"I can read your mind, that's what," he said. "And I am glad to see that I'm included in your dilemma."
"If you can see my problem, then why are you laughing?"
"Kathryn, my love, I'm going to take care of you."
"I can take care of myself!" she said angrily, trying to twist away from him, but he held her fast.
"Yes, I can see that you can take care of yourself. You, Jeremy, and now my son are starving. You also have, or had, actually, lawmen and bounty hunters chasing you."
"What do you mean, had?"
"I got rid of them. I got a judge to sign papers clearing your name."
"And how did you do that?" she asked with tight lips. "Pay them?"
"No, I hauled half a dozen witnesses before him and they told him the truth. The judge knew jealousy and revenge when he heard it."
"But the posters--"
"Gone. I got rid of them. Oh, there may be a few about here and there, but for the most part they've been destroyed. Now, are you going to listen to what I have planned for your future?"
Kathryn started to say that her future was her own to plan, but she was too tired to fight any longer. The last six months had been too horrible for her to survive. A pregnant woman with no husband is not employable.
"We will be married," Cole said, then paused to see if she was going to protest. When she said nothing, he continued.
"Then we're going back to Legend and celebrate Christmas."
"Christmas?" she said. "In the middle of the summer?"
"Zachary and I decided to wait until we could share it with you and Jeremy, so the tree and the gifts and all the decorations are just as you left them."
"Oh my," Kathryn said. "By now that tree is--"
"The size of a redwood," Cole said in disgust. "Remember that you wouldn't let anyone chop it down. Instead you had the men dig it up and put it in a pot, and now the thing seems to like living indoors. Zach's last letter said that they'd had to stick the top of the tree out the window or it would have gone through the roof. And half of those little bells you and the boys put on it have grown into the wood. When we get it planted again, it's going to be one funny- looking tree."
Kathryn couldn't help laughing.
Snuggling her closer to him, Cole continued. "I've had a long talk with my grandmother Ruth, and she's going to move back to Legend for the next few years and start closing the place down."
"How can you close a town down?"
"Better to do that than to have it die overnight when the mines give out. She's going to find places for the residents to live."
"But--"
"Why is she doing that?" Cole asked. "My grandmother is very strange about the town of Legend."
"As you are."
"Yes, I guess I am. I've always felt that I owed it something. My grandmother feels the same way, so she's going to take over my job. There isn't much left to do before the silver is gone, but she'll see to it."
"And what are you going to do?" Kathryn asked hesitantly.
"Zachary and I are going to Ireland to live with you and Jeremy, of course," he said as though there were no other choice. "The boy has to learn how to run an estate properly, and I don't think that aunt of his is going to teach him. Besides, with her turn of mind I'd be afraid the cinch on Jeremy's horse would be cut and his neck would be broken."
At that, Kathryn's hands clenched on his. "Then I can't--"
"Yes, you can," Cole said, cutting her off as he turned her in his arms and lifted her chin up so he could look into her eyes. "You and I together can do anything," he said softly, his lips against hers. "Let me take care of you, Kathryn. Please. Let me take care of you and Jeremy, and in return you can take care of us. Zachary and I need you. We need you desperately. Will you let us take care of you and protect you?" He smiled against her lips. "And this child. Will you let me take care of him?"
"Her," Kathryn said, smiling in return. "I think she's a her."
"Whatever," Cole said, as he kissed her, and after that he didn't ask any more questions. Sometime during the night he thought he heard Kathryn say, "Yes," but he wasn't sure.
When the dawn made the sky pink, he pulled her into his arms, both of them sated with lovemaking, happy to be together again, and Cole smiled just before he fell asleep. Ireland, he thought. What was it like? But, truthfully, it didn't really matter because he and Kathryn and the children would make a home wherever they were.
"I love you," he whispered into her hair. "And from now on you'll be safe."
He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Kathryn murmur sleepily, then he heard no more as he fell asleep with his arms about her.
Christmas Magic by Margaret Allison
Chapter One
Kim leaned back in her chair and studded the abstract oil painting in front of her. Strong bold red lines accented a deep green background. She picked up her paintbrush and hesitated. She tilted her head, as though trying to get a different perspective. She had been working on this painting for months, but she just couldn't finish it. The painting needed something. Unfortunately, she was having trouble determining what it was lacking.
Frustrated, she set her brush back down and glanced out the window. The house she rented was small and old, but the location had made her fall in love with it immediately. It was perched on a small grassy hill overlooking a large stretch of beach in Hudson, Florida. She walked over to the window and opened it, allowing a warm breeze to flow through the room. It was November twenty-seventh, the day before Thanksgiving, but the temperature gave no indication that winter was right around the corner.