“About as relieved as I am I’d imagine. I’m beholden to you and your brother.”
“What about Joe Biggs? What will happen to him?”
“We questioned him. He swears he had nothing to do with the robberies. Without evidence or witnesses, we don’t have a case against him. We had to let him go.” He shook his head. “He disappeared in the dark of night, probably with a fortune that didn’t belong to him. The mayor sent word to the company that placed Biggs here, alerting them we need a new assayer.”
The sheriff rose from his chair, looking from him to Meredith. “The wife and I will be looking for an invitation to your upcoming nuptials. A wedding is just what we need in Garretsville after all the drama.”
“You’ll have it,” Daniel said as he walked Bill to the door.
After the sheriff left, Daniel turned to her. “I realize now I should’ve consulted you first before giving away our share of the reward. After all, you’re more entitled to the money than I am.”
“As your equal partner, I agree,” she said, walking toward him. She put her arms around his neck and went up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “However, I approve wholeheartedly with your decision, so I’ll forgive you.”
“Mmm,” he hummed, drawing his fiancée closer for a thorough kiss.
“I’m still in the room, you know,” Charles grumbled.
Laughing, Daniel let her go. “Ah, it’s good to be alive and in love. You should give it a try, Charles.”
18
Meredith held a ribbon-tied bouquet of wildflowers against her midriff. Dressed in her Edwardian walking suit and wearing a new bonnet, she stood just outside the small log church. Not exactly the ensemble she’d imagined wearing for her wedding day, but she didn’t mind. The morning couldn’t be any more perfect. A cloudless, brilliant blue sky provided a marvelous canopy for their wedding, and the air had hit that sweet spot where a body was warm but not uncomfortably so.
The only fly in her soup bowl of happiness was that her family wasn’t here to see her marry the man she loved. Okay, maybe there were two flies. She might never see her mom, dad, sisters and extended family again, and that put a permanent ache in her heart. She frowned as a third fly took a nosedive into her metaphorical soup.
For all her family knew, she’d been stranded in the past against her will—which was true—and they’d be determined to bring her home. Her family would ask for help from Boann and Alpin, and the Tuatha dé Danann were unpredictable. The possibility existed one or the other would come for her, snatch first and ask questions later.
The strains of a fiddle began, and Meredith’s heart and stomach flipped in tandem. Prudence Klein, who’d agreed to be her attendant, leaned close.
“It’s time, Meredith. If you aren’t certain, this is your last chance to back out,” she admonished.
“I’m certain,” she said, lifting her chin and throwing back her shoulders. She loved Daniel with all her heart. The fact that he’d acknowledged her twenty-first century upbringing and views, and that he was willing to enter into an equal partnership in marriage and in business, had melted all her doubts. He was the only man for her, and the one thing she’d never doubt was their love.
“All right then.” Prudence stepped over the threshold and preceded Meredith down the aisle. Meredith followed, her gaze drawn to Daniel. He and Charles wore suits recently purchased at the mercantile and hurriedly altered to fit, and both of them had visited the one barber in town. By nineteenth-century standards, they were both attractive, well-groomed men. But as far as Meredith was concerned, her bridegroom was the most handsome man ever to exist in the history of humankind.
Daniel’s eyes never left hers, and he practically glowed with pride and happiness. Her breath caught as she walked down the aisle. The pews were filled with the folks of Garretsville, and the congregation, and their avid gazes were riveted to her. A feeling of rightness settled over her, and she smiled at her beloved.
Meredith took her place beside Daniel, and the pastor began speaking in a strong baritone that reverberated through the church to the rafters. “We are gathered here today before God and witnesses to celebrate the vows of marriage between Meredith Ann MacCarthy and Daniel James Cavanaugh.”
Everything went by in a blur after that. Daniel held her shaking hands in his as they