A Wife by Christmas (12 page)

Uncle Jesse had come to pick her up, unusually quiet during the ride to his house. “Everything going all right with you, Ellie?” His warm eyes and familiar smile had her on the brink of tears. Many times as a child and young girl, he would pull her into his arms and comfort her when life had handed her the short end of the stick. If only he could do that now. This time there was no comfort from her heartache.

As always, most of the family had gathered at Tori and Jesse’s house for Christmas. The last to arrive, Ellie spent the first few minutes hugging and being hugged by the large group. Her big brother Michael and his wife Heidi were there with their baby, Madeline, her sister, Rachel, and her husband, Rusty, his daughter, Amelia, and Rachel’s son, Zander as well. Rachel and Heidi both sported full bellies. Two more little ones on the way. Hunter, her brother only a year older, left a hole in the happy gathering, since as a Federal Marshal he spent all his time on the road. They hadn’t seen him in over two years.

And, of course, the four Cochran cousins added to the chaos. She smiled as Jesse’s gaze roamed around the room with pride at his clan. Her uncle cherished his family, and everyone knew it. Ellie sighed as he put his arm around Tori’s shoulders, and then dragged her to the doorway where the mistletoe hung and gave her a rounding kiss.

Exchange of gifts always the first order of business, soon the room filled with the sounds of laughter and exclamations of thanks and appreciation. Large scraps of wrapping paper and ribbons adorned the floor. Madeline crawled among the discards, laughing her baby giggle at the excitement in the air.

Jesse stood, wearing the new sweater Tori had given him. “All right everyone, we have only about another half hour until dinner, so let’s get this place cleaned up.”

The Cochran cousins bagged up the wrapping paper, and Rachel, Ellie, and Heidi refilled the apple cider bowl, and arranged the opened gifts neatly under the tree. Ellie never heard the doorbell, or knew another person had entered the house until she felt the cold air rush in from outside.

“Merry Christmas.” Jesse’s voice boomed down the hallway.

“Merry Christmas to you too, sir.”

Ellie stilled, her heart in her throat. The voice she couldn’t get out of her head, no matter how hard she’d tried. Still on her knees in front of the Christmas tree, she turned. Max stood next to Jesse, a tenuous smile on his face as he looked at her.

“Glad you could join us, Max.” Jesse slapped him on the shoulder.

“Thank you. I appreciated the invitation.” He continued to stare at Ellie as he spoke.

She rose from her place on the floor and approached the two men. “Why are you here?”

“Merry Christmas, Ellie.”

“No you don’t. This isn’t going to work.” She backed away. “Excuse me.” She turned and fled to the kitchen, and threw herself into Tori’s arms. “I don’t want him here. Make him leave.”

Why was he here? Didn’t she make it plain she didn’t want to see him? If he came to apologize and be ‘friends,’ he could forget it. Her heart couldn’t take it. She needed to stay as far away from Max as she could. Maybe she should quit her job and move far away.

Tori eased away from her. “Now Ellie. Max is a guest in our home. I’m not going to ask him to leave.” She smoothed her hair back. “Whatever problems exist must be worked out between the two of you. Since when does Ellie Henderson run away?”

Ellie wiped her eyes and nose on the handkerchief Rachel handed her, and took a deep breath. “You’re right. I don’t run,” she said with an indigent sniff and left the kitchen. She would deal with him once and for all. Then continue on with her life plan. If only she could remember it.

Jesse and Max were in Jesse’s office with the door closed. She wandered back into the parlor and took Madeline from Heidi and settled herself on the couch with the baby. Could this Christmas get much worse? She kissed the top of the baby’s head, and then rubbed her cheek over the soft silky hair.

Slowly, the others drifted into the room, as if waiting for something. She caught a definite gleam in Tori’s eyes when she looked at her, and Heidi and Rachel exchanged mirthful glances.

Uncle Jesse and Max entered the room together. Ellie’s heart sped up, and her stomach clenched. Max stared at her from the moment he entered the room. Slowly he walked across the room. Heidi reached for the baby and sat on the chair next to the fireplace, leaving a wide-open space for Max.

He sat next to her and took her hand. She pulled it back. He took it again. She pulled it back again. Rachel giggled.

Max cleared his throat, forcing her to look at him. “Ellie, I have something to say, and I want your whole family to hear it.”

“I have nothing to say to
you
, Mr. Colbert.”

Max glanced at Jesse, who nodded encouragement.

He took her hand again, and it appeared they would play tug of war. He held her hand and gripped her elbow to keep her from pulling back. “Ellie, you’ve turned my whole world upside down. My life plan is out the window, and I’m not sure what’s up and what’s down.”

“I know all this,
Mr. Colbert
.” Heat rose from her middle and traveled to her face. Her jaw tightened and she fisted her hands. “I’m an annoyance, trouble, and a disaster waiting to happen. I’m in your way, you would love to get me out of your school, and you hate everything about me.” She raised her chin. “Does that about cover it?”

His lips moved into a slow smile. “No. I
love
everything about you, and I love
you
.” He slid onto one knee in front of her.

Tori sniffed, and Jesse dropped his arm around her shoulders, and tugged her to his side.

“Ellie Henderson. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

She sat there, stunned. This man, the proudest man she’d ever met, was on his knee in front of her entire family proposing marriage. A giggle started deep inside her and she covered her mouth to keep it in. She bent toward him and whispered, “Get up, everyone is watching.”

“I know,” he whispered back. “That’s what I planned.”

“You look silly. Get off the floor.”

“Not until you say yes,” he said, his voice still a whisper.

“What about the superintendent job, and the hours you need to spend traveling. Your desire to remain single?”

“I just asked Senator Cochran to remove my name from the list. I don’t want any job that would keep me from you.” He smiled that lopsided grin, and her heart did a double time thump. “Besides, I tremble at the thought of the trouble you would get into with me not here.” He raised her hands to his mouth and kissed them.

“What about your plan to marry me off to one of your horrible friends?”

“Merely a lapse of judgment.” His face softened. “I could never stand to watch another man walk off with you. You are
mine.
I’m just sorry it took me so long to realize it. Well? What do you say?”

“I say you need to get off the floor.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Answer me, Ellie.”

“If I say yes, will you get up?”

“Perhaps.”

She studied him for a moment. “Okay. Yes!” she shouted and threw her arms around him, knocking them both to the floor. The impossible had happened. The very stern, very rigid Max Colbert had put his life plan aside to marry the crazy and troublesome Ellie Henderson. Her heart soared.

Cheers and laughter erupted around the room as they rolled on the floor. Max gave her an enthusiastic kiss and helped her up.

“One more thing.” He placed her on the couch and sat alongside her. He slid his hand into his jacket pocket and took out a ring. “This belonged to my mother. It was left to me when she died. Since you’re so much like her, I’d like you to wear it as an engagement ring.” He slipped the gold ring with a ruby stone onto her finger. It fit perfectly.

“Dinner is served,” Tori announced, blotting her eyes with the corner of her apron. Hugs and congratulations followed the noisy group to the dining room. Max held Ellie back.

“Now that we’re alone, I want to properly kiss my future wife.” He cupped her face in his hands and gently kissed her. When she moaned, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, deepening the kiss. He reluctantly pulled away. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Dinner’s getting cold.” Jesse leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, grinning at the two of them.

Ellie eyed the mounds of dirty dishes and partially filled serving plates and bowls scattered around the long table. The baby slept in Heidi’s lap, and eleven-year-old Benjamin sat on Jesse’s lap playing thumb war with his papa. Tori looked as though she could use a nap, as did the two pregnant ladies. The end of a perfect Christmas dinner.

She turned to Max, her eyes sparkling. “Do you really love me?”

He placed his arm around the back of her chair and smiled. “Ellie, believe me, I really love you.”

She looked at him from underneath lowered eyelashes. “I can think of a way you can prove it.”

“Isn’t giving up the superintendent’s job enough?”

“Um. It helps. But I can think of another way.”

“How?”

She sat forward on her seat, smiling brightly. “Let me drive your automobile.”

Max’s face leeched all color. He looked quickly from face to face, catching quite a few smiles. His shoulders slumped, and he swallowed convulsively. Reaching into his pocket, he slowly pulled out the goggles he’d shoved in there earlier, and handed them to her.

“I love you, Ellie Henderson.”

For more of the Henderson family,

follow Tori’s story in

A Run For Love

Feisty school teacher Tori Henderson values her independence and has no use for a husband. When she finds herself the legal guardian of her two nieces, two nephews, and facing eviction from her Kansas home, she enters the 1889 Oklahoma land run and confronts a new set of challenges. The biggest obstacle being her new neighbor, cocky lawyer Jesse Cochran, the son of a whore--a man determined to put his past behind him and start a new life and family of his own.

Despite the undeniable attraction between them, Tori is determined to keep him at arm’s length, but a family emergency brings them together and they declare a truce. Can Jesse win Tori’s heart after a series of unplanned events, or will tragedy tear them apart forever?

Follow Michael’s story in

A Prescription for Love

Guthrie, Oklahoma, 1903. Betrayed by his fiancée’s infidelity eight years ago, pharmacist Michael Henderson vowed he'd never risk his heart again. But he doesn't anticipate the tug of attraction he shares with his new employee.

Heidi Lester flees her home, determined to prove to her overprotective parents she can conquer her debilitating asthma, to make a life of her own. However, her unscrupulous fiancé has no intention of letting her go. He has his own plans for Heidi and her inheritance.

Will a scheme to ruin Michael's family force Heidi to marry her fiancé, or will assistance arrive from a surprising source to allow her to be with the man she truly loves?

Also by CALLIE HUTTON:

An Angel in the Mail

An Angel in the Mail, set in 1861, unites newly penniless society belle Angel Hardwick and widower Nathan Hale, father of five, who is desperate for a wife to straighten his life out. Nate’s looking for someone who loves children and can easily take over the cooking, cleaning and laundry. Instead, he is getting Angel, whose culinary knowledge consists of weekly meetings with Cook to decide the family’s menu.

Angel is a strong-minded young woman, resigned to her fate, and determined to make the best of her situation. But will her new husband allow for mistakes? Or will he send her packing when she burns meals and misplaces his children?

Nate just wants a peaceful, well run household, without the distraction of an attractive wife. However, his beautiful wife with a very distractible body is not giving him peace. Somebody lied, because despite what he was told by the Bride Agency, this beauty knows nothing about running a home, but she sure sets him on fire at night.

Nate and Angel have to come to a working arrangement, overcoming problems between them. But will they be able to find a happily ever after with someone desperately working behind the scenes to destroy their relationship?

Available from Amazon and Soul Mate Publishing

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