It was time. Time for her to make sure Micah knew exactly where she stood. Ellie had her money, sitting in a bank account in Cloverdale, but she had no mind to go anywhere. Still, she’d seen the uncertainty in Micah’s eyes when they’d verified the funds had all been wired correctly. He wasn’t sure what she’d choose to do next, and he was far too much of a gentleman to force her to stay in a marriage she didn’t want.
As far as she was concerned, Micah was it for her. He was kind and gentle, protective and humble, smart and loving. He was already the best husband she could’ve ever asked for, everything she never knew she needed, and he’d make the best father to their children one day.
As he led her off the dance floor and filled their cups, Micah took her hand to lead her a little further down the street in a starlit walk. A few of the businesses still had lanterns lit, but it was mostly the bright spring moon lighting the sky. Relishingthe cool water from the cup, Ellie sighed. “Nights like these are the ones I think I’ll remember as I sit in a rocking chair on the front porch fifty years from now.”
Micah’s hand squeezed hers, and she could feel his tension and questions. “What else do you think you’ll be doing fifty years from now?” The vulnerability in his voice reminded her a little of the small boy he’d been after he’d lost his mother - wishing for a father who’d actually love them. He’d made it clear how he felt about her, and it was time she did the same.
“Well, I suppose I’ll have a passel of grandchildren if the Lord wills it. Then again, if we have that many children, you may need to add on again to the cabin.” He’d shown her the plans initially for a small, one room cabin, with the plans to add on if they ever needed more space. He’d not pressured her a lick, but the hope in his eyes as he stopped and turned her to face him made her heart feel like it was flying.
“Does that mean what I think it means, darlin’? Do you think one day you might be able to open your heart to love me the way I love you?” It wasn’t the first time he’d told her he loved her, but she hoped she never took the words for granted.
“It does, Micah Sutton. I’m not quite ready for all of it yet, but I know I love you and I want to build a life with you.” As Micah took her chin in his fingers and began to lower his mouth to hers, a shot rang out and Ellie felt rather than heard the whistle of a bullet fly past her head.
“Get down!” Micah’s shouted words accompanied his shoving her behind one of the barrels outside the livery. “Stay on your stomach,” he said quickly as he pulled the pistol from his hip holster. Her husband looked around in the direction where the bullet had come from, but he needn’t look long. There, a figure she never thought she’d see again, stood with a pistol in his shaking hand.
Percival James moved toward them with wild rage rolling off him, but he wobbled a little as he walked. His normally impeccably styled suit sat askew, and Ellie thought she saw blood on his normally crisp white shirt.
“It’s over, Percival,” Micah growled as he moved slowly towards the man who’d lost everything. “The money’s hers. Drop the gun, and you’ll only be looking at a jail cell rather than your judgement day.”
Percival chuckled, the sound unhinged and thready. “Oh, really? I think I’ve got a third option. Considering the trust reverts to me in the event of Miss Cartwright’s death , I’d say I’ve still got a card to play.”
Ellie heard feet pounding in the distance, and she let out a long breath. Good, help was on the way. Micah had to hold him off until they arrived. “That was before the money came to her. Now, it’s hers and belongs to any family she has left. She has a whole passel of us, and it’s Mrs. Sutton now.”
Micah had gotten even closer, and Ellie peeked further out from behind the barrel as he kept Percival talking. “Call her whatever you want,” Percival spat. “She was supposed to be mine, just like her trollop of a mother before her. When her mama refused, we knew she’d do whatever she could to keep Eleanor away as well. I took care of her just like I am going to take care of Eleanor.”
The gasp, somewhere between surprise and soul wrenching grief stole Ellie’s breath. She stood, her heart pounding in her chest. “You killed my mama.” It had always been something she’d suspected, but hearing it confirmed for her threatened to tear her heart from her body. “You killed her so I’d marry you?”
“Ellie,” Micah growled. “Get down.” She was too far gone. The man in front of her had killed her mother, murdered her without a thought. Had her grandfather been involved?
Percival’s eyes trained themselves on her, the predatory expression he wore nothing compared to her rage. “Of course, I did.” He took a step forward, raising his pistol until she stared down its barrel. His finger barely had the chance to twitch towards the trigger when Micah sprinted forward and tackled Percival to the ground. He grabbed the businessman’s wrist, squeezing until he dropped the gun.
His fist clenched, Micah drove his hand down into Percival’s face once, then again. “That’s for Ellie’s mother,” he said after the first two. Another blow came. “That’s for Ellie.” Finally, as Micah’s brothers and a whole herd of cowboys came running into view, Micah placed one final blow to the man’s face, and she heard his nose crack from where she stood. “That one’s for me.”
Jacob hauled Micah off Percival while Isaac and Abe flipped Percival to his stomach in time for Sheriff Titus Ray to come jogging at barely more than a stroll from where the rest of the town gathered at the dance. From what Ellie had been told, the man never got in a rush for anything and didn’t care much for the Sutton men. Micah broke loose from Jacob’s hold and rushed to pull Ellie into his arms. “You’re okay? He didn’t get you, did he?”
No, she didn’t feel any pain other than a smarting elbow from where she’d hit the ground, but Micah’s shoulder had blood seeping onto his shirtsleeve. Panic raced through her, and she turned to look for Callie among the fray. “No, but he got you.”
“You’re sure you don’t want something for the pain?” Callie made another stitch in Micah’s shoulder at the clinic an hour later. “We’ve got it here.”
Jacob snorted beside him, knowing good and well there was no way Micah would have his faculties compromised while Percival James was still anywhere near Ellie, even if he was locked away in a jail cell. “You’re arguing with a brick wall, Thorn.”
Callie huffed, rolling her eyes as she finished the last of the stitches. “Fine, be in pain, then. You’re lucky it was a graze.” She finished up, grumbling about stubborn cowboys and turning both Jacob and Micah’s lips into grins.
The sound of Ellie’s sniff beside Micah immediately sobered him and had his head whipping in her direction. “I’m fine, darlin’. We’re both fine.” She’d have grieving to do, knowing for certain her mother had been murdered rather than suspecting, but he’d be with her every step. Raising his good arm to run it down her cheek, Micah relished the feeling of her soft skin under his fingers and knew he’d never take it for granted. “I promise.”
Ellie’s eyes shone with tears, tears he wished he could take away. “I know, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” The tear rolled over onto her cheek, and Micah cupped her face in his hand, the pain forgotten.
“You’re not gonna lose me, El. You’re stuck with me for the rest of your life.” They had entirely too much future ahead of them for anything else. Before he had a chance to say anything else, the clinic door opened, and Isaac stepped through the patient room door. Louisa and Abe had stayed with the children at the festival, but Hal followed him in. “Please tell me Ray’s actually taking this seriously.”
He hadn’t wanted to kill Percival James, as taking a life weighed on a man, but he’d do it if it meant keeping Ellie safe. Isaac nodded, his eyes tired as he sighed. “Yep. Because Percival premeditated the murder and he crossed state lines to do it, Ray’s calling in the Rangers.”
The Texas Rangers, the group their brother Ezekiel “Zeke” had joined when he was eighteen. “Think Zeke’ll be with them?” He didn’t know how he felt about that, to be honest. Micah and Zeke were the youngest Sutton brothers, and he’d always felt a little abandoned at the way Zeke left things. It wasn’t that he’d left home, but he never came back to visit and rarely wrote - as though none of them meant anything to him after all they’d been through together.
Isaac’s jaw tightened, and Micah knew he wasn’t the only one with the question. “Guess we’ll find out.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Oh, Micah,” Ellie breathed as she took in the sight of their finished cabin. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
