Sweet Ceremony by Eliza Ester

Author:Eliza Ester [Ester, Eliza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Majestic Owl Publishing LLC

Six

Ace

The sun was starting to set and Ace was finally done in the field, bringing the herds closer to the house to find shelter against the pending storm. The sky was a deep purple and it spelled out danger.

From time to time, a storm got out of hand and the wrath of wild nature crawled down the mountain to rip through Carson Valley and its surroundings.

Buck was frisky, expecting the change in the weather and rearing up. Ace clicked his tongue, trying to calm the horse. When he got his mount under control, a movement caught his eye and he turned Buck around to see Annabelle walked from the gate toward the farmhouse. His heart warmed when he saw her, but he frowned when she came closer.

Her head was turned down, her face serious, and she walked like a defeated woman, not someone upright and elegant as she always was. He spurred his horse on and rode up to her. She lifted her head at the sound of hooves coming toward her. With her face turned toward him he saw that her cheeks were streaked with tears, her dark eyes watery.

“Annabelle? What’s wrong? What happened?” Ace asked, terrified that he hadn’t been there to take care of the woman he adored.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “Don’t worry about me.”

Ace shook his head and dismounted, sliding down the side of the horse and landing lightly on the ground. He touched Annabelle’s shoulder when she turned away and she stopped, looking at him again.

“Tell me,” he whispered. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to protect her. Something deep and primal inside him had already claimed her as his own and the thought something had upset her upset him just as much.

She took in a deep breath and blew it out again.

“I went into town today,” she said. “Victoria gave me some time off and I thought I would ask around and see what I could find by way of a job.”

Ace frowned. “A job? Why? Are you not happy here at the ranch?”

Annabelle shook her head. “No, on the contrary. I’m more than happy here. With you. Which is why I wanted to get a job. So we could support ourselves.”

Ace blinked at her. What was she saying?

She gave him a slight grin. “You look confused,” she said.

Ace didn’t want to jump to conclusions. He wanted to be sure, to hear it from her lips.

“I wanted a job,” she said, “so we can have enough money to get married.”

It was the first time they had ever spoken about getting married. Ace knew how he felt about her, had known from almost immediately after he’d gotten to know her. Even though she had shown interest, had responded to his advances, he hadn’t been a hundred percent certain about her feelings for him.

“I wasn’t sure if you felt that way about me,” he said. “I didn’t know if it was just me.”

Annabelle shook her head.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.