An Unexpected Groom

by Nerys Leigh

  Somehow, she knew He heard her and approved.

  Just inside the door an older couple were handing out hymnals and greeting those entering.

  “Louisa,” Jesse said, “I’d like you to meet Mrs and Mr Goodwin. Otherwise known as the world’s best cook and the world’s luckiest man.”

  Mrs Goodwin laughed and leaned down to give him a motherly hug. “Shush, you’ll make me blush. You’re right about Mr Goodwin though.” She gave Louisa a hug too. “It’s a joy to meet you, Miss Wood. Jesse’s talked about you so much the past few weeks I feel like we’re good friends already.”

  Louisa glanced at Jesse and he smiled. Hearing he’d been talking about her shouldn’t have made her as happy as it did, but she suspected she was going to have to get used to that feeling for the next two weeks.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs Goodwin,” she said. “And thank you so much for your beef stew on Friday. It was utterly delicious.”

  “Oh, you are a dear to say so.”

  She seemed to radiate joy. Louisa liked her right away.

  Mr Goodwin handed a hymnal to each of them and removed his pipe just long enough to say, “Ma’am, Jesse.” He was the complete opposite of his wife, her short and round and talkative and him tall and skinny and quiet. And yet they seemed to fit.

  When they were inside the building, Louisa whispered to Jesse, “How does he manage to stay so thin when he has Mrs Goodwin’s cooking all the time?”

  “That has been the subject of many a discussion around here,” he replied. “And the answer is, no one has any idea. Not even him.”

  In contrast to the grand, stone-built churches Louisa was used to attending in New York, the Green Hill Creek Emmanuel Church was a homely looking place. Polished oak flooring reflected the light streaming in through tall, arched windows and the walls were painted a warm cream. Vases of flowers adorned the windowsills and dotted around the walls were cloth banners with Bible verses embroidered in bright colours. At the front, a low platform held a table, some chairs, and a simple wooden lectern. A plain, unadorned cross hung on the wall behind the platform. It was as welcoming a place of worship as any she’d been to and she felt immediately at home.

  Jesse led her to the front where a wheelchair-sized space had been left open at the end of the first row, the pew ending short of those behind it.

  “Did they do this for you?” she said as she took a seat.

  “Just as soon as my pa made me my first wheelchair. They’ve always been real supportive here. I was too young to really think about it at the time, but I know it was a blessing to my pa that the people were so considerate of me.”

  Looking at the space that had been created just for him, she was relieved he’d had people who cared about him during his life. It didn’t make sense to her that she should care so much about what had happened to him as a child, and yet she did.

  “I’m glad you’ve had people look out for you like that.”

  “I’m glad you’re glad,” he said, a smile sauntering onto his face that made her want to laugh and blush at once. His eyes focused beyond her and the smile disappeared. “Oh no.”

  “Mr Johnson, I’m so glad I caught you.” A diminutive, harried looking man with greying brown hair rushed up to them, clutching a small brown ledger in his arms. His eyes flicked to Louisa.

  “Mr Mead,” Jesse said, “may I introduce Miss Wood?”

  Mr Mead smiled faintly. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Wood.” He returned his attention to Jesse even as he spoke. “I’m sorry to bother you in the Lord’s house on a Sunday, but I just can’t seem to get the totals to match up and Mrs Mead says I’d better get it right or she won’t know what we have left to spend on the chicken feed and...”

  “Mr Mead,” Jesse said, his eyes going to Louisa, “couldn’t this wait until tomorrow? You could come over before work, if you like.”

  The man became even more flustered, if that was possible. “I would, except I can’t come into town tomorrow because our Ada is about to give birth any second and Mrs Mead says if I’m not there she’ll leave her to do it all by herself and I can’t bear the thought of Ada out in the barn alone while it happens.”

  “It’s all right,” Louisa said to Jesse. “You go ahead.”

  He flashed her an apologetic smile. “I’ll be right there, Mr Mead.”

  For just a moment, the harried expression left Mr Mead’s face. “Thank you so much. I’m real grateful for this.” Nodding to Louisa, he hurried off to join a tall woman seated towards the back of the church.

  “Sorry,” Jesse said. “I’ve tried to teach him, but he has probably the worst head for math I’ve ever come across.”

  Louisa laughed and touched his arm. “I’ll be just fine here.”

  “Thanks for being so understanding. I never knew there could be accounting emergencies before I became an accountant. I’ll be right back.” He turned his chair then looked back at her. “By the way, Ada is a pig, in case you were wondering.”

  Louisa donned as serious an expression as she could muster. “Thank you for telling me. I had hoped they didn’t have a woman giving birth in their barn.”

  “I’m glad I could put your mind at ease then,” he said, face perfectly straight for a good three seconds before his smile broke through.

  She watched him wheel along the aisle in the direction of the Meads, vaguely aware there was a smile on her face she couldn’t seem to dispel. When she’d watched him for longer than she probably should have in public, she opened her reticule, withdrew her Bible, and found her place in Ephesians.

  “Psst.”

  At the sound, Louisa looked around her, but no one else was close by.

  “Psst, down here,” the voice hissed.

  She twisted in her seat to peer down into the row behind her.

  Nancy peeked up at her from where she was crouched on the floor. “Don’t look!” She stretched up to check in Jesse’s direction then ducked down again.

  Louisa turned away and pretended to read her Bible. “What are you doing down there?”

  “We just got here and I wanted to check you remembered not to tell Jesse I came to see you yesterday.”

  “I remembered.”

  “Good. I don’t know if he’ll introduce you to me and Ma and Pa and Luke before or after the service, but I’m ready. I practised for half an hour and Joshua said I looked real natural when I said I’d never met you. Did you practise your expression for when you meet me?”

  Louisa’s stomach scrunched in on itself at the thought of meeting Jesse’s stepmother for the first time. His father had been very nice, but mothers were on a whole different level when it came to being protective of their sons.

  “I’m afraid I didn’t, but I think I’ll be okay. I’ve had a lot of practise pretending to be interested in people who were boring. That’s kind of the same.”

  Nancy sighed. “I guess that will have to do. I’ll be...”

  “Louisa!” Sara walked right past Nancy’s hiding place without seeing her and took the empty seat beside Louisa. “How is Miss Wood today? Or is it Mrs Johnson yet?”

  Louisa glanced behind her, but Nancy had gone. She turned her attention to Sara and smiled. “Not yet. How is Mrs Raine?”

  ~ ~ ~

  By the time Jesse returned the service was about to begin, which gave Louisa’s nerves about being introduced to the rest of his family a good long time to get up and running.

  She tried to concentrate on the service and even managed to enjoy Pastor Jones’ sermon, but she couldn’t help casting the occasional glance at the far side of the church where they were seated.

  “My pa already likes you,” he said when the service came to an end, “and Malinda, Luke and Nancy will too. You don’t have to be afraid.”

  Her mother would have been mortified if she’d known her daughter had let her mask slip. She lowered her gaze. “And I thought I was hiding it so well.”

  He ducked his head to look past the bonnet into he
r eyes. “This may be the wrong thing to say, but I’m glad you’re nervous. It means you care what they think, which means you care about me. Doesn’t it? Just a bit?”

  His smiling green eyes gave her stomach a whole different reason to wobble. Why did he make her so befuddled? And how could befuddlement feel so nice?

  The corners of her lips curled up a little. “Maybe.”

  “Then is it wrong to hope you’re downright terrified?” He flashed her a roguish grin.

  She covered her laugh with her fingers. “I wouldn’t say it’s very gentlemanly, but it’s not necessarily wrong.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.” His looked beyond her. “Well, would you like to get it over with? My sister looks like she might explode if we don’t go over there soon.”

  She turned to see Nancy saying something to her mother, pulling at her hand in an apparent attempt to get her to go to them. Seeing Louisa’s eyes on her, she smiled and waved before abruptly stopping and looking at her hand in horror as if it had betrayed her.

  “I suppose we could go over there now,” she said, wanting to laugh despite herself.

  By the time she and Jesse reached the Johnson family, all four of them were silently watching their approach. Louisa had an overwhelming urge to run and find a mirror in which to check her appearance.

  “Good morning, Miss Wood,” Mr Johnson said, standing. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “Good morning.” She wondered if what he really meant was it was good to see her still there rather than on a train back to New York. Either way, he appeared sincere which eased her nerves a little.

  “This is my wife, Malinda.”

  Mrs Johnson made her way along the row and, to Louisa’s surprise, wrapped her in a hug. She’d been hugged more times in the past two days since she arrived than in the last half a year back home. It was rather nice.

  “We’re all so glad you’re here,” Mrs Johnson said, smiling.

  Jesse’s stepmother was a good foot shorter than her husband, with a face that managed to look youthful and yet worldly at the same time. Louisa had been right, Nancy did favour her mother with her dark brown hair pinned into a relaxed chignon and large, chocolate brown eyes. And she exuded a warmth that calmed Louisa’s nerves further.

  She breathed out in relief and smiled. “I’m glad to be here.”

  Mrs Johnson turned to the young man beside Peter. “This is our other son, Luke.”

  Luke was unmistakably Jesse’s brother. Although he had brown eyes like his mother and his father’s light brown hair, when he stood and said, “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” his smile reminded her so much of Jesse she had to glance between the two of them. He had yet to reach his father’s height, but at fourteen Louisa suspected he had a growth spurt coming that would change that, and his shoulders and chest were already filling out, no doubt due to the work he did with his father in the smithy.

  The final member of the family was practically bouncing in her seat and when Mrs Johnson beckoned her forward Nancy leaped up and rushed to join them. “And this is our daughter, Nancy.”

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Louisa.” Her eyes widened, flicking to Jesse behind her. “I mean, Miss Wood. You look just like your photograph, except even prettier. I could have recognised you even before we met. Today. Just now. When we met for the first time.”

  Louisa carefully kept her face straight. “It’s lovely to meet you, Nancy. Jesse wrote all about you in his letters. You’re just like I imagined you. And please, call me Louisa.” She looked around at the little family. “All of you.”

  She needn’t have wasted any energy on worrying what they would think of her. Jesse’s family surrounded her with smiles and warmth and a genuine friendliness she’d been unused to at home. In all the thought she’d put into preparing herself for coming here, wondering what it would be like when she did, she’d never imagined such a thing. Her concerns had been over what she would wear, how harshly she’d be judged, if she’d embarrass herself by saying or doing the wrong thing, if she’d be acceptable to Jesse and his parents. She’d never thought to be so accepted just as she was. And even if she had thought of it, she would never have imagined how good it would feel.

  She glanced back at Jesse to find him smiling at her and she smiled back. Instead of being a daunting length of time, two weeks suddenly felt entirely too short.

  ~ ~ ~

  Louisa and Jesse remained at the church for another half hour or so while she spent time with Amy, Sara and Lizzy, catching each other up on their new lives so far. It had been an eventful time for all of them since they’d arrived in Green Hill Creek and, though it wasn’t even forty-eight hours since they’d stepped from the train, it felt much longer.

  Jo hadn’t come to church with her husband. Sara told them she’d spoken to him before the service and he’d told her Jo was ill. Louisa had noticed him leave as soon as the service was over and she assumed he’d hurried home to take care of her. She wished Jo lived closer to town so she could check on her. Now she had real friends, she wanted to make sure they were all safe and happy.

  At Peter and Malinda’s invitation, Louisa and Jesse spent the midday meal and much of the afternoon with the Johnsons. They were joined for dinner by a pretty girl Luke’s age named Tabitha and the two young people were clearly smitten with each other. Louisa tried not to be affected by their loving looks and whispered conversations and the way they held hands whenever possible, but she found herself glancing at Jesse more than once, her thoughts wandering to what it would be like to have that kind of closeness with him.

  Nancy took it upon herself to show Louisa around the house, and the smithy, and the stable, and every inch of their property. Louisa enjoyed Jesse’s young sister’s enthusiasm. She had two younger sisters of her own, but they were relatively close in age so she’d never appreciated them in the same way. With Malinda’s help, Nancy even taught Louisa how to get on and off a horse without revealing an ankle or calf, a process that involved a lot of laughter, not to mention much patience on the part of June, one of Peter’s horses.

  Even though she’d only just met them, Louisa felt a sense of comfort with Jesse’s family, a feeling of belonging she hadn’t expected.

  Surrounded as he was by love and encouragement and acceptance, it was no wonder Jesse had grown into the man he was.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Told you they’d love you,” Jesse said as they headed for his home after leaving his family.

  Louisa laughed, a wonderful sound that flooded his insides with warmth. “Yes, you did.”

  “Did you have a good time?” Though he kept his tone casual, he was eager to know how she felt about the most important people in his life. If she liked them, he reasoned, it brought her a step closer to wanting to stay with him.

  “I had a wonderful time. You have a lovely family. They made me feel very welcome. And thanks to Malinda and Nancy I will no longer be in danger of becoming immodest while mounting and dismounting Eagle.”

  He couldn’t let that one go. “Remind me to thank them,” he said, in a not at all thankful tone.

  She laughed again and gave his shoulder a playful slap. “You are terrible.”

  He’d known she wouldn’t take offence at his sense of humour. It was one of the reasons he’d been drawn to her letters. “I feel like I should apologise for Nancy. She’s been so excited about you coming. Next time I’ll tell her to let you have at least a few minutes to yourself.”

  “Oh no, I adore your sister. She’s delightful, and so much fun.”

  He hadn’t realised how important it was to him that they get along until this moment. He breathed out, relieved. “So what was up with her?”

  Louisa kept her eyes on the road ahead of her, obviously trying to avoid his gaze. “What do you mean?” She was so adorable, even when trying to hide something from him.

  “I mean the exaggerated way she greeted you in the church, and all the whispering between the two of you.”

 
; “Why are you asking me? She’s your sister, you know her better than I do. I only met her today.”

  He watched her wince and couldn’t help smiling at how bad a liar she was.

  “Aha!” he exclaimed, coming to a halt. “So you have met her before.”

  She looked back at him, her shoulders slumping. “I can’t tell you. I made a promise.”

  He shrugged. “That’s okay, I’ll just ask her.”

  “Oh no, please don’t. She’ll be mortified she didn’t fool you. She was so proud of her performance.”

  He slowly wheeled forward and looked up at her, waiting. He didn’t want her to break a promise, but he was dying to know what had happened.

  She heaved a sigh. “She came to the house yesterday morning before I came to see you, to try to persuade me to stay.”

  This was interesting. “What did she do?”

  “It was the sweetest thing,” she said, clasping both hands at her breast. “She’d written down everything she could think of about you and read it out to me. Like how you always played with her when she was little and never got angry with her when she interrupted your studying and how you let her bake cookies with you and all the things you can do. She said you’d be just about the best husband and father in the world.” She looked down, a small smile on her face. “I thought you couldn’t possibly be as wonderful as she made you sound, but if your little sister thought so much of you, you must be something special.”

  He needed to get Nancy something extra good for her birthday this year. “So she convinced you to stay?”

  “Actually no, I’d already decided to stay. But if I hadn’t she would have done a very good job of changing my mind.”

  Maybe he should get Nancy to speak to her again when the two weeks was up.

  Louisa’s expression turned serious. “You won’t tell her I told you, will you?”

  “No, I won’t tell her. She’ll tell me herself eventually anyway. She can’t keep a secret for anything.”

  Her mouth fell open. “So I didn’t have to tell you at all?”