Liberating her Captive Heart – Extended Epilogue

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“Oh, Lordy, Lordy, but that child wears me out!” 

With a sigh of relief for the respite, Mia Bennett sank back into the lovely swing which had been erected in the small grove of oak trees just outside the hacienda courtyard. All around lay a scattering of toys, a lightweight wooden cradle complete with blanket and pillow, and a round three-legged table holding fruit, glasses, and a pitcher of sweet tea.

Yesterday’s rain storm had passed through, leaving no damage behind, only clear sunny skies to greet this mild June day and the blessing of needed moisture for the benefit of humans and livestock alike. A fresh breeze occasionally drifted through, twirling oak leaves overhead and bringing with it the combined fragrances of ranch, pasture, and house.

Chuckling, Chris joined her on the swing, laying one arm along the back to slip around her shoulders. “Yeah, the little scamp is a handful, all right. Reckon he takes after his pa. At least you can dump Jesse back onto your sister when he gets to be too rambunctious. But, on the other hand, you wouldn’t get so tired if you weren’t so far along, yourself.”

She shifted to snuggle into the comfort of his embrace. “Bending over is one of the many things I find it almost impossible to do right now.” Still, the pat of her palm upon the swollen mound of her belly resounded with pride rather than discomfort.

His big hand immediately covered hers, fingers splaying to encircle and protect the infant within which had created the mound, and he turned his head to gently kiss her temple. “I reckon one of them things is our nighttime bed sport. Gotta admit I’m missin’ that an awful lot.”

“Oh, you hedonist.” Teasingly, she poked him in the ribs with a very sharp elbow. “It was your nighttime bed sport that put me into this pickle.”

“Huh. Well, you don’t need to be so snippy about it. Seems to me you like it just about as much as I do.” Teasing back, he deliberately sounded miffed.

“Indeed. And just what would make you think that, pray tell?” Mia asked archly.

“B’cause of this.” He shifted to whisper something intimate into her ear. “And this.” Another whisper. “And then, best of all, this.”

At the last whisper, she blushed furiously and gave a whoop of outraged laughter. “Why, Christian Bennett, I am shocked—shocked!—that you might even remotely consider I would consent to such goings-on! I am a lady, I can assure you, and I could never possibly lower myself to—”

“Ahuh.” Before she could move, he had stopped all protest with a swift, demanding, and quite passionate kiss upon her surprised mouth. At the same time, he indulged in some liberties which their marriage certificate had assured him were his right.

Reluctantly released at last, she lay cuddled against his solid chest while he lazily pushed the swing back and forth with one foot. “Oh, Chris.” A great slow sigh, which took in as much air as her pregnancy’s bulk allowed, and a release which encompassed the world.

“I know, darlin’. I know.” His big hand smoothed down her ruffled hair, much as he might soothe a restive horse. “We got us a good life here, don’t we?”

“The best. The absolute best.”

The three years since her arrival at the Rosewood—as a visitor only, she had innocently assumed at the time—had passed by in a blur of happy and not-so-happy memories.

With Chris returned to secure his rightful place as elder son of the ranch, all the missing puzzle pieces had taken their own rightful place. Yet the jigsaw was not yet complete, as new pieces were being added, and more were yet to come.

Chris and Mia had been married in a lovely candlelight ceremony, at her family’s home church in Monmouth, late in October. Although a few present at the wedding had gossiped that the date was shockingly too soon, the couple had refused to wait longer. They were too impatient to be together. This time the whole family from Rosewood had attended, including every last one of the ranch crew, with Longlegs holding an honored position.

The next event had occurred in early March. Abby, whose internal calendar had not completely cooperated with her mental due date, gave birth—after a long and grueling labor during which she threatened to castrate her husband with a dull knife as soon as her travail was finished. Young master Jesse Charles Bennett, a howling red-faced plump little man-child, had burst into the world like a rocket and immediately stolen everyone’s heart. Especially his mother’s.

One autumn evening, nearly a year following Mia’s wedding, her father died peacefully sitting in his favorite rocker before the parlor fire. Once again, traveling by train for the funeral, she blessed whatever spirits had returned her brother, Silas, and his family to the farm so long ago, to provide help and physical support for their aging parents.

Everyone had gathered to mourn the passing of a life well-lived and share in the memories from childhood on: Chris and Mia; Russell and Abby, with toddler Jesse; Silas, of course, and wife Phoebe, with young Austin, now nearly six and quite mature for his age, along with daughter Elsie Louise, who had just reached her second birthday; brother Aaron and his wife Gisela, come from Hadley Holdings with their busy twins named Martin and Matilda.

Even Tousey had joined the Walkers en masse, as escort to Samantha.

All—neighbors, community members, townsfolk—came from far and wide to honor the departed farmer and pay their respects. They offered the widow Ruth any service she might need, and they brought in casserole after casserole, hams, beef roasts, cakes and pies, and any other food a grieving clan might require for all the extra guests staying over.

Since then, Ruth had visited Rosewood twice but had decided not to relocate. Her home was the Walker farm outside of Monmouth, she confided to Mia. She had lived there since her wedding to Charlie, and she simply didn’t feel she could uproot her very being at this stage of her life.

“Looks like things are gettin’ serious with Samantha and her lawman,” Chris commented after a few quiet moments, while both enjoyed a bit of leisure time in the swing and silently reminisced.

“It does, indeed.” Mia yawned. Between the weight of her pregnancy and the heat of the summer day, she was growing sleepier by the moment. At this rate, poor Chris would be forced to manhandle her bulk into their bedroom for a nap.

“Think you can handle another weddin’?”

“I would be delighted. She is truly in love with her Sheriff Hadley, and he’s proven to be quite the catch. Lord knows this has been a long time coming for Sam. I wish her every happiness.”

The hacienda was certainly large enough to hold any number of increased family members. But it might be that soon rooms would be bursting at their seams, and decisions would have to be made as to whether this Bennett would choose to enlarge quarters to accommodate children or that Bennett would choose to simply build another house close by, for space and for privacy.

Samantha, when (not if) her marriage took place, would no doubt settle in town, for the convenience of her new husband’s job.

On the other hand, Tousey, who had lived up to his promise and abstained from the taste of any liquor whatsoever, had taken interest in a widowed lady currently residing in Terefield, whom he had met at a box social. So therein, too, lay the possibility of expansion to the current living arrangements.

“So we got us one nephew here, and now there’s Abby expectin’ again in the next few months. Dang,” Chris expostulated, only partly in jest. “My brother is gettin’ way ahead of me in the kid department, and I’m fallin’ way behind. Howsomever,” he finished up smugly. “I got a late start. No doubt a’tall we can have us another few little varmints runnin’ around right soon.”

“Chris! Will you let me get this one birthed first, before you make plans for more? After seeing what poor Abby endured with Jesse, I’m tempted to do some castrating myself!”

Despite all the time that Chris had been absent, with his father fearing him dead and his siblings fearing even to speak his name, he had quickly re-connected with his family. He had regained his position as elder son and authority, watching over his younger brother and sister just as he had tried to do in childhood. Whatever links between them had been broken were now firmly re-established.

“Oh, Mia,” he bent his head to croon to her, all the while cupping his palm around her cheek. “All that stuff I went through, all the feelin’ of bein’ lost and lonely them bygone years—by gum, I sure never had no idea I’d end up with all of this. And you. I love you, darlin’. You’re my other half, and I love you. Even if you have come down to threatenin’ me with a geldin’ knife.”

“That’s just to keep you in line,” she purred, “and don’t you forget it. And I love you so much that I do believe I’ll just keep you as you are for a while.”

His uproarious burst of laughter was so abrupt, and so loud, that even the burgeoning unborn infant was disturbed. Mia groaned with the length and ferocity of its kicks against her middle.

“Huh,” said Chris, watching the movement with amazement. “Look at that, will you?”

Another groan and a necessary shift of position. “Look at it? Try feeling it, you barbarian.”

Once again he slid one palm flat over the distension. “I am,” he told her softly. The disturbance subsided so that a pallid Mia could breathe more easily. “I got the magic touch,” he bragged.

She smiled. “You do, indeed. For everything, Chris, my dear. For everything.”

This really was an interesting time, he realized with heartfelt gratitude. 

And for darned sure it was going to be an interesting life.

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Grab my new series, "Courageous Hearts of the West", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!

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