by Tia Siren
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 first 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
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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 every 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.
Able—if weary and more than a bit cranky.
“Enough, Amy!” she declared one day, straightening herself between two rows of corn as she fixed her tired niece with a cold hard stare. “You must be sensible about this matter before you exhaust the both of us!”
Amy sighed.
“My deepest apologies, Auntie,” she murmured, standing ginger above a tassel of corn as she clutched her weary back with a wan, tired hand. “I simply cannot manage this ranch all by my lonesome, and I know not where else to turn.”
Grace thought a moment, then nodded.
“I know, Girl, and I am more than pleased to help you as much as I’m able,” she told her niece, voice softening as she leaned forward to grace her slender shoulder with a reassuring pat. “It’s just that I cannot tend both your ranch and my own for the duration of the growing season. And you yourself should be resting in bed, awaitin’ the birth of your little one.”
Amy had heard enough.
“I am well and weary of everyone telling me that I am not strong enough to work my own land,” she insisted, adding as she raised a firm finger for emphasis, “This is my ranch, and I plan to tend it. I just need a bit of help, that is all.”
At that moment she felt a slash of pain rip unbidden through her rounded stomach; nearly bringing her to her knees as she gritted her teeth against the agony.
“I wish only that my child would be a bit more cooperative,” she managed through ground teeth, straining to stand upright as her aunt rushed to her side.
“Your child needs a mother who is rested and relaxed,” Grace insisted, adding as s
he wrapped a supportive arm around her niece’s shoulders, “And as much as I would love to send you to bed and toil in your fields by my lonesome, I simply cannot do so; particularly not when so much of my own work awaits me in my own.”
Amy shrugged.
“Well sadly Auntie, I cannot afford to hire a ranch hand at this point,” she revealed, adding as she cocked her head in her aunt’s direction, “Have you any other ideas?”
Grace looked at her for a long moment, then nodded.
“I do indeed have an idea,” she admitted, adding as she dug deep into the pocket of her soft embroidered denim dress, “You will not like it, but it may indeed be our only hope.”
With these words she produced a weathered newspaper page for Amy’s inspection; unfolding the page to reveal a classified advertisement with an intriguing headline marked mail order bride.
“Ladies,” the ad read, its message conveyed in dark bold letters that shone prominently on the page. “Need you a prince?”
Turning from her aunt in a single bold flourish, a snorting Amy braced her arms before her as she shook her head from side to side in response to these cryptic words.
“I shall not read one more word of that addled fairy tale nonsense,” she declared, adding as she held up a slender hand in the direction of her frowning aunt, “I myself had my own fairy tale—my own enchanted prince.” She paused here, adding as her voice cracked, “Both were fallen and destroyed before my very eyes. Now I have no more need for dreams, Aunt Grace. Dreams die. And so do princes.”
Nodding in tender empathy with these harsh spoken words, Grace placed a gentle hand on her niece’s arm and turned her body towards her; once again holding the newspaper up between them as she told her, “As much as Vance was a very special gentleman, my dear, one that never will be replaced, you must remember that he has left us—never to return, Girl.”