The Bride Price (31 page)

Jamie’s eyes widened. Not quite the reaction
he had expected. “Dr. Wade, I’m sorry if I have offended you or
your wife.”

Michael chuckled. “You haven’t. You’ve both
been through quite an ordeal, so please consider our home yours.
You are welcome anytime.”

“Thank you.”

Jamie followed Michael back out to the
stables, internally shaking his head at Michael’s very modern
reaction.

* * *

Sophie smiled as she felt soft lips on her
cheek. “Mmmm, hi.”

“Wake up, sleepyhead.” Jamie kissed her
nose.

She smiled up at him. “What are you doing
here?”

“The debris has been dealt with, so we’re
done for the day. We’ll start repairing and rebuilding
tomorrow.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s almost four o’clock, why?”

Sophie grinned. “Well...that means it’s two
hours before dinner.”

“So?”

“So, I have plans for you.” She climbed off
the bed and pulled him to his feet.

“What kind of plans?” he asked suspiciously
as she gave him her famed Cheshire grin, walked over to her door,
and locked it. “Sophie, the house is full of people.”

She stopped in front of him and began
unbuttoning his shirt. She slipped her hands inside and slid it off
his shoulders. “We’ll be really, really quiet.”

He chuckled and bent down to pick her up,
carrying her to the bed.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“That was the most magnificent,
incredible…I’m at a loss for words.” Sophie turned and found him
staring at her. “Jamie, are you okay?”

“Hm? Yes, I’m fine.” He gave her a strange
smile as he climbed off the bed and poured a glass of water. “I
need to do something. I’ll try to be back by dinner.”

She sat up in shock. “What?”

She never got an answer. He was dressed and
out the door before she could say anything else. Sophie stayed on
the bed, simultaneously reveling in their lovemaking and slightly
concerned about where Jamie went. Before she knew it, it was past
five o’clock, so she forced herself to get up and get dressed.
Downstairs, Christine and Nona were in the parlor playing cards.
They motioned her in when they saw her.

“How was your nap, Sophie?” Nona asked.

“It was wonderful, thank you.”

“I’ll bet it was.” Christine gave her a
wink.

Sophie raised her eyebrows in response and
Christine smiled. The butler announced that Adam and Elizabeth had
arrived, along with Richard, so Nona suggested they make their way
into the dining room.

“Do you mind if we wait for Jamie? He should
be here any minute.” Sophie stood and made her way to the
window.

“I don’t think he’ll be joining us this
evening,” Richard said.

“Of course he will. What a ludicrous thing to
say.”

“Sophie, he left over an hour ago.”

“What do you mean, ‘he left,’ Richard?”

“He packed up a few things, got on his horse,
and rode off.”

“Richard, don’t be cruel,” Christine
admonished and then grabbed Sophie’s hand. “Come with me.”

Sophie followed Christine down the hall and
into the library. “What’s going on?”

Christine closed the door. “Jamie went on an
errand.”

“What? He didn’t say anything about an
errand.”

Christine sighed. “He was supposed to, but he
must have been side-tracked.”

“Well, what do you know of it, then?”

“I can’t tell you. Just know that he’s coming
back.”

Sophie crossed her arms. “I already figured
he was coming back.”

“Good.” Christine smiled. “Let’s have
dinner.”

Sophie reluctantly joined the rest of the
group for dinner, although, she picked at her food. By seven
o’clock, Jamie still hadn’t arrived. By eight o’clock, she was
frantic. Richard left and Michael and Nona went to visit with some
friends, so Sophie retreated back to the library.

At nine o’clock, Christine came in to check
on her. “Sophie, I think we should turn in.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.”

“I understand but you need to at least
try.”

Sophie reluctantly followed her up the stairs
and once she was free of her stays, she climbed into bed. She
tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, finally falling into
a fitful sleep. Christine woke her early the next morning and they
went downstairs for breakfast.

“I really thought he’d show up during the
night. I swear, Christine, I’m going to kill him,” Sophie
snapped.

The butler came in and whispered something to
Christine. She got up and walked outside, telling Sophie not to go
anywhere. Christine rushed back into the dining room a few minutes
later and grabbed her hand. “Sophie, you have to come outside
now.”

“What? Why?” Sophie asked.

“Just come and see.”

Sophie walked out on the porch and almost
passed out. Jamie stood in the front driveway of the house.
Gathered around him were dairy cows. Ten of them.

“Jamie?” Sophie asked cautiously.

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

“What are you doing?”

Jamie met her on the porch and went down on
bended knee. “Sophie Jane Wellington Ford, you are my ten-cow
woman. Will you do me the honor of marrying me—again?”

Sophie stood before him, tears streaming down
her face. “Baby. Yes! Absolutely.”

Jamie lifted her into his arms and kissed
her. “I love you.”

“I love you, more.” She laughed and cried at
the same time. “How did you do all this?”

“I called on Mr. Powell, the farmer who took
care of me when I first got here. He let me borrow the cows. It
took a relatively short train ride to get to the farm, but a little
longer to get back here. And I have to return them tomorrow.”

“You scared me to death!” She punched his
arm.

“Sorry. It was harder than I thought to
wrangle…they kept getting separated. A cowboy – I am not.”

She laughed. “You really didn’t have to do
this, you know.”

“I wanted to make a statement.”

“Well, you certainly did that.”

Sophie pointed a finger at Christine. “I
cannot believe you didn’t tell me.”

Christine shrugged. “I made a promise.”

Jamie leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss
on the cheek. “And I appreciate it.”

Christine hugged them both and then made
herself scarce. Miriam and Andrew joined them for dinner that
evening. Everyone was in high spirits with the exciting news and
much wine and champagne was served. After hearing the story of
Jamie’s journey, Andrew graciously offered to help him return the
cows the following day.

It turned into a late night, and Sophie was
exhausted but couldn’t sleep with the excitement of the past few
days.

Jamie found her pacing her bedroom floor when
he snuck in shortly after midnight. He pulled her into his arms.
“Hi.”

“Hi.” She lifted her head for a kiss. “How
long will you be gone tomorrow?”

“Andrew is going to meet me here at
four.”

“A.M.?”

“Yes. I’m hoping we’ll be home by
dinner.”

“I can’t believe I have to watch you leave
again!”

“I’ll be home before you know it.” Jamie
kissed her again.

“You better be. However, since you’re here
now…”

“Since I’m here now, what?”

Sophie unbuttoned his shirt as Jamie cupped
her face and gently kissed her. She didn’t want gentle and
proceeded to show him exactly what she expected.

They made love all night and fell asleep in
each other’s arms. Jamie woke her just before he left. “Baby, I’ll
see you at dinner.”

“I love you,” she said sleepily.

“I love you more.” He gave her one last kiss
and Sophie fell back to sleep as he closed the bedroom door.

* * *

Waking at eight, Sophie dressed quickly and
met Christine in the dining room. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. How did you sleep?” Sophie sat
in the chair next to her.

“Better than you.” Christine giggled.

“I think we need thicker walls in this
house,” Sophie grumbled.

Since the men wouldn’t return until later
that evening, the girls decided to work at the hospital. Sophie
felt much better, but she knew she needed to keep busy or she would
pine for Jamie.

The women worked for several hours before
calling it a day and making their way home. By dinnertime, Jamie
and Andrew still hadn’t returned. Sophie was beyond worried, but
Christine assured her that they were fine. They tried to kill some
time in the parlor since Michael and Nona had places to go and
people to see and said not to wait up for them.

The girls once again chose music as their
distraction. Sophie had Christine play “Amazing Grace” and “Star
Spangled Banner,” both songs Sophie knew the words to. Singing
became a problem when Sophie started to pace, so Christine stopped
playing. “When you get to the pacing stage in your thought process,
nothing else registers.”

Sophie didn’t hear her or even notice that
the music had stopped; she just continued to pace up and down the
parlor. Christine stood and made her way across the room. She sat
on the sofa and picked up the book she had left there earlier. She
knew she was in for a long night.

There was no way Sophie would go to bed until
Jamie arrived home, safe and sound. Ten o’clock rolled around and
they still hadn’t arrived. Sophie had chewed her fingernails to the
quick, nearly worn a hole in the carpet, and made the poor butler
hide with her constant, “Are they here yet?”

“Sophie, we should probably try and get some
sleep.”

“I can’t sleep, Christine. Where are
they?”

“It might have taken them longer than
originally expected and they probably ended up staying at the
Powell Farm,” Christine reassured.

“I don’t know.”

“Sophie, I’m sure they’re fine. Let’s turn
in. We’ll leave the front door unlocked so that Jamie can get
in.”

Sophie reluctantly acquiesced, and the two
headed for their rooms. Sophie climbed into bed after watching out
her window for over an hour in an effort to see them in the
distance somehow. It took her another hour to finally fall asleep.
Jamie came into the bedroom at three thirty and quietly got
undressed.

“Where have you been?” Sophie whispered.

Jamie eased into bed and pulled her into his
arms. “Sorry, baby. Andrew and I were ambushed on our way back. We
were able to outsmart and outrun them but we had to take the long
way around.”

Sophie sat up. “You say that like, ‘Andrew
and I went down to the store to get milk’! What happened?”

“Rebels intercepted us. Luckily, we saw them
before they caught up to us. I probably should have worn civilian
clothes but I’m limited on what I have here, so I was in uniform.
They fired at us, but fortunately, they had Civil War guns and not
gangs in the hood guns, or we probably wouldn’t have made it back,”
he said, trying to lighten the mood.

“SO not amusing. Where’s Andrew?”

“He’s downstairs. We thought it would be
better if he stayed here tonight. Andrew’s a really great guy by
the way. He reminds me a lot of Luke.”

“I know, right? That’s what I thought,
too.”

* * *

Jamie watched the sun stream through the
windows of the bedroom and turned to the sound of Sophie’s snoring.
He’d never gone to sleep, and now he was too pent up to try. He
slid from the bed as gently as he could, dressed, and went
downstairs to check on Andrew. He found him in the dining room,
already making a dent in breakfast.

“Good morning, James,” Andrew said with a
mouth full of food.

Jamie laughed. “Do you not get fed much,
Andrew? Good morning, by the way.”

Andrew smiled. “I only get fed when I come
here. Well, I only get fed this well when I come here.”

“Yeah, Mary’s pretty phenomenal.”

Christine walked in a few minutes later and
helped herself to breakfast.

“Where’s Sophie?” Jamie asked.

Christine raised her eyebrow at him as if to
say, “Seriously? You expect
me
to know that?”

Jamie chuckled. “Never mind. I’ll check on
her.” He ran up the stairs and opened Sophie’s door. She was still
asleep, so he went over to the bed and leaned down to kiss her.
“Baby, it’s time to wake up.”

Sophie groaned. “I don’t want to.”

Jamie poured some water from her pitcher into
the bowl on the dresser. He pulled the covers off her and kissed
her again. “Come on. Wash your face and make sure you put your
breeches on under you skirts. I’ll meet you downstairs. You have
ten minutes.”

“Breeches?” Sophie perked up. She jumped out
of bed, splashed her face with water, and rushed to get dressed.
She made it in record time, even though she had to have Betty help
her with her corset.

When she arrived in the dining room, Jamie
had already prepared a plate for her and gone to get the horses
ready. Beyond excited, she practically inhaled her food. Jamie
arrived a few minutes later to collect her. “Ready, baby? I have
Gentle Ben outside for you.”

“Christine?”

“Hm?” Christine smiled, mid-chew.

“He’s your horse, are you sure you don’t need
him?”

“Not at all.” Christine wiped her mouth with
her napkin. “I’m taking the buggy this morning, which means I can
use one of the other horses.”

Sophie gave a little squeal. “Thank you!”
Jumping from her seat, she followed Jamie out the front door.
“Hello, boy. Are you ready?” Gentle Ben, although just as large as
Samson, was a warm blood and much calmer. His black coat shone in
the sunlight.

Jamie laid his hand on her back. “Christine
assured me he is sound and calm.”

“No wonder you’re letting me ride.” Sophie
smiled.

“Do you need a leg up?”

“Yes, please. I’m not quite sure how I’m
going to do this in these darn skirts. I wish I could have just
left them off.”