Page 366 of Conveniently Wed
Stunned by Ashton’s unwitting confession, Aundy had to bite her tongue until she tasted blood to keep from saying anything.
What gold?
Suddenly, the shiny rocks she pulled from the creek made sense. Ashton didn’t want the land. He wanted the gold that was in the creek running through both the Erickson and Nash properties. She couldn’t believe he’d been the reason J.B. was injured and that he’d essentially killed Erik.
What if he’d gone after Garrett? Maybe he had and she didn’t know about it yet. The thought of anything happening to him made Aundy renew her determination to survive this ordeal just to tell Garrett how much she loved him.
“Rest while you can, dear Mrs. Erickson. As soon as the preacher arrives, you’re marrying me, signing over the farm, then you’re going to tragically fall down the stairs and break your lovely long neck.” Ashton patted Aundy on the leg as he strode from the room.
The man had completely lost his mind.
Once the sound of his footsteps died away, Aundy sat up and tugged at the knot holding her hands captive. Frantically pulling it loose, she worked her hands free. She stood and a wave of dizziness almost dropped her to the floor. By holding onto the dresser, she balanced and waited until her vision cleared. Although her head felt like someone attempted to split it in two, she had to do something while Ashton worked on his scheme to kill her.
She strode over to the window and hoped the room was one that opened onto a balcony. Blue sky and a long drop to the ground dashed her plans to sneak outside.
If Ashton thought she’d obediently do whatever he said, he really didn’t know her at all.
Aundy looked around the room and began devising a plan to escape.
Kade and Garrett were ready to ride up the lane to Ashton’s house and execute their plan when Pastor Whitting waved and rode up beside them.
“Good afternoon, gentleman. Going to visit Ashton?” the pastor asked with a cheery smile.
“Something like that,” Garrett muttered, trying to be civil. The pastor hadn’t done anything to incur his wrath. “What brings you out here?”
“Ashton called and said he had a special matter that required my immediate attention.” Pastor Whitting looked skeptical. “He wouldn’t say what that matter was, just that I needed to hurry. Since I was going to come out anyway to check on Nik and Aundy, it was easy enough to stop by.”
“Say, Kade, I have an idea.” Garrett looked from Hank to the preacher.
A few minutes later, Hank was dressed in the pastor’s clothes, his revolver hidden beneath the light coat, while the pastor wore Hank’s denims, neckerchief, and western hat.
“I always wanted to be a cowboy,” the pastor said, mounting Hank’s horse and grinning broadly. “This is quite exciting.”
“Just remember, you stay far back, out of the line of fire,” Kade said to the pastor before falling in line behind Hank who rode Pastor Whitting’s horse.
Halfway up the lane, Garret, Kade, Fred, and Pastor Whitting split up, urging their horses past the trees to flank the sides of the house where they could watch undetected from Ashton’s thick rows of shrubbery and hedges. Hank continued up the lane to the front steps.
Since he couldn’t recall ever meeting Ashton, they hoped Ashton had never seen Hank around town or at Aundy’s place. He would pretend to be Pastor Whitting’s nephew who stopped for a visit on his way through town.
As he adjusted the narrow brim of the wool crusher hat on his head, Hank decided this was probably as close to becoming a man of the cloth as he was ever going to get. He looped the reins of the horse around a hitching post at the bottom of a set of broad steps leading up to the front door. Hank straightenedhis coat, tucked Pastor Whitting’s Bible in one hand, and took a deep breath.
Sedately strolling to the door, he knocked loudly and waited, praying their ruse would go undetected by Ashton.
The second time he knocked, Hank glanced over his shoulder, pretending to study the expansive yard while scouting to see if the men were in place. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Kade signal him from the edge of the shrubbery and turned his attention back to the door.
Footsteps approached so he plastered a huge smile on his face.
“Yes? May I help you?” Ashton asked tersely as he opened the door and saw a stranger standing on his front steps.
“You sure can,” Hank said, offering his friendliest smile. “My uncle said you called this morning and requested his services.”
“Uncle? The only person I called was Pastor Whitting,” Ashton said, clearly annoyed.
“Yes, that’s right. Pastor Whitting is my uncle. I recently graduated from seminary and am on my way to minister my own little flock near The Dalles. I decided to stop and visit my dear auntie and uncle for a few days. He was just coming to see you when he was unavoidably detained with an emergency, so he asked me to offer my services and see if I may be of assistance.”
“That’s perfectly fine.” Ashton didn’t care who performed the ceremony as long as the result was a legal and binding marriage to Aundy.
With the exception of the cook, he gave all his help the day off so he’d have fewer witnesses around. Proud of his brilliant scheming, Ashton thought his plan came together quite nicely. If the bride would wake up from the little bump on her head, he could get on with his quest for the gold in her creek bed.
