Home to Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 3) (17 page)

Chapter Fifty-Six

    
C
olleen smiled shyly as Mark admired her. She was thrilled that he thought she looked beautiful, but she felt as if everything at Stavewood would take a bit of getting used to.

      She noticed that he looked very handsome as well, his hair falling soft and clean against his neck. It was clear that he had enjoyed a hot bath as well.

      “Come here,” he gestured to the settee and she sat beside him.

      “You look so beautiful. Like the night I first saw you in the barn. Like an angel. I have some things I want to say to you and I don’t want to wait too long.” Mark cleared his throat.

      Colleen studied his face seriously.

      “I know you came here with me on so much faith, Colleen. You always believed in me, even when everyone was saying that I was a murderer. You never questioned me.”

      “I did,” she admitted. “I asked myself what if I was falling for you and it was all a lie?”

      “And now?” he asked expectantly.

      “I asked myself, but I always believed. I never imagined all of this though.”

      “Always believe in me that way, please,” he asked.

      The knocker at the front door banged. Mark frowned and excused himself.

      “Bernadette.” Mark stood in the doorway and took a deep breath.

      “Oh, you’re home! Oh, Mark it’s so good to see you home!” Bernadette flung her arms around his neck and kissed him ardently as Colleen stepped out into the foyer.

      It was clear that the young woman was expecting, and very happy to see Mark.

      “Bernadette, this is my fiancée, Colleen.”

      Bernadette stepped back. Her face was tense and confused.

      “Hello,” she coughed. “Mark, I need to speak to you alone.”

      “I’ll go in for lunch,” Colleen volunteered. “Nice to meet you Bernadette.”

      Mark watched her walk towards the dining room and sighed deeply.

      “She’s very pretty.” Bernadette looked at Mark and tried to smile. “I wanted to talk to you about Sam.”

      “What do you want to know?” Mark pulled his eyes away from the dining room door and faced the young woman impatiently.

      “Did he come back with you?”

      “What? No, Bernadette. Sam is dead.” Mark fought his emotions, wishing the girl would leave.

      “But, I thought since you were back maybe everyone was wrong.”

      “No. His family had a funeral, didn’t they?”

      “I know,” Bernadette said, “but it’s so hard to believe and I thought if he was alive and with you maybe I could see him.”

      “No,” he sighed. Mark thought he was a fool to imagine that maybe the girl came to apologize for her accusations.

      “Oh, okay.” Bernadette considered her alternatives. Jude was gone and she didn’t expect him back. Now she had to accept that Sam really was dead. But, she thought, Mark was here. He had that girl he was calling his fiancée, but he wasn’t married yet and maybe he could care for her again.

      “Are you in love with her?” Bernadette leaned to look past him.

      “Completely.”

      “More than you are with me?” She looked up at him expectantly.

      “Bernadette.” Mark rubbed his chin. “I’m not in love with you. I never told you I was, even before. I’m going to marry Colleen as soon as possible.”

      “But what about the baby?” Bernadette asked.

      “That’s not my baby.” Mark looked at her sadly.

      “It could have been if we…”

      “But we never did. It wasn’t that way with us.” Mark sighed.

      “Are you that way with her?” Bernadette began to become angry.

      “It doesn’t matter. You need to go now.”

      “Does she know about us?” Bernadette swept past him towards the dining room. She flung the door open and before he could stop her she called to Colleen.

      Colleen stood up and set her napkin on the table. Rebecca and Timothy stood as well.

      “Mark says he’s in love with you,” she blurted out.

      Colleen looked from Mark to Bernadette in confusion.

      “Are you?” Bernadette turned to Mark.

      “Yes, very much.” He ran his hands through his hair.

      “Jude told me that there were probably other girls and that was why you wouldn’t make love to me. He said that you had them everywhere. He said all rich men kept women no one knew about. Does she know that?”

      “Bernadette,” Mark shouted. “What are you talking about?”

      “Well, good luck to you,” she screamed to Colleen and ran from the house.

      Timothy stomped towards the foyer and closed the front door.

      “What the hell was that about?” he asked, as he reentered the room.

      “I wish I knew.” Mark sank into a chair. “Colleen, I’m sorry. She’s wrong.”

      Colleen sat back in her chair dumbfounded and then stood up suddenly.

      “Is that your child, Mark Elgerson?” Her voice was clear and challenging.

      “No, no. It’s not mine. We were friends, but not that way. It’s complicated.” He rose to his feet.

      “Are you beholden to her in any way?” Colleen’s temper was up, and although she knew it would often get her in trouble, she needed to know the truth.

      “No, not in any way.” He stood and faced her squarely. “She is not carrying my child and I owe her nothing and I’m in love with you and I’m going to marry you.” He faced her across the table. Rebecca looked at Timothy in confusion.

      “Fine. Then let’s eat.” Colleen sat down firmly and returned her napkin to her lap.

      Mark remained leaning across the table, his brow furrowed.

      “Well?” Colleen asked. “Are we going to eat or not?” She had decided that if she were going to marry Mark Elgerson and have some competition then she was ready to take it on.

      Timothy lifted a brow and smiled. He sat down in his chair and gestured to Rebecca to do the same. Timothy Elgerson thought that Colleen Muldoon was going to be an interesting addition to the household. He picked up his utensils and dug into his lunch.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

     
    
 
M
ark twisted his finger in one of Colleen’s curls and then ran it slowly along her neck. Rebecca and Timothy had ridden to the Vancouvers’ to retrieve the children from their visit and the young couple now stood in the hallway outside of Colleen’s room on the third floor.

      Mark knew that no one would bother them, alone up there, and he had found Colleen so fetching he wanted some privacy with her.

      She slipped her hand around his neck and teased the buttons on his shirt.

      “So how many women are we talking about?” she whispered.

      “Only you,” he smirked.

      “I’m not one that’s too fond of expectant mothers arriving with wild acquisitions.”

      “I don’t want to talk about Bernadette. She’s the reason I left and I want to be done with her. I want you.” He tried to change the subject and enjoy his time alone with her.

      “I am an only child,” she said, prying open one button, “and I’ll not share.”

      “That sounds perfectly wonderful, Colleen.” He turned his head and kissed her hungrily. He pulled her close and she could feel his desire for her. Colleen had never been with a man, but as a farm girl she had a very clear understanding of males.

      “If you never made love to her, then to who?” she asked, whispering in his ear as he kissed her neck.

      “No one,” he replied.

      “No one?” Colleen pulled away slightly. “You’ve never…?” She was sure there had to be someone.

      “Never.” He cleared his throat. “Is that a problem?”

      Colleen smiled devilishly, enjoying the idea that there would be no comparisons to anyone else.

      “So there is no reason to yell at me over lunch ever again.” He looked down into her eyes seriously.

      “Ah, there’ll probably be other reasons,” she teased.

      “There are none right now.” He kissed her neck again and she let her head fall back in surrender.

      “Colleen,” he whispered. “This is not a dirty barn, and you smell delicious.” He pushed open the bedroom door and pulled her inside.

      “Hello.” Louisa stepped into the doorway and looked up at the couple.

      “Hello,” Colleen gasped as Mark turned away, clearing his throat.

      “Why are you up here?” Louisa was sure they were up to something, she could tell by their faces.

      “We came up here to spend some time together,” Colleen replied frankly.

      “When are you going home?” Louisa asked.

      Mark turned back to face the females and frowned at his sister. “Loo, Colleen is not going home. This is her home now.”

      “No one asked me.” Louisa stuck out her lip and stomped down the hallway.

      “I guess your family is back,” Colleen smiled.

      “Mark?” Timothy called up the stairs and Colleen laughed.

      “Coming.” Mark glared at her in mock anger.

      Colleen checked the door to her room to see if it bore a lock. After she married Mark Elgerson she had every intention of using one.

      When she followed Mark downstairs she saw that there were two lawmen in the parlor and her heart stood still. She looked at Mark in terror and he took her hand and nodded in reassurance.

      “Sheriff Carson, Deputy,” Mark nodded. “Please meet my fiancée, Colleen.

      “Miss Muldoon?” Ben Carson nodded to the girl.

      “Yes.” Colleen stood perfectly still.

      “Let’s sit down,” Timothy said, gesturing to the settee. “Ben is here because, well, frankly the authorities in Barite were concerned. They suspected that you, Mark, used Colleen to escape the area and they didn’t know what became of her. They wired the sheriff’s office looking for her.”

      “I’ll let them know she’s fine and left of her own free will,” Ben interjected.

      “I have hired investigators to go to Barite and find out who killed that girl down there. Mark says he has names. Once they catch them and can prove your innocence this will all be over,” Timothy continued. “I also need to know everything that led up to the situation.” He looked at Mark sternly.

      “I’ll tell you everything, Pa.” Mark nodded.

      Mark began to tell the story of his time in Missouri, frankly admitting that he and Sam visited the still, drinking heavily on several occasions. He described the location clearly and the two McHerlong boys.

      Colleen, Timothy and the lawmen sat quietly. They could all see that there were many aspects of the adventure he was not proud of, but he relayed the details openly and honestly, even including the forward advances by Swallow.

      When he told of the night he had been shot, Mark stumbled over the words, emotional over the loss of his friend.

      “I crawled into the building at the Muldoon’s,” he nodded to Colleen. “I blacked out. I don’t know how long.”

      Colleen began there. She spoke of how she came to find Mark, and what went through her mind when she decided to tell no one that she was harboring him in her barn.

      They took turns after that, willingly relating how Colleen’s father had died, about Lem being shot in the house and then their journey home.

      When they completed their story, Mark took Colleen’s hand and held it briefly to his lips.

      “Thank you,” Timothy said in a hoarse voice. “Thank you for saving Mark’s life.” He nodded to Colleen in genuine appreciation.

      “Well, Tim,” Sheriff Carson said, rising to his feet. “I’ll get all of this to the investigators. If Lem is in the area there they can pick one of them up right away. He may even be at your farm now, Miss Muldoon.”

      The Sheriff thanked them and he and the deputy excused themselves.

      “Goodnight,” Colleen excused herself for bed.

      “Pa,” Mark faced Timothy. “You sent me to Barite to do a job and I handled it badly. I want you to know how sorry I am for that.”

      Timothy took a deep breath. “Yes, you did. But, we can’t change that now. I’ve hired two men to fill the jobs down there and the business is taken care of. Let’s straighten all this out and put it behind us so we can move on.”

      “Thank you, Pa.” Mark reached to shake his father’s hand. Timothy pulled his son to him and hugged him warmly.