Thomas released Margaret’s hand and she hugged her papa. “It’s hard to believe, ma’am, but yer husband and I ran into each other in Brenham, Texas.”
“Brenham, Texas,” Mrs. Logan repeated.
“Yes, ma’am….Texas is a mighty big state, but it certainly is a small world.”
Mrs. Logan gasped. “Oh, my goodness, I was so shocked at seeing the both of you together that I forgot to ask about Elizabeth!”
Mr. Logan raised his hand. “She’s just fine, Caroline. They’re giving her the best treatment available, and I was told we would receive an update very soon.” He gestured to Ensign Miller. “Thomas, I want you to meet Ensign Carol Jerome Miller.”
Thomas held his hand out. “Nice to meet ye, Ensign Miller.”
“Nice to meet you, Thomas, but you can call me Jerry.”
“Well, Jerry, Mr. Logan tells me you’ve been taking care of his fine family in his absence.”
“Yes, but it’s been the other way around. They’ve taken good care of me.” He patted his belly. “Couple of fine cooks you have here.”
Mr. Logan smiled and nodded his head. “That’s for sure.” He released Margaret’s hand, put his arm around his wife’s shoulders, and squeezed her tight. “Can’t wait to eat some of Mama’s good grub.”
Mrs. Logan smiled and nestled close to his side.
“Mr. Logan, I’ve received word that the tower is scheduled to ship out of New Orleans in early July. I’ve spent the past few weeks clearing off the pad sight, but there’s still a lot of work to be done before its arrival.”
“Yep, plenty of foliage has taken over the pad in the past three years or more.”
“Yes, sir,” Jerry said before he turned to Thomas. “Margaret here tells me you’re a Navy man like myself.”
“Yes, that I am.”
“Well, I was wondering if you might be interested in a job. You can help me finish clearing the sight and as soon as the tower arrives, you can assist in the erection.”
“I’d very much like that…Jerry.” Thomas felt strange calling a junior naval officer by his first name. “I’d like to talk to you about that, but first, there’s something I’ve waited a very long time to do.” Thomas took Margaret’s hands into his. He knelt down before her. “I know this isn’t very romantic, but here goes. Margaret Frances Logan, I’ve loved ye since the first time I set eyes on ye that day on the beach. I thought ye were an angel come to take me up to heaven. But instead, ye saved my life. We’ve been through some good times, and we’ve been through some bad times, and through it all I’ve loved ye with all my heart. So I ask ye today, Margaret Logan…will ye do me the honor of marrying me, lass?” Thomas looked into her eyes, trying to judge the outcome. He wasn’t sure if the look on Margaret’s face meant she would laugh or cry until she fell to her knees and threw her arms around him.
“Oh, yes, yes, of course I’ll marry you, Thomas Murphy!”
32
Margaret’s shoulders dropped as the long sigh slipped out and she wiped her brow. “Oh, my goodness, it’s hot!” She waved a hand, fanning herself. “You know, Mama, I’ll bet if you put all the purple hull peas we’ve shelled together into one big pot, it would be so big we wouldn’t be able to fit it into the kitchen.”
“Oh, I don’t know about all that, but we have shelled many a pea in our days. Sometimes peas were all we had to live on, and I was sure glad to have them.” Mama didn’t look up from her work. “Don’t throw out those pods. Put them in that sack I brought out. I thought we would try that pig of yours on them.”
A warm breeze floated in from the coast. It wasn’t refreshing, but it gave a hint of relief to the blazing August heat. Margaret wasn’t paying a bit of attention to what Mama said. Her eyes were firmly planted on her handsome husband-to-be.
He worked with his shirt off; his muscular arms glistened with sweat.
The blush creeping up her neck and cheeks wasn’t only caused by the heat of the day.
Thomas, Papa, and Ensign Miller worked together with the crew from New Orleans to unload the wooden tower that would become the temporary lighthouse. The Union was anxious to relight the waterway between the Bolivar Peninsula and Texas’s largest city, Galveston.
Margaret heard her piglet squeal in distress.
June was chasing her baby around, holding on to the pig’s tail. Jeremiah followed close behind, holding on to her skirt.
“Hey, you two, let him be. You’re wearing out my present from Thomas.”
June released the baby pig, then she and Jeremiah fell to the ground in a laughing heap.
“I don’t know how you put up with those two, Mama.”
“I had plenty of practice putting up with you and your sister.”
“I suppose so.”
Margaret glanced down at the bowl of peas and straightened the skirt of her simple blue work dress bunched up around the container. She realized something in that moment. For the first time since her family had moved to Texas, she felt contented. The burning desire in the back of her mind to return to New Orleans wasn’t there. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d thought about wanting to wear fancy ball gowns or attend social parties. That part of her life had passed away with the war. It all seemed like vanity to her now.
She was happy just the way she was. And she no longer thought of Bolivar as a godforsaken place. She was happy to make Texas her new home. Yes, Texas had grown on all of them. It would be the new home for the Logan family and soon the Murphy family as well.
Her eyes drifted to the east, to where Thomas had begun setting the piers of what would be the foundation of their home. Thomas had purchased the small piece of land. Their hopes and dreams of a life filled with love and someday a family would become a reality on that tiny slice of heaven.
Mama was still shelling her bowl of peas.
“Can you believe what a coincidence it was that Papa and Thomas met up in Brenham and how things have worked out so perfectly? Just think about it. The war is over, and both Thomas and Papa have jobs, and—”
“Now you wait just one minute, Margaret Frances Logan. You know good and well that none of those things were coincidences. God was in control of every single thing that happened. Now are you shelling those peas, or will I have to do it for you?”
Mama’s words hit Margaret like a load of bricks. God
was
in control or else she never would have fallen in love with Thomas. The hatred she once held in her heart for northerners had faded into the past and she was pledged to wed a Yankee. She’d forgotten all about the money from the Lighthouse Board that arrived right when they needed it to get help for Elizabeth. No, there were no coincidences…only divine assistance. She turned toward her mama. “How did you get to be so smart, Mama?”
“I serve a gracious God, who gives wisdom to those who need it.” She chuckled. “And the good Lord knows I’ve needed it.”
“Have you and Papa thought any more about the wedding? Did y’all ever decide whether we’re going to have it inside or outside?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, of course we’ve thought about it, but no, we haven’t made any firm decisions yet. That’s the least of our worries. We have to think about how many of the neighbors might come out for the wedding and how much food we’ll need. Goodness, the list goes on and on.” She turned to Margaret and smiled. “You should be more concerned about me finishing the alterations on your dress before the day of the wedding.”
Margaret sighed. “Yes, ma’am. I’m just so excited and it will be here before you know it.”
“I’m aware of that and it will get taken care of. But not if you don’t help me out by shelling those peas. Good thing I know how to cook for a small army.”
There were so many things that needed done, but her biggest worry—how to get Elizabeth back home from Austin for the wedding. She rustled her fingers in the bowl of pea pods. “I saw that Papa received a letter from the hospital. Did they decide whether or not Elizabeth can come home for the wedding?”
Mama gave “the look.” “Nosiness doesn’t suit you, dear.”
“At least I didn’t open it.” Margaret grinned.
“Be thankful you didn’t, young lady.” Mama nodded toward her bowl, implying she should actually shell the peas instead of simply stirring them about. “And if it is any of your business, Dr. Walker is completely against Elizabeth leaving the hospital after such a short period of time. They’ve only just started making progress in her treatment.”
“But she’s got to be at my wedding, Mama. I can’t get married without my sister standing by my side.”
“Don’t you think I want her to be here with us just as much as you do? Now what do you think is more important…Elizabeth coming home for your wedding, or her staying at the hospital and getting well?”
“You know the answer to that, Mama, but I’ve had my wedding planned out ever since Jeremiah was born. He would be my little pageboy, and June would be my flower girl.” Her voice began to crack as her throat tightened. “And…and Elizabeth would stand with me at the altar. Besides, we can take her back to the hospital just as soon as the wedding is over.”
“I’m sorry, honey, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up. Things don’t always turn out the way we dream they will.”
Margaret returned to shelling peas. Her disappointment that there were so many things over which she had no control angered her to the bone. She couldn’t put off the wedding until Elizabeth was well…who knew how long that might be?
Thomas was getting more anxious by the day to have her as his wife.
She would have to put away the wedding she had always dreamed of and settle for what God would allow her. As the number of hulled peas in her bowl grew, so did the mountain of grief in her heart. There had to be some way for Elizabeth to come to the wedding, but how?
Lord, I don’t pretend to think I’m in control of anything down here. I acknowledge Your Lordship and give this whole wedding over to You. And if it’s in Your will that Elizabeth be at my wedding, then You’ll have to make it happen. Please forgive me for my lack of faith. In Your Son’s name I pray.
It was a relief to give everything up to God. Now she could concentrate on more important things…like watching her husband-to-be working without his shirt on.
33
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage. For the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Thomas repeated the verse in his mind, but it did little to ease his rattled nerves. He could hardly believe it had only been a year and one month since he’d first laid eyes on Margaret and now he stood at the altar ready to marry her.
His brand-new suit had arrived just in time for the wedding. Everything had worked out, including the arrival of Bolivar’s newest resident, the Reverend Phillip Everly, all the way from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Mrs. Everly sat on the second row, looking more in control than any woman Thomas had ever encountered. Her five little charges sat beside her, from youngest to oldest, with legs crossed and backs straight. Thomas doubted they were such angels when their mother had her back turned.
Mrs. Logan sat up front. She dabbed at her eye with a fancy hanky. Thomas had never seen it before and figured she’d had it put away for an important event such as her daughter’s wedding.
He managed a weak smile in her direction. It was the best he could do with the antics going on inside his stomach. A pang of grief washed over him that his own mother couldn’t be there to witness his marriage.
Reverend Everly made a gesture and the high-pitched whine of a violin chord cut through the cool autumn air. Mr. Langley sat with the instrument wedged beneath his chin. A hushed silence came over the small crowd gathered there.
So much change had come to pass with the end of the war. No one would have believed this man, who had only months earlier threatened to turn Thomas in to the Confederates, was now a good friend of the Logans. So much so that he was willing to provide the music at the wedding. There truly was no limit to what God could do in the lives and hearts of His children.
Thomas nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand clamped around his shoulder. He took a deep breath and wiped the beads of sweat from his upper lip. “What are ye trying to do, Miller…scare the life out of me?”
Ensign Miller chuckled and patted Thomas’s shoulder. “Get a grip on yourself, man. It’s your wedding day. Try to enjoy it.”
“Aye, yer right.” Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just a bit jumpy.” Thomas adjusted his suit coat and shook his arms.
Miller and Thomas had become fast friends over the past few months of working together. And since his own brother couldn’t make it to Texas for the wedding, he was happy to have a friend standing by his side for support. It was a comfort knowing he would be taking Margaret to meet his brother and father soon after they were married.
~*~
Margaret knelt down to Jeremiah’s eye level and put her hands around his small arms. “All right now, Jeremiah, you know what to do, right?” Just to make sure, she gave a quick reminder of his duties. “You walk down between all those people sitting in chairs out there, OK?”
He shook his head and frowned.
Margaret scratched at a bit of food on his cheek, only making his frown deepen. She softened her voice and smiled at her little brother. “But you’re all dressed up in your best pair of overalls, and you get to carry this pretty pillow Mama made!” She showed him the small pink pillow Mama had adorned with ribbons. “Feel how soft it is.” He rubbed the fabric with his tiny hand. “Will you do it for sissy?” The extra syrup in her voice must have done the trick, as Jeremiah closed his eyes and nodded his head. Margaret put the pillow in his hands and turned him toward the sheet they used as a curtain to hide behind. “Good boy. Now walk down to where Thomas is.” She patted him on the bottom and sent him on his way.
From the sounds coming from those in attendance, it was clear they liked her idea of having Jeremiah walk as a pageboy in the ceremony.
Papa had missed the whole exchange between the two of them, as he was occupied retying all the loose ribbons June had undone on her dress while they waited for the wedding to begin. Margaret peeked around the sheet to see Jeremiah run down the aisle before jumping into Mama’s lap. She shook her head and smiled.