Rose's Pledge (46 page)

“How nice.”

Nate could barely hear her soft answer. He saw her focus on the large cabin ahead with smoke curling up from its twin chimneys. No one was in sight, but two spotted dogs crawled from beneath the front steps and started barking, announcing their arrival.

“Halloo the house!” Nate hollered, adding to the ruckus.

Immediately the cabin door swung open and a pair of young redheaded boys ran out. James, the gawky twelve-year-old, gave a loud hoot. “It’s Uncle Nate! An’ Bob Bloom!”

Evan, his ten-year-old sibling, gawked, stretching his mass of freckles. “An’ they brung women!”

That brought broad-shouldered Jonah into view. He emerged carrying three-year-old Gracie, his golden-haired daughter. The last time Nate had seen her, she was a mere babe. And on Jonah’s heels came his slim, reddish-blond wife, Margaret, along with their mother, who had aged noticeably in his absence. “Nate, my dear boy,” she murmured, the care lines in her face softening with her smile. “High time you got back.” She drew her shawl close about her thin form as she hurried toward him. Then her gaze landed on the cradleboard in front of him. “You got a babe, Nate? And I ain’t even met yer wife!”

Nate lowered Jenny down to her. “This is Jenny Ann, Ma. An’ she ain’t my baby. Leastwise, not yet.” He swung down and wrapped his mother and the baby in a big hug. “I’m sure glad to be home.” He meant every word.

Stepping back from her, he turned to Rose, who hadn’t attempted to dismount. He reached up and helped his reluctant love down then wrapped a protecting arm around her. “Ma, Jonah, Maggie, this here’s Rose.”

“How do you do,” she managed as the rest of the family crowded close.

“Well, come inside outta the cold,” Jonah said. “You all must be hungry.” He looked up at Bob. “Why’re you still sittin’ up there? You come, too.”

Bob shook his head. “I think mebbe me an’ Shining Star oughta head down to my place.” He slid a glance to her.

“Nonsense,” Margaret cut in, her green eyes twinkling. “There ain’t nothin’ but mice an’ spiders at that ol’ place of yers. Come in an’ warm up.”

Bringing Rose with him, Nate reached over to Margaret and gave her a grateful hug. Unlike so many of their neighbors, his family had always made Bob welcome despite his Indian blood.

Margaret eased out of his embrace and arched her golden brows at Bob. “‘Sides, if you don’t come in, we won’t know how many of Nate’s tall tales to believe.”

Everyone laughed as she yanked Nate’s scruffy beard. It was then he realized how much he’d missed the gal’s quick tongue. He switched his attention to Bob and watched him help his lady to the ground.

Leading the way to the house, Jonah nodded to his sons. “James an’ Evan, go see to the horses. An’ rub ‘em down good.”

“Yes, Pa.”

Ma, still holding Jenny, sidled over to Bob and tugged his shoulder till he bent his head for a peck on his cheek. “Well, now. I see you got yourself a woman, too. Purty li’l thing she is.” She gave Shining Star a welcoming smile.

He drew Star close to his side. “This is my sweet bride.”

“Seems you boys’ve been real busy.” She turned to eye Nate and Rose. “I reckon you up an’ married, too, an’ without so much as lettin’ yer ma know.”

“That’s not how it is, Ma. Rose is my betrothed. We—”

Her mouth gaped. “Oh.” She glanced lovingly at wide-eyed Jenny then placed a sympathetic hand on Rose’s shoulder. “Sorry about yer loss. You got a fine lookin’ babe here.” She made a silly face at Jenny Ann and earned a gap-toothed grin.

Despite the fact that Ma was mistaken in her assumption, her sympathetic gesture must have done the trick. Nate felt Rose relax against him as they walked up the porch steps.

Bob followed a step behind. “You don’t know the half of it. Once we get our gals in out of the cold,
I’ll
tell you all about it.”

“Now that’s what I like,” Margaret gushed. “An eager tattler.”

Nate stood with his brother and Bob at the potbellied stove, watching James and Evan, in their Sunday breeches, lighting every candle in every holly-decorated sconce in the simple church. Two days after arriving home, he and Bob were marrying their sweethearts. Two days that had lasted forever.

Fragrant pine boughs with trailing red ribbons adorned the ends of the dark, wooden pews. Breathing deeply of the evergreen scent, Nate couldn’t help grinning. “Sure was nice of folks to decorate the church for our weddin’.”

Jonah chuckled. “It’s for tomorrow’s Christmas Eve service.”

“Well, I’m getting’ my Christmas present early.”

“Sure hope Shining Star likes it.” Bob let out a nervous breath. “Everything’s so new to her. But we both wanted a proper church ceremony to give our marriage credence in the eyes of our neighbors an’ to say our vows before God.”

Nodding, Jonah gave Bob’s shoulder a squeeze. “Even so, it’s best we’re just havin’ the minister an’ the family. That timid bride of yers would’a had a hard time with a passel of strangers gawkin’ at her.”

“Aye. An’ with Rose an’ Nate stayin’ with us till spring, she’ll have time for Rose to teach her the white way of doin’ things. Mebbe my ma would’ve felt more welcome if she’d had somebody like Rose helpin’ her.”

Nate’s heart swelled with the realization that others knew how special Rose was. He was the luckiest man alive. This was his wedding day, and his bride would be walking up the aisle to him any minute now …if those fussy women ever got here.

Jonah’s brow furrowed. “I just can’t figger out why a educated lady like Rose would wanna hook up with a rough-an’-tumble rover like my brother.”

Nate was about to say something in his own defense when he heard the wagon roll up to the church. He quickly rubbed a smudge from his buckled shoe on the back of his other knee-length stocking.

“They’re here!” James hollered at the top of his lungs.

Starting forward, Nate felt his brawny brother’s hand staying him. “No you don’t. I’ll go help the women. You two go stand up front. You ain’t allowed to see yer brides till they come traipsin’ up the aisle.”

Nate swapped a wry glance with Bob as Jonah and his carrottops hurried outside.

It seemed to take forever for the door to open again. But soon enough, it swung wide, and Jonah’s dark-haired younger sons, Norman and Nathan, burst in with the exuberance possessed only by seven- and five-year-olds. Both were in their Sunday best, rumpled from play. “We’re here!”

Little white-haired Pastor Reynolds, bespectacled and attired in somber black, followed the boys. He shook a bony finger at them. “You boys need to settle down and be quiet. Sit over there.” He nodded to Nate and Bob as he joined them down front.

The waiting was getting to Nate. He swiped his damp palms down the fancy maroon frock coat he’d borrowed from his brother then grinned at Bob, who wore a gold-trimmed brown outfit he’d left at home and looked as anxious as Nate felt. “Sure are a couple’a dandies, ain’t we?”

Bob, in a cravat of ruffles up to his chin, grunted and kept staring at the door.

Finally it opened again, admitting Ma and Margaret in their finery, carrying Jenny and three-year-old Gracie. Reaching the front pew, Ma handed the baby to Maggie then ambled up to Nate and Bob. She fussed with their frilly cravats and tugged down the backs of their frock coats. “There.” She stood back and looked them both up and down. “You’ll do.” Turning around, she spotted James in the back of the room. “Tell the gals they can come in now. Then you an’ Evan come sit with us.”

Hand in hand with Shining Star, Rose stepped in, looking like a princess in a frilly lavender frock of Margaret’s. A garland of holly wove through her upswept hair, while wisps of soft ringlets around her face added an exquisite fragile quality to her delicate features. Nate could hardly draw breath at her incredible beauty.

Beside her, Shining Star looked equally stunning in another of Margaret’s dresses, this one in ivory taffeta with ecru lace, a combination that accented her tanned skin. A wreath of holly adorned her glossy black hair that hung straight to her waist.

Nate heard Bob’s sharp intake of breath at the sight of his beloved, and he wondered how he and Bob could have gotten so lucky.
Thank You, Lord
.

But his brother was right. How could someone like Rose want to marry him? Was she coming to him merely out of gratitude? He had to know. Ignoring her solemn expression as she drew nearer, he shook his head. “Reverend, would you be kind enough to excuse us a minute?”

Grabbing Rose’s hand, he all but dragged her to the back of the church, leaving behind a chorus of gasps. There he turned to her, positioning himself as a shield to hide her confusion from the family. He took her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “I’m givin’ you one last chance to back out, Rose. You’re much too fine a lady for a backwoods fella like me. You don’t have to go through with this weddin’. I’ll still take you anywhere you want to go, get you an’ your sisters set up however you—”

She put a finger to his lips and stared up at him a moment. “Could it be that you’re the one who’s getting cold feet?”

He stood his ground. “Your last chance. Once we’re married, that’s it. I ain’t ever lettin’ you go.”

“I’ll hold you to that, my loose-footed frontiersman. I told you I love you, Nate Kinyon, and I do. More than I can ever express. So let’s go get married.”

A huge grin spread across his face. He hauled her into his arms and gave her the kind of kiss he’d wanted so long to give her.

“Nate. Nate.” Jonah tapped his shoulder. “Don’t you know nothin’? The kiss comes after, not before.”

Nate gazed down at his Rose. “Yeah. After, too.”

“And every day after that,” Rose whispered, her eyes on him alone. “Every day after that.”

Epilogue

D
rinking in the fragile beauty of spring, Rose walked up the knoll that soon would be theirs. Nate trotted ahead with giggly Jenny Ann on his shoulders. Watching after them, Rose noticed that the snow was gone from all but the highest hills, and the meadows overflowed with wildflowers in a rainbow of hues.

“Come on, slowpoke.” Nate motioned her forward. “Let’s eat in the kitchen.”

Smiling to herself, she grasped the food basket tighter and hurried to catch up. Today was finally warm enough to have a picnic …on the very spot where Nate would build their home. Robert had so wanted them to live nearby he’d deeded half his father’s farm to Nate.

“Our kitchen’ll have milled boards.” Nate swung the toddler to the ground. “An’ as many windows as you want. We’ll paint the place any color you fancy.”

Rose reveled in the joy in his eyes. Her husband had insisted on spending the savings his mother had socked away for him to build her a
proper
house, as he called it. “I’m partial to yellow, I think, with black shutters and a front porch. Yellow will always remind me of Jenny Ann after she goes to live with her grandparents.” At the thought, some of her joy faded.

Nate tugged her close and kissed her cheek. “Today, sweetheart, Jenny’s ours. And today me and our little angel are hungry. Ain’t that right, firefly?”

The little curly-top looked up from where she squatted to pull at a violet.

“Lunch it is, then.” Rose lowered the basket to the ground. “Where exactly did you say the kitchen would be?”

Before he answered, Nate spied their two friends coming up the road in the farm wagon and waved at them with both arms. “Here come Bob an’ Star. Do we have enough to share with them?”

Rose laughed. “By all means. They shall be our first guests in our new home. Help me spread the cloth, sweetheart.”

While Robert parked his wagon in front of the barn and started across the meadow with Shining Star, Rose got out the platter of fried chicken and the loaf of fresh-baked bread and set it on the tablecloth with the not-so-welcome help of Jenny Ann.

“You two are just in time.” Nate gestured toward the food. “As Rose said, our first guests.”

Happy and relaxed even after a trip to the settlement, Star smiled at Rose. With a toss of her long hair, she pulled a bunch of colorful ribbons from the pocket of her sage chambray skirt. “Ribbons. For you and me and Jenny.”

“Wonderful.” Appreciating the thoughtful gift as much as Star’s advancement in learning English, she patted the spot beside her. “Sit down. I want to hear about your day.”