Love Her Softly

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The sound that left Emma's lips at the sound of Liam's voice was desperate and animalistic. She spun around and threw herself into his waiting arms and Liam held her close to him.

Holding her washed away all the negative thoughts and emotions he'd been consumed in. Liam needed her and he wasn't ashamed to let everyone around see him clinging to her on the street.

He saw Kyle and Chase slip away into the doc's house but he remained where he was, content to simply hold his wife.

"Did you....? Did you take care of things?" Emma whispered, her voice muffled against his chest.

Liam nodded as he kissed her hair. It wasn't an easy thing to tell your wife that you had killed her father—even if that father had been responsible for nearly killing her.

"We won't have to worry about him ever again," Liam promised. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I had to do what I did today and I'm sorry that I didn't do it sooner—if I had, then he never would have been able to...."

Emma pulled away and cut him off with a sharp glace. Liam had learned over the months to simply stop talking and listen when she gave him that look. "Liam, I don't blame you for anything. None of it. My father was evil.... But you're not. You didn't want to kill him and no one can fault you for that."

"But I did kill him," Liam countered. "And there wasn't anything poetic or heroic about it. He was cowering on the floor, covered in blood and I shot him dead."

Emma shivered, swallowed hard and averted her gaze a moment. She wrapped her good arm around herself and stared down the road. Liam waited for her to speak. He might have said more than he should have but Emma was the only person he could talk to that way... the only person he felt real comfortable opening up to.

Finally, she reached out and took his hand before meeting his gaze with sadness in her blue eyes. "You didn't have a choice, Liam. You are a good man—too good and decent and fair a man to be backed into that corner and left with no choice but to murder a man. My father is to blame for that. He forced your hand."

Liam felt the ghost of a smile curve his lips. Without hesitation he pulled her back into his arms. "How'd I get lucky enough to end up with you?"

Emma's light laughter filled the morning. "I believe it happened because I stumbled into your barn."

"Either way, I'm damn glad."

Liam laid his hand over her rounded stomach. He felt the movement of their child—a fluttering beneath his palm. "We've had rough times this year, Emma, but we made it. And come spring we'll have our son here and we won't have a single threat hanging over our heads."

"I'm glad life will be peaceful for our daughter," Emma replied pointedly, causing Liam to chuckle. Then she bit her lip and his chuckle faded. "But are you sure there are no threats? Won't other mountain men be upset...?"

Liam recalled the mountain surrounding him and Kyle on the mountain. Damn, he'd been terrified. He'd been so sure they were going to end up dead.

"No. We were surrounded on the way back down. I thought they were going to kill us but they thanked us instead. Silas had gotten out of control, unpredictable and violent. And they made it clear they hadn't had any part in his attack on you."

Emma sighed and Liam swore it seemed like one-hundred tons of weight were suddenly lifted from her shoulders. "So, it's really over then?" she asked. "We can finally stop looking over our shoulders and being afraid?"