Fool for Love (Montana Romance) (42 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

“A letter came for you,” Eric said, striding up the porch stairs to where Amelia sat rocking her daughter.  “It’s got fancy stamps on it too.  English stamps.”

“Really?”

She sat straighter in her chair, reaching for the letter that Eric handed her.  At the last minute he pulled it away.

“Don’t I get something first?”

She sent him a wicked look through her lashes and tilted her head toward him.  Eyes alight with his luck, Eric bent to kiss her.

At the last second Amelia turned away, handing him the baby instead.  She couldn’t help but laugh, joy filling her.

“It just so happens that Darcy was exactly the prize I was looking for,” he said.  He handed the letter to Amelia and cradled the baby close, eyes filled with pure love.  “Hi there, precious.”

No one watching would have any reason to suspect that Darcy wasn’t Eric’s own daughter.  They had named her after his mother, after all.  And at her christening in Cold Springs half of the congregation had remarked that there never was a father so in love with his daughter.  The kind words had moved Amelia more than she would ever be able to tell.

She breathed in the joy of the moment and turned her attention to the letter, turning it over and opening it.

“It’s from Eve!” she exclaimed.  Her chest filled with joy and trepidation together.

“What’s she say?” Eric asked, still gazing at Darcy as he rocked her.

Amelia scanned the letter.  “She’s left mother and Olivia.”  It was as big a shock as she could have imagined.  “She says she was offered a position in a traveling troupe of actors, that they have plans to tour America.”

“Well fancy that!” Eric smiled.  “Your auntie is an actress.”

“I should be scandalized,” Amelia went on, reading the rest of the letter.  She shook her head.  “I
should
be scandalized, but she says that she’s earning money and staying off her back.”

“Well that’s more than Curtis can say.”  The sweet, sing-song tone in Eric’s voice disappeared.

“Have you heard more from him?”

Eric worked to keep the frown off of his face.  “Just more of the same.  He hates working at a desk, he hates Canada, and he thinks Ben is a tyrant.”

Amelia huffed.  “You never should have sent him to work for Benton Chase.”

“He said he wanted to go.  Besides, I’d rather have someone I trust keeping an eye on him than let him get up to no good on his own,” Eric reasoned.  His bright smile returned when Darcy flailed her tiny arm up to hit the side of Eric’s face.

“See, she agrees with me,” Amelia said.

In her heart she knew Eric was right.  He’d spoken with Ben on the telephone and explained the whole situation.  He’d apologized for foisting such a snake off on him, but Ben had been eager to ‘turn the man around’.  Eric and Ben were cut from the same cloth.  Amelia had known it from day one.  They were both too generous for their own good.

But, she supposed, that was why she loved Eric so deeply.

“You are an excellent father and an excellent man, Eric Quinlan,” she said, standing and putting her arms around him as he held Darcy.  She lay her head on his shoulder.  “I am so glad that I married you.”

“So am I,” Eric replied, twisting to smile at her.  “Although it took you long enough.”

“I know,” she said, kissing his cheek.  “It’s because I’m a fool.”

“Prettiest fool I know,” he agreed, kissing her back.  “Just the way I like it.”

She laughed, her soul at rest for the first time in her life.

There’s more Montana Romance to come!

In Your Arms

A Man of Principle

Christian Avery is a man who knows who he is and what he wants out of life.  He is Justice of the Peace of Cold Springs, Montana, defender of order and tradition.  As he sees it, the whole town and everyone in it is his responsibility, a responsibility he takes seriously.  He does not tolerate nonsense, disagreement, or above all silly little things like love.

A Woman without an Identity

Lily Singer was taken from her tribe as a tiny child and raised at the Carlisle Indian School to be someone she’s not.  She has no memory of her culture, no sense of belonging, and has found little acceptance in the world she was trained for.  But as Cold Springs’s newest teacher, she will stop at nothing to fight for every child’s right to an education, even if it means defying the town’s prickly Justice of the Peace.

Sparks fly when these two indomitable forces collide.  Cold Springs may never be the same as Christian and Lily discover that the only place where justice can find peace is in each other’s arms.

Coming Soon
….

About the Author

Merry Farmer lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo.  She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn’t have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something.  It was the best day of her life.  She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always having something to write about.  Today she walks along the cutting edge of Indie Publishing, writing Historical Romance and Women's Sci-Fi.  She is also passionate about blogging, knitting, and cricket and is working towards becoming an internationally certified cricket scorer. 

You can email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @merryfarmer20. 

Merry also has a blog,
http://merryfarmer.net
,

and a Facebook page,
www.facebook.com/merryfarmerauthor
,

and loves visitors.

Works by Merry Farmer

The Noble Hearts Trilogy

The Loyal Heart

The Faithful Heart

The Courageous Heart

Montana Romance

Our Little Secrets

Fool for Love

In Your Arms (coming late 2013)

Sarah Sunshine: A Montana Romance novella (coming 2013)