Mountain Man's Bride

by Lauren Wood

  “Really, I would just like to see you be happy. If going to Paris is what does it, then I want what you want.” Johnny admitted.

  “Hmm, thanks it’s nice to know that someone else see’s it another way besides me.” Sally stated.

  “So I guess I’ll go home. I hope you enjoyed your lunch. Oh I forgot that I had a gift for you.” He said and looked at his watch. “Can I bring it over later; I have something I have to do now.” He asked.

  “Oh it’s a war isn’t it? Sure you can, I’ll be going out around 7 tonight, if you can’t make it before than just come later.” Sally answered.

  “Great, sorry I forgot it. Hey hope you had fun.” He said and ran off.

  Sally shook her head at him as he went. “That game is his life!” She went inside to get ready for later when she would go out with her friends. She was sure her parents would have some sort of celebration for her too; she had no idea what though.

  She hadn’t been in the mood earlier, but the time with Johnny had made her forget about most of her worries. Sally knew that her plan to go to Paris was a bit further away than it had been yesterday. However, she was serious about finding another job to help save money once more. She needed to get out of this town and grow.

  Sally walked in the door and her mom called out. “Dear can you come here; we want to give you your present.”

  She went to the other room and walked into a room filled with people. Even Johnny was there. He must have walked out of the back of his house and through their joint backyards and came back inside.

  “What is this?” Sally asked as she looked at everyone else in the room.

  “Surprise dear.” The group of people began singing Happy Birthday to her and she had to smile. It was nice to be loved by so many people.

  There were many, if not most, of these people who see would miss when she left. This was the way she wanted to think about it now, when she left, it was easier. That way her dreams wouldn’t die completely.

  “Hey birthday girl, how was your day so far?” Her friend Mary asked her.

  “It was good I went out to Lenny’s and had a hamburger and an amazing dessert.” Sally said.

  “Oh which dessert?” Mary asked her.

  “Hey everyone, let’s have some cake, then it’s time to open presents!” Her mother interrupted the crowd.

  Sally told Mary really quickly about the dessert and they went into the other room to have some cake. “You’re mom’s cake is amazing!” Mary said as she took another big bit of her piece.

  She wasn’t hungry, but still she had a little piece. Her mom’s cake had won many competitions in the past. “Mom you outdid yourself, this is better than ever.” Sally complimented her mom.

  “Thank you dear.” Her mom smiled. “So are you about ready for your presents. There are a lot on the table in the other room. We hid them so you wouldn’t see them earlier.” She laughed.

  “Thank you for getting her out of here Johnny so we could get all set up.” Her mom turned to Johnny and said.

  “Not a problem Mrs. Leach it was my pleasure.” Johnny said.

  “Oh so it was a ploy to help my parents? Is that the only reason you asked me to Lenny’s?” Sally asked.

  “No it was my idea originally. It just so happened to work well for your mother as well!” He laughed at her face.

  “Oh that’s nice you all are plotting against me!” Sally laughed.

  “Don’t think of it that way honey! You know we always throw you some sort of party!” Her mom told her and rubbed her shoulder. “Don’t be mad at Johnny, he really had already planned to ask you to Lenny’s or somewhere. I asked him if he would do it at a certain time of the day.” Her mom said to her.

  “I’m not mad mom. Actually thank you very much to everyone for coming today. I am quite happy to have all my friends and family with me on my birthday. You never know maybe by next year I’ll have saved enough to go to Paris. If that happens this may be the last birthday for a while where I get to see everyone.” Sally said.

  “I know dear, this is true.” Her mom said. “That’s a good enough reason to have a special party for our little girl.”

  “Thanks mom and everyone!” Sally felt a tear rolling to the corner of her eye.

  “Hey don’t act like you’re going yet, I heard they cut your hours down at work.” A guy in the group cried out.

  Everyone turned to see who it was. “Shut up Jack, that’s just messed up.” Johnny said to the big hulk of a guy.

  “Why don’t you make me?” The big guy said and began to walk closer to Johnny.

  “Hey now, this is a birthday party, and that was out of line young man. So either you apologize to my daughter, or you can leave now.” Her mom stepped in between the two guys.

  “I’m sorry Sally; I didn’t mean anything by it.” Jack said and put his head down.

  Sally was upset about the comment, because he was right. Her chances had gotten worse overnight of being able to go anytime soon. If they wouldn’t have cut her hours back, she might have been able to save up the money in 6 months. Now though, it might be as much as a year or more.

  She tried to put the thought of her head as her mom called everyone into the family room. “Come on all, its present time!” Her mother yelled to the room.

  There were several packages that had clothes in them. Some other people gave her some cash instead of an item.

  “Here sweetie we wish we could do more, but this is all we could come up with.” Her other handed her an envelope and she opened it.

  “Oh my goodness mom, this is a lot of money. Are you sure? This is most of what I need to go to Paris.” Sally stood her mouth wide open in shock.

  “We couldn’t afford to get you the ticket like we wanted, but we at least could give you this bit to help you get there sooner. It is your dream after all sweetie and we only want the best for you.” Her mother told her.

  Sally hugged her mother tightly. “Oh mom, this is so amazing. I may not have to wait but another few months now. Even with the hours being cut back. Oh this is so nice.” Sally could picture herself in Paris once more, thanks to her mom and dad’s generous gift.

  “Oh wow Sally that’s so amazing.” Her friend Susan said to her.

  “I know that’s really nice. I wish my parents would do something like that for me!” Mary, another of her friends said to her.

  “Looks like you may be wrong Jack, she will be going soon!” Susan turned to the big guy who had been so mean before.

  Jack did his best to look hurt by the comment, but didn’t do well. Sally looked at the money again and tried to add up in her head just how much more she actually needed. After all there were plenty of people who had given her cash. When combined with what she had already, she might be able to actually buy her ticket in the next month. Her pulse started to beat rapidly, and she wanted to be able to sit down and count all the money. To figure out her steps, and to see what all she had to get done!

  “Here this is my present.” Johnny handed her a present. “I hope you like it.” He said.

  Sally looked at the small gift; it was about the size of a ring box. She was worried to open it, hoping that Johnny wouldn’t do something so insane.

  She slowly unwrapped the present, dreading that she would find something that she would have to give back to him. In front of all these people it would be quite embarrassing for him. Sally was leaving after all, the last thing she needed was to have a boyfriend here. Not that she would ever actually consider Johnny as a boyfriend. But before today she had been looking at Jack with some interest.

  “Oh it’s beautiful.” Sally pulled out the necklace that had a small charm of the Eiffel tower on it. “I love it. Thank you so much.” She said and hugged Johnny.

  Many people in the room made noises and yelled out at them. “I’m glad you liked it. I thought it was the perfect thing for you.” Johnny said and pulled away.

  Sally looked at him and noticed that he had turned red. She kissed him on t
he check. “It’s perfect; can you put it on for me?” She asked and turned so he could put the necklace on her.

  When it was on, she moved it out to look at it, and then went over to the mirror. “Oh this is the best thing ever. I always wanted one of these.” She smiled.

  Finally, people began to leave shortly after the presents were opened. Sally tried to escape a few times to go and count her money, but each time she got stopped.

  “Hey so how close are you to going now?” Johnny came up and asked her.

  “I don’t know yet. I got some cash from other people today, so I would need to add it all up.” Sally told him.

  “Well why haven’t you done that yet?” He asked.

  “I didn’t want to be rude.” She said.

  “Yeah I guess it would be rude to disappear at your own party.” He laughed.

  “Hey did you really have a war tonight? Or was that just part of the plan?” She asked him.

  “No there was a war, but I missed it. I wanted to spend your birthday with you. After all I may not see you after this year.” Johnny said solemnly.

  “I told you I would come back one day, I’m just not sure when. Hey I don’t even know when I’ll get to go yet. I still have to buy my passport and get it processed. That may take a month or so. I’ll be here a bit longer, so you’ll see me!” Sally said and tried to cheer him up.

  “Yeah break it to me gently right? It’s okay; I know how much you’ve wanted to go for years now. Don’t you remember when we used to play in the fort? You used to always tell me it was a fort built in France. It was our castle and my job was to guard you, the queen.” Johnny said.

  “Oh yeah I remember that, you did a fairly good job of guarding me most of the time!” Sally laughed.

  “I guarded you with my life, and I would do it until the day I die if I had a chance.” Johnny stated.

  Sally looked at him. “I’m sure you would Johnny.” She didn’t want to say anything else. She could see the love that showed in his eyes when he looked at her.

  “Well go and count that money, I’ll cover if anyone asks about you. But I think you’re safe almost everyone is gone.” Johnny said and hurried her off.

  Sally got upstairs and pulled out her tablet that had the amount of money that was needed for each part of the trip. Though it was an approximate amount at the best, it gave her a number to shoot for.

  She quickly counted the money and added it to what she already knew she had saved. “I need at least another 1,000 dollars. Well that’s better than the 4,000 I needed earlier. I can’t believe mom and dad gave me this much money.” She said as she sat on her bed.

  “We knew how much you wanted to go.” Her mother scared her as she walked into the room.

  “Mom, how long have you been standing there?” Sally asked.

  “Just a few minutes is all. I wondered how long it would take before you came up here to see what your totals were. Do you really need 1,000 more? Could you do the trip on less?” Her mom asked.

  “Wow mom it sounds like you really want me to go.” Sally said shocked.

  “Honey, I would like to keep you here at home your whole life, but that would be wrong of me. I wanted to travel the world when I was your age too, but my parents didn’t want me too. I can’t keep you trapped in a life that you don’t want. Instead I can give you the chance to see what it’s like and be able to study where you think is best.” Her mom said.

  “You really wanted to travel? Why didn’t you tell me that before?” Sally asked.

  “Because I was fighting with myself about this whole trip. I wanted to keep your safe, but wanted to allow you to go as well. It’s hard for a parent to let their only daughter, and only child wonder off. I can’t protect you when you’re gone, you know that. But I also wanted to give you a chance that I never had. You couldn’t imagine how many times I wonder what other countries are like.” Her mom stated.

  “You know you and dad can always travel once he retires.” Sally said.

  “We may just do that honestly. We’ve been talking about it for years now. Your father is just thankful that I didn’t go off and find a different man! He says that my mother protected him by not allowing me to go. But he also wants you to go. You have to understand how hard it is to let you go though. One day when you have kids you’ll understand it!” Sally’s mom commented. “So can you go with less or not?”

  “I would rather have the little extra, just in case something happens so I have the money.” Sally said.

  “That’s practical. If we had the money we would give it to you, but that was all we could afford.” Her mom stated.

  “No mom, it won’t take me but a month to earn it, I’ll get another job. Plus I have to get the passport done. Maybe I’ll have it all at the same time.” Sally commented.

  “You could always do a rush on the passport!” Her mom commented.

  “Yeah I know. I might be able to do that, but I want to make sure I have the rest of the money still. Plus I have to buy the plane ticket.” Sally thought in her mind as she talked.

  “You’re going to be gone soon, before you know it.” Her mom smiled. “Enjoy it Sally, it’s something amazing to see other cultures.”

  “I’m so excited to go; I can’t believe I’m so close now. It seemed like such a little shot to go earlier today, and now I’m so close. Thank you so much.” Sally hugged her mom.

  “I think Johnny is waiting downstairs to hear how close you are. You know that boy adores you right?” Her mom asked.

  “Yes mom, but he’s too much of a geek for me.” Sally said and rolled her eyes.

  “Well honestly I think you could do a lot worse than Johnny Young. He’s really a good boy, and he stays out of trouble. Maybe if you ever come back he’ll still be free and you and he can marry!” Her mother said.

  “Mom, really? No I don’t really think he’s my type at all.” Sally turned red at her mom’s words.

  “Well I think he would be good to you, and that’s what is important.” Her mom stated.

  “But mom don’t you have to love the man you want to marry? I don’t love Johnny, I mean as a friend, but not more than that.” Sally told her mom.

  Sally watched as the color drained from her mother’s face. “Oh hey Johnny, how are you?”

  Sally turned around to see Johnny standing there. By the look on his face he had heard what she had said. But she didn’t know what to say to make it any better. She had never told him anything but that he was a friend.

  “Hey Johnny, how are you?” Sally asked.

  “It’s okay Sally you’ve told me plenty of times. I’m just that guy who will always be a friend.” Johnny said, his voice sounded like he was on the edge of anger. “So how close are you?” He asked.

  “I have a thousand dollars to save up.” Sally said.

  “Great, so when do you think you’ll leave?” He asked.

  Sally noticed that his voice sounded colder than normal. She felt bad like she had broken something inside of him even. But what could she do?

  “I don’t know probably a couple of months.” Sally stated.

  “Okay, well let me know if you need anything before you go, I’m right next door.” He said and turned to leave.

  “Thank you Johnny.” She said to his back as he walked away.

  “Sally Mae, did you really have to seem so cold to him? He’s such a good boy.” Her mom shook her head.

  “Mom, I’ve had this conversation with him far too many times.” Sally sighed.

  “I saw his face, he may have said he wasn’t hurt, but he was, trust me.” Her mom stated.

  “What am I supposed to do mom? I don’t want him to think that I will date him. I know he wants to date me, but it wouldn’t be fair to give him the wrong idea. In fact, I think I’m being nicer to him then a lot of girls might be.” Sally said.

  “Maybe you see it that way. But keep in mind that he still has feelings.” Her mom said and got up to walk out. “There’s still some clean
ing up I have to do.” She said as she walked out.

  “Thanks again mom.” Sally said as her mom left the room.

  She sat there a few more minutes and thought about what her mom had said. She had seen the hurt on Johnny’s face too. It had been apparent. For the second time in the same day too he had seemed quite angry at her words. Sally wasn’t cold, she did feel bad, and sometimes she wished that he was a bit more of a bad boy. If he was just a little different she might really date him, hell she might even stay in town and give up her dream of Paris.