“Dammit!” Ridge studied the faint bruises on his friend’s jaw that said he’d had to fight to keep Adeline safe. Anger rose. Ridge clenched his fist. Whoever wanted to harm her would now have to deal with him.
“When they realized what we’d done, they chased us. I was barely able to get her onto a train to Fort Worth.” Luke paused. “Wish I knew more.”
“Makes two of us.”
“The question is…do you still want to marry a hunted woman? One who might never talk to you?”
Here was an excuse if he wanted to take it. It was unlikely that anyone would fault him for it. Only one thing wrong with that—he wasn’t happy the way he was. He needed more from life than merely existing from one day to the next. And what about Adeline? His rejection might finish the process of destroying her. Plus, she needed protection—and that was something he at least knew how to give.
“Yes, I’ll marry her—if she’ll have me.”
Luke slapped his back. “Then I’ll introduce you, and we’ll plan a wedding.”
Ridge took some nervous breaths and matched Luke’s stride as they moved toward the wagon. Josie reached for Adeline’s hand and squeezed, then Luke helped her down. She didn’t lift her head. Ridge, well over six feet, towered above the slim, petite woman.
Adeline wore a simple dress of blue calico that hugged in all the right places. Ridge grew warm thinking about running his hands over those curves. The strands of blond hair poking from the heavy black scarf were golden in color, deeper and richer than Josie’s lighter shade.
Luke put an arm around her. “Miss Jancy, meet your bridegroom, Ridge Steele. I personally vouch for his character. I’ve fought by his side and know he’s a good man to have around. He’ll fight for you until you’re strong enough to do it yourself.”
She stood rooted in silence. Ridge wished he could see her face.
“That’s a promise, Miss Adeline.” Ridge cursed his suddenly raspy voice. She struck him as a wounded, exhausted, little wren, battered by heavy storms. “Thank you for coming. I’m only an outlaw, a wanted man with little to my name. But everything I have is yours—if you want it.”
She lifted her head and removed the black scarf. Kissed by the sunshine, her hair curled around her shoulders and flowed down her back. Emerald eyes stared up at him, framed by thick, dark lashes, and a jolt raced through him.
The brave, determined woman he’d seen under a Fort Worth night.
Ridge sucked in a breath. He’d been right in thinking she’d be pretty in the daylight. By God, she was beautiful. Although Luke, Clay, and Josie stood right there, they’d somehow melted away. Adeline was the only person he could see. Shoulders squared, her determined gaze bored into him, and her chin raised a notch. Despite everything, she had fight left in her. He’d probably find out how much if he didn’t watch it.
Did she recognize him as well? Her expression didn’t indicate if she did. But then it’d been dark that night, and his Stetson had shielded most of his face.
He brought her hand to his lips and cleared his throat. “Miss Adeline, I’d be honored if you’d be my wife. Will you accept my proposal?”
One jerk of her head confirmed her answer.
“Is tomorrow too soon? Or would you rather wait a few days?”
Panic crossed her face. Josie calmly handed her paper and pencil, and Adeline wrote, “Tomorrow.”
“Good. I have a room for you at the Diamond Bessie Hotel. Let’s get you settled, then we’ll nail down the details.” Ridge and Luke moved to the back of the wagon and lifted out two trunks. The small one was brand-new and would hold far too much for someone who’d just obtained freedom.
When Ridge lifted an eyebrow, Luke explained, “The ladies did some shopping.”
Adeline would’ve needed everything, he imagined, since people didn’t usually come out of prison with much more than the clothes on their backs.
As he lifted her small trunk on his shoulder, thoughts ran through his head. Ridge now had a purpose and someone who needed him. That was reason enough to marry Adeline Jancy.
* * *
Adeline stood with Josie, her gaze following the men as they headed to the hotel next door. Ridge hadn’t disappointed her—at least not yet. Like his letters, he truly seemed to care what she thought. He’d already given her choices. Three years ago, the law had stripped her of the ability to make choices even about the smallest things. She’d lived in a world of silence that was so loud in her head, she often thought she’d go mad. Maybe she had, to some degree. In an instant, and for three long years, she’d become a mere number instead of a person.
One bang of a gavel had left her utterly alone. Unloved. Terrified.
The family she would never again claim became strangers who stared with questioning eyes and muttered words of hate.
But then, even before prison, she’d never had much freedom to make her own choices. Her father had seen to that. “Pray without ceasing” had been drilled into her from age five.
At first, Ridge’s former occupation as a preacher had given her much worry. She didn’t want another aloof, rigid lord and master like Ezekiel Jancy. But through Ridge’s letters, she’d found him refreshingly different. He’d written at length about his distaste for those who enslaved others.
As your husband, I vow to never force you to my will. I don’t hold with those tactics, he’d written.
She blinked at the bright sunlight, the sensation still making her eyes water even after a little more than two weeks. Ridge cut quite an intriguing figure. He walked with ease, his long legs encased in denim, twin Colts hanging low from his hips. Dark brown hair touched his shoulders, a bit unkempt as one might expect of an outlaw. But his sensitive amber eyes had told her the most.
They spoke of deep hurt, of long, endless nights of the soul, and of biting disappointment and frustration. Maybe at his circumstances. At this point, she had no way of knowing.
He’d never revealed in his letters what’d happened to change him into an outlaw. Adeline only got the impression he hadn’t left his ministry willingly. Something or someone had forced him out. From the start, he’d been quite honest about his current life as an outlaw and spoke of being hunted, of waiting for the agony of the bullet that would end his life.
She knew about such a wait. Only hers had been for her body and soul to be set free. She was halfway there.
Luke and Josie had visited the prison after hearing of her plight from Nettie Mae, and after being denied access to Addie, they’d sent messages again through her kindly friend. They’d assured her that only an outlaw like Ridge Steele could provide the safety she needed. Thus, she began her correspondence with the wanted man. Addie glanced at him through the hotel window. It appeared they might be correct. He had the bearing and manner of a man who, based on that critical first impression, had the strength and courage to stand up to anyone.