by Jenna Brandt
Garrett jumped to his feet, glaring at Jonathan. “You should walk away, before I decide to put my fist in your face.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Jonathan growled out, moving closer to the table.
“Can’t you see, we’re having a private dinner,” Becca pointed out, irritated that Jonathan wouldn’t leave them alone. It seemed every time she and Garrett were starting to work through their problems, Jonathan would show up to ruin the moment. “You should do what Garrett suggested before things get out of hand.”
“Too late for that,” Jonathan blurted out, pulling his fist back. “This has been a long time coming.”
Before his punch could land though, Mark arrived beside the table. He stepped in between the other two men, placing his hands out in both directions, intervening just in time to halt the fight.
“Stop this now, the both of you,” he roared out. “You’re acting like children.”
Garrett’s chin dropped to his chest. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let him get to me like that.”
“Why don’t the two of you head on out of here,” Mark suggested.
“I’m actually not feeling too well,” Becca mumbled. “Is there any way you can take me home?”
She knew Garrett would be upset their night was ending early, but she didn’t have it in her to do anything else. A headache was starting to form again, and all she wanted to do was lie down on her bed and fall asleep.
Garrett moved towards her, placing his hand on her arm. “I can walk you home.”
“No, that isn’t necessary. I just need to rest. Mark can take care of me. He knows what to do.”
Becca could tell Garrett wasn’t happy with her choice, but he didn’t say anything further. As she exited the cafe, she tried to focus on the nice time she had had with Garrett, rather than how it was spoiled towards the end by Jonathan.
Chapter Eight
When Garrett arrived at the mine, he made sure to be there before anyone else. He wanted to start off his first day back on the right foot. He got everything in order, then took a seat behind his old desk. He looked through the drawers, pleasantly surprised that not much had changed.
“Have you seen this?” Mark asked, coming into the room.
“Seen what?” Garrett questioned back, his eyes darting up to meet the other man.
“You’re the big headline in the Gazette.” Mark stretched out his hand with a copy of the bi-weekly newspaper in it.
Garrett took it and read the front page.
Bennett Mine Foreman Cleared of All Theft and Murder Charges
Garrett Casner returned to Little Ridge this past week, to the shock of the entire town. After disappearing under suspicious circumstances nearly two months ago, no one expected to hear from him again, especially his ex-fiancée, Becca Bennett, part of the Bennett family that owns the mine he was accused of stealing from.
The article went on to account for everything that happened to Garrett. He hadn’t been sure what Mr. Walker was going to print about him, but the article was far better than he anticipated. He was grateful, because hopefully it meant people would stop thinking the worst, and let him and Becca find a way back to each other.
“Looks like the whole town should know by lunch time that you didn’t steal from the mine.”
“It’s a welcome relief,” Garrett admitted. “I was tired of having to explain what happened to me.”
“I want to talk with you about your fight with Jonathan last night. You need to stop letting him get to you,” Mark pointed out. “You’re better than that.”
“It wouldn’t bother me so much if he didn’t keep trying to make Becca change her mind about him. She’s made it clear she isn’t interested in him, but he won’t give up.”
Mark took a seat across from Garrett. “For the record, even when I was mad at you, I never wanted my sister to be with that man. Something about him rubs me the wrong way.”
“It’s because he’s a liar and a thief. First, he took my inheritance, even though he knew it wasn’t his to claim, then he set his intentions on Becca just to hurt me.”
“Well, now that you’re back and your reputation is restored, you can focus on getting my sister to agree to marry you again.”
“Does that mean I have your blessing?”
Mark nodded. “And my trust again. I should have never said what I did to you the other day. I regret it, and hope you can forgive me.”
“Of course, I forgive you. I know how protective you are of your sister. I can’t blame you for being mad at me based off the information you had at the time.”
The rest of the miners arrived and the work day started. They were glad to see Garrett back in his position, coming up and offering congratulations on his return.
Before he knew it, the morning was over and it was time for lunch. He was debating if he was going to walk in to town to grab a bite to eat, when Becca arrived at his office.
“What are you doing here?”
From behind her back, she pulled out a picnic basket. “I brought you lunch. I wanted to celebrate your first day back at work.”
“That was really sweet of you.” He climbed out from behind his desk and came around to stand in front of her. He reached out to lift the lid of the basket to peek inside, eager to see what she cooked up for him. “What did you bring me?”
“All your favorites,” she said with a smile. “Roasted chicken with peas and carrots, and for dessert, a peach cobbler. I also made some sweet tea to drink.”
“You’re way too good to me. I can’t wait to have some of your food again. It’s been way too long.” He gestured over to his desk. “You’ll join me, won’t you?”
She nodded, taking a seat across from him at his desk. “Sure, if I’m not in the way.”
“You could never be in the way,” he said with a grin. “I love spending time with you.”
“Good, because I love spending time with you, too.”
Becca spread out the food on the desk. She handed him a tin plate and set of utensils, keeping some for herself, then poured them both a glass of tea in the tin cups she brought with her.
They enjoyed the meal together, talking about the article in the newspaper and what that meant for them. Becca mentioned that she had her weekly knitting party at the church that evening, so they were going to have dinner before she went.
By the time Becca was leaving his office, Garrett felt like his life was finally getting back to the way it was before he was attacked. He was tempted to try to kiss her, but he worried it might be too soon. Before he could decide one way or another, Mark entered the room and explained there was a problem down in the mine that he needed to go deal with.
“I’ll see you tonight?”
“You sure will,” she said as she picked up the picnic basket and headed towards the door. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Once Garrett dealt with the problem in the mine, the rest of the day went smoothly. After finishing up the last of his paperwork, he locked up the office. He walked over to get his horse from the hitching post, but before he could mount, Jonathan Bosley’s voice stopped him in his tracks.
“I think you and I need to get a few things straight.”
Garrett spun around and scowled at the other man. “I have nothing to say to you, Mr. Bosley. Furthermore, I don’t think it’s very couth of you to approach me at my place of business about something that is, no doubt, of a personal nature.”
Jonathan snorted with a shrug. “I really don’t care what you think, Casner. I’m just here to tell you to stay away from Becca. You already hurt her enough the first time around; she doesn’t need a repeat performance.”
“I won’t hurt her again, and I didn’t hurt her on purpose the first time. It wasn’t my fault.”
“Whether you meant to or not, you still did it. When a man loves a woman, he should go out of his way to keep her from pain, not be the cause of it.”
The words stung, because deep down, Garrett felt the same way. He hated that
Becca had been devastated by his disappearance; that her pain had been compounded by her believing he had stolen from her family. If he could, he would erase all of it.
“I’m fully aware of what I put Becca through, even if it wasn’t my fault. I love her, and she loves me, and there isn’t a single thing you can do about it,” Garrett vowed. “You’re the one that needs to leave Becca alone. She’s made her choice.”
“Part of me wonders if the only reason you came back to town is to get the money and land you think you’re entitled to. I’m betting you only want to be with Becca because you want to get at me through her. I’ll have you know, I’m the rightful owner of that inheritance, and Becca belongs with me.”
“You’re wrong. I don’t care about the money or the land. All I want is Becca.” Garrett was finished with the conversation. He turned around and mounted his horse, ready to head back into town.
“Mark my words, Casner, I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t get it, or Becca,” his enemy called out after his retreating figure.
Garrett didn’t respond, choosing rather to head towards the woman he loved and the future they both deserved.
Chapter Nine
The chatter of the nearby women was a soft hum as Becca quietly worked on her scarf. The knitting club, which was comprised of Matilda, June, Julia, Becca, and Molly Walker, were working on a dozen scarves for the soldiers at the nearby fort, since fall was fast approaching.
As Becca tried to follow the pattern, Molly, the newspaper owner’s wife, had shared with them; she listened to the women talk about their husbands and beaus. June was pregnant, and talking about how her older son from her first marriage was excited to be a big brother.
“Ben told me the other day that he was ready to watch the baby while I was working at the apothecary. I explained that babies need their mothers a lot for the first few months, and he or she was going to need to be by me. He didn’t seem pleased about that and demanded that I let him watch the baby.”
“He probably doesn’t understand the whole nursing thing,” Matilda said with a giggle. “I don’t envy you when you have that conversation.”
“I tried to explain it to him, but he got disgusted by it and ran off,” June explained with a shake of her head. “I’m not sure how I’m going to handle having two children.”
“It’s why God gave you two hands,” Molly said from across the knitting circle. “You’ll do just fine.”
Molly was an expert knitter, and had taught the young women all she knew. She continued to come to knitting club, claiming there was still more to teach them, but Becca suspected she enjoyed the company.
“Julia, how is your scarf coming?” Molly inquired, standing up and moving over to inspect the other woman’s handiwork. “You changed your pattern right here. You need to go back and fix it, or it won’t turn out right.”
Julia’s cheeks flamed red as she quickly undid her work. “I can’t believe I missed that.”
“It’s okay; you’re still learning. It’s taken me years to get as good as I am,” Molly explained with a friendly smile. “You ladies will get there soon. You’ll see.”
“I think next week we should start working on clothes for June’s baby,” Matilda suggested. “I have a feeling it’s going to take most of us quite some time to get much of anything done.”
“I agree,” Julia lamented. “We don’t want the baby’s clothes falling off as he or she is crawling.”
“I think that’s a marvelous idea,” Molly said. “I can bring some of the baby clothes I’ve made over the years as samples. I always make duplicates to keep for myself.”
All the women’s heads turned to look at Molly with shock. Becca couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She could barely get one item done at a time, let alone make duplicates.
“I can’t believe you have time for that,” Becca mumbled. “I need to figure out how to get better at this.”
“It will come with time, dear,” Molly stated kindly, then added, “And what you’ve done tonight is quite nice. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
The women continued to work on their scarves. Those that finished their first one, moved onto a second. Becca was pleased that she finished an entire scarf, and surprised herself by knitting the second one in half the time.
“How are things going with Garrett?” Matilda asked, setting her knitting needles down and focusing her attention on Becca.
“Oh, you know, just fine.”
“No, we don’t know,” June corrected with a smile. “Which is why we’re asking. We need to know what to pray for, after all.”
“I’m assuming all of you saw the newspaper article?” Becca inquired, pausing her own knitting for a moment and looking up.
All the women nodded, giving their undivided attention to Becca.
“Since I know now he didn’t jilt me, Garret and I have decided to try to find our way back to where we were before he disappeared.”
“And how do you do that exactly?” Matilda inquired with a raised eyebrow.
“We’re taking it day by day, spending time together and remembering what we once shared.”
“All right, I’m just going to be the one to ask what we all want to know,” Julia huffed as she stuffed her scarf back in her tapestry bag beside her. She looked up and stared pointedly at her cousin. “What’s the hold up, Becca? Now that you know Garrett didn’t abandon you, there shouldn’t be any reason for you to be taking it slow. You should’ve been married already.”
Becca pressed her lips together, her brows furrowing in shock due to Julia’s forceful outburst. Her cousin was usually passive, avoiding confrontation and public displays of emotion. Becca was the more outgoing and social of the two, and tended to be the one to make a scene. This wasn’t like Julia.
“Can’t you see you’re upsetting her?” Matilda defended her best friend. “You shouldn’t put her on the spot like that.”
“You’re the one who started it, Tildy,” Julia snapped out. “If you don’t like how the conversation is going, you should’ve kept your mouth closed.”
“I didn’t know it was going to cause any of this,” Matilda defended. “If I had, I wouldn’t have brought up the subject.”
“That’s enough,” Molly gently chastised the other women. “Why don’t we just drop the matter, ladies.”
“I just don’t know why you seem to be keeping walls up where Garrett is concerned,” Julia pointed out. “You love him. It’s clear to everyone, but you’re holding back.”
Becca didn’t understand why she was doing it either. She was happy that Garrett was home and his innocence had been proven, but there was a part of her that couldn’t keep the fear from trickling into her heart. “I’m not trying to be that way, honest. The more I let myself think about a future with Garrett again, the more afraid I am that it’s going to hurt even worse when it doesn’t work out this time. I’m just scared that things are too good to be true. What if something comes along and ruins everything for us like it did in the past?”
“You can’t think like that,” Matilda sweetly reminded her friend. “There’s always a chance things aren’t going to work out, but you can’t hold back because of it. Believe me, I’ve had my share of failed courtships, but I keep trying to find the right man for me.”
“And when you feel like giving up, that’s when you pray and ask God to help you,” June advised. “Or ask your friends to pray with you if you don’t feel you can do it on your own.”
“You can’t hold back, Becca. When you know, you know,” her cousin added with a sympathetic smile. “I knew with Ed just like June knew with Daniel. It’s why we both didn’t need to wait a long time to get married. You’ve done enough waiting for a lifetime.”
Becca knew that her friends had valid points. She needed to stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and focus on what was going right. Garrett was back home and he still loved her. They were going to spend the rest of their lives togethe
r. She just needed to let herself believe it.
“Thank you, everyone; I appreciate your helping me sort through all of this.”
“Any time.” June smiled as she brushed her brown hair behind her ears. “We’re always here for you.”
Becca made the decision she wasn’t going to let her fears keep her from the man she loved. When they went out tomorrow night, she was going to tell him she still loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
Chapter Ten
As Garrett waited in the foyer of the Bennett house, he paced back and forth. Tonight was the night he hoped would change everything for Becca and him. He planned on convincing her to make their engagement official again.
“You seem nervous, Garrett,” Mark observed as he watched his friend move back and forth across the marble floor. “Why don’t you calm down. My sister still loves you.”
Garrett stopped in his tracks and swiveled around to confront Mark. “How do you know that?”
“It’s obvious—to everyone, which means you have nothing to worry about.”
He wanted to believe Mark, but his nerves wouldn’t let him. He resumed his pacing, knowing the movement would calm his anxiousness.
“I’m ready,” Becca’s voice carried from above them.
Garrett’s eyes darted up to find Becca standing at the top of the staircase. Her hands were resting on the banister as she looked down at him. She was wearing a hunter green velvet dress that was fitted in the bodice and flared out at the waist. It had black lace detailing at the sleeves and the neckline.
“You look breathtaking,” he praised as he climbed the stairs two at a time to get to her.
She smiled as he took her hand and placed it on his arm. “Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself in your suit.” Since his clothes had been given away when he didn’t return to Little Ridge, he had to replace most of them when he got back. Tonight, he had donned his Sunday suit, knowing it would please Becca to see him in it.