by Tia Siren
Joyce had to admit she knew no more about politics, government and business than Anne. She knew how to work hard to save money, and she could work figures in her mind like no boys she knew. She had not had any opportunities to use her figuring skills to help in business of any kind. Women weren’t allowed.
She was fine with that. They could remain ignorant of her talent if they wanted to.
They made a slow circle around the room, Anne explaining each of the portraits that hung on the walls. “And here are Tom and Gary.” Anne’s voice was much prouder than it had been with any of the other men, even the founding father.
Joyce peered closely at Tom’s face. He was very similar to his brother, with wavy light brown hair, hazel eyes, and a strong forehead. His chin was equally strong, and he had a stern look about him. He looked like a man who had fought in a war. He was standing on one side of a tall chair with one hand on the edge. He wore a black tuxedo and had casually shoved one hand in the pocket, making the jacket stick out slightly in the back. Gary was standing on the other side of the chair in the same position reversed. He was also wearing a tuxedo. They both had small smiles on their faces. Joyce marveled at how Tom could look so stern and still be smiling.
“Is this recent?” She asked.
“It was done last year while they were visiting the President.”
“How interesting.”
“What do you think?”
“Of Tom?” She gave Anne a quick glance and saw her nod. Her eyes settled on Tom once more, and she gave it a thought. “I think he looks like he’s been through a war.”
Anne sighed. “It’s so unfortunate that the portrait was done after Lizzie’s death. Tom was a different man before, happy and smiling, playful and fun.” She looked at Joyce. “I do hope you can reawaken that in him, Joyce. You are vibrant and full of energy, I can tell. You can do it.”
Joyce felt the uncomfortable feeling of mental pressure. Anne was confident in her. She felt she probably could do what was needed for Tom. But the fact that she had practically been forced into it and now felt an obligation to a child that wasn’t even hers was unnerving. It disturbed her, and she hoped to rid herself of those feelings through prayer and with time.
“I will try,” she said.
“I’m so glad to hear that. You are not planning to leave then?”
Joyce shook her head a bit reluctantly. “No. I will stay.”
At that very moment, Eliza started clapping her hands and dancing around the room. Anne and Joyce both turned and watched her, instant smiles on their faces. “I think she likes the idea, Joyce!” Anne laughed.
“I don’t think she understands the situation.” Joyce chuckled at the thought. “But it was certainly good timing!”
Chapter Four
In the three days since her arrival, Joyce had seen much more of Anne and Gary than she had of Tom. Her initial meeting with Tom had been brief and he had enough time for her to introduce himself and say hello to his daughter before he was off to work. He didn’t come home until late in the evening, usually eating his dinner in a restaurant in the town. He told Joyce that they would speak privately on Saturday, which was still a day away, and that they would make plans to be married at that time.
It wasn’t the most pleasant way to meet your future husband.
She hadn’t been having an easy time of it with Eliza either. She had to learn everything about caring for a baby from Anne, who had apparently been taking care of Eliza the most. Joyce found herself wondering why Anne and Gary hadn’t simply adopted Eliza and taken her care off of Tom’s hands. And mind.
She woke up frustrated that Thursday, hearing Eliza calling from her room. The sun had barely risen, and Tom was already gone. She threw the covers from her legs and sat up, frustrated. This was not the life she had wanted. She had wanted fun, adventure, and new love. Not to be saddled with a baby and a never-present husband that she didn’t even know and didn’t consider all that handsome.
The money she had tucked away beckoned her every morning. She sighed heavily, deciding once more to ignore its call and go tend to the child.
She pulled on a robe and slipped her feet into her slippers. Eliza was awake much earlier than usual. No one would have made any coffee yet.
Joyce went into Eliza’s room and picked her up and out of her crib. “Here you go, Ellie,” she said. “Good morning, good morning.” She kept her voice pleasant and forced a smile on her face. There was no way she would let this happy child feel her frustration. That wouldn’t be fair at all. Her unhappiness was her own, and she wasn’t going to make a baby feel it too. Besides, her crying would be endless. That was the last thing Joyce wanted at this point.
She set Ellie down in a chair and took up a towel to brush her little hands and face with water from the basin. Then she brushed the little girl’s curls and helped her rub a small cloth over her tiny teeth. She had adopted her own morning routine for the child, and Ellie didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it. She opened her little mouth and displayed her teeth, separating them for Joyce to get the insides of them too. She bounced slightly in the chair while Joyce brushed her yellow curls. She sat perfectly still and closed her eyes while Joyce wiped her face with first a wet towel and then a dry one.
When Joyce was finished, she was rewarded with a big grin and a hug around the neck. Every time Ellie hugged her, Joyce felt her heart melting a little more. She wished that Ellie was her own child and was slowly coming to realize that she might as well be.
“Let’s go exploring today, Ellie, shall we?”
Without having the slightest clue what “exploring” might mean, Eliza jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Joyce laughed. “All right, let’s go!” She held out her hand, but Ellie held up both arms. “Oh, you are going to get heavy pretty quickly, little one,” Joyce said. “But I’ll carry you for a bit, okay?”
“Up! Please!”
Joyce couldn’t resist her. “Okay, dear.” She leaned down and picked the little girl up in her arms. “I imagine your little legs get tired pretty quickly, don’t they? Although you don’t have nearly as much weight to carry as someone big like me.” She continued chatting, knowing that Ellie wasn’t processing much of what she was saying, if anything. She talked to her as if she was much older than she really was. Apparently, she was smarter than most. According to Anne, she had learned to walk early, and though she didn’t say many words, she was able to read the alphabet and numbers and could understand a few words that were written down on paper, such as “dog” and “cat.” At sixteen months, that was an incredible accomplishment.
“Which way should we go, Ellie? This way or that way?” She pointed down the hallway once she’d reached the second floor. Ellie looked as though she were really thinking about it, which made Joyce want to burst out laughing. She smiled instead and waited, biting her bottom lip gently.
“Dis way!” Ellie pointed to the left. Joyce was glad. She hadn’t been down that way before and was anxious to see what there was to see. There were three rooms on each side of the house. Most of the new construction was on the bottom floor. The house spread out back over the land, and its length couldn’t be seen from the front. You had to round the entire house to see that it had been added on to extensively.
The first door she opened was to what looked like a spare bedroom. On the other side, a floor to ceiling window was covered by long blue draperies. The furniture consisted of a canopy bed with dusty curtains, a side table, a dresser and an area rug. All were covered with a thick layer of dust. She was glad to see that there were no cobwebs. The room was probably only attended to once a month, from the look of it.
She closed the door and gave Ellie a look. “It’s too dusty in there!” She exclaimed. Ellie giggled.
The second door led to a room that looked similar to the first but was slightly less dusty. The furnishings were the same, with the exception of the coloring, which was green as opposed to blue in the f
irst room.
She closed the door and looked at Ellie once again. “It’s too dusty in there, too!” She made a face and the baby laughed.
“Well, let’s try the third one then, shall we?”
When she opened the door to the third room, she was surprised and frightened to see that someone was in there, standing at the large window on the opposite side. When her eyes adjusted to the light coming through the glass, she saw that it was Tom. He turned and looked at her. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he stood there rigidly, with a terribly sad look on his face.
“Hello, Tom!” Joyce stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. This room was not dusty. It was immaculate. The furniture was polished, and the bed looked as though it may have been slept in the night before. It wasn’t Tom’s room. It was filled with flowers, pretty pictures on the walls, a red velvet drapery that was pulled back from the window and held in place with a gold tassel and a soft, silk pink curtain around the canopy bed. “You…you scared me. Are you…all right?”
Tom looked back out the window, resuming the stance he’d had before she came in.
“Do you see that long patch of grass down there?” He asked, pointing.
Joyce set Eliza down and came to stand next to him. She looked through the window to where he was pointing. “I do.”
“Lizzie and I used to picnic in that very spot. She made the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. They were always delicious and made just the way I like them. She never forgot anything. She always knew what I liked.”
Joyce pressed her lips together. His voice was so sad. His eyes gazed mournfully down to the patch of grass before sliding out over the rest of the land that could be seen. “We went for many walks down there in the garden and around the land here.”
“How long had you been married to her?”
“I had her for six very short years,” he replied.
Joyce suppressed a sigh. The woman had died almost two years previous. Tom’s heart was stuck in the past. “Tom, why did you call me here?”
Tom lowered his head, and she could see he was ashamed. Her heart ached for him. She put one hand on his shoulder, glancing back to see that Eliza had pulled herself up on the bed and was rolling around on it, pulling the blanket along with her. Tom noticed as well and smiled softly. His love for his daughter was plainly written on his face. For Joyce, that was all she needed.
“I’m not angry, Tom. Please tell me why you brought me here.”
“I…I need to make some changes. I need to…let go.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, Tom.” Joyce kept her voice very soft and was glad when he looked down directly into her eyes. “I think you’re right. You’ve been in mourning long enough. You must try to think about your daughter. If, for any reason, you should because she is a part of Lizzie. You even gave her a name that would honor her mother. The Bible itself says that we may mourn for a while, but that rejoicing comes in the morning. If you look at your little girl, how can you not rejoice in the fact that she is here? God gave you a piece of Lizzie to hold on to and love forever. He called His daughter home, would you really want to deny Lizzie of that wonderful blessing? Would you want her back here where there is pain, unhappiness and tears? I know you don’t.”
Tom shook his head but said nothing. He was listening to her, so she continued.
“I know you loved her with all your heart, and she probably felt the same way about you. If she did, she wouldn’t want you to feel this way forever. She would want you to let go and live your life and be happy. Especially so that you can take good care of Ellie.”
“I like that you call her ‘Ellie.' It’s fitting for this little light.”
“Yes, I agree. And you don’t want to really be reminded each time you call your daughter, at least not until you’ve become strong enough to accept the loss of someone you loved so much. You need to show Ellie that through the death of her mother, you have found a fresh respect for life. You can’t drag in the mud forever. She needs to see you happy. She needs to see you.”
“You are such a good woman, Joyce. I am so glad you came here. God must have sent you to me.”
“Tom, I know it’s going to take you some time still to pull out of your grief. But you can do it. And I will help you.”
“You are a beautiful woman.”
Joyce blushed. “Thank you.”
“I don’t just mean on the outside, I mean on the inside, too.”
“I must admit I was thinking about leaving and going back to Virginia at first. I was very much contemplating it.”
“It’s natural you would feel that way. I lied to you. Well, I didn’t admit to the truth, did I? I just…I just couldn’t take a chance that the only response I got to my ad would not come because of my sadness and my little baby girl.”
Joyce licked her lips and moved closer to him. She put one hand up on his chest, and he put his hand over hers. “I will not leave you, Tom, if I can help it. You can’t stay in mourning forever. You must pursue happiness. You can’t expect it to just come to you.”
He nodded. “In this case, I think it did. You have come. You will help me feel better. I am blessed to have you. So is Ellie.”
“God has blessed us both, Tom. He gave us both what we didn’t know we needed.”
*****
THE END
The Expectation of Love – A Clean Western Historical Romance
All things seemed possible with love.
This was the admittedly sentimental but nonetheless overpowering notion that struck the mind of Amy Phillips. She strode gracefully and freely between two rows of golden corn; walking with the same light and joyful steps that had guided her movements a year before, when she’d strode down a flower-strewn aisle to meet and mate with the man who now awaited her at the border of their field.
Although now dressed in practical denim as opposed to lavish wedding finery, she and husband Vance still looked at one another with the greatest love and tenderest passion.
These intense, all-consuming emotions had parlayed themselves into a beautiful shared life; a blessed existence that had seen the purchase of an expansive plot of land in the heart of Austin, Texas, as well as a pregnancy that promised to spread their love and prosperity to a second generation.
Joining hands now with the tall, slender blond man she called her wedded husband, Amy used her free hand to stroke the belly that seemed to grow larger with every passing day—and, somehow, she didn’t mind one bit.
“Are you ready to cease for just a few moments, love, so we can head back to the ranch house and have our lunch?” she asked, eyebrows arched as her husband leaned forward to grace her fair cheek with an affirming kiss.
Vance nodded.
“We have just a few more rows of corn to harvest,” he reminded her, adding as he cocked his handsome head in a show of keen concern, “Why don’t you let me shuck them while you go back to the house? You look as though you could use some rest.”
Amy snorted.
“I am expectant, my darling, not infirmed,” she reminded him, adding as she ran a confident hand through the windswept ringlets of her luxurious reddish blonde hair, “I am more than capable of completing all of my daily duties on the ranch I helped plant.” She paused here, adding as she raised a slender finger for emphasis, “Remember this, husband!”
Restraining a round of unbidden laughter, a chastened Vance met his wife’s words with a hale and hearty salute.
“Yes, Ma’am!” he affirmed.
Grinning brightly as her husband returned to his work, Amy turned into the field to observe the sheer brilliance of a sun-soaked Texas morning; a day blessed with clear azure skies and meadows and fields that glowed a lovely emerald gold in the light of the beacon that shone resplendent above them.
For just a moment she basked in the beauty of the day; musing with a happy sigh that her dreams of a loving marriage and a thriving family were coming to fruition, nearing their flawless completion with eve
ry passing day.
All peaceable feelings fled her psyche moments later, as a loud, distressing thump resounded just behind her; forcing her to turn and bear witness to a nightmarish scene.
Her beloved husband, lively and animated moments earlier, now lay still and unconscious on the ground below him; his hands clutching his heart as his eyelashes fluttered shut—his breath escaping him in a sharp, violent gust as she ran to his side.
“Vance!”
Racing through the field with feverish steps, Amy gaped outright as her troubled mind brimmed with all manner of unspeakable possibilities.
She recalled with horror the fact that Vance’s father and uncle both had died young of heart-related illnesses; also the fact that her husband had seemed weary and lethargic in recent days.
“Please God no,” she muttered, now kneeling full to her husband’s side as she lowered her head to his chest. “It can’t be….”
Yet the silence of his heart and the stillness of his breathing told the truth of the tale; and as she threw her arms around his muscled shoulders, she somehow knew that this would be the last time she ever held him in her arms.
*****
A month passed beneath the Texas sky; its unforgiving sun roasting the woman who toiled beneath its harsh rays.
A telltale line of sweat beaded Amy’s fair skinned forehead as she struggled to pick just one more ear of corn; her feet heavy and her shoulders heaving as she made her way across the field.
It seemed beyond her comprehension that, just one month before, she had regarded this very field as a place of hope and happiness; joyfully toiling at her husband’s side as they harvested a hopeful future.
Now she worked alone through long, hot days; her only assistant a frail older aunt who resided alone on a neighborhood farm.
Herself a widow, Aunt Grace was a short, petite brunette who worked her own land in addition to serving as an able aide to her beleaguered niece.