Love's Promise
Written by Holly Custer
Copyright © 2001

I thought I had met the man with whom I was going to spend the rest of my life.

Everything had seemed to slowly fall apart after Jason and I had become engaged.   The one thing that made me realize that marrying Jason would be a serious mistake was  when I found Jason and my best friend kissing-----passionately.  I found them the morning Jason and I were to be married.

After I left the scene of the so-called ‘crime’, I ran to my room and proceeded to pace the length of it.  I was angry and hurt.  I couldn’t believe that Jason had done this to me.  I thought he had loved me.  I guess I had been wrong.  I finally tired from all the pacing and plopped down into my armchair.  I wanted to cry, but to be honest, Jason just wasn’t worth it.  I knew that now.

There came a knock on my door.  “Who is it?”  I called.

“It’s me, Jason.”

“I have nothing to say to you.  I want you out now.  Take that witch with you.  I want nothing more to do with either of you!” 

“Come on, Jillian.  We need to talk.  I want to explain-----”  He whined.

“Explain?  It was fairly obvious what was happening.  There is no need for an explanation.  I sure am glad you showed me your true colors before we got married.  Now, just leave me alone!”

“Fine.  I’ll leave you alone-----for now.  Mark my words, Jillian Marie Andrews,  you’ll regret the day you tossed Jason Matthew Ellerby aside.”  He threatened.  I listened with relief as his footsteps faded away.  I was truly in tears now.  This had been too much for me to handle.

I flung myself across my bed and let the tears fall.  After a while, I arose from my bed.  I washed my face and changed into a pair of jeans, a shirt and riding boots.  I went to the stable and saddled my mare.  I swung up into the saddle and loped down the dirt road.

“Good mornin’ to ye, lassie.”  I pulled Dusty up in front of my neighbor, Ian Campbell.  “I thought ye were to be wed this fine day.”

“I was.  My fiancée’ found someone else that he cared for more than me.”  I stated looking away from the handsome Scotsman.

“Come down here, lass, and speak wi’ me.  I’ve been a friend for many years.  Ye  can talk to me.”  I smiled.  I was comforted by Ian’s familiar Scottish brogue.  I jumped down and tied my mare to the fence post.

Ian and I talked for about an hour.  He soon had me laughing.  As children, I had followed Ian everywhere that he went.  He hadn’t seemed to mind having me tag after him like my big brothers did.  In fact, he seemed to enjoy having me around.  Maybe it was due to the fact that Ian’s older brother was twelve years older than he was.

I looked at my watch and saw that I needed to get home.  My parents would start worrying.  I looked up at my thirty-year old neighbor.  I suddenly realized how handsome he was.  He had thick, wavy, auburn hair and vivid, green eyes.

“Thank you, Ian.  I feel so much better.”  I reached up to kiss him on the cheek  He turned his head and captured my lips with his.  I was stunned for just a moment, but then I relaxed against his strong, lithe body.  I savored every moment of that first kiss between us.

Reluctantly, I broke away from his enticing embrace.  “I---I need to get home, Ian.  My parents might start wondering where I am.”  I slowly backed away.  My brown eyes never left his green ones.  I kept backing up until I ran into Dusty.  I stopped.  I was embarrassed.  Ian strolled up to me.

    “I didna plan for this to happen, lovely lass.”  He said softly.  I gulped as his strong hands caressed my upper arms sensuously.

“I know.”  I whispered.  With hesitation, I reached up and kissed him again.  I was intrigued with the boldness that I had so suddenly acquired.  “I have to go.”

This time I swung up into my saddle and turned Dusty towards home.  I glanced back once and saw that Ian was watching me.  I smiled shyly and clapped my heels into Dusty’s sleek flanks  She obligingly jumped into an easy lope.

My heartbreak over Jason was swiftly fading into oblivion.  I still felt hurt, but I realized that I never did truly love him.  I had been skillfully manipulated into marriage with him because he made a lot of money.  My parents, my mother mainly, had always wanted what they thought was best for me.  I didn’t always agree with them.  What was best for me was marrying a strong, loving man that I loved-----someone a lot like Ian Campbell.

“Jillian!  Where have you been?” My mother cried hugging me close.  She gazed into my face with concern.  “Jason told me that you and he had a falling out of sorts.  He said the wedding was canceled.  I’m sure we can call him and tell him you made a mistake-----” 

“Oh, please, Mother!  I wouldn’t marry Jason if he were the last man on earth.”  I stated firmly and unwaveringly.  “In fact, I was over talking to Ian, Mother.  He was being my friend when I needed one.”  I answered thinking of the heart-stirring kisses we had shared.  I turned to the refrigerator and pulled  out a cold soda.

“Why do you hang around that man?  I can hardly understand what he says.”  My snobbish mother said with a delicate shiver.

“Ian has been my best friend for years.   He is sweet, kind and caring.  His accent is a very real part of who he is.”  I stated.  My mother had never been a fan of Ian’s and I was tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.  I was tired of her constant disapproval.

Thankfully, she had nothing more to say.  I stalked out of the room.  I decided it was time to move away from home.  It was time for me to be on my own.  I went to my room and started to pack my things even though I had no place to go.

The next morning I was up early.  I saddled up Dusty and rode over to Ian’s place.  As I galloped up the drive, I saw all sorts of emergency vehicles.  My heart started to pound.  I jumped down from Dusty and secured her to a fence post.  I ran the rest of the way up the drive.  A policeman stopped me.

“Can you tell me what happened?  My friend lives here.  Is he all right?”  I anxiously awaited his answer.

“Ma’am, if your friend is Ian Campbell, well, he has just been arrested for murder.” 

“Murder?  Who was murdered?”

“David Campbell.”

“You’re telling me that Ian Campbell was arrested for killing his own brother?  Ian couldn’t hurt a fly!”  I was shocked.  First, that Ian had been arrested.  Secondly, Ian’s brother had been the victim.  “May I please go see Ian?” 

The officer reluctantly let me through his line.  I found the Scotsman sitting in the back of a police cruiser with his hands cuffed behind him.  I knelt down next to him.  “Are you all right, Ian?”  I was so concerned about him.

“I’m fine, lass.  Just a wee bit confused.”  Ian answered softly.

“You didn’t kill him, did you?”  I blurted without thought.  Ian turned to me with gentle reproach in his vivid, green eyes.  I knew better than to question his integrity.  He was the most honorable man I knew.  I lowered my head to hide the tears and avoid those knowing, green eyes.  I was ashamed of myself for thinking such a terrible thing of my best friend.

“‘Tis all right, lassie.  I know ye meant no harm.”  He whispered in that soft, Scottish burr of his.     I looked up and saw the tears shimmering in his beautiful eyes.  I reached up and kissed him gently on the lips.  I caressed his stubbled cheek with gentle fingertips.  I didn’t know what to say or how to comfort him in the loss of his brother and freedom.

“Miss, you need to get away from the prisoner now.”  An officer said brusquely ushering me away from the car. 

“I love you, Ian.”  I cried suddenly as the cruiser drove away.  I saw him turn in his seat and stare at me with a surprised look on his handsome face.  I realized the implications of what I had said.  I knew I meant it, but I had not intended to say it.  My hand covered my mouth.  I had not fully realized that my feelings for Ian were so strong.  I stood still for a long moment.

I shook off my reverie.  I ran to Dusty and galloped home.  I needed to help Ian.  There was only one person who could help him.  That was my father, the attorney.

“Daddy!”  I yelled running through the house to his den.  I stopped in front of his desk and attempted to catch my breath. 

“What is it?  What’s happened?”  Nathan Andrews, my father, stood to his feet.  He waited as my breathing slowed. 

“You have to help!  He’s in dreadful trouble!”

“Who is, baby?  Sit down and tell me from the beginning.”  My handsome father led me to the leather couch  and sat down with me.  I looked up into his brown eyes.  Eyes that I saw every morning in the mirror.  Suddenly, I burst into tears.  My father took me into his arms and rocked me as I cried.  He soothed and comforted me as he had when I was a child.

“Ian’s been arrested for murder!  They took him away just a little while ago.  You have to help him, Daddy.  He couldn’t kill anyone!”  I said sitting up and wiping my eyes.  I briefly told him the whole story.  When I was finished, he looked long and hard at me for a long moment.  

“You love Ian, don’t you, Jill?”

“Yes, I do.”  I answered.  I didn’t know how he would react to my newfound feelings considering how my mother felt about Ian.

“He’s a fine man, little girl.  I was hoping you would see Jason for what he really is.  I’m proud of you.”  He kissed me on the forehead.  “Now, let’s go see about getting Ian out of jail.”  I hugged my father with all of the love that I could muster.

“Thank you, Dad.”

At the police station, Dad went to talk to the officer in charge.  I stayed in the lobby chewing on my fingernails.  I finally went to the front desk and asked the officer if they had any progress in the Campbell murder case.  She said that she thought there might have been some progress.  I needed to speak to Detective Haley.  She told me where I could find him.  I thanked her and walked down the hall.  I knocked on a door.  It had a piece of paper with “Detective Mark Haley” scrawled on it in pen.
   
“Come in!”  Shouted a deep, male voice.

I opened the door and walked into a small office that looked like a tornado had whirled through it.  The detective glanced my way.  He jumped up when he saw me and dumped a pile of folders on to the floor.  He stooped to pick them up and put them on the desk.  I was surprised to see how young he looked.  He must have been all of twenty-five.

“Are you Detective Haley?”

“Yes, I am.  May I help you, miss?”

“I understand that you are in charge of the Campbell murder case?”

“Yeah, that one is open and shut.  The guy is secretly jealous of his older brother.  He finally loses it and kills him.  Piece of cake.”  Haley said with a superior attitude.  “This one’ll get me a promotion easy.”

“Excuse me!  My best friend is the one accused of that murder.  How dare you make light of such a terrible situation.  His very life is at stake for a crime he did not, I repeat, did not commit.  I ought to report you to your superior officer.  Why don’t you get out and do your job!?”  I left the office slamming the door behind me.  I was furious at the callousness of the police detective.  It was uncalled for and childish.

“Jillian!”  I turned and saw my father striding down the busy hall towards me.  He had a grim look on his face.  “They won’t let him go.  They have the right to hold him for seventy-two hours. There’s going to be a bail hearing at ten tomorrow morning.  I plan on being here, what about you?”

“I’m with you, Dad.  Can we see him?”

“Just for a few minutes.”  We were taken to an interrogation room.  Ian’s was brought into the room.  They had taken the cuffs off of him.  I guess they realized that he wasn’t going to run away.  Anyway, I was very glad to see him.

I walked up to him and brushed a lock of red hair out of his eyes.  My hand brushed his cheek.  I gazed up into his green eyes.

“Did ye mean what ye said, lass?”  He whispered, his hands rested on my shoulders.

“I meant every word, me darlin’.”  I whispered a smile lighting my face.  He pulled me close and held me.  This was all that we needed...for the moment.

The next morning was a nightmare.  The judge refused to set bail for Ian.  He set a pretrial hearing date a month from now.  I was devastated.  Ian could never stand to be cooped up for so long.  He thrived on the outdoors.  It was his very existence.  I do have to admit that he took the news very well.

My father used every trick he knew to persuade the judge to change his mind, but the judge was dead set in his ways.  Ian had been tried, convicted and sentenced all in one hour by a judge who had his own agenda.  I determined to do some amateur detective work on my own.

I went back to Ian’s place.  I searched everywhere trying to find some clue of what had happened the night David Campbell was killed.  I knew that the murder had been committed in the stable, if only the horses could talk.  I went to the stable.  To my inexperienced eye, it looked as if there had been some sort of struggle.  I searched along the floor and the edges of the stall hoping to find something--------anything to help Ian.

Suddenly, there it was--------my clue.  It turned out to be a gold signet ring.  I wriggled it carefully out from under the wall of one of the stalls.  I studied it as well as I could.  It looked like there could be an inscription on the inside of the ring, but the inside of the stable was gloomy and dim.  It was hard to see anything clearly.

The ring was familiar.  I had seen it before, but I couldn’t remember where.  I thought and thought.  I couldn’t seem to come up with the answer I needed.  I stuffed the ring in my pocket and walked outside and stood for a moment.  Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a slight movement.  I turned quickly and saw nothing.  I walked cautiously to the end of the stable.  I peered around the corner.  There was nothing there but a small, brown jackrabbit.  I watched as it hopped away.  I shrugged my shoulders and decided to go home.

After I went to bed that night, it came to me.  Jason Ellerby!  The ring I had found belonged to Jason Ellerby!  I jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to my parents’ room.  I opened the door and tiptoed to my father’s side of the bed.  Gently, I shook him.  I pressed a finger to my lips when he opened his eyes and was going to speak.  I motioned him to follow me.  He threw on his robe and followed me to my room.  I picked up my jeans from the armchair and pulled the ring from my pocket.  I held it up for my dad to see.

“I found this in the stable very close to where the murder had taken place.  There must have been some kind of struggle.  Dad, I know who owns this ring.”  I stated clutching it in my fist.  “It belongs to Jason.  I figured it out after I went to bed.”

“Are you sure about this, Jillian?”  Nathan Andrews took the ring from me and studied it purposefully.

“I’m very sure.  Look at the inscription: ‘JME 6-19-85’.  Those are Jason’s initials and the date of his high school graduation.  His dad gave it to him.  He told me all about it.”  I was so excited.  I just knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep.  “The light was so dim in the stable that I couldn’t make out the inscription.  I put the ring in my pocket and forgot about it until a few minutes ago.”

“I suggest that we take it down to the D.A.’s office tomorrow morning.  We’ll see what they have to say about it.  Maybe we can get the pretrial hearing moved up a couple of weeks.”  My father stood quietly staring at the ring.  “Hide this away, little girl.  We’ll go in the morning.  Now try and get some sleep.”  He kissed me on the forehead and went back to bed.

In the morning, after we went to the D.A.’s office everything seemed to move at top speed.  The District attorney who was prosecuting Ian’s case and my father went to see the judge.  They met with him in chambers and had a long conference.  I waited impatiently outside pacing the halls.

“How did it go?”  I asked eagerly when the two men exited the judge’s chambers.

“Well, Daughter, the judge is going to bring everyone into court in the morning.  He is going to see if the pretrial can be moved to next week.”

“Can we see Ian?”

“I’m afraid not, sweetheart.  You’ll see him in the morning.  I really have some work that needs to be done.”

So we went home.  I changed and saddled Dusty and rode over to Ian’s place.  I wanted to check on the horses and talk to Ian’s stable boys. 

I found Isaac, the foreman, cleaning saddles in the tack room.  I sat down and watched him work the beautiful leather with saddle soap.

 “Isaac, do you know who killed David?”  I asked abruptly watching his weathered face.

He looked up with a perplexed look on his face.  Slowly, hesitantly, he shook his head.  “No, miss, I didn’t see it.”  I knew that he was lying.  I could see it in his face.

“Why are you lying, Isaac?  Ian needs you right now!  He could spend the rest of his life in prison if you don’t speak up and help clear his name.”  Isaac just shook his head.  I was starting to get frustrated.  Abruptly, I got up and left.

I went home.  After I put Dusty in her paddock, I walked up to my father’s study. I fingered some of the books on his shelves.  I was worried.  “Dad, I just finished talking to Isaac over at Ian’s.  He knows who killed David, but he won’t say anything.  That’s not like him at all.  Usually, he is so helpful.  Can you help?”  I sat down across from him.

“He knows who killed David Campbell and he won’t talk?”  My father looked stunned.  “Jillian, call Detective Haley.  Tell him to get over to Ian’s now.  I want you to stay here.”  I looked doubtfully at him, but he had already left the room at a run.  I picked up the phone and called Detective Haley.

After I hung up the phone, I sat for a long moment not really understanding what was going through my father’s head.  Finally, I disobeyed my dad and rode bareback over to Ian’s on Dusty.  I ran to the stable and slipped through the double doors.  I found Dad and Detective Haley leaning over Isaac’s dead body.

“Oh, no.”  I whispered.  I couldn’t believe this was happening again.  I turned and ran from the stable.  Not really watching where I was going,  I ran straight into someone.  I looked up and saw-----Jason Ellerby!  He grabbed my arms and I screamed.

He swiftly hauled me hard against him and put a gun to my head.  I gasped in fear.  Dad and detective Haley ran from the stable at that moment.  Apparently, they had heard me scream.

“Drop your gun, Detective.  I’ll kill her if I have a reason.  I’ve already killed twice, once more won’t make a difference.”  Jason had really lost it.  I was scared, no, I was terrified.  I hardly dared to breathe.  I could feel the cold, steel barrel against my temple.  I closed my eyes and prayed for a miracle.

“Why did you kill David, Jason?”  I heard my father’s calm voice ask.

“David wasn’t supposed to be the target.  I thought he was Ian.  I knew that Ian loved Jillian.  I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at her.  I wanted him out of my way.  Unfortunately, Jill caught me kissing Melissa.  She refused to listen to me or let me explain.  She wouldn’t marry me after that.  I lost her.”  He paused for a second.  “Look!  I’m done talking!  I’ve had enough!  I’m not going to prison!”  He screamed.  He shoved me away from him.  I fell to the ground.  I watched in horror as Jason put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.  I screamed and everything went black.

The next thing I knew my father was holding me and shielding my face from what must have been a gruesome sight.

Finally, my dad took me home.  I went to my room and sat at the window.  I watched the horses playing in the pastures and paddocks.  I don’t know how long I sat there, but it must have been a while.

As the sun began to set, I heard a knock on my door.  I turned and was surprised and ecstatic at who I saw.  Ian was standing there with a beautiful smile on his face.

“Good evening to ye, my lovely lass.”  Ian said.  I jumped up out of my chair and threw my arms around his neck.  His arms went around me and held me tight.  I started to cry.  I looked up into his dear, handsome face..

“I missed you, my love.”  I whispered.  I pressed my cheek to his.  Ian turned his head and our lips met.  We kissed passionately.  We both were breathing hard when our lips parted.

“Wed wi’ me, Jill.  I wish us to be together for always.”  Ian whispered against my hair.  “I love ye and want ye to be mine.”

“Oh, Ian!  Of course I’ll marry you!”  I murmured enjoying the feel of his strong arms encircling me.  I sighed happily.  This was the promise of love I had waited for all of my life.