The way to a woman’s heart may sometimes be through a mule.
FOR THE LOVE OF A MULE—A DEFINITIVE GUIDE
by HARRIET BRIMFIELD CASHEL
Step out of the coach, Harriet.”
At the sudden standstill, Hattie leaned out the stagecoach window. Her eyes widened at the sight of long-legged Braxton astride her molly mule, the Grand Champion garland still strung around Sugarfoot’s neck.
Hattie jutted her jaw. “I don’t have to do what you say. We’re not married anymore, remember?”
Braxton bared his teeth and dismounted. “I’m still the sheriff of Hitching Post, and you’re under arrest.”
Hattie’s eyes narrowed. “For what?”
“For disturbing the peace.”
Hattie thrust open the door and stuck one booted foot onto the step. “What peace did I disturb?”
Brax pursed his lips. “Mine.” He took hold of her arm.
She wrenched free and planted her hands on her hips. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Oh yes, Harriet. You are.”
Seizing her about the waist, he slung her onto Sugarfoot. With a whoosh of air, she landed on her stomach across the saddle. Hattie squawked. The mule snorted and danced sideways. Hattie grappled to hang on. Brax swung into the saddle behind her.
“Always got to do things the hard way.” He grabbed the reins. “Don’t make me handcuff you, Harriet.”
She raised her head. “You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you, Sheriff?” Hattie glared at him as Sugarfoot set off at a trot, rattling her teeth. “Y–you j–just tr–try i–t–t–t.”
Her bones jolted with every step. Brax, with a firm grip, prevented her from sliding off. And so it went all the way to town—Hattie protesting a blue streak, Braxton ignoring her like he always did. She kicked her heels. Sugarfoot bucked.
Brax only just kept his seat and hold on Hattie. “For the love of a mule, if you don’t stop that, Harriet, I’m going to get Genesis to tan your hide. Something, I suspect, is long overdue.”
She growled as they clip-clopped through Main. Parading past the gawking stares of the Hitching Post citizens crowding the boardwalk.
Pulling the reins, Brax brought Sugarfoot to a halt. He swung his leg over and dismounted. He looped the reins on the hitching post in front of the jail. “Bringing in the sheaves,” he sang and tugged Hattie off the saddle to the ground. “Bringing in the sheaves…”
Hattie snarled. “You’re making a spectacle out of us.”
Braxton gave her a lopsided smile. “Sure am.” He hustled her inside the jail and prodded Hattie toward the empty cell. “We shall come rejoicin’—”
“Stop singing and smiling at me like that.”
Brax placed his finger at the corner of his mouth. “Why don’t you make me?”
Gnashing her teeth, she sashayed into the cell. To her surprise, he marched in right behind her. Hattie whirled, her skirts swishing. “What’re you doing?”
“Something I should’ve done first chance I got.”
Brax wrested the key ring off his gun belt and tossed it out of the cell where it landed with a clatter against the far wall.
Her eyes enlarged. “Wait…”
Brax yanked the door shut with a decisive clang as the lock clicked in place.
She put a hand to her throat. “What did you just do, Braxton Cashel?”
“Can’t run the risk of you getting away from me this time.” Brax got down on one knee. “At least not until the reverend arrives.”
The outer door opened, as if on cue. Her brothers, the reverend, and half the town flooded into the small jail.
“Harriet Margaret Brimfield.” Brax kissed her hand. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
If Brax hadn’t kept a strong grip on her hand, with her knees knocking together so hard, Hattie reckoned she might’ve keeled over. “You want to marry me? But the judge? The annulment?”
“A legal marriage license this time. The reverend’s here to do a proper wedding before God and Hitching Post.”
“But I didn’t think you wanted someone like me, Brax,” she whispered.
“I want you—sweet Harriet, pretty as a mountain meadow—to marry me, the sheriff of Hitching Post.” Braxton gazed at her. “Me, who has so little to offer in return.”
She corralled his face between her hands. “You have everything to offer I’ve ever wanted. Yourself.”
Brax cocked his head. “Is that a yes? Say it, Harriet. For the love of a mule and the sake of my heart.” His lips quirked. “Will you be my cell mate for life?”
He moved closer until their foreheads touched, and he was within kissing distance. “Please, Hattie…” His breath fluttered the tendrils of her hair. “Marry me. I love you.”
She felt the furious pounding of his heart against her hand through the muslin of his shirt.
“Why yes, Sheriff Cashel.” Hattie brushed her lips across the upturned corner of his mouth. “Since you asked so nicely, I believe I will.”
But theirs wasn’t the next marriage ceremony performed. They were at the end of a long line of couples waiting to tie the knot.
Genesis and the widow woman hotel cook. Exodus and the mayor’s niece. Leviticus and the doctor’s sister. Numbers and the spinster schoolteacher. Deuteronomy and the shopkeeper’s daughter. And not to be outdone, Clarissy and Jimbo—a.k.a. James Beauregard, owner of the largest cattle spread this side of the Rockies.
Braxton presented Hattie with two requests—to marry under the blue Montana sky in the wildflower meadow behind his house. And that she wear the “pretty purple dress.”
There before God and the good folks who loved them the best, Harriet Margaret Brimfield became—at last!—Harriet Margaret Brimfield Cashel for real.
Instead of kissing his bride, however, Brax placed both hands around her waist and lifted Hattie onto Sugarfoot. She held on to the saddle horn as Brax swung up behind her. Wrapping both arms around her, he gripped the horn and Hattie angled. Only to give Brax a mouthful of hair.
She fingercombed her hair out of his face. “Sorry.”
He buried his nose in her locks. “I love your hair.” Brax clicked his teeth against his tongue and set Sugarfoot in motion toward the cabin.
She leaned back, not sure she’d heard him right. “You do?”
At the porch steps, Brax swung down. He reached again for her. “I definitely do. Almost as much as I love this, Hattie Cashel.”
How she loved the sound of her name on his lips. She slid between his hands and nestled in the lovely embrace of his arms. And his mouth claimed hers. Full of love and promise.
Love for a lifetime.