Page 51 of The Rancher's Wedding

Time froze for Michael.

Hang on, Estelle, he thought.Hang on for your life, I’m coming for you.

For a second, it seemed like she was going to make it. She had grabbed onto Orion’s neck even as her feet slipped out of the stirrups and hung in the air. So long as Orion came straight down, it looked like she was going to stay on.

But that wasn’t what happened.

Orion came down at an angle and Estelle seemed to bounce off the saddle and hang over the edge, holding onto the horse’s neck. She still might have been able to stay there if Orion hadn’t charged into the cattle and pushed her off.

Michael didn’t think, he just rode. The cattle began moving, slowly in response to Orion, and he and Buttercup covered the distance between them, keeping his eye on where Estelle fell.

Even though the herd was slow, the cattle weren’t looking and they could still trample her. And, if they picked up speed, they could take Buttercup in the shuffle and she might throw Michael down to the dirt alongside Estelle.

He had to risk it. It might kill him, but he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. He charged into the cattle, weaving his way through them, trying to reach the spot where Estelle had fallen. But he didn’t see her there. He looked around—had she been taken away by the herd?

No, she was trying to move her way forward out of it. He saw her arm and pushed Buttercup forward until he got her in front of Estelle and blocked off the cattle. Then he reached out his arm.

“Come on,” he said.

She grabbed his hand and she jumped as he pulled up, letting her sit behind him on the saddle.

“Hang on,” he said.

She wrapped her arms around him as he weaved his way through the remaining cattle.

“You saved my life,” she said.

He was out of breath and sweating.

“You’re a hero.”

He didn’t feel like a hero. He felt like a fool who had nearly lost his wife just when he realized he had genuine feelings for her.

“I’m your husband,” he said.

She laughed. “So?”

“So, if I don’t save you, who will?”

She held him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

***

Dearest Megan,

Something amazing happened today. Oh, if only I had the words to express it. Michael took me to the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, a cliff overlooking a canyon where I could see everything for miles. And he took me there at the perfect time, where the sun was setting and seemed so large on the horizon that I could almost touch it.

And then… it seems so unreal, I don’t know if I can even write it. It’s as if I’m remembering a dream. It must have been a dream, for such things can’t happen so perfectly in real life.

In this case, though, it did.

He kissed me, and I felt it through me with the warm sun on my face as he took me in his arms. This wasn’t what I asked for. This was so much more. God himself brought us together; I can feel it now. Everything has a purpose. If Ethan hadn’t been such a vile and repulsive dolt, I never would have run away from home. Or even considered the very notion of becoming a mail-order bride.

Because I did and almost unknowingly put my faith into His hands, I’ve been rewarded with a better husband than I could have ever even imagined. However, just as every cloud has a silver lining, every diamond has imperfections and every bit of goodness I have comes with a caveat.

Yes, I think I may be in love with Michael. And he thinks he’s in love with me. He put his life in danger to save me. We were riding home and there was a snake (a snake!) that frightened poor Orion (my horse), who then ran full speed as far away as he could, then threw me into a herd of stampeding cattle.

Michael took his horse and rode as fast as he could, then pulled me out of that terrifying situation. He risked his life for me, and I can’t imagine him doing that if he didn’t think he was in love with me.

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