Donners Bend (36 page)

“You want me to ask her to marry me?” Jamie repeated.

“Yeah
. 
It’s perfect
! 
It’ll get
Ellie
out of your head, for sure
. 
Plus,
Sar
a
h
’s a real sweet girl
. 
She’s not bad lookin’ either
. 
She won’t be any sorta gold digger, only lo
okin’ at the money behind you, ’
cause she’s already head o’er heels in love with ya!”

“Ya think?”

“Sure do.”

“Well, you’re right about her bein’ real sweet
, a
nd it’s true; she’s not such a
bad
sigh
t
for sore eyes
. 
She’d make a real nice wife, I’m sure, and I won’t have to struggle to win her affections like I did for
Ellie
.”

Phillip
nodded, “Ya got that right.”

“Should I do it?” asked Jamie with a glimmer in his eyes, “Should I really ask
Sarah
to marry me?”

“It’s up
ta
you
. 
Don’t make me affect a decision as big as this one
. 
The one askin’ her should be the one who wants ta ask.”

A few seconds later, Jamie suddenly brightened, “I’m gonna do it,” he said, “I’m really gonna do it
! 
This is the right thing to
o
, right
Phillip
? 
I’m not going crazy or anything?”
             

“Nah, you’re not crazy and I think
Sarah
’d make a fine wife.”

“And I’m not drunk, am I?”

“Not by my watch.”

“Then I’m gonna do it!” Jamie stood up and
,
pushing the hair out of his eyes he repeated, “She’s real nice, and beautiful, and she loves me, right
Phillip
? 
She loves me
? 
Are you sure?”

“As sure as the eye can see.”

“And I’m sure if I wait long enough
,
I could learn to love her too.”

“I’m sure ya could,”
Phillip
agreed.

“Then this is it,” Jamie said, grabbing his coat and fetching his lost fedora, “I’m going to the Walsh
’
s
! 
I’m gonna get down on one knee and propose to Miss
Sarah
Eleanor Walsh!”

“And she’s gonna say yes,
by golly
!”
Phillip
added in.

“Yes, yes
. 
That’s right,” Jamie told himself as he walked through the halls and out the door, “This is the best thing for me to do right now
. 
I’ll forget about
Ellie
and I’ll live a nice, happy life with
Sarah
. 
She’s a real swell girl,
that
Sarah
, a
nd we’ll be happy
. 
S
he loves me
, yes I know s
he loves me
, a
nd I can learn
to love her t
o
o
. 
I need to do this and
forget about
Ellie
. 
I can forget all about
Ellie
, and no longer have to think about crazy ideas of chasing after her when her mind’s already set
. 
I’m goin’ to
Sarah
’s
and
I’m gettin’ married!”

Phillip
, still in the parlor, leaned out the window just as Jamie boarded his horse and shouted out, “Good luck, Jamie
! 
Good luck
! 
Bonne chance!” he cocked his head to the side quizzically, “That’s French, right?”

“Yes, that’s French!” Jamie assured with a laugh.

“Bonne chance, mon ami,”
Phillip
exclaimed again, remembering a little more of the few things he’d paid enough attention to in French class to learn.
  Yes, he remembered that it meant good luck my dear, or my friend?  Yes, yes, my friend, he thought in his somewhat impaired state.

“
Goodbye
!”

To the
Walsh’s
, Jamie rode
, a
nd when he arrived, he knocked upon the door and asked for Miss
Sarah
. 
One hour later, he emerged as
Sarah
’s fiancé
. 
The deed was done.

Sarah
was ecstatic
. 
She’d had her eyes set on Jamie for more than ten years, since they’d been just children
. And n
ow, out of nowhere, after years of refusal, Jamie had arrived on her doorstep and proposed
. 
It certainly was a shock; the biggest shock
Sarah
had ever had in her entire life
. 
She’d begun to think lately that a life with Jamie was hopeless and so were her dreams
, and al
though she knew something must have propelled him to this, and that he probably didn’t love her as much as she would have hoped,
Sarah
instantly accepted.

Her parents,
upon
hearing the news, became angry and depressed all at once
. 
Mr.
Walsh began quizzing Jamie and trying to get him to break under the pressure and admit he wasn’t good enough for
his
precious daughter
.

Mr.
and Mrs
.
Walsh hated Jamie
Rhodes
. 
They absolutely hated him
. 
Out of all the men in
Donners Bend
,
including
the elderly and insane, they could not think of a worse man for their
Sarah
to marry
. 
Education was very important to the
Walsh’s, a
nd despite
Sarah
’s frequent attempts to convince her parents of Jamie’s intelligence, they wouldn’t reply and would only bring up the six prestigious schools Jamie had flunked out of
. 
He had that careless, free attitude that the strict
Mr.
Walsh detested
;
and
Mrs.
Walsh was one of those “gossiping hens”
,
and she’d heard more atrocities about him than she could name
. 
She thought he was mad
. 
Above all, they hated the fact their only daughter had become so infatuated with him
, they were more than content when Jamie showed no interest in their daughter, and
had no idea how they could have been so completely b
lindsid
ed by this new turn of events.  Through their dread, they could see that
no amount of convincing could change
Sarah
’s mind
. 

So when they heard about the marriage soon to take place, why,
Mrs.
Walsh practically fainted
. 
Jamie lunged forward to help her if she should fall, but
Mr.
Walsh pushed him away
. 

Even after Jamie had left, they continued to reprimand
Sarah
and plagued her with so much astonishment that she soon burst into a fit of tears
. 
Locking herself in her room,
Sarah
refused to listen to her parents as they shouted outside her door
. 
She would only speak to swear her love to Jamie, her now fiancé, and to pledge that she would marry him whether they approved or not
. 
The Walsh house was in quite a tumult
uous state of affairs
. 

Meanwhile, Jamie had finally gone home and told his parents of the latter proposal he’d made that day
. 
The children cheered,
and
tears of joy came to
Louise
’s eyes
;
for she believed her son had finally found love, and
Robert
smiled and patted his son on the back saying, “She’ll make you a fine wife, son
. 
I’m proud of you.”

What a burst of
chaos
and excitement
,
which
suddenly swarmed over two of
Donners Bend
’s finest families.  T
he
Walsh’s
and the
Rhodes
, a
nd all because of a simple young girl named
Eliana
Mae
Henderson
and the
inebriated
, flippant
suggestion of
Phillip
Browning.

It seemed only hours passed before the whole town of
Donners Bend
became aware of the big news, Jamie and
Sarah
’s betrothal
. 
It spread like wildfire until only one person was left unconscious of what had happened
. 
That person was
Ellie
.

Her mind had been swarmed with th
oughts of Jamie since he’d left earlier that morning.
 
She constantly reevaluated her choice to refuse him, but always came to the same conclusion
. 
She’d been right, she decided
. 
She’d made the correct decision and she didn’t regret a thing
. 

She sat in her little armchair beside the fire; quietly threading a needle in and out of a shirt she’d promised to mend for
Jon
. 
As she worked, she hummed a little song
. 
The flames of the fire cracked and burned and created a dance of shadows along the walls
. 
In the corner, the clock struck nine o’clock, disturbing
Ellie
’s peaceful solitude.

There soon came the sound of rapid galloping down the lane followed by the sounds of a man jumping off a horse and knocking on the door, to which
Ellie
answered, “Yes
? 
Who is it?”

“
Jon
!” was the reply.

“Come on in!”
Ellie
called back, not even bothering to discontinue her sewing.
             

Jon
walked in, breathing heavily with his cheeks flushed
. 
He took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, looking quite distressed.

“What is it?”
Ellie
asked after noticing his flustered appearance.

“I don’t know how it happened
. 
He was just at my house this morning and then he
…
I don’t know
. 
I just don’t know,”
Jon
was mumb
ling
incoherently, “I don’t understand how it happened
. 
I
…
I just
...
”

“
Johnny
, what is it?”
Ellie
repeated.