Forever by Your Side (Willamette Brides #3) - Tracie Peterson Page 0,98
two men were battling. Sam was doing his best to push the gun away.
Connie didn’t know what to do. The way the men were wrestling to get control of the pistol, she knew it could go off at any moment. Just as that thought came to mind, the gun fired. She ducked down behind a chair, wondering if either of them was hurt. She carefully raised her head. Neither man appeared injured, as they continued to fight. She started to crawl out of the room but then saw the gun lying on the floor. Clint must have dropped it. She had to get it out of their reach.
As Sam laid a punch into Clint’s stomach, Connie scrambled around the table and chairs to reach the revolver. Clint slammed Sam to the floor, but Sam was too quick for him, and the minute Clint dove on top of him, Sam flipped him over and reversed their positions.
Connie reached the gun just as two soldiers entered the room and demanded a halt to the fight.
“On your feet,” one of the soldiers commanded, taking hold of Sam. The other grabbed Clint, who tried to fight him off. Another soldier came inside to help restrain Clint.
Several additional soldiers entered, and behind them came Tom. He had a bandage on his head in the same spot where the soldier had wounded him that day at the Menards’ house.
“Tom!” Connie leapt to her feet, forgetting all about the pistol. Pushing her way through the soldiers, she wrapped her arms around the man she loved. She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life. “Are you all right?” She reached toward his bandage, then stopped. “Are you in pain?”
“A little bit, but not so much that I failed to hear your declaration. Is it true?” He looked so serious.
Connie wasn’t sure what he was asking. “What . . . do you mean?” She met his blue-eyed gaze. “Do you mean am I really part Cherokee?”
He shook his head. “I already knew about that. It was the other thing. I heard you say that you love me.”
She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. “I do.”
“It took you long enough to come to that conclusion.”
Her brow raised. “I hardly had any incentive to consider it.”
The soldiers were removing Clint and Sam from the house.
Connie held up her hand. “Wait!”
One of the soldiers looked back at her. “What is it?”
“Sam Sheridan is a good man. He did his best to save me from Agent Singleton. I hope you’ll show him mercy.”
The soldier looked at Sam. “He saved your life?”
“Yes. He pushed me out of the way when Singleton had a gun aimed at me.” She didn’t bother to say that Clint’s intent was to kill Sam.
Sam fixed her with a stern gaze. “You are a good woman. My wife called you friend . . . now I will call you friend. You are welcome at my home.”
Connie smiled. “Thank you, Sam. Maybe one day our fathers will be friends again too.”
The soldier in charge motioned for the others to take him. “I’ll write what you said in my report.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I’ll come by and speak with the colonel on Sam’s behalf.” When they were gone, she turned back to Tom. He was so pale. “You need to sit down.” She left his side and drew up a chair. “Please.”
“Not until I get a few things straight.” He swayed but held his ground. “I’ve loved you practically from the moment we met. You were all sass and fire, but there was a sweetness about you too. I couldn’t help myself.”
She blinked. “But you never said a word.”
“I knew it wouldn’t do any good. Your uncle told me you’d never marry a man who didn’t believe in God.”
“And yet that didn’t change your mind?”
“It agitated it a bit.” He grinned. “But your uncle Dean said I couldn’t pretend or play at a faith in a God I didn’t believe in. He said you’d know the difference, and so I loved you in silence. Then, when you stopped talking to me about God, I feared it was because you no longer cared.”
“I always cared. I will always care. You were always my dearest friend, and I loved you. I just didn’t realize I was falling in love with you.”
“When Clint shot me, I didn’t think about you,” Tom said, not taking his gaze from her face.
Connie felt a burst of disappointment. “You didn’t?”