“See? You’re starting already,” he said with another laugh.
They held each other’s hands now as they walked, passing all of the businesses in the small town and eventually ending up out near where Carrie lived. Thackery gazed with no small amount of envy at the sprawling farmhouses that were situated there. He still had a long way to go before he could afford a bit of land of his own. Annie thought that she could help him in that effort, too.
Time slipped by, the shadows stretched out ahead of them in the dirt and sand, and it was time for Annie to return to work. She gave Thackery a sweet hug farewell. “This was nice,” she said. “We should do this again sometime soon.”
“It was nice… Do you ever have a day off?” he asked her. “Not that I’d ever presume to take up your whole day, it’s only that I’d like to have more time with you than what I’ve currently been blessed with.”
Annie blushed. “It just so happens that I am available on Saturday, in two days’ time.”
Thackery grinned at her and kissed her hand. “Saturday, it is. Afternoon again, maybe? Like today? Except hopefully for longer.”
She giggled a little. “That sounds delightful,” she said. “I shall see you then.”
Annie turned and went back to work after that, smiling and feeling the sort of butterflies-in-stomach giddiness that she hadn’t felt in probably over a year. After watching her friends all run off and get married, she had to admit that it was nice to finally be the one running off and spending time being courted by a kind and charming young man. I was never jealous of my friends, she thought. But it was largely because I felt as though I didn’t deserve this kind of happiness. It seemed to have passed me by. And yet… Here he is. My knight in shining armor has returned.
When she arrived back at work, Rita gave her a curious sort of look. “You surely had a nice break,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Were you off on an outing with that Mr. Prescott fellow?”
Annie nodded her head. “Who else would I be with?” she asked her innocently. “We’re engaged to be married. It wouldn’t be proper if I went around with someone else.”
Rita laughed a short laugh. “You have me there.”
All throughout the dinner rush that evening, Annie imagined what her and Thackery’s wedding would be like. She’d never planned a wedding before. Sure, she’d been a part of her friends’ weddings recently, but it wasn’t the same as being the actual bride. She wondered if she might talk to her intended to see what he might’ve envisioned for the day, too. He clearly had been thinking about this for a long time.
On Saturday, Annie allowed herself to sleep in a little bit because she didn’t have to go to work. She rolled over and dozed off again once Rita had knocked on the door to wake up Melissa. Her roommate didn’t bother her or try to wake her up. When Annie rose from her bed, the girls were all gone to the restaurant and she was able to take her time brushing through her long hair and putting on one of her prettier dresses – a white skirt with a blue velvet bodice that her mother had made her just before she moved away to Kansas. This dress was made for Thackery, she thought. This was meant to be my first impression dress. She smiled a bit sadly at her reflection in her vanity’s mirror.
As soon as she was dressed and dolled up in the way that she wanted – her hair pinned up in a fashionable Newport hairstyle with plenty of braids and pins – she left the dormitory room and walked carefully down the staircase. The only other shoes that Annie had besides her work shoes were a pair of white, heeled ankle boots. She was a bit wobbly on them because it had been quite a while since she last wore them, but they went rather nicely with her dress. She knew that this dress would make a great impression on Thackery, even if it wasn’t the first one he’d seen her in.
There’s something a bit poetic about him first seeing me at the restaurant, actually, she thought with a smile as she walked out the door and along the dirt road to their meeting place. She bit her lip a little, looking around for the gentleman. He wasn’t there yet and of course her mind went into a slightly panicked mode. Where is he? Has he changed his mind? Has he had some kind of accident?
Her hysteria calmed a moment later when she felt a light tap on her shoulder and she turned to find Mr. Prescott standing there. Much like she had dressed up for their little ‘date,’ he was dressed in the finest outfit she’d ever seen him in before. He wore black pants, a deep red shirt and a black ascot. He held his usual brown cowboy hat in his hands as he smiled at her and bowed.
“Good afternoon, Miss Annie,” he said to her pleasantly. “And isn’t it a lovely day?”
She smiled back at him, nodding her head. “Good afternoon, Thackery,” she replied. “It certainly is a nice day. I wonder how many more we shall have until it rains or snows again.” The winters in Wallace were not terrible, but they weren’t always the nicest in which to be outdoors.
He was giving her a thoughtful sort of look now. “I’ve been thinking about that,” he said as they began to walk alongside each other up the road. “If it’s not too much trouble, what do you say to getting married here in Wallace before moving with me to Sharon Springs just for a time, til I can save up enough to buy a farmhouse here?”
Annie was taken aback by this idea, but she didn’t necessarily dislike it. I’d have to leave this place… But surely only for a brief time. Until we get things settled. Otherwise, he would have to go back to Sharon Springs without me and I wouldn’t want that. She smiled at him slightly, appearing neither enthusiastic nor against the idea. “If it seems that it is the best option to you, then I won’t argue with you. But surely you don’t plan to get married frightfully soon. After all, we have to plan for it. I don’t even have a dress.”
She fidgeted a little with the sparkly ring on her finger. He noticed and, smiling, took her hand in his. “We can take all the time you think you need,” he told her. “I wouldn’t want you to get married in a dress you didn’t want to be wearing.”
She plucked up the courage then to ask him if there were any things that he hoped to have for their wedding. “I know it’s not normally the gentleman’s concern, but I should hate to plan something that you’re unsatisfied with.”
He laughed softly. “Dearest, as long as I get to marry you I don’t really have a preference about anything else.”
This was as she had predicted. Annie smiled at him, letting a small breath of relief escape her. She gently squeezed his hand. “You truly are a blessing to me,” she said. “I’m so sorry that I ever doubted you. Thank God that you found me in the Stewart House and saved me from my tower.”
He smiled and placed a small peck on her cheek. “To be fair, there are worse towers to be trapped in,” he said.
They strolled along the road, hand in hand, as Annie thought about all of the things that she was going to have to think about now. I never thought that I’d be the one thinking of white lace and flowers, she mused. But I suppose that it was bound to happen eventually. I was blinded by my broken heart.
The first thing she knew was that Carrie had to be her matron of honor and help her with all of these tasks. Perhaps she can even help me make my dress! She knew that her friend was a happy farmer’s wife now, but Carrie also didn’t have too much to do outside of cooking and maintaining the crops. Things like that. Annie believed that she would love to have a wedding to help with. And Rita and Melissa should be a part of it, too. After all, they were the ones who gently pushed me towards Mr. Prescott in the first place. She smiled to herself. Yes, planning wouldn’t be so difficult with all of her friends helping her.
Chapter 10
Carrie was more than happy to help Annie with her wedding dress and planning. “This makes me so happy!” she said gleefully, bouncing up and down with Annie. As soon as Annie came over and asked her for her help, Carrie got out all of her fabrics and sewing supplies. It was all strewn about her living room as they discussed everything. “I really like the cut of your dress right now.” Carrie looked Annie up and down, menta
lly making notes about it so she might be able to emulate it.
Meanwhile, Thackery worked out a good time and date for the wedding to take place at the chapel in Wallace. Annie recalled Carrie’s lovely wedding there so she knew that it was going to be the perfect setting. Everyone who knew her would be able to be in attendance because they were marrying in the familiar town instead of going off and getting married in Sharon Springs. Annie was still a little nervous about making that journey, but she knew that she wouldn’t be alone. Thackery would be accompanying her, and that made all of the difference.
She was going to be so sad to bid farewell to her home and her friends at the Stewart House, but she knew that it was time for her to move on with her life. She was not someone to go against fate. While she made plans with the help of Carrie, Melissa, and Rita, Annie also worked on carefully packing up her belongings so she would be able to move out of the dormitory as soon as the wedding was over and it was time to ride forth to Sharon Springs.
She stopped working as a waitress in the restaurant and turned in her uniform, crying a little as she handed it off to Rita. “I hope you find someone wonderful to take my place.”
Rita sniffled a little. “We’ll find someone new to fill the position, but no one is going to take your place.”
Annie hugged her gently. “I’ve never been fond of goodbyes,” she said. “And I know that I’m not going anywhere just yet, but I just want you to know that this is difficult for me. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
Rita patted her back a little bit. “You don’t need to say goodbye, you know. You’re going to come back eventually, after all.” She smiled, but there was some amount of sadness in that smile. She knew that there was going to be a long period in which Annie was not in Wallace. And there was indeed a chance that she and Thackery would never make it back. Who knew how much money he was going to need to raise in order to start a farm in Wallace?
“We will certainly be looking forward to your return,” she said sincerely to Annie.
A few days later, it was the morning of the wedding and Annie was nervously pacing back and forth in her bedroom. Melissa was on hand to help her get dressed into her wedding gown and fix up her hair. Carrie arrived with the new gown in a box and she opened it up to show them her creation. It was a long gown, down to Annie’s ankles, with a long-sleeved lace bodice in the same style as her blue velvet one.
“Oh, Carrie, it’s absolutely gorgeous!” Annie exclaimed tearfully. She grinned as her friends helped her get into the dress and placed the veil onto her head.
Melissa then placed the white daisies into Annie’s hands and the ladies all went out together to get into the special wedding day carriage that had been set up. Leeroy was more than happy to drive them to the chapel.
“This is so bittersweet,” she said to her friends as they rode in the carriage together. “It’s the first day of the rest of my life, but it means I have to leave you all.”
They all held hands as they rode in the carriage and tried not to think too much about the sad farewell that was going to come at the end of the wedding. As soon as they arrived at the chapel, they all went into the small room that was meant for the bridal party. Annie’s friends peeked out of the door to see Thackery standing at the front of the room, next to the minister. Now that they were inside the chapel, Leeroy appeared and sat in one of the pews near the front.
The organist began to play the wedding waltz and Carrie, Melissa and Rita slowly made their way up the aisle towards Thackery and the minister. They stood on the left side and awaited Annie.
Annie walked two steps at a time up the aisle, smiling and nodding at friends that she saw in the pews as she walked. Mr. Stewart was there, smiling away. It meant the world to her that he was there.
Finally, she arrived at the front of the aisle and Thackery came towards her, taking her hands and facing her as they stood together in front of the minister.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to share in the joy and the celebration of these two souls as they are joined together in holy matrimony,” the minister said. “James Thackery Prescott and Annie Louise O’Brien, you have come here today to pledge your lives to one another. As it is written in Romans 12:9-10, Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Annie and Thackery gazed at each other as they held hands. Even though they were surrounded by all of her friends and people who meant so much to her, she only had eyes for him now.
The minister looked at Thackery. “James Thackery Prescott,” he intoned, “do you take Annie Louise O’Brien to be your lawfully-wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, to honor and protect, forsaking all others, in sickness and in health, until death do you part as long as you both shall live?”
Thackery was smiling away at Annie. For a moment, she thought that he might not have heard her. But then suddenly he said, “I do. I surely do!”
The minister now turned his attentions to Annie. “Annie Louise O’Brien, do you take James Thackery Prescott to be your lawfully-wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, to honor and obey, forsaking all others, in sickness and in health, until death do you part as long as you both shall live?”
Annie bit her lip. Then she remembered that doing that was going to mess up her makeup, so she stopped. Gazing into Thackery’s eyes, she nodded her head. “Yes,” she said. “I do.”
A cheer went up from the pews then and the minister smiled at Annie and Thackery. “Then by the power which has been vested in me by our lord and savior Jesus Christ as well as the great little town of Wallace, Kansas, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
There was another cheer. Annie giggled and Thackery laughed. They were both getting antsy for what the future would bring for them soon.
“You may kiss the bride,” the minister concluded.
Thackery let go of Annie’s hands and gently moved back her veil so he could at last gaze upon her uncovered face. He leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss that left her lips buzzing with excitement.
The organist began playing the exit music and everyone cheered as Annie and Thackery rushed down the aisle, hand in hand. They went out the doors of the chapel and to a new carriage, the one that was going to take them to their new home a town away. Annie’s luggage had already been carefully packed up into it by Leeroy and Carrie. Everyone rushed out of the chapel in order to see them off, her friends waving their handkerchiefs and crying happy, bittersweet tears.
Thackery helped Annie into the carriage before getting in himself, and then they were off down the dirt road and onward toward their new life in Sharon Springs.
Epilogue
Life in Sharon Springs really wasn’t all that bad, as far as Annie was concerned. The people there were nice and she could see that her new husband was quite proud of all that he had accomplished there. Thackery was a well sought-after farmhand, helping out on all kinds of farms both with the horses and with the crops. Annie could see that he had the skills necessary to start up his own farm business; he just needed the funds.
While they were living there, Annie took to living in the small shacks that were given to Thackery while he worked on each farm. It wasn’t much of a living arrangement, but it was better than sleeping in an inn away from him. After several long months, Thackery was ready to move on from his work there. He counted up his money and realized that he was only a few more dollars away from having enough to purchase a nice spot of land near Carrie and Leeroy’s farm.
“I can help you with that, you know,” Annie told him brightly. “After all, I didn’t work for nearly a year at the restaurant for nothing.” She brought out her purse and showed him all of the money that she had saved up from her time as a waitress.
Thackery was surprised and impressed. “I couldn’t possibly ask you to give up your hard-earned pay, though,” he said. “This is my dream, not yours.”
Thackery realized that Annie wasn’t going to take a polite no for an answer, so he decided to allow her to help him. With their combined wages, they had enough money to not only purchase the land but to start building their farmhouse, too.
As soon as they’d moved back into town, Annie decided to pay a visit to all of her friends. She was neighbors with Carrie now, which was a situation she had always hoped for, in the end. She went to Beverly and told her about everything that had happened.
“I’m impressed,” Beverly said to her with a grin. “You’re more business-minded than I thought.”
“Perhaps I learned some of that from you,” Annie said with a smile of her own.
At last, she returned to the restaurant with her husband in tow. They dined there like normal customers, but of course Rita was ecstatic when she saw them there. “Oh, please don’t be strangers!” she bade them. “Come here as often as you like. I know we’d all like to hear about your time in Sharon Springs.”
“And what married life is like,” Melissa added.
Annie laughed. “It feels so wonderful to be back,” she said to them. “I owe my life to this place.”
True to her word, she set up a small school in the town. Most of her students were grown men who were in need of reading and writing lessons, though as the small town grew and prospered, she started to see more young children in her class.
Mrs. Annie Prescott would never need know a day without work, and that was just the way she liked it.
Annie: A Bride For The Farmhand - A Clean Historical Western Romance (Stewart House Brides Book 3) Page 6