Second Chance Bride (18 page)

“What?” Annie stared. “The sheriff?” Annie nodded her head. “But I can’t imagine he’d ask you to marry him or that your father would approve.”

“He did and he did. In fact, they both did.” Amanda threw her arms in the air and laughed.

“Isn’t it wonderful?”

Annie gave her friend a hug. “Tell me everything!”

Amanda settled on a bench and regaled Annie with one of the funniest tales she’d ever heard. She was amazed by Amanda’s boldness and wished she could have seen the sheriff’s reaction.

“Oh, my.” Annie shook her head in disbelief. “How is the sheriff? Has he recovered?”

“He’s very happy.” Amanda laughed.

“You’re exactly the right woman for him. I’m glad he finally figured that out.” As she’d predicted, the man had never stood a chance against a force of nature like Amanda.

“I’m not sure he even realizes what happened, but I don’t care.” Amanda wiggled on the bench. “Now let me tell you all the plans. We’ll be getting married the next time Reverend Thompson is here.”

“So soon?”

Amanda sighed and squeezed her friend’s hand. “Oh, yes. That soon.”

A
nnie brushed down the new gray skirt Lucia had made her and tugged the collar of the white basque. The earrings Amanda had given her swung merrily. With a twist, she wound her thick hair into a bun on top of her head, stuck in several hairpins and smoothed the sides back. Her hair had grown in the nearly five months she’d been in Trail’s End, as had her wardrobe. Now the owner of four skirts and seven tops, she felt very stylish. With stockings to go with her two pairs of shoes, a new petticoat, two plain cotton nightgowns and a pretty shawl, she had nearly filled her dresser. And she had a nice amount of money in the bank.

She hadn’t seen John in a week, not since Amanda’s wedding. But he’d sent a note with Ramon telling her he’d be by early this evening.

But she was ready early, had planned that because she needed some time in prayer. She patted her hair once again, then entered the schoolroom and sat on the bench next to the large window overlooking the grove of trees behind the building.

“Loving and forgiving God,” she began. She paused, studying the scene outside. The trees were beginning to bud with that pale, sweet greenness that announced the coming of spring and birds flitted through the branches. “Dear God, You have give me so much. Please help me find one more thing—the wisdom to know what to do next.” She dropped her face in her hands to listen. If she’d learned anything besides what she’d picked up from all the books she’d studied, it was how little patience she possessed, how difficult she found it to listen for the leading of her Lord and her Savior. She slowed her breathing and bowed her head, waiting.

“Matilda?”

Feeling quieted and filled, she turned toward John.

“I knocked and called but no one answered so I came in.” He looked down at her for a moment with a hint of a frown.

“I’m sorry.” Should she explain? She hated to discuss her faith. Of course, she couldn’t discuss it with most people. They wouldn’t understand how God had changed her. With John, she worried that saying she’d been praying might sound…well, pretentious, but how else could she account for her behavior? “I didn’t hear you because I was praying.”

He sat on the bench in front of her and looked into her eyes. “You were praying? Do you pray a lot?”

She smiled. “I don’t know what
a lot
means. I pray when I feel the need, when I am overwhelmed or happy or worried or…I don’t know. I pray whenever I need to.”

John considered that. “Does God always answer you?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Well, if you don’t know if God answers you,” he said, “why do it?”

“I’ve learned God’s response may not be immediate. And because God has given me courage and strength and hope and forgiveness every time I pray.” She looked into his eyes. “Doesn’t that happen when you pray?”

“I don’t pray a lot.”

“But you go to church every Sunday.”

“Yes, but I go to be an example. Faith,” he said, “hasn’t been that important to me.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, surprised by his admission.

“But I’m not here to discuss faith,” John said decisively as he took her hand and stood. “Why don’t we go outside?” He led her to the spot where she often watched the children at play.

Once he sat down next to her, his voice and his expression became serious. “Matilda, do you know how much I care about you?”

She nodded.

“When I can work in a few minutes to see you, I feel as if I’m sneaking around.”

That would be hard on a man as principled as John.

“I can think of only one way to be together.” He stood and walked a few feet away before turning back, his hands behind his back and his expression even more solemn. “Farley tells me Amanda and the sheriff will be having an ‘at home’ on Saturday. I’d like to escort you.”

“What?” The idea astonished her. “But, if you do that, if we go together, people will think we’re courting. They’ll know how we feel.”

He laughed. “Yes, that’s what I hope.”

“But this is so…so personal.” Could she express this more clearly without hurting his feelings? How could she explain the fact that she did want him to court her and her reluctance to tell the world? “I’ve always been a private person.”

He sat beside her and seemed to think about his words before he spoke. “I’m tired of seeing you only now and then. I want to be with you more, and I want everyone to know that we’re together.”

She’d both feared and hoped this would happen. Because John had such strong principles, hiding their relationship would eat away at him, deception would wound him.

She’d been through so much. After such a life, didn’t she deserve happiness finally? After going through such horror and turmoil, didn’t she finally deserve to be loved and cared for?

Looking into John’s eyes, she saw that his solemn facade only disguised his vulnerability and yearning. She couldn’t turn him down. She’d deal with the problems her response might bring later, but not now.

“I’d like that.”

The joy on John’s face convinced her she’d made the right decision. He let out a deep breath, smiling broadly.

“You’ve made me a happy man.” He leaned forward and put his cheek next to hers. “I’ll be by tomorrow evening at eight.” As he spoke, his words tickled her ear. Reluctantly, he stood and looked at her, love shining in his eyes. “Goodbye, my love,” he said.

She watched him leave, noticing a lightheartedness in his step as he ran toward Orion and mounted. After she could no longer see him, she closed the door.

She smiled again. She now understood what love meant, and she realized that she had been in love with him for some time. Why John cared for her she couldn’t guess, but he did and she wouldn’t argue with him about that.

The sheriff never stopped smiling. He looked like a different man during the visit he and Amanda made on Friday, the day after their return from their wedding trip.

“I don’t intimidate anyone anymore,” he said as he sat beside his wife outside the schoolhouse. “This town’s going to be overrun by thieves and killers, vicious men, heartless criminals and the dregs of humanity, all cheering because Sheriff Cole Bennett has fallen in love.”

“And you don’t mind at all.” After patting the sheriff on the arm, Amanda turned to speak to Annie. “Cole bought the sweetest little house for us. Daddy had moved us in while we were gone.”

“
Little
is the important word. There’s barely enough room for two—not much space for her huge wardrobe or all those shoes and wraps and hats and gewgaws.”

“Who needs all that when I have you?” Amanda teased. He smiled at her. “We stopped by to make sure you know about the at home we’re having at my father’s house tomorrow.”

“Yes, I do.” It was, Annie realized with not a little trepidation, time to tell Amanda. “John will take me.”

“John?” Amanda tilted her head. “John Sullivan?” Her eyes brows shot up. “John will take you?” When Annie nodded, then she leaned forward. “Are you and John courting?”

Annie nodded.

“Well, my, my, my.” Amanda leaned back against her husband’s arm. “When did this happen?”

“Little by little, over a few weeks. I’m not sure I realized it.”

“I swan! Are you happy? Well, of course you are.” She turned toward her husband. “Cole, would you please go check on the horses? I need to talk to Annie.”

“Bossiest woman in Texas,” he said with a grin as he moved toward the carriage.

“Tell me everything,” Amanda said.

“John and I felt an attraction for each other, and he asked to court me.” She leaned closer to Amanda. “Now, you tell me all about marriage. Is it marvelous?”

“Oh, Annie.” Amanda sighed. “It’s the most magnificent thing in the world. I’m so happy and so in love and Cole is amazing and he loves me.” A giddy smile covered her face. “There’s a lot it wouldn’t be proper for me to tell an unmarried woman, but being married is wonderful if you’re married to a man who really loves you.”

With that Amanda leaped to her feet, pulled Annie up and gave her a quick hug. “We’ll see you—and John—tomorrow,” she said as she ran to join her husband.

Annie watched her friends drive off. She’d never known two people who truly loved each other and made each other happy. She’d thought her parents had been happy once, but she didn’t remember exactly. Could a happy marriage have disappeared so quickly and left behind a person as miserable as her father?

Annie believed it was possible for a marriage to work. Perhaps love could be enough to bring two different people together. Maybe love could build a bridge between them.

She could only hope it did.

Saturday night when Annie and John arrived at the Hanson home, luminarias lined the drive crowded with carriages and horses. Candles sparkled in every window and guests ambled around the front porch and the side garden, the sound of their voices mingling with the music coming through the open windows.

She put her hand on her skirt to smooth out wrinkles that she knew were not there. Although Lucia had made sure her white cashmere basque and blue skirt looked perfect, Annie knew the other women were dressed much more formally and grandly in satin and lace with bustles and jewelry and other fashionable accessories.

“You’re the most beautiful woman in the county,” John whispered to her as he helped her from the surrey, seemingly reading her thoughts.

Annie put her hand to the top of the high-necked basque. Out of place, that was how she would look, the schoolteacher on the arm of John Matthew Sullivan. If a groom hadn’t already taken the carriage away, she would’ve climbed right back on it and gone home.

Perhaps she could escape before anyone noticed she was there.

He took her hand and placed it on his arm. “Shall we?”

Clinging to him, Annie realized it was very good to be courted by a man so strong, a man whose arm felt sturdy and protective and comforting beneath her hand.

“John and Matilda,” Amanda said as they approached the receiving line. “It’s my good friend, Matilda Cunningham, the schoolteacher.” Amanda spoke the words clearly and in a voice loud enough for guests in the farthest garden to hear.

When her friend leaned down and whispered, “You’ll be fine,” Annie realized she must have looked as frightened as she felt. She lifted her chin, straightened her back and vowed not to embarrass John, although she’d much prefer to run or hide. After all, hadn’t Amanda just told everyone there that they were friends? That she belonged at the party?

“Miss Cunningham, how nice to see you and John.” A very courtly Farley Hanson bowed over her hand. “I don’t believe you have met my friend Sara Harper from Fredericksburg.”

John continued to escort her around the room, greeting people and keeping her hand on his arm to show everyone that Annie was with him. Little by little, she relaxed and chatted with friends. When they returned from a walk in the gardens, a small orchestra had begun to play again in the large parlor and couples were beginning to gather.

“If you would join me for the first dance,” Mr. Hanson said with another bow.

“I don’t know how to dance,” Annie whispered. The girls in the brothel had had to learn dances to entertain the gentlemen, but she was quite sure those were not the dances polite society performed.

“The first dance will be a turning waltz. I’ll show you exactly what to do.” He took her hand and led her into the parlor. “We’ll allow the happy couple to start the dance. When you and I join them, that will signal for the others to follow.”

“Mr. Hanson, you do me such an honor. Thank you.”

“Nonsense,” he said. “John is my friend.”

Mr. Hanson did exactly as he’d said he would. With his hand resting on her back, he lightly guided her. Mistakes were not obvious in the crowd of dancers, fortunately.

When they finished the waltz, John claimed her for a schottische. Although she realized she knew this dance, she allowed him to show her the slides, hops and turns because she enjoyed his attention. After that, Mr. Johnson invited her to polka, and she joined a visiting Hanson relative from San Antonio in a reel. By then, Annie had lost her reticence and enjoyed every dance.

John appeared next to her and offered his arm. “I’m a fortunate man,” he whispered to her. “Every man here is jealous that I arrived with the loveliest woman on my arm.”

Annie grabbed his arm and held on to it, grateful he’d found her.

“May I suggest a cooling walk in the garden?” John asked. “You’ve been dancing for hours.”

“Thank you, John. I’ve had the most wonderful time.”

Many of the guests had begun to leave and the garden was nearly deserted. As they walked past a trellis in the far corner, John pulled Annie behind it.

“Now that I have you alone,” he said, “I’d like to kiss you.”

Annie closed her eyes. She didn’t want to kiss him. She’d be crushed if she discovered she didn’t like it. But surely she could do it to make him happy. It was so little to ask.

“Matilda, may I kiss you?”

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. John lifted her chin gently and rested his lips on hers for only a few seconds. His kiss was sweet and loving. It warmed her and she melted against him.