His Brother's Wife (35 page)

Everyone seemed to be on
some mission as they hurried along and Rafe looked from sidewalk to
sidewalk, his gaze taking in every face as he tried to spot
Grace.

He pulled on the horses
reins when he passed in front of the mercantile. The green and pink
striped dress Grace had worn the day Morgan put her in a jail cell
was hanging in the window of the general store. She'd sold more of
her dresses, apparently.

Continuing down the
street, he stopped in front of the hotel, dismounted and tied the
horses reins to the hitching post out front before jumping onto the
sidewalk and crossing the wooden platform to enter the
building.

The chaos inside was no
better. People were shouting, their voices raised to deafening
levels, and to Rafe's surprise, Ben Crowley was in the middle of it
all.

The man caught his eye
moments later, his face turning a funny shade of red before his
eyes bulged. He lifted one meaty hand and pointed a finger at him.
"You," he shouted. He pushed away from the hotel's main desk. "What
did you do with her? Where's she at?"

Rafe raised an eyebrow in
question. "Where's who?"

Ben's eyes looked ready to
pop from his skull. "Grace," he yelled. "We can't find her and I
know you're the reason."

Rafe held his emotions in
check and hoped his face didn't show his surprise. Grace was
missing? The knowledge gave him hope. He heard Jesse make a sound
and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Hopefully he held
it together. "I came looking for Grace myself, Ben."

The man looked as if he
didn't believe him then stuttered a few times before turning back
to Joseph Brighten, the hotel owner and started shouting again.
Rafe used their distraction to grab Jesse by the arm and turned to
leave.

Once they were on the
sidewalk, Rafe stared down the street. "Grace was staying here in
the hotel, wasn't she?"

"Yeah," Jesse said. "She's
been here since Doc Reid took her from our place."

Rafe tried to work out
where she could have gone, and how. His gaze swept the town before
stopping on the coral of horses at the livery station. Caleb
Mitchell, the young boy who worked for Percy at the stables was
sitting on the fence, his head hung. He'd look up every now and
again, a worried expression on his face.

The longer Rafe stared at
him, the more convinced he was that Caleb had seen something. He
jumped from the porch and headed across the street, Jesse dogging
his every step. The instant he approached the livery stable, Caleb
jumped to the ground and ran.

It took only minutes to
catch him and when he did, Rafe knew the kid had seen something.
The wild look in his eyes told him so. "Where is she, Caleb? Did
you see her leave?"

The boy's eyes filled with
tears. "She said I wouldn't get into trouble."

"Trouble for
what?"

Caleb, no older than ten,
Rafe assumed, swiped at his nose with his shirt sleeve and looked
up, his eyes red and puffy. "She took McNally's horse. Said she'd
bring him back." He cast a worried glance across the street. "I
tried to stop her but she climbed into the saddle and rode off."
Caleb turned and pointed down the road. "She went that
way."

Rafe stared down the
stagecoach road in disbelief. The path led to Missoula and there
was nothing between here and there but open forest and mountains.
The pass was well marked but it was a long, lonely stretch of
wilderness.

And Grace was on it.
Alone.

He let go of Caleb and
crossed the road, unhooked his horse from the hitching post and was
in the saddle and headed toward Missoula without a word. He rode
hard, only glancing to his right when Jesse caught up to him and
both of them leaned down over their horses necks and let the
animals run. With any luck, they'd catch Grace before dark. If not,
they'd have a hell of a time finding her in a city the size of
Missoula.

Chapter
Thirty-Three

The stagecoach pulled away
from the station and Grace closed her eyes. The rattle and squeak
of the horses harnesses and the wheels creaking as they rolled over
the hardened ground echoing in her head.

She'd been waiting for the
stagecoach for hours, thoughts of her life in Willow Creek since
leaving Boston playing inside her head like moving pictures as she
did. She'd fought tears the entire time, telling herself this was
for the best and she'd almost convinced herself of it.

Almost.

But she'd only been lying
to herself. She'd left that tiny, close-knit community of Willow
Creek behind, hoping to escape her fate, only to have that small
voice in the back of her head beg her to go back. To go get the
horse she'd taken from the livery stable, jump into the saddle, and
go back home. Home to Rafe and Jesse and beg them to let her
stay.

But she knew she couldn't.
Not now.

Her eyes burned at the
thought and she wiped away a stray tear as it slipped past her
lashes.

She'd passed a number of
men on the streets of Missoula and any of them would have made a
decent husband. She'd even thought of asking someone to help her
make a match but the more she thought on the matter, the more
miserable she became. She realized she'd never be happy married to
anyone but Rafe and had dismissed the idea. She'd resolutely walked
to the stagecoach station, checked on a ticket home and waited on
the bench outside for the departure time.

She'd rather die a
spinster than be a wife to someone else.

The hours had ticked by,
the air cooling until she'd been forced to seek out the warmth of
the fire inside the station and retreated to the building to wait
for the stagecoach. When the time came though, she'd just sat
there, watching as passengers were helped inside the carriage and
then turned her head, staring at the flickering flames in the
fireplace, when the driver had asked if she was going.

That voice in the back of
her head said, "yes," but her heart shouted, "no."

She'd watched the
stagecoach leave without her and sat, unmoving,, wondering what to
do.

Shadows lengthened and
fell, blocking the light, and she looked up at the darkened figure,
his features obscured by the bright glow of flames behind him.
Grace blinked and tilted her head to one side, trying to see him
and when he shifted, blocking out the light from the fireplace, his
features slowly came into focus. Her heart nearly leaped from her
chest as she gazed up at him. "Rafe?"

A strangled gasp escaped
her throat as she leaped to her feet, Rafe's arms already wide as
he reached for her. The moment he closed them around her, she
melted into him, crying against his shoulder as he hugged her to
him.

"I thought I'd lost you,
Grace," he said, his breathless words rasping against her ear. His
arms tightened around her as he lifted her, her toes barely
touching the ground. "I can't lose you. I won't."

She'd never been a weepy
woman but in that moment, she couldn't control the torrent. Tears
came unbidden and she let them fall as she held on to him. Movement
behind him caught her attention and she saw Jesse, staring at them
with an odd look upon his face.

It took long minutes to
get her emotional outburst under control and when she did, she
lifted her head and looked toward Jesse. He smiled at her, a hint
of sadness in his eyes and she sighed, letting go of Rafe. "Oh,
Jesse." She crossed to him, taking him into her arms and the tears
came again. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay," he said. He
looked at her, the smile finally reaching his eyes. "I'm sorry for
making you leave." A blush stole across his cheeks and he blinked
and glanced away briefly before meeting her gaze again. "We want
you to come back home with us."

Jesse glanced at Rafe and
Grace turned her head to look, too. Rafe was staring at her, the
look in his eyes causing her heart to skip a beat. He smiled at
her, reached into his pocket, pulling his hand back out before
uncurling his fingers. A small ring lay there on his palm, the tiny
jewel in its center glistening in the firelight.

She looked up, met his
gaze, and her heart skip to a stop when he said, "Marry me,
Grace."

Tears burned her eyes
again and she blinked them away, smiling at him as she nodded her
head, an excited, "Yes," echoing across the room.

He kissed her, his
callused fingers rasping against her cheek as he held her to him.
"Then lets go get married."

Her eyes widened.
"Now?"

He nodded.
"Now."

They were married in a
small church on the outskirts of town. Jesse walked her down the
isle and gave her away. The ceremony was short, there were no
guests or flowers or even a white dress, but Rafe was standing
there with her and she'd never been happier.

Their vows were repeated,
the ring placed on her finger, and when the preacher pronounced
them husband and wife, Grace laughed. "I love you, Rafe
Samuels."

Rafe placed his hands on
either side of her face, kissed her tenderly, and whispered against
her lips, "Don't leave me, Grace."

Her heart broke at the
fear in his voice. "Never," she said, kissing him back. "I'll never
leave you." She wasn't sure he believed her but she had the rest of
her life to convince him.

They checked into a hotel,
Grace spending the money she'd received from Mrs. Jenkins for her
dresses to rent two rooms. When Rafe shut and locked their door,
those butterflies that always started fluttering in her stomach
when he was near made their appearance.

She laid her reticule
aside and started unhooking the buttons on her dress, Rafe's gaze
riveted to her hands. He leaned back against the door and watched
her. Grace had never felt so wanton in her life as she stared at
him. She smiled as she slipped the dress over her shoulders, the
material pooling at her feet, and wasted little time removing her
chemise and corset.

When she stood naked
before him, he pushed off the door and crossed the room, lifting
her the moment he reached her and laid her back on the bed, spread
her knees and buried his face between her legs, his tongue delving
into her slick folds.

Grace gasped, reached for
his head and laid in shocked wonder as he licked, sucked and kissed
her with such wicked abandon, her legs started shaking in a matter
of minutes. He looked up at her, his mouth still moving against her
and Grace raised her hips, trying to bring him closer.

Her stomach clenched long
minutes later, that tightening sensation causing her entire body to
draw tight before bursting with a powerful surge of euphoric
ecstasy that left her trembling.

She lay panting for breath
as he stood and removed his clothing before rejoining her on the
bed. When he slipped inside of her, Grace wrapped her arms around
him, holding him to her as he started to move. He peppered kisses
across her skin, spoke soft words she had trouble understanding but
knew each whispered syllable was a promise to love her
always.

They moved as one until
she felt that urgency return, for her stomach to clench tight, and
when they climaxed at last, Grace held him to her and made her own
promises.

When his body relaxed, she
knew he finally believed her.

Epilogue