First Class Male (20 page)

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice strained. “The train is about to leave.”

“Don’t go.” His rock hard coolness broke away. His strong face contoured with grief. The chiseled lines and curves of his mouth compressed, crinkles dug in deep around his eyes. “I’m asking you to get off this train.”

She opened her mouth, not sure what to say. Her first reaction was a firm
no,
because his heart wasn’t ready. What happiness could come from trying? Surely not the kind of happiness they’d found together last night, however brief.

Down the way, the conductor bellowed, “All aboard!”

When she didn’t answer him, Mason’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Pain rippled across his features. True pain. She bowed her head, for she was hurting too.

“I already gave you my reason,” she said gently. Hurting, just hurting, she covered one of his hands with her own.

The contact jolted through her, like lightning striking. He startled, as if he felt the same and his gaze held hers, unflickering, unrelenting.

But this time it was an honest and open gaze, full of pain. Not shuttered, not shielded, but luminous with grief.

“You did reject me,” he agreed with a single nod. His mouth worked, his throat corded. What he’d come to say wouldn’t be easy for him. “And you were right. I have spent the last nine years living for a cause. I didn’t realize it until I was staring an old man in the face, one of the outlaws who were up there on that mountain with you. He’s the one who killed Opal, he’s dead, and I realized it was over. Whatever has been driving me, is gone. You did that. You changed me enough to see it. And I was hoping you might give me a second chance.”

“Oh, Mason.” Tears filled her eyes. Her hand on his began to tremble. “I keep remembering last night.”

“It’s something I will never forget.” He twined his fingers with hers, holding onto her, wishing he could haul her through the window and cradle her in his arms, never let her go. “It was—”

He didn’t have words to describe that all consuming passion, of how he’d let down his guards, let her in. He did have regrets. “The first thing I did come morning was push you out, put up my guard, keep you away. I know that it hurt you, and I’m sorry. More sorry than you will ever know.”

Remorse shadowed him, drew out every bit of light in him. He hung his head, gritting his teeth, angry at himself. Had it cost him his chance with her?

“Yes, that’s exactly what you did. I watched you do it.” She smiled through her tears, so beautiful. Compassionate violet eyes, that cute slope of a nose, her rosebud lips. The breeze caressed the fringe of her bangs and the little wisps that had come loose from her braid. It was hard to believe such a sweet thing had driven him so crazy last night.

“I would go back in time and undo it if I could. If I had the chance to do it over, I wouldn’t push you away. I’d show you exactly how much you mean to me.” His confession rocked him, coming straight from his very core, from his soul. “I want you in my bed every night for the rest of my life. I want to wake up to you every day. I want your love to be my future. I love you Callie, more than I ever thought possible. I never expected to feel this way again, you’ve brought me back to life, and I can’t let you go. Please stay.”

“I wish I could.” Tears shone in her eyes, pooled like liquid silver, wavering, trying not to fall. Pain radiated there, pain he’d given her. That killed him. Absolutely beyond all doubt slayed him to the core.

“But you haven’t grieved, Mason.” She paused while the train gave a shrill series of deafening whistles. One tear brimmed, catching in her lower eyelash, shimmering there, like a lost dream. “You have to give yourself time to do that.”

“I don’t need time.” He was in the middle of grief, it was here, it was now, feeling the passenger car vibrate with the force of the locomotive building up steam and know she was leaving him forever. “I need you. If you go, then it’s you I’ll be grieving. Don’t do that to me. Stay, and I’ll give you my heart. I’ll love you the way you deserve. Don’t leave me. I’m begging you.”

“Oh, Mason.” Tears spilled down her cheeks as the train inched away, tearing them apart.

“I love you, I’ll love you forever,” he said, not knowing if she could hear him over the sound of the engine. Then she was gone, the passenger cars crept by him, and he was alone on the platform.

Losing her was too great of a sorrow to bear. He took a few steps back, all he could manage with his knees threatening to give out. Pain scored him like a dozen whips lashing him from the inside. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move. All he could do was to stand fighting the waves of pain, of grief. He’d given Callie his heart last night up on that mountain, and now he’d lost her forever. How was he going to go on without her?

“Mason!” Her voice—Callie’s—lifted on the wind.

His head whipped up and he blinked. He couldn’t believe his eyes. She stood on the last car’s little walkway, clutching the caboose’s railing in one hand, her satchel in the other. The conductor standing in the doorway behind her was shouting at her to come inside.

Tears streamed down her face, but it was the hope in her smile, in the shine of her eyes that had him running for her at full speed. Joy beat through him, growing brighter and stronger with each step. When he reached out for her, she jumped into his arms. Her satchel landed with a thud on the platform and she wrapped herself around him, laughing and happy, tears wet on her face.

“I’m going to love you forever too,” she said, that love written on her face, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She tipped her head back, as if needing to drink in the sight of him. “So, I changed my mind about your proposal. Mariel suggested that I should, and I’m going to take her excellent advice. Yes, I’ll marry you, Mason Greer.”

“Just the answer I was hoping for.” He eased her down slowly, along the length of his body, her softness against his hardness. That made his blood heat. “Because I want to marry you—really marry you. I intend to make you the happiest, best loved bride in all of Montana Territory.”

“I like the sound of that.” Her smile turned enchanting. “After last night, I have a few ideas on how you might go about making me happy.”

“Well, I’d see it as a sworn duty.” Laughing, he leaned in, kissed her smile, and they melded together, body and soul. In the distance, the train whistled again, behind them at the edge of the platform the ticket window closed with a thud, and the sounds of town faded away until there was only their kiss, only their love. Their love that would last forever.

Three weeks later

“Do you think this marriage is a good idea?” Emma Carpenter asked from the upstairs bedroom in Mariel’s boardinghouse. Temperate mid-day breezes swept through the open window, sending the lace curtains dancing and ruffling the hem of the new butter colored dress Callie wore for her wedding.

“Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?” Callie asked, amused, as she slipped one more hairpin into the elaborate knot of hair Abby had fixed for her. She eyed her reflection in the mirror, pink cheeks, sparkling eyes, wide smile. Yep, she looked like a woman ready to marry the man of her dreams. Not to mention, she was really looking forward to the wedding night. Mason had hinted that he had great plans. Just the kind of thing a girl could look forward to.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t she want to marry a man that makes her grin like that?” Abby gestured at the mirror, toward Callie’s beaming grin. “I wouldn’t mind finding me a man that made me that satisfied.”

“I highly recommend it,” Callie teased, turning to face her sisters scattered around the room. Emma stood by the wardrobe, as if she were hoping Callie might change her mind and would therefore be in need of a different dress. Abby leaned one elbow on the top of the bureau, bubbling with excitement. Maggie slouched in the rocking chair by the window, leaning forward with interest in case the conversation suddenly turned to sex. And Dee sprawled out on the bed, chin propped in both hands.

“And just what would you recommend?” Maggie asked, desperately wanting to know. “Surely not just a nice man to marry, but good sex too?”

“Sounds like a good combination to me.” Abby waggled her brows. “Callie, I noticed you sneaking back into the room last night, or should I say early this morning?”

“It was in the wee hours,” Maggie agreed.

“Gee, I wonder where she was?” Dee asked not so innocently. “I think Emma is scandalized.”

“Scandalized, horrified, embarrassed to think my own sister is acting in such a way.” Emma had turned bright red, and pulled herself up to her full height, her back painfully straight. “But your reputation aside, Callie, I’m not sure you should marry a man who has such an influence on you.”

“Oh, I think she should,” Maggie spoke up. “I’d like to be influenced like that myself.”

“Now see what you’ve done?” Emma rolled her eyes, palms up in a gesture of helplessness. “I have been trying to instill in all of you a strong sense of propriety and uprightness, and Callie, you are encouraging your sisters with your wild behavior.”

“Sometimes wild, sometimes sweet.” Callie blushed, while her other three sisters giggled uproariously. “Just depends on Mason’s mood at the time.”

A knock rapped at the door, interrupting the laughter. Mariel bobbed in, red curls tumbling out beneath her dove gray hat. “Goodness, you girls are in a good mood, which is just the thing as it’s time to start. Callie, your groom is waiting downstairs.”

“I’m ready.” She was
so
ready. She lifted her skirts so she wouldn’t trip on them in her rush for the door. Her sisters trailed behind her in the hall. Nerves popped in Callie’s stomach and joy make it hard for her feet to stay fully on the floor as she followed Mariel down the staircase.

The past three weeks had been the happiest of Callie’s life. Spending time with Mason, shopping in town for things to make his cute little cottage homey and making love with him in the sweet summer nights. He’d been true to his word, he’d opened his heart to her completely. Nothing could be as remarkable as the chance to spend her life with him.

“Callie.” He stood in the center of Mariel’s flower garden, all in black, his Stetson set at a low angle. His blue eyes fastened on hers, and without words, she could hear all that he wanted to say. All the love he had for her, the gratitude, and his dreams for them. The memory of his touch last night, of how they’d clung together, lost in their love, burned there too. Oh, it was going to be a great life. A very great and blissful life.

He held out his hand to take hers, pulling her to his side like a man determined to keep her there, like a man committed to her one thousand percent.

“You are beautiful,” he breathed, his voice raw with emotion. “My beautiful Callie.”

Before she could answer, the minister started in. “Dearly beloved,” and her heart soared. Mason
was
her beloved, the man she cherished above all, her dream come true.