Her Heart's Desire NH2 Read online

  “A little. I suppose I won’t feel completely better until she likes me.”

  “I’m sure she will, Sally. It’s just a matter of talking to her and letting her get to know you.”

  Sally nodded, praying her mother was right. Even if she was eager to return home, she wasn’t that eager to talk to his mother, but she knew it had to be done. As it was, things wouldn’t get resolved unless she did something.

  She looked out at the land around her and noted the lush green hills in the distance. She studied the cloudy sky, and decided her mother was right. The worst of the storm was over since these clouds weren’t dark like the ones before had been. As she scanned her surroundings, she noticed a fallen buggy up ahead with a woman sitting near it. From the distance, Sally couldn’t tell who it was.

  “Do you think she lives around here?” Sally asked her mother who slowed the buggy.

  “No. Someone who lived out of town wouldn’t venture on this road while it was raining. This is someone who isn’t familiar with the land. It looks like she ran into a puddle, skidded down the path and ended up toppling into a ditch. Her horse was spooked and ran off.”

  Sally thought her mother’s assessment was accurate and nodded. As they rode closer to the woman, her mother was careful to avoid the puddles along the road. It didn’t take long for Sally to see who the woman was, and when she did, her eyes grew wide in surprise. What was Rick’s mother doing out here?

  His mother looked up at them in time for her mother to call out a greeting to her. Sally couldn’t tell what Rick’s mother was thinking but figured she couldn’t be comfortable sitting out here…and for who knew how long? Her mother pulled the buggy to a stop and set the brake.

  They left the buggy and went over to her. Sally noticed that her ankle was resting at an odd angle. “Mrs. Johnson, what happened?” she asked as she kneeled beside her and lifted the skirt of the woman’s dress to get a better view of her ankle.

  His mother grimaced. “I think I broke it. I tried to move it, but it’s too painful.”

  Sally’s mother patted her arm. “It’s good we came when we did. I’ll get the doctor and come back.”

  Sally got ready to protest since she didn’t want to be left alone with Rick’s mother, but she also knew that this provided her the opportunity she needed so they could talk. Despite her apprehension, she said, “I’ll wait here with you.” She stood up and went to her family’s buggy so she could retrieve her carpet bag.

  “You’ll be alright?” her mother whispered as she got into the buggy.

  “I think so,” Sally replied.

  Her mother offered her an understanding smile and released the brake. “I won’t be longer than half an hour.”

  Sally took a deep breath and nodded, probably appearing braver than she felt. Her mother urged the horse forward, and Sally turned her attention back to Rick’s mother. Offering a hesitant smile, she sat next to her and opened the carpet bag. “Ma says it’ll be thirty minutes. Are you in a lot of pain?”

  “Not if I stay still,” Rick’s mother replied.

  “I thought I’d wipe the dirt off your face, if that’s alright?”

  She sighed and glanced at her hands and dress. “I’m afraid it’ll take more than removing some dirt off my face to make me presentable.”

  “There’s no harm in doing what we can so you can look your best.” She pulled out a handkerchief and did her best to wipe the mud off the woman’s face. “That’s much better.” Putting the soiled handkerchief aside, she grabbed a shirt from her carpet bag and handed it to her. “You can wipe your hands off on this.”

  “But it’s your shirt.”

  Sally shrugged. “I can clean it later.”

  “Thank you,” she replied and cleaned her hands.

  After an awkward moment of silence, Sally asked, “Did your buggy hit a puddle?”

  “I hit a rock first. Then I hit a puddle. After that, everything seemed to tilt to the side and the next thing I knew, I was thrown out of the buggy, and the horse ran off.”

  “That must have been scary.”

  “It was.” She handed Sally the shirt. “It was foolish to come out when it started raining. I didn’t think a thunderstorm would develop.”

  “In Nebraska, we get thunderstorms more often than not.”

  She chuckled. “Apparently so, and that’ll teach me to take a simple ride in the rain for granted.”

  Sally cleared her throat. “If you want, I can brush your hair. We still have some time before the doctor comes.”

  “Alright.”

  Sally dug her brush out of the carpet bag and removed the pins in the woman’s hair, glad to have something to do to help pass the time.

  Rick’s mother held the pins while Sally brushed her hair. “I thought I’d…” his mother began. “That is to say, Rick came to see me and his father this morning, and when I realized how you felt, I wanted to talk to you. Rick told me you were at your parents, so I rented the buggy and horse. I had no idea the rain would turn into a thunderstorm. So now I’m here, and…and…” She shrugged. “I’m sorry, Sally. I should have taken the time to talk to you, to ask you what your intentions were with my son.”

  “I love him,” Sally softly told her as she finished brushing her hair. “You see, Ethel Mae is my friend. She introduced me to him in hopes he would take an interest in me.”

  “She’s the one he mentioned in his letter.”

  “Yes, he said he wrote to you about her. When I met him, I liked him right away. If Ethel Mae wanted to be with him, I never would have interfered. But she didn’t, and I hoped if I could get him to spend time with me, he might want to be with me instead of her.” She reached for the pins from his mother’s hand and starting pinning her hair back into an attractive style. “I didn’t do it to be manipulative. I was hoping he’d like me, but if he didn’t end up liking me, I would have stopped.” Unsure of what else to say, she grew quiet and finished putting the pins in her hair.

  A long moment of silence passed between them before his mother finally spoke. “He’s happy with you. I didn’t let myself see that sooner. I was afraid you tricked him somehow into marrying him, but he explained that he figured out what you and that friend of yours were up to and said he came up with the idea to elope with you.”

  Sally chuckled. “Yes. He pretended to kidnap me. It was very sweet of him. You raised a fine son, Mrs. Johnson.”

  “Thank you.”

  After she finished styling the woman’s hair, Sally put her brush in the carpet bag. She took out her handheld mirror and handed it to her. “What do you think?”

  His mother looked in the mirror and giggled. “You work miracles. I don’t think my hair’s looked this good in years.”

  Pleased by the compliment, Sally teased, “Your husband better be careful. When the doctor sees you, he’s likely to want you for his own.”

  “Oh you!” She playfully swatted her arm before handing the mirror back to her. “I don’t know where my hat went. It flew off my head after I fell. Besides the thunderstorms, Nebraska has some powerful winds.”

  “Yes, it does. It’s one of the things that surprised us when we came here. The prairie is nothing like New York.”

  “Or Vermont.”

  Sally tucked the mirror into her bag and pulled out a bonnet. “You can use this if you want.”

  With a sly grin, she winked. “I think I’ll go without the hat. I’d like my husband to see me looking beautiful. The way you fixed my hair does make me look beautiful.”

  “Well, it helps to have a face to go with it. You’re a very attractive woman.” As Sally slipped the bonnet into her bag, she asked, “Do we need anything else?”

  “Yes, I think we do. Sally, I really am sorry. Rick’s always had good judgment. I should have known he wouldn’t have picked you if you weren’t going to be good to him. And…”

  Curious, Sally turned from her bag and studied her. “And what, Mrs. Johnson?”

  “You’ll think
I’m wicked when I tell you this, but while Rick was telling me how you two met, I remembered something I did to help get things going with his father.”

  Intrigued, she leaned forward. “Oh?”

  Though her cheeks grew pink, she continued, “Yes. You see, I asked one of his friends to introduce me to him under the pretense that my brother had questions about opening a bank account for me. Not only did I lie about wanting a bank account, but I didn’t even have a brother. I convinced my cousin’s friend to act like he was my brother, and as part of my agreement, I made tarts for him to eat for a whole three months.”

  “Why, Mrs. Johnson, that was a wicked thing to do!” Sally playfully admonished with a twinkle in her eye. “Did your husband ever find out?”

  “He said he knew right away that I lying because I kept fiddling my thumbs. I’m afraid I do that when I lie.”

  “You should have put your hands in your pockets or behind your back. Then he wouldn’t have noticed.”

  Rick’s mother laughed. “It’s a shame I didn’t know you back then to give me that tip.”

  “But it worked out. He married you anyway.”

  “Yes. Later he said he was flattered someone went through all that trouble to meet him.” Smiling, she shrugged. “Rick said the same thing about you. That’s when I remembered what I had done and realized we actually have something in common.”

  “Our good taste in men?”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of being smart, but yes, that too,” Rick’s mother replied.

  The sound of a horse neighing drew Sally’s attention to the road. Not too far from them, she saw the doctor coming their way with a wagon. “The doctor’s here, Mrs. Johnson.” Sally stood up and waved to the doctor. He returned the gesture, so she knelt by Rick’s mother. “We’ll get that ankle of yours in good shape again.”

  Once the doctor reached them, he tended to her ankle, and even though Sally knew it had to hurt, she was relieved that Rick’s mother hadn’t suffered more serious injuries. And even better, it seemed that she and his mother had just turned over a new leaf and might possibly become friends.

  After the doctor finished his task, Sally helped him lift Rick’s mother and put her on the wagon where the doctor placed a blanket over her, ensuring that her ankle was cushioned from the jerky movements the wagon would make on their way to town. Sally sat next to her in case she needed anything, and the doctor led the way back. When they passed her mother who was heading to the farm, Sally called out a greeting which her mother returned.

  “I hope you and your husband will have supper with my parents again,” Sally told Rick’s mother.

  “We’d be delighted,” his mother replied. “And we’ll have to invite them over, once we get settled into a house.”

  “Oh, that reminds me. I talked to Richard, and he knows of two houses that might suit your needs.”

  As Sally continued to describe the houses in detail, a ray of sunlight peaked through a break in the clouds, a gentle reminder that everything was going to be alright from that moment forward.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  November 1870 (three years later)

  On Thanksgiving Day, Sally carried a tray of refreshments into her parents’ parlor. Rick’s mother bounced her very happy grandson on her knee and looked up at Sally as she placed apple cider on the table. Sally glanced around the crowded room and contemplated opening the window. Even if there was snow outside, the group of people coming in and out of the room and the young children made everything feel warmer than it actually was.

  Glad for a reprieve from helping her mother in the kitchen, Sally sat next to Rick’s mother and smiled at her son who giggled. “I think I’ve been replaced,” Sally said, and though she made a show of pouting, she couldn’t hold back her laughter.

  “No one ever takes a mother’s place, my dear,” Rick’s mother replied.

  His mother handed Greg to her, so Sally took her son in her arms and sighed when he tried to squirm back to his grandmother’s lap. “You think I can’t be replaced? I think Greg loves his grandmothers more than me.”

  “To be fair, I do get the joy of spoiling him. You have to do the difficult job of disciplining him. Though, I can’t imagine what he’d ever do wrong.”

  “My ma thinks he does no wrong, too,” Sally mused. “It must be something grandmothers are born with: the ability to only see the good in their grandchildren.” She gave her 11-month-old son a kiss on the forehead before handing him back to Rick’s mother. “I should make sure no one else needs anything to drink.”

  She stood up from the couch and set a glass of apple cider by the small table next to Rick’s mother. She turned back to the tray of glasses just in time to stop four-year-old Mark from knocking them over. Relieved, she let go of his hand and shook her head. “Now, Mark, you know better than to do that. You can have some cider, but you need to take one of the cups from the kitchen.”

  His eyes grew wide. “Aunt Sally, I’m Anthony.”

  She studied him. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. I know my name.”

  She caught the mole under his chin and nodded. “I’m sorry. You really are Anthony. I tell you, you and your brother look exactly alike. It’s uncanny.” She glanced at Amanda who was holding her one-year-old daughter in her lap. “It’s a good thing you didn’t have twins last year.”

  Amanda grinned. “Sometimes I get the boys mixed up, too, so it’s not just you.”

  Sally’s gaze went back to the little girl who was drifting off to sleep. “I’d like to know how my niece can sleep when it’s so loud in here.”

  “She’s used to a lot of noise,” Amanda said, nodding to Mark who tapped Anthony on the shoulder and yelled that there were cookies waiting for them in the kitchen. The two boys cried with glee and ran out of the parlor, making Amanda giggle. “See what I mean? This happens all the time. Spending Thanksgiving here just means they get to eat before supper.”

  “Ma is horrible when it comes to saying no to her grandchildren,” Sally said. “I’ll be surprised if they have an appetite by the time we carve the turkey.”

  “Even if they don’t, the men will eat enough for them,” Rick’s mother spoke up.

  Joel ran into the room with a hand full of cookies and plopped right next to Rick’s mother. “Want some?” He held out a cookie to her, which Greg tried to take.

  Sally groaned. “Joel, you need to bring a plate and a napkin out here when you have food.”

  Rick’s mother nodded, and in a kind voice, added, “You don’t want your poor ma to have to pick crumbs off the floor in here, do you?”

  “No,” Joel grudgingly replied as he got ready to stand up.

  Jenny hurried into the parlor with a plate and a cloth napkin. “For goodness’ sakes, Joel. I can barely keep up with you.” She shoved the plate and napkin in his face.

  “I forgot to get them.” Joel placed the cookies on the plate and set the napkin on his lap. “There. Happy? Hey Sally! You missed the excitement yesterday. Clyde Jenkins came over, and I caught him kissing Jenny on the cheek.”

  Jenny gasped and grabbed the plate of cookies from him.

  “What are you doing?” he protested, reaching for the plate.

  “I can’t believe you were spying on me!” She held the plate behind her back. “You listen to me, Joel Larson, if you do that again, I’ll slip something nasty into your food.”

  Surprised, Sally’s eyes widened. “Jenny, where were you and Clyde?”

  Jenny turned to her, her cheeks red from embarrassment. “He was showing me how to shoe a horse.”

  “Was someone else around so you could make sure Clyde didn’t try something he shouldn’t?” Sally asked.

  “I’ve already heard it from Ma. I don’t need to hear it from you, too.” Jenny glared at Joel and plopped the plate on his lap. “Snitch.”

  Joel shook his head as she stormed out of the room. “That’s gratitude for you. I only came down from the loft becau
se Clyde was wrong when he was explaining how to shoe a horse. He doesn’t know anything about it.” He looked at Rick’s mother. “He’s a dolt. I’m surprised he can tie his shoes.”

  “That’s not a nice thing to say about someone,” Sally muttered, though she didn’t care much for Clyde. She hoped her sister wasn’t going to marry him.

  “Can he have a cookie?” he asked Rick’s mother, pointing to Greg whose gaze hadn’t left the plate ever since the cookies went on it.

  Rick’s mother nodded. “We need to break it up into small pieces.”

  After Joel hurried to do that, Jenny came back into the room and called out, “Ma says you can’t eat in here. You can eat on the porch, in the kitchen or in the barn.”

  Joel grunted. “I’m not that messy.”

  “Ma!” Jenny yelled.

  “I’m going, I’m going,” he grumbled and sulked out of the room.

  Satisfied, Jenny hurried after him, passing Tom’s wife, Jessica, who came into the parlor, holding her baby.

  Sally held out a glass of cider to Jessica and then another one to Amanda. Turning back to Jessica, she asked, “Did all the noise wake Nelly up?”

  Jessica set her daughter on the floor so she could crawl. “I think Nelly’s having a hard time sleeping with all the noise.”

  Sally laughed and looked at Amanda’s sleeping daughter. “Annabelle’s used to it,” Sally told Jessica. “But I am wondering, are you used to being Tom’s wife?”

  Jessica sipped her drink and laughed. “I don’t know if there was anything to get used to. He’s always been sweet.”

  “Oh, I know that, but he never seemed to stay put. Before I got married and left this house, he was hard to pin down. He’d be running all over the place after Joel. It was annoying.”

  “Well, Joel isn’t out there to bother him,” Jessica replied and reached down to stop Nelly from pulling on Amanda’s dress.

  “I don’t mind, Jessica,” Amanda told her. “Besides, it’s nice to see my niece. “I married Richard when Tom was fifteen, and even when I see Tom now, I still think of him as the clumsy fifteen-year-old who almost knocked me over on my wedding day. It doesn’t seem real to me that he has a child.”