back to normal. “Open it and find out.” I sat on her bed, not
trusting myself to stand. I was ready to run over to her and
kiss her. I didn"t trust myself to get too close to her. As it
was, I almost felt guilty for staring at her, but I remembered
that we were married and looking at her was acceptable.
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She gently removed the ribbon. Why did women feel
the need to take their time opening gifts? I didn"t bother to
ask. In fact, she could take all day if she wanted. I
suddenly caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and saw
the skin below her collarbone. She wasn"t aware of my
response to her. It didn"t even occur to her that I was
thinking about sex.
She removed the cloth and squealed with delight.
“It"s gorgeous!” She picked up the dress and put it up to her
neck so she could inspect it in the mirror. “Oh, and there"s a
bonnet to match! This will be more comfortable than the
hats.”
I wanted to tell her to put the dress back down so I
could continue to look at her skin, but she was happy with
the dress so I didn"t. I was glad she liked my gift.
“How do you know my measurements?” she
wondered.
I blinked and looked at her eyes. They were such a
pretty brown color. I always liked her eyes.
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Are you feeling alright?
You look flushed.” She forgot to hold her dress up to her
neck and walked over to me. She leaned over and touched
my forehead.
I couldn"t move. Her sudden movement loosened
her robe enough for me to catch a glimpse of her breasts.
Perfectly formed white mounds with pink tips. They were
much better than I imagined.
“You feel warm. Maybe you should lie down,” she
said, concerned.
“No, I"m fine,” I quickly argued. The beating of my
heart sounded loud in my ears. She was, without a doubt,
the most exquisite woman in the world.
“I don"t know. You look like you"re going to faint.”
She stood back up and studied me, as if determining
whether I was sick or not.
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I shook my head to clear it. “I"m fine. It"s just a little
hot in here, that"s all.”
“I feel cold. Maybe that"s because I just got out of
the bath. Would you like to take a bath? Maybe it would
cool you off.”
“That"s a good idea.”
“I can boil some water for you.”
“No. I"l just take cold water.”
“Are you sure? That can"t be comfortable.”
“I"l survive it.” It was either that or throw her on the
bed and act on the thoughts that were racing wildly through
my mind.
She stood there and stared at me.
I looked back at her. “What is it?”
“Aren"t you going to take the bath?”
“I was hoping to see how you look in the dress first.”
There was no way I was going to stand up with her looking
at me. I didn"t want her to see how aroused I was. I cleared
my throat. “You can put it on in the third bedroom.”
Or you
can put it on right here.
She blushed. “Oh.” She quickly tightened the top of
her robe.
I sighed. I was hoping she wouldn"t remember to do
that.
“I"l be right back,” she said before she left the room.
I jumped off the bed and opened the window so that
the fresh, cool air would calm me down. There was no way
that the dress would look better than her wearing nothing.
She was incredible.
When she returned, she wore the dress. I breathed
a sigh of relief. I didn"t think I could handle watching her in
her robe anymore.
She ran to the mirror and examined her reflection.
“This is a wonderful dress. How did you know my
measurements?”
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Now that she was fully dressed, I could concentrate
again. “That was easy. I took that pink dress you wore at
the dance to Mrs. Rhodes.”
“It fits better than that dress.”
“I told her the pink dress was a little tight because
you felt faint in it.”
She went to the mirror and combed her hair which
was drying nicely. She placed the bonnet on her head and
turned to me. “What do you think?”
“You"re the best looking woman I"ve ever seen,” I
whispered.
She beamed. “That is very thoughtful of you to say.”
She walked over to me and hugged me. “Thank you. This
is the best gift anyone"s ever given me.”
“You had better dresses back in Virginia.” It felt so
good to hold her.
“But this took some thought.”
“I know how much you like dresses.”
“Todd, you"re the best husband a woman could ask
for. I"m very thankful you love me so wel .” She kissed me
on the cheek.
I turned my head in hopes she would kiss me on the
mouth, but she had already pulled away from me and was
admiring the dress in the mirror.
“I think I"l take that bath now,” I weakly said before I
left the room.
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Ann’s Point of View
I was thankful for the fall season. It was good to feel
the cool breezes drift in through the open windows. Early in
October, I woke up and realized I had finally forgiven Kent
and Rebecca. I was relieved and happy to be able to move
on with my life.
Since Todd and I slept in separate bedrooms, I
wasn"t aware he had trouble sleeping. How many sleepless
nights had he spent pacing in his bedroom or downstairs in
the parlor?
I wouldn"t have even known he was having trouble
sleeping if I hadn"t gotten cold in the middle of the night and
had to close my window. I realized I was thirsty, so I
decided to go to the kitchen to get some water. On my way
down the steps, I heard the sound of footsteps in the parlor.
I gasped and stood still, afraid to move. I held my breath
and considered what to do. Suddenly, it occurred to me that
an intruder wouldn"t spend so much time in one place.
I slowly walked down the stairs and tiptoed to the
sound, curious as to what Todd would be doing up at such a
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late hour. I was ready to let my presence be known when I
saw him, slouched over the desk in the parlor. The
candlelight by his side showed his worried expression. I
stayed out of sight in the shadows. He was greatly troubled.
He never told me anything was bothering him, so I had no
idea what it could be. He sighed loudly, stood up and paced
in front of the desk, sat back down in front of a pile of
papers, wrote something down, threw his pen down in
aggravation and paced the floor again. Obviously, whatever
he was writing wasn"t working. Final y, he blew out the
candle and walked back up the stairs. I quietly hid in the
shadows.
Once he shut his bedroom door, I crept over to the
desk and pulled open the drawer that contained the papers
he had been scribbling on. I pushed aside my guilty feelings
and walked to the window so I could study what was on the
papers by the light of the moon. It didn"t take me long to
realize that I was holding the household budget. I frowned.
We needed more money. I put the papers back where I
found them. I didn"t know if I felt better or worse now that I
knew what kept him up at night. He wanted to protect me
from financial worries, but I was partly responsible since I
bought extra food that I wanted to cook. Some of the food
was expensive. Plus, he originally planned on coming out
by himself, so I was an extra person to care for.
Winter
was
coming
soon,
and
Barbara
recommended that I get warmer clothes, coats and boots.
Now I was worried. How could we afford those things? I
wanted to help him but didn"t feel comfortable approaching
him since he was determined to handle this on his own.
That night, I stayed awake, tossing and turning in my bed as
I thought of ways I could ease our financial burden. As I
cooked breakfast, I found the answer. I would take Mrs.
Coley up on her offer to give me food in exchange for my
services.
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Barbara came by to pick me up later that morning.
We went to town once a week so she could visit her mother.
Molly usually joined us while Calvin and Bruce helped John.
While Barbara and Molly visited her mother, I went to the
store.
Mr. Coley was stocking the shelves. “Hello, Mrs.
Brothers. How are you and Todd doing this morning?”
“We are doing well, thank you,” I replied.
Mrs. Coley walked out from the backroom. “You"re
early. You don"t usually come for another hour.”
I took a deep breath. “Yes. I had something I
wanted to ask you.”
Mr. Coley stopped and looked at me.
“Is your offer to help you with the store still open? I
would like to work for free food.”
Mrs. Coley thought for a moment. “We could use
someone to clean the store, update our books, and keep an
inventory list of the supplies we have. Are you willing to do
those things?”
I nodded. “I know how to do all of that.” For once, I
was grateful for my schooling. “I"m not sure my husband
would appreciate it if I worked here. He might not like the
fact that I"m helping with the finances.”
“You don"t need to explain,” Mr. Coley replied. “We
won"t say a word about this.”
I sighed, relieved. “Thank you.” I didn"t want Todd to
feel like he couldn"t make it out here on his own.
So we agreed that I would come in twice a week to
do these chores in return for food and cooking supplies.
Since Todd didn"t go shopping, he didn"t know the cost of
food, so I was able to fib on the cost of different items. I
simply explained that I had found ways to cut back on the
grocery bill. He accepted my reason for the sudden
decrease in food expenses.
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After two weeks, I took a midnight peek at the budget
and smiled when I saw we were back in good financial
shape.
As it turned out, Mrs. Coley and I became good
friends. She would fill me in on her past memories,
especially funny stories of her children"s childhood. She
loved to tell her stories, and I enjoyed listening to them. She
also gave me advice on staying warm during the winter. It
was funny how I got used to doing the chores at home and
in the store. I didn"t even notice how exhausting they were
anymore.
***
That Sunday evening, Todd and I sat on the porch,
watching the sun set as the wind tossed orange and red
leaves on the ground.
“I wish time would stand stil at this moment,” he
commented. “If only things could always be this peaceful.”
“It is beautiful,” I agreed.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the
chair. It had been a couple of weeks since he sat next to
me on the porch swing. I worried that he no longer loved
me like he used to, but I didn"t ask him about it in case I was
right.
“I wish tomorrow wasn"t Monday.”
I sighed. It seemed that he hated his job more with
each passing day. “Try not to think about the bank.”
“I try, real y I do. I tell myself once winter is over, I
can afford to quit. John"s going to help me purchase farm
equipment. He"l know what I need to get started. He
recommends I start planting-”
I bit my lower lip so I wouldn"t scream. Instead, I
said, “Todd, I"ve heard this a dozen times already. Can we
talk about something else? Maybe you should quit your job
at the bank and get another job until Spring.” When he didn"t
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respond, I continued. “There"s an opening at the post
office.”
“Do you think I can"t handle the job I already have?”
He sat up straight, his eyes wide.
Why did he have to be so touchy? “You"re a great
banker. It"s just hard to watch you spend all your waking
hours in misery. You might enjoy life more if you did
something else for the next few months.”