Chapter Forty-four

Nicole was elbow deep in bread dough, learning from Hallie the best way to make it from scratch, when Cavanaugh and Jamison walked in. Nicole could tell instantly by the drawn expression on Cavanaugh's face and the tension in his shoulders that something serious had happened with Jamison, "I'll have to finish my lesson later," she said with an apologetic smile at Hallie.

The little red head nodded, "Of course. You seem to be a natural anyway," she replied.

Nicole went to Cavanaugh and he took her hand and headed toward the door, "I'm getting us a room at the hotel. We'll be back for dinner," he stated and then they left.

Cavanaugh didn't speak as he led Nicole to the hotel. He told the clerk to put the room on a tab for Cavanaugh McEllis, explaining that he was Jamison's brother and the clerk nodded and sent them up to the third floor and an empty room.

Once Nicole and Cavanaugh were locked alone inside, Cavanaugh turned and pulled her into his arms. He pressed his lips to hers and devoured her mouth, stealing her breath and her senses. With a speed and a desperate hunger that Nicole had never felt from him before Cavanaugh began stripping her clothes from her body, not seeming to notice when fabric tore and buttons popped. Nicole matched his ferocity, and soon they were both naked and hot and he was throwing her down on the bed.

Cavanaugh lost himself in her heated touches and hungry kisses and took her hard and fast, lasting only moments before toppling over the edge of release and burying his face in her neck.

"I'm sorry," he whispered with shame when he realized he hadn't even taken the time to make sure she found release as well. He'd just been so desperate to have her. So desperate to feel himself inside of her that he really hadn't given any thought to what she would want and need.

"For what?" Nicole gasped as she struggled to calm down her heart beneath him.

"For not taking my time," he admitted. "And for using you to burn off some stress and anger that I still had burning inside. I shouldn't have done that."

"Cavanaugh, I'm your woman. That's what I'm for. And just so you know, I am more than satisfied," she assured him as she ran her fingers through his unruly blond hair.

Cavanaugh sighed and moved off of her, curling on his side and pulling her body against him. A few weeks ago Nicole would have been mortified to be naked in the broad daylight with a mans' eyes roaming over her every flaw, but not now. Not with this man.

"What did Jamison show you?" Nicole asked after several moments of quiet.

Cavanaugh's fingers paused for a moment in their caress of her bare arm but they quickly started back, "He found the men responsible for what happened to my family."

Nicole rose up on her elbow so she could look at him more easily, "He did?" she asked with surprise. "Where are they?"

"Dead," Cavanaugh replied coldly. "I killed them both." Nicole's eyes widened and Cavanaugh searched them for disgust but found none. Instead they were shining with approval.

"Good. They deserved it after what they took from you. Did they at least tell you why?"

"Maxwell Crenshaw wanted my land. I wouldn't sell it so he hired Van, a ranch hand, to come kill my family and run me off."

"Over land? They killed them over land?"

"Yes," Cavanaugh ground out between clenched teeth.

"I'm so sorry, Cavanaugh."

"It's over now," he replied as he held her tighter. He let out a long breath, "My family can finally rest."

Nicole nodded and snuggled closer to him. They lay this way for a long time and then Nicole felt Cavanaugh's fingers roaming toward her chest. She turned to provide him better access and moaned as they expertly teased and heated her.

"Cavanaugh?" Nicole asked breathlessly, she knew he couldn't possibly be ready again this quickly.

He grinned and lowered his mouth to her breast, nipping at the swollen nipple, "I'm going to take care of you, Nicole, like I should have done when we first came in here." Nicole just moaned and buried her hands in his hair. She wasn't about to tell the man no.

As they lay together nearly an hour later, Nicole's body feeling much like jello as she lay limply on the soft feather tick mattress, Cavanaugh suddenly cleared his throat and sat up. Nicole frowned and laid her hand on his back, finding that's the most movement she could muster.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I love you," he replied.

"I love you too.... What's wrong?" she repeated.

Cavanaugh turned to look down at her, "I never thought I'd love again, Nicole. Never thought I'd find someone that would make me want to but I found her and I don't wanna lose her."

"Unless the Lord takes me away Cavanaugh, I'm not going anywhere," Nicole replied. She knew better than to tell him she wasn't going anywhere no matter what because both of them knew that tragedies sometimes happened.

"Marry me. Be my wife. Let me claim you for the entire world to know you're mine," Cavanaugh was nervous but when he saw the happy smile that lit up Nicole's beautiful face, he knew the answer was going to be yes.

Suddenly she launched herself off the mattress and threw her arms around his neck, "Yes, Cavanaugh. Yes, I want to marry you!" Cavanaugh kissed her hair and held her tight. "I think it's a good thing you want to marry me," Nicole admitted as she pulled away and then bit her lip.

"Why?" Cavanaugh asked suspiciously.

"Because you were right at the festival... I am carrying your child."

"You are?" Cavanaugh asked as his blue eyes filled with shock.

"Yes. I asked Mary just to be sure and she said we're going to have a healthy baby girl."

Nicole nearly cried out with a mixture of fear and shock when Cavanaugh suddenly leapt from the bed and yanked her up with him. He wrapped his arms around her, lifted her feet from the ground and spun her around and around as he laughed happily. Nicole was dizzy when he finally stopped spinning and she clung to his arms for support when he sat her on her feet.

"I guess you're happy?" she asked with a smile.

"Happy?!" he exclaimed. "Dammit, woman, I've never been happier about anything! I thought my life was over not too long ago and now I've got an amazingly strong woman who is going to be my wife and we're going to have a daughter!"

"Yes and your fiancée is going to be sick if you keep bouncing me so much!" she warned him. Cavanaugh quickly released her and went over to a pitcher of drinking water on the nightstand. He poured her a glass and handed it to her.

Nicole took a long drink and then made a face when it wasn't cold, "Guess I have to get used to that." she muttered before taking another drink.

"It's cold when it's fresh from a well, I promise." he assured her. "How does a hot bath before we go back to Hallie's for dinner sound?"

"Can we get new clothes sent up too?" Nicole asked with a grin as she looked at their own torn outfits on the ground.

Cavanaugh nodded and she thought he looked proud, "Yeah."

"Well then that sounds great, cowboy. If I hadn't already agreed to marry you, then I'd ask you to marry me," she replied as she laid back down and covered herself with the feather soft quilt.

Cavanaugh let out a deep rumbling chuckle, "And I'd say yes, ma'am. I'd say yes."

***

Ian saw that Madeline was plenty entertained as she and Hallie went about rolling out the pie crust, so he took Leslie by the arm and led her out onto the porch.

"Ian, I wanted to see how she makes that pie," Leslie complained.

Ian shrugged, "You're women, I'm sure you'll make another one tomorrow." he replied and this earned him a sharp look. "I just want to make sure that you know I love you."

"I know," Leslie assured him.

"And what's her name..."

"Gretchen?" Leslie supplied, even though he hadn't asked.

He managed a small smile as he swallowed hard and nodded, "Right, Gretchen. Well she doesn't mean anything."

"Just one of the many innocent young girls you came, saw and conquered?" Leslie asked dryly.

Ian nodded, "Yes." Then he frowned. "No." His brow furrowed. "I mean.. I don't know. There really isn't a right answer to that question is there?"

"No there's not," Leslie replied honestly. "And I'm not mad. Just so long as there are no new Gretchen's being conquered by my man from now on."

"Husband." Ian amended.

Leslie's eyes widened, "Huh?" she asked.

"I want to be your husband." Leslie just stared at him and Ian laughed to hide his nervousness. "Come on, after all that sappy stuff I said in the clouds you can't really say no." Still Leslie said nothing. "I died for you, doesn't that show how much I love you?"

"I... You want to be my husband?" Leslie demanded with disbelief.

Ian nodded, "Of course I do."

"I won't share you, Ian McEllis. You sure you can be faithful?"

Ian snorted, "I'm sure. I wouldn't ask you to be my wife if I wasn't sure."

Leslie smiled and then nodded as she put her arms around his neck, "Of course I'll marry you, Ian. I just wanted to see you squirm a little."

Ian shook his head and pulled her body flush against his, "That's mean, woman."

"You'll be okay." she assured him and Ian chuckled before capturing her lips with his own.

"Aww, I think it's love."

Ian pulled away from Leslie and looked over at his brother and Nicole walking hand in hand up the porch steps.

"You doing okay?" Ian asked Cavanaugh. Jamison had shared the abridged version of what had happened at the jail with everyone.

"I'm doing better than okay. I'm getting married," Cavanaugh replied with a bright smile.

Ian grinned, "What a coincidence, so am I."

"That's great," Nicole exclaimed happily. "I'm so happy for you, Leslie. You and Maddy deserve to have a man like Ian in your lives."

"What the devil did they do that was so bad?" Jamison asked with a grin as he joined them.

"Haha, big brother," Ian muttered. "You can't bring me down today, I'm flying too high."

"Not as high as I'm flying," Cavanaugh countered. He put his hand over Nicole's stomach and the life that was growing there and both Ian and Jamison could see the pride shining in his eyes. "I'm going to be a husband and a father."

Hugs and loud congratulations were quickly given, drawing everyone else out onto the porch which in turn led to even more congratulations and hugs.

"We'll have to have a quadruple wedding." Hallie stated as they all sat down at the table.

"Quadruple? Honey, we're already married." Jamison reminded her. Hallie squared her tiny shoulders and glared at him, "As I recall we didn't have much of a wedding. You threw me over your shoulder, bossed me into marrying you, yelled at the preacher and that was it."

"Nothing is ever good enough for a woman," Jamison muttered and this earned him sharp glares from the four women currently at the table. Madeline simply asked Ian for more mashed potatoes which he was more than happy to give her.

Jamison sighed, "Fine. A quadruple wedding it'll be," he finally relented.

"Nicole and I gotta work on finding a place to settle down," Cavanaugh said as he stuck a bite of steak into his mouth. "I don't have too long either now that I know a baby is coming."

"You could always go back home, Cav. You own Crenshaw's entire spread now too. You own well over two thousand acres."

"Back...." Cavanaugh's voice trailed off and he looked down at his plate. He was aware of Nicole's hand coming under the table and squeezing his own. He swallowed hard and nodded.

Going home is what he needed. He was ready. He may have lost Leah and the children he had shared with her but he was starting a new life with Nicole. While he would always miss some little things about Leah and he would always mourn for his children, he was no longer afraid to go back to that house and go on with his life.

"That sounds like a good idea. But what the hell am I supposed to do with all that land? And how in the hell did you get Crenshaw to sign it over to me?"

"The men in the land office are friends of mine and Crenshaw wasn't in much of a position to argue," Jamison replied with a shrug before shoving a bite of potatoes in his mouth. Hallie nodded as she remembered just how violently Jamison had punched Crenshaw's face in order to get the man to see things his way.

"I don't want his land, Jamison. You can have it."

Jamison shook his head, "Hallie and I are staying in Dodge. She's got her business and I'm thinking of becoming a deputy."

"That's a step down from U.S. Marshall isn't it?" Ian asked.

Jamison nodded, "Yeah, but I would earn a decent salary and I wouldn't have to leave Hallie."

"Well then we can split up Crenshaw's property between Andrew and Ian. They'll need room and a place to live."

"It'll be nice to know we have a place to go but I think I'm gonna try to make my livelihood as a gambler pay off," Andrew said.

Bethany smiled, "Do I have what it takes to be a gambler's woman?" Andrew grinned and kissed her cheek, smiling when he realized he'd gotten potatoes on it, "You have what it takes to be my woman." he replied as it wiped it clean with his knuckle.

"Who would have thought that us McEllis boys would all be talking about settling down?" Ian asked with a smile as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands over his stuffed stomach.

"I for one never figured you would," Jamison admitted.

"Stranger things have happened, darling." Hallie reminded him. "After all, I never thought you'd pull your head out of your ass and marry me once and now you're going to marry me for a second time."

***

The wedding was a simple but beautiful affair on the outskirts of Dodge City as each McEllis brother was joined to the woman that had tamed or healed him.

When it ended it was with sad farewells that everyone went their separate ways but this parting had a silver lining. The brothers had all agreed that Christmas would be spent together in Virginia with Cavanaugh and Ian and their families. Never again would they let eleven years pass without all gathering together.

"It's gonna need some work," Ian said as their nearly three week long wagon trip came to an end and they came to Cavanaugh's old house.

Nicole glanced over at Cavanaugh and saw that he was tense and his face was a battleground of sadness and determination, "Too bad Andrew didn't come with us. As energetic as he is we could have it fixed up in no time," she said, trying to stay light hearted and cheerful to ease Cavanaugh's tension.

Really the house was charming and beautiful. It was more than the ramshackle cabin she'd been expecting. The white paint was peeling and faded and the black shutters were sun baked. There were weeds growing up through the porch beams but she could already imagine what it would look like fixed up. There were two barns, a woodshed, corrals and what Nicole assumed was a smokehouse.

"I would love to have a bath." Leslie said as she wiped sweat and dirt from the back of her neck. The weather was turning colder but being under the sun for the last few weeks on a wagon had been hard. Especially for the women and Maddy who were still trying to adjust to the lack of technology.

"The river is behind the house," Cavanaugh replied and there was a tone in his voice that let everyone know he wanted them to go to the river and leave him alone while he went inside the house.

"I miss indoor plumbing," Leslie sighed as Ian lifted her from the wagon and sat her on her feet.

"Don't worry, Leslie," he said. "From what Jamison said we'll have servants at our house and they'll make sure you get a hot bath whenever you want one."

"Servants?" Madeline gasped as Ian helped her down as well. "Does that mean I'll be a princess?"

"If you want to be," Ian replied with a grin. "Thought I don't know the first thing about running a big operation like that."

"I already said I'll help you work it and run it," Cavanaugh stated. "I just don't want to live there."

"Alright, well let's walk back there and at least clean the dirt off our faces." Leslie said as she took Madeline by the hand and walked around the house with Ian on her heels.

Nicole was going to follow them and began to walk away but Cavanaugh grabbed her arm, "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I was going to let you have privacy," she replied honestly.

"No, I need you." he admitted and Nicole nodded and took his hand in hers.

They walked up onto the porch and Nicole saw that Cavanaugh's hand was shaking as he opened the door and they stepped into a living room. The couch and end tables were covered in dust and it was clear the stone fireplace hadn't been used in a long time, but Nicole thought it was beautiful.

"There are three bedrooms upstairs, one bedroom that way, the living room, the kitchen and the cellar is under the house through a door in the kitchen and then there's another entrance outside."

"I love it." Nicole replied. Cavanaugh took her on a tour, showing her the bedrooms and Nicole saw that as they went it got easier on him, until it was time to go into the kitchen.

Cavanaugh wasn't sure what he had expected to find when he walked into the kitchen, into the place where his family had been murdered. He supposed he thought he'd find blood, or bodies, or some other reminder but there was nothing. Just the dusty wooden floor, stone countertops that Leah had insisted on having and the wooden table and chairs that Cavanaugh had spent weeks building for her.
"Anything you want changed, we can change," he assured Nicole as she looked around. He knew that women were territorial over their kitchens.

"Could you build some sort of rack here to hang pots and pans on?" she asked and Cavanaugh nodded. "And maybe an island right here for more counter space." Nicole added as she pointed to a spot toward the middle of the room. She wanted this room to look different from what Cavanaugh would remember. She wanted it to be theirs and maybe then he wouldn't be so haunted when he entered it.

"Of course," he promised as he took her in his arms and kissed her temple.

He laid his hand on her stomach and smiled, "How's my girl?"

"Ready for a nap," Nicole replied with a sheepish yawn.

"We have to take Ian and Leslie to their house." he reminded her. "And we'll probably have to stay there a few days until we get this place cleaned up and fit to live in. It gets cold at night and I don't even trust to build a fire in any of the fireplaces just yet."

"Mansion with servants, right?" Nicole asked as Cavanaugh led her outside.

"That's right."

"Hot baths drawn up at my command?"

"Yep."

Nicole moaned and closed her eyes, "I may be visiting them quite often."

Cavanaugh laughed and he swore he could hear his children and Leah laughing as well. He was home and he was happy and he had a feeling that his old family were happy for him too.