Falling in Love With Her Husband (31 page)

“Isn"t it obvious? I thought you were pretty.”

I guessed as much but it was nice to hear.

We got out of the sleigh and introduced John and

Barbara to my parents. As Todd was about to join John and

my father out to the Russell barn, I quickly asked Todd why

men liked to separate themselves from women.

“Because, you"re stil boring,” he good-naturedly

replied. “When you get together, you talk about cooking,

cleaning or children. God forbid you should mention a

female problem. Those are the scariest of all talks, and I"ve

heard enough of those from my sisters.”

“So what do you men talk about?”

“Work. Sometimes we discuss how to fix things.”

“Oh. Now that"s boring.” Thank goodness I didn"t

have any brothers to listen to while growing up.

“At least when we get together, the conversation is

better for both of us.” He kissed the top of my nose. “Just so

you know, I enjoy our time together the most.”

“Me too.”

I smiled as he walked to Calvin, John and my father.

As much as I looked forward to spending time with Barbara

and my mother, I knew my thoughts would be on Todd and

how wonderful he was. Barbara was delighted to see that

things were better between me and Todd.

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“I prayed day and night that you two would be

alright,” she confided while my mother talked to Molly and

Bruce. “But today, you are glowing.”

“I appreciate your prayers. They worked.”

“Thank goodness.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired but happy, especially since you and Todd are

alright.”

Bruce led my mother to us. “Can Mrs. Statesman

see my jacks?”

“Yes, she may,” Barbara replied.

He ran into the house.

“Would you like to come inside?” Barbara asked me

and my mother.

We nodded and joined her.

***

When we decided to go to town, I was surprised that

Todd, John and my father went to visit Mr. Fields who had

puppies he was eager to give away. I wondered why they

brought two light brown and white puppies. I soon

discovered that one was for John"s children and the other

one was for me and Todd. I wanted to ask Todd why we

needed a puppy but knew he would tell me later. While the

men stayed to talk to Mr. Fields, Barbara took me and my

mother to visit her mother and to meet Mr. and Mrs. Coley.

Afterwards, we returned to the Russell house to

prepare dinner. My mother insisted on playing with the

children since she made a better nanny than a cook.

“She enjoys the children as much as you do,”

Barbara commented as she rolled the dough.

I stuffed the dough with cheese and folded the dough

to make ravioli. “She spent a lot of time with me when I was

a little girl. I suppose since I was the only child, it was easy

to devote most of her time to me.”

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“She seems like a compassionate person.”

“She is. I think she took my heartbreak over Kent

worse than I did. It wasn"t that she liked him. She liked

Todd more, but it hurt her to watch me in pain.” I sighed

thoughtfully. “She"l make a good grandmother.”

Barbara looked at me. “Is that a possibility?”

“A lot has changed in two days,” I simply replied, my

cheeks hot from embarrassment.

“What great news! Maybe you"l be expecting soon

and we can have our babies close together. They could be

good friends.”

I smiled. “What if I have a girl and you have a boy?”

“Then maybe they"l marry someday.”

“You"re horrible!”

She shrugged. “It"s fun to imagine.”

I grinned. Yes, it was.

***

After my parents settled into bed for the night, Todd

said he wanted to talk to me, so I sat next to him on the

couch. The puppy quietly played in the corner with an old

shoe. I hoped this talk would explain the sudden need for a

dog.

“I know this is something you don"t like to think

about, but I need you to remember something for me,” he

said.

I frowned. This didn"t sound promising.

“When I saw you and Kent in the mercantile, did he

say anything after I left?”

I blinked in surprise. I stared at the fire as I

processed the events through my mind. I had focused so

much on the fact that Todd saw us kissing that I hadn"t

considered what happened afterwards. A feeling of dread

washed over me. “He said he would be back.”

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“That"s what Mrs. Carson said. You didn"t mention it

before, so I couldn"t be sure that is what happened but now I

know. Your father recommended that we get a dog for

protection. I can"t be here all the time.”

I sat up straight. “You think he"l come here? To our

home?”

“I don"t know but I"d rather play it safe. I want you to

come with me to the barn.”

I reluctantly put on my coat and followed him outside.

Once he set the lantern on the ground, he picked up his

gun.

“What are you doing?” I asked, though I real y didn"t

want to know.

“You may need to use this. The dog won"t do

enough damage to stop him. It will just buy you time. If

Kent"s serious, he"l stil come after you. Ann, shooting

someone to protect yourself is not murder.”

I shivered. I didn"t feel comfortable using a gun.

“Can"t I use something else?” Did I real y want to be out

here, having this conversation?

He thought for a moment. “I guess the gun is

intimidating to a woman.”

This whole conversation was intimidating to a

woman. Was Kent going to drag me off and force me to be

his wife? Did Todd think that would actually happen? I

recalled the way he kissed me, the force he used and how

he wouldn"t go away when I told him to. I quickly turned

around so I could regain my composure.

Todd wrapped his arms around me. “Ann, I hope I"m

overreacting, but I can"t afford to take my chances. You

said you were afraid of him. I can only do so much to

protect you. As long as you"re with someone in town, I think

you"l be safe. But if you"re alone here, there"s no one to

help you. Your father is going to discuss the situation with

Kent"s father. Hopefully, they can resolve the issue. In the

meantime, I need you to be strong for me. Please?”

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I took a deep breath. “I"l learn to shoot the gun.”

He smiled. “There"s the girl that threw sand on two

class bullies.”

I laughed, glad to have the mood lightened. I didn"t

want to think of Kent. I wanted to focus on Todd and how

wonderful it felt to be loved by him.

“We won"t practice tonight, but I want to show you

where to find the gun in case you need it.”

I watched him put it behind the pile of chopped

wood.

He continued to explain, “I figure that if you"re at the

house, the dog will attack Kent and it should give you

enough time to get the gun. I"m going to install door locks

on the front and back doors of the house.” He picked up the

axe that had been behind the chopped wood and placed it

on the shelf above the wood. “We"l start practicing after

your parents leave.”

As he took my hand and led me back into the house,

I hoped that I would never have to follow his plan.

***

My parents stayed for two weeks before they went

back to Virginia. Todd and I spent Thanksgiving with the

Russells and their relatives. For Christmas, I gave Todd a

new pair of boots that would be durable for farming. He

gave me a wedding ring.

“Todd, it"s beautiful,” I said that night as we sat

together in front of the fire in the parlor. “I think it"s the most

beautiful ring I"ve ever seen.”

“You"ve owned fancier rings than that one.”

“Maybe. But none of them were from you.”

He put his arm around me. “Is it any wonder that I

love you?”

I finally stopped staring at the ring and turned to him.

“I would like to go into town tomorrow and help Mrs. Carson

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take down Christmas decorations at the church. She"s

really a different person now. Even Mr. Carson decided to

go to church. He wanted to know what caused the big

change.”

“It"s nice to know you two are friends.” He held my

hand. “You don"t have to keep working for the Coley"s. We

have plenty of money.”

“I supposed that was the case when I gave you the

dowry. I still get food and cooking supplies, but I also enjoy

being there. I"ve made some friends in town and it"s a great

way to visit them. You would be surprised at how many

women go shopping during the day.”

“More boring women talk. No wonder men rarely

enter the mercantile.”

I didn"t take offense at his comment since I knew he

was joking.

Someone knocked at the door so I jumped up to

answer it. I blinked in surprise. What was Mr. Richard

doing here?

He took his hat off. “Good evening, ma"am. May I

speak with your husband?”

I glanced over my shoulder at Todd who hopped off

the couch.

“Mr. Richard, it"s a pleasure to see you. Come in,”

he invited.

I moved aside and took his coat and hat which I

hung on the nail by the door. “Would you like some hot

cocoa?” I asked him.

“No thank you, Mrs. Brothers.”

I looked at Todd to see if he wanted something to

drink.

He shook his head.

“If you"l excuse me, gentlemen,” I said and left the

room.

I went upstairs and changed into my nightgown. As

soon as I got into bed, I realized how tired I was and fell

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asleep. I didn"t wake up until the next morning. I squinted

as I lifted my head off the pillow.

Todd smiled at me. “Good morning.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost seven.”

“I must have been more tired than I thought.”

He chuckled. “Would you like some good news?”

“Sure. It"s a good way to start the day.”

“Mr. Richard discovered who stole the money.”

“Real y? Who did it?”

“Mr. Randolph. He"s been working at the bank for

ten years. Shortly after I began working at the bank, his wife

got sick. Since there wasn"t anyone to take care of her, he

missed a lot of work. He took some money when they ran

out of food. He thought that he could make up the work by

doing overtime, but her health kept getting worse. Mr.

Richard caught him taking some money out of the safe

yesterday.”

“But the bank was closed.”

“That"s why Mr. Richard went to investigate the bank.

He noticed someone was inside it. Mr. Randolph knew

where Mr. Richard put the key, so that"s how he got in

without being noticed.”

“So did Mr. Randolph plant the money and the

combination to the safe in your desk?”

“Yes. He was desperate and scared. He was afraid

if he lost his job, then he wouldn"t be able to support him

and his wife at all.” He reached for my hand. “Mrs. Carson

happened to be passing the bank and heard what was going

on. She volunteered to watch Mrs. Randolph so he could go

back to work. He"l be working some overtime to pay back

what he stole, but I think everyone is happy with the

outcome. Even though stealing is wrong, I can understand

why he did it. I"m glad he"l be paying Mr. Richard back, and

it"s great that Mrs. Carson is doing so much good for people

in town.”

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I nodded.

“Mr. Richard offered me the job back, but I said I was

happy working for Mr. Fields. Isn"t it amazing how things

work out? Mr. Richard gave me some money for what he

did to me. I told him he actually did me a favor because I

hated that job.”

“That"s wonderful news for everyone.”

“I had to resist the urge to wake you up last night and

tell you. You were just too tired. I couldn"t wake you up.”

I snuggled up to him and smiled.

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