The Deputy’s Duty

Pain cut through her like tiny, razor-sharp shards. She blinked against the too-bright sun. Tears stung her eyes. She held tight to the handrail, blindly stumbling down the icy steps. Joe had chosen family over love-over her- before. Of course he would do so again. How had she ever let herself believe? How had she let Joe open her heart and think that it was safe to dream?

“Lanna!” It was Joe’s voice this time.

She turned toward him without thought and against all reason. Had he heard his mother’s words? He filled the doorway, stoic and stalwart and as distant as the faraway mountains. There was pity on his face and an unmistakable apology.

Her heart stopped beating. Her soul dimmed.

She knew without him saying a word. Their romance was over.

EIGHT

“Lanna, please don’t go.” His words followed her into the silent morning.

What was he going to do? Explain how he was going to break her heart? No, that was the one thing she could not hear, not without breaking into tears. She fisted her hands, refusing to turn around as she stumbled blindly down the walkway.

Geneva would make Joe choose between his love for her and for his family. She could not put him in that position. And she could not face losing him when he made the only decision he could.

Still, it would not stop the love in her heart. No, nothing was powerful enough to do that.

“Lanna! Wait.”

She did not want to see the pity on his face. The look that said he was sorry. Once had been enough. The path in front of her blurred, but she kept going. She blinked hard, determined to make it home before the tears started flowing.

She’d been right from the beginning. Why hadn’t she listened to reason? Loving Joe had only led to sorrow. She should have kept her expectations low. Time changed everything and, she feared, everyone.

Then she heard his voice cut through the air. “I’m sorry, Mother, but excuse me.”

Lanna stopped and turned around. She stared in disbelief as Joe pushed past his mother and hurried down the stairs toward her. He wore no coat, nothing to keep him warm over his wool shirt and denims, but he hardly seemed to notice the cold against his skin or the ice beneath his boots.

“Joe, get back here,” Geneva commanded from the doorway. “Don’t you go after her!”

He looked over his shoulder at his mother. “Sorry, Mother. I’m very sorry for you.”

He kept coming toward Lanna, the pity on his face slipping away as his gaze focused on her. His brown eyes warmed to cinnamon. “I am not about to let you get away a second time, Lanna Gibson. What kind of fool do you think I am?”

She could only stare at him. Her brain had stopped working. Every thought and her ability to reason stalled at the sight of him striding down the walk after her, heedless to the cold and snow, his gaze fixed on her. Was this real, or was she dreaming?

“I was a fool the last time I let you go. But I learn from my mistakes.” He stopped before her and brought his hands up to cradle her face. His touch was tender and reverent.

Definitely real and no dream. “You aren’t letting me go?”

“Never again, sweetheart. Do you know what I did last night before I went to sleep? I prayed.”

He had? Happiness surged through her, buoying her up so that she felt like she was floating.

“I prayed that you and I would not waste any more time.” Joe looked so serious, so true. “The Lord knows we have let too much time pass us by already. Last night I prayed that you and I would be happy together. I prayed that your hard times would be over. I prayed that you would love me as endlessly as I love you.”

He loved her? She leaned against the strength of his hands, savoring his gentle touch. She was thankful, infinitely thankful. “That’s one prayer the Lord doesn’t need to answer. I do love you endlessly, Joe. There is no reason or rhyme to it, it just is. Every moment I’m with you, I love you even more.”

“Real love endures through all things. Against time, class and even misguided families. What you and I have is real love, Lanna. The kind that lasts forever. I hope last night meant to you what it did to me. That we can start where we left off. Our love never died. It is right here alive in our hearts. All I want is you, Lanna. I want to be with you forever.”

“But your mother-”

“She’ll get used to the idea of us getting married.” His dimples flashed and he looked as happy as she felt.

Her dear Joe. Love was like a miracle in the heart, and the power of it could change everything into something wonderful. She laid her hands against his face, too. “Mister, you are making a very big assumption.”

“I am?” He arched one brow, his dimples deepening.

“It’s huge. Enormous.” He was right, she realized, love was strong enough. You just had to believe. “Someone has not properly proposed to me.”

“I wondered when you were going to get to that.” Joe laughed, rich and deep, and the sound tugged at all the happy strings of her heart. “I wanted to do it right with flowers and at a special moment, maybe in the moonlight and not with my mother glowering at us from the steps.”

“She doesn’t like me, Joe. She doesn’t think I’m good enough for you.” She said the words gently. “I don’t want to come between you and your family.”

“You are my family now. My parents will have to learn to respect that. It may take a while, but maybe a grandchild might soften their hearts-”

“A grandchild?” Now there wasn’t something she had thought about.

But as their gazes locked and she saw all of him, his heart and soul and his boundless love for her, she saw their future, too. A happy wedding and a happier marriage. Their first home. Children one day-maybe two boys and two girls. So many more dreams to come true.

“Marry me, Lanna.” Joe went down on both knees in the snow, beaming with hope. “Please do me the honor of becoming my wife.”

“Yes, I will marry you, but the honor is mine.” Since her knees were wobbling anyway and her vision blurring with tears, she sank to the snow, too, full of joy and dreams.

Their kiss was perfection and full of promise, like the first crisp morning of the New Year. It was the right time for beginnings. Lanna thanked the Lord for bringing her here, to perfect peace and an enduring love, blessed by His grace.

EPILOGUE

Three years later.

Lanna could not take her gaze away from the newborn cradled in her arms. Not yet an hour old, the little girl looked like perfection with a round cherub’s face, a tiny rosebud mouth, a cute button nose and-when she wasn’t sleeping-big blue eyes.

The past three years of marriage to Joe had been the happiest of Lanna’s life, so it surprised her that more happiness was even possible to attain. But as the mother of Joe’s child she discovered that it was.

He eased onto the bed beside her, careful not to disturb her. Pride shone on his face, but more than that, love. Their beautiful, deepening love.

“She’s incredible.” He slipped his arm around Lanna’s shoulders, his movements gentle and his voice tender. “She’s just like you.”

“She’s her own little person.” Tears burned her eyes and she had to blink to contain them. “I love her so much. I love you so much.”

“Funny, that’s just how I feel about both my girls.” Joy layered his baritone. “She was worth the wait.”

“Yes, she was.” Lanna sighed adoringly. It had seemed she was never going to be a mother and just when she