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Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Allie didn't think that going to town was something that Michael needed to do. She hadn't wanted all the ranch hands and everyone in town to see him out and about and risk yet more people sending word to the Treadwell. Allie had wanted to leave him at home but his excitement over seeing new sights had broken down her defenses. It seemed that there wasn't much she could deny Michael; except his marriage proposal.

Allie still found herself shocked and amazed by the question that had come from Michael's lips just last night. She glanced at him as he sat beside her on the cart seat. He had nearly come undone at the sight of a horse for the first time, grabbing Allie and vowing to protect her from the beast even as he had been shaking like a leaf. Allie had fought valiantly to hide her amusement and a warning glance from her had caused the ranch hands to decide they weren't in laughing moods either.

Their reactions to Michael had been mostly indifference. Most of the hands were new and replaced every other year or so and they had no idea about the personal lives of their employers. They'd had no knowledge of the dead son and certainly no knowledge that that son was truly alive and locked in a dark and dusty attic. Only Frank had seemed shocked. He'd paled and stammered as he'd stumbled backward. He had still been staring and mumbling incoherently about the dead child as Allie, Michael and Amelia had pulled away in the cart.

Now Michael was taking in all the sights and sounds and asking a million questions which, thankfully, Amelia was quick to answer since Allie's mind was too focused on her own racing thoughts.

Marriage. Michael's wife. Allie cursed the tremble that coursed through her at that thought and the happiness that swelled her heart. While it truly did humble, amaze and honor her that Michael felt her worthy of marrying him, she knew that it wasn't right. Michael was soft, sweet, innocent, pure, good and kind. He was everything in the world that Allie had forgotten existed and she was.... She was a murderer and she was far from innocent; her father had seen to that. She was none of the things that Michael was.

She would stand beside the man, enjoy his love for now because she was too selfish to do anything else, but she would back away and let him go gracefully when the day came that he realized she was not what he wanted, because surely somewhere in this world was someone more deserving of such a man and it would only be a matter of time before Michael found her.

"Allie, what if...." Michael paused and the uncertainty in his voice pulled Allie from her thoughts.

"What if what, Michael?" she asked gently.

"What if I scare people in town?"

Allie took his hand, "You won't scare anyone."

Michael averted his gaze and looked down at the scuffed floorboards of the cart, "But what if I do? What if they run from me or... what if they hurt me?"

"Then I'll kick them in the shins," Amelia spoke up from the back of the cart.

Allie threw a warning glance over her shoulder and then smiled reassuringly as she released Michael's hand and lifted his chin with one finger, "I can't promise you that no one will say anything hurtful because some people are simply small minded and mean spirited and those people will always be around. I can promise you however that no one will physically hurt you, Michael. I won't allow it."

Michael still didn't seem convinced. His feet shifted and Allie could see that he was shaking, "T...turn around. I should have st...stayed. I want to go back."

Allie wanted to agree. She wanted to stop the cart, turn it around and take Michael right back to the safety of the house. But she couldn't.

She couldn't let him give in to fear like this. If she did then he would never overcome it. It was too late to keep him any kind of secret from the townspeople now that all the ranch hands had seen him so there was no good reason to hide him away from town.