Columns of Cottonwood

by Sandra Robbins

  She reached across and covered his hands with hers. “Don’t think like that. It wasn’t your fault.”

  His skin burned from her touch, and he pulled his hands away. “I’ve thought a lot today about Jonathan’s state of mind. I know he came back nursing horrible memories of the war, but many of us did. Maybe it was more than that. I think he loved you, and his anger turned to violence when I made you marry me.”

  A look of surprise flashed across her face. “You didn’t make me marry you, Dante. I agreed.”

  He nodded. “Yes, you did. But you never would have married me if I hadn’t dangled Cottonwood in front of you.”

  She straightened in her chair and frowned. “Are you saying that you’re sorry you married me?”

  “I’m saying that everybody around here thought of me as a foreigner and a carpetbagger. There’s no way you would have agreed unless there was something in it for you, and that something was Cottonwood.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes, and she pushed to her feet. “It’s a little late to be reliving the past, isn’t it? All you wanted was to be accepted in the community, to have friends. You already had Cottonwood. In time, the people around here would have gotten to know you, and you would have been accepted. When you proposed, I couldn’t understand why you would give me so much when you were really getting so little in return.”

  He stood and faced her. “I told you why, Savannah. I couldn’t get you out of my mind from the moment you almost ran me down with that buggy. It was afterward, though, when I saw you here at your parents’ graves and witnessed how you tended your sick aunt that I knew I loved you like I would never love another. I thought I’d go crazy when you said you were leaving. I had to find a way to stop you. I knew the only thing that would keep you here would be Cottonwood, and I was right. I used your love for Cottonwood to get what I wanted. I’m sorry for doing that.”

  Savannah exhaled a long breath. “I’m not sorry.”

  Dante frowned. “You’re not?”

  She took his right hand in both of hers, brought it to her mouth, and kissed it. Still holding it close to her lips, she glanced up. “If you had let me go, I never would have known the happiness I’ve had from loving you. I told myself I was marrying you to come home to Cottonwood, but I think I was only deceiving myself. I think I fell in love with you that first day, too. It just took me longer to realize it.”

  His heart pounded in his chest so hard he could barely breathe. “I know you said you love me, but I’ve scarce let myself believe it. Are you sure?”

  “I am.” Savannah still held his hand, and she cupped it in both of hers. “Why is it so difficult for you to believe that I love you?”

  He swallowed. “I haven’t had anybody who loved me in a long time, Savannah. I’ve been so lonely, and I didn’t dare dream that a beautiful woman like you could see anything worth loving in a man like me.”

  “Oh Dante. I never realized how lonely you were, but you’re not anymore. I’m here with you, and I love you with all my heart.” Savannah took a deep breath. “But I think we need to make some changes around here. We need to do what we should have done when we first married. We need to voice our feelings to each other.”

  “I think you’re right.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I know we’ve already stood before a preacher, but I want to start this marriage over. Let’s forget about business propositions and concentrate on loving each other. What do you think?”

  She nodded. “I don’t remember much of what Reverend Somers said the day of our wedding. So I think I should make some new vows to you.”

  “W–what kind of vows?”

  A smile pulled at her lips. “You’re the best man I’ve ever known, Dante Rinaldi, and I love you like I’ve never loved anyone else. My new vow comes from God’s Word: ‘Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.’ ”

  Shaking his head in an attempt to comprehend what had just happened, Dante pulled her closer. “I’ve prayed for this, but it seemed impossible that you’d ever love me.”

  She laughed. “I prayed for the taxes to be paid on Cottonwood, but I thought that was impossible, too. We should have had more faith in God. His plan was the best of all.”

  Dante roared with laughter, scooped her up into his arms, and whirled her around. “For a day that started out so awful, it’s turned into the best of my life.”

  She squealed and clutched at his chest. “Be careful, Dante.”

  He stopped and stared at her. “You mean because of the baby?”

  Her eyes grew wide. “How did you know?”

  “Martha Thompson told me.”

  Savannah stiffened in his arms. “What?” she shrieked. “I was waiting for the right moment to tell you. How did Martha know?”

  “I had asked Mr. Perkins for something to settle your stomach, and Martha diagnosed your condition when she heard your symptoms.” He laughed again. “You forget she’s the biggest gossip in town. She knows everything.”

  Savannah relaxed and smiled. “Are you happy?”

  “Happy doesn’t start to describe how I feel. I can hardly wait to see what else God has planned for us.”

  Savannah’s arms encircled his neck and pulled his head down to meet hers. “Me, too.”

  Nineteen

  Savannah sat by the window in the parlor of her and Dante’s new home and let her gaze travel over the bare branches of the trees, swaying in the December breeze. Christmas was just a few weeks away, and this year she and Dante had a lot to celebrate.

  She leaned back in the rocker Dante had bought her and smiled in satisfaction. Her left foot gently rocked the cradle beside her as she thought of the crocks of newly churned butter sitting on a table in the kitchen. She enjoyed the early afternoon when her chores were complete and her child napped beside her.

  It seemed impossible that so much had happened in the last year. Sometimes she had to pinch herself to make sure she hadn’t dreamed it all. When she looked into the faces of her husband and child, though, she knew it was all true.

  Dante appeared at the corner of the house and bounded onto the front porch. He burst through the door and smiled when he saw her. “I thought I’d come check on you.”

  Without breaking the rhythm of the cradle, she tilted her head and arched an eyebrow. “You’re never going to finish that fence if you keep coming home.”

  He laughed, walked to the cradle, and gazed down at the baby. “For some reason, I just can’t stay away.”

  Her foot stilled, and she hesitated at the question that had hovered on her lips since the baby’s birth. She inhaled. “Dante, are you sorry she isn’t a boy?”

  A big smile covered his face. “A boy? We can have one of those next. Right now I’m happy to have the two most beautiful women in the world in my life.”

  She laughed. “You do act like she’s kind of special.”

  He dropped to his knees and trailed a finger across their daughter’s head. “Amelia Gabriella Rinaldi, you are a beauty.”

  Savannah smiled. She never tired of seeing Dante with the daughter they’d named after their mothers. She glanced out the window and squinted to get a better view of the person walking toward their house.

  “Dante, someone’s coming.”

  He stood and looked out the window. “I can’t tell who it is.”

  “Neither can I, but it looks. . .” She squealed in happiness. “Dante, it’s Jasper. He’s come home.”

  They rushed to the door and stepped onto the porch. Dante stood with his arm around her shoulders as Jasper trudged toward them. When he reached the house, Savannah ran down the steps and embraced him.

  Tears ran down her face. “Jasper, I’m so glad to see you.”

  “Good to see you, too, Miss ’Vanna.”

  Dante followed her and stuck out his hand. “We didn’t think we’d ever see you again.”

  Jasper
grabbed Dante’s hand and shook it. “Yas suh, I reckon I thought I never would see ya’ll, neither.”

  “What brought you back?” Savannah asked.

  Jasper took off the hat Savannah had seen him wear for years and wiped his brow. “Well, I al’ays wanted to see the ocean, and I seen it. Even slept on the beach for a while just a-lis’nin’ to the waves roll in. It shore is a purty sight to see.”

  Dante nodded. “I lived near it all my life. It’s hard to understand how big it is until you see it up close.”

  Jasper chuckled. “You right about that. But it ain’t the Alabama.” He gazed over his shoulder toward the bluff. “I reckon there just ain’t no water on God’s earth like the river I been knowin’ all my life, and I wanted to come back. Mistuh Dante done tole me ’fore I left I always have a home at Cottonwood.”

  Savannah laughed. “You’ll always have a home with us, Jasper.”

  “Thank you kindly, Miss ’Vanna. It’s good to be home.”

  Savannah and Dante watched as Jasper turned and walked toward the river bluff. Dante looped his arm around Savannah’s waist. “The Alabama River brought me to Cottonwood, and the best things of my life happened because of it. I don’t ever want to leave it either.”

  Savannah’s heart burst with happiness. She kissed her husband on the cheek and glanced over her shoulder at the first wing of their house that had risen from the ruins of her childhood home. Soon they would begin building the next section, and the big columns would stand once again on the riverbank.

  “I’m glad the river brought you here, too. Aunt Jane told me that the only reason to marry was because you loved somebody so much you hurt from wanting to be with them.”

  Dante’s lips brushed the top of her head. “What else did she tell you?”

  She snuggled closer to her husband. Memories of the war, worries over unpaid taxes, and threats from murdering gangs vanished in his protective embrace. “That God had great things waiting for me. And you know what, Dante?”

  “What?”

  Savannah stood on her tiptoes and pulled his head down until their lips almost touched. “She was right.”

  About the Author

  SANDRA ROBBINS and her husband live in the small college town where she grew up. Until a few years ago she was working as an elementary school principal, but God opened the door for her to become a full-time writer. Without the help of her wonderful husband, four children, and five grandchildren who have supported her dreams for many years, it would be impossible to write. As a child, Sandra accepted Jesus as her Savior and has depended on Him to guide her throughout her life. It is her prayer that God will use her words to plant seeds of hope in the lives of her readers. To find out more about Sandra and her books, go to her Web site at www.sandrarobbins.net.

  Dedication

  To Jay, Megan, Katie, Sydney, and Kylie, my wonderful grandchildren. I pray you will always look to God for direction in your lives. No matter where you go and what you pursue in life, you can be assured that He is watching over you.

  A note from the Author:

  I love to hear from my readers! You may correspond with me by writing:

  Sandra Robbins

  Author Relations

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