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I laugh at her reaction. “What are you hungry for?”
“Hmm. Tacos!” she says excitedly, spying a sign for a little restaurant up ahead.
I steer the car into the parking lot and lead Salem into the restaurant. We seat ourselves and the waitress comes over to get our order. We both order some tacos and nachos with water. We spend the rest of our lunch talking. I ask her about the year that we didn’t see each other and tell her about my parents buying a home in Florida and moving a couple of months ago.
We finish lunch and make the drive back home. I look over at her as we get closer and see her frowning as she stares out the window.
“What’s wrong, princess?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on,” I say, nudging her with my elbow.
“It’s just, this feels like some kind of dream, like I’m going to wake up at any moment
and be back in that house. You’ll be gone and I’ll be alone again.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Salem. We’re married now. That means until death do us part.
I won’t let him take you from me. I won’t let anyone take you from me. I promise, princess.”
This seems to help calm her and she settles back in her seat. I hold her hand for the rest of the trip. We’ve been gone most of the day and I know that I’ll need to head out to the barn to check things out and make sure that everything is okay. I pull into the long driveway and park outside the house. I help Salem down and unlock the door. She plops down on the couch and I want to join her so badly but I know I need to go check on things first.
“I need to head out and make sure everything is alright. I’ll only be gone a little bit. Do you want to come with me?”
“These shoes are killing my feet. Is it okay if I just stay here?”
“Of course, princess. I won’t be gone long anyways. Stay here and relax.”
I kiss her forehead before I head out the back door and jog to the barn. I walk in and everything looks in its place. I run into my foreman, Paul, and he tells me about a calf that we might need to keep an eye on and how the new foal is doing. The vet said that Delilah was just a little dehydrated. We’ll have to keep an eye on her, too.
I thank Paul for running things and he congratulates me on getting married. I should have known that word of our marriage would have already spread. Everything seems to be running smoothly on the farm so I tell him I’ll see him tomorrow before I head back to the house. As I get closer, I hear raised voices and break into a run.
I round the corner to see Salem with her father. He looks pissed, his face red and frozen into a murderous scowl. His hand is wrapped tightly around Salem’s upper arm as he tries to drag her out of the house. Her eyes meet mine and I can see the terror and pain written on her face. She is terrified of him. My blood boils as he pulls her from the house.
I sprint towards them, reaching them in seconds and ripping his hand off of my princess.
“Get your hands off my wife!” I snarl.
His eyes flare as they turn to me. “She is my daughter. She did not have my permission to marry you. I’m taking her home. Now get out of our way!”
“She’s eighteen. She doesn’t need your permission. We were married this morning. Salem is now my wife and she’s not going anywhere with you. Now, get off of our property before I call the cops.”
Her father glares at me before looking back towards his daughter. “This is what you want? To stay here with this-this stranger?” he sputters.
“Campbell isn’t a stranger. He’s my husband,” Salem says with a proud lift to her chin.
“You stupid, naïve, brat. He’s going to use you and throw you away. Your mother would have-”
“Get. Off. Our. Property.” I cut him off as he tries to continue to berate my girl.
I take a step towards him and he backs down quickly, turning and heading back to his truck. He glares over his shoulder once more before climbing behind the wheel and peeling out of our driveway.
ChapterSeven
Salem
Istand next to Campbell as we silently watch my father speed away. When I first heard the knock on the front door, I just assumed that Campbell or one of his men needed something. Then I opened the door to see my father standing there, breathing hard and looking furious. My heart started beating so hard that I could hear it in my ears and I was so afraid that he was going to make me go home with him.
