Daunting Days of Winter (40 page)

“It’s Sean, from the militia, isn’t it?” David said, looking at Carol.

Carol nodded. “It is Sean, and he’s engaged.”

“Who’s he marrying?” Jennifer asked, only half listening to the conversation but still curious about the answer. “Someone from Clinton? I don’t think there’s anyone in Deer Creek, is there?”

Carol shook her head. “It’s not Clinton, and it’s not Deer Creek. She’s from Wyoming.”

Jennifer’s jaw dropped. “You mean he’s marrying Rose?”

Carol nodded and grinned widely. “That’s what I mean. Apparently he asked her last night, and she said yes.”

“I didn’t even know they were dating,” Jennifer said, before taking another forkful of food.

“How do you even date around here? It’s not like you can go to a movie, or a restaurant or anything.” David wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. “I did see them talking a few times. How long has she been here?”

“It’s been about a month,” Jennifer said, doing the math in her head. “She got here a couple of weeks after your dad left.”

“Don’t you have to know each other for a long time before you can get married?” Emma asked, scraping the last bit of food into her mouth.

“There aren’t any rules, Emma,” David said. “If you knew anything about love, you’d know that.”

“Like you know anything about it,” Emma shot back. “Or are you still in love with Amy?”

David went red in the face and stared daggers at his sister. “Just shut up, Emma,” he said as she laughed at him.

“Kids,” Jennifer said, raising her hands. “No fighting at the table, or anywhere else for that matter. Just cut it out. And David’s right. There aren’t any rules for falling in love.”

David gave Emma a smirk, which she just ignored. “So why do people get married, anyway?” Emma asked.

“Because they love each other,” Spencer said, joining the conversation.

“But they already love each other. They don’t need to be married to do that. Do they, Mom?”

Jennifer shook her head. “Of course not, sweetie. I love you and your brothers, and we’re not married.”

“So why do people get married?” Emma asked her mother, curious.

“Ahh, I guess, it’s just more of a tradition, than anything.” Jennifer stammered, looking around the table for help with the question. “It’s just what we do.”

Grace raised her hand. “Mind if I chime in?”

Jennifer nodded, grateful for the help.

Grace addressed Emma directly. “Do you plan to get married someday?”

Emma shrugged. “I suppose. That’s what we do, isn’t it?”

“It is, but marriage has been changed a lot since I was a little girl.” Grace looked around the table and smiled. “You probably don’t want me to bore you with my story…”

“Please, tell us,” Jennifer said. “It would be nice to hear about you and Chuck. Looking back, I wish we had spent more time with their grandparents, having them tell their stories. It’s a shame we found it so easy to just send the kids off to watch TV while the adults visited.”

Grace nodded in agreement. “You kids up for a story?”

David and Emma nodded. Spencer looked at his mom, hoping to be excused from the table. He was met with a stern look, so he closed his eyes and leaned back against his chair.

Grace laughed a little. “I’ll try not to drag it out too long, but maybe my story can help explain what I think about marriage. I grew up in a pretty small town in Southern Idaho, a town called Grace, just like me. It was almost as small as Deer Creek is, small enough that everyone knew everyone else. One summer in the early sixties, a boy shows up that I had never seen before, a Charles Turner from Cleveland, Ohio. In a little town, it’s pretty exciting when someone new comes around, especially when they’re as handsome as he was. I had just finished my junior year of high school, and back then, most girls thought about marriage instead of college, so I was pretty excited about Mr. Turner.”

“Was it love at first sight?” Emma asked, listening carefully.

“No,” Grace said, shaking her head slowly. “It wasn’t love at first sight. Love takes time to grow, but it was cute at first sight, at least for me.”

Spencer wrinkled his nose. “What’s cute at first sight?”

“Cute at first sight is what most people experience, but they call it love. I was definitely smitten with Charles. He seemed so wonderful to me, and I did think it was love at the time, but so did a lot of other girls, which didn’t make him very popular with the boys. Anyway, somehow I won the Charles lottery, and before I graduated from high school, we were engaged.”

“Oh, my,” Jennifer said. “You two didn’t waste any time, did you?”

Grace blushed a little. “By today’s standards, we didn’t, although Sean and Rose make us look sloth-like. But back then, we weren’t too far out of the norm, especially for small towns. And I might say, marriages back then lasted a lot longer than they do now, so it wasn’t bad.”

“Guess I’ll give you that. How long were the two of you married?” Jennifer asked.

“Fifty-two years,” Grace answered with glistening eyes. “Fifty-two wonderful years. And when we married, we both expected it would last. Divorce wasn’t really an option. I’m not saying it was a walk in the park. My dad was pretty upset about our romance. Charles was from far away, he was three years older than me, and he wasn’t of our faith, so my family tried really hard to discourage me.”

“Did you guys elope?” David asked, also drawn in by Grace’s experience.

“Oh, no. Nothing like that, though we did talk about it a couple of times. No, my dad realized my mind was made up, and he kind of liked Chuck anyway, so he convinced my mother that they should give us their blessing.”

“Did they come to your wedding?” Emma asked.

“Did they ever. We got married at the end of June, just after I graduated, and my parents planned the biggest wedding you could imagine. I thought they might do something little because I was being a bit of a rebel, marrying an outsider and all, but it was just the opposite. I think it was the biggest wedding Grace, Idaho had seen to that point.”

“If your parents weren’t real happy, why’d they do it? That doesn’t make sense.” David pulled his knees up close to his body and wrapped his arms around them to keep warm.

“I asked my dad that before our first daughter got married. He laughed and said it was to keep us on our toes.”

“Why did he want you on your toes?” Spencer asked, looking puzzled.

“It doesn’t really mean to be on my toes. He just wanted us to be thoughtful about it. He said he wanted everyone to know who had promised to take care of his daughter, and he wanted us to know that everyone knew. Said a marriage vow isn’t just to one person. I thought about that a lot as my own daughters married off, and it makes a lot of sense. You see, when people marry, it’s not just something you do on a whim because you like someone, though that’s what a lot of people seem to think. Marriage is a promise you make to the person you marry and, almost as important, to your community and the families, that the two of you have committed to supporting each other and your children.”

“Why do they care?” Emma asked, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hands.

“Because back then, who do you think would take care of me if Chuck didn’t?”

Emma shrugged, but David answered. “Probably your family and your neighbors, wouldn’t they?”

Grace nodded. “Back then, it was pretty important to the community that there weren’t very many single women, or orphans, because the community would have to help take care of them. So, as you can imagine, there was a lot of pressure for families to stay together. My dad wanted to make sure Chuck understood the family’s expectations, so he made sure everyone in town knew who was committing to his daughter. “

“Good thing it’s not like that anymore,” David said. “The government helps with that.”

“But it is like that again, isn’t it, David,” Jennifer said, rubbing his shoulders. “We’re back to where we where a long time ago. I think that’s why I worry about your father so much. If he doesn’t make it back, we’re…” she started to choke up and paused for a second to compose herself. “We’re going to have a hard time.”

“Dad’s coming back, Mom. Stop worrying, please. Plus, I’m still here.”

“Yes, David, you are. But at some point, you’re going to get married and have your own family, and you won’t want to still be taking care of your old mother.”

Grace tapped the table gently with her hands. “I didn’t mean for this to become a downer. Like I said, marriages are good for the community, both for the reasons we talked about and because they’re a celebration. It’s a happy time. I think this wedding will be good for us, especially coming out of winter. There’ll be dancing, and food, and everyone can come together and celebrate.”

Carol stood up from the table and grabbed her plate. “Yes, it will be good for us. As the designated doctor in this town, I can assure you that people need something to celebrate. I’m no psychiatrist, but it can’t do anything but help. Now, on that note, it looks like everyone is done. Whose turn is it to help me with the dishes?”

Emma stood grudgingly and picked up her plate. “It’s my turn, again. Boy, do I miss the dishwasher.”

“We have a dishwasher, Sis,” David said, smiling. “It’s named Emma.”

Emma glared at her brother and was about to throw a fork at him when Jennifer grabbed her arm and stopped her.

Spencer laughed, then grinned at David. “Tomorrow the dishwasher’s named David,” he said, then tried to dodge as David grabbed him and began to tickle him. “Stop!” he shrieked, fighting back against his brother.

David wrestled Spencer to the ground, tickling him as he shrieked uncontrollably. “Tell me you’re sorry,” David demanded.

“I’m sorry!” Spencer cried, as he tried to peel David’s fingers from his side. “I’m sorry,” he repeated when David didn’t stop.

“Hey! I thought I heard someone say I’m sorry!” came a deep, male voice.

Everyone stopped and turned.

“Kyle!” Jennifer cried, dashing across the room and throwing her arms around her husband.

“Dad!” the kids cried, running to him as well.

“Don’t squeeze too hard,” Kyle said. “You don’t want to break me right off the bat.”

Jennifer released her grip and stepped back. “You’ve had me worried to death,” she said as she looked him over. “What happened to your jacket? It looks like it’s been through a paper shredder.”

Kyle smiled at her as he hugged the children. “I missed you, honey. It’s good to be back.”

“I missed you, too, Kyle,” she said, then kissed him tenderly on the lips. “What happened to you?”

“It’s nothing to be worried about. Let’s just be happy we’re back together, alright?”

Jennifer was about to respond when Madison began crying in the next room. “David, can you go get the baby?” she asked, then turned back to Kyle, who was staring at her wide-eyed.

“What did you just say?”

Jennifer laughed. “Oh, congratulations. You’ve got a baby girl.”

Kyle shook his head. “Something’s not adding up here.” He looked at Carol for answers.

“Congratulations, Kyle. You should be very proud,” Carol said, grinning widely.

David returned carrying Madison. “Do you want to hold her?” he asked, extending the baby to Kyle.

Emma pulled the blanket away from Madison’s face as Kyle took her gingerly in his arms. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she Daddy?”

Kyle nodded. “I think I need to go back to Idaho and apologize to Roman.” He looked at Jennifer. “How?”

Jennifer stepped back to her husband and wrapped her arms around him. “I’ll tell you my stories, if you tell me yours.”

CHAPTER 48

Saturday, April 7
^th

Deer Creek, MT

“I don’t think they could have picked a better day,” Jennifer said, squinting in the sunlight.

Kyle nodded. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” He looked around at the gathering crowd, with everyone wearing the best they had and carrying lawn chairs as they filled the field for the wedding ceremony. Emma, David and Spencer were all seated nearby.

The wedding had originally been scheduled for inside the town meeting hall, but with such pleasant spring weather, the site had been changed to the town park, a grassy field on the edge of the newly filled reservoir, lightly shaded by a row of freshly budding cottonwoods that towered over the creek. David, Emma, and some of their friends had brought the Shipley’s goats, along with shovels, to the park during the past few days to eat the grass down, creating a nice, green, if slightly irregular, pasture for the ceremony to take place.

“You want to hold Madison?”

Kyle nodded and took the baby from Jennifer. He smiled and made faces at her, eliciting a smile. “She smiled!” he exclaimed excitedly. “That one was a real smile; I’m sure of it.”

“Spencer got her to smile yesterday. I thought I told you that?”

“I don’t think so, or maybe I don’t remember. I was so tired when I got home.” He gently rubbed Madison’s cheek. “She sure is a pretty baby, isn’t she?”

Jennifer nodded. “It’s such a tragedy her mom is gone. She’d be so proud.”

“At least Madison’s alive and healthy, although I think she made goat noises at me when I fed her her bottle this morning.”

Jennifer slapped him on the shoulder. “She does not make goat noises, and thank heavens we have access to those animals, or she might not be alive. Have you seen Rose yet today?”

Kyle shook his head.

“She’s beautiful. She modeled her dress for me yesterday and she looks absolutely stunning.”

“I still can’t believe she followed me here. I think I was more surprised by Rose than by Madison when I got back.”

“Are there going to be any more women from your travels showing up this summer?”

“Maybe one.”

Jennifer turned to look at Kyle, her eyebrows raised.

“If the wife of that black bear tracks me down.”

Jennifer laughed out loud, drawing the attention of the family sitting in front of them. She elbowed Kyle in the ribs. “Probably just as well I didn’t know about Rose. It would’ve put a worry in my head that didn’t need to be there.”