Free Fallen-Angels by Ashlynn Monroe Page B

felt a tinge
of regret for her friend’s hurt.   Then Heath
turned to her, hiding his pain with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.   Justice swatted Jeremiah’s arm away from her,
angry that he could kick her friend when he was down.   Jeremiah rubbed his arm and had the courtesy
to look a tad ashamed for his blatant possessiveness.
                “Let me be
the first to kiss the bride then,” Heath said huskily.
                He snatched
her up and kissed her with a passion she had always known he held for her. She
had never truly understood how deep it ran until that moment.   Jeremiah growled, but Purity stepped in
before it could come to blows again.
                “Boys,
boys, there will be plenty of time for a pissing contest later.   Right now the three of us have a wedding to
plan!”  
    She pulled Justice away as the men continued to stare each
other down like dogs circling a bone.   Ricardo and Regan walked over to diffuse the situation.
    Justice still hadn’t felt so happy in all of her life.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Chapter Eight

    Cascade,
Colorado
-A
small farm-August 1867

     
                The country
was recovering well from the Civil War. Reconstruction was in full swing, and
Grace reported that her husband’s “business” was flourishing because of it.   As much as Justice missed her sisters, she
knew that she could never risk going back to
Texas
.   Every year Purity and Grace arrived at her home to spend two weeks with
her, and this year they were both bringing their new babies.   Shortly after she’d left
Texas
, the instant Telegram had come
announcing that Purity and Regan had married.   It seemed all three of the sisters had a soft spot for bad boys.   Luckily, it seemed that fatherhood and love
had begun to tame their men, if only slightly.               Justice
patted her rounded abdomen, hoping that her first-born would hold off arriving
until after Purity and Grace had left, so that she wouldn’t be bedridden during
the visit.   Modern medicine had come a
long way, but she was still nervous about the birth.   Jeremiah insisted that she would be giving
birth at the town’s new hospital, instead of at home, but she wanted to do this
the traditional way and knew she would win the argument. She didn’t see the
point in wasting good money when both of her sisters had enjoyed reportedly
easy home births. His overprotective spurts annoyed her, but at least he was
cute when he was worried.
                Justice
stood on the porch, letting the cool evening breeze refresh her as she watched her
sister’s Zeppelin land far off in the field.   Her brother-in-laws felt that Zeppelin travel was safer than stagecoach
or horseless carriage, and hired a small private Zeppelin for their wives and
children for the annual visit. Despite her personal reservations about the
reported safety of Zeppelins, Justice was glad that the trip was twice as fast
for her sisters and her nephews.   Feeling
her child kick her in the ribs, hard, she wondered if she would soon be
bringing another boy into the family.   She called to her husband, hard at work in the barn.
                “Jeremiah,
my sisters are here, could you go and bring them to the house?”
                Jeremiah
came out of the barn and waved to his wife with a smile. She watched him hitch
the horses to the wagon, and smiled as he bounced out to the field where her
family waited.   A bright pink, purple, and
golden sunset gave the departing Zeppelin a brilliant backdrop.   She watched her sisters waving to their
brother-in-law, and she felt a sense of contentment she had never expected to
feel.  
                She had
started out her life going in a very different direction, and even with all the
pain and hardship, it had been worth it to be where she was.   Her