Thank heavens for Izzy. Equally comfortable in both worlds, she bounced between mother and grandmother throughout the day, delighting both women with her antics, and giving them at least one subject for conversation with some semblance of common ground.
Things would get better. They just needed time. And for Gideon to come home.
Shifting in her chair, Adelaide lifted her book and resumed reading. She scanned a paragraph or two, but Jane’s angst was too similar to her own. She needed the happy ending. Breaking her own rule, she thumbed ahead in the story until Jane returned to Rochester, their love for one another overcoming his injuries and their differences in station. Satisfaction swept through her. That’s what she needed—to flip ahead in her own tale and reunite with her love.
“Mama?” Isabella hopped up into Adelaide’s lap and pulled the book away from her face. “Is that Papa riding in?”
“I don’t think so, honey. It’s probably just Miguel or one of the other men. Papa’s not supposed to be home until tomorrow.”
“But the white horse next to him looks like the one Grandfather rides.”
Adelaide tossed her book aside and squeezed out from under Isabella. She lunged across the porch to the railing. Isabella was right. It did look like Gideon and his father.
Her heart fluttered. She wanted to run out to greet her husband, yet a proper English wife would never do something so undignified. But then, Gideon hadn’t married a proper Englishwoman, had he?
Unable to hide her grin, Adelaide grabbed a fistful of her skirt and twirled around the spindled post at the stairway. She bounded down the steps and across the yard waving her free arm above her head. One of the riders spurred his mount forward away from the other. Solomon ate up the remaining distance, and Gideon jumped from his back a few feet from Adelaide. She ran into his embrace. He lifted her from the ground and spun her around in a dizzying circle. She laughed and clung to his neck, throwing her head back in pure joy.
As the spinning stopped, Adelaide’s eyes found Gideon’s, and she drank from the love flowing in her husband’s gaze.
“I missed you, sunshine.” His hands splayed over her back as he held her body close to his. She slid along the length of him, the feel of his firm muscles sending a shiver through her as her feet reached for the ground.
He stroked his way up her arm and cupped her face in his palm. She leaned into his touch, her eyes drifting closed for a brief moment as his thumb drew delicate lines along her cheekbone.
Adelaide tilted her chin up, longing for a kiss, but as her eyes opened, she caught a glimpse of her father-in-law grinning down at her from atop his horse. Heat flushed her face, and she tried to pull back—only Gideon had other ideas. Taking no pity on her whatsoever, he drew her even closer.
“I didn’t expect you until tomorrow,” she said to cover her nervousness.
“The boy made me camp out in the wilds and sleep on the ground in order to shave off a few hours from our travel time,” Lord Mansfield accused with a sparkle in his eye.
“You were the one begging for an authentic Western experience. I just gave you what you asked for.”
Lord Mansfield’s booming laugh showered over them. “I remember what it’s like to be young, son. There’s no shame in hurrying home to be with your family. Now, give your bride your gift while I go greet my own wife. Love’s not only for the young, you know.” He waggled his eyebrows in a way that elicited a giggle from Adelaide and then nudged his mount into a walk toward the house. As he passed, he placed a lead line in Gideon’s hand.
Curious, Adelaide followed the line of the rope with her eyes and discovered the most beautiful filly she’d ever seen tethered to the end. Small but with excellent form, the gleaming black animal shook her head in a show of spirit, reminding Adelaide of another horse that still lived on in her heart.
“Gideon?” Her eyes misty, she turned back to her husband.
“I named her Lily, if you approve. I know she can never replace the horse your father gave you, but I hope you will accept this gift from another man who loves you just as much.”
“She’s beautiful, Gideon. Perfect.” Knowing they had an audience not far away, Adelaide ducked her head and stepped away from her husband to pet the black filly. Her heart nearly burst with gratitude and love for the thoughtful man who had sought to mend her aching heart with such a well-chosen gift.
Gideon came up behind her and whispered in her ear as he, too, brushed the horse’s glossy coat. “You know … Solomon respected the queen of Sheba as a peer and fellow ruler, but in his song of songs, he called his lover a lily. ‘As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.’ ”
His face was so close to hers as he quoted from the biblical love poem, she could feel the rasp of his whiskers and smell the manly scent that she had clung to by wrapping herself in his shirts at night. Having the man inside the shirt was ever so much better.
She turned toward him, placed her hands on his shoulders, and stretched up on her tiptoes. His head bent. His lips angled toward hers.
“Papa! Papa!”
Gideon paused. Regret glimmered in his eyes, but his mouth curved into a smile as he stepped away from Adelaide to meet his daughter. He crouched down and opened his arms to her.
“Spin me, too, Papa. Just like Mama.”
Adelaide grinned, delighting in the effervescence of this little girl who had once been so quiet and somber. Gideon obliged and whirled her around, his deep chuckles mingling with girlish giggles in an enchanted symphony.
“I think you grew two inches since I left,” Gideon said, measuring her generously with his hands.
“You brought Mama a new horse?” She peered around him to examine the gift.
“I brought you something, too.”
Her attention jerked back to him. “You did?”
He nodded and reached into his saddlebag. “There’s one for you and one for your grandmother. Yours is the one tied with the blue ribbon.” Gideon handed her two small bundles. “Why don’t you take these up to the house? Give the pink one to your grandmother, and then the two of you can open them together. I’ll come see you after your mama and I put the horses away.”
Isabella collected the two treasures and skipped back up to the house.
“That was neatly done,” Adelaide teased.
Gideon winked. “Hurry. She’ll come looking for us if we delay too long.” He passed the filly’s lead line off to her and strode ahead with Solomon, nearly at a jog.
He was serious.
Adelaide’s insides danced as she scurried to keep up. Gideon disappeared into the dimness of the stable, and she followed. She moved through the entrance but didn’t see her husband. Assuming he was stabling Solomon, she steered Lily into an open stall. The instant she closed the door, however, Gideon was at her side. She sucked in a startled breath as his mouth descended upon hers. His hands tangled in her hair and he pressed her gently against the stall door. Adelaide recovered from her surprise and rose up to meet him. The kiss deepened, the initial intensity softening into a tenderness that melted Adelaide from the inside out.
Finally Gideon raised his head, and Adelaide laid her cheek against his chest.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” she murmured.
He squeezed her arm. “I couldn’t stay away another day. I have a duty to fulfill, after all.”
Adelaide tipped her chin up and raised a brow at him. “A duty? Is that all I am to you?”
The kiss they had just shared made that question completely ridiculous, but her emotions were swirling around in a chaotic fashion, and a glimmer of insecurity crept in.
He smiled down at her, those dimples she adored restoring her confidence. “I owe you a happy ending, remember? I can’t fulfill that duty if I’m not with you.”
She laughed, the sound trilling through the rafters of the stable. “You already battled a dragon, rescued two damsels in distress, and married the fair maiden who had fallen desperately in love with y
ou. I don’t think an ending could get any happier.”
“Well, I aim to keep trying anyway.”
He dropped a kiss onto her forehead, and then, with his arm wrapped securely around her shoulders, Gideon led her out of the stable and back into the sunshine.
As they walked across the yard to the house, Adelaide’s gaze drifted heavenward. Puffy white clouds dotted the sky, but one in particular seemed to linger over the rooftop of their home—a reminder of the One truly responsible for her happy ending. Other hardships were sure to come, but she and Gideon had a guide who would see them through.
God’s way might not always be clear, but it could always be trusted.
About the Author
KAREN WITEMEYER holds a master’s degree in Psychology from Abilene Christian University and is a member of ACFW, RWA, and the Texas Coalition of Authors. She has published fiction in Focus on the Family’s children’s magazine, and has written several articles for online publications and anthologies. Head in the Clouds is her second novel. Karen lives in Abilene, Texas, with her husband and three children.
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