Regardless, it was reassuring that Luke had almost the whole town behind him to capture this gang. He was already working out the details for their plan before he swung himself back into his saddle.
By the time Luke reached the house, his mind felt elated, but his body was tired.
“We shouldn’t tell our wives about any of this,” Luke said then. “They’ll only worry too much.” Caleb was too tired to argue and yawned as he nodded.
“Agreed,” was all he said.
When they both stepped into the house and saw that Evelyn had already gone home, Caleb called it a night and left, too.
Luke walked back into the living room, where Madelaine and the two little children were curled up on a big blanket in front of the fireplace. It was a peaceful scene, and they were all seemingly fast asleep in their chosen spot. Luke put another log on the fire and smiled down at them.
Looking around, he noticed how clean and spotless the house was. Madelaine must have worked all day on getting this place ready for Christmas. Somehow, this filled him with warmth and true appreciation.
Not wanting to wake them, Luke grabbed another blanket, hung it over the back of a nearby chair, and draped it over them. Then, he sat down next to them. He would stay for a little while before carrying them to bed.
Listening to the crackling fire, his body relaxed, and he didn’t even think about it when he bent over to give each of the children a small kiss on their heads and placed one tender kiss on Madelaine’s forehead. It felt so natural to him that he laid down right next to her and stretched out his long legs.
His mind wandered back to the church and how amazing he had felt to see all those people there. He also remembered the priest’s exuberant expression when he’d seen him walk in after all those years. Luke used to love the place because it had always filled him with peace.
Maybe God had never abandoned him after all. Maybe God had always been there for him, all this time. Brought Madelaine and the children into his life to heal his broken heart, and him back to church.
He curled around Madelaine, inhaled her sweet scent, and before he knew it, he was fast asleep, too.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Luke’s ranch — Early afternoon
Day of the Christmas Dance
Despite Luke’s racing mind regarding their plan to capture the gang the following night, he tried to be present in the moment while he was at home, spending time with his family.
Belle and Simon were playing on the floor—again in front of the crackling fireplace—which elicited a content smile from Luke as he remembered how he had fallen asleep with all of them right there in that same spot just a few nights before.
He wasn’t sure if Madelaine was aware of the fact that they had slept right next to each other for a few hours with him curled around her. He still thought about how close her body had been to his and how her head had been resting on his arm when he woke up that night.
She’d still been fast asleep when he’d gotten up and carried every one of them back to their room, carefully laying them down on their bed before tucking them all in with a nice thick blanket. Madelaine hadn’t stirred, so he assumed that she wasn’t aware.
He and Caleb enjoyed a glass of fine port as they watched the children play. Both women were back in Madelaine’s room, getting her ready for the dance later today. Unfortunately, Evelyn wasn’t feeling well, so she and Caleb had decided to stay home and watch the children instead.
Getting Madelaine ready was a frenzy nonetheless, with lots of giggles and chatter coming down the hallway, and Luke could sense her excitement as she prepared for the big event.
The day after Luke’s apology, when he’d found Madelaine out riding Tinsel for the first time, he had sent both women to the general store to pick out any fabric, ribbons, and lace they liked, so they could sew themselves new dresses for the dance. Apparently, there was a big hype about some new kind of fashion that had come out, and all the women in town were seemingly obsessed with this new dress style.
Evelyn and Madelaine had both been ecstatic when they got ahold of the pattern for it, and they had spent hours upon hours working on their dresses to get them ready for today.
It was such a shame that Evelyn had fallen ill, and he felt truly sorry for her that she would miss the dance, but Luke couldn’t deny his curiosity to see the new dress on Madelaine. Her excitement was contagious.
The clock on the mantel chimed at four o’clock. It was time to leave.
“Are you ready? It’s time to go!” Luke called down the hallway as he rose from his chair.
“Yes! She is ready! Are you ready to see her like this?” Evelyn yelled back, and both women burst into another fit of giggles. Luke heard the sound of crisp fabric rushing toward him.
“Tadaaah!” Evelyn sang, before she held a handkerchief in front of her reddened nose.
Luke’s heart stopped a beat, and his brain stopped working completely when Madelaine entered the room.
She was stunning.
