Royce told me he loved me and had for a long time. He had fallen in love with me that first time he saw me at the picnic seven years ago. He wanted to marry me, not just out of loyalty to Jed or because of the promise he had made, but because he loved me. He felt that he had come to know me better over the past couple of years since his return. He thought that at twenty-six he should settle down and marry. I was the only woman he had ever given that thought to. Royce really hoped I would consider his proposal of marriage. He knew that I still loved Jed, and always would. He said that he understood that and prayed that, in time, I could love him as a man, as well as a friend. Royce said he had to talk to Mr. Harmon out of respect and loyalty to Jed. He didn’t want to do anything that would offend me or Jed’s family. He wanted to keep Murray and Mary Beth’s welfare in mind as well.
Royce’s words tugged at my heart strings. I had no idea his feelings ran so deep. I knew how he felt as I had loved Jed that same way. Royce was a good man, and, at that moment, I did love him more than as a friend. And in that moment, I did want to say yes I would be honoured to marry him, but I couldn’t. I needed more time. I told Royce my thoughts. We agreed that we should spend more time together so we could really get to know each other. We needed to get more comfortable with each other. We needed to do a little courting.
If I was thinking of marrying Royce Coalter, then Murray and Mary Beth were part of it, and their feelings needed to be considered. They needed to have the chance to get to know this man as well. I couldn’t help but thinking if fate had taken Jed away from me, was fate responsible for bringing Royce back for me? Only time would tell.”
second chance
“In the fall of 1920, Royce Coalter and I became an item. We started courting. I came to realize after my conversations with Mr. Harmon and Royce that I really did need to move on with my life, and Murray and Mary Beth really needed a Pa. If I had been honest with myself, I would have realized that I was longing for a partner again, too. Jed had been my husband, but he was also my best friend and life partner. I missed that. I knew Jed would have wanted me to get on with my life. After all, if I had died that is what I would have wanted for him, to move on and find happiness again. When you really love someone, I think that is how you feel. You want only the best for that person, no matter what.
Before I could commit to Royce, I wanted the twins to get to know him better, so I invited him to come and have supper with us once a week. I also wanted to make sure we could all get along as a family, so Royce tried to do things with Murray and Mary Beth while he was visiting. Sometimes he would stay till they were in bed. They loved it when he would read them a bedtime story.
Every Sunday night we went to his place. The Coalters already knew us, so we felt pretty comfortable around them. Royce’s Ma and Pa had really taken to the twins. They had no grandchildren yet. They sure did take to the idea of Royce and I getting together. Mrs. Coalter said it was high time Royce got my attention. She knew he had been smitten with me for a long time.
Royce only had one brother. His name was Ned. He had moved to Toronto to get work after the war. Ned had no intention of being a farmer, so when Royce came home from the war, he skedaddled.
Ma and Pa were thrilled that I had taken up with Royce. They thought highly of him. Pa said it was about time I thought about marrying again. They had been concerned with me being alone all this time with two children to raise. Well, it seemed everyone who loved us was real happy about us getting together. That makes things easier. Not that it should make any difference, but it sure makes it easier.
On Christmas Eve, Royce asked me to marry him. It was so sweet how he did it. I had invited him over for supper. I knew we wouldn’t see each other on Christmas Day as I was taking the twins to the Harmon’s for dinner, and then we were heading off to Ma and Pa’s for supper. Shortly after supper I put the twins to bed. They were five by this time and were quite aware that Santa Claus would be stopping by during the wee hours of the night with presents for all the good little girls and boys, so they went to bed quite eagerly.
Once the twins were settled Royce went out to his cutter and brought in an arm-load of presents and put them under the tree. He wanted to surprise the children in the morning. I was a little shocked to see them all. I hadn’t been expecting presents. Certainly not so many. I started to protest and Royce said, “They’re not all from me. Ma sent some, too. She is so excited to have the children around. She thinks the world of them. She has been busy knitting and sewing for the last month getting these presents ready for them. There’s one in there for you, too. She has taken a real shine to you. Of course, I don’t know how she wouldn’t?” At that he took me in his arms and kissed me. It was a deep tender kiss. One that lingered and aroused me in a way that I hadn’t felt for a long time. It was the type of kiss that you don’t want to end. When it was over, it left me breathless. “I have something for you, too, Savannah.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box that was wrapped with a bright red bow. “Merry Christmas.”
I really had no idea what it would be. I suspected jewelry, but I thought that it would just be some little trinket. “Oh, Royce,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Open it Savannah,” he said. “I want to know what you think.”
I undid the bow and opened the box. Inside was a diamond engagement ring. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. “Oh my gosh!” I said.
Royce took the ring out of the box, knelt down on one knee, and said, “Savannah Faye Harmon, you would make me the happiest man in the whole world if you would marry me and make me your husband.”
I was very surprised, but I was ready to say yes. I knew the twins loved Royce, and so did I. He would be a wonderful father and a good husband. During the last few months, I realized how happy I was when I was with Royce. The twins and I looked forward to spending time with him. He was such an easy-going, fun-loving fellow. It took a lot to get his dander up.
“Yes. Yes I will. I’ll marry you Royce. I would be honoured to be your wife,” I said. Royce got up and put the ring on my finger. I took a long look at it. It was beautiful. I had never seen a more beautiful ring. Most women in those days didn’t get an engagement ring. That was a luxury reserved for the privileged, not common folk like me. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever receive one.
I threw my arms around Royce’s neck, and we kissed again. This time it was a deeper, hungry kiss. The type of kiss that makes the back of your knees sweat and leads to other things. Things that my body was yearning for and had been missing for a long time, but as much as I wanted to enjoy those pleasures, my common sense intervened. We needed to wait for just a little longer. I pulled away far enough that I could look in Royce’s eyes. He smiled at me and said, “I love you. You make me very happy. Merry Christmas Savannah.”
“I love you, too, Royce. We’re going to be very happy together. We’re going to have a good life. I can’t wait to get married,” I said.
Of course, Royce wanted to get married right away. He’d waited long enough. I wanted to do it up right. I’d had to cancel my plans the last time because of circumstance. This time I wanted to do it up right. I wanted an outside spring wedding. I convinced Royce to hold off until the first of May. We would get married at the church that I had gone to while I was growing up, down the road from Ma and Pa’s. Then we would have a reception at his folks. They had a really nice yard and a big house. Royce agreed.
Royce and I were both very excited. I was happy again. Royce was a wonderful man, and I did love him. I knew we would have a good life together. I also knew Jed would be happy for the both of us. I must confess, though, I didn’t have the heart to hold out until the wedding night to wait to consummate our union. It had been too long since I’d had the chance to share intimate pleasures with a man. Royce and I weren’t teenagers. He was going on twenty-seven and I was twenty-four. That kiss on Christmas Eve had ignited a spark that just kept on smol
dering. One night in January, after I’d put the twins in bed, Royce and I ended up partaking in such pleasures. It started out quite innocent, just a loving kiss. The spark soon turned into a raging fire. There was no way I was going to try and damper it down again. I wanted to make love as much as Royce did, and I didn’t want to put a stop to it. I needed to be loved. My body ached for it, and I knew the minute Royce started that I had hoped for this moment, maybe even anticipated it. The pleasure was wonderful. After we had climaxed, I remember feeling so completely content. The both of us were lying naked under the covers with our body heat penetrating into each other. Royce was holding me close to him, caressing my neck and lips. I loved this man. We would be happy together. This was meant to be.
Royce and I were married the first Saturday of May, 1921. I became Mrs. Royce Coalter. It was a beautiful sunny day. My sister Geneva was my bridesmaid. Mary Beth was the flower girl. Murray was the ring bearer. Royce’s best man was his friend John Brenner. I got ready at Ma and Pa’s. We said our nuptials at the little church down the road. Then we all went to the Coalter’s for the supper and reception. It was a wonderful day all round.
My brother Lincoln and his family came home from Sudbury for the occasion. That in itself was memorable. We hadn’t seen him for quite a few years. It was nice to see his wife and children. In fact, there was quite a crowd that came out to wish us well. Many of our neighbours, and friends, all my family, Uncle Seth and Aunt Sara, and their gang all came. Even Royce’s brother Ned came home. It was the first time I met him.
The support of the Harmon family really touched my heart. They seemed sincerely happy for Royce and me. Jed’s Ma and sisters even helped with some of the food preparation. I really loved them all. I was going to miss being so close to them.
A week after the wedding, the twins and I moved to the Coalter farm with Royce. That was a hard emotional task. It was the final undertaking in closing the chapter of my life with Jed. Royce was very supportive. Jed’s third sister would be moving into the house in August after her wedding. She and her husband would be staying on to help the Harmon’s on the farm. That was comforting to me. I knew the house would be loved and, hopefully, filled with lots of children. I knew Jed would have liked that.
The twins had no qualms with the move. It was a new adventure for them to be moving in with Grandma and Grandpa Coalter. They loved having Royce near all the time. Murray especially enjoyed traipsing roundabouts after Royce, trying to give a hand with whatever Royce was doing. He was like a little shadow. Royce got a kick out of it. It made me happy to see that Murray had found a mentor and a Pa.
A few weeks after we were settled in our new home, Royce and I announced our news to his parents. We were expecting our first baby. At first Royce’s Ma and Pa looked at each other kinda dumbfounded, then his Ma started to laugh and she said, “Well the first one can come anytime, but the next one takes nine months.” They were both happy with the news, and so were we. Fate had brought love back! Everything seemed to be falling into place. It had been a long time since I had felt so happy.”
charity
“One good thing that had come out of the war was the prosperity it had brought to the area. Lumber was in high demand, so the mills thrived. Little towns were built at these mills so the workers and their families could live there. Anyone who was willing to work hard was able to sell all their produce and meat to the folks who lived in these mill towns. Roads had been improved and bridges were constructed. There were even a few folks with automobiles in the area. The dairy in town had a truck that came and picked up our cream. Rural mail delivery had begun in several areas. We even had our own local municipal telephone system.
When Royce and I got married, the Coalter farm was a real going concern. They grew acres of potatoes which were shipped by rail to one of the big mill towns. They also sold eggs, beef, pork, and other produce. Cream, their mainstay, was sold to the dairy in town.
I was almost three months pregnant when we had married. I had told Royce about the baby at the end of March. Royce was thrilled with the news. He wanted a family in the worst way. He asked if I wanted to up the wedding date, but I told him no. It was only five weeks away anyhow. We had decided not to say anything to anyone until after the wedding. We told Royce’s folks first. I figured that I would soon be showing, so they needed to know. When we started sharing our news with everyone else, no one had really suspected anything. We had been married for over a month by then. Ma was the only one who said anything. She had figured I was pregnant on our wedding day. She said that I had that glow.
My second pregnancy was a lot easier. I didn’t have any swelling in my ankles or high blood pressure. Everything progressed along normally. I didn’t gain the excessive weight I had with the twins. That in itself was good news. I was quite able to help that summer with all the farm chores and huge garden we kept.
It was nice to have Royce around while I was pregnant. He was a real doting husband. He enjoyed watching my body change, knowing there was a little person in my tummy that was a part of him. He loved to lie in bed at night with his hand on my belly hoping the baby would move or kick so he could feel it. He wanted a little boy, but I reminded him that there was only a fifty percent chance. I had kept all the twins’ baby things, so I was prepared for a girl or boy.
Royce’s mother was excited. She got busy with knitting and sewing baby things. She made an awful lot of pink things. Of course, she was rooting for a little girl since she’d only had boys. She wanted a little granddaughter named Charity. She’d picked that name out for a daughter years ago and had had boys instead. That had been her mother’s name. I didn’t discourage her excitement. I liked the name Charity for a girl. Royce and I settled on it. If we had a girl, she would be named Charity Anne after Royce’s grandmother and me. If we had a boy, he would be named Chase Allen after both our fathers.
At Thanksgiving Murray and Mary Beth turned six. I couldn’t believe how fast they’d grown. They would start school the following September. They were both very happy about that.
Shortly after midnight, on the first day in December 1921, Charity Anne was born. She came so fast that Royce didn’t even get time to harness the horses to fetch the doctor. His mother helped me deliver her. Everything went perfect. Royce was more worse for the wear than I. He was in such a panic.
Royce’s mother was so thrilled. She got her granddaughter, Charity Anne. Royce was happy, too. He picked up his tiny daughter and kissed her little cheek. He had tears of love and joy in his eyes as he held her. He turned to me and said, “Savannah Coalter, I love you more than words can ever say. Thank you for our perfect little daughter.” In that moment, I couldn’t remember ever being happier. Royce was a wonderful man, and I loved him with all my heart.
Well, I must say, Murray and Mary Beth took to having a little sister really well. I had been somewhat apprehensive since they had never had to share me in six years. Mary Beth was like a little mother to Charity herself. She was always ready to help if I needed anything. She sat by the cradle singing as she would rock Charity’s cradle. She was so happy to have a little sister.
Charity was a happy and healthy baby. She was the focal point of the whole household. Every time she squirmed or squawked, Mary Beth or Grandma Coalter was there to pick her up and spoil her. Even Grandpa Coalter took his turn wanting to rock her in the evenings.
Royce sure loved his little daughter. He liked to keep her in our bed at night after I had nursed her and watch her sleep. It made my heart sing to watch him admiring her. He was such a proud father. It was wonderful having a new baby to hold and fuss over. Having Royce at home was such a comfort to me. I was so content to be his wife and the mother to our children. As much as Jed and I had loved each other, we hadn’t been able to share this experience together. I knew I had made the right decision when I married Royce.
Murray and Mary Beth were thriving. Life had moved forward for them, too. They were loved by Royce and his folks as
if they were their own kin. Murray was always out helping Royce and his father on the farm. He was a good little helper. It did him the world of good being out with the men folk learning how to do everything around the farm. Mary Beth seemed to enjoy helping Grandma Coalter and me tend to all the household chores. She loved going to the stable with Murray to play with the kittens and feed the calves. They would usually go together to tend to the chickens and collect all the eggs.
By the time we celebrated our first wedding anniversary, I was pregnant again. Of course, Royce was thrilled. He wanted a house full of children. I must say I was happy, too. We weren’t getting any younger, so if we wanted to have a big family, we had to keep at it.
We had such a good summer that year. It was an excellent growing season. The wild berries were plentiful, and we picked many baskets of them. I remember canning and preserving until we ran out of jars. Everyone around had a great garden, and the field crops produced an exceptional yield. The hay crop was almost double from most years. We thought that the barn would surely burst at the seams.
We had an excess of potatoes, over and above what the mill folks could take, so Royce found a grocery store in the city to the north of us to sell them to. He hauled them to the railway siding and shipped them by train. He talked about buying a truck with the extra cash he made. Life was good during those times. Looking back, I remember thinking that everything had fallen into place. Things looked pretty rosy.
That fall the twins started school. They were so excited to head off, but I was a little melancholy. The old house seemed pretty quiet throughout the day without their tireless chatter. My babes were growing up. It was hard for me to believe that so many years had passed by so quickly. Thank goodness I had Charity. She helped to fill the void in their absence, and soon we’d have another little one to love.
Three Score and Ten, What Then? Page 9