by Lilah Rivers
“But why did he not? He appears to be a very well-mannered gentleman,” she noted.
“He is. He really is a wonderful man. He just never found the right woman here. I think he figured that people accepted arranged marriages for many years and he might as well do the same,” Justine said.
“And what about you? Do you intend to go abroad and marry an Englishman?” Gemma asked with a laugh.
“Ha! No, I would never do that. I am actually engaged to be married very soon to Amos’s closest friend,” Justine said.
“That’s wonderful, you must tell me about him,” Gemma said.
“Daniel Bridges. He is a delightful man. He wants to be a minister and I cannot wait to be his wife,” Justine said.
“A minister’s wife? That sounds like a job in and of itself, but I hope that you are happy doing it. If he is a good man then that is what matters,” Gemma said.
“He really is. I have no doubt that you’re going to meet him soon enough. He’s sweet and loyal and handsome to boot,” Justine said.
Gemma had no idea if the latter part was really a compliment, but she was glad that Justine was so happy with this man that she was going to marry. He sounded lovely.
But it was her own husband who had Gemma nervous. She would try to give him a chance, to get to know him well. But if Justine was only saying those nice things because he was her brother, Gemma feared what the future might hold.
She feared that she had made a grievous error in leaving her home behind.
Chapter 5
Amos leaned forward and took another mouthful of vegetables from the plate, anything to keep his mouth busy so that he wouldn’t have to say anything more while Daniel digested the information.
“You never told me that you had a woman in England that you love. How could you not tell me something so important?” Daniel asked, clearly offended.
“I didn’t tell hardly anyone,” Amos said. He was grasping at any excuse that he might be able to find in order to defend himself and keep his secret.
“I just don’t understand. Why not? When did you learn that she was going to come to America? What is she like?” Daniel asked, seemingly desperate to know more.
Amos swallowed another bite and decided to tell Amos everything he had told his coworkers.
“You know I have mentioned wanting to marry an English woman, but I really didn’t know how long it would be before she was able to make it here. I was starting to lose hope,” Amos said.
He realized that he was spinning another branch of the lie that had gotten him into this mess in the first place, and even as the words left his mouth, Amos scolded himself. How had he, an honest man, come to this?
“How did you even meet her?” Daniel asked.
Amos had been forced to come up with a tale for his coworkers and had hoped he would not have to share the same story with Daniel.
“Her family came once to America and they visited Tucson,” he said. Amos had decided that the less details he pretended there were, the better. If he spun a story with too many threads, he might lose hold of one and the whole thing would unravel.
“Why would they have come all the way out here?” Daniel asked.
Amos paused for a moment. It was a good question and Daniel was a clever man who would easily be able to find whatever holes Amos had not managed to fill.
Maybe he was wrong after all to try and keep the story vague. Maybe he should have come up with something even more convoluted.
“They had a relative here. He since moved further west, searching California for gold,” he said. It was the most plausible thing that he could think of, knowing that everyone was heading west and it would explain why he had not kept in touch with the mysterious relative of his future bride’s.
“I see. That’s interesting,” Daniel said, still looking somewhat perplexed.
“Sure. Anyway, that’s enough about me,” Amos said, ready to change the subject before Daniel asked any more questions.
“It certainly is not! My closest friend just surprised me with the fact that he is getting married to an Englishwoman and I never even knew that he had met a lady that he loves. How can you expect me to just let go of that?” Daniel asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not sure what all I can say about it,” Amos replied.
“You can say that you should have told me sooner and you can tell me a whole lot more about her,” Daniel replied.
Amos sighed. He felt as though there was no escape at all and every time he tried to avoid dealing with this, he was sucked back it. It was hardly fair.
Or maybe it was exactly what he deserved.
Amos wanted to repent then and there, to beg God’s forgiveness and to tell Daniel the whole truth. In fact, he didn’t understand why he was lying to Daniel about it. Maybe because he didn’t want Daniel to have to lie for him in the future if anyone asked about Miss Temple?
Whatever it was, there was no escaping this line of questioning and Amos would simply have to accept it and steady his heart that he might be able to reply.
“All right then,” he said.
“All right. So, what is she like? What is it about her that you love so much? What made you determined to bring here to America?” Daniel asked.
Amos still knew so little about the woman that he was supposed to be marrying that he wasn’t entirely sure.
“You are asking some excellent questions,” he said.
“So answer me. What is she like?” Daniel asked.
“She is very prim and proper,” he began.
“Huh. I guess I didn’t imagine you with a woman like that. I mean, I always thought you would want someone who was adventurous and wild,” Daniel said.
“She is. Obviously, or she would not have come all the way to America to marry me,” Amos replied.
“I suppose that’s true,” Daniel said. “It must have taken a lot of courage for her to leave her parents behind. Is she very close to them?”
Amos didn’t know if she even had a mother and father, let alone how well she got along with them. Had they sent her here? Had she come on her own? Her dress had been very fancy so he imagined that she wasn’t a poor orphan and her manners definitely belonged to someone who had been born into privilege.
“It’s hard to say. I think she is glad to be away for a while, but you know how things are with parents. You can love them very much and be very close, but still want to live your own life,” he said.
Amos didn’t like saying that. He, himself, would have given anything to see his parents again. His mother had passed when he was too young to remember, while giving birth to Justine. But his father had been a wonderful, hardworking man up until two years before when he slipped while fixing a roof and was lost forever.
Amos and Justine had done all they could to provide for themselves since that day, but he would have traded just about anything to see his father once more.
But no matter how much he missed his father, he did not know what Miss Temple’s mother and father were like. He hoped that she had not left them on bad terms, but he couldn’t make any assumptions.
“What else?” Daniel asked.
“Well, she is extremely beautiful,” Amos said, shaking his head in awe and scratching at the stubble that threatened to grow at his beard.
“I wouldn’t expect you to have fallen in love with her if you didn’t think so,” Daniel said, shrugging.
“No, that’s not what I mean. She isn’t beautiful in the way that I think she is pretty enough and like her because of it. I mean that she is astoundingly gorgeous,” Amos said, still shocked by her beauty.
He had seen beautiful women before and had once cared for a woman whom others didn’t find as beautiful as he did. But Miss Temple was unexpected.
“You haven’t even told me her name,” Daniel said. His face looked annoyed and Amos was realizing that Daniel was likely to look annoyed for quite a while until he felt as though he finally knew everything that he had missed.
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br /> “Oh, sorry about that. Miss Gemma Temple,” Amos told him. That part, at least, was the truth so far as Amos knew. It felt good to have a simple, confident answer to one of the questions that he was asked.
“Miss Temple. Very nice. I hope she’s worthy of you, Amos. A woman that I know nothing about, a woman who is apparently the love of your life,” Daniel said.
Amos was sure that he had turned beet-red at that. What if Daniel saw through his lie? Daniel knew him pretty well and was decent at discerning a person’s nature. How was Amos meant to keep his lies hidden from his friend?
Once more, he deeply regretted that initial lie, that moment of weakness and pride. He had failed so miserably and wanted to undo it all. But since it was too late for that, Amos proceeded forward.
“She really is lovely,” he said.
“I wish you had told me about her before now. I know you said that you weren’t sure if she would be able to come or not, but I could have been praying for you,” Daniel said.
“I’m sorry. Please forgive me for not telling you. Let’s just say that I have failed a lot lately when it comes to this marriage and I am trying to do better going forward for Miss Temple and my friends,” Amos said, determined that things would get easier now that he was telling the truth and really did have a British betrothed.
“All right, all right. Whatever makes you happy. When do I get to meet her?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know, maybe in the next couple of days? Once she has settled in, I mean,” Amos said.
“That sounds like the right idea. And maybe I can come and see you and spend some time with Justine,” Daniel suggested.
“Of course you can. You must be getting very excited about the wedding,” Amos said.
“I really am. Your sister is everything I could ever have wanted in a wife,” Daniel said.
“I’m glad to hear it. She is talking about it all the time. She cannot wait to be your wife and I am proud of the both of you for finding one another,” Amos said, wishing that he had been able to find his wife the way most people did.
He tried to relax and enjoy his time with Daniel, but the entire time Amos was thinking about what might be going on back at the house.
Justine had been right when she had told him to leave for a little while so that she could get to know Miss Temple without the pressure of him being there. Regardless of how right she was, he still wanted to spend his time learning more about Miss Temple.
It was not easy having her right there, pretending to have slept the whole previous day. He hadn’t wanted to bother her or push her out of her comfort zone, but he had heard her moving about and wanted to at least offer her some food.
But Justine had stopped him, telling Amos to let her relax and get comfortable on her own. She had been correct, and he had needed to do just that.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to head back soon and see her,” Amos said.
“Oh, of course. There’s no reason to be here with me when you need to catch up with her. You said she just arrived yesterday?” he asked.
“Exactly. I want to spend some time with her and catch up on all of the things that I have missed,” Amos said.
“That’s wise. Anyway, tell her hello for me. I look forward to meeting her,” Daniel said.
“Of course,” Amos replied, thinking that he would have so many things to tell her about and Daniel would certainly be one of them.
He decided to make his way from Daniel’s home and started for his own. As he walked through town, the dust kicking up from the faint breeze, Amos saw a young lady selling flowers by the side of the road.
He went to her and bought a small bouquet that he could take home to Gemma. Perhaps she would not be charmed at all, but if he was lucky, she may be moved by the gesture and understand and appreciate that he was trying to do something kind for her.
Either way, he figured he would find out soon enough.
Chapter 6
Gemma’s belongings still had not arrived from Miss Collins and Justine volunteered to go and track them down, saying that she would return within a few hours.
It was strange, being alone in this house that was meant to now be called home.
She still wasn’t certain what she was meant to do about all of this. Gemma didn’t feel right or comfortable or at peace. She thought that this must have been a dreadful mistake if she was going to push herself into this position where she would now be trying to find approval from a man who was completely foreign to her.
This country, this home, all of it was so unlike what she had left behind.
Gemma missed her bedroom, her family, her friends.
But she did not miss Lord Linton. She did not miss having her will stripped away and every opportunity for happiness being taken. She did not miss feeling threatened and beaten down and anxious at all times.
She decided that if she was going to try and be comfortable in this home, now was the time to learn a bit more about it. Being all alone, she could snoop around without being disturbed, learn where everything was, where she could easily go.
Gemma slipped out of the bedroom and first began walking down the hall where she quickly found the kitchen again, as well as the parlor—or the living room as they called it.
But there were other rooms as well. Rooms that were not hers, rooms where she knew that she should not enter.
Rooms belonging to Amos and Justine Thompson.
Convincing herself that it was perfectly all right to explore her new home, Gemma first stuck her head into Justine’s room.
In truth, she wasn’t overly interested as she trusted that Justine was a decent woman who was going to be her friend. All she really did was note how clean everything was and quickly glanced at the open wardrobe to see some of the fashions that Justine wore.
Things were certainly different in America. In England, they would have been considered very plain, but here the fashion was more practical, and certainly more comfortable for the Tucson heat than anything that Gemma had brought with her.
The fabrics were soft and cool, not like the thick silks and brocades of English garments. And the colors were light rather than rich. It was clear that the clothing was meant to keep the wearer cool.
Aside from that, Justine had a very nice hairbrush and a few ribbons and assorted items, but she did not have quite the arrangement that Gemma had been accustomed to. In fact, Gemma wondered if Justine really was so easy and confident without all of those things that young women of society were used to.
She also saw the well-used Bible on Justine’s bed. That, she allowed herself to touch, picking it up and flipping through the pages.
There were dozens of scribbles throughout, hundreds maybe. Whomever had been reading this for many years had also been making notes in it. Judging by the handwriting, Gemma was confident that it belonged to a man and she began to wonder if it was Mr. Thompson and Justine’s father who had owned it. It made her wonder where their parents were even at.
But Gemma set the Bible back down and moved on, leaving the room quietly and easily in order to not leave a trace of her presence.
But there was another room, of course. One that she was far more interested in visiting. The room belonging to her husband.