by Leen Elle
I'm so tired I think I must go to sleep, even though I have lots more to write. I guess I'll just have to tell you in my dreams, because you're always in them.
Love,
Lilli
Dear Sam,
I can't even describe how wonderful tonight was! I admit, I was a little cold as it's still February, but the chill was worth the surprise. Dancing under the cherry trees, hot chocolate waiting for us on the make shift table. Not to mention the amazing chocolate cake! I forgot to ask if you made it, or if your mother volunteered that part of the evening. Swinging around in your arms felt so natural. I love being so close when you laugh, I can hear it start in your chest and fall out of your mouth. Tonight, I wanted you to kiss me, more than I ever have before. Of course, lately, I've been dreaming of a kiss more and more. I don't fault you for not kissing me, because I made my position clear before. But now, I'm starting to wish I had a bit more courage.
If I had courage, I would run to the big house right now and tell you that I love you and kiss you right on the spot! It's the truth you know, but somehow, I can't get the words to tumble out of my mouth. I don't know why it's so difficult for me, but the timing never seems right. I know you love me, which means it should be the easiest thing in the world for me to say, but I still feel just terrible for treating you so badly, and I think part of that guilt is keeping me from saying it. I can write it all right, sure! But we both know I'm a bit more free with a pen than my tongue. Gracie is crying, I should go get her so Sarah can sleep.
Love,
Lilli
Sam couldn't wipe the smile off his face, there were a few more journal entries to read, and he read them with the same amount of care as the others. He couldn't believe that Lilli had really loved him all this time and not said it. She sure was an interesting girl, and he loved her even more for it. As he finished the last of the entries, he got an idea that made it very hard to sleep. Tomorrow, he would ask Lilli for his letters back after kissing her soundly, and then, he would compose his own journal entry.
Chapter 26
March 16, 1945
"Wes, you are going way too fast!" Kate screamed, gripping her seat with one hand and slamming the other to the roof above her.
Wes laughed, "Katie, I'm not even going the speed limit."
"Well while I'm blindfolded, you are going to fast."
"I'm going to have people honking at me!"
"Wesley Mason, I don't care if people honk at you, I am about to throw up! Now slow yourself down. Lord, I can't even imagine how quickly you'll drive when I'm having a baby."
"Well, you won't be blindfolded then, and something tells me you won't mind me going fast."
Kate couldn't help but laugh a little, he was probably right, but she didn't like being blindfolded at all. He had taken her captive about twenty minutes ago and had the distinct feeling that he was driving her around in circles. Finally, the car stopped and the motor puttered to a stop. Kate felt her seat belt loosen, and she waited for Wes to open the door for her. He took her hand and helped her from the car. She could hear gravel underfoot, and wobbled a couple times as her foot fell into a hole or tripped on a mound, but Wes never let her fall.
He helped her up four steps, kissed her forehead, and took off the blindfold. She was standing on a porch, looking at the skeleton of a new house. Scanning the structure in front of her, she turned a confused expression toward Wes, who was beaming.
"Where are we?"
"We, are at 34 Holly Drive," Wes answered simply. "I'd like to take you for a tour."
"A tour of what?" she asked, staring through the building.
"A tour of the house!"
"This is a house?"
Wes laughed, "It's going to be a house, now take my hand and let me show it to you!"
He offered his hand, and she slapped her own into it, flashing a falsely accommodating smile at him. Taking the smile as a cue, he pulled her through the doorway, there was no door hinged in it, but Kate tried to use her imagination. Wes turned to the left and they walked through another large opening which lead into a large, open room, at least Kate thought it was a room.
"This will be the dining room, I like how big it is, and, if you follow me, it leads right into the kitchen, perfect for entertaining."
Kate smiled at his explanation and followed him through another smaller opening into a smaller room, which apparently, was the kitchen. After the kitchen, the walked through a hallway and into another large room, which Wes explained was a den. Beside the den sat a small office, then the two retraced their step to the front door. Wes lead her up the stairs and showed her into a small bedroom.
"I think this will be a perfect nursery. We can put the crib in the corner, between the two windows, and a changing table just, there," he threaded his arm around her waist and pulled her in, planting a kiss on her cheek.
"A nursery, huh?" she smiled sweetly.
"Of course, we'll need more than one," he winked.
"No arguments here, but where will they go?"
"Well follow me!"
He took her by the hand and lead her down the hall, pulling her into two other small bedrooms. It was hard to imagine what they would look like once the walls were up, but with the natural light pouring through, she thought them quite perfect. Finally, Wes took her further down the hall, to a door, the only door she had seen in the house. It was beautiful cherry wood, and the handle was elegant and turned easily under Kate's hand.
The door opened and her breath caught in her chest. In front of her was a large bedroom, there were four large windows outlined, which would allow plenty of sunlight even when the walls were up. She could imagine a large bed between two of the windows on the far wall, and thought a cherry dresser set would look very nice with the door. Wes pointed to the left, where she saw another small doorway, which lead into what looked like would be a sizeable bathroom. Another outline showed a large closet and Kate spun herself to take in the full room. While she turned, a single piece of furniture caught her eye.
It was a small, elegant, antique chest, with beautiful silver detailing across the front. "What's that?" she asked in a whisper.
"Why don't you open it?"
Kate fell to her knees and pressed her hands against the wood, which perfectly matched the door. She turned the small key that was sitting in the keyhole and listened for the tiny click that told her the top would open. When it did, she pushed it open, surprised at how light it was. Looking inside, she found the chest almost completely empty, except for one, small box. She turned her head to look at Wes, who, encouraged her to pick up the box with an eager smile.
She turned the box over in her hands, too anxious to open it at all. "I can't, you open it for me."
Wes smiled, "But it's not for me."
"I know, but, I can't."
"Well, perhaps it is better if I open it," he sighed, taking the box, but he didn't open it. Instead, he placed it into his pocket and took her hand. While she stood, he closed the top of the chest, and helped her to sit on it. She couldn't take her eyes from his, but found it hard to breathe when she felt her own eyes lower to continue her gaze. He had dropped to one knee, and it was all she could to keep from being hysteric.
"Katie Lynn Carter, I have been in love with you for longer than you could even imagine. When Sam wanted to sleep over at my house, I always begged to sleep at yours, for a chance at seeing you. Discovering that you liked me was probably the happiest day of my life, until today, well maybe today, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Your letters kept me alive in the war, knowing that you were safe, knowing that you were waiting, was motivation enough to get me home. I know that I don't want to live without you. I know that I want to have you by my side, every day for the rest of my life. So now, I'm asking, if you'll be my wife?" he pulled the box out of his pocket and opened it carefully.
Kate didn't even look at the contents of the box, but kept her eyes on his. She finally let her held breath fall out of her mouth, and threw her arms around Wes,
knocking him to the floor. "Yes! Yes I'll marry you! I love you Wes Mason." She kissed him, and only pulled back when she felt him laughing under her. Pulling away, her eyebrows raised at his strange reaction.
"You didn't even look at the ring!"
"I love it," she said quickly.
"But you haven't seen it!"
"I don't need to, to know that I love it," she smiled, allowing Wes to pick her up in his arms, and settle them both on the chest, her legs draped across his lap.
"Well would you at least let me put it on?"
Kate stuck out her left hand and waited as Wes slid it onto her ring finger. "Oh Wes!" she gasped. "It's beautiful!" The ring was exquisite, it was a single square cut diamond that sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. "Is this our house?" she whispered, after examining the ring.
"Yes ma'am it is," he said with a proud smile.
"When can we move in?"
"October," he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"Mmm, I think October sounds like a lovely month to get married."
"We don't have to rush it, this house is ours forever, and I want you to have the wedding of your dreams."
Kate smiled, "Oh, I will."
"And how can you be so sure?"
"Because any wedding where I get to kiss you at the end of it, is the wedding of my dreams." She popped up onto her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him, leaving them both dizzy and breathless.
Chapter 27
March 16, 1945
"Good morning baby girl," Lilli crooned with a smile, bending to pull Grace from her crib. "How do you think Momma is doing today? Did you notice that she didn't cry as much yesterday? I think you bring out the smile in her. Well come on then, let's get that diaper changed and then we'll get you some breakfast." With a gentle bounce, she kissed Grace's head and got to work.
Lilli took Grace into the kitchen and fixed her some hot cereal for breakfast, it still amazed her that Grace was already so old. And now she could look at her and know she would get to watch her grow up. Lilli spent her morning taking care of Grace and let Sarah sleep in, she knew from experience that grieving made you tired.
Sarah finally appeared a little after noon and seemed to be in great spirits, considering. She cuddled Grace, and smiled at Lilli and even ate a little of the scrambled eggs Lilli made for her. When Grace went down for her afternoon nap, Sarah returned to the kitchen with an almost giddy look on her face.
"There was a package for you on the front steps," she smiled.
"For me?" Lilli asked in confusion, both at the gift and Sarah's smile. "I don't know who would be sending me a package."
"I think a certain brother of mine would send you a package..."
"Why would he need to send me a package? He only lives down the lane," Lilli laughed.
"I don't know, but I think you should open it."
"Well of course I'm going to open it!" Lilli squealed, ripping through the bright blue paper. She found a beautiful wooden box, and opened the lid eagerly. When she saw what was inside, her breath caught in her chest. Bound neatly together with a blue ribbon, were three letters. Upon closer inspection, Lilli realized that they were old letters. Curiosity propelled her forward, she untied the simple bow, and opened the first letter. It was dated May 17, 1943. Lilli read the entire letter and smiled at the memory of it. It was the first letter Sam had ever written to her, the letter that answered all of the questions she had peppered Joe with and not received answers to. After reading the entire letter, she noticed that a word was underlined in a dark pen, orchard.
Not quite understanding what the word orchard was underlined for, she decided to read the next letter, which was dated June 26, 1943. This letter also had a word underlined, come. "Come, orchard?" she whispered softly to herself. The third letter was out of it's envelope quickly, she couldn't help but read the entire thing, loving how the past sprang forth in her mind, but her eyes were searching for underlined words throughout this one, there were two, to, the. "Come to the orchard!" Lilli was out of her seat in an instant, she grabbed her trench, threw it over her shoulders and was out the door without saying a word to Sarah, who had been sitting there watching the whole thing with a smile splitting her face.
It was starting to get late, and dusk was settling over the Carter's orchard. The orchard was a very large place, but Lilli knew exactly where she was headed, the cherry trees. She couldn't keep her feet from running, and before she knew it, she was standing in front of a small table with a beautiful candle burning on top of it, a single rose sitting beside it in a glass vase. Then she noticed two small boxes, and picked up the smaller of the two first. Inside were two more letters. August 7, 1943 and November 6, 1943. After reading them both entirely, she found the words, go see my mom. She swept up the other box in her arms, blew out the candle, and raced toward the big house. While she walked, she peeked into the box and found a large slice of chocolate cake, her favorite!
Lilli had to catch her breath on the porch of the big house before knocking, but when she did, Mrs. Carter came out of the house with a huge smile on her face. In her arms were two more boxes, and this time, she gave Lilli some instructions. "The smaller box is for you, the bigger one is for Sam. And here is a basket for you to carry everything in," she smiled. After Lilli had nestled her own cake next to Sam's box, Mrs. Carter pulled her into a big hug, then ordered her to sit in a chair and open the smaller box.
Inside were two letters and the journal. She began with the letters dated, December 1, 1943 and July 7, 1944, finding the words, Come and Dance. Then she opened the journal to the page that was book marked, it was the entry Sam had written when he first gave it to her, and the words that were underlined were, with me. "Come dance with me," Lilli whispered.
Again she bounded off the porch and raced back out into the open space of the orchard. She could remember three places that she and Sam had danced, under the cherry trees, in Sarah's living room, and in the barn, after she had finally admitted her own feelings. Since she had already been to the cherry trees, and figured Sam wouldn't be waiting at Sarah's house, she turned toward the barn. When she had almost reached it, she could hear a slow song playing in the night air. The music only increased her excitement, and she ran the remaining thirty yards to the doors.
Inside, the barn was dimly lit with lanterns which hung from the rafters around the large space. A table was set up in the middle of some hay stacks, a candle in the center, two plates on either side, and another single rose. She took a step forward, trying to control the heavy breaths coming from her chest.
"Sam?" she called, wondering where he could be. She had expected to race right into his arms, but he was no where to be found. He didn't answer her call, so she continued to walk carefully around the barn. She found a haystack which was covered with a blanket, and a note was laying on top of it.
Lilli, read the last journal entry.
She sat down on the blanket and dug through the basket to find the journal. Her hands shook as she turned to the last page that was written on.
Dearest Lilli,
I hope you don't mind that I asked Sarah to bring me the box that you keep your letters in. I've been reading all of them in preparation for this final letter. I picked a few out for you to read, so that our past would be fresh in your mind while you're reading this. I know that you were always most concerned about finding the perfect husband for yourself, and I do hope that you think you've found him. I also want you to know that I want to spend forever with you by my side, and that Dylan was right when he advised me to marry you. I only wish we already were. But, I'm glad you didn't marry Joe the night you first met. I think we would both agree that would have complicated things even more!
Lilli Windsor, I have always been captivated by you. When I read that first letter two years ago, I knew that you were the only woman for me. It wasn't long before I started dreaming about life with you. Lazy days curled up on the couch, dinner staring into your eyes while we talk, wat
ching you rock our little ones to sleep at night. The thought of you got me through the difficulties of a harsh war.
When you left me at the café, I was crushed. I didn't know what I was going to do without you. The thought of losing you was almost too much to bear. Even though you told me you never wanted to see me again, I saw you. In my dreams, every night. I had to hold onto the hope that someday you would realize what I already had. That we were perfect for each other. I have had several happy days since then. Two of the happiest being when you told me I still had a chance to be with you, and when you admitted that you loved me. But neither of those will compare to tonight if all goes as I hope it will.
I love you Lilli, will you marry me?
Lilli looked up, tears streaming down her face, searching for some sight of Sam. It only took her a moment for her eyes to connect with his. He was on his knee, just three paces away from where she was sitting. She had been so entrhalled with the journal entry, that she hadn't even noticed his approach. Quickly, she propelled herself off the hay stack and flung her arms around his neck. "Yes!"
Sam kissed her, bringing her down onto his knee. When he finally pulled away, he slipped a simple diamond ring onto her finger, taking her breath away again. "I thought it only fitting that I propose in a letter, since they've been so influential in our relationship," he said softly. "And, I think Mrs. Metcalf should receive the first invitation to our wedding, and that it would be perfectly acceptable for you to start dreaming about a white dress, flowers and that all important kiss."
Lilli didn't waste any time and pressed another kiss to his lips. While they were kissing, he lifted her into his arms and started walking back toward the small table. He settled her in the chair, then went back for her basket. He lifted the chocolate cake out of her box and onto her plate, and then lifted a piece of cherry pie out of his own box. There they sat, talking and laughing as they ate their dessert. When they were finished, they danced. Lilli had no idea how long they had stayed in the barn, but when they left, snuggled in each others arms, they had decided on a wedding in October.