The Judge's Daughter (Escape To The West Book 7) Read online

  She sighed. “I don’t want to leave you and mother either. But I haven’t ever felt like this about another man, not even Charles. I love George so much. If he went home and I stayed here, I think I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”

  It was at least a minute before her father turned his head to kiss her forehead. “I know I need to let you go, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to like the man who’s taking you from me.”

  “Could you at least be civil to him? No more fist fights or threatening to have him thrown in jail?”

  “I make no promises.”

  She raised her head from his shoulder and smiled. “You know, the two of you really are very much alike.”

  She laughed as he raised his hands, shaking his head. “Must you compare me to him?”

  Chapter 14

  George was surprised to receive a summons, via Harris, to go to Ravensworth’s study the next morning.

  He hadn’t seen Millie’s father since the previous morning, at the house where they’d rescued the children. Millie had told him they’d spoken, but she hadn’t given him the details.

  Anything could happen.

  The first thing Ravensworth said when George walked in was, “You want to take my daughter away from me.”

  “I….” He didn’t know how to answer that, because it was true, in a way. “I don’t want to take her away from you, I want to keep her with me.”

  “Semantics.”

  “I guess.”

  Ravensworth waved him into a chair in front of the desk, the same chair George had sat in on the day they’d first met. “Millicent has told me about this town where you live, Green Hill Creek. From the way she describes it, it’s close to heaven on earth, but her view is hardly unbiased. I know things are improving in the west, but it’s still dangerous out there.”

  George sat gingerly, mindful of his still-healing body. “Green Hill Creek is as safe a town as you’ll find anywhere. Marshal Cade is a good, honest, fair man who keeps order, and there are a lot of real good folks. I won’t deny there’s danger, but you can say that about anywhere.” He shifted in his seat and winced at the pain that stabbed through his wound. “I’ve never been shot in Green Hill Creek. Took coming to New York for that to happen.”

  “Hmm.” There was half a minute of silence before Ravensworth heaved a sigh. “The truth is, since you’ve been here I’ve seen a joy in her there hasn’t been in a long, long time. I can’t begin to describe how much it pains me to say this, but of all the paths her life could take from this point on, I think marriage to you would make her the happiest. Of course, I’d rather have you thrown into prison to rot, but I’ve lived long enough to know that things can’t always go the way I’d like them to, especially when it comes to my children. They tend to have minds of their own.”

  George nodded in agreement. “I know what that’s like.”

  “Intensely frustrating.”

  “Yup.”

  There was another minute of silence during which George wondered where in the world the conversation was going.

  “What would you do if your son wanted to move all the way across the country?” Ravensworth said eventually, his eyes on the desk in front of him.

  George thought about that. “I’d tell him that I supported him in whatever he wanted to do, but if he needed me, I’d always be there for him. And even though my heart would be breaking, I’d mean it.”

  He raised his gaze to look at George, his breaking heart in his eyes. “Take care of her.”

  “I will, I give you my word.”

  Ravensworth cleared his throat, his gaze hardening. “Because if you don’t, I’ll come for you, even clear across the country. And I will make you suffer in ways that will make being shot seem pleasant in comparison.”

  George nodded. “Understood.”

  ~ ~ ~

  George and Millie were married two weeks later.

  Millie assured him it wouldn’t be a lavish wedding, which was ironic because lavish was exactly the way he would have described it if asked. But he didn’t begrudge her anything, considering she would be living with him in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere soon, where lavishness was a rarity.

  As he waited for her at the front of the church, dressed in the same suit he’d worn for the ball, he couldn’t help wishing Zach was there to stand by his side as best man. But he knew his son understood. George had written to tell him he’d be returning with a new wife. Zach’s reply had been, I would have been surprised if you didn’t.

  His gaze strayed to where Mrs. Sullivan sat beside Ira in the second row. She and the children had moved into the Ravensworth house permanently now, and she was officially employed as Ann’s maid. It had escaped no one’s notice that Ira was spending much of his free time with her and Henry and Mary. Millie predicted another wedding before the year was out.

  Henry and Mary sat beside their mother, proudly wearing the new outfits Millie had had made for them. She adored the children and was especially close to Mary. George couldn’t help feeling guilty that she would soon be leaving them to be with him, but she assured him she was all right with it, and she was very much looking forward to her new role as grandmother when Zach’s son or daughter was born.

  George hoped she really would be all right. Even though she seemed happy to be marrying him, he knew it was going to be a wrench to leave. He hated causing her pain.

  And then she entered the church on her father’s arm and all his musings fled, along with his breath. She was radiant, and so beautiful it just about knocked him flat. For the life of him he couldn’t work out why she would fall in love with an aging livery owner from a tiny backwoods town. But he thanked God from the bottom of his heart that she had.

  They reached the front of the church and Ravensworth kissed his daughter’s cheek before releasing her to George. His smile vanished the moment she turned away, and he threw his customary glare at George from behind her back. In the past two weeks, the two of them had settled into what could be called an uneasy truce, but they would likely never be friends. George could live with that, seeing as he’d soon be on the other side of the country from his about-to-be father-in-law. They’d at least managed to avoid descending into physical violence again.

  George held out his elbow and Millie smiled up at him as she slipped her arm around it, and if they hadn’t had an audience of guests he would have drawn her into his arms then and there. But he managed to restrain himself through the ceremony, and when the minister finally said, “You may kiss the bride,” he was more than ready to do just that.

  And as he drew his new wife close, a warmth spread through his chest that he hadn’t felt in twenty-four years. Once again he was married to a woman he loved with all his heart.

  And he planned on devoting himself to her happiness for the rest of his life.

  Chapter 15

  Eight months later.

  The scent of apple blossom drifted on the breeze through the open window. Millie drew in a deep breath. How she loved that tree.

  Clementine’s tree, George had called it when she first saw it almost a year ago, although he hadn’t called it that since they’d married. Every day it seemed to change, bringing new beauty to the garden outside their bedroom window.

  He’d told Millie how his first wife had helped him plant it the day after they’d moved into the house, insisting on being part of the work even though she’d been heavily pregnant with Zach at the time. The house may have grown in the past months since Millie had moved in, with two more bedrooms added as well as a fully functioning bathroom and indoor plumbing system, but the tree remained the same.

  It was a spectacular sight at this time of year, drenched in white flowers and buzzing with insects. If she’d been able, Millie would have thanked her predecessor for making the effort to plant it even while carrying her baby. She’d come to think of it as a gift from George’s first wife, and she liked to imagine Clementine would have been happy with his choice of second.
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  Sighing, she closed her eyes. Maybe Clementine would be pleased with her, but she wasn’t sure how George would feel, once she told him. She had no idea how he’d react to the news that, while she hadn’t actually lied to him, she had got it very badly wrong.

  “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Her stomach jolted at the sound of her husband’s voice and she opened her eyes to see him standing in the bedroom doorway.

  “You all right?”

  She wanted to say yes, but the word wouldn’t come, and she dropped her gaze to her lap.

  George was at her side immediately, sitting beside her on the window seat and taking her hands. “Millie? Is something wrong?”

  She raised her gaze to his brown eyes. Goodness, how she loved him. She’d never imagined love like this was possible, until George. She’d left her family and moved all the way across the country to be with him, and she didn’t regret one single moment.

  She only hoped that he would feel the same way after she told him.

  “I went to visit Doctor Wilson.”

  Worry creased his brow. “Why? Are you sick? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t know what was wrong. I mean, I suspected, but I didn’t know for sure until today. I didn’t want you to worry until I knew.”

  “Knew what?” His hands tightened around hers. “What’s wrong?”

  She drew in a deep breath, her heart pounding, and blurted out the words before they choked her. “I’m pregnant.”

  For a few seconds, he simply stared at her.

  His jaw worked up and down a few times.

  He blinked.

  She wasn’t even sure he was breathing.

  “Are you all right?” she said, when it seemed as if he’d forgotten how to speak.

  “But…” His neck bobbed as he swallowed. “But you said…”

  “I know, and I truly thought I was in the change. I haven’t had my monthly since last August.”

  He drew in a shuddering breath, looking down. “I… um…”

  “Are you angry with me?”

  His eyes snapped back up. “No, course not. I just… it’s a surprise. I guess. I’m… surprised. I never figured on… I mean, I never thought I’d, after Zach… I didn’t think I’d do it all again.”

  “I never figured on doing it a first time. Of course I’ve thought about having children, like any woman does, but I thought it was too late for me.”

  His gaze lowered to the floor and he swallowed again.

  Abruptly releasing her hands, he stood. “I need to go and think about things.” He leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”

  And then he walked from the room.

  Tears welled in her eyes as she listened to the front door open and close.

  What would she do if George didn’t want to be a father again?

  ~ ~ ~

  George had no idea what he was doing, or where he was going, or why he was going there. His feet wandered while his mind whirled.

  How could Millie be pregnant? Well, he knew how, he’d just never imagined it would happen. She was forty-seven. She’d told him she was entering the change.

  How could this happen?

  He was too old to be a new father again. He remembered all too well what it was like looking after a baby. How in the world was he going to do it all again, at his age? It had been hard enough the first time around, and he’d been twenty-seven when Zach was born. It was nigh on likely to finish him off this time, with the sleepless nights and the endless worrying. The diapers.

  Of course, he’d been alone then. This time he’d have Millie. Except he’d thought he would have Clementine back then, until he didn’t.

  What if something happened to Millie? What if he lost her? He couldn’t face that pain again. He couldn’t lose the woman he loved a second time.

  What was he going to do?

  He looked up from the ground for the first time since he’d started walking to find he’d unknowingly made his way to Zach’s house. It seemed his unconscious mind had decided he needed someone to talk to, and there wasn’t anyone he was closer to than his son.

  He walked up to the door and knocked, wincing when he heard a baby crying inside. Somehow, the sound made the whole thing even more real, and even more daunting.

  “Pa, perfect timing,” Zach said the moment he opened the door. “Here, take her.”

  He thrust George’s three-month-old granddaughter into his arms. Emily immediately stopped bawling and blinked up at him.

  George smiled as he walked into the house. “Hey there, Sweetheart. Are you giving your pa a hard time?” He wrinkled his nose at the odor. Bad smells usually didn’t bother him. He did own a livery, after all. But today this particular odor held too much memory in it. “Where’s Jo?”

  “She went to visit Sara.” Zach trudged over to the table and picked up a soiled diaper. “When does being a parent get easier?”

  “I’ll tell you when it happens.”

  “Ahaha. Jokes, just what I need when I’m working on round about two hours’ sleep.”

  As Zach headed out back to deal with the diaper, George sat on the settee, settling Emily on his lap.

  “I guess you’re running your pa ragged, just like he did with me, huh?”

  She gave him a toothless grin, reaching out a tiny hand to grasp the fingers he offered her.

  He sat like that for a while, gazing into his granddaughter’s adorable face, so deep in his thoughts that he jumped when Zach dropped onto the settee beside him.

  Yawning, he ran one hand through his unkempt red hair. Hair the color of his mother’s.

  George remembered the moment he first held his son in his arms, when Zach was just a few minutes old. The overwhelming depth of love that had washed over him for this tiny, wrinkled, new person. He’d never felt anything like it.

  It was that love that had carried him through the devastation of Clementine’s loss. A love he still felt, even though his son was now grown, with a child of his own.

  “What?” Zach said.

  “What do you mean, what?”

  “You’re staring at me. It’s disconcerting.”

  George moved his gaze back to Emily who was now fast asleep. “Just remembering what it felt like to hold you for the first time after you were born.”

  Zach stared at him. “Okay. Why?”

  He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “How would you feel about being a big brother?”

  He wasn’t sure why he’d asked that particular question. Maybe because he wasn’t sure how he felt himself.

  There were several seconds of silence while Zach gaped at him. “I… what… you mean, Millie’s…?”

  “Yup.”

  Several more seconds of silent gaping passed. And then Zach burst into laughter.

  Emily opened her eyes, blinked sleepily, and closed them again.

  George sighed. “I’m so glad I can provide you with some entertainment.”

  Zach’s guffaws faded to a chuckle. “It’s just, your face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look quite so panicked.”

  George frowned at him. “I’m not panicked. I’m just… concerned. I’m too old to be a new father. Babies are hard work.”

  “Are they? I hadn’t noticed.” He yawned again. “Honestly, Pa, you’ve got the energy of a man half your age. You can cope with a baby. And you’ll have Millie. It won’t be like it was with me.”

  George moved his eyes to Emily’s slumbering face. “What if I don’t? What if it happens again?”

  There were a few seconds of silence before Zach replied. “You know, I kept thinking about Ma when Jo was coming up to her time. There were nights when I’d lie awake for hours and watch her sleeping, wondering what I’d do if I lost her. But now I wish I’d taken that last opportunity to sleep while I still could, rather than spend all those nights worrying for nothing.”

  “You never told me that.”

  Zach shrugged
. “I didn’t want to worry you. The point is, my worrying couldn’t have changed it if anything had gone wrong, and neither can yours. Millie’s strong, I’m sure she’ll be fine. Just don’t lose any sleep over it. You’ll regret it once my little brother or sister is born and sleep becomes a dim, distant memory.”

  Pride filled George. He’d raised a smart man. “It’s a good thing you inherited some of my wisdom.” He kissed Emily’s forehead and handed her back to her father. “I need to get back to Millie and apologize.”

  Zach settled his daughter against his chest. “Don’t you want to stay until Em’s next diaper change? It’ll be good practice. In fact, you can come over and change her whenever you want to.”

  “Nice try, kid. I changed enough of yours. Reckon it’ll come right back to me.” He pushed himself to his feet then leaned down to kiss the top of Zach’s head. “I love you, son.”

  He blinked in surprise and then smiled. “I love you too, Pa.”

  They didn’t often say it to each other, but they each knew how the other felt. They were as close as any father and son could be.

  Having a child had been the greatest blessing of George’s life. Having another would be the same.

  ~ ~ ~

  When George reached home, Millie was still in the bedroom where he’d left her, sadness marring her beautiful face as she stared out the window.

  He strode across the room and fell to his knees beside her.

  “I’m sorry.” Taking her hands, he gazed up at her. “I’m a fool.”

  A small smile tugged at her lips. “Only sometimes.”

  He kissed her hands and held them to his chest. “I’m the luckiest man in the world, to have you as my wife.”

  “I know.”

  Laughing softly, he rose to sit beside her. “You are going to be such a good mother.”

  Hope blossomed in her eyes. “Then you don’t mind that I’m expecting?”

  An unexpected smile stole onto his face and grew until it was stretching his cheeks. “I’m very, very happy. You’re going to give me another child. I’d be a fool to mind that.”