Dorothy nodded a little. “They were,” she said. “I see signs of improvement with them as each day goes by.”
She was trying her best to remain optimistic. The cold stares they had given her when they first met were still etched in her memory. For not the first time, she was envious of Virginia. For all of the drama with the Indians, things sure seemed to have turned out ever so well for her.
****
The following day was a long one for Dorothy and the Edwards family. She went to the orphanage in the morning, which always proved to be a rather tiring affair. She saw her friends there, though, and that helped to brighten her day considerably. They had a sewing circle together, and Dorothy wondered if it was a worthwhile idea to ask Clint about possibly selling the things they made in his store.
When she arrived at his store that afternoon, however, she could see that he was not in the mood. “There you are,” he said sternly. “I counted the cash till this morning and we are five dollars short. Five dollars!”
Dorothy’s mouth fell open. That was no small amount. She did not know why he was giving her such an accusatory look. “I don’t know how that can be,” she said to him, pouting a little. “I know how to count, Clint.”
“I know you do, but…” He looked at her and then shook his head a little. “There’s just no accounting for it. First, there were the missing beans, and now this. In such a short span…and only since you began working here.”
Sam and Hank meanwhile were busying themselves with stocking and sweeping the store. Clint seemed hesitant to let her work the register, so she put on her apron and joined Sam with the stocking. Before too long, it became clear to Dorothy that he did not want her help and Clint seemed to distrust her with the inventory as well, so she hung up her apron. “I guess I will go home and help Mrs. Shields with dinner…” she offered hollowly.
“Good idea,” Clint said, a hint of suspicion in his voice now. Neither little boy seemed bothered by her leaving, and she did not really expect them to be. She no longer felt wanted there, so she supposed she should not stay.
Going home before the day was out was a crushing defeat to her. She sniffled a little as she changed out of her work outfit and into on something nicer for dinner: a deep purple dress with plenty of ruffles. Dorothy wished that her friends could be there with her to listen to her story and offer advice. She missed their after-work evenings together when they could unwind and go through the day’s events over tea and needlework.
It turned out, unsurprisingly, that Mrs. Shields did not need her help, however, the housekeeper was kind enough to let her assist anyway. “Trouble at work today?” she asked Dorothy in a sympathetic voice.
Dorothy nodded vaguely. “It’s the strangest thing. Things seem to be going missing in the store, and Clint thinks that I am somehow the culprit. Though why he thinks I would have any reason to ever do such a thing is beyond me.”
“Take comfort,” Mrs. Shields said. “Things will work out. I don’t know much about working in the general store myself. I’ve never really had the mind for it. But I always have faith that everything will turn out right in the end.”
Dorothy suddenly wondered if Nicky had anything to do with these strange disappearances. Everything had seemed to be fine until he entered Hank and Sam’s lives. But then she waved that idea off; the Indian boy was such a kind and honest child. She had heard nothing but praise for him, from everyone who knew him. He was one of Eliza’s best pupils; the sweetest boy Virginia had ever known, and the hero of the ranch. This was most certainly not the work of Nicky. But Dorothy aimed to find out whose work it was, and before Clint could wrongfully cast her out as a thief.
****
There was a noticeable shift in the way Clint treated Dorothy after that. He was icier towards her, acting more like his sons than she ever could have imagined. She was sorrowful, but she took some solace in the fact that he continued to invite her along to dinner in the evenings. She kept her distance from the store whilst he and Sheriff Bradford underwent a thorough investigation. There were no clues that led to her, of course, but still Clint distrusted her, which hurt her so much.
Meanwhile, Sam and Hank continued to spend time with Nicky whenever they could. They enjoyed having a friend of their own age with whom they could talk to and go exploring around the small neighborhood. “Is it true that the Indians stole land from your father?” Hank asked Nicky one afternoon.
Nicky was embarrassed. “Well, not really,” he said. “The people who came here to build this town took the land from my people, the Indians, and they were only trying to take it back. But it is not right to fight over something like land when it is something that can be shared.”
The twins regarded him with interest. “Do you like your new mother?” they asked him. “We do not like Miss Dorothy. She wants to steal our father from us and take our mother’s place.”
Nicky blinked at him, confused and rather shocked. “Oh, you mustn’t think such things. Miss Dorothy is a nice lady. She is good friends with my mother.”
The twins were resolute. “We do not want Miss Dorothy to stay here with us,” Hank said.
“We took money from the till and hid away the beans so she would be punished and sent away,” Sam said.
Nicky could not believe what he was hearing. At first, he wanted to flee the place in the woods where they were playing, run home and tell his mother. Then he realized that that would not help as much as these two boys confessing for their actions would.
“You are lucky to have a new mother in your lives,” he said calmly. “Someone who will love you and treat you well. She is a blessing to you, not a curse. You should not push her away.”
Sam and Hank looked at him and furrowing their brows. They did not like the idea of having a new mother, but they knew too that their friend spoke from experience. “Is it very terrible, not having a new mother?”
Nicky nodded sagely. “I was lonely and felt so unwanted… I know that you two have each other, but there is nothing like having a mother who cares for you.”
Hank and Sam hung their heads and Nicky knew that he had gotten through to them.
“You must go to your father and to Miss Dorothy right away and tell them what you have done.” He gazed into their hazel eyes with his dark, almond-shaped ones. He knew so much already about how important it was for people to come together in peace. He did not want to see his friends suffer as a result of their actions.
The twins nodded. They returned home and looked for their father and their soon-to-be stepmother. They found their father in the living room. He was flipping through the inventory list, deeply upset by what he saw. He was still going over the missing items, trying to solve the puzzle. The theft did not wound him as much as Dorothy’s betrayal did. He had sent for her and asked her to be his wife, and this was how she had repaid him?
“Father,” Hank said, plainly trying to make his voice sound strong, though it faltered a bit in his guilt.
Clint looked up and saw his sons standing there, heads slightly bowed. He set aside his ledger and looked at them. “Yes?” he asked, immediately concerned that something had happened to them whilst they were out playing with their friend.
Dorothy came into the room at the sound of the children’s voices, wondering as well if everything was all right. They did not usually take such a tone.
Sam and Hank looked from their father to Dorothy. Sam took a deep breath. “We took the money from the till.”
“And we hid the beans in the back room,” Hank confessed.
“We did not want Miss Dorothy to take Mother’s place,” they confessed in unison. “Nicky told us about his new mother and now we know we were wrong for treating her this way. We’re so sorry.”
They started to cry. Dorothy rushed to them and knelt on the floor in front of them, taking them into her arms. “Shh, there there now,” she said soothingly. “You did a very good thing in telling the truth at last.”
Clint was horrified tha
t his sons would act in such a way, but he softened when he saw how gentle and forgiving his fiancée was. “I must apologize immediately for my own actions,” he said to her. “I was far too quick to assume that you were behind the missing things. I shall go to the sheriff at once and let him know that the mystery has come to an end.”
He kissed her on the top of her head, then rushed from his home to inform Sheriff Bradford that all was right again.
“What did I tell you?” Mrs. Shields said from the doorway to the kitchen, smiling. “I knew it would all resolve itself in the end.”
The little boys hugged Dorothy, eager to be held in the arms of their new stepmother. They felt so shameful for treating her so poorly. “Please forgive us,” Hank said.
“We will never do such a thing again,” Sam said. “We promise.”
Dorothy chuckled a bit, happy to finally have things reconciled. She could kiss the little Indian boy. “I forgive you both,” she said. “See that the beans and the money are back where they belong tomorrow.”
Hank and Sam nodded together. They resolved to be nothing but helpful from here on out, and do what Dorothy bid them to do. They wanted to be regarded as good little boys, like their friend, and earn the love of their new mother.
****
Everything changed for the better for Dorothy once Hank and Sam came forward with the truth. They returned the beans to the inventory and the five dollars to the till, and they began helping out a lot more than they had been lately, now that they were on good terms with Dorothy and had started to come around to the idea of her being their new mother. She was not trying to replace their beloved mother, after all; she just wanted to love them and help take care of them, as any good mother should.
Clint went right back to the way he had been before; all of the suspicion forgotten. After a full day of working together with the boys in the store, he took her aside and took her hand, looking into her eyes with a sweet, loving smile. “Dorothy, please say you still wish to marry me?”
She smiled widely at him and nodded. “Of course!” she declared. “Nothing would make me happier.”
Clint hugged Dorothy and she wrapped her arms around him tightly in response. The wedding was going to go ahead as scheduled, and he wanted her to invite her three friends and their new families—Virginia’s son, Nicky, most importantly of all.
The seamstress that she was, Dorothy was able to procure herself a suitable wedding dress in no time. She went to the chapel with Mrs. Shields and her friends met her there, happy to help her with her dress and her hair. She felt so loved, and it was so wonderful to be reunited with all of her friends at last. After everything that had happened, she felt like she truly had earned this sweet reward.
The music began to play and Dorothy walked down the aisle to meet the man who was to be her husband. Clint looked so handsome standing there in his suit and tie. His little boys were right there with him, in matching suits of their own. They beamed at Dorothy and her heart seemed to swell with joy. She already loved her little family more than anything in this world.
“Dearly beloved,” the minister began. “We are gathered here today to witness the holy union of these two souls, Dorothy Winnifred Aldridge and Clint Michael Edwards. If there is anyone who believes that these two should not be wed, please let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”
Silence filled the chapel. Dorothy said a silent prayer that no one would speak and that nothing wrong would befall them throughout this ceremony. To her great relief, no one said anything and the wedding was able to proceed.
“As it is said in Ephesians 4:32, Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” The minister looked from Dorothy to Clint, as if he knew precisely how apt this Biblical quotation was. “Dorothy Winnifred Aldridge, do you take Clint to be your lawfully married husband, to love and to cherish, to honor and obey, to have and to hold, forsaking all others, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer as long as you both shall live?”
Dorothy bit her lip as tears silently fell from her eyes. “I do,” she said, looking into Clint’s loving hazel eyes. “I always will.”
He smiled back at her and sniffled a little, doing his best to keep his emotions in check.
“The ring, please,” the minister said.
Hank put a hand into his pocket and took out a bright silver ring. He handed it to Sam who handed it to Clint, making it as if all three of them were bringing Dorothy into the family.
Clint carefully and slowly slid the ring onto her finger as a few happy sobs escaped her. “With this ring, I thee wed, and with all I am and all I have, I honor you.”
“Clint Michael Edwards,” the minister said. “Do you take Dorothy to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, to honor and protect, to have and to hold, forsaking all others, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer as long as you both shall live?”
Clint smiled at Dorothy, holding her hand and gently petting the finger where the ring now sat firmly, closest to her heart. “I do,” he said.
“Then, by the power vested in me by our Lord Jesus Christ and the town of Missoula Mills, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
A cheer went up in the chapel. Dorothy laughed when she heard the cheering voices of her friends coming from a pew in the front row. They were there in the row meant for her family—for they were her family. They were her sisters. The four of them had been through so much. It was so wonderfully fitting for them to have been able to reunite in this magical Western town.
“You may kiss the bride,” the minister said to Clint, prompting him.
Slightly nervously, he brought his arms around Dorothy’s waist and kissed her on the lips. She let herself be dipped back a bit by him as she kissed him in return, blushing and still crying in her sheer delight.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to introduce you all to Mr. and Mrs. Clint Edwards!” the minister proclaimed.
The music began the recessional, and Dorothy and Clint walked down the aisle past their friends and loved ones, heading out of the chapel to climb into the waiting carriage. Mrs. Shields was going to bring the boys home, where there would be feasting and celebrating long into the night. Clint and Dorothy went on an enchanting carriage ride through the town, enjoying some private time together where they could hold hands and think of nothing but each other.
****
Dorothy was remarkably happy with how everything was turning out for her. Ever since their wedding, she had moved into Clint’s house, feeling quite at home with him and their sons. She spent a lot of time playing with them and reading to them. They proved to be very smart boys, not that she had ever questioned that. She was able to further get to know darling Nicky as well, and he was always such a sweet and helpful guest when he visited.
One day, about a month after their wedding, Dorothy was with Clint in the general store, helping him to rearrange things now that he had acquired some new items. She decided to talk to him about the thought she had had: opening a store of her own for her and the other ladies in town.
“Clint, darling,” she said to him sweetly. “I have been thinking a lot about this, and I want to know what you think about it as well. My friends and I have a sewing circle wherein we mend and create clothing, so I got the idea of perhaps selling this clothing in your store. But then I supposed that this is not exactly the place for ladies’ gowns. What if I took some of my earnings from the orphanage and created my own shop?”
Dorothy feared at first that her husband would find such an idea preposterous, but it was actually to the contrary. He looked at her and beamed proudly. He was very happy that the drive and passion for store ownership had rubbed off on her after several months of training and working in the general store with him. “I could not be more proud of you,” he said. “I think this is a sensational idea. As a matter of fact, I will help pay for the construction of such a store so you need not
fear those costs.”
She smiled and hugged him. He gently lifted her into the air and spun her around.
As the idea was not solely for herself, the following day, Dorothy went to her friends at the orphanage as soon as she could and told them of her plan. They were, of course, absolutely thrilled.
“Oh, I love the idea that our dresses will be going to good use!” Virginia trilled excitedly. “I have made quite a habit of making clothing for the children, so I am sure I shall be able to contribute a lot along those lines as well.”
“It will be wonderful to have a dress shop for ladies in town,” Margaret added. “I was so surprised when I arrived and saw that there were no such places already.”
“But it is hardly surprising,” Eliza countered. “After all, there were no ladies in town until fairly recently. Hence there was no need for such a place.”
Dorothy smiled appreciatively at her friends. Once they were done with work for the day, they got together and gathered up all of the clothing that they had made and were willing to part with for the first batch of garments to sell. They organized everything by size and color and stored them away in a spare room at Margaret’s house. That would be the place of safe keeping until the store was built and ready for use, as Margaret’s was the only house that did not have children within who might tamper with the clothing either for fun or accidentally.
Meanwhile, Clint worked on purchasing the land necessary to build Dorothy’s dream boutique. There was a lot of land that was not already in use along the same stretch of road where the orphanage lay. He figured that that would be a welcome place to house her store since she worked there and saw her friends there so often. The orphanage and the school were big places of employment and activity for the ladies in town, so it made sense that a lot of the new store’s clientele would come from there. Why not make it easy for those ladies to stop into the store on the way to and from those places?
Annie: A Bride For The Farmhand - A Clean Historical Western Romance (Stewart House Brides Book 3) Page 42