Tom was already removing one of his suspenders. He rolled Butch to his stomach and made quick work of binding his hands with the sturdy strap. The blood from the knife wound Tom had inflicted had formed a wide spot on the man’s coat. Tom slit a long bandage from the man’s shirt and wrapped it around his torso to staunch the flow. All the while he worked, Victoria watched, pale and silent.
“Will he live?” she asked once Tom had used Butch’s bootlaces to tie his feet together.
“Yes. I’ll make sure of it.” He didn’t want Victoria to live with the guilt of this man’s death on her conscience, even if he deserved to die. Besides, Tom wanted Butch alive to testify against Theresa.
Tom stood and took the board from Victoria’s hands. She relinquished it, and he tossed it against the house. When he reached for her, she came to him willingly, almost eagerly. Her arms wound around his waist, and she rested her face against his chest.
“It’s over,” he whispered.
For a long moment he just held her, letting the sunshine warm them and the steady crash of the waves soothe their racing pulses. When he finally felt her breathing return to normal and her heartbeat grow steady, he brushed his fingers through her tangled hair.
“Did you mean what you said when we were inside?” she asked.
“What did I say?” Although he knew very well what he’d said.
“That you—” she hesitated. “That you don’t want me to leave?”
He tilted back so that he could look into her face, which in spite of the dirt and tear streaks was still beautiful. Her eyes held expectancy but also reservation, as if she didn’t quite know what to make of all he’d spoken in such earnestness.
“I’m not a perfect man,” he started. “I’m flawed in many ways.”
“I’m far from perfect too.”
He shook his head. “But that hasn’t stopped me from falling in love with you.”
“So I wasn’t dreaming that you’d said the words?” She released an almost blissful sigh and smiled.
“The Lord knows how hard I’ve tried not to love you.”
“And I know it too.” Her words were light and her eyes warm. “But apparently I’m irresistible?”
“Yes.”
“So I lured you in and snared you after all?” She cocked her head and gave him a playful look under her long lashes.
“I’m all yours.” And he meant it. He wanted to spend the rest of his earthly days beside her, with her, loving, laughing, talking, teasing, and growing in faith.
“If you’re all mine, does that mean I may do with you as I please?” Her voice dropped into a whisper that began to thaw his blood, which was still cold from the fear and anxiety of all they’d just experienced.
He thought back to one of the first times he’d accompanied her and how she’d attempted to wield her charms over him to get her way. She’d never be able wrap him around her finger, and he would never cater to her every whim like other men always had. But she certainly had more power over him than he’d ever believed any one could gain.
“What do you want to do with me?” He lowered his voice to the same flirtatious tone, unable to resist the play of a grin at his lips.
A rosy pink colored her cheeks, and he knew that even though she teased him, she was still innocent. He was much more informed about the ways between men and women than she was. “Do you know what I’d like to do with you?” he asked softly.
The pink rose into an even prettier flush. When she nibbled at her bottom lip, he realized that she thought he was going to kiss her or was at least contemplating it. Which, strangely, he wasn’t, not at that moment. He had something more important on his mind.
He lowered himself to one knee before her, retrieved the ring from his pocket, and took her hand. “Victoria,” he started, “I’m a simple man. And I can’t give you much.”
“I don’t care—”
“But I can give you my promise to love you.” He held up the simple wedding band that she’d worn the past month. He hadn’t told her that the band had been the one Ike had been saving for his girl back home, Tabitha Lovell. After the war, when Tom had gone to give her the ring and a few of Ike’s other personal items, he’d learned that she’d died around the same time as Ike, from consumption.