A Tender Moment Under the Stars: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book

by Grace Clemens

  She smiled at him, making him feel warm inside. “I do understand, Sol. I’ve noticed that’s the kind of thing you do.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

  When she spoke, he realized just how observant she was. It also made him think she was incredibly smart.

  “You think about what you want to say first. There can be no explanation other than you are determined to be as honest and forthcoming as you can be. Sometimes when people take a while to answer, it’s because they aren’t very intelligent. Since we both know and I’m sure everyone knows, you are far from unintelligent. You’re brilliant, in fact.”

  Solomon blushed at the flattery. He looked away from her, turning his head to look at the window when something whipped past and clattered to the other side of the porch.

  “I think we just lost a porch chair,” he said in an amused voice.

  “Probably.”

  “I appreciate you understanding me so well, Izzy,” he said, turning his eyes back to gaze at her pretty face. “It seems strange. You’re the only woman I’ve spoken to that has been so…so compatible to me.”

  Isabel pushed herself up on her elbows. “What about Betty? You were with her for so long, how can you have a comparison to any other woman?”

  Solomon thought about that for a moment and then nodded. “I reckon I really don’t have a good frame of reference, do I? I was with her for so long.” He took her in, the light from the fire flickering on her smooth skin, making her eyes shine. “But I’m not with her now, Izzy. I’m with you. I want to be with you. I don’t want you worrying about her anymore. Not at all. Okay? I would like to be your man. I would like you to be my woman. I want to marry you and have a family with you. That’s all I want now. I hope you feel the same way.”

  Her smile was warm and gentle.

  “It is, Sol. That’s all I want, too.”

  Chapter 31

  Solomon was woken a few hours later by the sound of the world ending. He shot from the couch, wide awake, and turned to see Freddie had done the same thing. Both the men stared at the kitchen—or what was left of it.

  Isabel and Betty both came running from the bedrooms. All four stood for a moment frozen in shock, looking at the gigantic tree that had come through the roof and destroyed that side of the house.

  Solomon ran to Betty and grabbed her about the shoulders, seeing the look of shock on Isabel’s face when he didn’t go to her directly.

  “Betty!” he said frantically. “Is the roof still up in that room? Did you get hurt?”

  Betty shook her head, staring up at him. “The tree didn’t come into the bedroom, Sol,” she replied.

  Satisfied that Betty was all right and the room was still intact, Solomon moved to take Isabel’s hand. “We can’t stay here,” he said quickly. “We have to go. It’s not safe anymore.”

  “I think the storm might actually be at its worst, Sol,” Freddie said, alarm in his voice. “I don’t think traveling is a good idea. We could stay in the big bedroom until daylight.”

  “I don’t want to stay here, Freddie!” Betty wailed, going to him and throwing herself into his arms.

  The look of shock that registered on Freddie’s face almost made Solomon burst out laughing. After a momentary hesitation, Freddie put his arms around Betty and patted her head, smoothing down her brown hair that was disheveled from her sleeping.

  “It’s all right, Betty. We’ll get out of this just fine. If you want to leave, that’s what we’ll do.”

  Solomon wondered if Freddie would ever show any kind of jealousy about the previous relationship between himself and Betty. He hoped not. Freddie had been his friend for many, many years and Betty was always there, too. He’d been privy to everything Solomon and Betty had ever done. He knew how close they had been.

  But he also knew how much they fought. And if Freddie thought it would be different with him, he deserved to find out for himself if that was true.

  Solomon hoped it would work for his friends. Not only would it get Betty off his back, it would also make his best friend happy as a lark. He wanted everyone to be happy. If Betty gave in to Freddie’s charms, that would be accomplished.

  He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the distinct sound of cracking and then another explosion. He heard his horses in the shelter whinnying and neighing. He shot a look of alarm in Freddie’s direction.

  “The horses!” they said in unison.

  Both ran to the door and Solomon yanked it open.

  “Sol! Wait!”

  He spun around to see Isabel running toward him with his large robe, which had been draped over the back of the couch Freddie was sleeping on. She was also carrying his boots.

  “You two will get sick if you don’t dress at least halfway proper. And this robe is just as good for extra covering as anything else.”

  Solomon didn’t want to wear his robe out to the shelter to get the horses. It was an expensive fabric that would have been ruined in the rain. He grabbed his boots from her and pulled them on, hopping around a small area while he did so.

  “Freddie,” Betty said, crossing the room with his boots.

  “Thanks, Betts,” Freddie said affectionately. He did the same as Solomon, hopping and pulling, hopping and pulling. Finally, they both had their boots on.

  Solomon shook his head when Isabel held out the robe to him.

  “Can’t wear that out in the rain, honey. It’s an expensive piece of clothing and I don’t want it ruined. My body will dry. That will shrink up and be useless to me. I’d have to give it to ol’ Freddie here. Besides, them horses are just scared. They ain’t going anywhere. If we can hear them, which we can, they are fine. Just scared.”

  “Okay, Sol, but please be careful.”

  He nodded and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

  They ran out across the porch and splashed down the steps. They crossed the short clearing between the cabin and the shelter in no time, both of them going as fast as their legs would take them. Solomon reached the shelter first and yanked open the tall door. Once inside, he shook himself like a dog and pulled the lantern from the hook by the door. He used the dry matches from the box next to the lantern that sat on a shelf.

  After lighting the lantern, he moved it around the room to see what damage had been done, if any. The shelter had held strong against the fierce winds but the sound was loud enough to scare the horses. They were bucking and jumping, snorting, about as upset as a horse could be. They were probably frightened out of their minds.

  “It’s all right.” His instinct was to calm the animals down. He went to his personal horse, Victory, and petted the animal on the nose. “It’s all right, Vic,” he said in a low voice. “We’ll show them how it works, won’t we?”

  He was glad that his presence instantly calmed the animal down. The horse he’d given Isabel also sensed that he was safe because Solomon was there. She stopped bucking but continued to snort and sway her head back and forth. Solomon found time to comfort both the animals, hoping Freddie was having the same success with his own animals.

  He glanced back and was relieved to see that, indeed, Freddie was finding success with the other two horses. They weren’t as loving as his but they were obviously feeling better with Freddie there. They had to get the horses calm before they tried to put saddles on them.

  “You think it’s wise to take the wagon?” Freddie said. “Probably be better off just taking the horses and come back for the wagon.”

  Solomon nodded, agreeing with his friend. They spent the next fifteen minutes hurriedly putting saddles on all four horses. When he’d tightened the last cinch, Solomon took hold of both the reins and led the frightened animals through the door and into the rain.

  He turned his head to see Freddie following with his horses, who didn’t seem as confident in their owner as Solomon’s did.

  He let the thought float through his head before turning to the front of the house and going there as quickly as he could
with the horses.

  “Isabel!” he yelled at the women inside. The door opened and Isabel stuck her head out.

  “We’re right here!” she called back over the sound of rain pelting the ground and the wind rushing through the trees around them.

  “Are you ready to leave? We can’t stay here much longer. I don’t know how long the cabin will stay up with that tree through the kitchen.”

  He was happy to see her come out with a raincoat on, she wore the hood up to protect her head from the harsh rain. Betty followed behind her, also wearing a raincoat. She was carrying what looked like several more.

  Solomon gestured to Betty. “Leave those here, Betty. I’m not putting a rain jacket over these wet clothes. I’ll get sick for sure.”

  Betty immediately dropped the jackets to the side and the two women hurried down the steps.

  Solomon gave Isabel the reins to the horse he’d given her, Justice. “Here you go. What’s the inside look like?”

  Isabel gave him a reluctant look. “It appears to be raining inside. I do hope it goes away…very soon. Right when we get on our way would be best.”

  “Would be nice,” he said, towering over her, like an umbrella. He held his hand out to help her up in the saddle. She put one foot in the stirrup and pushed up, swinging her other leg over. Once he was sure she was in the saddle and safe, he mounted Victory.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at his friends. “I’m going to my house. It’s closer, of course, because we’re on my property. Got plenty of room for you two. You want to come to my house?”

  “Yes, that sounds absolutely perfect!” Betty said with such enthusiasm, Solomon suddenly felt nervous. He looked over at Isabel to see if she was thinking the same thing.

  Fortunately, it didn’t appear Isabel wasn’t paying any attention at all.

  As they left the property and merged into the trees, Solomon, who was bringing up the rear, looked back at his cabin. He couldn’t be more astonished by what he saw. His pretty little cabin. The one where they’d intended to have their honeymoon. From the front, it looked like half the building had caved in under the weight of the tree. It was a huge disappointment. As he rode away, he thought about it. He would put all his money and time and effort into the repairs. He still wanted to have his honeymoon there. They just wouldn’t take it until it was ready for them.

  Chapter 32

  The wind whipped through her hair, pulling her hood back. It hung from her neck like a wet rag. Her hair was plastered to her face and she could barely see through the torrent of rain coming down in front of her. She’d never been in such a storm before. Not while she was outside, anyway.

  Isabel decided she didn’t like it. She wasn’t a fan of being beaten in the face by large raindrops that felt more like little pebbles than drops of water.

  Lightning streaked across the sky at the same time as thunder crashed loudly. Isabel could tell Justice was terrified and she had no idea how to keep a horse calm during something like that. She leaned forward and patted the horse’s neck.

  “It’s gonna be okay, Justice,” she whispered, doubting the horse could hear a word she said. She could only hope that her demeanor would help the horse move with precision, without being scared half to death. All it would take was for Justice to buck once. She was a strong enough animal to knock her right off her back. Isabel thought that would be extremely painful.

  “Keep following me!” Solomon turned in his saddle to yell at them all. He had taken the lead to maneuver them through the woods. “It looks like it’s never going to end but it will, I promise!”

  “We are at least a half-hour from town,” Freddie called out to him. “We’ve got to hurry. We can’t be out here in weather like this.”

  Solomon nodded. “I’m aware, Freddie.”

  At that moment, another bolt of lightning struck. This one was so close by, Isabel jumped in the saddle, gripping the reins even tighter. She heard a shriek behind her and turned her head to see that it wasn’t Justice who had bucked, it was Betty’s horse. The animal had thrown the woman from his back and was still kicking its legs high up in the air, neighing loudly, obviously frightened out of its mind.

  “Whoa!” Solomon yelled, yanking back on his reins.

  “Betty!” Freddie was pulling his horse to a stop as hard as he could. He leaped off the animal before it even came to a stop and bolted for Betty, who wasn’t moving.

  Terror struck Isabel and she turned her horse around, going back to where Betty was. She could see blood pooling under Betty’s head. Her heart began to race as she feared for the woman’s life. She didn’t get out of the saddle, though. She stayed at a respectable distance to let the men evaluate the situation.

  “Oh my God, Betty! Betty!” Freddie slid on his knees in the mud next to Betty, grabbing at her with both hands.

  “Be careful!” Solomon barked. “Moving her could hurt her worse if we don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

  Isabel could see Freddie was trying to hold back. What he really wanted to do was grab the woman and sling her up on his horse and get her to the doctor.

  “We can’t just leave her here like this!” Freddie cried out.

  Solomon gave him a sarcastic look. “Who said anything about leaving her here. Get yourself together, man! Let me take a look.”

  Isabel watched as Solomon gently moved overtop the fallen woman. He reached out and felt her neck, turning her head gently. Betty moaned but didn’t open her eyes.

  “Is she okay?” she said over the noise of the weather beating down around them.

  Solomon looked over his shoulder at her. She could see the worry on his face.

  “She’s got a pulse and is breathing. But there’s no way to tell how much damage has been done to her head. It doesn’t look…” As he spoke, he felt Betty’s limbs, “like she’s got any broken bones. Not that I can tell. Look, the best thing we can do is get the doctor. But I’m not sure about moving her, especially when she isn’t awake to tell us if we’re making it worse. Since we obviously can’t leave her here, it’s up to us to bring the doctor to her.”

  “We need to find some shelter for her. This rain is going to make it worse for her later, too.”

  Isabel lifted her eyes and swept the land around them.

  “We can’t take her back to the cabin,” Solomon said, sitting back on his haunches, his worried eyes scanning the unconscious woman. “We’re halfway back to my house. That would be the same as taking her all the way to the clinic.”

  “I’ve got a tarp in my saddlebags,” Freddie said, shooting to his feet and stepping over to his horse. He pulled out the tarp and flapped it so it would unfold. “We can get some sticks and make a tent with this over her. Keep her from continuing to get wet. I’ll stay with her if you two want to go get the doctor and bring him back here.”

  “That’s what we’ll do then,” Solomon agreed, pointing one finger in the air determinedly. He was on his feet, his eyes scanning the nearby trees for limbs of the appropriate length and thickness. When he spotted what he wanted, Isabel watched him race over to the tree and break the limbs off. She shouldn’t have been amazed by his show of strength considering his size and muscular structure.

  She was, though. She was amazed and impressed.

  He brought the limbs back to where Betty was, and he and Freddie built a quick, makeshift tent.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” Isabel asked from atop her horse.