A Cherished Gift

by Vicki Hunt Budge

  Alice placed her free hand on her heart, but before she could answer, Fern and Beth charged down the hall and came to a screeching halt in the doorway. “Oh, there you are,” Fern said. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”

  Jake leaped to his feet; a crimson color that matched his vest crept into his face.

  “Why were you kneeling?” Beth asked. “Did you lose something?”

  “What’s going on?” Zina said, appearing in the doorway behind her younger sisters.

  “I’m begging your sister to marry me,” Jake whispered, and then when the girls started screaming, Jake motioned with his hands for them to stop. “Shhh . . . don’t tell anyone yet. You see, Alice hasn’t given me her answer. You three will be the first to know when she does, if she does, but can you keep our little secret for now?”

  “Oh, Alice will marry you,” Fern said, giggling. “She’s crazy about you.”

  Alice scurried to her feet. “Fern! Mind your own business!”

  Jake raised his brows, grinning when he took Alice’s hand in his. “Of course, I’ll have to talk to your father first if you agree. Then we’ll tell these three.”

  “This is so romantic,” Zina said and clasp her hands to her heart.

  Alice closed her eyes. Marriage proposals were supposed to be romantic but having all of her younger sisters burst into the room was not her idea of romantic. “Will you three please leave? And don’t go blabbing what you’ve heard until Jake tells you to.”

  After the girls took off down the hall, giggling all the way, Alice smiled at Jake and shook her head. “Sorry,” she said.

  Jake turned her toward him and held her arms in his hands. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I bungled that whole thing by not waiting for a more romantic time, but I meant every word of what I said. Don’t give me your answer now, Alice. Just think about the possibility until I come again. I hope your answer will be yes.”

  Alice’s lips turned up slightly and Jake leaned in, slowly brushing them with his. Then he groaned and held her close to him. “I wish I could take you back to Boise with me right now,” he whispered in her ear.

  When he lifted her chin and looked longingly into her eyes, Alice thought he was going to kiss her again, but a flock of Gardner grandchildren came squealing and running down the hall, chasing away the tender moment.

  Later that evening, Jake spent an hour having supper with his family before his brother drove him to the train station. Jake’s mother reached out and gave Jake’s hand a squeeze as they finished their supper. “Well, we didn’t see much of you during this visit, but since we weren’t expecting your return so soon, the few minutes we’ve had with you have been a treat.”

  Jake could tell she hoped to learn the details of his visit with Alice and her family. He had been struggling with the details himself during the past few hours. Did he really ask Alice to marry him when he had nothing to offer her? “Sorry I didn’t spend more time with you,” was all he said.

  “He only came home to bolster his standing with Alice Gardner,” Milton said, a smug look crossing his face.

  Jake slugged his brother in the arm, and Milton ducked before another brotherly blow came his way.

  “Well, it’s true.” Milton’s grin broadened and he coughed like he was trying to suppress a big guffaw. “The guys around here are flocking around Alice since Jake left for Boise.”

  “That’s enough, Milton,” Mrs. Weston said.

  “Is Lyman treating you well?” Mr. Weston asked.

  “Oh, yes! Uncle Lyman’s awesome to work for. He sends me out to solicit ads all the time, but he also has me write some of the news articles. He’s even starting to give me a byline.”

  Mr. Weston nodded again. “That’s all good,” he said. “Learn all you can. You’ll go farther in this business than I ever hoped to.”

  Jake looked at the clock on the mantel and pushed back from the table. “I wish I could stay and visit longer, but I’d better get moving or I’ll miss the train.”

  After hugging his mother and shaking hands with his father, Jake and Milton donned their coats and hats and left for the ride to the train station. A driving wind had picked up bringing a cold rain with it. Both brothers tugged their hats down and scrunched their shoulders while Milton drove, and the rain pelted them.

  “Keep me informed,” Jake said just before they got to the station. He referred to the notes Milton tacked onto the Clover Creek Weekly that Jake received.

  “Sure thing,” Milton said, pulling his hat still lower. After a pause, he added, “You’ve changed, Jake. You’re kind of citified with your fancy duds. Where’s all your money coming from anyway?”

  “I haven’t changed!” The moment Jake snapped at his brother, his stomach tightened. He didn’t think he’d changed, but he was trying awfully hard to follow Dusty’s plans. And not all those plans felt right. He hadn’t done anything wrong though. Not really. Dusty was the one who put the counterfeit money down on his new suit and bought the gloves and broach for Alice.

  Jake intended to pay off what he owed on the suit with his own hard-earned money. He didn’t tell Milton that he was in debt for his new suit or that the suit was partially paid for with counterfeit money. The whole idea of using counterfeit money confused Jake. Dusty claimed the fake money helped the economy, the merchants, and the average guy, and Jake wanted to believe him.

  On the train ride back to Boise, Jake’s mind drifted back to counterfeiting. Thinking about counterfeiting bothered him . . . along with the vision of Frank Baldwin dancing with Alice. Jake was a newspaper reporter. He could investigate counterfeiting and see if it was as helpful to the economy and the average man as Dusty claimed.

  After all, if Jake bought counterfeit money, he could afford to get married. Jake leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes, hoping the rocking train would quiet his mind.

  8

  A glimmer of light shone on the mountain peaks Monday morning. Alice helped load her father’s wagon for his return to the survey job. The dawn air was cool and peaceful. An owl hooted from somewhere toward the back of the property.

  Mrs. Gardner and Nellie slipped out of the house carrying a basket of food for their husbands, and everyone spoke quietly as though wanting to preserve the early morning tranquility. The crowing of a rooster shattered the air just as the wagon pulled away from the homestead.

  Alice helped Charlie with the morning chores: milking the cow, gathering eggs, and making sure all the animals had feed and water. The whole time she worked, Alice thought about Jake’s gentle kiss and the fluttery feeling that had filled her. She couldn’t help chuckling, thinking about Jake on one knee when Fern and Beth burst into the room.

  “What’s so funny?” Charlie asked.

  “Oh, just thinking about our family,” Alice said.

  “I think our family is pretty nice.”

  Alice chuckled again. “Nice, yes. Sometimes a little crazy.”

  “What about Jake? You daydreaming about him too?”

  Alice smiled. She didn’t tell her brother about Jake’s proposal. She smiled again just thinking about it. “I won’t deny it. I miss him already.”

  “Jake’s a good man.”

  “Uh-huh, I think so.” Alice had dreamed of her first kiss and of Jake someday proposing to her, but she hadn’t expected either to happen last evening when the Gardner house was filled with family. Marriage to Jake was exactly what she wanted, but could she move so far away from her family if he wanted to stay in Boise? For years, she had hoped to marry Jake and settle right here in Clover Creek for the rest of her life. That was what she thought Jake wanted too.

  Her sister Belle had moved to Salt Lake City with her husband, and she certainly seemed happy. Salt Lake City was a lot further than Boise. And Jake had said he would bring her back home often if they lived in Boise.

  Charlie helped Alice hitch Sage and Venus to the family carriage for her drive into Clover Creek to clean for Mrs. Stribling. While they wo
rked, Alice felt that small niggling worry that she and Jake were not ready to marry. What was that all about?

  Fern and Beth came running out at the last minute and begged to go into town.

  “The McBride family has baby goats,” Beth pleaded. “They invited Fern and I to come and see them whenever we wanted to.”

  “Ma said we could go, if we worked hard to help her tidy the house when we get back,” Fern added.

  “I would love your company,” Alice said, suddenly wanting the chatter of her sisters to dispel her concerns about marriage and potentially moving to Boise. “I’d love to see the goats myself when I return to pick you up.”

  In no time, Sage and Venus clopped down the road toward town while Alice’s sisters peppered her with questions about Jake and his marriage proposal.

  “Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,” Alice said, changing the subject to a childhood game that she and her sisters still played.

  “Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,” Fern said.

  “Maryland, Delaware, Virginia,” Beth added.

  “North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,” Beth spit out, and on and on they went taking turns stating three or four states in a progressive east to west list until they had chanted all forty-five states. When they finished, they laughed at getting a few states out of order and stumbling along. Then they ran through the list of states in their sing-song way twice as fast as before with not one state out of order. When they finished, they had nearly reached town.

  After Alice dropped the girls off at the McBride’s house, she guided Sage and Venus to Mrs. Stribling’s home, the closest thing to a mansion in Clover Creek. “Rolla, it’s me, Alice,” she called out after knocking and opening the front door.

  Mrs. Stribling walked into the entryway from her kitchen. She wore a faded gingham apron over her dress and her hair had a dusting of flour. “You’re just in time,” she announced. “I’ve made a cake and you’re here in time to frost it.”

  “Umm, I’d love to frost it,” Alice said. She had loved Mrs. Stribling’s elegant cakes over the years. Her cakes were always soft and spongey with a delicious nut frosting.

  “Come into the kitchen. The frosting’s all made and waiting for you.”

  Mrs. Stribling sat at her kitchen table while Alice meticulously placed nut frosting and strawberry preserves on the first layer of cake. While Alice worked, Mrs. Stribling shared the latest news in her rather loud voice. “Have you heard that the telephone’s coming to Clover Creek this summer?”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, they’re bringing the lines over here as soon as the weather’s warm enough. The mercantile, the bank, and I think the newspaper office will all have telephones. I’m thinking of having one installed myself.”

  “Oh, Rolla, what would you do with a telephone?”

  “Well, for one thing, I could call the Jepson’s mercantile when I need something and have their delivery boy bring it over.”

  “Reed Browning? I’ve been riding with Reed on his morning delivery routes lately.”

  “So I’ve heard.” Mrs. Stribling raised her eyebrows.

  “Rolla, you’re not planning to install a telephone!” Alice narrowed her eyes. “You’re just baiting me to hear about my morning rides with Reed.”

  Mrs. Stribling sat back in her chair and chuckled. “Well, maybe. But I might surprise you about a telephone come summer. What I really want to hear about is all the young men you danced with Saturday night and find out which young man you like best. It seems you danced more with that Frank Baldwin than you did with anyone.”

  “I like them all.” Alice winked and didn’t elaborate on attending the dance with Frank.

  “But one young man must make your heart flutter a bit faster than the others. Is it Frank Baldwin?”

  “No.”

  “Reed Browning?”

  “Reed is nice, but . . . “Alice rolled her eyes heavenward, taking her sweet time while teasing her friend and making her wait. “. . . The boy I like best is Jake Weston.”

  “Ah ha,” Mrs. Stribling’s face broke into a broad smile. “Jake Weston is the young man I would choose for you if you’d let me do the choosing. I’ve always been impressed with that young man when I’ve gone over to the newspaper office. He treats everyone with courtesy and kindness. He comes from good stock.”

  “Stock? Livestock?” Alice broke into giggles as she placed a second layer of cake on top of the strawberry preserves and fussed with it to line it up evenly with the bottom layer.

  “Heavens, no! Not livestock! I mean ancestry stock. His parentage. He comes from good parents.”

  Alice looked at Mrs. Stribling with her frosting-covered knife in midair. A sly smile spread across her face. Mrs. Stribling was another good friend of Jake’s mother and no doubt had a personal interest in Jake. “Jake asked me to marry him when he was here this weekend.”

  “He didn’t!”

  “Yes, he did. Right after you left to go home on Sunday. But I’m telling you in confidence. I haven’t given him my answer yet, and he hasn’t talked to my parents. Besides, we wouldn’t marry until he finishes his apprenticeship with his uncle.” Alice leaned in closer to Mrs. Stribling and lowered her voice. “Unless, of course, he finds a way to earn enough money to take me to Boise with him now.”

  Mrs. Stribling’s eyes widened. “I had no idea you were this serious with the Weston boy. Everyone thinks highly of his family! Like I said, Jake comes from good stock. However,” Mrs. Stribling lowered her voice. “I like that you are taking your time and seeing other young men. People are married for a long time, you know, and you want to be sure you’re married to the right person for you.”

  Alice straightened up and licked a dab of strawberry preserves from her knuckle. “That’s what Ma says. But my younger sisters get angry when I spend time with Frank or Reed.”

  “Oh, that’s little sisters for you. They think they should pick out your boyfriends and especially the man you decide to marry. I know I did when my sister started courting. Speaking of my sister, I received the scariest letter from her. I’ll go get it and have you read it to me so you can tell me what you think.”

  While Mrs. Stribling left the room to retrieve her letter, Alice placed the third cake layer on top of the cake and started frosting it with nut frosting. She felt like an artist as she added more frosting to the top and sides and swirled it around. “Look at this masterpiece!” she said when Mrs. Stribling returned to the kitchen, a small beige envelope in hand.

  “Beautiful,” Mrs. Stribling said. “Let it set up while we read my letter and you do the housework. Then we’ll slice into it and see if it’s one of my better cakes.”

  Alice washed frosting from her fingers and sat at the table beside Mrs. Stribling. She often felt sorry for her older friend, living alone after her husband had passed away and living so far from her sister. No wonder Alice had concerns about ever moving to Boise.

  “Dear Rolla,” Alice started reading. “I’m putting my foot down right here and now! It’s been too long since I’ve seen you. If you’re not up to traveling clear across the country to see me, and I’m not up to traveling clear across the country to see you, then we must meet in the middle!”

  Mrs. Stribling interrupted. “She’s serious! She wants me to travel on the train, and I hate trains. Scary people ride on trains, bad people rob trains, and trains sometimes derail or crash into other trains.”

  “Oh, Rolla,” Alice said. “It will be just as hard for your sister to travel as it will be for you. Harder because she’s older. I think you should go. Trains are much nicer nowadays than when you first rode on one. They have cars where you can even sleep in a bed.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Mrs. Stribling said, her eyebrows scrunched together. “But who’s sleeping in the bed next to you or above you?”

  “I think you can have your own private room.”

  “Hmph! Probably if you pay enough money. Older sisters can be so bossy.”
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  Mrs. Stribling waved her hand at the letter indicating that Alice should keep reading.

  “So, here’s my plan. I’ll arrange for one or two of my grandchildren to travel to Chicago with me, and you should do the same.”

  Mrs. Stribling interrupted again. “Chicago isn’t halfway, and she knows I don’t have any grandchildren! My only son is over there in Hailey, too busy making money in the mines and drinking away his profits to marry and give me a grandchild.”

  Alice didn’t know what to say to that.

  Mrs. Stribling held out her hand for the letter. “You don’t have to read the rest,” she said. “My sister just brags about her grandchildren for the rest of the letter.”

  Alice kissed Mrs. Stribling on her cheek. “I’d better start working,” she said. “This house isn’t going to clean itself.”

  “All right, you go to work, and I’ll fix us some lunch.” Mrs. Stribling stood and started rummaging through her icebox. “And then we’ll try some of that cake. Although, you’ve done such a beautiful job of frosting it, it will pain me to cut into it.”

  After cleaning and eating lunch with Mrs. Stribling, Alice cut and served the cake. Every bite was heavenly. They worked together to tidy the kitchen, and then Alice took her leave. She waved to all the townsfolk who were out and about as she guided Sage and Venus through the center of town to pick up Fern and Beth.

  Later that week, Alice received a letter of her own. She saved Jake’s letter until she had time to sit quietly in her room and enjoy it. Jake’s carefully written handwriting caused her to pause for a few moments before she slit the envelope open. It was almost as though he had written her name and town with devotion. She still found it hard to believe that he had asked her to marry him. The envelope felt slightly bulky, and when she opened it, a delicate lace handkerchief slid out of the envelope.