Page 37 of The Rancher's Bride
“Ma is waiting at the house. We should head back.” Bethany took her father’s hand.
“All right, Bethy,” Joe agreed, giving her a reassuring nod. “Let’s get moving.” He tugged her towards the Kendrick homestead.
Devin looked at Ben with a crooked smile.
“What?” Ben asked as he watched Joe and Bethany move up the path towards his home.
“He likes you.”
Ben grabbed the lead to his horse and headed towards the barn. “How do you know?”
“You’re still alive after a kiss like that.” Devin patted Ben on the shoulder. “I’ll get our horses saddled and we’ll get out of here.”
“Do you think he’ll give his blessing?” Ben watched as Bethany looked over her shoulder and smiled at him.
“Son, you already have it. Like I said, you’re still alive after that kiss.”
After exchanging their farewells, Joe climbed into the buckboard with Regina and Millie, while Devin and Bethany mounted the horses that had been grazing behind Ben’s house.
“I’ll see you after church on Sunday?” Bethany asked.
“I promise I will be there. It is too cold for Tessa to be outside that long.”
Bethany nodded and urged her horse forward to fall in line behind the buckboard.
“I’m glad you are marrying her,” Tessa said, leaning into Ben’s side. “I like all of them.”
He tapped her nose. “I think they like you, too.”
“Will I get a new dress?” Tessa turned on her heel, tugging Marigold behind her. “You’ll need a new ribbon, too,” she said to the lamb as she disappeared inside the house.
Ben shook his head as he placed his arm up high against one of the porch posts and leaned against it. He would stand out here until Bethany disappeared in the trees. He watched as she moved alongside her uncle and then turned her horse around and galloped across the field back towards the house. Ben straightened up and stepped off the porch.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, reaching out to grab the horse’s halter.
Bethany lifted her leg over the saddle horn and slid down to the ground into Ben’s arms. Lifting her hands around his neck, she pulled his head down towards her.
“I forgot something,” she whispered, as her lips brushed his.
Ben reached around and placed his hand on the small of her back, pulling her closer. “You did?”
She nodded and tilted her head, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Ben’s heart raced as he leaned in closer, feeling the soft brush of her lips against his. Her hands tangled in his hair, causing his hat to fall backwards from his head, but he didn’t care. A quiet moan escaped from her throat as he pulled away slightly, only to be pulled back in by her insistent touch. He gently placed his hands on her arms and pulled back, their heavy breathing filling the air between them.
“Better?” he asked, placing a kiss on her forehead.
“Better, for now.” She looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. “I don’t want to wait to get married, Ben.”
He wrapped his hands back around her waist, clasping his fingers together. “I promised your father we’d take it slow.”
“Winter is almost here. I would like to be married on Christmas Eve if that is all right with you. Marmee and Weston have a huge dinner in their barn, and the preacher marries everyone who wants to be married that night. It’s the last chance until after spring planting.”
“Then we can do that.”
“My parents were married Christmas Eve.”
“So you told me.” As he gazed into her eyes, his love seemed to transcend the heavens. Unable to help himself, Ben leaned in and captured her lips once more. “I hope, my love,” hewhispered against her mouth, “our marriage will be as strong and enduring as your ma and pa’s, and that I will be just as good of a father to our daughters as you pa is to you.”
Bethany’s laughter rang out like music, filling the evening air with its sweetness. “You mean overbearing and protective?”
