As Allie passed the carriage house, she heard the sound of raised voices. She paused, listening hard. Cole was a quiet man, raising his two daughters alone after his wife passed away. There should be no reason for such shouting.
She wandered nearer, sucking in a breath when she recognized Thomas’s voice. He was yelling, his tone panicked. Allie ran, stumbling over her feet. Janey! Please, don’t let it be Janey!
She grabbed at the wide barn door and struggled to pull it open, her heart bursting in her chest. She knew already what she would see: Janey’s little body trampled under the stallion’s hooves. A sob tore her throat as she jerked against the metal handle, planting her feet in the dirt. She had told her mother that the horse had no business here, was better suited to pasture or racing. But her mother was thrilled with a gift from the mayor.
Tears streamed down Allie’s face. She pounded her fists on the door and shrieked at the top of her lungs to be let in.
The door slid on its tracks and Thomas appeared, his face telling her everything she needed to know.
Allie slumped against him, her fists to her chest, a deep wail building inside.
“She’s all right. She’s right here.”
She couldn’t believe his words as he gripped her shoulders, speaking almost roughly.
“Where? Where is she?” Allie struggled to calm herself and blinked into the dim barn.
he said, his eyes dark.
“Here, Auntie.” Janey came forward, her head down, eyes rebellious. “I came to see the stallion. I just wanted to sit astride him, to go for a ride.” She glanced up at Thomas, little mouth pursed in disapproval. “Mr. Bradford yelled at me.”
Allie gathered her up, breathing in her little girl smell. “Yes, I heard.” She never wanted to let go but she pushed her back, hands on her shoulders and fixed her with a steady gaze. “No one gave you permission to come here. You must always ask permission.”
“But I asked! Over and over, I asked. And everyone said no.”
Thomas snorted a laugh behind Allie, and she felt her lips twitch. “Then that is your answer. No more sneaking off. You could have been hurt.” She felt the excitement of the moment rush over her and the barn seemed to swim. “Come sit with me, Janey.”
She led the little girl to a bench and sat down, gathering her to one side. Thomas sat on the other and spoke softly.
“Oh, Allie, if I’d lost you again, or Janey...” His voice held all the anguish of the world in it.
“But we’re all together. Just as we should be.” Allie took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment, shutting out the dusty barn. After everything was said and done, it didn’t matter how much money Thomas had, or where Allie’s paintings hung. What mattered was Janey and their love for her, and each other.
“Do you mean that, Allie?”
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “I think you’re mad for taking us on, but I do.”
He looked at her, running a finger across her cheek. “Remember what I said in your mother’s hallway?”
She felt her cheeks burn but kept her gaze steady. “You said you never stopped wanting me.”
“Yes. I know that I want a family with you. I want Janey to be mine, and I want to fill our house with children, the kind who bring canvases to life and speak to horses.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, a question and a promise in one electric gesture.
“Aunt Allie?” Janey asked from the other side. Allie jumped, embarrassed that she had been so lost in Thomas’s words that she’d forgotten her little eye-witness.
“Yes, sweetie?” She turned and gave Janey a squeeze, never feeling as complete as at that moment.
“Do I get to be in your wedding?”
Thomas let out a laugh and nodded his head. “That’s my girl! You know we couldn’t have it without you.”
“Oh, good. I’m going to sing a song, and wear this lovely long fur stole that I saw up in Grandmother Leeds’ attic. I should sing it right in the middle of the wedding, so everyone is paying attention.”
Allie leaned her head on Thomas’s shoulder and let Janey’s voice wash over her. There was no chance her mother would allow Janey to sing in her wedding, but she would not waste an ounce of energy worrying over it. Because if she had learned anything at all in the past year, it was that God had a perfect plan. Allie felt a deep sense of peace.
“I should get down on one knee, propose properly, like a gentleman,” Thomas said. “But you would have to let go of Janey, and I would have to let go of you.” His words were soft, just for her. “Will you marry me, Allie? I promise to support your painting, to honor your calling the way I honor my own. I’ll be a father to Janey, and we can give her a real home together.”
Allie struggled to speak past the lump in her throat. “To everything there is a season, and to every time a purpose under heaven.”
His leaned forward, touching his forehead to hers. She could feel the heat of his skin, she could smell straw and dust. It was so familiar it made her ache. She touched his face, feeling the rough stubble under her sensitive fingers.
“And this is our season, Thomas. I will marry you.” She touched her lips lightly to his, struggling to not get lost, then turned back to Janey, who dreamed out loud of putting on a cabaret show during the wedding.
Allie smiled, filled with awe that her wedding was in God’s plan from the beginning. She’d heard it was true, but now she believed it: God’s plan for her was always to prosper and not to harm.
THE END
This is the first book in the Colors of Faith, a Christian historical romance series by Virginia Carmichael. The next, Purple Like the West, will be released in September 2013.
Virginia was born near the Rocky Mountains and although she has traveled around the world, the wilds of Colorado run in her veins. A big fan of the wide open sky and all four seasons, she believes in embracing the small moments of everyday life. A home schooling mom of six young children who rarely wear shoes, those moments usually involve a lot of noise, a lot of mess, or a whole bunch of warm cookies. Virginia holds degrees in Linguistics and Religious Studies from the University of Oregon. She lives with her habanero-eating husband, Crusberto, who is her polar opposite in all things except faith. They've learned to speak in short-hand code and look forward to the day they can actually finish a sentence. In the meantime, Virginia thanks God for the laughter and abundance of hugs that fill her day as she plots her next book.
If you enjoyed this book, please feel free to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads! You can find me on my facebook author page Virginia Carmichael or at Yankee Belle Café, a cooperative cooking blog where we make food and talk about books.
All The Blue of Heaven (Colors of Faith) Page 24