Homespun Hearts

by Caroline Fyffe

Lily hugged her sister tightly. “Everything will work out for you. I just know it will.” She hated that Amaryllis was so sad about Alex courting another girl, but she knew if it had been Daniel, she’d have been sad as well.

  Amaryllis shrugged, not believing a word of it. “How can anything work out with such overprotective parents? They like Alex!”

  Lily didn’t have an answer to that, but soon found herself hugging Iris. “I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt again! I thought I’d be the youngest in the family forever, and soon this place will be crawling with babies!” Iris clapped her hands excitedly at the prospect of more babies to help take care of.

  They all laughed, and the tension caused by Amaryllis was gone.

  On their walk home, Daniel and Lily clung to one another’s hands. “I’m so happy about the baby.” Daniel squeezed her hand as they walked.

  Lily nodded. “I am, too. I want to have a little tiny miniature of you at our house.” She sighed contentedly.

  “No, we need a girl just like you. So she’ll be perfect.”

  Lily rested her head on his shoulder. “I love you so much, Daniel.”

  He looked at her, hoping he wouldn’t upset her by answering before stopping and taking her by the shoulders. “I love you, Lily. I know you don’t believe me, but somehow I’m going to convince you that you’re the most important person in the world to me.”

  She stared up into his eyes as her hand stroked his cheek. “You’ve already convinced me.” A slow smile spread across her lips as she said the words.

  He let out a whoop and threw his arms around her waist, spinning her in a circle. “Why didn’t you believe me?”

  She bit her lip as he set her on her feet. “Can we talk about it when we get home?” She wasn’t quite ready to lay all her fears on the line.

  “Of course. As long as you really will talk about it and not just ignore me.” The frustration he’d felt at her disbelief was obvious in his voice.

  “I will. I promise.” They were almost home as it was. She had just another minute or two before she’d have to bare her soul to him. She slowed her pace, walking much more sedately than usual, and looking around her.

  He sighed and slowed his walk to match hers. “You know, one of my favorite things about you is that you’re not afraid to walk fast and get where you want to go. Of course, I love everything about you.”

  She laughed softly. “Even my propensity for wearing men’s pants instead of looking like a lady?”

  He grinned. “Especially that. How could I not love a girl who isn’t afraid to do things her own way? It makes you so much more precious in my eyes.”

  Instead of going into the parlor when they got home, she led him through the house and out into the back garden. She knew she was being silly, but she didn’t want a bright light when they talked about how she felt. She was afraid he’d see her tears and think less of her.

  Once they were in the back yard, she led him to the only bench there. She sat beside him, snuggling her head onto his shoulder. His hand stroked her side and he kissed the top of her head. “Are you ready to talk?”

  She sighed. “Not really, but I feel like we need to.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to take us back several years if that’s okay.” She’d been thinking about how to explain her mistrust of him, and had decided to just tell him the whole truth, and pray that he understood.

  “Of course.”

  “Do you remember when Rose first turned fourteen? Every boy in school was lined up to be her suitor. Every one of them thought she was the prettiest, most perfect girl in the world.” She stared out into the garden as she spoke. “Even you. I didn’t really have a crush on you then, but when you were one of the boys buzzing around Rose, I kind of lost some respect for you. You’d always been nice to me in a way the other boys weren’t, and I had a lot more respect for you than most.” The words were honest and she spoke without apology in her voice.

  “I’m sorry about that.” His voice was low and filled with regret.

  “Don’t be. I’m just trying to make you understand.” She kissed his shoulder before continuing. “Then there was the day you and Rose were in the garden and I was in that tree. For a moment, I considered not telling anyone I was there, but if Rose found out about it, she’d have said I was spying on her. Rose wasn’t a pleasant person to be around at fourteen.” She knew it was an understatement, but he really hadn’t seen Rose at her worst, when her voice was shrill and she was throwing things when she didn’t get her way. That Rose had been gone for years, and she didn’t want to color his memories of her sister.

  He laughed. “I remember. She seemed to think it was our duty as boys to worship her.”

  “And you did it!” Lily shook her head. “Sorry, getting off track. Anyway, I thought about just sitting there, but the idea of her telling Mama I was spying became too much. I was so sick of her and of not being good enough. You know?”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  “So I took my shoe off and waited until you two were just under the edge of the tree, and I let it fly. I wanted nothing more than to hit my snotty sister in the head with it.” She shrugged. “And I hit you instead. The only boy that was courting her that I had any respect at all for.” She sighed, still regretful that she’d hit him and not Rose.

  He grinned. “I thought it was hilarious. Especially when you admitted you were trying to hit Rose.”

  “And then I fell out of the tree on top of you. I was mortified. I had never really touched a boy before except to tag someone out while we played baseball. So there I was lying on top of a boy and feeling things that surprised me. I got up and you were so nice about it. Rose ran to tell on me, but you made it very clear you didn’t mind a bit.”

  Daniel grinned. “Even at thirteen, you had some nice breasts happening.”

  She stared at him in shock. “You weren’t supposed to notice that!” She had always been slim, but her breasts were more than enough.

  “I was a boy. Of course I noticed that.” He reached over and cupped one of her breasts. “They’re even nicer now, though.”

  She blushed. “Stop that!” She pushed his hand away as she tried to remember what they’d been talking about. “So when you didn’t yell at me or get ugly with me for falling on you, I stood there looking at you and decided you were the only man I’d ever love.” She sighed. “Yes, I know I was thirteen, and I wasn’t about to stop wearing pants everywhere and acting like an absolute hoyden, but I watched you and knew I wanted to marry you.” Her voice was soft as she admitted how she’d felt for so long.

  He looked at her in the dark, startled. “That long ago?”

  She nodded. “And you spent another four years following Rose around like a lost puppy dog.” The disgust was obvious in her voice. How could anyone have worshiped Rose the way he had?

  He shook his head. “To be honest with you? By the time she was eighteen it was more out of habit than anything else. I’d already begun to notice you. Right after she got married, you started wearing dresses more and putting your hair up. The first time I saw you without your braids, I fell and fell hard.”

  “You did not!” Her head jerked up from his shoulder and she stared at him in shock.

  He nodded. “I did. I knew then I wanted to marry you, but I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.” He sighed. “With your parents’ rule of waiting until you were eighteen to even court, I didn’t feel like I could say anything.”

  “You really had feelings for me that long ago?”

  “Yes, I did. I waited until about a week before you turned eighteen and I went to your father and asked if I could court you. I was really afraid he’d say no and fire me or something, though.” He shook his head. “But I risked it, because I felt so strongly about you. I was planning on going to your house to ask you if I could court you the evening that I got the letter from your aunt asking me to come to tea. That’s when she told me you wanted me to court you.”

  “You really
did have feelings for me? You weren’t just asking to court me so you could get in better with Papa?” She still couldn’t believe he’d had feelings for her for almost two years.

  “I never could figure out why you believed that. I was head over heels in love with you and you thought I was courting you so your father would promote me. I seriously thought about looking for another job just so you’d believe me, but it’s the only bank in Seattle and I love what I do.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” Her voice was small.

  “I forgive you, but why? What was it about me that made it so hard to believe I loved you?” He made it clear that he truly didn’t understand.

  She shrugged. “I couldn’t believe anyone could go from loving Rose to loving me. It didn’t make any sense to me at all. I mean, Rose is beautiful and acts and dresses like a lady at all times. I’m…well, I’m not!” She didn’t list her flaws, because if he couldn’t see them, then she wasn’t about to point them out.

  He kissed the top of her head. “You know, I think you’re a lot prettier than Rose. And you suit me so much better than she ever would have. I like spending my days off fishing. She’d have complained every time I wanted to go because she would have thought I needed to spend my time off with her. You just go with me!”

  Lily laughed. “I love to fish.”

  “I know.” He looked around for a minute before asking. “Can I ask you something else?”

  “Sure, anything.” She frowned at the tone of his voice, almost afraid of what he was about to ask.

  “Why did you start wearing girls’ clothes all the time and tell me you didn’t want to go fishing anymore?”

  “You kept sending me jewelry and perfume and flowers and even fabric!” How could he not know?

  “What does that have to do with anything? I thought if I sent you gifts, you’d realize that I married you because I loved you and not because I wanted your father to promote me.”

  Lily sighed. “Okay, but why those gifts? They were all so girly that it made me think you wanted me to be just like Rose. So I tried to be just like Rose.” And failed miserably as usual.

  He shook his head. “Are you serious? I didn’t know what the right gift to get my wife was, so I went with suggestions from friends.” He looked down at her in wonder. “What did you want? A fishing pole?”

  “Yes! A fishing pole would be a fabulous gift. Perfume? Not so much!” She shook her head. “I don’t want to be like Rose. Rose is boring!”

  He laughed. “I don’t want you to be like Rose.” His lips dropped to her ear. “Your sister bores me, too.”

  “Really?” Her eyes met his in the darkness. Was it possible he was telling her the truth?

  “Really.” He stood up, taking her hand and pulling her into the house.

  “Where do you think you’re taking me?” She grinned at him, having a very good idea where he’d take her, because he dragged her off to bed at every opportunity.

  He laughed. “To bed. I want to show you how boring I don’t think you are!”

  She giggled. “I kind of figured out you liked that aspect of our relationship!”

  “So you want me to stop showing you how much I like it?” He had pulled her halfway up the stairs before stopping to look at her. “Really?”

  She gripped his hand tighter and led him up the stairs instead. “Not at all. You can show me every day for the rest of our lives.”

  * * *

  Much later she was snuggled into his side, feeling very satisfied. “So, what should we name our son? I’d always thought I’d name a baby Fred, after my father, but Rose beat me to it.” She hadn’t thought about names beyond that, so it was good she had a parenting partner.

  He stroked her hair, unable to keep his hands off her, as usual. “I want a girl, but if it’s a boy, how would you feel about naming him Bartholomew? For my father?”

  She sat up and looked down at him. “I’d like that a lot.” She knew it would mean a lot to him, so whether she liked the name or not, it would be his.

  He smiled, gathering her close again. “And if it’s a girl, we need to pick up the flower names where your mother left off.”

  She groaned. “No more flower names! I always felt so stupid having flower names with my sisters.” She hated the idea of giving her girls flower names.

  “I’m thinking Lilac has a nice ring to it.”

  “Bartholomew is fine. Lilac is out of the question. There’s no way I’m going to name my daughter Lilac. It’s like sending out written invitations for her to be made fun of.” She wasn’t changing her mind about this one. There would be no flower names for her daughters.

  “Lilac is a perfectly lovely name.”

  Lily sighed. She wasn’t going to win this one and she knew it. “How about Sally? Or Jane? Or Cassandra? I really like Cassandra!” She would just keep sharing as many girls’ names with him as she could until they settled on one they both liked.

  He patted her shoulder. “Lilac will love her name. You’ll see!”

  Epilogue

  Lily sat talking with Rose and Aunt Harriett, both of the other women huge in their last months of pregnancy. Lilac and Bart were crawling around on the floor together, both giggling as they chased the small puppy Uncle Max had bought for his children.

  Lily looked at Rose. “Maybe you’ll have twins this time!” She knew her sister would hate the idea of twins, but she felt the need to torment her.

  Rose looked at Lily’s twins in horror. “I sure hope not! One at a time is more than enough for me.”

  Lily grinned. She’d been shocked when the doctor had said he thought he heard two heartbeats and not just one. By the time the twins arrived, she’d been resigned to it. She’d hired Laura, from the battered women’s shelter, as a nurse for the twins, and it helped some to have so much help with them. They were a handful, but they were both worth it.

  Lily looked at Harriett with a half grin. “So you’ll have twins this time?” Ever since her twins were born, she’d teased other pregnant women about having more than one baby. It brought her joy.

  Harriett blanched. “I love my babies, but one at a time is enough for me.”

  Lily shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re missing!” She loved tormenting her sister, and Aunt Harriett was just an added bonus. “I thought Rillie was coming for tea today as well?”

  Harriett shook her head. “She sent me a note, refusing to come.”

  Rose made a face. “She still has her heart set on marrying Alex. I wish she could get it through her head that he’s moved on.”

  Amaryllis walked into the room, glaring at Rose. “I do know he’s moved on, but that doesn’t mean that I have to marry someone else. I can stay a spinster for the rest of my life.” She sat down heavily on the sofa beside Harriett. “I do appreciate your kind offer, Aunt Harriett, but I’m just not interested in marriage at this time. I’m going to open a library and be in charge of all the books there.”

  Harriett raised an eyebrow. “We could use a library here.” She patted Amaryllis on the hand. “You just let me know when you’re ready.”

  Amaryllis shrugged, taking a cookie off the tray that was offered. “I’ll be content with my books for the rest of my life.” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at her sisters as if daring them to say more.

  Lily shook her head. “I understand. I wouldn’t have married anyone but Daniel. No reason in being miserable just so you can have a husband.”

  “Books will be my babies.” Her eyes stayed on the twins, though, as if she couldn’t drag them away.

  Lily watched her sister watch her babies, and smiled to herself. She’d change her mind soon. There was no doubt about it. She couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with Alex, though. He’d seemed so in love with her sister. She shrugged, turning her attention to one of the cookies.

  Rose stared at Amaryllis. “You’ll make a great librarian.”

  More in the Suitors of Seattle series
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  Rose

  Lily

  Amaryllis

  Daisy

  Jasmine

  Hyacinth

  Violet

  Iris

  Edna Petunia

  About Kirsten Osbourne

  USA Today bestselling author Kirsten Osbourne knows how to write romance. Each book is an experience that transplants the reader, indulging them in decadence, intense emotion and sweeping love.

  Hailing from the state of Wisconsin, she has lived in Texas for over thirty years as a mother, writer, and wife. Married to the love of her life for more than fifteen years, she knows that true love exists and shares that vision with the world.

  She writes contemporary and historical romance as well and also ventures into the realm of paranormal romance. She invites you to join her in her world of fantasy, love, and make believe, no matter the location, where there is always a happily ever after at the end.

  For More Information

  @authorkosbourne

  kirsten.osbourne.7

  www.kirstenandmorganna.com

  KirstenOsbourne@yahoo.com