Avalee Exchanges Her Fiancé

by Linda Hubalek

  “Is this what having children is like? I didn’t experience it as a single child myself.”

  “Yes, plus a lot of tears, tantrums, and love. Think what Ethan has gone through with eight of us over the years.”

  “Is raising boys any easier?”

  “I think you’d be cleaning up more real blood from scrapes than cherry blood,” Avalee shrugged. “Ask the elder Reagans to see what it was like raising their six boys.”

  Gordon jumped and ran to the door when he heard a slight noise outside the door.

  “Girls! Let us out! Now!”

  Instead of a key turning, he heard a slight giggle as an envelope slid under the door.

  Avalee bent over to retrieve the letter but then handed it to Gordon after she looked at the front of it.

  “It’s addressed to you as, Brother Gordon?”

  Gordon took the envelope, feeling the weight of something slide inside. He felt the corner of the envelope. There was a ring inside. Now, what had the girls planned?

  Chapter 15

  Avalee watched Gordon's face as he carefully pulled out the letter and stuck the envelope in his trousers’ pocket. His expression was neutral until he started reading the letter. His face color changed from red to pale, back to red again.

  At least this letter was hand-written instead of typed, which would have been faster than having to hunt and pick for the correct letter keys.

  "Gordon, have you sent me any letters? Or received any letters from me?"

  It took a moment for him to take his eyes off the paper and look at her.

  "Huh? No, why?"

  "My sisters typed out two letters to me and signed them G. M."

  "Why would they do that?"

  "Well, at first I thought it was from Giles Mooney, which upset me. Then I thought they might be from you."

  "What did they say?"

  "Uh, just short, sweet, 'roses are red' types of letters."

  "Do I dare guess those letters are from the same source I'm reading now?"

  "I believe so. I showed them to Iva Mae, and she remembered two letter keys which had been damaged on our office typewriter years ago. Those same keys still type crooked letters and they were on the letters I received too."

  "Well, this letter isn't short and sweet. They have a list of demands before they let us out of this room, but the words were scribbled so fast I'm having problems reading them."

  Avalee held out her hand, and Gordon reluctantly gave the page to her. She glanced at it and sighed.

  "That's Cecilia's normal handwriting. She'll never win a penmanship prize at school."

  Avalee felt her cheeks blush as she quickly read through the letter. She didn't know whether to scold or hug her sisters for their demands. Avalee had thought about changing her single status to married with Gordon. Was she bold enough to hope Gordon agreed to her sisters’ silly, but sincere wishes?

  "Number one. Kiss Avalee ten times to be sure you love her and then ask her to be your real fiancé. Use item in envelope."

  What item was that? Avalee cleared her throat to get through the second demand.

  "Number two. Marry soon, because Taylors are leaving, and you need Avalee's help in running the store.

  "Number three. Have only girl babies, because Iva Mae and Maridell have all boys. Blah!”

  Avalee clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from snorting at their third item.

  "I don't think that demand is possible," Gordon said dryly.

  “Not hardly.” But she wouldn’t mind trying to have baby girls with Gordon though.

  "In exchange for …complying—I think that’s the word Cecilia was trying to write—with our wishes, we will do the following.

  "Number one. We'll be the best little sisters you could ever wish for.”

  “Well, of course, they would be,” Gordon chuckled, finally amused at her sisters’ antics.

  "Number two. We’ll help you in the store when we’re not in school or helping at the hotel.

  "Number three. We'll help clean out Taylor's apartment since we’re exceptional housekeepers.”

  "Well, number three helps even up the demands because that upstairs is a mess,” Gordon conceded as he pulled the paper out of Avalee’s hand and laid it on the table. Then he slowly circled his arms around her waist.

  “Miss Avalee Paulson, daughter number three. Do you think I should do as Paulson daughters, number seven, and eight requests?”

  “Yes, I agree with their demands of number one and two and would even try for number three.”

  Gordon hugged her close around her waist but whined, “Nooo, I want some baby boys!”

  Avalee snorted a laugh at Gordon’s words. She’d be very happy living with Gordon as his wife and partner.

  “Can I have the first kiss demanded on the list, then we’ll talk seriously about our situation?”

  “Yes, I’d like that,” Avalee whispered, excited about finally getting a real kiss from the man.

  Avalee wrapped her arms around his neck, tilted her face upward and closed her eyes as Gordon lowered his lips toward hers.

  But then he stopped and asked.

  “Did you kiss me the second round when you girls barged into Peter’s apartment after the introduction dinner?”

  Avalee blinked her eyes open at his question.

  “Yes, I did. Why?”

  “I liked it, but this one is going to be much better.”

  Gordon’s kiss was soft and timid at first, then deepened as they tightened their arms around each other.

  “Oh, my! This was what Avalee would be missing if she didn’t marry! She loved the embrace as much as Gordon’s kisses.

  “Well, huh… You didn’t stomp on my foot and scream,” Gordon teased Avalee when he finally pulled away enough to talk to her.

  “Not a chance of that ever happening with you now that I’ve been kissed by your lips,” Avalee beamed up at Gordon, even though she knew her face must be flushed.

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Gordon reached for her hands, holding them against his chest.

  “Now we need to have a serious talk about our future, if we have one,” Gordon said as he stared into her eyes.

  “The Taylors received a letter from their son that his wife is expecting twins and the couple asked them to move to Denver to help with the babies and their store.”

  “Ah. So now they have a reason to make a decision.”

  “Yes, and immediately. Instead of keeping me on as their employee, they want to sell me the store. Kiowa has promised he’ll back my loan at the bank.”

  “And you’ll get the upstairs apartment too?”

  “Yes. They plan to leave the furniture, household needs, and I bet every stack of papers in the dining room too.”

  “Let me guess. That’s their filing system for the store?” Avalee grimaced because those stacks had been building up for years.

  “I’m guessing it is, but it’s a fire hazard. That’s my first job—or Cecilia’s and Phoebe’s—as soon as I get possession of the building.

  “Avalee, I’d like to ask for your hand in marriage, but—”

  Avalee sucked in her breath, excited for what his words meant, but then blew it out with his final word.

  “But? What?”

  “I don’t want to force you to choose between the store and your job at the doctor’s office. I’ll need help running the store. I need you to either work at the store with me, or I’ll hire help if you want to stay working for Doctor Pansy.”

  “Will I just be ‘help’ or a partner in the store? There’s a difference, Gordon.”

  Gordon opened his mouth and then closed it again.

  “Your mother didn’t raise you ‘just’ to be a helper, Avalee. You’d definitely be a partner, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

  “That’s the correct answer, Gordon. Doctor Pansy can find someone to take my place. She’s always getting requests from schools of medicine to take on a recent g
raduate.”

  Okay then,” Gordon said as he let go of her hands and fumbled to pull the envelope out of his pocket. He shook out a diamond ring into his left hand, lowered himself to one knee, and reached for her hand with his right.

  “Miss Avalee Paulson, would you give me the honor of being your husband?”

  “Those girls slipped a ring in with their letter?”

  “Yes, they were looking at rings before their theatrics. Phoebe plucked this one from the velvet case and said she liked it. And actually, it’s my favorite too.

  “Back to the question, Avalee. Will you marry me?”

  The poor man! She stood there staring at the ring, not thinking about him kneeling on the floor.

  “Yes, as long as I get unlimited kisses, instead of only nine more.”

  “That can be arranged,” Gordon said as he slid the diamond ring on her left ring finger. It was a perfect fit.

  Gordon stood up, gathering Avalee in his arms again. “Let’s seal this engagement with a kiss.”

  “Ah. Now I have a real fiancé instead of a fake one. Won’t the townspeople be surprised,” Avalee teased as she slid her arms around Gordon’s waist. Oh, how good it felt to be in this man’s embrace.

  They finally finished their kiss, but still held each other around the waist, ready to take the next step in planning their marriage.

  “When do you want to marry? In other words, how long will it take for the Paulson women to get ready for our wedding?”

  “We’re an organized bunch. It will take us less time to get ready for our wedding than you can go through the piles in your new apartment.”

  “I’m going to hold that for the girls to do, although I guess I better help them in case there are important papers I need to keep for the business,” Gordon mused as he kissed Avalee’s forehead.

  “But when are the Taylors leaving? We can’t move in until they’re on their way to Denver.” Avalee did hope it was soon though.

  “Mrs. Taylor was pushing for this week, but I bet it will be closer to the end of next week. Surely, she can’t get ready to leave town in a few days.”

  “Never underestimate the pull between a grandmother and her grandchildren. She may pack a carpet bag with the essentials and leave tomorrow, letting Mr. Taylor deal with everything else.”

  “Then we better get your sisters to let us out of this room to get started on what we need to do.”

  Avalee pulled away and put a finger to her lips to tell Gordon to keep quiet. Then she walked to the cupboard, opened a drawer, and pulled out a key.

  “Is that—” Avalee silenced Gordon with a finger against his lips.

  “Why didn’t you let us out sooner if you had a key for the door?” Gordon whispered in her ear so the girls couldn’t hear them if they stood outside the door listening.

  “We needed to decide our future first,” Avalee whispered back.

  Avalee quickly slid the key in the lock, twisted it, and pulled the door open. Cecilia and Phoebe fell forward as they had been leaning against the door, trying to listen in on the conversation.

  “Girls, you are in so much trouble with that fake injury act,” Avalee growled, her fists on her hips as she looked at her little sisters.

  “But do you like the ring we picked out for you?” Phoebe meekly asked.

  Avalee’s anger melted at her sister’s question. The girls still had fake blood smeared on them. They stayed at the door to listen instead of cleaning themselves up. They genuinely wanted their big sister to be happy and thought this trick would bring her and Gordon together.

  “Yes, I did, and now I’ll be wearing it forever. Gordon asked me to marry him, and I said, ‘yes.’ Now, is there anything you want to say to Gordon?”

  She hoped they knew they owed him an apology, or two.

  “We’re sorry about your white shirt. We’ll buy you a new one because I think that shirt is past cleaning,” Phoebe mumbled.

  Avalee noticed the girls had worn dark dresses for their stunt. At least they’d thought to keep from ruining their own clothing.

  “And we’re sorry about giving you a heart attack in the store,” Cecilia added. “But we needed to get you two together.”

  “Thank you both for giving us the, ah, opportunity to be together and for me to ask for your sister’s hand in marriage,” Gordon said, knowing he better keep on the right side of his future sisters-in-law.

  “But, you are going to help us clean our new apartment, floor to ceiling when the Taylors move out. Agreed?” Gordon added in a voice that would make her sisters comply whether they wanted to or not.

  “Yes, sir,” Cecilia and Phoebe said in unison.

  “How about you clean up, and then join me at the store? I’m guessing the place is in utter chaos by now,” Gordon muttered while wiping a hand over his face.

  “No, everything should be fine there. Daphne went over to supervise after we—”

  “What?” It was Avalee’s turn to yell the word this time. “Daphne was in on this stunt too?”

  “Oops,” Phoebe whispered, then bit her lower lip.

  “Well, thanks for including her, so the store isn’t, hopefully, trashed,” Gordon said as he shook his head.

  “Welcome to the Paulson family, Gordon. We stick up for each other,” Avalee said as she stood up on tiptoe to give Gordon a kiss.

  Chapter 16

  Gordon was nervous, waiting for Pastor Reagan to finish the service. In a few minutes, he’d be a married man.

  The past two weeks had been very busy as the Taylors packed up their belongings and left for Denver. Anxious to move, the Taylors agreed to Gordon’s price of the store inventory and apartment contents. And Mrs. Taylor cleaned through the piles in the dining room in one afternoon since she was motivated to move. Magazines and newspapers went to the town library, business papers were either sorted to keep, or tossed if no longer needed.

  "May the Lord bless you and keep you, today, tomorrow and forever, Amen."

  Pastor Reagan lowered his right hand, closed his service book, and held it in front of him. He looked at the congregation sitting before him as he stood in front of the altar.

  “Today, we all have the honor to witness the wedding of Avalee Paulson—Miss Brown Eyes as Ethan used to call her, and Mr. Gordon Miller.

  “I must say, Avalee, I’m glad you changed Gordon from your fake fiancé to your real one. I genuinely believe you’ll be happy together.

  “Let’s commence with the ceremony so we can retire to the hotel to celebrate!”

  That brought chuckles to the congregation and eased Gordon’s shoulders too.

  “Helen, will you and your daughters please move to the front pew to witness the wedding? Nadine and Daphne though, I understand you’re to stand by Avalee. Ethan, please go to the back, to walk your third daughter down the aisle.

  “Gordon please step up here beside me. And I assume your brothers will stand by you as your best men?”

  Barton and Amelia had surprised everyone by marrying last Sunday in a double ceremony with Luella and Tate Shepard. Barton hadn’t told him or Squires about it, but that was okay. The brothers were thrilled to have Amelia as their sister-in-law.

  “No, my brothers won’t be joining me. I’d like Cecilia and Phoebe to stand by me instead.”

  Gordon heard the young girls gasp when he mentioned their names. His brothers, and Ethan and Helen knew Gordon was going to ask the girls but had kept it a secret from the two.

  Gordon walked to where they stood in the aisle in anticipation. He held out his elbows so each girl could take one, then proceeded to walk them up to the altar.

  The girls stood proudly beside him, their hands folded in front of their waists as they turned to watch Avalee and their father walk down the aisle.

  Gordon didn’t hear the wedding march as he stared at his approaching bride. Avalee wore a white dress, covered with layers of delicate lace, and a long tulle veil that fell in a train behind her.

  Gordon drew a
deep breath to calm himself. I’m really getting married right now.

  In a few seconds, Avalee was by his side, and Ethan sat down beside Helen.

  “Gordon, please take Avalee’s hands and listen closely to these questions,” Pastor Reagan instructed.

  “Gordon, will you have this woman to be your wife; to live together with her in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?”

  “I will,” Gordon stated, now feeling calm. He’d made the right decision about asking Avalee to be his wife.

  Gordon slid a gold band on Avalee’s left ring finger to touch the engagement ring, and said, “Avalee, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

  “Avalee, now it’s your turn,” Pastor said as he turned to Avalee.

  “Avalee, will you have this man to be your husband; to live together with him in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?”

  Avalee 's face lit up when she said, “Yes, I will.”

  Her words of love and commitment echoed in Gordon’s head as Pastor pronounced them husband and wife.

  “Gordon, you may kiss your bride,” Pastor Reagan proudly announced.

  They were past their first ten dozen kisses, but this one held special meaning to them. This was their first kiss as husband and wife.

  Chapter 17

  “Ah! What was that?” Avalee asked as she scrunched her shoulders up to her eyes.

  Gordon had just carried her over the threshold of their new home, and the contents from a cloth bag of…something rained down on them.

  Gordon let Avalee’s feet touch the floor before letting her go.

  “Rice! There was a bag of rice rigged to fall open when I opened the door!” Gordon muttered.

  Indeed, there was rice scattered on the floor everywhere. Avalee shook her head to get the rice out of her hair, and she scanned the room to see what else was amiss.