“Yep, and Tate and Amelia need to be in on the conversation, too.”
“Why? They can’t really talk yet,” Gabe questioned Reuben.
“Because they are part of our family, isn’t that right, Momma Darcie?”
Epilogue
Mid November
“Read, Sissie.” Darcie, standing by the wood stove, glanced over her shoulder at Tate as he trailed behind Mary, who had just arrived home from school.
“Just a second, Tate. I need to put down my school work and take off my coat.” Tate held the book over his head while jumping up and down beside her. “What book are we reading again today?”
Darcie smiled wondering how many times they had all read Tate’s favorite book to him in the last month.
“Ma,” Gabe called, as he breezed through the door and set his school lunch pail and books on the side table. “Some of us are going over to help Lyle set up the furniture.”
“Wait, I…” Gabe was trotting back to the kitchen door as she tried to talk to him.
“I got to go! Angus and Fergus are already there!”
“Come back here!” Darcie yelled at him.
“What?” Gabe had his hand on the door handle and ready to run out of hearing distance.
“I made molasses cookies for you to bring over for your friends,” Darcie called out.
That brought him running back to the kitchen to grab the tin she held out to him. Gabe’s grin warmed her heart. “Thanks, Ma!” And he took off for the door again.
Lyle had a carpenter turn the big room in the back of his lawyer’s office into an apartment, consisting of a bedroom, washroom, kitchen and living area. Furniture ordered for the apartment came in on the train today, and was sitting on the depot dock ready to move. Lyle had offered money to a few boys to move everything to his building and into place.
So many things had changed in the last six weeks for the combined Shepard family. They rented a two-story wooden home in Clear Creek, a block away from Millie and Adam’s house, and moved in after their family wedding ceremony.
After Reuben’s money from Mr. Reginald had transferred to their local bank, Reuben opened the Shepard and Sons Saddle Shop next to the livery. Even though Gabe and Tate weren’t old enough to help run the business, Reuben was proud to acknowledge them in his business name. So far, most of Reuben’s business was repairing harnesses and all sorts of horse tack, but his goal was to build custom-made saddles.
Gabe had adjusted well to the move to Clear Creek, probably more so because Reuben was his father, and he was older. He’d grown at least three inches and added fifteen pounds since he first came to Kansas.
Mary still mourned the loss of her father and talked about him, but rarely her mother. The act of being left behind when Mattie left was devastating to the child. After checking dates and facts, Mary was more likely to be Reginald’s daughter not Reuben’s, but it didn’t matter. Both Reuben and Darcie was listed as her parents now.
Darcie and Reuben were supporting Mary during her grieving but it was “Grandma Flora” who had helped the girl the most. Flora invited her over to spend Saturday afternoons with her, baking something special for the boarders and for Mary to bring home to her new family.
Tate and Amelia loved their new siblings, but like all kids, they fought at times. To go from them having all of her attention, to have to share with three others was a challenge. Especially since Tate and Amelia were sharing a room, him sleeping in a trundle bed and Amelia in a crib. Darcie and Reuben decided in the beginning of their marriage they weren’t going to have the children sleeping with them unless they needed comforting. They wanted privacy to bond their marriage. And their house was big enough to give Gabe and Mary their own rooms, too.
Darcie sensed someone looking at her and turned to see Reuben leaning against the kitchen doorframe, watching the domestic scene in the kitchen. He must have come into the house when Gabe raced out. Reuben hadn’t taken off his hat and coat, so apparently he was just stopping in for a minute.
“You’re home early. Everything okay at the shop?”
“Yes, everything’s fine. I promised a lovely young lady,” Reuben walked over to Mary and gently put his hands on her shoulders, “that I’d take her somewhere special today and we need to be there in ten minutes.”
This was news to Darcie, but it didn’t matter she hadn’t been told. Reuben was working hard at making Mary feel included in the family.
“Where are we going?” Mary asked hesitantly.
“A place all women love.”
Mary didn’t say anything as she looked between Darcie and Reuben. All Darcie could do was shrug her shoulders because she didn’t know anything about Reuben’s surprise. “It’s a surprise to me too, Mary.”
“I saw a really pretty dark green velvet fabric in Taylor’s Mercantile back a while,” Reuben hinted. He grinned when he could see it dawned on Mary it was the velvet she’d looked at more than once while in the store. Her eyes grew wide with excitement.
“Mary, we have an appointment at the dress shop. Mrs. Ressig is going to make you a dress to wear for the church’s Christmas pageant. I told her you liked the green velvet in the mercantile, but you get to decide what fabric and trim you want.”
“Really?” Mary squealed with excitement. “I get a new dress?”
Darcie was sure Mattie had always dressed Mary to flaunt the family’s wealth and social status. But the idea of Reuben doing something special for the girl, even if it was just another dress, made Mary beam.
“Yes, you do, if you’re okay with it,” Reuben added. He was so good with all four children, a confident father figure they all needed.
“Oh course I am! I’ll get my coat and be ready to go!”
“Read book!” Tate whined, looking distressed his reader was going to disappear out the door.
“Tate, how about you read your book to your little Sissie and me? I’m sure you know it now by heart, and we’d love to hear it.”
“Okay!” He pushed a kitchen chair up next to the high chair where Amelia sat, and opened the book on the table in front of her. Tate still had his share of tantrums, but living with two parents and three siblings in a stable home had calmed his past fears.
“Poppa,” Reuben’s eyes caught Darcie’s a second when hearing Mary call him by the endearment instead of her usual address of his first name.
“I’m right here, Mary,” Reuben said, promising her more than being in the present for just the moment.
“Could my…little sister…have a new dress too?” Mary looked so hopeful to Reuben that Darcie had to shut her eyes to stop the tears from falling. Not only was Mary finally feeling comfortable with asking Reuben for something, but she was considering herself part of their combined family.
“That’s a wonderful suggestion, Honey. How about we bundle up Amelia and take her with us? You can choose her fabric and trim, too.”
Mary turned to Darcie, with concern in her eyes. “Is that all right, Momma?” Darcie walked over to her adopted daughter and pulled her into her arms, then gave her a kiss on top of the head.
“That’s a great suggestion, Mary. Amelia—and Tate—are so lucky to have you as their big sister.” Darcie quickly wiped her eyes with one hand before pulling away from Mary so she could look into Mary’s eyes. “Your poppa and I are so proud of you.”
Mary wrapped her arms around Darcie’s middle, and she barely heard Mary’s “Thank you, Momma.”
Darcie looked up as Reuben put his arm around her shoulders. “I think we have us a fine family, don’t you think, Momma Darcie?” Reuben gave her a quick, but tender kiss on her lips.
“I sure do believe so, Poppa Reuben.” Darcie said, while trying not to let her tears choke her words.
She and Reuben had survived bad marriages, but now their love made a rock solid family for four children and a loving marriage for themselves. She never thought running away to a frontier cattle town would solve her problems, but this is where she found lo
ve with a Kansas drover.
The End
I hope you enjoyed reading Darcie Desires a Drover. Please help other readers discover my books by recommending them to family and friends, either by word of mouth or writing a review. I’d really appreciate it.
If you see any errors or typos, please email [email protected] about them. Even though this book has been read and professionally edited by several people, things can slip through which I want to correct for the next reader.
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Many thanks from the Kansas prairie!
Linda K. Hubalek
Dear Readers:
Darcie Desires a Drover is the seventh book in the historical romance series Brides with Grit featuring the Wilerson and Hamner families.
The series setting is based on the famous old cowtown of Ellsworth, Kansas during its cattle drive days. The town of Clear Creek though, is fictional, based on the many little towns that sprang up as the railroad was built across Kansas.
This particular area is now the current Kanopolis State Park in central Kansas. Being local to where I live, I've hiked the park’s hiking trails where it’s easy to visualize what the area looked like in 1873—because it remains the same now—as then.
For more information on this series please visit www.LindaHubalek.com or ask your favorite retailer or library order them for you. You don’t have to, but I recommend reading the books in order to get full benefit of the story line.
Brides with Grit Series in order:
Rania Ropes a Rancher (Rania and Jacob)
Millie Marries a Marshal (Millie and Adam)
Hilda Hogties a Horseman (Hilda and Noah)
Cora Captures a Cowboy (Cora and Dagmar)
Sarah Snares a Soldier (Sarah and Marcus)
Cate Corrals a Cattleman (Cate and Isaac)
Darcie Desires a Drover (Darcie and Reuben)
Tina Tracks a Trail Boss (Tina and Leif)
Also read Lilly: Bride of Illinois, a spin-off book in the American Mail-Order Brides Series.
Historical Fiction Books by Linda K. Hubalek
Trail of Thread Series
Trail of Thread
Thimble of Soil
Stitch of Courage
Butter in the Well Series
Butter in the Well
Prairie Bloomin’
Egg Gravy
Looking Back
Planting Dreams Series
Planting Dreams
Cultivating Hope
Harvesting Faith
Kansas Quilter Series
Tying the Knot
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linda Hubalek grew up on the Kansas prairie, always wanting to be a farmer like her parents and ancestors. After earning a college degree in Agriculture, marriage took Linda away from Kansas as her husband worked in engineering jobs in several states.
Meanwhile, Linda wrote historical fiction books about pioneer women who homesteaded in Kansas between 1854 to the early 1900s, especially her Swedish immigrant ancestors.
Linda Hubalek and her husband eventually moved back home to Kansas, where they raised American buffalo (bison) for a dozen years.
Linda is currently writing clean, sweet historical western romances set in the 1800s.
Darcie Desires a Drover: A Historical Western Romance (Brides with Grit Book 7) Page 11