Free His Remarkable Bride by Merry Farmer

him now as he worked stacking crates of supplies for the general store that had come in on the second train of the day. The first train had contained more passengers than cargo, including the curious group consisting of one woman in a tight, grey suit and four men that would have been more in their element in a logging camp than escorting one woman. Athos didn’t think much of it, though.
    No, if he was going to think about any woman, it was going to be his new wife. Charlie Garrett and the others involved with the women at Hurst Home had hit a homerun with Elspeth, as far as he was concerned. He grinned like a fool as he loaded crates for the general store into Lex Kline’s wagon. Elspeth was intelligent and capable, and darn near the prettiest woman he’d seen in ages. He’d had a hard time not staring at her hair—dark and rich as chocolate—when she’d taken it down before bed the night before. He’d had a hard time not staring at other things about her too. A nightgown could only conceal so much. Then again, she’d gotten an eyeful of more of him than he’d bargained for that morning.
    “That’s the smile of a man content with his lot.”
    Athos turned to find Gideon Faraday approaching him from the other end of the platform. He laughed as he hoisted the last crate into Lex’s wagon. “I’m feeling remarkably content with my lot in life this morning.”
    Gideon thumped him on the back as soon as he was close enough. “I can’t wait to meet your new wife. Whispers already say she’s something special.”
    “You know, I think she is.” Athos didn’t mean to sound so mystified as he spoke, but the fact that such a wonderful woman could have been paired with him was baffling as far as he was concerned.
    “I hear she’s English,” Gideon went on.
    Athos blinked. “Yes, I think she is.” He laughed. “Of course she is. I don’t know why I didn’t ask her about that yesterday.”
    “Love makes us forget everything,” Gideon said.
    “Oh, it’s not love,” Athos insisted. “We’ve only just met, after all. And I wouldn’t ask someone like Elspeth for something so…so personal. Not until we’ve known each other for years at least. And even then we’ll probably be too busy to feel anything at all.” Like he and Natalie had been. The thought was disquieting, so he cleared his throat and shook it off.
    He rapped on the back of Lex’s wagon to let the man know the loading was finished, then turned and headed up onto the platform with Gideon.
    “What can I do for you today, Gid?” he asked.
    “I’m just checking to see if the equipment I ordered came in.” Gideon followed him into the warehouse portion of the stationhouse.
    “This last train had dozens of boxes on it,” he said, searching through the piles he’d made earlier. “I had to get the train porters to help me unload, and they weren’t happy about that. I told them it was either that or make the train late.”
    “Have you considered asking Howard to pay for an assistant?” Gideon asked.
    The question went unanswered. Before Athos could so much as open his mouth, he was startled by Elspeth’s cry of, “Athos! Athos!”
    Dropping everything, Athos dashed out of the stationhouse. He searched the platform, then rushed around the side, only to see Elspeth tearing down Main Street toward him. His heart shot to his throat. Was someone injured? Was the house on fire? Had one of his children caused a riot?
    “Athos!” Elspeth skidded to a breathless halt near the edge of the platform.
    Athos leapt down to catch her. “What? What is it? Are the children hurt?”
    She shook her head, face pinched, eyes red-rimmed and glassy, then gulped for air. “They’ve been taken.”
    “What?” He tightened his hold on Elspeth’s arms. His heart thundered in his chest. He hugged Elspeth close on instinct. “What happened?”
    She struggled away from him enough to hand him a piece of crumpled parchment. “A Mrs. Margaret Lyon from the