Cascades Christmas
Page 27
“Yes.” The word shot out of her mouth, and she realized she did and deeply so. Her doubt completely banished.
“Do you trust that I can provide for you?”
“I believe that you will work hard and do everything in your power to provide. That’s all one person can ask of another person.”
He smiled. “Then to answer your question, I’m not leaving.”
So there was hope for them. “Do you trust me?”
He tucked his good hand inside his coat pocket. “I have one more question.”
“That’s not fair. I asked you a question.”
He chuckled. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t stay.”
She leaned into him and tipped her head onto his shoulder. “Okay, you can ask another question.”
“Do you mind if I give you your Christmas present tonight instead of tomorrow?”
She sat up straight. “A lot of people exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. But I don’t have your present with me. So let’s wait.”
“I don’t know if I can. You can give me mine tomorrow. I don’t mind.”
“I want to exchange them at the same time.”
He let out a heavy sigh and frowned.
She wound both her arms around his good arm. “I love you.” She wanted to bring back his good mood.
“I love you, too, and that’s why I’m giving you your present right now. I’m sorry. I can’t wait.” He pulled his arm free of hers and his hand out of his pocket. In his hand sat a small, wooden box with a pair of connected hearts carved on the lid.
She took it and traced the carving, knowing his hands did the delicate work. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” Better than any fancy hair comb.
“Open it.”
She shook the box, and something inside rattled. She tried to lift the lid but it wouldn’t come off.
He put his thumb on the top and rotated the lid sideways.
She looked up at him. “How clever.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Your gift is in the box.”
She stared at the ring lying in the box.
He plucked it out and held it up. Between his thumb and index finger sparkled a diamond ring, two smaller diamonds beside a larger one. “Will you be my wife?”
She squeaked. “Oh yes. Yes, I will. Yes.” She yanked off her mitten and held out her hand to him.
“I don’t know. You said you didn’t want this until tomorrow.”
She wiggled her fingers. “No, I want it now.”
He slipped it on her ring finger. A perfect fit. She tilted it in the fading afternoon light. “This is the best Christmas present. I’m afraid my gift to you isn’t nearly so grand. Just a silly scarf I knitted.”
“Your ‘yes’ is the only present I need.” He tipped her chin up and kissed her.
She pulled away. “You asked Papa, didn’t you?”
“Of course.”
She stood. “I want to go show Mama.”
He thumbed to the door behind him. “Can I show you what I’ve done inside?”
So he did know where they were. She nodded.
He stood and opened the door.
The interior was dark but warm. Maybe Willum kept it warm while he worked nights on it. Soon a glow showed the room. She gasped. “Oh Willum, it’s beautiful.”
The floor was swept and polished to a deep shine. All the carved moldings were up, the walls painted, and lights glowed on the walls. She turned to him. “Gas lights?”
“All the modern conveniences.”
“Indoor plumbing?”
He nodded. “A water closet and hot water upstairs.”
“You can’t have hot water upstairs. Is there a stove up there or something?”
“The kitchen stove has a tank behind it, and the hot water is pumped upstairs. Let me show you.” He toured her through the empty downstairs first—library, sitting room, living room, dining room, kitchen, a large pantry, and a water closet. Upstairs there were six bedrooms and a water closet with a claw-footed tub.
“This is so beautiful.” She would love to take a long, hot bath in that.
After showing her the smaller bedrooms, he opened the door to the master bedroom. The only piece of furniture in the entire house, a four-poster bed, stood in the middle of the room, with delicate carvings in the headboard and footboard, and slats where the mattress would eventually go.
She went to it and traced a flower. “Are these …?”
“Rhododendrons? Yes.”
Her favorite. “You carved this?”
“I carved it for you.”
She jerked her head around to him. “Me? But—What? How?”
He stretched out his good arm. “I built this whole house for you.”
“What? How? You live—I don’t understand.”
“Just because a man lives modestly, doesn’t mean he can’t provide for the woman he loves.”
“But how can you afford this?”
“I’m not a pauper.”
“But your cabin.”
“Was a place to hide when I first came to town. Then merely a place to lay my head. Then a place to stay while I built our house.”
“But you’ve been building it for a year and a half, and we only just started courting this summer.”
“I asked your father to court you when you turned seventeen.”
“He let you?” That didn’t make sense. He hadn’t courted her.
“No, but I knew. I wanted to build you the most special house I could.”
She looked around. She couldn’t believe this was all hers. Or would be when they married. Then she realized it was just a thing. It held no real security or happiness. “All I need and want is you.”
He covered her hand with his. “It’s not quite finished. I still have some interior work to do and that wraparound porch, but I’ve put a lot of work into this house. I plan on living here. With you.”
“When will we get married?”
“Whenever you want. Do you need to know everything at once?”
She just had so many questions.
His gaze shifted to her lips, and he leaned closer. His warm breath fanned her mouth, and she breathed it in.
“Mama!” She straightened. “We have so many plans to make.”
He cupped his good hand around the back of her head and kissed her soundly then deepened the kiss.
All her questions floated away.
Epilogue
Willum stood at the front of the church dressed in a new suit, his father and Sassy at his side. His gut tightened a little with each passing moment. He could hear his heart thumping against his ribs. The last time he stood at the front of a church waiting for his bride to appear, he’d waited … and left alone.
He wished she’d hurry. He pulled out his pocket watch. It was time. Where was she? She hadn’t changed her mind, had she? All this was rather sudden. Natalie had wanted to marry that night—Christmas Eve—when they had arrived back at her home and told her family. When she was convinced to wait, she begged for Christmas Day. Finally, she was granted the day after Christmas by her parents and his.
What if she reconsidered? What if she realized this was all too fast? What if someone had talked her out of marrying him? What if…?
No, this was Natalie, not Wanda. Natalie would come. He was sure of it, but he still could not dislodge the rocks in his gut.
Natalie stood outside the sanctuary doors on Papa’s arm. She fluffed out the skirt of her pink dress with thin green plaid lines crisscrossing through it. She had begun making it when she was sixteen and had put it in her hope chest. Mama helped her finish it last night. It had small sleeves that didn’t do much more than cover her shoulders. She’d always thought she’d get married in June or the summer, and the dress would be perfect. She wanted to marry Willum, and he wanted to marry her. No sense in waiting till summer because of a dress.
“Papa, Willum is at the front of the church, isn’t he?”
“Yes, darling.” Papa pulled her veil d
own over her face.
“Did you see him? Not just heard someone else say it, but you saw him.”
“See for yourself.” He opened the door.
Her breath caught.
Willum stood, dignified and straight in his suit, with his hair tied at the nape of his neck, and his arm in a sling.
My, but he was handsome.
His expression was one of pure love and adoration … with a little relief mixed in.
She wanted to run down the aisle to Willum but forced her feet into submission then took her first step toward her future and the man she loved.
She was getting her carpenter for Christmas.
Thank You, Lord, for making this little orphan girl’s Christmas dreams come true.
Mary Davis is a full-time fiction writer who enjoys going into schools and talking to kids about writing. Mary lives near Colorado’s Rocky Mountains with her husband, three children, and six pets.