Along Came Love (14 page)

"We have one surprise for you and Bertha, but
it's gonna wait until the ceremony is over and we've all had some
cake. Just don't run off too fast, okay."

"Now what have you characters gone and
done?"

"Nothing you don't deserve," Clint said
coming in to join them.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it," Cal said
reaching out to shake his hand.

"To my daddy's wedding?" Clint chortled.

"Is Abby here? Yes, everyone is here, in
fact, I just saw Samantha pulling up." Clint said glancing out the
window.

"She's here…" Cal started for the door.

"Oh no you don't. This is your wedding day
and you can't see the bride until you start to marry. So settle
down tiger. You've got plenty of time for that…" Clint held his
father's arms.

"Fine…if that's the way you want it." Cal
acted hurt. "Where are the kids?"

"Standin' around in the yard, chasing each
other, and trying to tear up their clothes so their mama's can
holler at them. I seen little Emily tastin' the cake with a finger,
and

Clay and Sammie Jo had their heads together
about something." Clint announced.

"It's a typical day at the Travers Ranch I'd
say." Deke chuckled.

Then they heard the music start, and all his
boys looked at him. Cal stood up straight and headed for the door,
almost on a run.

A few moments later, Bertha came sauntering
down the aisle, a little wobbly, but smiling at her Cal.

Reverend Miller smiled at the congregation
and began the vows that would make them man and wife.

***

The reception was huge and the backyard
seemed extended with people. Kids were running all over the place,
hollering and whooping it up.

Cal winked at Bertha and as they cut the cake
he shoved a piece in her mouth. Jake took the picture.

Bertha laughed so hard she started crying,
Cal wiped her eyes and kissed her in front of everyone. Jake popped
that picutre too.

"I love you, lady," Cal said throatily as
everyone laughed.

"Oh Cal…." Bertha hugged him to her. "I can't
believe we've done it."

After a lot of visiting with the guest, the
boys loaded everyone up and told them to follow them. Deke seated
his father and Bertha in their family car and drove to a grove down
the road. They stopped in front of a cedar made house.

Cal glanced at it and then at his sons,
"What's this? I don't remember this being here."

"It's a place of your own, Dad. Just big
enough for you and Bertha and the grandkids to stay over at. Not a
lot to clean, but big enough for sleep overs."

"You boys did this…for us…" Bertha
gasped.

"Yes ma'am. Not that you aren't welcome to
stay at the house, but we thought maybe you might like to stay
here, at least when you first get back, you'd have a little
privacy, if you know what I mean…" Deke winked.

Cal nodded with a frown, "We're not that old,
we know what you mean."

Bertha cried and reached for each sons, "My
God, I never dreamed of anything so grand in all my days, such a
beautiful place, and just down the road from you."

Everyone in the crowd ooh and aahed the
place, and they took a grand tour. It was a three bedroom, two
bath, two car garage home. It had all leather furniture, his dad's
favorite chair, a kitchen Bertha could adapt to well and plenty of
room in the spare room for kids to romp.

Cal shook hands with all his sons and could
hardly speak. But he did. "Want you boys to know something. I don't
often say this, so listen up. I love ya. I'm proud of ya, and I'm
about the happiest man alive today…thanks to my four sons and this
remarkable lady…!"

"Now, let's get back so you can dress for the
airport and catch that boat for the Bahama's." Clint shouted.

The boys tossed their stetsons in the air and
everyone yelled and whooped.

It had been the best of days.

With Cal and Bertha gone, the house seemed
much quieter and Jake missed his dad. But the decision he'd just
made for himself made him feel good again. This was going to make a
lot of things much better for him and Samantha and his family.

But when and how to tell them about it was
still up in the air. At least his father wasn't a worry any longer
and he only had to deal with his brothers and Samantha. But he felt
in his heart, Samantha would be very happy about it.

He'd be home again too, at least in the same
area. He could visit with his family any time he wanted. Samantha
would be near her mother. It was perfect.

He called Samantha on the phone and couldn't
get her. Maybe she was out shopping or something. He'd try
later.

"You and Ms. Courtland are sure seeing a lot
of each other," Sammie Joe smiled as she came in through the back
door.

Jake nodded, "Yeah, I guess we are."

"You like her a lot, don't you…."

"Yep…right again pumpkin."

"Are you going to marry her?" Sammie Jo's
face lit with new knowledge.

"Yes, I am…is that okay with you?" Jake
smiled.

"It's more than okay…." Sammie Joe laughed
and went to her room. Jake was sure she was probably calling Clay
to let him know her plan worked. He laughed.

But before he could get out the door, Sammie
Jo was back. "Uncle Jake, what's it like."

Jake didn't understand the question. "What,
pumpkin?"

"Being in love…"

Jake thought about the question. He knew this
was important to her, and he wanted to answer it with some thought,
not just blurt out anything.

"Well, it's a feeling you get, like you have
to be with that one person all the time. Like you enjoy them so
much, you don't want them going away."

Sammie Jo nodded, "Yeah…you think I'll ever
fall in love?"

"Of course you will, honey. Almost everyone
does, sooner or later." Jake reassured her.

"But how do you know if it is the real
thing…."

Jake shrugged this time he didn't have all
the answers. "There are ways. One way is to believe in God, and
trust that he'll send you just the right person. And be true to
your own heart. If something isn't right, you should feel it, in
your heart first."

Sammie Jo stared at him serious as though
he'd said something strange. "Does God know when it's real."

"Yes he does…"

"Uncle Jake, how come you know so much about
God?" Sammie Jo quirked her head and stared.

"Well honey, I'm not the best authority on
him, but I've read the bible a couple of times through. I studied
theology in school. So I just do," he shook her head and laughed.
"Now let's stop playing twenty questions, I've got something very
important to do today."

"What?"

"I'm going to show Samantha where we'll be
living…" Jake smiled.

"Is it far?" Sammie Jo frowned.

"Actually, it's real close to home, Pumpkin."
Jake announced.

"Really?"

"Really!"

"I've got to go tell Clay…." Sammie Jo ran
for the back door again.

***

Samantha was trimming the rose garden when
Jake rode up on his bike. She smiled and went to greet him.

"Jake, what brings you here so early?"
Samantha laughed giving him a light kiss on the cheek.

Jake placed his helmet on his bike and turned
to hold her for a second, he kissed her on the lips then smiled.
"I've got something I want to show you, if you've got a few
minutes."

Samantha took off her garden gloves and
glanced at Jake's serious face.

"Okay, sure, why not…." Samantha stowed her
garden gear and looked down at herself, "Do I need to change
clothes?"

"Not really, we'll be riding my bike." He
smiled.

"All right, let me tell mom, she's playing
chess right now anyway." Samantha chuckled.

Jake smiled, "Good, one day she can teach
me…" Jake's voice followed her into the house.

In minutes they were on the road. Samantha
didn't ask questions, she just enjoyed the ride. It was a lovely
day and she was tired of pruning roses anyway. She had become
accustomed to riding with Jake now and was able to enjoy her
surroundings instead of holding on for dear life.

But Jake seemed very quiet this morning and
she finally broke the silence, "So where are we going?" she shouted
through her helmet.

"Just down the road a bit…" he replied, his
voice a little more tense than usual.

When he stopped it was in front of a nice old
house, the driveway curved around and they pulled in. Samantha
studied the house. She'd seen it along side the roadway several
times, marveling at the huge front porch and well kept lawns. She
had no idea who owned it, but the place was lovely.

"You didn't tell me we were going to visit
someone, Jake." Samantha's voice rose a little in panic as she
discarded the helmet and straightened her hair.

"We aren't. No one lives here…yet." He
announced, taking her hand and guiding her toward the front porch.
When they got up the step to the porch, Jake picked her up in his
arms and carried her inside the house.

"Jake…don't you think we should ask
permission before just going in?" she fretted, surprised by his
romantic gesture.

Jake stared down into her eyes, his face as
mask of questions and doubts. "I have permission sweetheart. I
bought this place. I thought it a little awkward, because I didn't
discuss it with you first. But it was going up on the auction block
next week and I'd had my eye on it for some time."

Samantha's eyes rounded on him in nothing
short of surprise and wonder. "You bought this place?" She glanced
around, but he still had her in his arms and she couldn't twist to
see everything. "But Jake…you live in Peaceful, why would you buy a
place here?" she gasp, still marveling at the beautiful wood work
inside the house. The winding staircase took her breath away.

He looked so vulnerable, so unsure when he
glanced down into her surprised face.

"Do you like it?"

"Like it?" she gasped. "Well, of course I do
Jake…it's gorgeous. I've always thought it one of the most grand
houses in the town, but how could you afford something so
grand…"

He chuckled now, some of the tension flowing
out of him. "Comes from being a bachelor all these years, not
spending much money, and investing in the right types of stocks.
But there is more to tell you honey, and I want you to sit down
while I do. I took the liberty of buying this one chair, for you…"
he gestured as he set her down and went to bring a beautifully
intricately carved rocking chair out of a back room and sat it down
in the spacious living room.

"Sam you know I've been pretty square about
telling you things, except for one thing. And I hadn't told anyone
till the other day. But I couldn't contain myself any longer. "
Jake took her hand in his, his thumb rubbing over her hand gently.
She marveled at the beautiful chair, but it as his actions and
expressions that captured her interest.

He crouched before her on the floor, one knee
bent. "I've already asked you to marry me, and you've accepted. But
now I want to share with you what has been troubling me for some
time and I have finally settled. You know I took the bar and that I
didn't want to go into law."

She nodded, her smile on him and then on the
beautiful surroundings.

"When I went to college I majored in
theology." He stopped to watch her face.

Samantha's head turned in surprise, but she
said nothing, wanting him to continue.

"That was my choice, although, I never told
my family about it. For one I wasn't sure how they would react.
They had a lot of preconceived ideas about me all their lives and I
couldn't quite get them out of it. So I let them think it was law,
until I figured out why I had taken this course myself. I went into
law because I believed in it. I think law and religion are closely
related in many ways. You obey commandments, you obey the law. I
saw them as connecting so to speak. But as the years passed and the
bar exam became an obstacle I decided to face it and take the exam,
just to prove that I had learned what I set out to. However, my
heart was not in being a lawyer. It wasn't me. I knew that from the
start. I'll admit, I'm a mixture of things Sam. But my heart has
always been with my major, in theology. So when Reverend Miller
wrote me a few months back that he was retiring and that if I had
any notion whatsoever to become a preacher, now was the time. We'd
talked through the years about it. I put it off, fearing
disappointing my family, until now. Now, it all seems to make sense
and fit. I want to preach, Samantha. I want to do God's work, and I
want you by my side. I bought this house, this home…for us. I was
hoping you'd have the reaction you had. I was hoping you'd love it.
As I do. And now I want to know…do you still want to marry
me…?"

"Jake," her voice shook with undefined
emotions. "I've loved you for years. And nothing I've ever done,
has ever shaken that love. But this…." She glanced around her and
then at his worried expression. She couldn't torture him any
longer. "Oh Jake…yes, my darling Jake, I'll marry you. This is
like….some dream come true…."

Jake's tension fled and he gathered her to
him. He stood up, and brought her with him and kissed her firmly on
the mouth. Then twirled her in a big circle and smiled into her
face.

"I love you Samantha….and I promise you," he
stood suddenly still, holding her against him and smiling joyfully,
"You will always be first in my life, next to God…"

"Oh Jake…" she forgot having any
reservations; she hugged him to her and kissed him wildly on the
lips. Laughter, and happiness filled the old house and he carried
her through each room.

He glanced down at her then chuckled, "Hey
Sam, this feels very familiar, me carrying you through a house,
doesn't it…."