“I would like to go for a walk then. But you carry the lantern.”
His wide smile made him, even more, appealing to Hettie. She tried not to let any kind of reaction come across her face. She couldn’t help smiling back, though.
They stood up, and she followed him to fetch the lantern and then down the garden path. “We’ll just walk around the house and land here, Hettie,” James said. “We won’t stray far from the path, I promise.”
“Good,” she responded. “I do like to stay on the proper path.” The one ordained by God, she thought but didn’t say.
He gave her a look that made her wonder if he’d known just what she was talking about.
“I want you to know that I’m not some big brute who likes to go around yelling at strangers…women or men.” His voice was low and gentle. Hettie found that she enjoyed listening to the sound of it when he talked. “I have been through a lot in my life, and it’s hard for me to…get by sometimes. I do hope you can understand what I mean by this.”
I do. Hettie didn’t speak the words aloud. She just looked at him with encouraging eyes. She nodded to let him know he should continue.
“When…when my wife was killed, it took a lot out of me. It took away the life in me for a long time. I only focused on the job. I keep the peace. It’s what I have to do to make sure the people here are safe. Safer than I…I had to work a lot harder to keep everyone safe. To make sure.” He stopped.
Hettie looked at him. “James, is it all right if we sit on the steps of the house to talk? I’m a little weary from being on my feet most of the day.”
“Oh, of course!” James nodded and they turned in the direction of the front of the house. He didn’t continue talking, and when they sat, it was Hettie who talked instead.
“James, Liz told me what happened with your wife and I’m so sorry to hear it. I’m sorry that you were so broken from it. I know how depressed you have been, and I understand it. I lost my mother in a tragic way, as well. She was killed when I was twelve. It took my father a long time to stop mourning. There’s just something you need to remember. When someone dies, you don’t want to let go. But eventually, you have to. You have to let God have it. It’s the only way to save your soul. I don’t know why your wife had to die or why my mother had to die. But God knows. And we have to trust Him.” She stopped and tilted her head, putting one of her small hands into one of his.
He looked closely at her. “Liz told me that you lost your mother,” he confessed. “She said that it should make me think about how we have something like that in common. She thinks we would be good for each other.”
Hettie felt a twitch in her chest, and she swallowed, smiling. “Do you think we would be good for each other?”
“I didn’t think so.” James wrapped his fingers around hers so that she couldn’t pull away. “I have thought about it and prayed about it for two days. I haven’t been able to see past the loss…the mourning. The anger I still feel…it eats away at me.”
She nodded. “Those kinds of emotions only hurt the one who feels them. There’s simply nothing we can do about the circumstances. We must rise above.”
They were quiet for a moment, sitting on the steps with their hands together.
“For years, I have been taking two steps forward and another back,” James said. “I feel like I’m not making any progress.”
“If you are taking a step forward then you are making progress. As long as it isn’t two steps back.”
James smiled.
“If you want to, James, I will stay here with Liz and John, and we can have a few more talks.”
“You want to see if you really want to stay with me?” James asked.
She giggled. “No, I was thinking the opposite way around. I was brought here for you. This must be your decision. I had already made mine.”
“Do you think you could love a man like me?”
“From what I’ve heard, you are a wonderful man whose heart has been kept in a prison of his own making for some time now.” She reached up and placed one hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them to look into hers. “Don’t you think it’s time to let it out now so that it can heal?”
“You will stay and help it heal?”
“I surely will, James.”
James leaned forward so that he was inches away from her. “I don’t think it will take very long.”
Just before Hettie leaned in for the first of many soft kisses, she replied, “I will wait as long as it takes.”
THE END
The Mountain Bride – A Clean Western Historical Romance
Chapter One