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

by Grace Clemens

  “I can say whatever I please. You are just the girl I am doing a favor by marrying and getting out of this place. You think you can start making demands of me before we are even married? Really?” he scoffed.

  “All I want is for you to treat my sister with respect. I would love it if you would consider allowing her to live at your ranch. I expect there is plenty of space. And she may have this slight cosmetic difference from others, but there is still so much she is able to do,” she said.

  “Able to do? Ain’t she deformed?”

  “No, Stanley. She’s not deformed. She is still perfectly capable of doing many things. She cooks, cleans, helps teach the children here at the orphanage. She does many things. You have no reason to look down on her. Honestly, how would you feel if everyone went around judging you for your imperfections?” Mandy asked.

  He looked at her as if she had just made an impossible claim. Underneath his shock, however, Mandy saw anger. She had not been overly respectful of her new, soon-to-be husband and he was furious at her because of it.

  However, Mandy had only said what she believed fully in her heart. She was not the sort of woman to go out of her way to be disrespectful. But when there was an injustice that needed to be addressed, she was going to take whatever step she deemed necessary to right his wrong.

  “You mean to say that you see all manner of imperfections in me, then? Well, I’ll be. I wouldn’t have thought that a little girl like you would be going around and complaining about the sort of man that I am. Tell me, Mandy, do you really think that you have the right to say I’m not worthy of respect? You think I have problems that people should have the right to discuss? That I’m flawed?” he asked.

  “I believe everyone has flaws,” she replied.

  “Well, you had best let go of that belief. You and me are supposed to be married soon. You think it’s gonna fly for you to speak to me this way? It ain’t, darlin’. I’ll have you know that I’m a man who deserves to be respected. I’ve earned it. I’ve done a whole lot in this town to make certain that I get it. You and your sister ain’t gonna ruin that for me,” he insisted.

  Stanley’s speech was growing farther and farther away from proper English as he was getting upset and Mandy believed that he was letting his frustration show who he really was. But she also recognized that he was a man of great pride, determined to believe that he was worthy of her admiration.

  Mandy had to hold herself back from mocking him further, from letting him know just how unimpressed she was by his antics.

  This man was anything but the sort of fella she belonged with. Nevertheless, he had to remind her of the painful reality.

  “Listen here, missy, you and me, we’re getting married in two days. You hear that? Two days,” he said.

  “You and I,” she corrected.

  “Yes, exactly. The two of us.”

  “No, I mean, you said it incorrectly. It’s not ‘you and me’, it’s ‘you and I’. You and I are getting married,” she said, feeling strangely satisfied by pointing out this mistake.

  But Stanley was clearly still angry about it and there was nothing at all Mandy expected from him aside from his fury at this point. He stuck a finger in her face and pointed in a scolding manner.

  “Enough of that, you hear? It’s not going to continue after we say our vows. There is nothing you can do about all this. Your little antics here, trying to get me back for acknowledging your sister is worthless to me? They’ll get you nowhere. You had best rest assured that I ain’t gonna let you get away with any of this,” he said.

  “You don’t need to let me get away with anything. I’m not someone who is going to fight just for the sake of fighting. But you should be prepared for the fact that I do fight on behalf of others. If you continue speaking about my sister in the way you have already, I am not going to be pleased with you and you will be made aware of it,” Mandy warned.

  He stared at her in shock all over again. Mandy clenched her fists and her jaw at the same time. She didn’t want to marry this man, but she also didn’t want to make an enemy of him. All she really wanted was to have a happy life, free of this nonsense.

  And what she wanted more than that was to take good care of her sister, to help her be prosperous in life and experience all the wonders of the world around her.

  There had to be more than this. There had to be something better.

  Mandy only had to find it.

  Chapter 2

  Abram Wilkins threw the rest of the hay into the stall where Mary the Mare, his favorite horse, kicked and let out a huff. She hadn’t been very comfortable of late, as she was getting pretty near to delivering her foal.

  Just then, the stable door swung open and Gary entered, a smile on his face and a hand running through his short, white-blonde hair.

  “Well, I’ll be, I thought you were on fence duty today,” Gary said.

  “Me? Nope. Not today. I get to spend some time with my girl here,” Abram said, nodding to Mary.

  “That’s nice enough, I suppose. She certainly does get calm when you’re around. I think she’s looking forward to getting that little one on the outside, huh?” Gary asked, eyeing Mary’s belly from outside the stall.

  “She sure is. I bet she’ll be a great mother. She’s got the right temperament for it. And look at that shiny, brown coat of hers. If her baby is half so beautiful, everyone’s going to be amazed by them,” Abram said.

  “She’s that shiny because you’re always brushing her, making her look good,” Gary said.

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “It’s true. You take good care of her. Kinda makes me wonder how’d you be with a wife. I mean, if you take care of a horse with that kind of attention, you would be a pretty swell husband to any woman out there who is lucky enough to marry you,” Gary said.

  Abram didn’t reply at once. He didn’t want to share all of his own thoughts on the matter with his friend. After all, Abram really did want to get married. He wasn’t pining for it, but he had been thinking about it quite a bit lately. The idea of having someone by his side, of having little ones of his own, it was all a pretty great thing to think about.

  His shaggy brown hair fell in his face as he reached into the stall to clear a few cobwebs. The sleeves on his white, cotton shirt were rolled up to the elbow, but he still managed to catch some dirt along the back of his bicep.

  “Well, I can’t think of a woman who wants to marry a man who’s always covered in dirt and muck,” he said.

  “Really? I’ll bet there’s plenty of them. And, if nothing else, I just heard that Stanley Hawkins found a wife from the orphanage. Can you imagine? Poor girl. They’re supposed to get married tomorrow. I don’t know who thought that was a good idea, but, if nothing else, maybe they have another girl available?” Gary suggested.

  Abram’s hazel eyes filled with concern. He didn’t like the sound of all that. Stanley was not a good man. He might not have been a criminal, necessarily, but he was rough and arrogant, selfish, and judgmental. There wasn’t much about him that Abram considered worthy of a wife.

  “I know,” Gary said.

  “Huh? Know what?”

  “I can see it in your eyes. You’re wondering how on earth a man like that could find a bride. I was just saying that I know what you mean. I understand,” Gary replied.

  “Oh, right. Yeah, well, it’s not a great thought. I do feel bad for the girl,” Abram remarked, really wishing that things could be different.

  “Me too. But if you’re really wanting to get married, you could always go and talk to him about how he found her. Maybe he can give you some advice for finding a wife that way,” Gary said.

  Abram wasn’t entirely sure that was how he wanted to find a wife, but he recognized that he didn’t have a whole lot of choices. If he did want to get married—that desire which had truly been growing—this could be the way to make it happen.

  After he finished his work for the day, Abram saddled Bruce, a gelding tha
t he had brought with him from home when he came to work at the ranch. From there, he made his way into town and just a little way east, out where Stanley lived. When he came upon Stanley’s home, a sudden wave of regret washed over Abram.

  Why was he doing this? Did he really want to follow in Stanley’s steps for finding a wife? And what about the rest of it? He didn’t even want to talk to Stanley, a man he didn’t like and didn’t respect.

  But he really had been wanting to get married soon and this could just be a starting point, couldn’t it? There was nothing wrong with trying to gather information about marrying a young woman from the orphanage.

  Abram knocked on Stanley’s front door and it opened to reveal the man himself. Gruff, unpleasant, generally unkempt.

  There was very little about him which would attract a wife who was not being forced out of a position where she was probably taking up too much space when younger children needed to move in.

  “Abram Wilkins? You’re not a face I would expect to see here. What’s going on? Something wrong?” he asked.

  “Uh…sorry, Stanley. I just…um…do you have a minute? I have a couple questions I’d really like to ask you,” Abram said.

  “Right, well, sure. I guess. What’s going on?” Stanley asked, coming out onto the porch and sitting in one rocker while gesturing for Abram to sit in the other. He did so and took a deep breath.

  “I heard that you found yourself a woman to marry. Is that so?” he asked.

  “Sure is. Not sure I’m happy about it though,” Stanley grumbled.

  “Oh? Why not?”

  “Nothing much. Why’s that?” Stanley asked.

  “I…I would really like to marry, actually. I wonder if you know of any other young women from the orphanage who may be about that age? Or…if not…I understand that this may be something big to ask, but I didn’t figure you for a man looking to marry any time soon. I would be happy to…” Abram trailed off, not knowing how he was supposed to ask Stanley to simply hand over the wife he had just committed to marrying.

  “Abram, are you trying to ask for the woman I’m supposed to marry?” Stanley asked.

  Abram closed his eyes and sighed against his own stupidity for actually thinking this was a wise idea. He didn’t want that poor girl to have to marry Stanley and he thought he had to be at least a little bit better of a match.

  “You know, it’s a bit strange, but I suppose this is something for me to think about,” Stanley said.

  Abram perked up at once, looking at Stanley with a new hope in his eyes.

  “What exactly are you thinking about?” he asked.

  “This woman. I don’t know that she’s quite the one I want. I agreed to the marriage because she is the only one old enough, but if you would really like to marry her instead, I suppose I could support that. You could go in my place. Is that what you really want?” Stanley asked.

  Shocked and delighted, Abram nodded with enthusiasm.

  “You really mean that? You would let me marry her?” he asked, a myriad of emotions washing over him.

  He had come to see Stanley in the hopes that he might learn some information about finding a wife, but in his realization that no woman should be subject to a husband like Stanley, he had taken a chance and asked for this rather dramatic exchange.

  The last thing Abram had anticipated was that Stanley would actually agree to it.

  “I have to say that it’s a bit of a relief. I probably wouldn’t have allowed myself to step back from the commitment out of fear of my reputation, but I didn’t really want to proceed with the marriage,” he said.

  “Why not?” Abram asked, wondering if the young woman wasn’t the sort of girl he should look for in a wife.

  “Oh, it was really just my own preference. I think I’m not quite happy with the idea of settling down to be a husband right now, like you said. I’m just…I’m just not in the right place for it,” he said.

  Something about the response didn’t quite sit with Abram, but he tried to ignore it. After all, he had just received some wonderful news and the last thing he wanted was to start worrying about things that didn’t matter. If he was going to get to marry the young woman, he was just going to celebrate that fact.

  “So, what can you tell me about her? What’s her name?” he asked.

  “Mandy.”

  There was no emotion or affection in Stanley’s tone and that relieved Abram. It meant that there was no connection the two had felt. Mandy was completely available for a different husband than someone like Stanley.

  “That’s a lovely name. And…well, I know that it hardly matters, but is she, you know, beautiful and all that?” he asked, somewhat embarrassed by his own question.

  “Oh, that she is,” Stanley replied. “She’s got lovely blue eyes and the cutest dimples you’ve ever seen. She’s a pretty one. If I was still excited about marrying, I’d be happy to marry a woman who looked like that.”

  “Well, that’s nice to know. Thank you, Stanley. So, what do I do now? Should I go and speak with Mr. Tennyson at the orphanage?” he asked.

  “No, no, no,” Stanley said, quickly. “Nothing like that. You don’t need to do a thing. Just let me get it all sorted out. All you need to do is show up tomorrow for the wedding at the church. Eleven in the morning. You can let some of your friends know, of course, make sure that they attend. Like that Gary Brown fella that you’re always spending time with.”

  “I will. I will certainly tell Gary,” he replied.

  “Right. Well, I ain’t got all day,” Stanley said, standing from the rocker. “You had best get back to work also. You’re going to be a married man tomorrow and that means you need to get some work done today and a good bit of rest tonight. Don’t you worry though. I’ll handle all the other stuff.”

  “Thank you so much, Stanley. I really am grateful. I think this is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I really hope she cares for me as much as I’m sure I’ll care for her,” Abram said.

  “Oh, I have no doubt of it. Now, you just run along,” Stanley said, clearly trying to get rid of him.

  Abram decided to go ahead and do as he was told. He didn’t need to worry, not really. He just wanted to enjoy his life and live it to the fullest. A part of that, he believed, was taking advantage of the opportunities God placed in his life. That included opportunities like finding a good wife.

  If the right woman was out there, what did he have to fear? She would be able to bring him all kinds of happiness. And this woman just had to be the right one. None of this could fall into place so easily if she was not, right?

  Abram stood from the rocker and went on his way, eager to tell all of his friends that he was going to be married the next day, against every expectation and plan. This was something to celebrate and he wanted all of them joining him in that celebration. Surely they would be happy for him!

  When he got back to the ranch, he was already prepared to tell Gary everything that had taken place. As Abram approached, Gary looked up at him with a strange expression.

  “You look…different. I don’t think I’ve seen you smile this much in a very long time. What’s going on with you?” Gary asked.

  “That, my friend, is an excellent question. To tell you the truth, I have had an afternoon unlike any other,” he replied.

  “So, I take it you went to see Stanley Hawkins?”

  “I did. And things took a bit of a turn. You see, Stanley realized that he’s not quite mature enough to handle a woman in his life just now. Because of that, he told me that I can marry the girl,” Abram announced with a goofy grin on his face.