Page 29 of Frozen Fancy

“Indeed, Ms. Charming,” Mr. Grimm stated as he removed his hat and overcoat and set them aside. “Mr. Cade will no longer be run to ground.”

Elise covered her mouth, nearly collapsing from the welcome news, while Grannie merely clasped her hands in her lap as a secret smile touched her lips. “And how exactly did that come about?”

“It was really just a matter of Mr. Cade and LordArandine’stestimonies.” He glanced at the other man and said, “Once I presented Mr. Cade’s claim to the judge,he then listened to the evidence presented byArandine, who made a decided difference in swaying his judgment.”

He paused, soArandinetook it from there. “I mentioned that Dwarftonwas never meant to be in charge of Rupert’s Land after the former earl was killed. As the current Lord Arandine, I chose not to press charges, corroborating Mr. Cade’s claim that any retaliation on his part was done in self-defense for his own life. Unfortunately, my previous successor wasn’t the most well liked man in England, and his death, while regrettable, wasn’t a sorrowful loss.”

“Of course,” Mr. Grimm interjected. “Sir Weston Dwarftonburst into the meeting and had to cause trouble, screaming that his friend was murdered in cold blood, but since it was obvious he was rather unhinged, his testimony was discounted.In the end, the charges were dismissed and the bounty removed from Mr. Cade’s head.”

Elise had remained silent throughout it all, but now, with tears streaming down her face, she turned to Chauncey and said, “I can’t believe it’s over.”

“Neither can I,” he returned. He reached up and gently touched her cheek. “After years on the run, of trying to find where I might fit in this world without Martha and Thomas in it, I found salvation in the most unlikely place.”

“In an isolated cabin in the dense mountain forest of Texas?” she guessed.

He shook his head. “No. I found it here.” He placed a hand over her heart. “I love you, Elise Erindelle, and if you would permit me the honor of asking for your hand in marriage—”

She didn’t even wait for him to finish, but threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the lips. His beard tickled her, but she hoped he never shaved it off. When she pulled back, she looked into his dark eyes, the hope of a future she’d never imagined shining in those orbs. “I love you, Chauncey Cade, and nothing would make me happier than being your wife.”

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door and the town minister walked in with a Bible in his hand. “Ah, there you are, Pastor.” Grannie rose from her chair and walked over to greet the middle-aged man. “Right on time.”

Elise’s mouth fell open. “How did you—?”

The older lady smiled.“Call it the ‘Charming’ intuition.” She looked at Chauncey expectantly. “I hope you were serious.”

“I am.” He paused. “But I fear I don’t have a ring.”

“I can take care of that.” Grannie removed a chain that she wore about her neck and slipped a ruby ringoff it. “This was Elise’s mother’s wedding band. She asked me to hold on to it if Elise got married or had need of the money it would bring.”

He held out his hand and she placed it into his palm.

More tears spilled down her cheek as Elise spied the familiar band. “I thought it was lost.”

“She gave it to me on her deathbed,” Grannie said gently. “It was important that I approved of the man you married,and I believe you have found someone more than worthy.”

“Thank you.” Chauncey took the ring and waited for thereverendto begin the ceremony, slipping it onto his new wife’s finger at the right moment.

After congratulations were passed around, he drew Elise to the side of the room. He withdrew two coins from his pocket,lifted her hand and pressed them into her palm.One of them was the love token that she had given him. “I’m grateful that you entrusted me with this good luck charm. And I decided that when we married,thisis a tradition that should becontinued, starting with the symbol of how we met.” With that, he released her and she inspected the second coin to see that he had carved a symbol of a bear into the center with their names and the year on the back.

“I love it,” Elise whispered. “But I love being married to you even more.”

With another kiss to seal the bond, they headed home.

Epilogue

Four years later

Chauncey munched on an apple as he opened the door of the cabin in the woods. He looked up at the growing clouds in the sky and could scent the coming snow in the air. He wondered if it would be a storm like it was the night he’d spied the glowing beacon through the darkness that fateful night he’d stumbled into Elise Erindelle’s life. It was strange, but ever since then, the snowfall each year had been minimal at best, but something told him that this year would be different.

He heard a squeal of laughter and saw his three-year-old daughter running toward him on herchubbylittle legs.She didn’t have the pale blond hair of her mother, but dark flowing locks. However, her blue eyes were sparkling with excitement as he picked her up and set her on his shoulders. Coming around the corner of the cabin was his wife, Mrs. Elise Cade. She was cradling theiryoungest child, a nine-month-old son, in a slinghe’d made for her thrownacross her midsection. He was close enough so that she could feed him when he was hungry, and yet her arms were free so that she could take care of the flowers that were still as precious to her as they’d ever been. And each spring she still carted her wagon down to the village and parked by the Wishing Well.

Chauncey had procured work at the mill and purchased two horses and a wagon of their own, as well as adding on to the modest cabin and building a barn.

It was all he’d ever wanted.

As Elise stopped before him, his heart thumped rapidly in his chest. Each day she became even more beautiful, while the town of Charming felt more like home than Canada ever had. Although he would always mourn Martha and Thomas, they continued to live on his memory as part of the past. But Elise and his son and daughter were his future.

“Hello, Mr. Cade.” His wife said brightly, her brilliant white smile overcoming her pale hair.

“Mrs. Cade,” he returned huskily. He wished that the kids were asleep so that he could be alone with his wife, but since it was early in the day, there wasn’t much chance of that.

He reached into his pocket and held up a shiny coin. “In honor of our anniversary.”

The look on her face nearly stopped his heart as she accepted the offering. “And I have something for you.”

He put his arm around her while his daughter giggled on top of his shoulders. “What could I possibly have that I don’t already?”

Elise glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “How about another son or daughter?”

His deep, rich laughter likely traveled all the way down the valley into the heart of Charming as he kissed his wife and thanked God for all of his many blessings.