Forever by Your Side (Willamette Brides #3) - Tracie Peterson Page 0,102

as I enjoyed sitting next to you.” He grinned.

Connie smiled as he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her gloved fingers. A shiver ran through her body. She still found it hard to believe the change in her feelings for Tom. She could hardly wait to see where God took them.

On October first, Connie sat with her family and Tom while Clint’s sentence was read. She listened to the judge as he listed the charges for which Clint was found guilty before continuing with the sentencing. Connie waited, hoping for leniency.

“And so it is the decision of this court that on October fifteenth, two weeks hence, you will be taken to the gallows and hanged by the neck until you are dead.”

Connie didn’t hear anything else. She knew it was a just decision, but it still tormented her to think of Clint dying. She wondered what he thought. Was he afraid? Angry? His father had received little more than a reprimand, with all of the blame being put on Clint. Senator Singleton denied any knowledge of an uprising, telling the court weeks earlier that he had only come to visit his son as he made his way back to California. The lawyer he had was much too quick with words and a long list of people who were happy to speak out on the senator’s behalf, including his other son, who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC.

It wasn’t as if Connie knew the truth about the situation one way or another. Clint could have made up his father’s participation, thinking to take the pressure off of himself. The prosecution had plenty to use against Clint, however, and no amount of double-talk by his defense lawyer had been able to save him.

The judge dismissed them, and everyone rose as he left the room. Connie glanced toward Clint and was surprised when he looked her way. He smiled as if amused by the entire situation. She couldn’t help being shocked and didn’t even try to hide her surprise. This only made him laugh. Perhaps he had gone mad.

She left the courtroom on Tom’s arm. He was commenting on the beauty of the day, but Connie couldn’t put aside Clint’s reaction.

“What’s wrong?” Tom asked when they reached the carriage.

“He was smiling.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Who?”

She met Tom’s gaze. “Clint. He was smiling as he left the courtroom. How can a person smile when he knows he’ll die in two weeks?”

“It’s the shock,” her father said before Tom could reply. “It’s his only way of dealing with it and still appear as if he’s lost nothing.”

Connie touched her father’s arm. “You will go to him and talk to him about God again, won’t you?”

Her father’s expression turned sympathetic. “Of course I will. I think once he’s actually facing the noose, Clint will be far more willing to turn to Jesus.”

Connie nodded. “I know he’s guilty, and I hate that he tried to kill Tom and see you jailed, and that he’ll be killed for murders he committed, but I don’t want to see him lose his soul.”

“Ever my compassionate daughter.” Papa kissed the top of her head. He stepped back and smiled. “Speaking of Tom, when do you intend to marry him?”

Connie’s eyes widened. “Marry him? I, uh, don’t know. He’s never asked me.” She looked at Tom. “I think his head injury caused him to forget his feelings for me.”

“Hardly.” Tom dropped to one knee right there and then. Chuckles could be heard from the family members gathered around. “Constance Browning, will you become my wife?”

Connie put on a thoughtful look and paused for a long moment, as if having to truly consider the question. Finally, she smiled. “I will happily become your wife, Thomas Lowell.”

Tom looked at her father. “May I kiss her as a pledge of my intention?”

“Yes, I suppose that would be acceptable,” Connie’s father said with a stern expression. Moments later, he burst into a laugh.

Tom rose and pulled Connie into his arms. He leaned forward, and Connie closed her eyes, awaiting his kiss.

Before he pressed his lips to hers, Tom whispered against her ear, “Let’s see who faints this time.”

That evening Connie and Tom talked about the future as they relaxed before a fire in the front room of Nancy’s boardinghouse. Most of the extended family had returned to Oregon City, and the boarders had gone to bed, but just as she thought she might have Tom to herself for