Chapter Seventeen

Annie was mystified when Sheriff Meechan unlocked her cell door and motioned for her to step out into the corridor.

“What’s happening? Where are you taking me?”

“Judge Rawlins has ordered you over to the courthouse.”

“But why? Am I to be formally charged?”

“Dunno. You’ll have to wait for His Honor to tell you.”

And that was all the sheriff had to say on the subject as he conducted her out of the jail and up the street to the courthouse.

Annie could do nothing but silently wonder about her fate.

Was she already scheduled to be sentenced? Or maybe shipped off to stand trial in one of those towns where she had cheated its citizens out of their money? But it had to be too soon for either one of those actions. They would require arrangements, and that would take time.

Annie was even more bewildered when the sheriff escorted her up the stairs and into Judge Rawlins’ chambers. Brady was with the judge. She hadn’t wanted to see him again. Had hoped she wouldn’t have to see him. That, whatever was decreed for her, it would permit her to start forgetting him and what might have been.

The sight of him again was simply too painful. But there he was, and of all things grinning at her like a fool.

Oh, Brady, Brady, why do you have to be here?

Annie looked from face to face with a calmness that belied her inner turmoil. She waited for an explanation.

His Honor cleared his throat, as if he were readying himself to pronounce a solemn judgment from his bench. “Miss Johnson, I had you brought to my chambers so you could hear what I require from you in order for me to sign your release.”

She listened in amazement as he went on to describe those requirements. When he was finished, he asked her pointedly, “Do you agree to the terms?”

Annie didn’t hesitate. “I will, of course, repay every penny of the money I dishonestly earned. I would have done that in any case.”

“And you will marry Brady Malone?”

Her reply was a simple, direct “No.”

Silence filled the room. She had made every effort to avoid looking at Brady. But he had moved into her line of vision, making it impossible for her not to be aware of his reaction. He was no longer grinning. There was a grim look on his face now.

She shifted her position, focusing her attention on Judge Rawlins. He was frowning at her.

“Do I understand you to say that you refuse to marry Malone?”

“That’s right.”

His Honor cleared his throat again, this time in a tone of annoyance. “Miss Johnson, I hope you realize that unless I can release you in the care of a husband, I have no choice but to send you back to jail.”

“Yes, I do realize that.”

“And still you—”

Brady interrupted the judge. “Your Honor, will you give us a few minutes alone so I can speak to her in private? Please.”

Judge Rawlins thought about it for a few seconds before shrugging his approval. “I have no objection. Miss Johnson?”

Annie didn’t want any scene that would make this whole thing more difficult than it already was. All she wanted was to leave here as quickly as possible, even though it meant she would be returned to her jail cell. But she knew Brady was stubborn enough to make that scene if she didn’t agree.

“Very well, but it isn’t going to make any difference.”

The sheriff spoke up sharply. “Now just a minute here. The prisoner is still in my custody, and I don’t know as how leaving them alone—”

“Relax, Meechan. They can use the little room there where I robe for the courtroom. It has no other door and only one small window. I don’t see Miss Johnson trying to crawl through it in a bid for escape when we’re two floors up from the street. Now, you two, let’s get this settled so I can get back to my desperadoes.”

Seconds later, Annie found herself alone with Brady, the door shut behind them and already regretting their privacy. The little room was no bigger than a closet, giving them no choice but to stand close to each other. Much too close. She could feel his warm breath on her face, smell his distinctive male scent, see the intensity of purpose in his gaze as he leaned toward her intimately.

All of it made her lightheaded with a longing that couldn’t be realized.

“Annie, listen to me. That’s all I’m asking, that you just listen to me.”

“I’m listening, but it isn’t going to change my mind,” she warned him.

He ignored that, speaking rapidly now, giving her no chance to interrupt him. “I want you as my wife. I know you don’t want me. You made that all too clear in the letter you left for me at the ranch before you took off for Colorado. But maybe in time, and if we had children...I never thought about wanting them before. I do now. Your children, Annie. I want to be the father of your children, and if you’d like children yourself—”

“Brady, stop,” she implored him. “Don’t go on like this. Wanting children, which I do, has nothing to do with it.”

“Then what is it?”

“Your offer to marry me to save me from prison, or maybe worse, is just like you. And I value that. I really do.” She paused, taking a deep breath before telling him sorrowfully, “But I can’t marry a man who doesn’t love me. I just can’t, not even to save my own neck.”

He stared at her in astonishment. “How can you believe that? Of course, I love you. I love you so much it’s tearing me apart at the thought of losing you.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “You never told me. You never gave any sign of it. In fact, it was something entirely opposite back in Colorado.”

“I know. I was an idiot. But, Annie, I was hurting because I knew you didn’t love me. Look, if you marry me, give me a chance to show you—”

She burst out laughing, cutting him off. He gazed at her as if she’d taken leave of her senses. She couldn’t help it. It was suddenly too funny for anything but laughter.

“You are an idiot,” she said. “We’re both idiots. There I was believing you didn’t love me, and here you are not realizing how much I do love you. Brady, we neither one of us has any reason to convince the other of what’s already wonderfully true.”

His eyes shone with excitement. “Yeah? You love me?”

“With all my heart.”

He looked thoughtful for a second. “You know, I think that after all I still have some convincing to do.”

“I can’t imagine anything we haven’t already covered.”

“No? Then let me show you.”

And he did.

The next few moments were breathless ones for Annie. How could they not be with her back pinned to the door behind her, Brady trapping her in his forceful embrace, and his mouth covering her face with a series of thorough kisses? There was no area he neglected. He started with her throat. Then he moved on to her cheeks and around to one of the lobes of her ears which he caught between his teeth, tugging on it gently.

In the end, his mouth fastened on hers where he nibbled her lower lip before invading her mouth with his hot, wet tongue. All tenderness vanished after that in his storm of deep, powerful kisses.

She responded to each and every one, inhaling him, tasting him, her senses swelling in pure joy. When she felt the hardness of his arousal squeezed against her in yearning, she realized that unless one of them regained a measure of self-control, something serious was about to occur. And the way Brady’s strong hips were grinding her tightly to the door, she felt it would have to be her.

It took a considerable effort before Annie managed to part from him. Gasping for air, she whispered a reluctant “Much as I hate to remind you, there are people out there waiting for us. And as silent as it is in the other room, and with only a door between them and us…Well, I’m afraid if we don’t stop what we’re doing they’re about to witness the honeymoon before the wedding.”

He plowed a hand through his hair. “Damn, you’re right. And we want them to be witnesses to the wedding. We do, don’t we?” he questioned her anxiously.

“If that’s a proposal, I accept.”

Brady directed his gaze heavenward. “Whoever arranges these things up there, I want you to know I am supremely grateful.” Grabbing Annie by the hand, he uttered an exuberant “Come on, let’s get married.”

Judge Rawlins demanded her decision when they emerged from the closet. Annie told him. “Well, that’s a relief,” he said. “Then it looks like we have a ceremony here to conduct.” He shouted for his clerk in the outer office, who came on the run. “Cornelius, go over to that fellow in licenses and make him show some signs of efficiency. I need him to issue a marriage certificate I can sign. Straightaway, mind you.”

Annie passed the next half hour in a daze, not altogether certain what was happening around her. She just knew that it was happening, and she was at the center of it.

Someone sent for a jeweler down the street, who came in haste bearing a velvet-lined tray of wedding rings.

Brady urged her to choose. “Which one, Annie?” She selected a plain gold band. “We can have it engraved later, can’t we?” The jeweler assured him that they could. “And maybe then, Annie, we could get you the engagement ring you missed out on.”

She insisted she didn’t need one, that the wedding ring was all she wanted.

“I do have a wedding present for you, though, Annie. Remember that day I told you I was going over to the neighbor’s to see about hiring the services of his prize bull? Well, that was a fib. See, I’d heard about this fine guitar he might be willing to sell. I bought it, Annie, and it’s waiting for you back at the ranch. Hell, we ought to have a bouquet of flowers here for you. But I suppose it’s too late to try to scout one up.”

He was as enthusiastic as a boy at Christmas, she thought, her love for him lifting to new heights.

Judge Rawlins married them in his chambers, his clerk and Sheriff Rawlins acting as witnesses. Annie didn’t clearly remember any of the ceremony, even when Brady slid the ring on her finger. The only thing she did honestly remember, or wanted to remember, was Brady’s long, eager kiss after the judge pronounced them husband and wife. She would treasure that kiss for the rest of her life.

****

The air was clean and brisk, the sharpness of it telling Annie that snow was on the way. In the open buggy like this, she should have felt the sting of the cold. She didn’t, though. Not with Brady’s arm around her, hugging her close against his side. His presence alone was warmer than any blanket.

He couldn’t stop turning his head to beam at her, just as though he’d won a valuable prize and couldn’t get enough of the sight of it. She appreciated his loving attention, but it worried her a little.

“If you don’t mind what you’re doing, cowboy, we’re going to end up having an accident.”

“Naw, I could drive this road blindfolded.”

“Meaning the horse knows the way without you.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, something like that.”

She was relieved, however, when after that he fixed his gaze on the road and both hands on the reins as the buggy conveyed them back to the ranch.

The closer they got to the WJ, the more impatient Brady became, urging the horse to get them there without delay. Annie guessed it might have something to do with the marriage bed that waited for them at the ranch. She could feel herself glow at her anticipation of that.

She was, therefore, a little surprised when Brady halted them on the wooden bridge that crossed the second, deeper stream on their route. Maybe he was just giving the poor horse a rest.

“You’re not looking,” he complained.

“At what?”

“The water flowing out there. The sight of running water always soothes you.”

She squeezed his arm. “I don’t have to have that anymore. I have a husband now to provide all the soothing I’ll ever need.”

“Would you like some soothing now?”

“Yes, please.”

Leaning over, he accommodated her with a lingering kiss that sent a jolt of desire through her.

“You know what I think?” she said when his mouth finally lifted from hers.

“No, what?”

“I think we should get started today on that family we both want.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Take me home, Mr. Malone.”

“Happy to oblige, Mrs. Malone.” He snapped the reins, sending them speeding on their way.

Home. What a wonderful word, she thought.

For the first time in her life, Annie felt she really belonged. Not because of the WJ, as important as the ranch was. It was because of the man at her side. He was now and always would be the only home that really mattered to her.