A Bride by Arrangement by Vanessa Lee

Author:Vanessa Lee [Lee, Vanessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-10T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Darren and Justine strolled down the main street in town, enjoying their walk. People smiled and waved at them as they made their way through the center of the pretty town. After a night of passionate lovemaking, they had woken up starving. They had washed, dressed, and dined on a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and ham in the dining hall of the inn.

Darren felt pride as he looked down at his new wife. The pretty lavender dress she was wearing added to the loveliness of her beautiful features. He had requested this color to the innkeeper’s wife the day before, when she had paid a visit to the boutique on his behalf. It was the color that he had first seen Justine wearing. He still found her to be highly enchanting. Darren had known from the first time he saw her that she was special. Since that time, he had grown to care for her a great deal.

While he did want to develop an intimate relationship with his wife, Darren knew that he had to remain focused on his work at Campbell-Wellington Industries. Thankful that he had an income and now a manor to maintain, he would take every step necessary to ensure that his home was not taken away from him again. Darren shuddered as the thought back to that night on his home in the Americas.

Having felt his shudder, Justine asked, “What is it, husband?”

He broke from his thoughts to gaze down at her, “Just an old memory coming back to haunt me, love.”

She squeezed his arm. “You can tell me your memory, if you like,” she said. “It is my duty as your wife to help you work through all of your troubles.”

Darren chuckled at her enthusiasm. He was pleased that she was now taking an interest in his life. He supposed he should tell her about the raid. She was bound to find out sooner, or later.

“On the night that we met, I had only just returned from the Americas,” he said.

Justine nodded. “Did you not like it there?”

Darren shrugged. “What I liked was the possibility of making my own way. With some help, I built my own cabin, barn, and farm. I plowed the fields and planted seeds. I hired farm hands who lived in the area. It was a nice life.” Looking down, he said, “It is also a country that is recovering from war, and in many ways, is still at war. I had known the dangers. The local government, the soldiers, the Natives. However, the opportunity that I might make it through called to me.” He paused.

Justine patted his arm reassuringly. “I don’t blame you for following your calling.”

He nodded. “It was a great adventure in a beautiful territory. The sense of freedom that I experienced was like nothing that I had ever known. Until one night, after we had all retired for the evening, we were attacked by a group of savages that had been watching the farm. I managed to escape to the woods, hidden by the smoke from my burning cabin.

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