“I Thought Nobody Would Come,” She Said. The Cowboy Had Ridden All Night to Find Her
Chapter 12
Spring arrived slowly.
The Whitmore farm began to recover.
Samuel helped repair the fences.
Clara reopened the fields.
The old barn received a new roof.
The mill began working again.
And the river crossing became busy with traders.
The land proved more valuable than anyone had imagined.
Clara could have sold it.
Instead, she kept it.
She remembered her father.
One evening, Samuel returned from the western pasture.
Clara was waiting by the fence.
“You’re late.”
“Horse threw a shoe.”
“Which horse?”
“Old Jasper.”
“Again?”
“He has expensive habits.”
She laughed.
Samuel dismounted.
He walked toward her.
“I brought something.”
From his coat, he removed a small wooden box.
Clara opened it.
Inside was a silver ring.
Not elaborate.
Not decorated with jewels.
Simple.
Beautiful.
She looked up.
“What is this?”
“I bought it from a traveling merchant.”
“For whom?”
He smiled.
“You know.”
She looked down at the ring.
“You should ask properly.”
“I was afraid you would say no.”
“I won’t.”
Samuel took the ring.
Then he knelt.
“Clara Whitmore, will you marry me?”
She smiled.
“You rode all night to find me.”
“I did.”
“You fought armed men.”
“I did.”
“You nearly died.”
“That part wasn’t planned.”
She laughed.
Then she held out her hand.
“Yes.”
He slipped the ring onto her finger.
She looked at it.
Then at him.
“I have one condition.”
“What?”
“You never ride all night again without telling me.”
Samuel laughed.
“I cannot promise that.”
“Then I cannot promise to marry you.”
He stood.
“Very well.”
He kissed her forehead.
“I promise.”
But neither of them knew that the hardest part was still ahead.
Because Edmund Harrow’s arrest had not ended the conflict.
It had only revealed the men behind him.
