bits of yellow police tape that dangled from the trees.

Rose nodded.

“I got a note from Carl,” Cab said gently. “He plans to come back in the spring.”

“I guess he’ll want me to take this down.”

“He might.” Cab took her hand. “How do you like your new house?”

“I love the cabin on the Cruz ranch,” Rose said. “It’s even got an extra bedroom for my studio. And Autumn and Ethan have both sworn they’ll never enter it without asking for permission first. I still feel guilty about kicking Morgan and Rob out—especially Rob.”

“Are you kidding? His mother’s showering attention on him like he’s five years old. They both love it. Lisa’s help with Rob makes things easier on Morgan and it gives all of them a chance to smooth over any last remnants of their old argument. Sounds like Rob and Morgan will break ground on their new house at the first sign of spring, anyway, so don’t worry about a thing.”

They contemplated the little house in silence.

“Do you like working with Autumn?” Cab asked.

“Yes. She’s great.”

“You know there’s a lot of forested land on the Cruz ranch.”

“Sure.”

“I talked to Ethan yesterday. He said he’d be happy to let you build a new tree house over there in the spring.”

“Really?” She brightened, then frowned. “Why wait until spring?”

“There’s snow on the ground.”

“I think I’ll insulate my next one,” Rose said.

Cab heaved a sigh. “Then I’ll never see you.”

She chuckled, but edged closer to Cab and leaned against him a little. He’d made sure not to crowd her during these past few weeks—he didn’t want to rush her into a relationship after everything that had happened—but he kept close enough to let her know he was there whenever she was ready for him.

“You don’t mind that I want the space?” she asked him.

“I would have… before. I might have wanted to rank a little higher than your painting.” He hoped she knew what he meant.

“What’s different now?”

“I learned the only thing that matters is that you’re safe and happy. That you’re alive.”

“Thanks to you.”

“Thanks to Hannah’s bison, you mean.” He kissed her on top of her head. “Tell me if you want any help building the new one. If you don’t, I won’t come anywhere near it. Scout’s honor.”

She smiled. “I probably could use some help. In fact,” she turned to the tree house again. “I think you’d better come take a look at this one so you’ll know what I like.”

He looked askance at the ladder. “Think that thing will hold my weight?”

“Only one way to find out.”

The ladder did hold his weight and the tree house floor didn’t even sag when they unrolled the sleeping bags left from the last time she’d stayed here and arranged them into a comfortable nest.

“It’s nice,” Cab said once she’d turned on the tiny propane heater, “but it’s lacking a pool table.”

Rose smiled. “You’re right. I guess we’ll just have to use our imaginations.” She unzipped her winter coat and took off her mittens and hat, shivering in the cold air. Cab joined her, shucking off his outer layers and kicking off his boots.


“Hmm, I just sunk a great shot,” Rose said.

“Oh yeah?” Cab unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it aside.

“Oops, scratched the next one.” Rose peeled her sweater over her head.

“I sunk one in the corner and another one in the side pocket.” Cab helped her to unbutton her blouse. She laid it on the ground, and shimmied off her jeans.

“What next?”

“Sunk another one,” Cab said.

Rose unhooked her bra happily, unable to wait any longer to feel the touch of his hands on her skin. He didn’t disappoint her. He cupped her breasts in his hands, bent down and took one nipple into his mouth. Rose sighed in delight as he played with her, attending to first one breast and then the other until she arched her back, reveling in the sensation.

“I missed my shot,” Cab said, coming up for air. She moaned when he left her to shuck off his pants, but soon found the waistband of his boxers when he came back and reached inside them to enjoy him as much as he was enjoying her.

“I sunk two in a row,” she said. A few moments later, Cab was naked. He lay down on the pile of covers and wrapped himself in a sleeping bag.

“I sunk the rest.” He reached for her.

Rose only held off for the time it took to shimmy out of her panties, then came to him in the sleeping bag with her socks still on.

“I said all of them.” Cab tugged at her socks with his toes and Rose laughed, but allowed him to take them off, too. She knew how he felt; like he couldn’t get enough of her, couldn’t get close enough to her. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

More.

“I can’t wait to feel you inside of me,” Rose whispered as she lay down beside him, loving the way her breasts felt when they rubbed against his skin.

“You don’t have to,” he said, pulling her on top of him. “You can have me whenever and however you want.”

“Really?” She sat atop him and wriggled a little, closing her eyes at the way his hardness pressed against her. When he reached up to cup her breasts again, she moaned.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Mmm-hmmm.”

“Like this?” He half sat up to take first one, then the other nipple into his mouth again.

“Yes.”

“Good thing you warned me earlier you planned to jump me today.” He fished a condom out of his jeans pocket. Leaning back, he took a moment to put it on. Rose shifted to allow him the space to do so, then resumed her seat with enthusiasm. She edged around until he was positioned exactly right. Her hands planted on top of his chest, she eased herself onto him, pushing back to sink him deep within her.

Cab let out a ragged breath.

“You like that?” she whispered.

“You know it.”

She began to rock her hips. “How about that?”

He slid his hands over her back and down to her ass. “Excellent.” Now he helped establish the rhythm, rocking her on top of him, gripping her hips to ease himself in and out.

Rose gave up control to him. She loved it when he made love to her, loved it when he possessed her.

Trusted him to give her every inch of pleasure imaginable.

As she rocked above him, Cab captured her wrists and held them by her hips so that her breasts pushed forward and swayed with every move. He moved in and out of her with deep, strong strokes, and her body swung with him, her senses on fire.

She knew he was watching her. Knew he adored every curve of her body. She pushed against him as he pushed into her, met him stroke for stroke. She felt so safe with Cab that she could abandon her inhibitions. Constrained by the confines of the tree house, they might choose a sensible position like this one, but safe in their cozy cabin in the future she could imagine all kinds of games they might play.

Those imaginings left her raw with desire and she increased her pace, rising and falling faster. When she went over the edge and cried aloud, Cab grunted beneath her and bucked against her hips. She rode her climax as long as she could, allowing her moans of pleasure to fill the air. When she was done, she collapsed forward and Cab caught her in his arms.

He kissed her long and hard, pulled away and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Rose. You know that, right?”

Rose nodded.

She did know that. And she loved him back.

CAB FOUND HIMSELF SHAKING when he reached for his pants and pulled the small velvet box from the pocket. It wasn’t the cold, although now that they’d stopped making love to each other the chill in the air was sharpening again.

He knew he was taking a chance. It was much too soon. Rose had been through a lot these past months, and she’d only broken up with Jason recently.

Still, what he’d learned the night of the shootout was that he never wanted to be away from her, and he didn’t want to wait one more day than he had to before he made her his wife.

He pushed himself up to a seated position, cuddled her into his lap, and arranged the sleeping bags around them to keep her warm. “Rose, I made you a promise that I would back off and let you have some time. I told you I’d give you room to find yourself before I pushed back into your life. I lied. I don’t want to back off. I don’t want to give you space. I don’t want to leave you alone.” He kissed her again. “I love you. I want to spend my life with you. Take all the time you need to answer because I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here, wherever you are. I won’t boss you around. I won’t tell you what to do, but I’ll be here. Waiting for you. Rose, will you marry me?”

“Yes.” She threw arms around his neck, rained kisses down on his cheeks, forehead and chin. “I thought you’d never ask. I’ve been waiting for weeks!”

“Weeks?” he said when he could breathe again.

“Ever since that night—you know,” she said. “I realized I know what I want—and it’s all right here. Right in front of me.”

Relief overwhelmed him and he wrapped his arms around her, cradling her against his chest. If only they could stay here, safe and together in this small house she’d built with her own hands. Cab promised himself he would disassemble it board by board and rebuild it on the Cruz ranch. His wife would have her private space.

“Will you let me in your new tree house when we’re married? Once in a while?” He traced a finger down her jaw and lifted her chin to kiss her again.

“Sometimes,” Rose said, kissing him back. “When I want some.” She giggled when he tipped her over onto her back.

“When you want some, huh? How often will that be?” Cab settled himself between her legs and directed his attention to her breasts again. Maybe she’d get some right now.

“All the time.” She grew serious. “But if we get married, where will you want to live?”

“In the cabin with you if you want,” Cab said, propping himself up on one elbow. “I talked to Ethan about that, too. With Jamie and Rob injured, he could use some help, and the truth is I’m sick of being the only one of us who doesn’t live on that ranch. When we outgrow the cabin, we could build our own place just like Rob and Morgan. I have some money saved. Might as well invest in the ranch as in anything else. With you working with Autumn… just makes sense. What do you think?” He watched her expression with interest.

“Sounds like heaven,” she said. “It sounds perfect, Cab.”

“You’re perfect.” Cab traced kisses over her porcelain skin. “I hope you think this is perfect, too.” He popped open the velvet case and held it up to her.


Rose stilled beneath him.

“What did you feel when I put it on your finger that day?” he asked her softly. He drew the beautiful ring out and slid it on her finger.

“Like I was about to get everything I’d ever dreamed of.”