Elizabeth Grayson (38 page)
Authors: Moon in the Water
“Yes.”
“I—I think marrying you again would be wonderful,” she whispered.
They helped each other clothe themselves. Ann turned Chase’s trousers right side out. Chase guided Ann’s chemise down over the curve of her hips. She buttoned up the shirt she’d all but torn off him earlier. Chase knelt and laced her boots.
They stood hand in hand in the very center of that grassy bowl at the edge of the bluff. There in the golden glow of afternoon sunshine, beneath a perfect dome of cerulean sky, they said the words that would bind them forever.
“I, Chase,” he said looking down with love bright in his eyes, “take thee, Annie, to be my lawful wedded wife...”
Ann felt the happiness well up inside her. “I, Annie, take thee, Chase, to be my lawful wedded husband...”
They made their pledges, one to the other. Each vow they spoke took on a truer meaning, each word seemed imbued with purer love and deeper devotion.
When they were done, Chase bent his head and kissed his wife. They settled back down in the grass again, holding each other, whispering, dreaming. Beginning to plan.
“I thought we’d stay on for a spell at Hardesty’s Landing,” Chase murmured after a time. “I’ll help Pa with the winter work, and in the spring—”
“In the spring we’ll go back to St. Louis and board the Andromeda....” Ann finished for him. She was already imagining what their next season on the river would be like, all that beautiful country rolling out before them, all those people to meet, places to see, and towns to visit.
Chase sat up and squeezed her hand. Ann could see how grave his face had suddenly become.
“I’m not sure how to tell you this, Annie,” he began, “but the
Andromeda
is gone. The bank took her away from me, right along with the town house and everything else the commodore owned.”
“Oh, Chase, no! I know what the
Andromeda
means to you.” She reached to cup his cheek and tried to smooth away the creases of resignation around his mouth.
“I know what she means to you, too, Annie, and I’m sorry we lost her. But we’ll be all right.” He turned his head and pressed a kiss into her palm. “I’ll get a berth piloting some other boat.”
“I know you will.”
“We won’t be together much during the shipping season—” He took her hand in his and clasped it to his heart. “—but we’ll make do. You can stay on here at Hardesty’s Landing, or we’ll find you a flat in St. Louis. We’ll save our money and in time we’ll buy another steamer.”
Ann tightened her grip on his hand. “Or,” she said, sliding him a sideways smile. “I could buy you the
Andromeda
as a wedding gift.”
“Oh, Annie!” Chase laughed and brought her knuckles to his lips. “As generous as that offer is, I know you haven’t a penny to bless you any more than I do.”
Ann shifted a little uncomfortably, wishing now she’d been more forthcoming about the news Mr. Throckmorton had brought her.
“Well, actually,” she said and swallowed hard, “I
do
have a penny to bless me. Quite a few pennies, as a matter of fact.”
“What?”
Ann dipped her head. “I—I guess I should have mentioned my inheritance.”
“Your inheritance? I guess you should have!”
Ann couldn’t tell by the tone of his voice if Chase was shocked or angry.
“Just how many pennies are there in this inheritance?”
After all they’d been through, he wouldn’t be upset to find that she had thousands and thousands of dollars at her disposal, would he?
“Annie, how many pennies?”
She glanced up and could tell by the trim of his jaw he wanted an answer.
“Enough—” She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Enough to buy back the
Andromeda.
Enough to pay off Frenchy’s other wives and invest in his bakery.”
“You mean Frenchy really does have more than one wife, and he’s opening a bakery?”
Ann nodded. “And I’d have money left over after I paid for all of that.”
Chase stared at her. “As many pennies as that? And how exactly did you come into this inheritance?”
“Do you remember when that lawyer came to see me when we returned from Fort Benton?” When Chase nodded, Ann went on. “Well, he was executing my mother’s will. It seems she stipulated that the money was to come to me only after I was wed.”
He pursed his lips and took a moment to think that over. “And you want to use that money to buy me the
Andromeda
?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m not sure I can let you do that, Annie.”
“Why?”
“A man earns his own keep,” he insisted stubbornly.
“A man takes care of his own family. A man doesn’t ask his wife to finance—”
Ann broke in before he could talk himself out of something she knew he wanted. “I’d be buying the
Andromeda
for both of us.”
“Both of us?”
“You said before you knew how much that steamer means to me. It’s what brought the two of us together. It’s where Christina was born. It’s where we fell in love. I wouldn’t be here with you today if it weren’t for the
Andromeda.”
How could a man nod and still seem patently unconvinced?
“Buying the
Andromeda,”
she persisted, “is a promise we’d be making to the future. To our livelihood as well as to Christina and our other children.”
His eyebrows rose and his voice softened. “Our other children, Annie?” he asked. “Are we going to have ‘other children?’ ”
“Don’t you think that after doing what we just did, having other children is a distinct possibility?”
He lowered his gaze and she could see the ruddy color come up in his face. “I suppose it is.”
“So can we make this promise to the future, Chase?” she asked hopefully. “Can we reclaim the
Andromeda
for all of us?”
His deep blue gaze rose and locked with hers. “Oh, Annie, if you’re sure...”
“I’m sure, Chase.” Annie leaned across and kissed him. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my whole life.”
About the Author
ELIZABETH GRAYSON was published for the first time in the fourth grade and hasn’t stopped writing since. She wrote while she earned both a BS and MS in Education, while she taught art in elementary schools and children’s classes at the St. Louis Art Museum. Elizabeth delights in telling rich, romantic stories set on the frontier and received the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Historical Romances set in America.
Painted by the
Sun
was also a finalist for the prestigious Willa Cather Literary Award.
Elizabeth lives in Missouri with her devoted husband, Tom, and indolent cat, Simba. Readers may contact her through her website
elizabethgrayson.com
or at P.O. Box 260052, St. Louis, Missouri 63126.
Also by Elizabeth Grayson
COLOR OF THE WIND PAINTED BY THE SUN
MOON IN THE WATER A Bantam Book / April 2004
Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2004 by Karyn Witmer-Gow
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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eISBN: 978-0-307-41823-4
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