Almost a Bride (The Bride Ships Book 4)

by Jody Hedlund

  But after months of silence and continued absence, she’d started to accept that their parting had been final. Of course she hadn’t expected him to make an appearance until the spring thaw opened the roads and trails up into the Cariboo region. But with the roads having become passable several weeks ago, she had to stop making excuses for his delay. The truth was, if he’d wanted to come, he could have. He’d simply chosen not to.

  Although she still battled old insecurities and feelings of rejection, she’d worked over the past months at not letting fear take root again in her heart. Now it was time to move on. She had to let Zeke go once and for all and give her whole heart to Mr. Donaldson.

  “Are you doing okay?” Zoe asked.

  Kate forced her brightest smile. “I’m just nervous.”

  “Fred Donaldson is a good man.” Zoe’s statement was forceful, as though she was trying to convince them both.

  “Aye, he is.” Kate tried to make her answer just as certain. After no word from Zeke, Kate had finally decided she couldn’t put her life on hold for Zeke forever. Especially because she’d already been putting off taking the next step with Fred.

  She couldn’t make Fred wait any longer. It wasn’t fair to him, not after how patient he’d already been. Besides, he was everything she wanted in a husband. He was kind and considerate and godly. He’d arrived in Yale last autumn as the minister of the newly constructed church, and he’d patiently pursued Kate ever since they’d met.

  The only problem was that he wasn’t Zeke.

  Kate rolled the tension from her shoulders and straightened. “We’d better go. Mr. Donaldson will be wondering where we’re at.”

  Zoe hesitated. “You’re sure you don’t want to wait until summer? Maybe something’s just holding Zeke up.”

  More than once, Kate had considered giving Zeke additional time. But what if she continued to wait and then lost the opportunity to be with Fred? On the other hand, was she being fair to Fred to move forward if she was still thinking so much about Zeke?

  “I’m not the kind of man you need or deserve.” Zeke’s final words rushed back to remind her of why they’d parted ways. She couldn’t marry someone like her father, and Zeke hadn’t wanted her to. He’d given her the freedom to find someone who would cherish her forever. And now she couldn’t hang on to him and use him as an excuse to avoid marriage.

  “I need to move on, Zoe. I have to prove to myself that I’m not letting my past control me anymore.”

  “But you don’t have to prove it this way.” Zoe reached out for Kate’s hand, but pattering footsteps echoed in the hallway, drawing Zoe’s attention. She stepped to the door and captured another of the young orphans, sweeping her up into a hug filled with giggles.

  With Zoe’s distraction, Kate expelled a breath and bent to kiss the baby again. While she’d loved living in the orphanage with Zoe and Abe and the children, she was ready to have a family of her own, especially after watching the love Zoe and Abe shared as well as helping with the birth of their baby.

  Fred Donaldson was eager and ready too. And though she didn’t reciprocate his ardor, he’d told her it didn’t matter, that over time he’d do his best to make her fall in love with him. And she imagined that one day she would. She just had to make herself go through with the commitment.

  Anticipation thrummed through Zeke’s veins as he stood on the front porch of Zoe and Abe’s massive home. He lifted his hat and combed his wayward strands.

  The last few miles down the Fraser Canyon, he’d hardly been able to restrain himself from riding ahead of the pack train and galloping the final few miles to Yale. But with Mr. Peabody and Wendell traveling with him, he’d opted to stay with the group. After all, what were a few more hours of painful separation compared with the torture of the last months of being away from Kate?

  He stared at the closed door and then knocked again, this time louder. Usually Mr. Ping, Zoe’s butler, was punctual and answered the door almost before anyone had the chance to knock. What was taking him so long?

  Zeke stepped back several paces and glanced in the wide front windows, hoping to glimpse Kate or anyone. But the house was silent.

  With all the additions to the orphanage, the place ought to be much noisier and full of commotion. What had happened? Where was everyone?

  “Monsieur!” Mr. Peabody called from down the street in the direction of the busy main thoroughfare. Attired in a suit and top hat, Mr. Peabody had kept his appearance immaculate during the long ride out of the mountains from Williamsville. Zeke didn’t understand how he managed it, especially since he’d insisted on carrying on as Zeke’s personal cook and manservant during the journey.

  Zeke rapped against the door again, then tried the handle. Locked. They were gone.

  Puzzled, he retreated down the steps. Hopefully, they hadn’t traveled away from Yale. With the coming of spring, they could’ve ventured to Victoria to replenish supplies. It would just be his luck if they had.

  “Monsieur!” Mr. Peabody shouted again, this time with a note of angst that drew Zeke’s full attention.

  Zeke’s footsteps pounded against the boardwalk as he made his way toward his housekeeper. The closer he drew, the more evident the fear upon Mr. Peabody’s face, which only made Zeke’s heart thud harder.

  He wasn’t too late, was he? Surely he hadn’t lost Kate. Last summer, he’d pulled Abe aside and asked his brother-in-law to put out the word around Yale that Kate was spoken for. ’Course Abe hadn’t wanted to lie but had agreed to send word to Zeke if any man showed serious interest in Kate.

  Even though Zeke had cringed with every letter that had arrived at the general store, Abe hadn’t sent anything. Zoe had penned a short letter a month ago, letting him know about the birth of their daughter. But otherwise, he hadn’t heard from them.

  “Bad news!” Mr. Peabody called, his face red.

  Zeke stumbled to a halt, his blood turning as cold as the damp April air. Though the snow had begun to melt, the trails along the Fraser River had been muddy and slick. And Yale was no different. The streets oozed with thick mud and had puddles the size of small lakes.

  Down the street, Wendell stood outside Yale’s General Store, talking with Mr. Allard, the store’s owner. Wendell was traveling to Victoria and overseeing a shipment of supplies Zeke wanted transported back up to Williamsville. He was also going to the Victoria police headquarters to verify that they had William Blake in custody. Apparently, the miner had been spotted along the main wharf trying to barter with a fisherman to take him out to Esquimalt, so he could board a ship bound for England.

  Thankfully, Blake had admitted to his crimes, including both explosions, the death threat, and even the destruction of the general store. Now Blake was locked up and would likely be sent to a prison in England.

  “Mr. Allard was just telling us that Miss Millington is at the church.” Mr. Peabody could hardly speak the words past his gasping.

  “At the church? On a Saturday afternoon?” Zeke strained to see above the businesses to the church steeple.

  “He said it’s a very special day for Kate.”

  Dread spilled into Zeke’s veins. Special could only mean one thing. She was getting married.

  “Who’s the man?”

  In the process of dabbing his brow with a handkerchief, Mr. Peabody paused. “The new minister.”

  The dread made its way into Zeke’s heart and clamped around it. Kate was marrying the minister? Today?

  Zeke took off, sprinting down the walkway. The new church Abe had helped construct last summer was located on the opposite end of town. But Zeke didn’t care. All he could do as he ran was pray he wasn’t too late.

  TWENTY-SIX

  GOD, PLEASE, HE prayed with each slapping footstep as he raced down the street. Although Yale had once been a booming mining town, the population had steadily decreased as miners had gone in search of gold higher up in the Cariboo. Even though the town wasn’t as busy as it had once been, it was still a bustli
ng place since it was the final stop for steamboats coming up the Fraser River from Victoria. Now he dodged pedestrians and maneuvered around men loaded down with supplies.

  Please help me get to her in time. Please don’t let me be too late.

  Ever since Kate had left, he’d almost traveled to get her a dozen times. But when he’d stopped to pray about it, his urgency had been replaced with calm, one that told him he was doing the right thing in being patient and working on himself.

  Fact was, during the past two months of waiting for the spring thaw, no amount of praying had taken the urgency away or given him peace. So, when the package had arrived last week from London, he threw together his belongings and aimed to leave the same day. Mr. Peabody talked reason into him, and they waited until the next morning to travel with a group.

  No doubt he’d been a fool to wait. But he’d assumed that with Abe’s silence, he had nothing to worry about concerning Kate, that she hadn’t been searching for another husband yet.

  Clearly, he’d been wrong. Why hadn’t Abe written to him and warned him? ’Course Abe was slow to catch on to matters of the heart—or at least he had been with Zoe, but how could he have missed the fact that Kate was getting married?

  With a growl of frustration, Zeke plowed forward. The simple one-room church ahead rose against the backdrop of the mountains. The exterior was rustic and unpainted except for two white-framed windows on either side of the arched door. For an instant, he could picture Kate sketching the scene, delight dancing across her face with each quick stroke of her charcoal pencil.

  As he bounded up the steps and reached the door, he drew in a steadying breath. Down the street, Mr. Peabody was shouting again along with Mr. Allard and Wendell. But Zeke couldn’t bear to waste another second. If he had any chance of winning Kate, he had to act now.

  He pressed a hand against his pendant now hanging from a chain beneath his shirt, whispered a prayer, and then threw open the door. “Stop the wedding!”

  Silence descended and gazes swung to him.

  He searched frantically among the people standing at the front of the church near the altar until he located Kate. Strands of her long fair hair were pinned up fashionably and the other half hung in silky waves over her shoulders and down her back. Her features were more beautiful than he remembered, her lips parted in a gasp. In a fancy blue gown that hugged her womanly frame, she had a new elegance that fit her well.

  She cast an anxious glance at the man beside her. From the clerical collar, Zeke guessed he was the new minister and the man Kate was in the process of marrying.

  “Hold on, Kate.” Zeke started down the aisle toward her. “You can’t marry him.”

  The minister was a young man, perhaps in his mid-twenties with dark hair and dark eyes, good looking in an aristocratic way. Was Kate attracted to him? Maybe even in love? It was possible the man made her happy and that she’d be better off with a minister.

  Zeke’s footsteps faltered, but only for a second. He had to try to win her. After how hard he’d worked at becoming worthy of her, he couldn’t give up. That’s all there was to it.

  “Kate.” He dropped to one knee before her. “I gave my life back to the Lord.”

  Her beautiful brown eyes rounded. “You did?”

  “Aye, I started when we were trapped in the mine.” He reached for her hand but realized she was holding a babe dressed in a long white flowing gown. “But I didn’t tell you because I wanted to make sure I was renewing my faith for me and not to please you.”

  Her expression softened with something he could only describe as tenderness. The sight of it gave him hope.

  “Over the past year, I’ve been reading Scripture and studying the writings of church fathers. I’ve learned a whole lot and tried to grow into the kind of man who will be able to love and cherish you always.”

  “Oh, Zeke.” Tears welled into her eyes, making them glassy.

  “Please tell me I’m not too late.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Mr. Peabody barged into the church followed by Wendell. Both were breathing hard. “She’s not getting married today.” Mr. Peabody gasped, bending at the waist and bracing himself with his hands on his knees.

  “She’s not?” Zeke asked from where he still knelt in front of her.

  “I misunderstood Mr. Allard,” Mr. Peabody said through his labored breaths.

  “I thought he said it was a special day for Kate?”

  “It is.” Mr. Peabody glanced at the babe in Kate’s arms. “It’s a special day for the baby Kate.”

  “The baby Kate?” Zeke echoed.

  Kate peered down lovingly at the babe and stuck her finger into one of the little fists rising into the air. “After helping to deliver this little lamb, I’m privileged she’s now my namesake and that I’m her godmother.”

  “Oh.” Zeke finally noticed Zoe and Abe standing next to the minister.

  “Today’s her christening,” Zoe said, her voice full of censure. For interrupting the christening or for something else, he didn’t know.

  He gave her one of his dimpled grins, knowing she’d eventually forgive him.

  The minister cleared his throat and slanted a dark look at Zeke. “Shall we proceed?”

  “First I need to speak with Kate.” Zeke pushed himself up to his feet.

  “You’ve waited this many months to come speak to me.” Kate lifted her chin, the tenderness in her eyes replaced with fire. “I think you can wait until the service is over.”

  “I can’t wait a second longer to tell you I love you and want to marry you.”

  She lifted her free hand to her mouth but couldn’t contain the gasp.

  Zoe exchanged a look with Abe and smiled.

  Zeke took courage from his sister’s reaction and continued. “We can talk about things here in front of everyone.” He paused and waved a hand at the pews of people watching them, no doubt getting the show of their lives. “Or we can step outside and have a little privacy.”

  As if realizing he’d trapped her, Kate blew out a breath and handed the babe to Zoe. Then she grabbed his arm and dragged him toward a side door.

  Kate stomped into the small lean-to that doubled as the minister’s office as well as a storage closet. As she slammed the door, Zeke tripped over a broom and dustpan. He straightened, propped the broom back up, and then spun to face her.

  Fortunately, the room had a window that afforded some light, so they weren’t standing in the dark together. As it was, the closet was tiny and crowded and Zeke’s presence was overwhelming, especially as he took a step nearer.

  She held out her hand. “Don’t come any closer,” she whispered, conscious of the people on the other side of the door likely listening and hoping to hear their conversation.

  “Fine.” He held up his hands in mock surrender. His green eyes twinkled with a playfulness she adored. But now was neither the time nor the place to indulge him.

  “So you’re not marrying the minister?”

  “Not today.”

  “Are you engaged to him?”

  She hesitated.

  “Please tell me you aren’t,” he whispered.

  “He was planning to propose today. After the christening.”

  “Were you planning to accept?”

  “Aye.”

  “Well, now you can’t.”

  “That’s not up to you.”

  “I’m not letting him have you.” His voice turned hard, and his jaw flexed.

  “If you still cared about me, you should have written to me.” The words were out before she could stop them, containing all the hurt and waiting and wondering of the past months.

  “I wanted to write,” he admitted, his handsome face beckoning her to touch him, to stroke his stubble, to trace his strong jaw. “But I needed to make sure my faith was genuine before I started anything between us. Couldn’t stand the thought of hurting you again.”

  She mulled over his words, and her anger ea
sily evaporated. More than anything she was proud of him for having the determination to do the hard thing. The truth was, she’d needed the months to work on healing her own wounds, and if he’d come back sooner, she wasn’t sure she would have been ready.

  She could only pray she was ready now.

  “The Almighty’s been doing His work inside me, Kate.”

  She couldn’t hold back her smile. “Oh, Zeke, I’m so happy for you.”

  “I was planning to leave the first day the roads were clear enough. But I was waiting on something to arrive.” He held out a brown paper package, similar to the one she’d given him on the day she left Williamsville. Was he returning her sketch pad?

  She took it, too curious to resist. Fingering the paper, she attempted to guess what was inside. Although approximately the same dimensions as her sketch pad, it was too hard and thin. “What is it?”

  His smile came out along with his dimples. “Unwrap it.”

  She was almost loathe to look away from his handsome face. But she forced herself to untie the brown string and peel the paper back. At the sight of what appeared to be a children’s book, she smoothed a hand over it. “What’s this?”

  “Open it up and see,” he said softly.

  She flipped to the first page and startled at the sight of her drawing of the caribou filling the spread of both pages. Underneath in neat type were the words of Zeke’s story. She turned to the next page and then the next, realization dawning. She glanced again at the cover to find her name there.

  “Routledge & Company loved your artwork and the story. They’re planning an enormous print run, and this is the very first copy, sent to me with the fastest delivery service I could find.”

  Kate lifted her fingers to her lips to catch her gasp only to realize she was shaking. Someone was publishing her drawings into a children’s book? How was that possible?

  “They loved it and want more from you, Kate. Many more books.”

  “I don’t understand.”