by Holly Bush
“He has made you part of it, Annie. And he is a gentleman.”
Annie shook her head, feeling as if she was somehow being managed and maneuvered, although there was nothing in Eleanor’s words that was untrue. “You want him to consider me? There is no reason to though. I’ve never tried to trap him or get him to say something he didn’t mean.”
Eleanor reached for her hands, holding them both in hers and staring at them as she rubbed her thumb over Annie’s knuckles. She looked up then.
“Do you love him?”
Annie licked her lips. “I’ve tried not to. I’ve tried to let him be who he intends to be after all his years of fighting in the war and wandering afterwards. After all his guilt and shame about a disagreement with his father.”
“Do you love him, Annie?”
She nodded, and her lip trembled. “Of course I do. He’s a hero in every sense of the word. He saved me, he saved Ben and cared for him. Of course I love him. I would have never lain with him if I didn’t.”
Eleanor sat back in her seat as the door opened and Olivia entered with a tray of cakes and pitcher of lemonade. “I told Mabel that I would carry it up, that she need not make the trip up the steps. Her knees are bothering her as the weather begins to change. I hope I didn’t miss anything interesting.”
Annie accepted a glass of lemonade and stared at Matthew’s mother.
“I wouldn’t say that, Olivia. It’s not my story to tell, although there is one person who is owed the truth. Now, tell me about this party we are to have in honor of Matthew’s homecoming. I know you’ve been working on it, Olivia.”
“Do you want a cordial or wine? I’m pouring myself a whiskey,” Adam said to Matt as they stood together in the main room before dinner that evening.
“Maybe we won’t be having dinner if Mother dismisses us like she did yesterday. Maybe you’ll be sent to the barns and I’ll be sent to the kitchens again,” Matt said and looked at his brother.
Adam laughed. “And we went, tails between our legs, did we not? Wine?”
“Yes. A small glass. Annie was up in Mother’s sitting room for two hours. What could they have been talking about?”
“You don’t know? You haven’t talked to Annie? Although you can certainly surmise how that conversation went, don’t you think, Matt?”
“Mother wouldn’t bring that up with Annie.” He looked at his brother, horrified. “If she talks to Annie about that, then every time Mother looks at me, I’m going to think that she knows what I do in private. I’ll never be able to look at my mother again.”
“You already told her you thought Annie might be with child. She knows what that means. How much worse could it be?”
“It’s just the idea that all three of us will know about the two of us,” Matt said.
“What did the doctor say in Harrisonburg? I assumed that was part of the reason you wanted her to see the doctor.”
Matt sat down and sipped his wine. “She isn’t, well, she wasn’t in a family way when the doctor examined her.”
Adam barked a laugh. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”
“I did. We did. It’s not like I forced her.”
“If you think you’re getting out of this without marrying this girl, you’re mistaken.”
The door to the main room opened and Matt stood. Annie, his mother, and Olivia were just outside the door.
“Why don’t we go ahead in for dinner?” Eleanor said.
Adam followed his mother and sister into the dining room and seated them. Matt put his hand on Annie’s elbow and seated her at his mother’s right. She was wearing one of her new skirts and her hair was pulled up on top of her head and curled.
“You look pretty, Annie, not that you ever don’t,” Matt said.
“Thank you,” she said as she was seated and looked up at him, her dark lashes fluttering.
“Won’t you say grace, Adam?” Eleanor asked.
“I thought perhaps Matt would like to say grace tonight,” his brother said, smiled, and lifted his wineglass.
“Bow your heads,” Matt barked, eliciting a raised brow from his mother. “Dear Lord. We are thankful for the food on our table and for those who prepared it. We are thankful for the roof over our heads. I am thankful . . . to be here. To be back home. I’m thankful Ben found me. I am thankful for my family and their hard work to keep Paradise intact during the war. I am thankful that Annie Campbell found me and Ben that day at the river.” He lifted his head to look at her. She looked back, staring steadily. “I am thankful for her every day. Amen.”
The next few weeks were a blur for Annie. The family went to church together, and she went with them and heard an extraordinary story from Olivia about Eleanor Gentry and the previous pastor and his wife who attempted to convince her that her marriage to Mr. Gentry was not real in the eyes of the church. She met other young women at church and went to town several times with Olivia, who was fast becoming a best friend. She was reading a book that the young women would be discussing at their next get-together, and found that she was interested in the articles in the newspaper that Olivia read to her while she sewed.
Eleanor and Olivia included her in the plans for a grand party to celebrate Matt’s homecoming and to introduce her as Matt and Ben’s rescuer, although she could hardly believe such a fuss was being made. She wrote out invitations, cut a pattern for a dress with the fabric she’d brought with her, and was learning to knit from Mabel. Sometimes, and maybe more than sometimes, she wished it wouldn’t end, that she wasn’t going back to her cabin in the woods. She imagined how dreary it would be and how lonesome she’d be when she arrived back in Bridgewater to stay.
She found that increasingly she was happy. It was an unusual feeling for her and one that made her feel guilty because Teddy and her parents weren’t there to be happy. Shouldn’t she be sad? She was starting to believe, though, that she could be happy without disrespecting their memories, that they wouldn’t have wanted her to be sad in any case, especially Teddy, who was joy embodied. Smiling and laughter were beginning to feel natural to her.
She also found herself unable to take her eyes off Matt Gentry. He teased her, walked with her, laughed with her, and looked at her in such a way that her heart fluttered and her ears grew hot and turned red. She loved him and even more so now, seeing him home with his family. What was she resisting?
Matt was gathering his courage. Dinner was just done and all that had been talked about was the party being held for him tomorrow. It would also be the end of the month that Annie’d been here, and she’d be soon asking to go back to Bridgewater. He wasn’t going to let that happen. The women had all gone to the ballroom to look at the decorations one final time. He and Ben and Adam were sipping a cordial at the dinner table.
“When you going to ask that girl to marry you?” Ben demanded out of the blue.
“None of your business, old man.”
“Have you told her you love her? Have you said any sweet words at all?” Adam asked. “The rest of us are getting tired of your cow eyes mooning over her.”
Ben laughed. “Ain’t that the truth! Mabel asked me today if the two of you were just going to stare at each other the rest of your natural lives and skip the living and the loving altogether.”
Matt stood up and stalked from the room. “I’m done talking to the two of you.”
“Good!” Ben said. “Go talk to that girl instead.”
“Say something nice,” Adam called after him.
Chapter 15
“Annie?” Matt said as he met his mother, Annie, and his sister pushing Aunt Brigid in her wheeled chair as the left the ballroom. Every female head turned to him.
“Yes?”
“I’d like to talk to you. Will you take a walk with me?”
“You can say whatever you’d like in front of us,” Olivia said and raised her brows.
“You should get your shawl, Annie,” Eleanor said. “The fall air is chilly in the e
vening.”
“Yes, Eleanor. I’ll get it,” she said breathlessly and hurried to the staircase and her room.
“What are you looking at?” Matt demanded sharply of his sister. But his mother and aunt were staring at him, too.
“We’re looking at a man in love, Olivia,” Brigid said. “Remember that look when a suitor comes around for you the next time. This is how you’ll recognize him.”
Annie was back down the steps before he could process that comment from Aunt Brigid. Was this love? He guided Annie out the back doors and close to the tree line. It was quiet there and he could hear an owl hooting in the distance. There was enough light spilling from the windows of the house that he could see her clearly. She was too pretty for him, he thought suddenly. He stood silently for a few long minutes, gathering his thoughts, wondering what to say first and stammering.
She stood on her toes then and kissed his cheek. “I love you, Matt. I don’t expect anything in return. But your mother said I owed it to you to be truthful, and she was right. And the truth is, I love you.”
She turned and walked toward the house. He stopped her and pulled her tight against him. He whispered in her hair. “My life has been a struggle to prove myself to my family, to prove I was as courageous as Daddy and as smart as Adam. Little did I know that it didn’t matter to Adam or Daddy or Mother who was smarter or more courageous. I intended to be fearless tonight, and found it was easier to face cannons in battle than show feelings that might not be returned. But you’re my brave warrior.”
He rubbed her back and ran his fingers through her hair. He kissed her temple and leaned his forehead on hers. “Now my words are twisting in my mouth, and none of the speech I prepared seems right. I intended to be bold tonight and tell you how very much I love you. How much I’m hoping you’ll be my wife. But you were braver than I and said it first. We can live here or in Bridgewater or wherever you want. But I don’t think I can live anywhere without you. Will you marry me, Annie?”
“I’ve been waiting so long for love, it seems, that I never thought it would happen,” she said softly. “Don’t doubt yourself. You are every bit the courageous man who saved Ben from the water and me and Gilly from sure death. You are a hero to me and will be for all time. Yes. I will marry you.”
Matt found his arms were shaking and his legs quivering like he was standing in river mud. He looked at her then, searching her face. “You’ll marry me?”
She nodded and smiled shyly. “Yes.”
“I’ll build us a house on some of the Paradise property if you want. Or maybe you’d rather be in Bridgewater. I don’t care as long as I’m with you.”
“I like it here, Matt. I like, no, I love your mother and your sister and your aunt. They feel like family to me. I want to be here when they decorate the main room with pine for Christmas. I want to be here when the foals come in the spring. I want to be part of it, if you want me to be.”
“Mother and Daddy always told us that there’d be a few acres for each of us at Paradise if we wanted to settle here. I intend to take Mother up on it. Do you remember when we came around the bend and you saw the house for the first time? There’s an open acre or two on the other side of the bend. There’s some straggly pines that Mother calls the sister trees there. We could build a house there, Annie. A home, and you’d be close enough to visit whenever you wanted.”
“I think I would like that very much.”
Matt held her face in his hands. “I love you. I think I have loved you since I woke up in your cabin, because I can’t remember not loving you.”
He touched her lips with his thumbs. She smiled up at him, her face lit in the moonlight with joy and abandon.
“We’ve both let go of some misery we’ve carried for a long while. But this is a new beginning for both of us away from the war and away from Bridgewater. Paradise is a new beginning for us. I’m happier right now than I can say with words.”
“Then we won’t talk anymore, Annie,” he said and kissed her softly before wrapping his arms around her and deepening their kiss.
Annie was dressed in a new gown, a real gown, not just a day dress or skirt and shirt, but a gown made of shimmering pale blue fabric over small hoops and a bustle with three-quarter sleeves and a low rounded neckline. Cream-colored beads were sewn in flower designs around the cuffs, hem, and bodice. Eleanor had insisted that she order it from the dressmaker’s in town soon after her arrival, saying that everyone would be dressed in their finest, and Annie was glad of it, as all the other woman were wearing fancy dresses. Olivia looked particularly beautiful in dark green.
She’d been asked to tell the story of Matt and Ben’s dunk in the river many times. It was embarrassing to be speaking to such large groups and be talking about herself, but Ben wouldn’t be stopped, prompting her to share the story with so many.
She’d danced with Adam and Matthew, and done a slow turn around the floor with Ben. It was, without a doubt, the most exciting and fancy event she’d ever attended. She’d been introduced to so many people that she’d lost all track of names. She’d danced the last dance with Matt’s childhood friend Winston Nettlestrom and met his wife, Nellie. There were all types of foods spread out on tables around the edge of the room, and two young stable hands were passing out wine and champagne under Mabel’s guidance. It was a merry sight, and Annie was happy. Happier than she’d ever been.
“Here! Here!” Adam said, drawing everyone’s attention. “We’re here tonight as you know to honor my brother, Matthew Gentry. He’s home to Paradise and his family could not be more pleased. I’d like to propose a toast to my younger brother, who would rather face down danger than break a horse to saddle.” The crowd laughed and clapped and drank their wine. Adam turned to Matt. “A few words, brother?”
“Thank you for coming here tonight. Thank you all for being friends to the Gentry family. We are fortunate to have such good neighbors. I appreciate Adam’s compliments and your toasts, but I’d like to turn your attention to the bravest soul in the room and maybe in the county or state, but certainly the dearest in my heart. As you have heard the story retold tonight, she saved me and Ben Littleship from sure death and nursed us for nearly three months. Her name is Annie Campbell.”
Her walked toward her, staring at her, and she could feel her face color and all eyes in the room focus on her. She didn’t look away from him. He turned to face the crowd with a wide smile and rested a hand on the small of her back.
“More importantly, she has recently agreed to be my bride!”
The crowd cheered and gathered round to congratulate them but she was busy. Her husband-to-be was kissing her.
Epilogue
Paradise 1870
Matt was in the barns shoveling horse manure into carts. “What are you doing that’s taking so long?” he shouted at the two young stable hands as they pulled the carts back to the barn, the one boy bending over at the waist, trying to catch his breath.
“You’re doing fine, boys,” Ben said as limped into the big barn on a warm May day. “Go on into the kitchens. Mabel’s got chicken and dumplings on the stove, and it sure smells good.”
One boy glanced at Matt and whispered to Ben, “Did she make biscuits?”
“She did. And she made apricot cookies. Just had one out of the oven. Get going. Both of you.”
“Now wait a second,” Matt said and noticed George, the stable master, standing behind Ben, glaring at him. “What are you looking at?”
Ben chuckled. “Are you looking to fight, Matt, and can only find two old men, me and George here, or two young boys, to pick on?”
“These stalls need mucked. It must be a week since they’ve been done, and it looks like I’ll be taking care of it on my ow. Matt stabbed the manure with a pitchfork.
“These stalls are mucked out every day or so, Mr. Matthew, and I think you know it,” George said. “And I take issue with you saying otherwise.”
Matt grumbled an apology and pulled a cart to where he
was working. He stopped a moment to drink some water from the jug sitting on the post. He was dripping wet with sweat and covered with dirt and dust, his eyes stinging, and the blisters on his hands were breaking. His back was sore from bending over and he’d put a hole in his boot.
“How is everyone this fine spring day?” Adam asked as he led Zeus into the barn.
Ben took his hat off and scratched his head, and George stomped away, muttering something under his breath.
“Did you get my peppermints?” Ben asked.
“I did. And I got Olivia’s book, and a bag of salt for Mabel. Did I forget anyone?” Adam said and walked over to where Matt was shoveling. “How you doing, brother?”
“I’d be a lot better if these stalls got mucked . . .” he began as Adam took the pitchfork from his hands. “Hey!”
Adam held him by the shoulders. “You’ve got to settle down. You’re going to give yourself a heart seizure. Annie is young and healthy. Mother and Doctor Thornhill are with her. There’s no reason to think that she won’t be able to deliver this child and be fine. You smell like horse manure and sweat. Maybe you don’t want to be seeing your child for the first time and Annie, too, smelling like this. You better get yourself cleaned up.”
Matt looked up with stricken eyes. “If I’d gotten the house done in time, Annie could have had the baby there, where she wanted to.”
Adam shook his head and smiled. “What are you talking about? You didn’t hear anything I said, did you?”
“What?”
“Take a bath!” he shouted. “You stink! And Annie doesn’t care that the house isn’t done yet.”
“He’s been like this all day, Adam,” Ben said. “Do something with him before George quits.”
“They’ve been up there with her since early this morning,” Matt whispered. “It shouldn’t take that long, should it?”
“How in the hell are we supposed to know?” Adam said. “The last baby born here was Livie, and you and I were only three and five years old.”