Imogene’s Ingenuity: The Alphabet Mail-Order Brides
Page 13
“You don’t have to thank me for sharing my home with you. It’s your home as well, Imogene.”
She felt her whole face light up with joy. “Thank you.”
He narrowed his eyes at her in a questioning look.
“For what you said,” she tried to clarify her words.
“That this is your home?” He took his hand from the wardrobe door and wrapped her hand in his. She swore she could almost feel it shaking. “It is, you know. Your home now.”
She smiled and watched as his thumb danced softly across her knuckles. “Well that,” she sighed softly, “and the way you said my name.”
Imogene could see the confusion in his eyes and tried to smooth It over.
“It’s different when you say it,” she explained. “It’s something in your voice.”
He looked hesitant to speak on the subject, in turn gesturing toward her trunk. “I had them set it at the foot of the bed, there isn’t much room for anything down there, but it fit your trunk well enough.
She moved across the small room to the trunk and unlatched the lid. The soft click of sound preceded the whisper of sound when she lifted the top. Crouching down before the trunk she wondered how much of the floor her skirts were taking up as she withdrew a paper wrapped package. “I didn’t have time to shop for you, to get you a wedding present, but I think you might enjoy this.”
Lifting up the package she set it into his outstretched hand and watched as he sat down on the edge of his bed, looking down at the package he held in his hands.
Using one of the posts at the foot of the bed, Imogene stood up, moving to sit beside him, carefully watching his expression.
He didn’t look up at her when he spoke.
“I didn’t know,” he began and smoothed his fingers over the paper, plucking at the twine with his fingertips, “I didn’t think to get you a present.”
Imogene didn’t think, she just acted, reaching out to set her hand on his arm. “You’ve given me your name and a place in your life,” she smiled when he looked back at her, “I could ask for no greater gift.”
His smile lifted her spirits as well.
“Should I,” he tugged at one of the ends of the twine.
“Yes,” she rubbed his arm through the shirt, excited to see how he would react to the present. “It’s something I’ve held dear for a long time.”
His gaze flickered to her face. “Then you should keep it.” He began to lift the package to hold it out to her, but she shook her head and nudged his arm until it settled back into his lap.
Silas hesitated again, but at her soft request, he pulled the twine until the bow she’d tied opened and the twine fell away and lay against his legs. Opening the paper carefully, he picked up the leather-bound volume and turned it so that he could see the gold gilt on the spine.
“The Prairie Traveler.”
He looked up at her again and she smiled at his wide-eyed expression. “The night of the snow storm,” she spoke softly as if they were trying to keep their conversation a secret, “when we were falling asleep beside the stove you told me that you’d read the book years ago and imagined yourself traveling in a wagon train.”
Silas nodded and his hand reached out and his fingers twined with hers. “You remember.”
She looked down at their hands and nodded. “I remember every moment we’ve spent together.” She drew in a breath and sighed gently. “When I fell asleep that night, I dreamed I was there too, sleeping in the bed of a wagon, my husband at my side. Imagining the excitement and dangers that awaited us on the trail westward.”
His thumb gently stroked the side of her hand. “Were you afraid?”
She nibbled at the corner of her lower lip for a moment, debating whether or not to tell him what she’d felt. When she lifted her gaze to meet his, she saw the way his eyes moved over her face, eagerly watching and waiting for her to answer him.
“I wasn’t afraid. I felt peaceful.” Her smile only deepened. “I think it was because you were close by. I felt safe with you there. As if I didn’t have to worry when you were by my side.”
He lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. “And now I can be by your side forever, Imogene. I want you to feel safe with me.”
“Safe,” she nodded, “and inspired too. You live and breathe your work and this town. Since I’ve been here in Bower, I’ve looked forward to each and every moment we’ve had together.”
“So did I,” he agreed, “but now we don’t have to worry what others will think when we’re together.”
Her cheeks flushed with color when he placed their joined hands against his chest and she could feel the beating of his heart through the backs of her fingers.
“I’m so glad you came to Bower, Imogene. I admit,” his smile had the hint of laughter in it, “I kept hoping that the mysterious Gene would show up as I needed some help in the worst way.”
She felt a bubble of laughter building in her chest.
“But having you in my life is much better. If you really do want to continue helping me in the shop, I would be ever so grateful.”
She leaned in closer and touched her cheek to his arm, enjoying his warmth. “You don’t have to be grateful, Silas,” she sighed in a happy rush at being able to say his name in such an intimate fashion, “this is our home and our work. What else would I do but help you since it benefits the both of us.” A surge of energy rolled through her body and she got to her feet. “Speaking of which,” she looked at him, almost laughing at the way she was just a little taller than he was when he was sitting and she was standing, “we have some jobs waiting for us downstairs. I think I’d like to get to them while I have some energy left.” One step toward the door and he caught her hand, tugging her back.
She stepped into his embrace and wrapped her arms around him, enjoying the way he cuddled her close and pressed his cheek against hers.
“I promise,” he whispered into her ear, “we’ll make this work together. I care about you, Imogene, so much that I don’t think I have a name for the feelings inside me.”
“When you find those words,” she pressed a kiss to his cheek and felt his indrawn breath at the touch, “I would like to hear them, and when I discover my own… I’ll return the gesture.”
Stepping back and away from him, she took his hand again, a gesture that was beginning to become second nature to her. “Let’s get to work.”
Epilogue
The mail was stacked upon a box when it was delivered to Madam Wigg. Looking up from the book in her lap she regarded the strange parcel. “Were we expecting anything?”
“No, Madam, but the parcel is addressed to you.”
“Hmm…” Madam set her book aside and the mail atop the box. Reaching for the parcel wrapped in plain paper she looked at the notations on the top.
Besides her own name and the name of the school, the only other information on the surface was the letter ‘I’ and the town of Bower, Colorado.
‘I’
“Imogene.”
Eager to open the parcel, Madam fumbled with the twine holding the paper to the outside of the parcel. When it was loosened and set aside, she pressed the paper away from the box inside and lifted the lid to peer inside.
There was a folded piece of paper on top of a framed picture.
She felt her heart flutter within her chest.
A photograph.
“Goodness, Imogene…”
Madam picked up the letter first and opened the flaps of the tri-folded paper to read the missive.
My Dear Madam Wigg –
I hope my letter finds you well and prepared to hear good news. When I left home, I admit that I might have told a bit of a fib. I didn’t want you to worry about me. You had so much that you were thinking about and I was always so grateful for everything you have done for me throughout my life.
When I came to Bower, I was hoping to find work and live on my own. I had despaired of finding a man who might find me interesti
ng enough to converse with, let alone spend the better part of a day in my company.
It just so happens that Mother Nature was of the same mind as you were. A sudden snow storm managed to trap me in, strangely enough, a print shop!
You might recall the times that you had to send someone to the print shop in town to call me home for chores, but now…
I live above the print shop with my husband, Silas.
Strangely enough, he respects my skills and my eager energy and I bring out the softer side of his soul. When he speaks to me, he can ramble on and on and I love every word of it.
If you were ever to meet him, you’d have to protect your neck from strain, for he is quite tall. The only thing bigger than the length of his form is his heart for he has made me the happiest woman of my acquaintance, and that is saying something here in Bower.
Know that I love you and hold you so very dear in my heart. You are the greatest mother and teacher that I could have hoped for and someday soon I wish to become a mother myself.
Silas and I are hoping to be blessed with a child someday soon, but while we are waiting, I am happily working beside my husband day after day.
The bible verse talks about a season for all things and here in Colorado I have found a season of my life warmed by love and hope and I hope this season never ends.
I hope you will enjoy the photograph that I have enclosed. A traveling photographer was willing to set up just outside of our shop and record the actual difference in our heights. Your son-in-law might have need of a beanstalk to climb upon at times, but I keep his feet firmly on earth.
All my Love –
Imogene Wigg Hix
Madam Wigg set aside the letter and looked down at the framed photograph in the box. Lifting it from the center of the box she held it up into the light.
The photograph was of fine quality with clear lines and delicately managed contrast. Standing on a wooden porch was Imogene, her figure shown to advantage by a finely tailored gown of a dark color, creating a fine counterpoint to her pale skin and hair. Standing beside her was a man almost as tall as the door. He had fine features and a strong brow. Somehow, he’d managed to find well fitted clothing and he had a smile on his lips that matched Imogene’s quite well.
There was a sign above their heads and Madam turned the frame to catch more of the light so that she could read the letters painted on the sign mounted to the ceiling of the porch.
BOWER PRINT SHOP
Proprietors S & I Hix
“Silas and Imogene,” Madam murmured the names and smiled as she lowered the frame into her lap, one hand pressed against the photograph, “be happy, my dears… be very, very happy.”
Jessamyn’s Journal is the next book in “the Alphabet Mail-Order Brides” Series - so, continue on to discover our next sweet romance…
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Love - Romance - Books
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I've been reading romance books for what seems like forever. When I was a teen, the days that I wasn't in dance class after school I'd go to the mall to wait for my mom to finish work for the day and my haunt of choice... Waldenbooks. (I think I just showed my age there.)
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