by Annie Boone
“For starters,” she sniffed, “it is. But it’s less annoying with you,” she added. “And just a short ride. We don’t even need to leave the yard. I like our Sunday rides. Don’t you?”
He sighed. “Yes, I do. Then let’s go, before you fall asleep on me.”
That made her shoot him a look. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh wouldn’t you?” But he was starting to smile now, and it lifted her heart. A weight slipped off her shoulders that Susannah hadn’t realized had been weighing her down. As Lucas led her out to the barn, she wondered what would happen now.
They could take in more boarders, she decided as he helped her onto the stallion. And after all of her preparations for having a family, that would go away and give her the time to do something else. Perhaps she could start her own business, Susannah marveled, and reminded herself that Eleanor was on her way. When the young woman arrived, she made a note to talk to the girl about how to best spend her energies from then on.
She sat near the pommel with Lucas’s arms wrapped around her. “Are you ready?”
He gathered the reins and they started to move.
It didn’t matter what tomorrow would bring so long as she had him by her side. And besides, they could find other things to keep themselves busy. Tomorrow would be a good day. Surely, she thought to herself, a better day, and a better one after that.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rocky Ridge, Colorado; 1882
The evening with Joshua Ralph went well, though Lydia’s shyness returned occasionally. But she accepted a stroll with her intended beneath the trees after cake, where they talked for nearly an hour. He had brought his bedrolls and took to the loft in their barn once the evening came to an end.
Since Joshua had the time to spare, he stayed for another week, often trailing Lucas around. This gave Susannah the rest of the time she needed and time Lydia wanted, to ensure she was ready to head off to Nevada for her new life.
She and Jane helped Lydia prepare for her wedding, a lovely little affair with their nearest neighbor there and the pastor to officiate. It was performed beneath the apple trees, at Lydia’s request. Afterwards, she threw her small bouquet of wildflowers to Jane, laughing and blushing.
And then, the young girl was on her way to Nevada. “I’ll write to you, all of you. I promise!” She waved madly as Joshua slipped an arm around her waist to keep her from bouncing off the wagon. After blowing Susannah a kiss, the young bride turned back to her husband and they were gone.
It was only early morning then, and they were hoping to make good time by nightfall. With the sun just up on the horizon, Susannah sighed and melted into Lucas’ arms behind her. “They’re going to be happy,” she whispered softly to him. “I just know it.”
A chuckle rumbled through his throat. “Of course, they are. You’re always right, darling.”
She grinned. “I know. But I mean it. I can see it in them, Lucas. They’re going to be so good for each other. Did you see the way they looked at one another? It’s like…” she searched for words and turned to him. “It’s like they’ve woken up and realized what the next day will bring them. And the next, and the next.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “That sounds very boring.”
She hit his shoulder lightly. “Not in every moment, but that every moment will have a purpose. We find this in the Lord, but in life we have that when… when we have the one He chose for us.”
Jane had already gone inside, tying an apron around her waist to start making bread for the rest of the week. They were alone with the rising sun at the edge of their yard. Lucas’s arms were loosely draped around her waist, and his soft gaze made her want to melt.
“You mean like this?” He kissed her cheek, but barely. “Or this?” He kissed the other, and it felt more like a whisper against her skin. “Or this?” That third time, his lips brushed her own, and she smiled.
Pressing their foreheads together, she nodded slowly. “Exactly like that.” She kissed him again and then opened her eyes. “Now, I just realized that Jane may not know how much bread to make.”
He gave her a pretend exasperated expression, overly exaggerated to make her giggle. “We were having a nice moment.”
“That could end with the house on fire or Jane burning herself or some other terrible thing,” she reminded him, and tugged him towards the house. “Come on. Let’s go.” The man grumbled under his breath as she pulled them back to the house.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Am I ever going to leave?” Jane mumbled the afternoon after Lydia left with her new husband. It was just her then, and now there was more free time that they didn’t know what to do with. The girl leaned against the porch railing and sighed, fiddling with her apron. But then realizing that Susannah had heard, she gasped and turned bright red. “Oh! Mrs. Jessup! I didn’t mean, um, I don’t mean like—“
But she didn’t mind. Looping her arm through hers, she guided Jane inside. “That’s all right dear. And yes, you will. In about two weeks.”
A nice man had written to her soon after Rosie had left. She had prayed about it and talked it over with Lucas. Two letters later, it was decided. Jane now had those letters that Susannah knew she looked at often, and the young girl was anxious to meet the man she would marry.
“Two weeks?” Jane started. “That soon? I didn’t know it was set.”
It made her laugh. “You were just worrying about being here too long! And yes, I was going to tell you tonight. I got final word yesterday.”
The young woman stumbled over her words, brushing her hair from her face and apprehensively trying to decide what she felt. “Well, I, um, I mean I only… what if I don’t—or if he doesn’t like me? Or I… oh, Mrs. Jessup!” She leapt forward and hugged Susannah warmly. “I can hardly believe it!”
Laughing, Susannah squeezed her in return and wondered how the girl would manage over the next two weeks. “Well you had better believe it. And we still need to get you ready. There are a few dresses still to hem and your sewing needs to improve.”
Stepping back, Jane gave her a rueful smile and held up her hand that carried two new bandages on the tips of her fingers. “Don’t I know it,” she said and took a deep breath, eyes bright and filled with hope. “Let’s begin!”
And the young woman, now focused on a goal with an end date, drove herself forward. She became brighter and more energetic than Lydia had ever been. It made Susannah think, wondering what was on her mind, and if it was the same that hers had been back in the beginning.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rocky Ridge, Colorado; 1873
Winter had melted into spring and a sweltering summer, and they’d had their first Christmas together. She had given him a new shirt, and he’d found her some flower pots to start growing wildflowers in the window. Together, they had made taffy and he’d pulled out his fiddle for the first time.
“I didn’t know you could play an instrument,” she had mused, delighted to find something new in the house. Where could it have been hiding? Susannah had been certain she had scrubbed and cleaned every inch of the house, except, of course, she realized, his wardrobe in their bedroom. She didn’t want to intrude, and he never asked that she clean it. Thus, it could contain just about anything and she would never know.
He gave her a sheepish smile. “I don’t, not really. Not for years. But it’s an occasion, isn’t it?”
She nodded and smiled brightly overcome with happiness at finding out something new about her husband.
After tweaking the strings, he slipped the instrument beneath his chin and tested them. They squeaked painfully and she tried not to wince. “Sorry,” he cleared his throat and after two tries, he managed to find the right note.
Inhaling deeply, Susannah nodded and clasped her hands beneath her chin to listen. After a few lines, the man attempted to sing as well, a silly grin slipping onto his face. “’Adown by the murmuring stream, that merrily winds through the valley, I wandered in da
ys that are gone. With the joy of my heart’ – Susie,” he changed the name at the last second which caught her by surprise.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she interrupted his song with a laugh, though she urged him to go on with a wave of her hands. “Use the right names, Lucas.”
He finished the song as he wanted it to be without listening to her protests. At the end, he paused and turned to her. “I can fit your name in any song I like, you know.”
There was a small gleam in his eye and her mouth dropped open, surprised at him. Lucas had a side of humor and childishness that he didn’t show often, and it always caught her off guard. “No, you can’t. I am sure my name is in a song or two, but—”
He interrupted her with the fiddle and a new song. “Oh, my Susie. Oh, my Susie. Oh, my darling Susannah. Now you are gone and lost forever, I'm dreadful sorry, Susannah.”
Well, he was just being ridiculous. But she still laughed. The man wore a cheeky smile as he drew closer and tapped his boots. The melody changed and she gave in, clapping her hands and singing along with him.
“Well I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee, and I’m bound for Louisiana, my own true love for to see. It did rain all night the day I left, the weather was bone dry. The sun was so hot I froze to death, Susannah, don’t you cry. I said oh, Susannah, now, don’t you cry for me, as I come from Alabama with this banjo on my knee!”
He whooped and the song ended with a flourish as she clapped louder.
“M’lady,” he set down the instrument and gave her a low bow with remarkable ease.
Restraining a giggle, she picked up her skirts to curtsey, and then took his hand. Immediately the man pulled her close and she inhaled sharply. The now familiar tingle ran up and down her spine as she entwined her fingers with his and her other hand gripped his shoulder.
After one look, Lucas’s grave expression disappeared with a wink and he led her around the house in a dance. He hummed in her ear, keeping in perfect tune and deftly making their way around the furniture. They fit together like a hand in a glove and he never let her bump into a wall or table.
“Whoa,” she breathed softly as they came to an end, but there was hardly a grand flourish. Her heart beat loudly inside her chest, and Susannah wondered if he could hear. But even his chest rose and caved deeply, and she smiled.
The man’s eyes met hers and she lost herself in their depth. Right now they held more warmth than any hearth she’d ever warmed her hands over.
“You dance beautifully,” he murmured softly.
She smiled. “Only because you lead me so well.”
“And I’d do it a thousand times more.”
“I’d love that,” Susannah felt the words slip off her tongue more lightly than the way he held her. “I love you.”
She didn’t even register the words until she noticed a flicker of movement in his brow. It moved with serious thought, and she immediately sucked in air, eyes widening. The words had slipped out and she hadn’t thought to catch them.
Neither of them had said those words before, to each other or anyone else. Suddenly her heart moved up into her throat, and she felt lightheaded but mostly foolish for letting her feelings escape. Susannah searched for something else to say, desperately wishing to salvage her dignity and pride. She was worried that the whole day would be ruined because of a lapse in control.
Just as she thought he was loosening his grip and about to step away, Lucas drew her even closer with their bodies pressed together as he leaned down to kiss her. There had been few kisses between them like this one. Usually they were gentle, a little shy. Some were firm, as if he wanted to show his appreciation for her. And then there had been those special occasions where it felt like they couldn’t get enough of one another.
Somehow, this one was different from all the others.
Lucas was delicate as he touched her, as though he were worried he would bruise her. The moment took her breath away and she didn’t want to let go. Her hands found his arms, making sure he didn’t leave her. She felt his hand lightly graze her arm until he finally caressed her cheek. They were warm and big, and made Susannah feel as though he was double her size. She felt small and feminine and it was a wonderful feeling.
When Lucas began to pull away, hesitatingly as though he were worried she didn’t want his touch, Susannah immediately made the space between them dissipate as she met his lips, pulling him back in just as he had done for her.
And just like that, she couldn’t help the words slipping back out between kisses. “I do,” she whispered, and he kissed the corners of her lips teasingly. “I can’t help it. I don’t want to help it. I just wanted you to know.” He reached over to touch her chin. “I do love you.”
He halted, and Susannah worried she had continued to misread the situation somehow. But then he looked at her gravely, an expression he rarely deemed worthy of an occasion. “And I love you, too.”
She didn’t have time to sigh in relief before he gave her one more, long and rather sweet kiss.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rocky Ridge, Colorado; 1882
My goodness, that had been a good kiss, Susannah thought to herself, and giggled lightly. There had been many more kisses along the way of course, and it seemed as though he always had one ready for her.
“What are you thinking about, Mrs. Jessup?” Jane interrupted her day dreams, peering at her curiously. Together they were sitting near the fire, and Susannah looked down at her lap to find a pair of Lucas’s pants that he’d ripped just the other day.
Susannah opened her mouth to reply, but recalled just in time that she needed to think of a better answer. That is, a more acceptable and modest answer. “Lucas and his love of the pigs,” she said at last. “He named them, you know.”
The young girl nodded with a little grin. “So I heard. Sampson, John, and what was the other one?”
“I don’t know,” Susannah lied and shook her head. “But tomorrow its name is Supper, and I’m rather uncertain if he’ll be able to get the task done.”
Jane made a face. Back in Boston, she could go down to the butcher shop for anything they needed. But here, you had to be your own butcher. She didn’t mind the chickens, plucking the feathers and the like. But she had been reluctant to take the pigs on when he decided he wanted them for Christmas, and her feelings hadn’t changed since.
Jane inhaled deeply, and fell quiet. She didn’t even laugh so Susannah looked up and immediately realized that the young girl’s mind was already far away, most likely thinking of Robert Malcomb.
He was a cousin of William Malcomb from Colorado Springs, and was moving to Denver. Susannah had matched William up with a lovely young lady from Virginia, and he had referred his cousin to her. After Robert’s letters, she’d decided that he and Jane would be a good fit.
And tomorrow was the day. They’d seen each other twice in passing but hadn’t had the opportunity to speak yet. So close, and yet so far. Susannah knew it was time to remedy that so she set up a grand supper for the two to meet. They were even making pie again. She was hoping it would result in a wedding by Saturday, next.
“Jane?” Susannah asked softly. “Are you all right?”
The girl bit her lip and nodded. “Yes, I think I am. I truly am happy, you know,” she added hurriedly. “And excited. He looked kind, and I only hope I’m not too clumsy to send him running away.”
Shaking her head, Susannah reminded her, “That’s not the important thing. Remember that. Give him a chance to get to know you, and take the opportunity to get to know him. And of course, you’re making that pie all on your own.”
Jane looked up nervously but then shook her head with a little smile. Worries never kept this girl down for longer than a second lately. “That sounds wonderful,” she cleared her throat. “I’ll pick the berries first thing in the morning.”
It made Susannah proud to see the young girl growing in all of her accomplishments. It wasn’t so much that she raised them to be wive
s, she believed, but to be strong and talented women. If anything happened to their husbands, then they were more than ready to take charge and could run any household immediately.
Lucas taught them the basics of hunting rabbits, riding, and some shooting as well, to make sure they could survive if necessary. Though a beautiful land, it was only for the strong. And she made sure that these women were the strongest of them all.
When they were finishing up their needle projects, Susannah heard horses trotting into the yard. With a short glance out the window, she saw Lucas climb down, back for the evening. He stood straight, she noticed when she looked again, and uninjured. Since their marriage, she couldn’t help but appraise the man on his return home to make sure he’d made it in one piece. The only thing that stood out now was that he had two horses now instead of one.
“Why don’t you see to the fire?” Susannah stood up and put the patched clothes in the basket. “Let’s get some potatoes on to roast and slice some cheese. I’ll join you in a minute.” Before stepping outside, she grabbed a bucket as an excuse and headed out.
Susannah held the bucket close to her ribs as she wondered about the new animal. Lucas had disappeared into the barn with his stallion, but this was a smaller horse, chestnut red, loosely tied right outside the barnyard doors.
In Boston, they had plenty of horses to ride and to drive the carriages. But they were expensive and there was never an occasion that had required Susannah to ride. For this reason, she had never sat upon a horse until that first spring when Lucas had discovered that she didn’t know how to ride.
The big animals were pretty, but they weren’t always nice in the city. In fact, they could be downright dangerous and no matter how gorgeous they were, the creatures scared Susannah. Lucas had two horses in the beginning. His young stallion and a pack horse for the wagon and farming had been all he really needed. He liked to take care of them, so she had never even fed them. Until he learned about her fear and insisted that she change her ways.