“Yes, he did.”
“And did he tell you how sorry I am?”
Ivy looked down, and then up again. “He didn’t yet, but I’m sure he will. And I’ll understand.” She gave another smile and then walked out of the building, leaving Tabitha to wonder what had just happened.
Chapter Fifteen
Thomas spent the next three days showing Ivy all over town, taking her on drives out into the woods and the most beautiful nature spots he’d discovered since moving here. She seemed entranced by everything and never had a negative word to say. He appreciated that about her, but at the same time, he wished she had a little bit of spark, a quick retort or occasional acerbic comment. Then he realized he was comparing her to Tabitha, and he brought himself up short. That would simply never do.
When he took her to the lumber yard, Hoss blinked several times when he caught sight of them. He swept off his hat and bowed in one fluid motion. “Well, Miss Ivy, you’ve come at last. And here I thought this man had been imagining you all along.”
Ivy laughed merrily. “I’m real, and yes, here I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you.” Hoss caught Thomas’s attention and winked.
They ran into Pastor Reed again while strolling through town on Saturday afternoon, and he offered to unlock the church and show Ivy the stained-glass window behind the altar. She would, of course, see it the next day during services, but this way, he could explain the story behind it and how it came to be placed in their humble church building. She readily accepted, so they followed the pastor’s lead.
“Oh, what a beautiful building,” Ivy said as they entered. “You’ve maintained it so well.”
“A few ladies from the church come in and clean it every Monday, then dust it every Saturday,” Pastor Reed explained. “They left a few hours ago, so you’re seeing it as fresh and tidy as possible.”
“I can almost feel the love your parishioners put into caring for this place.” Ivy walked up the center aisle, her fingers trailing along the backs of the pews. “Oh! And the window is gorgeous!”
Thomas took a seat on the front row and listened while the pastor told Ivy about the donor who had paid for the piece. It was a very nice depiction of the prodigal son, with the father clasping his child in his arms.
“Every time I hear that story, I can’t help but relate it to all of us,” Ivy said as she gazed on the scene. “How eagerly God must want each of us to turn away from the swine and come back to Him.”
“It truly is one of my favorite scripture stories,” the pastor agreed.
Thomas nodded, vaguely recalling the tale. He’d have to dig out his Bible and read it again—it had been a long time.
“Thank you for showing us around, Pastor,” Ivy said, holding out her hand.
He took it and pressed it warmly. “I enjoyed every moment.”
Thomas didn’t know why, but a flash of irritation passed through him. “Yes, thank you, Pastor. We’ll see you tomorrow.” He hustled Ivy out of the church a bit more abruptly than he intended, but she didn’t seem to notice. At least, she didn’t mention it.
***
Thomas escorted Ivy into the church building the next morning. She had almost taken his breath away when she entered the hotel lobby in a pink ruffled gown. He couldn’t help but feel proud of his lovely fiancée as he showed her into the pew and sat beside her.
There was something amiss, though. As he looked around, he couldn’t see Tabitha anywhere. He had expected Clara and Herbert to stay home—Herbert was far from well, after all—but he’d thought Tabitha would be there. Maybe she was hiding, licking her wounds. Then he scolded himself for the thought. That wasn’t like him.
Ivy seemed positively transfigured as she listened to the sermon. Thomas tried to put even half that much energy into listening, but his mind kept wandering, and he finally gave it up for a lost cause. He believed in God and appreciated chances to attend church, but he doubted he’d ever be as pious as Ivy, and hoped she’d be all right with that.
After the sermon, Pastor Reed stood at the door to bid everyone a good Sunday, as he apparently always did. Ivy was just entering a discussion with him about the book of Thessalonians when Mrs. Smith came bustling up.
“Pastor, you’re needed,” she said, panting and out of breath. “Herbert Wilcox has taken a turn for the worst, and Clara’s asking for you.”
“Of course.” Pastor Reed turned back to Ivy. “I’m so sorry, Miss Wayne. Please excuse me.”
“Of course,” she echoed.
Thomas took Ivy’s arm and led her down the steps of the church. He tried to steer her back toward the hotel, but she planted her feet and wouldn’t budge. “You’re going the wrong way,” she said.
“What do you mean? The hotel is over there.”
“You shouldn’t be going to the hotel. You should be going to the post office.”
Thomas looked at her incredulously. “But why would I go there?”
Ivy smiled. “That girl loves you, and I know you have unresolved feelings as well. Go to her. Talk to her. And then come find me and tell me what you’ve learned.”
Thomas shook his head. “I don’t want to talk to her. I want to spend the afternoon with you.”
Ivy reached out and tugged on the lapel of his jacket. “I’d rather spend the afternoon with you after you’ve spoken to her. Please, Thomas. For me.”
He pressed his lips together, the two sides of himself warring. Finally, he nodded. “All right. But only because you asked me to. Let me see you to the hotel first.”
He left Ivy in the lobby, at her insistence, and walked back toward the post office. What could she possibly want him to say to Tabitha? What unfinished business did he still have? He thought he’d said everything, made himself perfectly clear. But Ivy didn’t think so, and he had to figure it out.
He glanced up toward the post office as he approached and saw Tabitha run out of the building and around to the back. Without realizing what he was doing, he picked up his pace. He rounded the building as well and found her leaning up against Herbert’s tinsmith shed, holding her stomach and sobbing.
He walked up behind her, then hesitated. “Tabitha?” he said after a moment.
“He’s gone.”
“I . . . I’m sorry.”
Tabitha turned around, wiping her cheeks with the palms of her hands. “He woke up just long enough to tell Clara that he loved her. She said that’s the only time he’s told her that the entire time they’ve been together. I . . . I just . . .”
Thomas tentatively reached out and touched her shoulder. She all but launched herself at him, throwing herself into his arms.
He was finally holding her like he’d wanted to, like he hadn’t realized he wanted to. And he hated himself for feeling this way. She’d betrayed his trust. How could he possibly love her?
Then he took a step back, pushing her away. He loved her? Where had that thought come from? No—he was going to marry Ivy. That had been the plan all along. But why wouldn’t Ivy spend the day with him until he’d spoken to Tabitha?
It was because Ivy knew.
She knew what he had just realized.
Tabitha wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I’m sorry. I know you’re angry with me—I shouldn’t have thrown myself at you like that. I just needed . . . I just needed a hug, I suppose.”
Thomas shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I’m confused. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going anymore.” He looked around, spied a stool, and sat down on it, placing his head in his hands. “Ivy thinks I should talk to you.”
“I met Ivy the other day. She seems like a wonderful girl.”
He glanced up in surprise. “You met her?”
“Yes, she came by to mail a letter.”
“Hmm. Must have been while I was getting checked out by Dr. Gideon.”
“Oh? What did the doctor say?”
“I’m doing well, and he thinks I’ll make a full recovery.”
“I’m so glad for you.”
Thomas nodded. “So, listen. Since I can’t go back to the hotel until we’ve spoken, talk to me. What is it you want me to know? What am I supposed to be learning or gaining from this?”
“Mostly that I’m sorry. I don’t know what else I can say or do beyond that—I was wrong. I have no excuses.”
He lifted his head and looked at her. “Ivy says you love me.”
“I do.” Tabitha shrugged. “I do, but it’s no excuse. I should have trusted you to handle your own affairs. I think . . .”
“What?”
“I think I just wanted to do something that would bring me closer to you.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “I really should be quiet now. Everything I say just makes me sound as though I’ve lost my mind. I promise, I’ve never followed you or watched you through windows. I’ve just tampered with your mail and pretended to be your fiancée.”
Thomas had to laugh too—the whole thing was so ridiculous. “I have to admit that in a way, it’s flattering. I don’t think anyone has ever broken the law for me before.”
“Well, I’m never doing it again. You want the law broken, you’ll have to find someone else.” Her smile faded away. “But then again, you already have.”
He shook his head. “No, Ivy wouldn’t break the law.”
“That’s why she’s better for you.”
“Better, maybe, but not as exciting.”
“You don’t need my kind of excitement.”
Thomas looked at her, the way her hair was tumbling around her face, her shawl brushing the ground. He stood, gathered up the end of the shawl, and brought it back into place on her shoulder. “I’m starting to wonder,” he said.
She met his eyes unblinkingly. “Wonder what?”
He didn’t step back, even though he ought to. Instead, he took one step closer until their toes touched. “I wonder about this.”
He slowly lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. At first, it didn’t feel right—like he was trespassing on private property or something. But then, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, the very rightness of it exploded through his mind, heart, and soul simultaneously, and he knew it. He knew it entirely. He was in love with Tabitha Phillips, lawbreaker.
***
Thomas walked into the hotel lobby and found Ivy sitting in a chair in the corner, engrossed in a book. She looked up when she saw him coming, and the expression on her face was nothing but peaceful.
“It’s all right, Thomas,” she said before he had a chance to open his mouth. “I know, and it’s all right.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ivy stood with Thomas on the train platform, clutching her ticket. “I will never forget this beautiful week,” she told him. “Granted, things didn’t go as I’d planned, but you’re going to be so happy, and that’s all that matters.”
“I can’t believe how forgiving you’ve been,” Thomas told her. “No other girl in the world would be so kind.”
“Let’s just say, I learned a long time ago that holding on to resentment is a horrible way to live.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Good-bye, Thomas. I’ll always count you among my friends. Be happy.”
“Thank you. And you too.”
She turned and walked toward the train. Just before she grabbed the rail to climb up, Pastor Reed called out from the street, “Miss Wayne! Wait!”
Thomas watched with some amusement as the pastor made his way through the crowd to where Ivy stood. “Miss Wayne, I realize you’re about to leave, but I hoped I could ask you to stay another week. It’s horribly presumptuous of me, but I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent talking with each other, and I’d like to get to know you a little better. If you’d like that too.”
She smiled up at him. “I admit, I’ve enjoyed it too. Yes, Pastor, I’ll stay.”
“Wonderful. I’ll speak to the station master about changing your ticket.”
Thomas watched as they strolled away together, a grin on his face. He hadn’t seen that coming, even though, he realized, he should have. They would be perfectly suited.
Then he grinned again. It seemed he had a proposal of his own to make.
***
Herbert’s funeral had been the day before, but Tabitha couldn’t bring herself to remove the black crepe from the door handle. She should, as the post office was a place of business and needed to be welcoming to the public, but taking it down felt like bringing an end to the commemoration of his life, and she wasn’t ready for that. He and Clara had only really come to know each other on a deeper level over the last week—far too late.
When the door to the post office opened, she automatically called out, “I’m sorry. We’re closed until tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I guess I’ll have to come back.”
“Thomas?” She looked up and saw him standing there, his hat in his hands. “I thought you were seeing Ivy off on the train.”
“I was. But she wouldn’t get on. And I didn’t have the heart to make her go.”
Tabitha’s heart stuttered in her chest. She’d been afraid of this—that he’d change his mind at the last minute. “Oh,” she said, unable to form any other word.
“Yes, it was rather sweet. Pastor Reed came running up and begged her to stay.”
“Pastor Reed?”
“That’s right. Turns out, they got along quite nicely during her visit here, and he’d like to see where that might lead.”
Tabitha chuckled. “And if they did marry, they’d each be getting the mail-order match they wanted, only with different spouses than they thought.”
“That’s right.” Thomas leaned on the counter, his cap dangling from the fingers of his left hand. “So, I was thinking. With Pastor Reed otherwise occupied, and Ivy otherwise occupied, and you and I just standing here, with nothing better to do . . .”
Tabitha liked the twinkle in his eye—it meant he was up to something. “Yes?”
“Well, what if you and I were to get married?”
She met his gaze, her eyes wide. “You want to marry me? After everything?”
“Yes, after everything. What do you say?”
She knew what she wanted to say, and yet, something held her back. “I . . . I don’t know. I don’t think I can make a decision like that right now, what with Herbert, and Clara needing me . . .”
“Just say yes!” Clara hollered from the kitchen.
Tabitha and Thomas both laughed.
“All right then, yes. I say yes.”
Thomas rounded the corner and scooped her into his arms, covering her face with kisses. “Thank you, Clara,” he hollered back, then kissed Tabitha again, this time long and slow.
The End
If you enjoyed Tabitha: Bride of Missouri, you might also like the other forty-nine books in the American Mail-Order Brides series. You can learn more about them by visiting this link. Be sure to download the books about Roberta, Trinity, Lilly, Isabella, and Hope so you don’t miss out on what happened to Tabitha’s friends!
Other Books by Amelia C. Adams:
The Kansas Crossroads Series:
A New Beginning
A Free Heart
The Dark and the Dawn
A Clean Slate
A Clear Hope
The Whisper of Morning
A Careless Wind
And many more to be announced …
The Nurses of New York series:
Sea of Strangers
And many more to be announced …
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Tabitha: Bride of Missouri (American Mail-Order Bride 24) Page 12