The livery owner had Audrey saddled and waiting. Her Winchester was in its scabbard, her bedroll neatly tied on.
“Thanks. How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing, Rowan paid me before he rode out of town. Edward Baker ought to be horsewhipped for what he did. He knew full well his father wanted Rowan to have the land and the cabin he built on it. Congratulations on your marriage, you’re getting yourself a fine man.”
“Thank you. I can see you took good care of my horse; she looks rested and happy.”
Miranda mounted and with a wave rode toward the church. Her heart dropped to her boots when Rowan’s horse was nowhere to be seen. Now what was she supposed to do? She dismounted and tied Audrey to the hitching rail and waited.
Time ticked by causing her anxiety to escalate. If he had suddenly changed his mind, he would have let her know. She closed her eyes and muttered. “Please, God, make him come.” On opening her eyes, she could have cried with relief on seeing Rowan riding toward her. She lifted her hand and he returned the salute.
As he dismounted, she noticed he had recently shaved, and had changed into clean work clothes. “Good morning, Miranda.”
“Good morning, Rowan. You didn’t get cold feet at the last minute?”
“No. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, thank you, I was exhausted.” They exchanged the pleasantries like two over-polite strangers as they headed toward the preacher’s house.
“Sorry if I was late, I’ve got the cattle with me.”
“You’ve what?”
“Not exactly with me.” He grinned. “They’re on the trail with Hank and Tom, we can easily catch up with them after the wedding.”
“Oh, you were eager to be off.”
“I didn’t have much choice. When I told Edward last night I was leaving, he turned real nasty just as I feared. He threatened to kill me. Luckily, I was wearing my guns, so he quickly backed down.”
“What a horrible man.”
“He told me to get my cattle off the place or he’d shoot them. Unbeknownst to him Hank, Tom and I had got the cattle ready even before I’d spoken to him, and we were up at daybreak and started moving them. They’ll be a couple of miles up the by road now. We’ll have to take it slow as a few of the cows are in calf.”
“In calf? Now?”
“Not by my choice. When I was away from the ranch, that stupid Edward put one of the bulls in the same pasture as some of my heifers. By the time I found out it was too late, the bull had had a fine old time of it.”
“I can imagine. Pa always believed in summer calving.”
“Yes, the summer growing season is best.” He knocked on the door. “Depending on what the pastures are like on your place, I’ll probably have to supplement the feed to keep their nutrition up. Everything Edward touched he messed up.”
The door swung open and the preacher stood with a smile on his face. “Good morning. All ready?”
“Yes, thank you,” Rowan said.
Miranda nodded and smiled. She was now eaten up with nerves.
“I’ve got two witnesses lined up, so come inside and we can begin. You both look anxious.”
“I don’t know about Miranda; I sure am.” Rowan surprised her by saying as they stepped inside.
“Me too. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
The preacher chuckled. “I wouldn’t be happy if you had. Have you got the wedding ring?”
“Yes.” She undid the leather thong around her neck and handed him the plain gold band her mother had once worn.
***
After only ten minutes or so, Miranda left the preacher’s house as Mrs. Rowan Carstairs. The brief kiss Rowan had given her when the preacher said you may now kiss the bride, sent excitement spiraling through her. She had never dreamed a man’s mouth on hers could elicit such a response.
They walked to their horses without speaking. Once they were mounted, they turned and waved to the preacher who then closed his front door. As they started to move away, Rowan kneed his horse closer to hers, leaned across and kissed her again longer and harder than before. A million stars exploded inside her head. They were both breathing heavily by the time they parted.
“We better be off,” he said with a grin. “We’ll have to finish this another time.”
“Will we?” She gave him a saucy smile.
“We sure will. I think we’re going to have a lot to talk about once we get to your ranch.”
“I’m glad Tom and Hank agreed to come and work for me, well, us now?”
“They were hoping they could come with me, but they reckon they could follow the grub line if they had to.”
“It wouldn’t be fair. I don’t have much money to pay them, although they will have free food and accommodation for as long as they like. What Edward did to them and to you, was nothing short of sinful.”
They quickly caught up with the slowly moving herd of around two hundred cattle. “Hank is riding point,” Rowan said. He knows the country out here, used to be a bounty hunter. Did you come through the canyon?”
“What canyon?”
“There’s a canyon we can go through on the second day, and Hank reckons it will cut more than ten miles off our journey. Slow going, but we’re doing that anyway.”
“I’ve never been out this way before.”
“You rode all the way to Mountview and you hadn’t travelled this way before? You shouldn’t have done such a dangerous thing, Miranda.”
“I had no choice. I was so desperate to find you and save the ranch, I would have crawled here if need be.”
The breath hissed from between his clenched teeth and
