The Runaway Bride

Marissa leaned forward. “Please, say you’ll come.”

Lorelei bit her lip for a moment, then smiled. “I suppose I will. I have nothing to lose and I think I’ll enjoy traveling with you very much.”

“Good,” James said with a satisfied nod. “Let me help you into the wagon.”

Lorelei thanked Mrs. Drake for her help, then followed James to the back of the wagon where the little boy she’d seen earlier peeked out from the large hole in the canvas. “Pa, is she coming with us?”

“She sure is,” James answered as her traveling bag disappeared inside. “Move out the entrance so she can get in, Hosea.”

Once inside, Lorelei glanced around to take stock of her surroundings and froze. “Are all of these children yours?”

“Yes. Starting with the oldest, there is Henry, Julia, William, Hosea and Lacy. Children, Miss Lorelei will be traveling with us. Mind her as you would your Ma and I. I’ll leave y’all to get acquainted.”

Each child lifted a hand when their name was called as though their father was taking attendance. They stared at her as she found a seat near the rear of the wagon on a cushioned wooden chest. She stared right back at them. Five children. She was going to be taking care of five children. She hadn’t even had any siblings growing up. What was she going to do?

The wagon started abruptly, and she fell off her seat onto the wagon floor. A few stifled gasps echoed under the canvas roof as the children waited for her reaction. They looked so shocked that she burst out laughing. That somehow gave them permission to, as well. As they laughed, relief settled into her bones just as tentatively as she settled back on her seat.

She was on her way again after only a momentary delay. Although her trip had been a disaster in some ways, it had been successful in its main goal. She’d barely thought about Sean since she’d left Peppin and certainly wouldn’t have a chance anytime soon, now that she was surrounded by five children. She tried not to wonder if he even cared that she’d left or what he thought about possibly never seeing her again. He’d probably been indifferent, or worse: relieved.

No, though the decision had been made on the spur of the moment, she knew she’d made the right choice in leaving. She only wished she’d made that decision sooner. If she hadn’t wanted so badly to prove she wasn’t a flighty, insincere heartbreaker, she might have done the right thing with Lawson a long time ago. She should have trusted her instincts from the beginning instead of spending so much time overthinking things. Usually her first thoughts on a subject were clearest anyway. She shook her head. That was in the past. She could finally look forward to a future without Sean’s distracting presence. In the meantime, it seemed she had a job to do.

The chortles finally died down enough for her to ask, “Who wants to play a game?”

All five hands eagerly went up. She grinned. Her new life without Sean O’Brien was going to be a cinch.

* * *

There she was—Lorelei Wilkins. Sean slid from his mount, then put a calming hand on Jericho’s nose to keep him quiet as they crept through the woods toward the banks of the river. He ought to walk right out into the open and give her a piece of his mind. That’s what he’d been planning to do for the two days it had taken to find her. Now that he’d found her, he decided to take a moment to gather himself.

Through the green veil of leaves, he could see her peaceful expression as she sat innocently reading under a nearby weeping willow. He noticed the soft smile at her lips and the dark curve of her downcast lashes. For some reason only one thought came to mind—she hadn’t married Lawson. Relief lowered his tense shoulders for an instant before he frowned. It shouldn’t matter to him that she was no longer engaged. It didn’t matter to him. The relief he felt at seeing her came only because it meant his task was nearly complete, and he’d soon be able to return home. Nothing more.

He gave a dutiful nod and began moving toward her. Suddenly she tossed her book aside. The soft hum of a melody drifted through the air as she practically danced into the river. He froze, befuddled yet transfixed by the sight. Her well-trained soprano arched over the quiet woods into the first lilting verse of “Beautiful Dreamer.” He was barely aware of leaving Jericho to walk quietly toward the woman wading in the thick expanse of river until he stood at its banks.

She hadn’t noticed his approach since her eyes were closed, so he tipped back his hat and crossed his arms to stare at her. Now, this was a side of Lorelei he’d never seen. Oh, sure, she sang at church occasionally but never with such passion. He’d seen her smile a hundred times but never with such freedom. Apparently, a weight of some kind had been lifted from her shoulders…and placed squarely onto his. His jaw tightened in aggravation.

His horse neighed. Lorelei froze. Her lashes flew open. Their eyes met. He heard her breath escape her lungs in a startled gasp as she instinctively backed away from him. Her blue eyes changed from alarm to dismay, then she stepped back one too many times and disappeared into the clutches of the racing river.

Chapter Two

Lord, have mercy, it’s Sean O’Brien! Water swirled above Lorelei’s head as she tried to reconcile the man she’d just seen with the fact that she’d traveled all those miles to leave him behind. No, it couldn’t have been Sean. It just couldn’t. She’d been enjoying the first break she’d had after two days of caring for five exuberant children when she’d heard a sound like quiet footsteps. She’d ignored it, but then she’d heard that neigh. She’d opened her eyes never expecting to see that man standing on the bank of the river looking for all the world as though he’d been there for hours.

Her lungs began to hanker for air. Lorelei tried to swim to the surface to satisfy them. She also wanted to make sure her imagination wasn’t playing tricks on her, but her heavy skirts dragged her downward, subjecting her to the twisting, turning pull of the current. She careened through the water and away from the bank. Panic filled her. She fought the urge to gasp in air, knowing it would only drown her. Her thoughts began to muddle together. What a foolish way to die!

Suddenly an arm encircled her waist. A body came alongside hers and pulled her upward. With one last thrust of energy, they surfaced. Lorelei gasped for air. She met Sean’s vibrant green eyes as he held her tightly to his chest.

“Don’t let go,” he commanded abruptly. She was too spent to argue, so she allowed him to pull her to the riverbank. The water gave way to solid ground. They both collapsed on the grass-covered banks. She turned her face toward him and found that they were only inches apart, but she didn’t have the strength to remedy the situation.

His arm lay across her stomach barring her from flight. He made no effort to remove it. Instead, they stared at each other as they both took in gasping breaths. A few days’ worth of golden stubble covered the base of his jaw and met just above his mouth. A slight sunburn trailed down the bridge of his nose drawing more attention to his unsmiling lips. Hints of gold and light hues of green shimmered in his eyes like the sunlight reflecting off of a slow-moving creek. Despite the disapproval she found there, her heart gave a familiar thump.

What was he doing here? He couldn’t be here of his own volition. That would be too unbelievable. More likely, he had been sent by her father to bring her home. Well, that was not going to happen. She would not stand passively by as he wrecked her plans. She glared at him.

The dashes of his dark gold brows lowered into a frown as he rose onto his elbow to look down at her with a maddening smirk and finally spoke. “The good news is you made it out alive. The bad news is you didn’t get away.”

“I wasn’t trying to get away. You frightened me by appearing out of nowhere. I responded as any normal person would.” Somehow she found herself lifted into his arms as he stood and swept her up to his chest. She kicked her feet. “Put me down. What are you doing?”

“You’re in no condition to walk.”

“Yes, I am. Put me down. What is wrong with you?” She could count on one hand the number of times he’d purposefully touched her. Now, he wouldn’t let her go. She kicked her legs again. “I said, put me down!”

“Hold on, you wildcat—”

A warning shot rang through the air. Lorelei screamed. Sean froze, then whirled around to face his adversary. She peered through her wild chocolate-colored curls to get a glimpse of Pastor James standing broad-legged and determined. He cocked his gun again and aimed it at Sean. “You heard the lady. Put her down.”

The tone of his voice was deadly. Not at all what she expected from the gentle man she’d gotten to know over the past several days. She bowed her head so neither man could see the smile that curved her lips. She allowed her body to completely relax even as she felt Sean’s arms tense beneath her legs and arms. He carefully lowered her legs to the ground but trapped her against his side in a one-armed embrace entirely too close to be proper.

This man was determined to meddle with her head. She was too smart for it this time. She wouldn’t let his protective instincts or plain orneriness put ideas in her head or a silly feeling like hope into her heart. He could hold her as uncomfortably close as he liked, but from the looks of James’s rifle, this situation was about to become just as uncomfortable for Sean. She vowed to enjoy every moment of it.

* * *

Sean kept Lorelei tucked against his side so close he could feel her shaking. Was she shivering from her plunge in the river? The water hadn’t been that cold. Perhaps she quaked from fear after nearly drowning to death. He glanced down at her and found the answer in her mirth-filled eyes. She was laughing at him.

He narrowed his eyes to stem her mirth, but that only seemed to increase it. She dropped her head so the preacher couldn’t see her smile as her body continued to shake in silent suppressed laughter. Annoyance led his hand down to his revolver. It probably wasn’t any good as water-soaked as it was, but it was nice to have some reassurance while staring down a shotgun. He widened his stance to stare at the man intent on defending Lorelei from him. “Look, I don’t know who you are or how this is any of your business, but the only protection this woman needs is from herself.”

That got her riled up. She gave a pretty fierce little growl for a woman her size and in her situation. He tried to fight back his smirk but wasn’t quite successful.

“I am Pastor James Brightly and that woman is under my care. I insist you release her this instant.”

“This instant, huh?” Sean glanced down at Lorelei. Her dark blue eyes stared back at him, making him realize there was a lot of sanity in doing just what the preacher commanded. He let go of her. She took a few wavering steps away from him but somehow managed to stand on her own.

The preacher waved his shotgun. “Now, be on your way.”

Sean shook his head. “Oh, no. I’ve been searching for this woman for days. I’m the sheriff of the town where she lives. I’m not trying to hurt her, but I’m not leaving until she and I have a little talk, Preacher.”

“Lorelei, is this true? Do you know this man?”

He met her gaze squarely. He watched her tilt her head thoughtfully as she considered her next step. He could almost read the thoughts running through her head. All she had to do was tell the preacher that little two-letter word. If she did, he’d be dodging bullets and receiving a nice little prayer for safe travel courtesy of the preacher. Her smile grew.

He frowned at her. “Oh, come on, Lorelei. I just saved your life. The least you could do is save mine.”

Her expression changed to one of reluctant resignation. “I know him, Pastor James, but I’d also like to know what he’s doing here.”

Sean hid his relief when the preacher lowered the rifle to his side. Lorelei didn’t bother to hide her disappointment when the two men shifted into a less combative stance. She frowned at him. “Well?”

“You know very well why I’m here.” He shook his head like a wet dog, then pinned her with a look. “Your father and Lawson sent me to bring you home, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Lorelei stiffened. “Oh, no, you won’t!”

“Oh, yes, I will.” He stepped closer to her. “Do you have any idea how worried your parents are right now?”

“I left them a note.”

“That only compounded their fears. They knew that you were traveling alone with very limited finances, no supplies and hardly any idea how to get to California, let alone reach your great-aunt’s estate.” He caught her arm, hoping to somehow transfer a little good sense. “Anything could have happened, Lorelei!”

She wrenched her arm from his grasp but lowered her voice. “Don’t you think I’ve realized that?”

“Then come home with me.”

She crossed her arms. “No. Not when I’m so close to getting away from—” she seemed to catch herself and changed the sentence “—getting to California.”

“Have you looked at a map lately? You aren’t even close to making it out of Texas.”

Her hand made its way to her hip. “I will. Marissa and James are paying me a fair wage. As soon as I have enough saved up, I’ll take the train.”

“Alone? Haven’t you been preyed on enough?” He nodded in response to her suspicious look. “I know all about your reticule being stolen. That just proves I’m right. A young woman traveling without protection will warrant the attention of every outlaw and charlatan from here to California.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“That’s not enough.”

“Well, it will have to be enough because I’m certainly not leaving with you!” She flipped her wet hair away from her face and stormed off.

He’d nearly forgotten the preacher was still there until the man spoke. “Do you know why she ran away?”

“I know enough to say she should stop this foolishness and go home. Like I said, I’m Peppin’s sheriff, it’s my responsibility to keep the town’s citizens safe—even when they’re being too pigheaded to see sense.”

James nodded patiently. “I understand that you’re trying to do your duty, but that is her choice to make. You can talk to her about it, but you can’t force her to return. In the meantime, you may want to think more carefully about trying to bring her back to the situation that was uncomfortable enough to make her leave.”

Sean hid a grimace at the preacher’s advice. There was nothing wrong with the situation Lorelei was in that she hadn’t caused. His job was to find her and bring her home. Her parents were supposed to deal with her after that. Somehow he didn’t think the esteemed Pastor James would find his reasoning particularly favorable, so he kept his mouth shut and nodded in agreement. He needed a place to sleep after all and a way to keep an eye on Lorelei since she had gotten into the habit of disappearing.

* * *

The leaves of the towering oak tree quivered above Sean’s head as he placed his Stetson over his face. Four days he’d waited for Lorelei to come to her senses. It seemed as if she was just sliding deeper into her joyous little cloud of insanity. He could hear her now. She was playing with the children in the gurgling brook and having a wonderful time while he tried to cool his temper and not let the sound of her laughter set his teeth on edge.

He was glad James decided to give his family a day of rest from traveling. Sean was pretty tired himself. He figured this was the perfect time to craft a plan to change the mind of a stubborn young woman bent on getting herself to California. If he didn’t figure out something soon, he’d be stuck trailing her halfway across the country.

The ground beneath his back seemed to sway slightly. He caught his breath. This couldn’t happen. Not here. He needed to ward off the panic now before it got worse. Nevertheless, his heart began to quicken into a familiar staccato rhythm.

The first time he’d noticed that beat had been the night of the storm that had taken his parents’ lives. At ten years old, he’d lain awake in bed listening to the wind howl past his window and trying to fight the sense of foreboding that gripped him. Somehow he’d known they wouldn’t come back. The next morning brought news of the accident, and with it the entire world had turned on end for him and his two sisters. He’d tried to step up and be the man of the house, but at such a young age there was so much that he couldn’t do to help his eighteen-year-old sister, Kate, manage the farm, besides try to keep eight-year-old Ellie out of trouble.

The next two years had passed with him in such a state of stress that he would lie awake at night listening to his rapid heartbeat pound in his ears thinking for sure it would burst from his chest. He never told anyone that, especially not his sisters. To them, he’d remained stalwart and dependable until his brother-in-law Nathan had stepped into their lives.

The burden had suddenly lifted from Sean’s shoulders, and he’d thought that would be the end of the waves of panic that occasionally took over. It wasn’t. Even now he could feel his breath shortening. It always did when he found himself in a situation like this where he could do nothing but wait. He forced himself to pray.

Lord, You know I’m trying to be patient, but I need to get back to Peppin. This isn’t what I bargained for when I agreed to bring her home. Help me change her mind. It took a few minutes for his body to settle down. Relief filled him. He shouldn’t have another one for a while now. He’d just go on as if it hadn’t happened…like always.

He slowly felt himself leaning toward sleep. Suddenly a small fountain of water poured over the sides of his hat and settled around his ears before soaking into the ground. Letting out an exaggerated roar, he sat up. His Stetson tumbled to the ground, and Sean found himself face-to-face with a six-year-old. Hosea stood in what would have appeared to be paralyzed terror if not for the delight sparkling in his round eyes. His hand clutched a large tin cup now emptied of the water he must have carried from the nearby brook.

Sean quickly surveyed the situation and realized that, while Hosea may have been the culprit, he was only a small part of a much larger plot. Watching with just as much glee were the rest of the children and one very naughty nanny.

* * *

Time seemed to stop for the seconds it took Sean to slowly rise to his feet. Perhaps that was simply because all the children froze when he pinned them with a calculating stare. Then his gaze caught hers. His smile said one thing. William yelled it. “Run!”

Suddenly the world was a blur of motion. Hosea tried to make a break for it, but Sean was too fast for him. He scooped the boy under his arm like a sack of potatoes. Henry managed to evade his grasp, but Sean lifted William with his other arm and spun the boys around just enough to make them deliciously dizzy before he set them down. He repeated the process with Julia and Lacy.

Meanwhile, Lorelei casually meandered in the direction of the camp. She should have moved faster, but she couldn’t help lingering to watch the sight before her. Sean was always so serious, so stern—it was fascinating to watch him grinning and playing with the children. It wasn’t fair of him to look quite that…handsome. Not when she was trying so hard to ignore him.

Too late, she realized she’d missed her chance to escape. Her opponent caught sight of her and stalked toward her. He smiled predatorily. “Sending the children to do your dirty work, is that it?”

She widened her eyes innocently. “Now, Sean. It was all in fun.”

“Was it?”

She glanced around for help, but the children had abandoned her to stagger laughingly toward camp. “Sean, don’t…”

Sean swept her into his arms and spun her in a tight circle. She let out a small scream that lasted from the first rotation until he set her feet back on the ground. Her eyes finally opened to focus on his. The trees continued to sway perilously behind him. He gave her a pointed look. “There. Now, we’re even.”

“That’s what you think,” she muttered and tried to step around him, but he refused to release her.

“That’s what I know. Unless you want me to haul you back to the Peppin jail for assaulting an officer.” He gave a low whistle. “Now, there’s an idea.”

She glared at him. “Oh, why won’t you just go away?”

He leaned toward her, meeting her challenge with his own. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

She pushed away from his chest, then wiped her suddenly wet hands on her skirt. “Yes, I certainly would.”

“Tough.” His green eyes captured hers. “You won’t get rid of me until I drop you and your problems back in your father’s lap. I gave him my word—and Lawson, too—which means I’m going to stick to you like glue.”

“You mean fleas,” she muttered as she brushed past him and walked back to camp. She wouldn’t let it bother her that nothing short of a promise to her father and his best friend would tempt Sean to stick close to her. She hated being his duty, and he certainly didn’t want her to be anything else, so the smartest thing for her to do would be to stay as far away from him as possible.

True to form, he followed her back a few minutes later and took a seat near the campfire to whittle as she helped Marissa prepare supper. She ignored him and was grateful when Marissa struck up a conversation. “Tell me more about Peppin, Lorelei. It sounds like a charming town.”

“There really isn’t much else to say,” she said as she felt Sean’s gaze resting on her. “It’s small but not stiflingly so. The people are friendly and really care about you. There is always something going on, so you’re hardly ever bored. You can just go to the mercantile or the café to find someone to talk to or about, in some cases. It’s just a normal everyday Texas town. The only thing special about it are the people.”

“It sure is a good town,” Sean said wryly. “I guess that’s why most people are content to stay right where they are.”

Lorelei refused to meet his gaze. She’d never said Peppin wasn’t a good town. It was her home. Nothing would change that. She’d only left to get away from Sean, and that hadn’t done any good. Why, she could do a better job avoiding him in Peppin than she could in this wilderness. So it was decided. She was going home. She dreaded the victory she knew she’d see in Sean’s gaze when she told him, but it couldn’t be helped. She’d tell him tomorrow.

* * *

Sean ignored Lorelei’s quelling stare as he propelled her through the evening shadows that painted everything in dark smudges of color. The Brightlys must have made very close ties with the people in this area. An inordinate amount of them were still around more than an hour after the service was over. Lorelei stopped short at the sight of the large crowd of people waiting to speak with the Brightlys. “I can wait until these people leave.”

He shook his head. “I’m not going to give you that much time to change your mind. Besides, we’ll both need our sleep. We’re leaving at first light.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know. You keep saying that.”

“That’s because I like the way it sounds,” he said in satisfaction. Placing a hand on her back, he guided her forward until they took their place at the front of the line.

“You’re going to get us shot,” she whispered.

“This will only take a minute,” he said loudly enough for the others in line to hear. “I’m sure the Brightlys won’t mind talking to their children’s nanny for a moment.”

A short while later, with James and Marissa’s undivided attention, he announced, “Lorelei has finally agreed to let me escort her home. We’ll be leaving at first light.”

“You’re leaving?” Marissa asked in alarm.

Lorelei shot him a glance that told him exactly what she thought of his blunt way of telling the couple. “I’m afraid so. I’m so sorry! I know this leaves you in a lurch.”

“We told you that you could leave whenever you liked. The problem is that the two of you would be traveling without a chaperone,” James stated gravely.