Falling in Love With Her Husband (7 page)

dance. If you should need anything, go to them.”

“Does that include smelling salts?”

“Yes, it does. A lot of ladies feel faint after dancing.”

“Very well. Thank you, Mother.”

George opened the door and let Todd into the parlor

where he waited for me. I wanted to take a deep breath, but

my dress prohibited the simple action. My mother wished

me well and left me alone. Well, I was as alone as possible

with George standing to the side of the parlor room.

Todd held a bouquet of red roses. His blond hair

was neatly combed back under his gray hat. It was a

strange contrast to his black suit and gray tie. He was not

bad looking. In fact, one might consider him to be

handsome. I wondered how his appearance would change

once he started farming.

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

“Good evening, Ann,” he said, smiling at the sight of

me.

“Good evening.”

He motioned to the roses. “These are for you.”

I nodded and took them. “Thank you. They"re

lovely.”

After I put them in a vase, we left for the dance.

Once he sat next to me in the double buggy, I asked, “Aren"t

you going to miss all of the comforts we"re used to?”

He shrugged. “I"m not sure. Perhaps I will. Perhaps

I won"t. I won"t know until I"m gone.”

I fanned myself. This dress was already making me

feel unbearably hot. The material was too thick for the warm

Spring weather.

We arrived at the dance, and he helped me out of

the buggy. The horse neighed but I barely noticed it.

Instead, I heard Rebecca"s familiar cackle. I groaned. Must

she let the entire town know she won?

I braced myself for seeing Kent and Rebecca as

Todd escorted me into the building. Thankfully, he led me to

the opposite side of the room from the two lovebirds. We

danced to two songs. We discussed our classes, how warm

the air was getting and what Agnes was up to that night

since she wasn"t allowed to go to dances until next year. At

the end of the second song, I thought I was going to pass

out.

I waved my fan furiously back and forth, but the

building was so hot that it did little to cool me off. “I need to

sit down.”

“Would you like to go outside?”

His concern surprised me. It wasn"t something I was

used to.

“Yes,” I admitted.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“That would be nice. Thank you.” I walked outside,

walking numbly past Kent and Rebecca who were dancing.

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

Don’t look at them. Just keep going.
Once I was outside, I

exhaled as much as I could, considering the tight dress, and

sat down. The cool evening breeze felt good against my

flushed face.

When Todd handed me a cup of punch, I glanced

around us. No one was near us on the veranda, so it would

be easy to have a private conversation.

“Wil you please sit?”

He sat by me and looked at me. “What is it? Are

you feeling il ?”

“I feel fine.” Wel , that was partly true. I was about to

take a giant leap that would change my life forever. How

could a person remain calm during that? I cleared my

throat. “I have a request.”

“I would do anything for you,” he softly replied,

looking down at the ground.

I hesitated. He meant those words. I almost

decided against my plan, but another round of laughter from

Rebecca strengthened my resolve. “Wil you marry me and

take me with you to North Dakota?” I blurted the words out

so fast my head was spinning. I anxiously waved the fan as

I waited for his response. I couldn"t bring myself to drink the

punch, so I just held it, hoping I wouldn"t spil it since my

hand was beginning to shake.

His head shot up and he looked at me, shocked. “I

must be dreaming,” he whispered.

I sat still, not daring to speak another word. I figured

since he loved me, he would agree to my request.

However, his response surprised me.

“I don"t think it"s a good idea. As much as I would

love to take you with me, you would be doing it for the wrong

reason.”

“You love me. You will treat me well.”

“But you will be doing this to get away from Kent and

Rebecca. It wouldn"t be right.”

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Panic flashed through me. “Why couldn"t I learn to

love you? Just because you"ve loved me first, it doesn"t

mean I won"t come around to loving you.”

“You love Kent.”

“Now. But that can change.” Couldn"t it? Was I

destined to love Kent for the rest of my life?

He shook his head. “I"m sorry, Ann. It wouldn"t be

appropriate.”

I set the cup down before I smashed it on the ground

in frustration. “It wouldn"t be appropriate. It wouldn"t be

proper. God forbid I should do anything that defies the

standards we are to live by. I"m sick and tired of doing what

everyone else wants me to do. No one bothers to ask me

what my opinion is, except for you.” I waved the fan faster.

My face was heating up as my anger surfaced. I managed

to keep my voice down, but my agitation was apparent.

Hopefully, people would assume it was because of Kent and

Rebecca. “I hate being stuck. I hate having to watch those

two.” I nodded to the lovebirds. Again, Rebecca laughed.

Ugg! “And if I hear her laugh one more time, I"m going to

pour this cup of punch on her head.”

“Ann, calm down. It wil get easier.”

I grunted. “You have no idea what it"s like for me,

Todd. There are things I want to do, things I want to pursue.

But I can"t because I"m a lady. I have to attend every social

function and learn to be a proper hostess. I have to learn to

walk, talk and act delicate. I can"t go outside unless I have a

parasol or hat. I have to go to dinners I don"t want to go to.

I have to spend hours shopping for new clothes.” I paused.

“Wel , that part isn"t so bad.”

He chuckled.

I tried not to give into my own urge to laugh.

“Seriously though. My parents are more lenient than other

parents, but I do have a set of rules I have to obey. You"re

getting out of here. You can do that because you"re a man.

A woman going out west by herself is impossible.”

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“I have a plan,” he gently reminded me.

“And I have a strong desire to be somewhere else, to

do something other than what I"ve been doing all my life.”

“I wish I could help you but I can"t.”

I jumped up and waved the fan as fast as I could.

“You have the ability to take me out of here but you refuse.

What good is your love if you won"t help me?” I set my jaw in

firm determination as I stared at the trees in the moonlight.

“I wil get out of here. You"re not the only one who can do it.

I"l run away if I have to.”

He stood up and walked over to me. He took the fan

out of my hand. “Before you break it,” he explained when I

started to protest. He stared at me for a long moment.

“Yes, I wil take you. I planned to leave the day after we

graduate.”

“Do we have to wait?” I was afraid if we waited, he

wouldn"t take me with him. As it was, I was having trouble

talking him into it now.

“Graduation is in a couple weeks.”

“Do you need to graduate to be a farmer?”

“No.”

“Then what"s stopping us? You"ve been planning

this for a long time. Surely, you have all the stuff you need

in place.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then let"s leave tonight.”

“It"s best to be patient. We should think about it.”

I groaned. “I"ve already thought about it, Todd. I

don"t want to wait another minute.” He seemed to be

searching for another excuse, so I touched his arm.

“Please.”

He closed his mouth and studied the sky for a

moment. Final y, he sighed. “I can"t deny you anything.

Alright. We"l leave tonight.”

“Good!”

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

“After you tell your parents. They need to know

you"re safe.”

“I"l leave a note.” Thankfully, the house was empty

so no one would stop me.

“It might be better if you tell them in person.”

“If I do that, they"l talk me out of it.” They would

never let me leave Virginia, even if it was with Todd. “I need

to get out of here, and I want to go with you.”

He reluctantly complied, so we managed to leave the

dance while no one noticed.

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

Ann’s Point of View

Our departure was rushed, so I left many things

behind. There wasn"t much room in the horse-drawn

covered wagon he had purchased. He already had his

supplies loaded into the back, so all he had to do was hook

up his two horses. Since he didn"t have to go into his

house, he had an easier time avoiding unwanted eyes than I

did.

I was relieved my house was empty and quickly

packed my carpet bag. I tried to take sensible clothing. At

least, the dresses would fit better so I could breathe

adequately. I didn"t dare change my dress, though I

desperately wanted to. I was afraid if I hesitated, then Todd

would change his mind and leave me here. I wrote my

parents a note to let them know I was marrying Todd and

going with him to North Dakota. I decided not to tell them

where I was going to be in North Dakota. I took a moment

to look around the parlor and wiped the tears from my eyes.

I uttered a prayer for my parents and left the house.

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

He stood outside the front door. “It"s not too late to

turn back.”

My stomach tensed. “Do you want me to come with

you?”

“Of course I do, but it"s not about what I want.”

I handed him the carpet bag. “I"m going with you.”

He nodded.

I followed him to the wagon and waited for him to

load my carpet bag in with his other belongings before he

assisted me onto the wagon seat.

Some people marry for love, some for money, and

some are forced into it. I married Todd because I was afraid

if I didn"t, then I would have to settle for someone who

wouldn"t treat me as well as he did. I was wrong about

Kent. I had thought he was the right one for me. My

parents had warned me about him. They also

recommended Todd. So, in the end, I decided to trust their

judgment. Maybe it was a selfish reason, but I was afraid I"d

give up the best husband I could have.

We stopped by our minister"s house, and fortunately

he was there so we didn"t have to go find another one. We

did want the minister we grew up with to marry us. During

the simple ceremony, I thought about my parents" dream for

me to have an elaborate wedding with lots of guests, food

and music. The only person to witness the event was his

wife. There was no food or music. The minister did

question us about our decision, but since we had reached

the age of accountability, he agreed to marry us.

Once we were married, we thanked the minister and

headed out of Virginia. Todd"s cautious nature made me

anxious, for I feared our parents would find us and make us

return. I kept looking behind us, only reassured that we

were safe when I didn"t see any lanterns in the distance.

“I"ve been mapping out a trail to North Dakota for

months,” he assured me when he noticed my distress.

“Someone who hasn"t studied the trails will get lost.”

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Stil , I couldn"t relax, especially when he stopped to

let the horses take a break.

“Do we have to stop now?” I wondered, fiddling with

the white lace on the sleeve of my dress.

“They need to rest for a few moments. They have a

long journey ahead of them. We don"t want to wear them

out.” He hopped off the wagon, untied his horses and led

them to the stream so they could drink the water.

Afterwards, he fed them some carrots.

I wondered what time it was as I stared at the full

moon. It real y was a beautiful sight. Why hadn"t I noticed it

before?