CHAPTER ONE

JULIA

“I am bewitched, Julia,” Garrett said. He'd just taken my hand and was leading me around the side of the small schoolteacher's house out of the view of any passerby.

He'd held my hand before, but with the cold, mine had always been covered by thick wool mittens so I had never felt his skin. I longed to feel the callouses that were visible.

Placing a hand on the wall beside my head, he leaned in close. Our breaths came out in puffs of white. His dark eyes pinned me in place and I couldn't help but lick my lips at what I could see in those depths. I saw the truth behind his words.

We'd met just before the school term began, after the harvest had been brought in. Since then, he'd come upon me here and there around town; the mercantile, church and even the fall dance. At first I considered it coincidence, but I learned from others that the man rarely came to town functions. Instead, he worked—perhaps a little too diligently—at the mine he owned.

I felt my cheeks heat, but in the darkness, I doubted he could see.

“Garrett,” I replied, not knowing what to say to such a bold statement.

He ran the knuckles of his free hand down my cheek. “I want to kiss you.”

My mouth fell open at the bold admission.

“Garrett,” I repeated.

“I love hearing you say my name. Soon enough, I will hear it uttered from your lips in an entirely different way.”

I frowned in confusion. “I...I don't understand.”

“Ah, precious. I will show you. I promise. But first we must be married. I am an honorable man and will wait to claim such a precious liberty.”

Ah, now I knew why he gave me the endearment. At first I’d thought it a little too...too something, but he saw me as something truly special and it warmed me more than any fire or mulled cider ever could.

“Married?” I whispered. Oh, the idea had such immense appeal.

“Married. Then I will take all the liberties we desire.”

***

It was my wedding day. It was also the worst day of my life.

Had it only been a week before when I’d waved goodbye to the children from the schoolhouse door? They'd happily waved back knowing it was almost Christmas and there would be no schoolwork for a week. I hadn't known then that would be the last time I would stand in that doorway as their teacher. Come the New Year, it would be Miss Simpson instead.

In that week, my life was very quickly destroyed. First, it was whispers accompanied by disappointed looks as I passed people on the street. Then came rumors I overheard in the Mercantile. Those rumors became outright accusations against which I could offer no defense. While none of the horrible statements were true, it was Gregory Simpson's word against mine.

Gregory Simpson was a rich lawyer in town while I was just a simple schoolteacher. He was a mean, bitter, miserable man who had instituted a simple plan to see me wed to him, and on Christmas Eve, no less.

“Why didn't you just ask me to marry you?” I prodded, standing in the dirty, smelly jail waiting for the sheriff to return from some type of mischief at the local saloon. I looked down and around the bottom of my skirt to confirm a rodent wasn't sneaking underneath.

The man smiled coldly. He would have been attractive if he weren't so cruel. “Because you would have said no.”

That was absolutely true, for he was probably the last man in the Montana Territory to whom I'd say yes. The man I wanted to ask me...Garrett Rivers, oh. I sighed just thinking of him, and my heart skipped a beat. He was tall and broad and handsome and when he smiled a dimple formed in his left cheek. While he'd courted me for the past few months, he had not actually asked for my hand. He'd made mention of us marrying, and it had been implied in his every look, the way he'd held my hand in his, the way he leaned in and spoke as if his words were just for me.

I loved Garrett, loved him with my whole heart and I believed he loved me in return. While he hadn't said the words, I felt them and knew them to be real. What we shared was real. Having Gregory Simpson take such ridiculous and vicious action almost made a mockery of what should have been the most important, most sacred day of my life.

“You're despicable,” I hissed. I eyed the door and my only way to escape. I'd tried once, but he'd taken hold of my arm—with blatant aggression—and pushed me back, placing himself between me and freedom.

He shrugged and looked at me unabashedly. While some women may have considered him attractive, I found him horrible. It didn't matter that his eyes were the brightest of blues, for they didn't show a hint of warmth. “It doesn't matter what you think. I'm marrying you.”

My anger had my heart beating rapidly and my breath catching in my throat. “You...you said horrible things about me, that I...had relations with Garrett Rivers.”

A cold grin split his face. “Fucking, sweetheart. I told everyone he fucked you.”

My face flamed at his crude language even as I shook my head. “He hasn't done anything. He's been a perfect gentleman.” While he may have acted the perfect gentleman, he'd begun to tell me delicious, very dark things he wanted to do with me...once we were wed. His honor kept them from being tawdry, for once married, we could share ourselves however we wished. I never knew his carnal plans were even possible, but my body heated and responded to the mention.

The idea of doing anything of the sort with Mr. Simpson was nauseating.

He laughed. “Even better. When he returns and finds you married to me, that I've done all the filthy, dirty things he's been thinking about, it's going to be so much better.”

I frowned as he rubbed his hands together with obvious glee. The man was not only awful, but insane as well.

“I'm...I'm not...I won't marry you.”

He stepped closer, I stepped back.

“You don't have a choice, sweetheart.” The endearment made me cringe. “With my father's influence on the town council, it was quickly decided your morals are not fit for teaching the children of the community. You have no job and your virtue is in tatters.”

“Then I'll marry Garrett.” I tilted my chin up, resolute. “If he's to have done those things to me, then I'll wait for him to return.”

He slowly shook his head. “Rivers left you to spend Christmas with his sister in Virginia City. You of all people are well aware of that, so why am I even reminding you?”

Mr. Simpson made it sound as if Garrett abandoned me, which was not the case. His sister had a baby in early November and he'd wanted to see his nephew. While he had family with whom to spend the holiday, I did not, and I'd insisted he go. He had struggled with his choice, for he had not wished to leave me alone. I'd been insistent, and so he'd gone.

“He won't be back for a few weeks, at least. With this weather, perhaps longer.” The snow had been falling heavily and steadily all da

y with no sign of relenting. “Besides, you're already the disgrace of the town and homeless to boot. Where will you live come tomorrow when my sister takes over the schoolteacher's house?”

I swallowed down tears that clogged in my throat. The small house was included with the job I no longer had. With my dismissal, the house went to the next schoolteacher, Gregory Simpson's sister, Aria Simpson. I had to vacate the home by noon the following day. As I'd come the long distance from Denver for the job, I had nowhere to turn. I had enough funds to return to the city, but with no family and no job prospects, it was more prudent to save the money for the fare to try to survive.

“Why didn't you just tell everyone you'd tarnished me instead of Garrett?”

“Ah, it's not Mr. Rivers, is it? You're close enough to call him twice now by his given name?”

I didn't respond.

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