Homespun Hearts

by Caroline Fyffe

  “May I help you?” The man behind the counter had a slight English accent and seemed to look down on Daniel.

  Daniel nodded. “I’m looking for an engagement ring.” His eyes kept scanning the rings, trying to find one that would best suit Lily.

  The salesman’s eyes lit up. “Oh! I can certainly help you with that.” He pulled out a tray of diamond rings and placed them in front of Daniel who made a face.

  “I don’t want what everyone else has. My lady is unique.” He looked back at the glass counter. “Maybe an emerald ring? To match her eyes?” He needed something truly special for Lily, because there was no one else quite like her. He still wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so lucky as to have her interested in him.

  The salesman made a face, but pulled out a different tray. Daniel looked through the rings until he found the one that seemed to suit Lily the best. It was a small stone, and had two tiny diamonds beside it. It would be perfect for Lily, because she wouldn’t have to worry about snagging it when she was outside. “I like this one.”

  The salesman nodded. “Yes, sir. If that’s the one you think will suit her.” He was obviously just humoring Daniel, but at that point, Daniel didn’t care.

  “I do think that one will make her very happy.” Daniel watched as the salesman put it into a small box for him. He paid the man, wincing slightly as he did so. He had come from wealth but hadn’t had a good deal of time to accumulate money himself. It didn’t matter, though. Lily was all that mattered.

  He slipped the ring into his pocket and walked toward the Sullivan house, wanting to surprise Lily with the ring before dinner. Five years before he never would have dreamed of marrying a tomboy like Lily, but he couldn’t even remember what he had seen in Rose.

  * * *

  Lily was wandering around the back gardens, feeling slightly blue. She knew she was in love with Daniel, and she was thrilled that he said he loved her, of course, but she knew they were just words. How could anyone go from loving Rose to loving her? Rose was pretty and dressed correctly and behaved perfectly at all times. She was just herself. She didn’t care much about what people thought. Well, she didn’t care what people other than Daniel thought.

  She sighed and kicked at a small rock. It bounced against the tree where she’d been perched when she threw her slipper at Rose. She grinned. She was eighteen today, and a young lady, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t climb trees anymore did it?

  She walked to the tree, quickly finding the knot she’d always used to get up the trunk. Within moments she was sitting on the branch she’d spied on Rose and Daniel from.

  Her eyes lit up as she saw Daniel come into the yard. Obviously he was looking for her. “Lily?”

  Oh, drat. I know he knows that I used to climb this tree all the time, but I don’t know that I want him to know I’m up here now. What will he think? She thought about just not answering him, but she didn’t want to be rude.

  “Lily? Are you out here?” He’d raised his voice to almost a shout as he searched through the large back garden for her.

  “Up here!” she called down finally deciding she just needed to admit to where she was.

  Daniel stepped under the tree, his eyes laughing up at her. “Well, hello!”

  She grinned, thankful he didn’t seem to think she was doing anything inappropriate. She needed to keep him around. All of her boyish ways just seemed to amuse him, not offend him. “Hello.”

  “Happy birthday!” He stood looking at her for a moment, before his eyes went to the trunk of the tree. He grabbed the lowest branch and his foot found the knot she’d used. Before she knew what to think, he was beside her on the branch, his lips brushing her cheek. “Are you having a good birthday?”

  She nodded slowly, her eyes twinkling at him. “Now that you’re here I am.” She knew she should play hard to get, but she had no desire to. She loved him and she saw nothing wrong with showing him that love.

  “I’m glad.” The backs of his fingers stroked her cheek softly. “You look beautiful today.”

  She blushed. “You keep saying things like that.” How could he say she looked beautiful when she sat there in one of her oldest dresses with her legs dangling from the tree branch?

  “Because they’re true.” He dug into the pocket of his black coat, pulling out the box from the jeweler. “I brought you a birthday present.” His eyes were steady on hers as he waited for her reaction.

  She stared at the little box in wonder. “What is it?” She hadn’t expected him to bring her anything.

  He laughed. “Open it and see!”

  Lily sat for a moment staring at the box. It was the first time a man she wasn’t related to had bought her a gift. She opened it and gasped at the ring inside it. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” It wasn’t the kind of ring Rose would like, she knew, but it suited her. She loved it.

  He removed the ring from the box, and took her hand in his, making sure he was steady on the branch. “Lily Sullivan? I can think of no woman who would suit me as a wife as much as you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my bride?” He slid the ring onto her finger even as he asked the question.

  “Are you sure?” she asked. She wanted nothing more than to marry him, but she didn’t want him regretting it.

  He nodded. “More sure than I’ve ever been about anything.” He brushed his lips across her finger where the ring connected to it.

  She nodded, flinging her arms around his neck. “I’d love to marry you!” She leaned back a moment to look at him. “Did you ask my father?” She was certain he had, but she needed to ask.

  “I did.”

  She sighed contentedly, resting her head on his shoulder. “When do you want to marry?”

  “Today?” He kissed her softly, his teeth nipping at her bottom lip.

  She laughed. “My mama would have a fit.” She didn’t want to wait either, though.

  He sighed. “I’m sure she would. How about early February? Would that give you enough time to plan it?”

  She made a face at the idea of planning a wedding. “I think so? I don’t know. I really want to get married outside, but beyond that, I don’t care much.” How much would she have to do to plan the wedding?

  “It’ll be cold in February.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe less people will come.” She didn’t want a lot of people that she didn’t know or care about at her wedding. She’d have been content with just her and Daniel.

  He laughed out loud. “You don’t have a huge wedding with hundreds of guests in mind?”

  “I’d rather it was small. Just my family and yours.” She was glad his family was small, because hers was big enough to more than make up for it.

  He tilted his head to the side. “If your mother would be okay with that, I’m all for it.” He seemed to think for a moment. “Could we do it faster if we do it that small?” He obviously loved the idea of having a wedding as soon as possible.

  Her smile widened. “Let’s go talk to Mama. She’ll have something in mind, I’m sure.” She looked at him, waiting. “You have to get down first. You’re blocking my exit.”

  He looked around him in wonder. “Are we really sitting here talking about our wedding in a tree?” He gave a half laugh.

  “Apparently we are.”

  He got down slowly, half worried he’d fall. Once he was on the ground, he watched her scramble down in no time flat. “You’re going to have to teach our daughters how to climb trees.”

  “Daughters? Not just sons?”

  He grinned. “I want daughters who are just like their mother, so of course they have to climb trees.”

  She grinned, her hand going through his arm. “You know just what to say to make me feel good about myself.” She hoped marriage wouldn’t change him.

  They walked into the house and found her parents sitting together in the parlor. Lily didn’t say anything but walked to her mother and held out her left hand, showing her engagement ring.

  Mary’s smile was one of sheer
delight. “We’ll have a June wedding at the church!” She knew Lily wouldn’t much care about the wedding planning, so she announced what would happen obviously expecting Lily to agree.

  Lily exchanged a look with Daniel before shaking her head. “We were thinking about a December wedding in the back garden.” She watched her mother’s face as she suggested it.

  “It’s cold outside in December! If you want an outdoor wedding, you should marry in the late spring or summer. If you want to get married in December, you should marry in the church.”

  “I want an outdoor wedding.” Lily kept her voice low and reasonable, but made it clear she wasn’t budging.

  “We’ll plan the wedding for June then. That’ll give us six months to plan, which is more rushed than I’d like, but we did Rose’s in a month.” She sighed, making it clear that her daughters were making wedding planning hard on her.

  “No, Mama. I want a December wedding outside.”

  Mary made a face. “Well, December does give me time to plan it, I guess. We could do a Christmas themed wedding. Your sisters could wear red dresses.” She seemed to contemplate it. “Your white gown would really stand out.” She sighed. “I guess we can do an outdoor wedding in December. We’ll put up a tent in case it rains or snows.” She seemed lost in thought for a moment. “Are you thinking the beginning of the month or the end? I think the end would make the Christmas theme more fun.”

  Lily looked over at Daniel, her eyes begging him for help. When he just shrugged, she turned back to her mother. “We want to get married this December. Next week.” She watched her mother, waiting for the explosion she knew was coming.

  Mary’s jaw dropped as she stared at Lily in horror. “You can’t get married in two weeks! Everyone will think you’re expecting!” She shook her head adamantly.

  “But I’m not expecting. We just want to get married.”

  “Absolutely not. You are not getting married in two weeks. There’s no way I could arrange a big wedding in two weeks. It’s not possible!” She looked at Fred. “Tell them it’s not possible, Fred.”

  Fred grinned at Lily. “It’s not possible to arrange a big wedding in two weeks.” He winked at her, letting her know that he agreed that her mother was being crazy.

  “But I don’t want a big wedding! We just want to have family there.” Lily didn’t understand what the problem was. A small wedding should be able to be planned in a week with no trouble. Right?

  Mary gasped. “No big wedding? You have to have a big wedding! It’s expected.” Her eyes went back and forth between Daniel and Lily, begging one of them to agree with her.

  Lily looked at Daniel again, who was still standing there as if he was mute. “It’s not like I’ve ever done what’s expected before, Mama.”

  “Well, that’s certainly true. It’s time to start, though. You’re getting married. You want to start your marriage off right.”

  Lily sat beside her mother. “Wouldn’t it be starting my marriage off right if I had the kind of wedding I want? The kind where I have only the people that I love standing there? Not everyone I’ve ever met and their cousin?” She sighed. “I don’t want a lot of people there. That’s not who I am. Let me have a small outside wedding in December, with just you and Papa and all my sisters. Please, Mama.”

  Mary sighed. “You’d have to invite your Aunt Harriett and Uncle Max. And Daniel’s family, of course.”

  Lily let out a squeal knowing she’d won. She threw herself into her mother’s arms and hugged her tight. “Oh, thank you, Mama!”

  “How are we going to have someone make eight new dresses in two weeks?”

  Lily shrugged. “We don’t all need new dresses! Well, I need a new one for the wedding, but the others don’t. I don’t care if they wear their Sunday dresses.” What did it matter what anyone wore when the end result would be the same anyway? She’d be married to Daniel, and truly, that was all that mattered.

  Mary shook her head slowly, obviously resigning herself to the idea of a small wedding. “That’s fine then.”

  Lily looked over at Daniel who was grinning at her. “We’re getting married in two weeks.” Her voice was excited.

  Daniel nodded. “Sounds perfect.”

  Fred stood up and shook Daniel’s hand. “Welcome to the family.”

  Hyacinth was wandering past the open parlor and stopped short. “Are you marrying Lily?” She seemed surprised, as if she’d only just realized he’d been courting Lily.

  “I am. Is that okay?”

  Hyacinth nodded. “You’ll make a good brother.” She wandered off again without saying anything else.

  Daniel looked dumbfounded. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say that many words before.” He looked at Lily helplessly.

  Lily laughed. “She does know how to talk. She just doesn’t choose to do it very often.”

  Chapter Five

  Lily woke the following day with a smile on her face. She knew she had a lot to do to be ready for her wedding, but she didn’t care how much work was involved. In two weeks, she’d be married to the man she’d loved since she was a child.

  She and her mother rushed to the dressmaker, and picked out the dress she wanted to be married in. The dressmaker shook her head. “Why don’t your girls ever give me any time? Amaryllis better come in to be fitted for her wedding dress now if she wants something elaborate!”

  Lily laughed. “Thank you for working so hard for me.” She felt bad asking the woman to work so hard, but she didn’t know what else to do.

  “Yes, yes. I’ll hurry.” She made a shooing motion with her hands. “I have your measurements. Go now. I have to get to work if it’s going to be done in time!”

  Lily and her mother stopped for lunch on the way home. Once they were seated, Mary took a deep breath. “Why are you in such a rush to marry now, Lily? You’re not…expecting, are you?” Mary watched Lily carefully for her reaction.

  Lily had just taken a sip of water and she started choking on it. “Of course not, Mama! We just don’t want to wait.”

  “If you can give me just two months, I could have the wedding you’ve always dreamed of. Please give me two months.” Mary’s eyes were unfaltering as they met Lily’s.

  “I’ve never dreamed of having a wedding, so there’s nothing in particular I want. I just want to be married to Daniel. I want to begin my life with him, and I won’t be any less married if you and Papa don’t spend a fortune on me.” Lily smiled. “If I give you more time, I’ll have the wedding you always dreamed I would have, but not the wedding I always dreamed of.”

  Mary closed her eyes in defeat. “You’re not going to change your mind, are you?”

  “No, I’m not. I’m getting married in two weeks with or without you.” Lily had always been the one to buck tradition in her family, and she would marry without Mary, but she wouldn’t be happy about it. She held her breath as she waited for her mother’s response.

  “Of course I’ll be there. I just don’t want you to regret not having the wedding that you could have.”

  “I’m not going to regret anything as long as I’m married to Daniel.”

  “It’s going to be cold doing an outdoor wedding in December.” Mary took a sip of her water. “We’ll have to find some way around that.”

  “Why can’t the guests simply wear their coats? We’ll keep the actual ceremony brief. We can be married in under ten minutes if necessary. Then we can have the reception inside.”

  “If you wear a coat, you’ll cover up your beautiful gown!”

  Lily shook her head. “I’m not wearing a coat. I can be cold for ten minutes without dying.”

  “It would be so much more practical to either get married in April or have a wedding indoors.” Mary knew Lily wasn’t changing her mind, but she felt the need to make one last protest.

  “And it would be so much more practical if all women wore pants instead of dresses. I don’t see women running around in pants anytime soon, do you?”

 
; “Are you going to make any compromises about your wedding, Lily?” Mary looked almost defeated.

  Lily grinned. “There are three absolutes in my head about my wedding. I have to marry Daniel. It has to be in two weeks. And it has to be outdoors. I want to get married under the big tree in the middle of the garden.”

  Mary shook her head. “You want to marry under the tree you once threw a shoe at your fiancé from?”

  “That’s right.” Lily’s eyes danced with laughter as she admitted it.

  “I don’t know why I’m even surprised.” Mary looked down at the pencil and paper she’d brought to take notes. “Okay, let’s get this started. Do you want all of your sisters standing up with you?”

  * * *

  When Daniel came for supper that evening, she suggested they go for a drive, but he was adamant that he thought they should stay within sight of the house. “I really think it’s for the best that we not leave the back garden.” He hated saying it, but he was afraid of what would happen if they continued to take drives together.

  Lily sighed. “Why not? I like being alone with you.” She really didn’t want to give up their time alone together.

  Daniel nodded. “And I like being alone with you. Too much. Every time we’re alone together, we end up kissing and things get out of hand.”

  Lily stopped walking and brushed her lips against his. “Last time things got in your hand.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about!” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I respect you too much to let anything happen before we’re married, but that’s where things are headed if we keep spending so much time alone together. We have to be able to see each other without that temptation, and we can’t do that when we’re totally alone together.”

  Lily didn’t like that idea at all. “What would be so wrong with anticipating our vows? We’re going to be married in two weeks.”

  Daniel shook his head. “When I make love to you for the first time, it’s going to be in the comfort of my bed not in my buggy. You deserve to be treated better than that.”