by Lynn Donovan
He had to find a way to make her his bride.
CHAPTER TWO
“Mr. Khan, welcome to Lantern’s National Bank. How may I serve you today?” Niles Newbyer, President of the Bank, extended his hand to the new account holder.
Darsheel Khan shook the man’s hand. “I wondered if I might have a word with you, sir.”
“Of course. Come into my office.” Mr. Newbyer led the way into the back. Dalton McVey and Jonah Featherstone smiled at them as Newbyer and Khan walked past the teller windows.
Khan sat in front of the man’s desk. “People here in Lantern are very kind. I understand most of them are related to the Reverend, Harrison Lantern.”
Newbyer laughed. “Yes. This is true about our little community, but thanks to newcomers like you and your family, we are growing and becoming more diverse. As it should be. So, I hope you are finding yourselves fitting in, settling down, and contemplating staying here a long time.”
“Yes, yes.” Khan cleared his throat. “Miss Mabel Bivens rented us a pleasant home on Third Street. It was good to move out of the hotel, although Mr. Doyle was very accommodating while we stayed there. However, it’s good to have a place of our own.” Mr. Khan cleared his throat again. “Mr. Newbyer, my family and I come from a province in India called Punjab. Due to a change in land reform laws and disenfranchisement of British rule, the economy became such that we were encouraged to go abroad to find work. And so, we did, but… securing work in North America has been… limited for foreigners. We could not settle where we first disembarked, uh, in Canada. Therefore, I moved my family farther south until we came here, to Lantern, Texas. I have been able to secure employment with your lumber yard, and we find this town to be… welcoming.”
“Yes,” Mr. Newbyer leaned back in his chair. “I must confess the town’s grapevine is very efficient in communicating your procurement of employment with Bob Petre. It warms my heart to know you find our town to be a good place to settle. I’d like to think that is due mostly to our founders and their good Christian values.”
Khan nodded. “In my frequent moves from far north to here, I have observed some things… in the economy, and I am troubled by what I see. If you would allow me to give you some advice based on my observations.”
Newbyer nodded.
“I see a depression taking effect across this country, and I hope to help this community to avoid some serious downfalls.”
Newbyer slowly leaned forward, steepled her fingers, and frowned. “You have my attention, Mr. Khan.”

“And this… Mister Newbyer… listened to you?” Anushka poured her husband a cup of tea.
“Yes. He was very cordial and wanted to know what I thought.”
“So, you told him about the signs of an economic contraction?”
“Yes.” Khan sipped his tea smugly. “We discussed all that and I gave him suggestions to avoid it, at least how he could advise Lantern’s residents who invest in the industries and such can avoid it. At the very least, they won’t lose money on investments that have looked profitable in the past but will be ruinous in the near future: transportation systems, for example. I told him how we’ve seen this before and if they’ll wait a few years before investing heavily, they will come out ahead.”
Anushka nodded. “And he listened… to you?”
“Yes.” Darsheel smiled. “He did more than listen, Anushka. He offered me a position with the bank.”
“What? Oh, Darsheel! How wonderful. As what?”
“As a financial consultant. It’s part-time for now, but if it pans out, it could be full-time, and I will receive a commission on the earnings.”
Anushka sat still with a smile curled at the corners of her open mouth.
“For now, I will continue to work for Mister Petre at the lumberyard. He, too, appreciates my developing contracts for large lumber shipments with builders and architects as far away as Oklahoma. Plus, I will have set days and hours to give financial advice at the bank, possibly two days a week.”
Anushka clasped her hands and bit her lip. “Oh, Darsheel. Thank God we didn’t give up and go back to Punjab. Finally, we have found where we belong in America. Although I miss the Catholic Church, Lantern’s Pastor Harrison is a good, god fearing man, and so kind.”
“Yes. Mister Newbyer said he feels this town’s general atmosphere of goodness is due to its founders. Whatever it is, this is the first place we have come to that I honestly feel we can live and not be ridiculed for who we are and where we come from.”
“Speaking of which.” Anushka swallowed. “There’s one more issue we need to discuss.”
“What’s that?”
“Our daughter’s engagement.”
“No!” Darsheel set his teacup down firmly. “You speak of breaking our vow to the Singh family?”
Anushka nodded. “We have heard nothing since Vancouver, darling. How do we know they wish to follow through? How do we know they did not go back to India?” She crossed herself. “Or that they are even still alive, God forbid.” She drew in a deep breath. “How do we know they do not wish to break this vow with our daughter? Thind should have contacted her three years ago, when they reached marrying age.”
“I am a man of my word! I will not break our vow! Now that we are finally settled and I have a respectable income, we will contact Bhagat Singh and let him know Karena and Thind can be married.”
“But Darsheel…” Anushka sensed she was not alone with her husband. She turned toward the parlor. Karena stood there, staring at her parents with tears pooling in her eyes. Anushka pursed her lips and lowered her head. She glanced at her daughter with sad eyes. Karena turned and ran to her bedroom. Anushka touched her husband’s arm. “Darsheel, darling, everything has changed since we left India. Perhaps it is a valid thought that Thind no longer wishes to marry Karena. Our families are no longer—”
“I am a man of my word!” He slammed his fist on the table, making the china cups rattle in the saucers. Anushka jumped and lowered her eyes to her lap.
“I am sorry.” Darsheel softened his tone. “All I have left is my integrity. Please do not ask me to give it up also.”
Anushka lifted her eyes to her husband’s. “You are an honorable man, and I love you.”
“I love you, too, Anushka. I always have.”
Anushka spoke softly. “Is it wrong to wish the same for your daughter?”
CHAPTER THREE
Karena threw herself on her bed. The tears she had been biting back fell, saturating her pillow cover. Anger roiled in her gut and she slammed her fist into the feathery mound. “This is so wrong!”
She sat up. A wave of warmth washed over her. The thought of Reuben’s physique from swinging a blacksmith’s hammer ignited a fire inside her. She longed to be held in his muscular arms and feel the firmness of his chest. She could see his muscles under his shirt bulging and stretching taut the material with each passing week. This occupation for which he apprenticed was building him into a brawny man. And her heart longed to know him more intimately. Resisting his affections was becoming more and more difficult. Her father’s determination that she wed with Thind was breaking her heart.
She stared out the window. The sun was dimming into dusk. Reuben would be walking home from the blacksmith’s soon. She gathered her skirts and shimmied out the window. A giggle escaped her lips, as she scurried over two streets to Main and pressed against the side of the Mercantile, hoping no one would see her.
Reuben walked down the boardwalk, toward his parent’s house. “Reuben,” she whispered.
He turned, spotted her, and cut into the space between buildings. “Wha—?” He took her hands. “What are you doing here? Your father—”
“I don’t care anymore.” She inhaled his musky, manly aroma that was uniquely him. “Father’s not being fair.”
“Maybe not, but you said—”
“I know what I said. Reuben.” She swallowed. Dare she say this? Once these words were releas
ed between them, there would be no going back. A sigh escaped her, and she plunged forward. “I love you! I do not love Thind. I haven’t laid eyes on him since we were so very young. Our betrothal was based on different circumstances. We are in America now, and I have no idea what happened to him or his family. As far as I know they have not corresponded with Father at all.”
“Karena.” Reuben captured her gaze, taking her hand and placing them against his heart. She could feel the tautness of his broad chest. A thrill shot through her.
“What are you saying?” His eyes darted between hers.
This was it. This was the proverbial leap of faith! Here goes nothing… “Let’s elope!”
Reuben staggered back. “Elope? We can’t.”
“Why not?” She closed her eyes. No, no, no. Was he rejecting her? Had she read him all wrong? “I love you. You love me. My Father will never change his mind about this stupid agreement of marriage he arranged for me, unless he has to. And if we are married, then, he will have to accept you, us.”
Reuben searched her eyes. “Karena. I do love you, with all my heart. I do want to marry you, but we can’t elope. My mother is named Honor, and we sons of Honor cannot betray that legacy. We… we have standards by which we were raised. I-we must do the honorable thing and get your father’s permission. There has to be a way to convince him.”
“You don’t know my father. He’s stubborn as a mule! He’ll never change his mind.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Reuben rubbed them away with his thumbs and kissed her lips sweetly. “We have to find a way.”
Her eyes darted back and forth between his. She loved the golden flecks among the brown streaks in his eyes, the one dark spot in the white of his left eye. Had he been injured as a boy? His enviable long dark lashes that every girl would give her eyetooth to have. She sniffed. “I don’t see how.”
“I don’t know either, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try.”
“And… that is why I love you so much, Reuben Featherstone.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.
He rubbed his hand up and down her back as he kissed her, then pulled away from her. He looked strained. Like pulling back from their kiss had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. They both heaved for breath. He smiled. “You better get home before they realize you are gone.”
She nodded, reluctantly. He kissed her cheek and let her go. She forced herself to turn and scurry back to her window where she slipped through and went straight to her washbowl. She washed her face and combed her hair. Her lips could still feel the heat of his. Opening a tiny jar of rouge, she dabbed her little finger in the paste and touched it to her lips, to disguise their swollen appearance. Mum and Father wouldn’t know, but she knew. If she closed her eyes and drew in a breath, she could still smell his manly musk and feel his arms around her.
Dinner wafted through the house. “Please, Saint Nicholas Myra,” she crossed herself. “Show Reuben the way to convince my father that we belong together.”
She gathered a rosary into her hands and prayed over each bead.
“Karena!” Her mother called. “Dinner.”
She crossed herself, put the rosary away, and hurried to the dinner table.

“Hey, Jacob!” Reuben entered his parent’s home. It was late and a plate had been left on the stove for him. He walked past it, searching for the younger of the twins. Scanning the parlor, but not finding him, Reuben rushed upstairs, striding straight to the twins’ bedroom. Jacob sat at his desk, next to his bed, reading. No surprise there. “Hey, Jacob.” Reuben tapped on his open door.
“Yeah.” Jacob turned around, blinking.
“I need to figure something out.” Reuben entered the room.
“All right. What is it?”
Reuben sat on Jacob’s bed. “I need to know about arranged marriages in India and how to supersede an antiquated decision without blatant disrespect for the families.”
“Whoa! Reuben, that’s a lot to figure out in one night.” Jacob closed his book. “I don’t have a book about India or their customs, but maybe Purity or Faith can order one for the library.”
“I just… need to know… what to do.” Reuben hung his head and stared at his clasped hands.
“You are really sweet on this gal, aren’t you? What is it… Karena? Isn’t that her name?”
“Yes. And she’s sweet on me, too, but she’s bound by this agreement even though she hasn’t seen the feller in twelve years. She…” Reuben dropped his eyes to the floor and shoved the toe of his boot into an imaginary obstacle. “She asked me to elope with her, but Jacob, you know I can’t do that. It would be wrong, and Momma would kill me. I can’t do it to Karena’s father. He’d probably never speak to her again if we did such a disrespectful thing. I don’t want to alienate her from her own parents. I just cannot do that to her.”
Jacob walked to Reuben and touched his brother’s shoulder. “I understand. It’s not easy being a son of Honor.” Jacob chuckled. “What do you want me to do?”
Reuben focused on him, gritting his teeth to keep the emotion from quivering on his lip. “I want to know if there’s a way for Karena to be my wife.”
Jacob stared at Reuben a long moment. “All right.” Jacob jerked a nod. “I’ll see what I can find.”
Reuben released the breath he had been holding. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” Jacob patted his shoulder. “Did you eat your supper? Momma left you some on the stove.”
“Yeah, I saw it. No, I came straight up here. I’ll go eat now.”
“Good. ’Cause if you don’t eat, it won’t be that girl’s dad you gotta worry about offending, it’ll be our momma.”
They laughed and Reuben headed down to his lovingly saved supper. Could Jacob find a way? As much of a bookworm as he was, and if there was a way, surely Jacob could figure it out.
CHAPTER FOUR
Anushka smiled as her husband pulled their buggy to the hitching post at the only church in Lantern. The young man that had helped them every chance he could hurried to them. She glanced at Darsheel to see him frown. Anushka rather enjoyed the young man’s gentlemanly gestures of kindness, and she appreciated his sensibility. He hadn’t been rude or aggressive, but it was obvious he had taken a liking to their daughter and was not going to give up on winning her heart anytime soon.
Would it be wrong? They were no longer in India. America had been their chance for a new life. Was it right to tie Karena to the old ways? With the exception of here in Lantern, Texas, it had been challenging to find acceptance among those who had established the lands. People were different in Lantern and Anushka felt like they had finally found the place where they belonged. Old ways and old commitments were so distant to her heart. Did they still exist? Darsheel thought so. In fact, he clung to the idea that his honor was at stake and Karena’s marriage arrangement was the thread that held his integrity intact.
It had been three years since Karena had passed the age when her marriage should have taken place. They had lost track of the Singh family when they separated in Vancouver. Darsheel wrote to their last known address occasionally, to give them a means for contact, but their returning correspondence had been silence. How could Darsheel honor such a commitment if they had no contact from the Singh family? Karena was not getting any younger. At twenty-two years of age, she deserved to marry, and if her heart’s desire found someone other than Thind Singh, couldn’t they, as her parents, give her permission to pursue that desire. Should the Singhs later attempt to lay claim to Karena, couldn’t Darsheel accept the burden on himself for allowing their daughter to marry another because the Singhs had not made their whereabouts known to them?
Darsheel rolled his eyes. “That boy’s gonna be the death of me.” He spoke under his breath, but she heard him, and knew he did not have the same doubts Anushka had about their daughter and the marriage agreement made so long ago.
“Now Darsheel. That boy is very k
ind. Just like the rest of the people in Lantern. Look how they welcome us to their church even though we are catholic.” She smiled at the approaching young man. “And look how happy Karena is when the boy comes to greet her.”
The young man ran right up to their buggy and put out his hand to Anushka. She accepted his help and stepped down. Karena stepped down next. Her smile was radiant and made Anushka’s heart glad. If only she could convince her husband this was right for their daughter. She waited for her husband to walk around the buggy, then took his arm.
They watched their daughter walk ahead of them with the young man. He respectfully did not take her hand but walked beside her toward the church entrance. Reuben. Anushka recalled his name. Like in the Bible. The eldest son of the twelve who were chosen to lead the nations of Israel.
Anushka smiled as she and her husband followed their daughter to the pretty whitewashed chapel on the hill. Unlike Reuben of the Bible, Anushka knew this Reuben was not the oldest of his brothers. If she remembered correctly, he was fifth of six.
His mother was a doctor and her name was Honor. How interesting these people were, and how intriguing it would be to know how they named their children. She looked forward to getting to know everyone better. There was a women’s group who met regularly, perhaps she would inquire after service to see how she could join them. If she could join them. An old feeling of fear tightened in her tummy. Surely, they would be as friendly as the rest of Lantern had been and allow her to join the group. If for no other reason than to learn more about the Indian woman who moved to town? Surely, they were as curious about Anushka as she was about them. Most women were anxious to learn all they could about a newcomer. Why would these women be any different?
“Darsheel!” A man’s voice called to her husband. His voice seemed familiar. Who in Lantern knew her husband well enough to call to him by his given name? Most everyone in Lantern referred to each other formally, Mister Khan was all she’d ever heard her husband called. Who could this be? Anushka turned with furrowed brow. “Oh, no.” She whispered to herself.