Lisa Plumley (24 page)

“Oh.” Perplexed, Violet inhaled. “Which was?”

“That he’s going to have to come to terms with having a reformed, scoundrelly sporting man in his daughter’s life,” Cade said. “Because I can’t live without you, Violet. I tried, and I can’t. Without you, there’s no substance to life. There’s no laughter. There’s no joy—” Cade stopped, quite obviously searching for more. “There’s not even any fun to be had with drink or dice or dancehall girls!”

Feeling vexed, Violet arched her brows. “Oh, really?”

“What I mean is...” Soberly, Cade held her hand in both of his. He lifted his gaze to join with hers. “I want you to be mine. Please. I love you, Violet. Having you as my good-luck charm is not enough. It never was.” Watching her closely, Cade drew in a fortifying breath. “I want you as something more.”

For a single, heart-stopping moment, Violet thought he was asking her to be his mistress. After all, these were sophisticated people in very sophisticated surroundings. And she was
almost
prepared to accept.

But then, astonishingly, Cade dropped to one knee, right there in front of Mr. Blackhouse and everyone who stood nearby and the dauntingly intimidating but well-mannered valet, Adams, and all the most daring gamblers in the whole territory, and then Cade—her very own honor-bound gambler and the man who’d unrepentantly stolen her heart—took on the very biggest risk of them all.

“Please, Violet. Will you marry me?” he asked. “I know I’m not what you probably hoped for, but I love you. And if you give me half a chance, I swear I’ll make you happy. I know I can.”

“Yes.” Filled to overflowing with love for him, Violet dropped to the floor, too. Her skirts fanned out in a majesty of color. They should have been trodden upon, but partygoers miraculously made way for them. Her knees wobbled. They should have buckled, but Violet amazingly managed to remain steady. Her voice broke as she repeated her answer. Somehow, again, she managed to say, “Yes! Of course I’ll marry you.”

Smiling almost too broadly to pucker, Violet leaned forward and kissed Cade anyway. At her instigation, he pulled her into his arms, lowered his head, then made her his more thoroughly than he had all night—and through it all, all Violet could do was rejoice. She’d reunited with Cade. She’d made him hers and rightly become his. Now all that remained was one final detail.

“I will be
delighted
to marry you,” Violet said when at last they parted amid the cheers of the crowd. Blushing for certain now, she added, “I have just one tiny stipulation.”

Cade appeared concerned. “Stipulation?”

“Yes.”

In his face, caution warred with an evident determination to fulfill whatever demand she made. “What stipulation?”

“Earlier tonight,” Violet told him, “you said that you weren’t a good enough man—that I probably hoped for more.”

Cade nodded. “I’m
not
a good enough man for you. I—”

Determinedly, Violet kissed him. Hard and fast.

He appeared perplexed. “I’m not good. I gamble. I drink—”

Again she kissed him. This time, Violet wrapped her arms around his neck and devoted her entire being to the task. But when she’d finished—when she next peeked expectantly at him—Cade merely drew a breath and forged onward. “I’m
not
good enough—”

Wholeheartedly, Violet kissed him once more. Then she reared back to give him a serious look. “You
are
good enough,” she insisted vigorously, “for me and anyone else. But you’re mighty slow to recognize when someone’s giving you a dose of your own medicine.” Coquettishly, she smiled. “Shall I demonstrate again, or are you catching on to this game at last?”

Then—only then—Cade seemed to understand her meaning.

With a knowing gleam in his eyes, he adopted a very pensive demeanor. Elaborately, he furrowed his brow. “I’m not—”

Her punishing kiss almost bowled him over. Laughing, Cade caught her in his arms and then raised them both. He’d never looked happier—or more handsome—than he did in that moment.

“I have a feeling,” he said as he cradled her close before rejoining the party, “that you’re going to keep me on my toes.”

“With me,” Violet promised, “life will
never
be dull.”

With that much settled for certain, they turned delightedly to face their friends and neighbors. As one, the people of Morrow Creek cheered. The shadier visitors to town offered gamblers’ odds on the probable wedding date they would set. In the center of the melee, a satisfied-looking Mr. Blackhouse encouraged everyone to raise their glasses in a toast.

“Three cheers for lasting love!” he roared. “However improbable, however difficult, however unlikely it is to occur for
some
of us—” Here, Blackhouse stopped for a properly dramatic pause. He glanced at an older man and a younger, dark-haired man standing nearby. “—we can see tonight that sometimes Lady Luck delivers more than a bounteous payout. Sometimes she delivers us a second chance at living our lives. And for that—”

“He always was a bit of a show-off,” Cade grumbled privately in Violet’s ear. “We’ll be here for days before he’s done.”

“For that,” Blackhouse finished, “we salute her. To Lady Luck! To Miss Benson! To Mr. Foster!” With a triumphant flourish, he raised his glass. “And most of all, to love!”

Together, the women nearby swooned. The men downed their whiskeys. And Violet tugged Cade’s arm. Smiling, she whispered, “Let’s dance before Mr. Blackhouse starts in again.”

“Ah. A woman after my own heart,” Cade pronounced.

Then, with an even broader smile, he danced them both into the party, long into the night, and all the way to tomorrow...with all the wonderful tomorrows that lay beyond it still to come for them both to share.

Chapter Fifteen

T
here was nothing like a wedding to bring out the good spirits of everyone involved, Violet thought. Women commended the bride and told her how lovely she looked. Men congratulated the groom and joked about the coming wedding night’s ribaldry. Even children, who were rightly oblivious to most adult goings-on, seemed to sense the crackle of celebration in the air. They participated by whooping, hollering and teasing each other mercilessly. Now, eyeing those selfsame boisterous youngsters as they raced down the aisle of her father’s church, Violet sighed.

Upon hearing that telltale sigh, her longtime friend, Adeline Davis, stopped on her way out of the church. Together in their best dresses, she and Violet watched through the open church entryway as the ring bearer and his cousins chased two of the tiny, squealing flower girls down the steps outside.

Beyond the children, autumn-leafed trees embellished the townscape of Morrow Creek. Above those trees, clear territorial skies stretched forever, promising that the mild weather they’d enjoyed would last. In the distance, a train whistle called.

Upon hearing that sound, Violet started. She sighed again.

Adeline gave an empathetic smile. “Still missing Tobe?”

Swallowing hard, Violet nodded. “I know he’s been happily reunited with his mother in California, thanks to Mr. Blackhouse’s generosity—” the enigmatic magnate had employed his private train car to see to that mission personally, surprising everyone except Violet “—but I still miss the little scamp.” Violet smiled at the memory of him. “I’m not at all certain Tobe will write me as often as he promised he would.” She hoped he would. “I’m afraid I grew awfully attached to that boy.”

“I did, too,” Adeline admitted. “He was very sweet.”

With a commiserating nod, Cade stepped up. Sentimentally, he added to their reminiscences. “That little sharper,” he said fondly of Tobe. “He took my best warm overcoat with him.”

“That was
your
overcoat all along? I never knew that!”

At that, Cade smiled. If his attention had been on the many townspeople exiting the church around them, it wasn’t now. Now his attention was all for Violet. Dotingly, he took her hand.

“With Tobe, I lost a bet on purpose,” Cade said. “With you, I won a lifetime of riches by accident. I’ll take those odds.”

With a chuckle, Clayton Davis approached. As befit his wedding day, he was decked out in his finest suit. He stopped beside Adeline, his blushing bride, then hugged her tightly.

“I still say I got luckiest of all, Foster,” he said. “But if you take away anything from your attendance at our wedding...”

Clayton paused, even as Adeline cast him a curious look.

“...it’s that you ought to elope when it’s your turn.” With a beleaguered grin, Clayton shook his head. “The planning, the decorating, the meeting up with all the distant relatives—I swear, we should have just run away to Avalanche to exchange vows. We could have skipped to the ‘married’ part straightaway.”

“However it happened, I’m glad it’s done.” After a loving smooch, Adeline caressed his cheek. “When it comes to matters of the heart, you know I can be a mite...
impatient
myself.”

Clearly that was a private joke between them, because Adeline gave her groom a teasing, enigmatic wink. Clayton winked, too, then grinned right back at her.

The two of them were so full of love and admiration and wonderment that Violet would have found herself hopelessly consumed with envy...had she not had a partner by her side who’d brought her every bit as much happiness. So rather than feel covetous, Violet only smiled. She was glad that Adeline had finally wed her long-beloved Clayton, glad that Tobe was finally with his mother and glad—
so
glad—to have Cade by her side, now and forever.

As though illustrating his willingness to stand by her, help her and love her, Cade extended his arm in a decidedly romantic and chivalrous fashion. “Shall we head to the party?”

“Oh yes,
please
!” Violet said.

As a group, she and Cade and Adeline and Clayton tromped down the church steps, heading for the back room of Jack Murphy’s saloon where the wedding reception was to take place.

Spying her father on his way from the other direction with some congregants, Violet waved and blew him a kiss. He’d been wonderful since her engagement. He’d even gone so far as to invite Cade to live with them—in the room Tobe had vacated—while he and Violet made their own wedding plans and got settled in.

“If we get to the reception early,” Violet enthused as they walked onward, “there will still be plenty of cake!”

“Spoken like a woman who knows her mind.” With a grin, Judah joined them, not seeming to notice when they all slowed their pace to accommodate his injured leg. “I approve, Cade.”

“You approved of Violet from the moment you met her at Simon’s party and she allowed you to beat her at billiards,” Cade said. “You would approve of anyone who did that.”

“There’s more to it than that!” Judah insisted earnestly. To Violet, he tossed a flattering smile. It looked
almost
as charming as Cade’s smiles did...only a shade darker and more evocative of sin. “I approve of Violet because I approve of your new life, Cade,” Judah said as he moved with a determined effort to keep up. “It’s been good for you, settling down.”

Cade tilted his head as if considering his new position as a purchasing agent—an unusually persuasive and hard-driving one, at that—at Marcus Copeland’s lumber mill. He smiled.

“You ought to consider doing the same,” he suggested to Judah. “Settling down, I mean—now that you’re here in Morrow Creek and intend to stay.”

But his brother merely laughed. “If only I could find the angel who’d have me!” he pronounced with an almost Blackhouseworthy sense of drama. Hand over his heart, he surveyed Violet and Cade, then Adeline and Clayton, each in turn. “I’m afraid you four have laid claim to all the available love and locked it away. Poor romantic fools like myself have no recourse at all.”

This time, everyone
else
guffawed. “The last thing
you’ve
faced is a shortage of romantically minded company,” Violet pointed out as they arrived on the main street. They all took to the raised boardwalk to traverse farther. “The women in Morrow Creek are all aflutter over you, Judah, and you know it!”

“Hmm. Maybe so.” Enigmatically, he sighed. “But all the spooning in the world doesn’t add up to love, Miss Benson.”

“If anyone’s made a thorough study of that supposition,” Cade said as they arrived at the saloon, “it’s my brother.”

Wearing good-natured smiles, they all trooped inside. In the newly decorated saloon, Grace Murphy welcomed them. So did all the gamblers, drinkers, partygoers...and one very special faro dealer. Wearing a handsome suit and tie, he came forward.

Violet hugged him. “How is your work progressing, Mr. Foster? Is Mr. Murphy treating you fairly? Are the gamblers all tipping you generously? Are the dance-hall girls all flirting with you between sets, the way I told you they would?”

“Very well. Yes. Yes. And not nearly enough, but I think I’ll remedy that soon.” Cade’s father gave her a boyish grin. It was easy to see where the Foster boys had gotten their devilish ways. “Some of the sporting men in town are a little confused about my new—
old
—name.” Since Simon Blackhouse had freed him from his unfair debt, Cade’s father had reclaimed
Ben Foster
as his name instead of Percy Whittier. “But here in the territory, things have a way of sorting themselves out. I’m just happy to have my name and my rightful reputation back.” He widened his grin to include his two sons. “I’m happy to have
all
of it back. If not for you, Miss Benson—and that cagey Simon Blackhouse, too—things might have progressed very differently.”

“Well, I
do
have a powerful knack for helping people,” Violet admitted with a dose of pride. She hugged him again. “If you find a break in the wagering, please come join the party.”

“Yes, please do!” Adeline and Clayton agreed. Even as they spoke, strains of fiddle music came from the saloon’s back room, luring them toward the nuptial festivities. “We’d love to have you there. The more the merrier!”

Seeming grateful to be included, Cade’s father nodded. He turned to Cade and Judah. They recognized their cue to nod as well, letting him know they wanted him to be at the party, too.

The Foster men hadn’t yet resolved all their concerns. They had many years of separation and misunderstandings to make up for. But between themselves, with Reverend Benson’s wise help and Violet’s ongoing support, the three were well on their way to forging a new kind of family. Violet could not have been more pleased about that...especially for Cade’s sake.

There could be no denying that her now-retired gambler had thrived since he’d decided to make Morrow Creek his home. As though that little town of theirs possessed some sort of magical good luck that even Cade hadn’t counted on, it had carried him and Violet forward from their first dance to their latest...from their first meeting to their own upcoming wedding. And despite Clayton’s advice that they should simply elope and have done with it, Violet had some very specific notions about that event.

Because of that, as everyone headed into the next room for the party, Violet hung back. To her surprise, Cade did, too.

She raised her brows. “Is everything all right?”

“With you? It couldn’t be better.” He smiled, then held out his arm to escort her. “I was only thinking about
our
wedding.”

Violet laughed. “That’s serendipitous. I was, too!”

“And I think,” Cade went on, “that we should—”

“Have it sooner,” they said in unison.

“Tomorrow?” Violet proposed.

“The next day,” Cade amended. “I’d like to give Marcus Copeland at least that much notice. I wouldn’t want to leave him in the lurch at the lumber mill. After that...I’m all yours.”

“And I am yours.” Violet couldn’t help smiling with new anticipation. “If ever I’d wondered whether a charming, wagering, altogether disreputable rascal of a gambler could settle down and become a good husband,” she mused aloud, “I don’t anymore. You’re perfect for me, Cade.”

“And you, for me. Why else would I bother giving up all the glories of my previous life of pleasure and debauchery?”

With an undoubted twinkle in her eyes, Violet thought about that. “I’d wager there will still be
some
pleasure and shared debauchery in our lives from now on. Wouldn’t you?”

“Absolutely.” Cade caught on to her naughty teasing right away. With a roguish grin, he leaned forward to kiss her. Then he kissed her again, even more lingeringly. “That’s one bet I’d be happy to break my withdrawal from gambling to make.”

“Good. It’s settled, then.” Taking his proffered arm at last, Violet headed into the wedding reception.

For today, she was not the belle of the ball. Adeline was, and rightly so. But as Violet glanced at Cade and saw him standing proudly beside her while they greeted several of their friends and neighbors, she knew one amazing fact for certain.

When it came to Cade, she
was
the belle of the ball.

Now and forever.

With him in her heart, she could not have asked for more—not even if it made her beautiful in the eyes of everyone in town. Because for the first time in all her life, Violet realized then, she
felt
truly beautiful, both inside and out...and it was loving someone that had made her feel that way.

Love
was the magic in Morrow Creek, she understood in that moment. And with the good people of the town to keep that love flowing, there really was no end to the magic that might occur...for every single one of them.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
Some Like to Shock
by Carole Mortimer.