Fighting to keep memories from their time on the road with Brent at bay, Ellie shuddered but allowed Micah’s strong presence to pull her back to the present. “You’re sure about this too? I know you said you were, but-”
“I don’t say anything I don’t mean, darlin’, and I never go back on my word.” Micah leaned forward and placed a ghost of a kiss on her forehead. Somehow, while any time Brent touched her felt like hot irons and rose briars on her skin, Micah’s felt like the rose petals - velvet and soft with the comfort of a spring rain. His skin was calloused from hard work, but his touch was gentle and kind. “Mr. Goddard, can we have a minute?”
“Of course, I’ll go check in with the clerk and file your paperwork.” There was very little Ellie had on her save for the trust documents, but Micah at least had a little more identification. “Come on in when you’re ready.”
As the man climbed the steps, Ellie watched him retreat for a moment inside the small wooden building acting as the courthouse when she turned to find Micah watching her. “This isn’t about guilt?” For reasons she couldn’t pinpoint, the idea he’d only marry her out of guilt felt wrong. It was ridiculous, as convenience wasn’t any better reason, but it landed differently in her heart. “You’re not going to regret this, especially when I can’t give you what a man wants of his wife?” Her face flamed, but Micah was too much of a gentleman to embarrass her further.
“I’ll only take what you can give, and not a thing more.” Micah paused, glancing down at the ground before speaking again. “When you and Brent were on the road, would I be correct to assume he…touched you without your consent?” His own face reddened, but Ellie knew it was in anger directed at a dead man. Micah’s jaw clenched, but he waited patiently for the answer.
“He didn’t actually force himself on me completely,” she said honestly. “The men who helped capture me wanted to, but he said if I was pregnant before the marriage license was signed it might nullify something in the trust. He didn’t know anything about the actual documents, and I’m not sure what his plan was since he didn’t know I had them on me. The money was all he really cared about. Once I started to lose weight on the road and allowed myself to become as unkempt as possible to keep him away, I think he grew disgusted by me.”
It had been intentional, even down to her desperately smearing the horse’s manure onto her clothing before they got on the train in a desperate attempt to deter any ideas he might’ve gotten later. Her hair would’ve already been a mess, but she helped it along by refusing to wash it in the creek they’d camped by after they hopped out of the cargo car on the train they’d stolen passage on. She’d smeared coal dust on her skin and clothing as well.
Micah’s teeth clenched so tight she was afraid he might break a tooth before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Taking both her hands in his, she could almost see the rage in his eyes cooling. “How any man could ever be disgusted by you is beyond me, but I’ll thank God everyday he didn’t force himself on you. You flinch at my touch, and I saw some of your injuries myself, so I know he hurt you, but…”
“Me too,” she whispered through a lump in her throat. “It’s a small grace in an awful situation.”
Micah pressed his forehead to hers, and they stood that way for a minute before he squeezed her hands. “Are you ready to become Mrs. Ellie Sutton?”
Drawing from his strength, letting the security of the safety she always felt with him wash over her, Ellie nodded. “Let’s go.”
Ellie paused at the bottom of the ranch house’s steps, her eyes going wide with panic. “Are you sure we need to tell them right now? Jacob and Callie just got engaged, and they’d rushed back from Lawrence Junction to make the engagement party Isaac and Louisa had been planning at the house. They’d have waited a few more days, but Mr. Goddard said Judge Coin was going to Austin for some meetings at the state house and would be gone for nearly a month. They’d had no choice but to say their vows that day or risk running the clock out even further. “I don’t want them to think we’re stealing their thunder.”
Honestly, as long as Jacob and Callie had pined for each other, Micah was a little surprised they hadn’t run off to get married themselves. He didn’t like that Ellie clearly still felt so out of sorts with his family, but at least these nerves were ones he could more easily calm than the ones outside the courthouse. He’d been half convinced she’d back out before they arrived, and he couldn’t blame her if she had.
Micah chuckled, taking her hand in his to calm her fears. He’d have pulled her into his arms, but wisdom told him he needed to be patient with any shows of physical affection. She hadn’t winced or showed any signs of nerves at hand holding or even the whisper of a kiss he’d placed on her head at the courthouse or the tiny peck he’d given her when the judge announced them man and wife, but he wouldn’t push his luck. He’d rather pluck out his own eye than give her a single reason not to trust him.
“Jacob and Callie got engaged barely a month after Isaac and Louisa. I don’t think anyone’s going to feel like we’ve stolen anyone’s thunder.” Besides, his brothers weren’t like that anyway, nor were the women they’d fallen for, but Micah got theidea Ellie hadn’t had many female friends over the years. It made sense she’d be protective of the ones she’d acquired. “It’s going to be fine.”
Ellie took in a shuddering breath, but she nodded quickly as though steeling herself to get whatever would happen over with. “All right, let’s go tell them.” She started up the steps a little too quickly and got briefly tripped up on her dress. Thankfully, Micah still had a hold on her and was able to catch her before she went tumbling. As he steadied her, their eyes met, and Micah saw Ellie’s breath catch in a way to make him wonder if they could one day be more than a marriage of convenience.
He wanted to. He knew good and well he’d be a goner for this woman with a heart of gold and a spine of steel before long, but she had to be the one with the reins. “Th…thank you,” she said softly. “Guess I got a little overzealous.”
“I’ll catch you anytime, darlin’,” Micah said with what he hoped was calm amusement. Her proximity, the feel of her in his arms even as he quickly removed his hands, showed him how much his wife affected him. Now wasn’t the time for his thoughts to go there, especially when Ellie was so nervous for their announcement. Taking her hand once more, Micah started their forward motion again.
Leading the way through the front door of the wooden, clapboard ranch house, Micah quickly located the crew of folks ready to celebrate Jacob and Callie. All eight of the children, from Cecily right down to Reuben, had taken their places in the kitchen as though they’d gathered to pray before the meal. Folks still stood, and Isaac, Louisa, Jacob, Callie, and Pastor Jim all stood among the children.
Abe stood off to the side speaking when Micah and Ellie entered the room. “Yeah,” he said from the doorway. “Tell us which Sutton brother is going to be the first to the altar.”
Well, now was probably as good a time as any to say it. Standing there next to his older brother, Micah clasped Ellie’s hand even more tightly. The way she shook, it wouldn’t surprise him if she ran right out the door. “I hate to tell you both,” Micah said. “That’ll be me. Ellie and I got married this morning in Lawrence Junction by the judge there.”
A body could’ve heard a pin drop in the breaths which followed his words. Callie and Louisa both looked like they’d seen a ghost, while Jacob simply studied the two of them. Pastor Jim studied their clasped hands with measured suspicion, but it was Isaac who broke the silence. “You two got married? Is this a joke, Micah?” He stepped forward, also eyeing their hands before looking straight to Ellie. “This is something you wanted, Ellie?”
Anger and hurt bubbled in Micah’s veins at the idea his brother would even suggest he might’ve forced her, but Ellie spoke before he could. She straightened her shoulders, and he could feel the fire running through her own blood at the insinuation. “Of course, this is what I wanted. Micah would never force me.”
Micah swallowed down the hurt at his brother’s question and tried to focus on the fact the woman beside him had defended him, but it was Jacob who broke the silence next. “Then I suppose congratulations are in order.” He pulled his own hand from Callie’s, and the couple moved toward Micah and Ellie. As Callie pulled Ellie into a hug and exchanged a few whispered words with her, Jacob put out his hand. “You beat us all, little brother.”
“It wasn’t intentional,” Micah admitted. He hadn’t come clean to his brothers yet regarding Ellie’s trust or the stipulations, but he would in due time. For the moment, he’d bask in the feeling of Ellie beside him and the feeling of knowing someone like her was his to protect. He’d love her too, if she’d let him.The woman’s kindness, beauty, and easy way with women and children had told him everything he needed to know about her. Add in the spunk he’d seen from her when she was backed into a corner, and he was half gone over her already.
The rest of the party continued, and Micah noticed Ellie routinely trying to move focus back to Jacob and Callie so as not to spoil their day. Neither seemed to care, so focused on each other they wouldn’t have minded if a stick of dynamite blew up in the pasture. Later, as the party had begun to disperse, it wasn’t Isaac who came and found him, but Pastor Jim.
A strong hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed a little tighter than normal. “Come with me, son.”
Rather than respond, Micah simply followed the man who’d come to feel protective of Ellie in the time she’d stayed in the clinic. He was the closest thing she’d ever had to a loving father, so Micah didn’t take offense when Jim led him out the back door and over by the barn to talk. He was a large man, with a few inches and twenty pounds or so on Micah’s six-foot-three frame, though he didn’t intimidate like he probably should. Jim Thorn was far too kind for that.
“Tell me how this happened, son. I know you, and I know you wouldn’t take advantage of her. How’d you end up married?”
“You know the trust she’s got in California? Tom Goddard doesn’t believe they can enforce the stipulation regarding children, but he and Judge Coin agree the marriage one will stand. I believe she deserves everything good in the world, and she deserves to take every dime her snake of a grandfather left her. I don’t plan to take a dime from her, and if she chooses to walk away after she gets her money, I won’t stop her.” The thought settled in his gut like curdled milk on a hot day, but he’d meant it when he said he’d never trap her. “Or, if she gets the money and chooses to give it all away, that’s her choice. I’ll support her.”
