The Stribling buggy was the last in line heading out to the Gardner homestead. Evan, Nellie, baby Zillah, and the youngest Gardner girls were in the first wagon, along with Bo snuggled in a canvas bag. Mrs. Stribling rode in the second wagon with Mr. and Mrs. Gardner. Charlie, Belle, Cora, and Alice were in the third wagon. Ruby could hear the younger girls singing from way up the road.
“It wasn’t my idea to take Mrs. Stribling’s buggy,” Nathan said, raising a hand, “but I’m liking the idea. I’m thinking of buying a buggy of my own.”
“Really? A buggy for you and Bo?”
“A buggy for me to take courting if I can talk someone into letting me call on her. Sadly, Bo will have to stay home and sulk.” Nathan tried to frown, but his lips didn’t cooperate for long.
“And who are you wanting to court?” Ruby asked.
“The best organ player this side of heaven,” Nathan replied.
Ruby laid her hand on his arm. If their relationship was going to progress beyond playing for the Saturday night dance, they had to be open and honest with each other. She couldn’t think about marriage to someone who kept their inner turmoil pent-up inside of them. “So . . . tell me about Tennessee,” she said.
“I had a feeling you’d say that.” Nathan let out a long audible breath. He placed his free hand over hers, and proceeded to tell her all about Emmeline and about being left at the altar in front of the whole community.
“And you fiddled for the wedding dance?” Ruby asked when he finished.
“I did.”
“No wonder you never smiled while you fiddled here in Clover Creek.”
“People back in Tennessee pitied me and talked behind my back, but I knew what they were saying. It was horrible.”
“No one out here will ever pity you,” Ruby said, “even if they know your story.”
“You don’t think so?”
She shook her head. Giving his arm a squeeze, she added, “Everyone in Clover Creek adores you. What happened in Tennessee drove you to Idaho to bless the lives of people here.”
Nathan didn’t speak for a long time, as if letting her words penetrate his heart. “You are very kind,” he finally said. “I’d like to ask your pa if I may court you.”
“He’ll say yes. My pa likes you.”
“He trusted me with your care. That morning by the barn, I may have abused that trust.”
“Not in my opinion.”
“Really?
“Really.”
“Should we try that again, then?”
“Right here with my family and Mrs. Stribling in the wagons ahead?”
Nathan nodded. “We’ll let them get further ahead.” He stopped the horses and watched the wagons ahead of them move on down the road. Then he gently took Ruby’s face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Ruby Gardner. If I could, I’d marry you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow would be rather quick, but now that I know your story, I think I understand where you’re coming from. A long wait might make you suffer with worry after what you’ve been through.”
Nathan sighed. He drew her closer to him. “You know my biggest fear.”
“But you needn’t fear.” Ruby’s lips parted into a gentle smile. “I’d never leave you standing at the altar. I have loved you and your music for nearly two years. I’ve simply been practicing the organ with a passion during that time, anticipating and hoping that I might accompany you some day, and that you might fall in love with me.”
“I have fallen in love with you,” Nathan said, “utterly and completely in love with you.” He brushed her lips with his, and then without hurrying, he kissed her one more time, a gentle, lingering kiss.
Author’s Note
The reed organ was a musical instrument that was first introduced in 1840 by Alexandre Debain in France. The organ quickly became popular in the United States. It generated sound when wind produced by foot-operated bellows flowed past a vibrating piece of thin metal called a reed. Pitch was determined by the size of the reed. Smaller and less complicated than pipe organs, the reed organ was popular in homes and institutions until around 1930 when electronic organs and mass-produced pianos became popular.
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Thank you for reading Ruby’s story.
If you’ve enjoyed Ruby’s Rhapsody, watch for more books in The Surveyor’s Daughters series. There will be eight books total in the series, and all stand alone. Please consider leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reviews help more readers find my books and are really appreciated. Thank you so very much.
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I love to hear from readers. You can email me at [email protected]. To hear about the upcoming books you can find me on the web at vickihuntbudge.com or on Facebook at VickiHuntBudgeAuthor.
The Next Book
Watch for Daring Endearment.
Belle is the third sister in The Surveyor’s Daughters series, and will be available soon. I’ve included a sneak peek of Belle’s story here.
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Belle Gardner’s extended family crowded around the dining room table on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. “Please pass the rolls,” Belle said. Two baskets of flakey brown dinner rolls came at Belle from different directions, causing her to laugh at which basket to accept. Belle’s brother, Charlie, lifted the towel from the basket he held and made the decision for her, taking the last roll from that basket, and biting into it.
Belle grinned and elbowed her brother, and then took a roll from the other basket which was also nearly empty. “I’ll get more rolls,” she said, pushing back from the table.
“I’ll get them,” Cora said. “I’m already stuffed.” Cora, Belle’s closest sister, shared a bedroom and many late-night talks with Belle, talking about their hopes, dreams, and preferences in young men.
Belle’s problem was there were no young men close to her age in Clover Creek, a small farming community in southern Idaho. The boys she had gone to school with were either married and farming, or had gone back east for more schooling. Belle envied the boys who had gone for more schooling. She loved to read and keep up with current events. Now, instead of school assignments, Belle read her father’s books, newspapers, and the magazines to which he subscribed. She even read his professional survey journal.
“Thank you, Cora,” Mrs. Gardner said, wiping her forehead with her napkin. Although the windows were open, there wasn’t a breeze coming in to cool the home. Plus, after preparing dinner for their large family, heat from the kitchen range permeated the dining area. There were bowls of potatoes at both ends of the long table as well as gravy boats, platters of fried chicken, tender asparagus, and pickled beets.
“Thank you for a fine meal, Mama,” Mr. Gardner said, leaning back in his chair. “Charlie, Evan, Nathan, and I will take care of the cleanup right after we sample that heavenly rhubarb pie I smelled baking last night.”
Charlie grimaced at the mention of cleaning up. The table was overflowing with crusty dishes and flatware.
“We men will have a contest,” Mr. Gardner said. “See if the four of us can clean up faster than we cleaned up last Sunday. He pulled out his little notebook where he kept track of family competitions.”
Belle snickered at the scowl on Charlie’s face. She loved that her pa always had the men clean up after Sunday dinners.
“Hey, did you guys hear who’s back in town?” Charlie asked. He didn’t wait for an answer. “George Jepson. I didn’t see him at church, but I heard half the town talking about him.”
“Didn’t he go back east to study medicine?” Ruby asked. “Seems like he didn’t want to run the mercantile with his pa.” Ruby, eighteen months older than Belle, was married to Nathan Banks, the schoolteacher in Clover Creek. She and Nathan were expecting their first child at the end of summer.
“I heard more than that,” Charlie said. “I heard George ran into problems practicing medicine in New York. Got in trouble with the law even. Maybe that’s why he’s back.”
Bell
e opened her mouth to ask what else Charlie had heard, but she noticed her oldest sister give her husband a knowing glance. George Jepson had tried to court Nellie at one time, before Nellie gave her heart to Evan Howell. Belle never really knew why Nellie chose Evan over George, but she wondered what Nellie might have to say now.
Nellie and Evan had their toddler, baby Zillah, sitting between them, strapped to a dining room chair by a large tea towel. When neither of them spoke, or offered more than a raised brow to the conversation, Belle looked back to Charlie for more information. She always liked to hear of families moving in, or former citizens returning. So much of life in Clover Creek was the same as far as Belle was concerned; hard work on the farm or with her pa’s survey crews, Saturday night dances in the one-room schoolhouse, and worship services on Sundays. Belle loved news of any kind, whether it was by mouth or from newspapers and magazines.
“From what I hear, George supposedly—”
“I hope we don’t get any more spring rain,” Mr. Gardner said, cutting in on Charlie. “If we get too much rain, it’ll be bad for the spuds.”
Belle focused on eating her dinner roll. Whenever Mr. Gardner abruptly changed the subject at the dinner table, it meant he didn’t care for how the discussion was going. Her parents always discouraged gossip, but that didn’t mean Belle was immune to it. If there was something to be heard regarding the flamboyant George Jepson, who was nearly four years older than her, she wanted to hear it.
Also by Vicki Hunt Budge
The Surveyor’s Daughters Series:
Her Believing Heart
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[ Contemporary Women’s Fiction ]
Hope & Healing Series
Intercession
Renewal
Deliverance
Acknowledgments
Once again, a special thanks to you, the reader. The response to the first book in this series has been so rewarding and makes this whole process worthwhile. I love my characters, but nothing thrills me more than to have my readers love them too.
I am indebted to Nancy, Peggy, Janice, Angie, and Michelle. Their insights and suggestions were invaluable and greatly improved my writing.
A special thank you to Malary Bartholomew for editing this manuscript, and to Erin Dameron-Hill of EDHGraphics for the amazing cover art!
I’d like to express my love and gratitude to my husband and best friend. His devotion and encouragement mean everything to me.
I want to acknowledge the help and guidance I received to countless prayers about my writing. When I prayed, the answers always came. The joy of writing increased tenfold during these moments.
About the Author
Vicki Hunt Budge grew up in southern Idaho with a mother who read to her and a father who taught her to golf and swim. She attended Idaho State University and the University of Utah. Vicki and her husband raised four children on a small peppermint farm in Central Oregon. She has always loved history and the settling of the west because years ago her ancestors broke up sod and sagebrush in southern Idaho to farm and raise their families. In addition to her family, Vicki enjoys reading, family history, long walks along the river trails, writing sweet historical western romance and contemporary women’s fiction, and not cooking. Nothing makes her happier than beating her grandchildren at the game of Aggravation, or their wild celebrations when they beat her. This is Vicki’s fifth book.
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