Chapter Twenty

The music stopped and everyone took their seats. Maggie felt a thrumming in her head and grabbed her father’s chair for support. Words were being spoken but she couldn’t make them out. It was as though everything was happening in slow motion, in a dream—or rather, a nightmare. Just when she thought she was going to pass out, she heard a shout from down the aisle that shocked her to her senses.

“You can’t marry him!”

Ben was calling out, while Greg and Josie pleaded with him to stop making a fuss.

“He doesn’t love her. He only wants her money!” Ben looked fit to burst into tears as he tore himself out of their reach and ran up the aisle to the bride and groom.

Panic washed over Maggie when she looked over to see Robert’s furious gaze boring into her. She shook her head, but she knew there was no way he’d believe that she had nothing to do with the sudden outburst. Hot tears flooded her eyes, and she shook violently as she realized that this could cause Aiden’s demise.

“Here. Sit down, love.” Strong arms held her, and she smelled her dad’s familiar cologne when he helped her into his seat.

She allowed her parents to hold her while she trembled in their embrace, hearing angry, raised voices all around her, none of them making any sense. The officiant was trying to calm everyone down, but the congregation was in uproar. Ben was shouting loudly, pointing at Robert and practically begging Lorraine to think about what she was doing. Lorraine appeared totally horrified while Robert looked like he was about to kill someone. Maggie only hoped that ‘someone’ wasn’t her beloved Aiden.

“I’m sure that’s the marshal!”

Maggie heard her dad’s surprised acclamation, and she turned to where he was pointing, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes.

Not only was the marshal marching up the aisle, but so were Sheriff Dyson Shearer, and Cam Taylor! Robert seemed enraged at the intrusion. “Arrest that man. He’s causing a breach of the peace!” he demanded, pointing to Ben.

The marshal and Taylor had their hands on their hips, not far from their pistols as the sheriff shook his head at the groom. “Robert Rossington, I’m placing you under arrest,” he announced, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket.

“What?” Robert gawped at him, his expression as black as thunder.

“You heard me. And I hope everyone else heard me, too.” The sheriff raised his voice, looking around at the congregation as he pushed Robert around to face them. “You are charged with theft, burglary, assault, fraud, intention to defraud, blackmail, intention of false imprisonment, death threats—need I go on?”

“You’ve got no proof of anything!” Robert blustered.

“No, but I have.” Cam Taylor pulled a handful of papers from his pocket.

“You double-crossing…” Robert’s words faded into insignificance as another strong pair of arms wrapped around Maggie’s shoulders, pulling her gently to her feet.

“Aiden?” She still felt dazed, and now she was sure she was dreaming.

“Yeah, it’s me.” His dazzling grin lit up his whole face—and her whole world.

“But how…?” It made no sense. Nothing did right then.

“Cam Taylor’s a cop, remember? He was stringing that cuss along just long enough to get all the evidence they needed to convict him for a dang long time.”

She frowned. “Then he—”

“I’ll explain it all later,” he promised with a wink. “Right now, I think it’s time you introduced me to your folks, don’t you?” He nodded to the couple sitting with her and Maggie felt her heart lift.

* * * *

The congregation moved back into the marquee where they all enjoyed more champagne.

Aiden insisted that Maggie have brandy, which he told her was good for shock, while her parents stuck to soft drinks.

“I can’t believe we were so taken in by that man,” her mom kept saying.

“We all were, sweetheart.” Dad put an arm around his teary wife, kissing the top of her head. Maggie smiled. She found it so comforting when Aiden did that to her.

“But we believed him over our own daughter.” Mom was really holding back those tears now, and Maggie leaned over to put an arm around her other side.

“It’s okay, Mom, really. He managed to trick a lot of people. Look how he fooled me!”

“I’m so sorry,” her mom said, hugging her tight. Maggie felt her dad’s arms holding her too, as they all squeezed the living daylights out of each other.

Aiden gave them a little space for a while before returning with fresh drinks. Her mom looked a little embarrassed for him to see her puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks, and she quickly wiped a handkerchief over her face. He must have sensed her discomfort as Aiden took the opportunity to whisk Maggie over to a quiet corner where they stole a few moments for a lingering kiss. It was so good to be back in his arms again, back where she belonged. She never wanted to be anywhere else.

“I was so scared,” she confessed, when he finally freed her mouth. She could hardly believe that he was here—alive! “I really thought he might—”

“I know, darlin’. There was no way of letting you know I was safe. Taylor had to play his part in taking me out of there. He tried to take you, too, but you saw how Rossington reacted to that idea.”

Maggie remembered that Cam Taylor had, in fact, suggested taking her, but Robert wouldn’t hear of it. She had no idea it was the deputy’s way of protecting her.

“I even left my cell at your place, and we couldn’t be sure Taylor’s wasn’t being tracked so I couldn’t call you.” Aiden grimaced. “He hid me someplace out of town where Rossington wouldn’t find me. Then he explained that he wanted to get all the evidence in place so they could arrest him this morning before he tried to ruin Lorraine’s life, too.”

“So it was all planned out?” She gawped at him.

“He’s kind of been working undercover for years,” Aiden explained. “Dyson Shearer didn’t even know. That’s what the marshal wanted to tell him yesterday when they met up. He knew Dyson was as straight as a die and would soon figure that something was off. He just didn’t want him to blow the guy’s cover before they got everything in place.”

Maggie felt her heart hammering as her brain tried to compute everything he was telling her.

“So, when he fabricated my burglary, was that part of the act, too?”

Aiden grimaced. “I’m afraid so. He knew Rossington was a con man. He was hoping to catch him falsifying an insurance claim over that.”

“But the claim was in my name. They said I didn’t have a case.” She felt herself go hot as she recalled that awful time.

“Rossington called your insurance company and inquired about making the claim himself, as the money was in his safe. They turned him down flat, of course. Once he realized he didn’t have a leg to stand on he finally gave up. Taylor was gutted!” Aiden shook his head. “The cops have got copies of messages, recorded conversations—everything they need. Taylor was going to ‘out’ him right after you two split, but then he noticed the fuckwad spending more and more time with your dad. He smelled a rat right away and started digging a bit deeper. He found out Rossington was also doing some kind of scam across Jake Parry. Seems the bastard’s got a way of charming himself into business deals he can’t uphold. He’s totally believable—and an opportunist. Seems he strikes when he knows a guy’s vulnerable. For your dad, it was when you two had just split, and he’d convinced your folks you were mentally unstable. For Jake Parry, it was when he started to become ill. With all that going on it seems Taylor dared not expose him too soon, not knowing just how many more irons he had in the fire. He felt real bad about what you had to go through, but he just wanted to get the bastard for all of it. It was the only way to get him the kind of sentence he deserved.”

“And will he get my dad’s money back now? And Jake Parry’s?”

Aiden nodded. “Every last penny, if Rossington hasn’t spent it all.”

Maggie sighed with relief. It actually looked as though the whole nightmare was finally over. She also had her parents back, which was just amazing. Looking up into Aiden’s gorgeous blue eyes, she felt her heart melt all over again. The love that poured from his face wrapped her in a cocoon of warmth and safety. She touched his cheek with the back of her fingers before combing them through his silky hair. To think she could have lost him yesterday was just intolerable. She wouldn’t have put it past Robert, though. She had seen the fury in the man’s eyes, and it had shocked her to the core.

“I don’t think Robert’s a sane man,” she whispered. “He had a gun to your head. He was planning to shoot you.”

Aiden must have seen the tears that filled her eyes, and he took her hand and kissed it gently. “He was just desperate. He knew we were on to him and he wanted to scare us off, that’s all. Taylor got suspicious when he called him and didn’t get an answer so he high-tailed it over there to find out what the fucker was up to. You gave him the perfect excuse. I wasn’t in any danger once you two arrived.”

It was all too much. Maggie clung onto him and cried hard into his muscular chest. His scent, his warmth, his whole being surrounded her, and, for a few moments, she let him wash over her as she cried it all out. Her throat was still sore from last night, but she didn’t care. Her head thrummed with all the confusion and worry, but it didn’t matter. The important thing was that he was here with her—safe. She couldn’t ask for more than that. He held her tightly while she sobbed her heart out then he offered her his large handkerchief. Even that smelled of him, and she breathed him in like he was her last breath. She wiped her face.

“I must look a right state.” She grimaced, recalling how much she took after her mother in the puffy eyes department. Neither of them could cry elegantly. It must have been some kind of genetic thing.

“You look beautiful.” He smiled kindly at her before kissing her on the top of her head.

A soothing warmth spread from there right down to her toes, and she closed her eyes at the heady sensation. It seemed as though every part of her body had a direct reaction to every part of his. She opened her eyes again to see him looking down at her, patiently waiting while she composed herself. She beamed up at him and took a deep breath. She could face anything with him by her side.

She looked around the marquee that was full mostly of the townsfolk. Frank and Sylvia were chatting over in one corner while a lot of her regular customers milled about. It seemed that all her family and friends were here today.

“Where’s Lorraine?” Maggie suddenly realized that she hadn’t seen the bride since the sheriff had taken the groom away.

“Probably the same place as Ben,” Aiden told her with a wink.

Maggie grinned. She didn’t know Ben or Lorraine very well, but she was sure they’d make a fine couple.

“There’s Josie and Greg.” Maggie was relieved to see that Josie had a lot more color in her cheeks than earlier, as the couple spotted them and waved them over across the tent.

“Greg told me you said I was over at Springvale,” Aiden murmured in her ear as they made their way through the crowd.

Maggie looked up at him, blushing slightly at the deception.

Aiden grinned. “How about we keep on letting Josie think that?”

She nodded. In her condition, there was no point in worrying his sister unduly.

“Greg said you got back just in time for all the excitement,” Josie gushed as she hugged her brother.

Maggie guessed Josie would have hugged him even harder if she had known the truth about his absence. Josie gave Maggie a hug too. “Thanks so much for your help earlier.” She looked a little sheepish.

“I was just glad to be of some use,” Maggie assured her. It was true. After feeling so helpless yesterday, it was good to feel needed.

“We only stopped by to make sure Ben didn’t kill Rossington,” Josie confided. “We knew this was going to be hard for him.”

“What’s hard?” Ben suddenly appeared behind his sister, grinning devilishly.

Lorraine was with him, blushing profusely.

Both looked a little disheveled and lot happier than before. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

They all exchanged hugs, then Ben handed around drinks from a passing waiter. “Seems a shame for all this to go to waste,” he remarked.

“Yeah, a whole wedding here and no one to make the most of it,” Lorraine agreed.

Maggie felt Aiden’s arm tighten around her, warming her to the core. Just having him near made her feel ecstatic. She knew she could never love anyone more. He suddenly moved, handing his glass to his brother, just as her parents came to join them.

“They’re right,” he murmured into her ear. “It seems a pity to see it all go to waste.”

Maggie felt her whole body burn as she watched him kneel in front of her. His hair looked almost white as the sun bounced off his short, tousled waves, and he smiled up at her, his face shining with hope.

“We’ve got all our kin here, darlin’. It won’t take a minute to run down and pick up a marriage license. The officiant’s all set up to do his bit. What do you think?” Aiden bit his lip a little nervously. “I guess what I’m trying to say here is, you know I love you, darlin’. Will you marry me, Maggie?”