Falling in Love With Her Husband (28 page)

guessed he was planning to move out to North Dakota. I

sighed. Even back then, he loved me.

My eyes fell on Rebecca who stood next to Debbie.

Rebecca wore a big smile. Sympathy welled in my heart.

Though I wouldn"t have imagined she engaged in improper

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activities, I felt sorry for her. She must have loved Kent. I

shut the album in disgust. He should have married her. It

was the least he could have done after dishonoring her.

A light tapping on my door interrupted my thoughts.

Startled, I looked up and saw Todd. His cheeks were red

from being out in the cold.

“Do you need something?” I asked and stood up.

“No. I"m fine. Your father is reading downstairs. I

wanted to talk to you, but I wanted to wait until everything

settled down.”

My heart skipped a beat. From the way he shyly

smiled, I assumed this was going to be a good talk.

“Please, come in.”

When he walked over to me, his eyes fell on the

photo album. “I didn"t know you brought some pictures with

you.”

“Oh. I didn"t. My mother did. Would you like to look

at them?”

He nodded and I handed the album to him. “Wil you

sit next to me?”

He sat on the bed. I sat too, but I didn"t dare get

close enough to touch him. Just being next to him was

making me lightheaded.

He opened the album and grinned. “Even as a baby,

you were cute.”

I groaned. “Those sil y ruffles on all those dresses.

It"s amazing I could crawl around.”

“You remember that far back?”

I smiled at his joke. “Of course not, silly.” I leaned

over and turned the page.

“Oh no! You have a baby picture of me?”

“I like it.”

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and

shook his head. “You take better pictures than I do.”

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“It"s probably because I actually smile at the camera.

You look serious in all of these pictures. Well, except for the

one of you and Alex.” I showed him the picture I referred to.

He chuckled. “I remember that day. Alex drove my

parents insane but they liked his parents so they tolerated

him. After Alex nailed the rug to the parlor floor, we could

no longer play unsupervised.”

I shook my head. “That was awful.”

He shrugged, but I suspected he hid a smile. He

turned to another page. “I remember when Agnes brought

home this picture.” He showed me the picture my parents

had taken of me when I turned sixteen. “You were so

beautiful I asked her if I could buy it from her. She wouldn"t

sell it though. She said her friendship couldn"t be bought.”

“Is that why she asked me for another one? I

wondered why she insisted that she have two pictures of

me.”

“I stil have that picture. It"s in my top dresser

drawer.”

I blushed at his confession.

He turned to the final page in the album. It was our

school class picture. “You always take good pictures,” he

softly commented as he stared at my image. “It"s easy to

see why Kent was taken with you.”

The easygoing atmosphere instantly changed as

tension settled between us. I waited for him to continue,

unsure of where his thoughts were going and unsure if I

wanted to know.

He closed the album and turned to face me. “I want

you to answer a question that"s been bothering me since

last night. Please be honest even if you know it"s something

I don"t want to hear.”

I took a deep breath. “I wil tell you the truth,” I

slowly replied wondering if this was going to lead to more

problems. I clasped my hands together in my lap and

braced for the question.

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He looked down at the album. “When you saw Kent,

did you want to go with him?”

I considered his question. I had been so caught up

in the anguish of what Todd assumed happened that I

hadn"t thought through the actual encounter with Kent. “No.”

He looked at me and I noted his relief.

“I kept telling him that I wasn"t going to go with him

but he didn"t listen to me.” I shivered as the realization of

what happened came to my mind. “When he came toward

me, I backed up but the shelves were behind me and I had

nowhere to go. I felt trapped. I knew if you were there, he

would back away. He just kept talking about all the things

he could buy me and then he touched my cheek. That was

when I ran to the door. I didn"t want him touching me. It all

happened so fast. One minute he grabbed my arm, and the

next thing I knew, he was kissing me. I was grateful you

showed up when you did. I hate to think of what would have

happened if you hadn"t.”

“Ann, I"m sorry,” he whispered. He put his arms

around me and held me close to him. He lightly kissed the

top of my head. “I was a fool to not believe you.”

“How could you have known any differently? You

walked in at the wrong moment.”

He was silent for a few moments. I could feel the

beating of his heart. It was very comforting and relaxing.

My anxiety over the events slowly faded away.

“I didn"t think about it before,” he began, “but when I

walked into the store, Mrs. Carson was on her way out. I

think she was going to get help for you. When she saw me,

she said I had to help you. When I saw you kissing Kent, I

thought she meant that I had to stop you before you acted

improperly. But now that I think about it, she looked scared.

I believe she meant that I was to protect you. It all makes

sense now.”

He finally believes me!

“Can you forgive me?”

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I laughed. “Of course.”

After another moment passed, I stood up and

showed him my jewelry box with the jewelry in it.

“I would like to sell the jewels to Mrs. Coley. She

has a couple of merchants who like to stop by and they

particularly like these items.”

“Ann, those are a part of your past. You don"t have

to sell them. We"re doing fine.”

He would never admit the truth, but maybe that was

how men were when it came to money. “They"re doing me

no good here. I don"t have any use for them.”

He sighed. “They belong to you. Do with them what

you will.”

I nodded, glad to settle the matter. “I know my father

has a dowry for me.”

He stood. “Yes. He"l be putting it in your own

account at the bank when he can get into town.”

I took his hands in mine and looked at him. “I want

you to have it. As my husband, it is your right. My mind is

made up and you won"t change it.”

“Alright.”

“I need to prepare a snack before dinner.”

“I love you, Ann.”

I smiled, relieved everything was going to be right

between us. “I love you too.” I left the room and turned

around. “Aren"t you coming?”

“Do I have your permission to move my things in

here?”

“It is your bedroom too.” I blushed, surprised at my

boldness.

He grinned. “I"l be down shortly.”

I nodded and floated down the steps.

***

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As I prepared dinner later that day, Todd and my

father finished shoveling the snow drift. My mother watched

me prepare dinner and offered her services to grab

seasonings for me.

She chuckled as she brought me some salt. “I feel

lost in here.”

“I know how you feel,” I agreed. “I was lost when I

started cooking. Fortunately, I had Barbara to mentor me.

She"s going to teach me to sew patches on clothes. I

suppose she"l eventual y teach me to sew clothes too.”

“Why, you are very self-sufficient.”

“Actual y, it"s very satisfying.”

She nodded. “I can see that it would be.” She put

the salt back on the shelf where I kept my seasonings. “I

would like to meet Barbara. You"ve mentioned her several

times in your letter.”

“You"l get your chance. I"m thinking of paying her a

visit tomorrow if Todd and Father manage to get the horses

and sleigh ready by then.”

“I don"t mean to pry but I was wondering if things are

settled down between you and Todd? You and Todd

seemed happy this afternoon during the snack.”

I blushed. “Yes. Thanks to you and Father.”

“I don"t know what I did but I suppose your father had

some words of wisdom. He"s good at helping others make

amends.”

We finished preparing the meal and called the men

in to eat.

“You have excellent timing,” my father said as he

and Todd took off their coats and hats. I noted that Father

had borrowed a pair of Todd"s comfortable dungarees. I

thought he looked funny in overalls. “We just finished.”

“Oh good,” Mother replied. “I was hoping to meet

Barbara and John.”

“John. He"s the farmer, isn"t he?”

“Yes,” Todd answered.

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“I would be interested in hearing what he has to say.

May I come along?”

“I"m sure they won"t mind the company.”

As we ate the meal, we discussed some funny

incidents during Todd and my childhoods. We laughed so

much, it was hard to finish eating, but we managed to get

through it.

After desert, Todd offered to help me clean the

dishes. “You wash and I"l dry.”

Since my parents were in the parlor, we had some

privacy. “My father adores you,” I confided as I handed him

a clean plate to dry.

“I like him too. Your parents aren"t stuck on societal

expectations.”

“They are to a degree, but when they insisted I

behave a certain way, they made it clear that it wasn"t

necessarily because they agreed with it but because it was

proper given where we lived. Remember that dance you

took me to?”

“How can I forget? You threatened to run away if I

didn"t take you to North Dakota with me.”

I giggled. “Yes, I did. I didn"t want to go because of

Kent and Rebecca. Though my parents understood and

sympathized with me, they felt it best that I go because of

how it would look to everyone if I didn"t. Then my mother

made me wear that horrible pink dress.”

“I liked that dress. It showed off your best features.”

“It was awful. I could hardly breathe in it. It was so

tight.”

“I liked the fact that it was tight. You have great

curves.”

“Why, Todd. I didn"t think gentlemen noticed such

things.”

He raised his eyebrows innocently. “Is it wrong for a

man to appreciate the finer qualities in a woman?”

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My cheeks grew warm. “No, it"s not. It"s not like

women don"t notice some qualities men possess.”

“Real y?” He set his towel down on the counter and

turned to me, interested in what I would say next. When I

continued to wash the pan, he said, “Go on.”

“Oh no. A lady never tells her secrets,” I teased.

“Not even for a kiss?”

I shook my head. “No.”

He stood behind me and slowly ran his hands from

my shoulders to my hips. “You are very appealing,” he

whispered in a way that made me forget what I was doing. I

held my breath expectantly as he kissed the side of my

neck. “I can"t wait to see what treasures you"re hiding under

those clothes.”

“Todd, such speech is...is...” I searched for the word

but for some reason, I couldn"t think straight.

“Appropriate for a husband to tell his wife.”

I considered his statement and realized he was right.

It still made me blush to talk to him of such things.

Determined to overcome my shyness, I turned to face him. I

couldn"t gather enough courage to look at him directly so I

stared at the clock on the wal behind him. “I"m glad you

moved your belongings into my bedroom.”

“Our bedroom.”

He stood so close to me I could feel his breath on my

cheek. I nodded weakly. My body was responding to his

touch and words in a way that thrilled me. I realized that I

longed to explore these new feelings. I noted the time on