by Holly Blake
She felt like she had been crawling for hours when she felt warm arms around her and lots of shouting. Two sets of arms pulled her up off the ground and moved her quickly inside. Breathless she opened her eyes and saw that she was inside the Inn. The arms that held her up belonged to James and Billy Laramie.
“Thank you both so much. I thought I was lost.” Esther began to cry, long deep tears poured from her. The fear, anger and sadness of the day welled up and poured fourth in a torrent of tears and anguish.
James gave instructions but Esther barely heard what he was saying. In moments a blanket was wrapped around her and Anna was forcing a cup of tea into her cold hands. James sat beside her on the bench with his arms around her, a look of shock and concern etched on his kind face. Esther looked into his eyes but she couldn’t help but wonder if the kindness was what she wanted to see while the truth might be what Darby said it was. Did James only love her for money that Virginia had promised him?
Chapter Ten
The storm blew over almost as fast as it had blown in. Anna had helped Esther upstairs and tended to her as she changed out of her sopping wet clothing. It had only been an hour but already the sun was out and the sky had cleared. Water ran down the sides of the Inn forming puddles all around the building. The men had gone out to check on the various buildings in town and to make sure no one was hurt in the storm.
Esther secretly hoped that the church had blown away with its occupant inside. She didn’t wish Darby harm, she just wished he would disappear again.
When James returned she pulled him into the kitchen so that they could talk in private. “James, I have to ask you something and I need you to answer honestly.”
“Of course Esther, dear, what is it?”
“Did you know about Virginia’s money before we arrived?” She tried to ask the question in such a way that she wouldn’t offend James.
“”I don’t understand what you’re asking Esther? I can show you all the letters of our correspondence, but I did not know of Virginia’s means. Why do you ask?” James looked confused.
Esther sighed. She resolved to tell him what happened but hoped not to hurt him. She still only saw kindness in James’s eyes and she hoped that she was seeing the truth and not just what she wanted to see. “Today, when I went to visit Virginia’s grave, someone from the past was already there.”
“Was he a very tall man?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“I saw him lurking at Virginia’s funeral. I didn’t want to tell you, I wasn’t even really sure what I had seen, but I asked Grover to check into it for me.”
“Why didn’t you want to tell me, James? Who did you think it was?”
James shook his head. “ I know it sounds crazy but I thought it might be Virginia’s son, Darby. I know he was lost at sea but there was just something about the way he was acting and I wondered if it might be him. I’m sorry.”
“You were right, it was Darby, and he wasn’t lost at sea after all.”
Esther explained to James everything Darby had told her. She carefully explained what he had said about James being promised money to marry Esther and that Darby wanted all of his inheritance returned to him. She waited for James’s response, holding her breath and hoping that Darby was wrong.
James took Esther’s hands in his own and looked deeply into her eyes. “Esther, I love you. The moment you stepped off of the train I felt my heart leap to attention. I have loved you since then and my admiration of you has only grown over the last few weeks as I have gotten to know you. You are the kindest, sweetest woman I have ever met and that includes my dear Theresa whom I loved with all my heart. I don’t know how I could have been so abundantly blessed to have you in my life. Darby can have his money, and we will pay him back all that we have spent on the Inn so far. I will talk to Charles Noble at the bank and get a loan if need be, but we will pay him back every penny he is owed.”
“But we will be poor James, how will we ever live under such constraints?”
James smiled the sweetest smile she had ever seen. “We will have each other, and we will have love. As long as we stick together and love one another everything will be fine, you’ll see!”
James stood up and pulled Esther close to him, he kissed her softly and a spark ran between them that made them both glow. “Now everyone is waiting for some dinner. Would you mind fixing them something? I have to go and talk to Darby.” James spoke with purpose.
“I should come with you.”
“No, he will not have the opportunity to insult you any further. You will be my wife tomorrow and he will not ruin this day for you!” James walked from the room with his head held high and a look of determination on his proud face.
James walked down the street to the church. He was angry at this man who he didn’t know, a man that was too cowardly to come and face him. With every step James’s resolve grew stronger and his anger grew richer. “How dare this Darby character come into his town and say such malicious things to the woman that he loved. How dare he!” James thought as he marched down the road.
When he got to the church he flung open the door with more force than he intended. Instantly he felt ashamed for treating the church with such disrespect. He chastised himself and closed the door gently. He looked up at the pulpit and blessed himself. This wasn’t a Catholic church, but he was raised Catholic and some habits just never went away.
Darby turned to face the door when he heard it open. The look on his face told James that he was disappointed by who entered. Darby was very tall, with broad shoulders and substance. He was an intimidating man with sharp features and cold steel blue eyes that seemed to poke holes in James’s flesh.
“Mr. Darby, I have come to speak to you about my bride to be and the inheritance that has been left to her. I know it was meant for you originally and I have spoken to Esther concerning this.” James spoke awkwardly, trying to be as formal as possible with this very well dressed man.
“Mr. Halverson I presume?” Darby’s voice was low and formal. He didn’t have the southern lilt of Virginia and Esther. His accent was more English than southern but there was more to it than that. He sounded like he came from everywhere.
“I am James Halverson, yes. I will make all the arrangements to return your money to you. And then I want you to leave us alone.”
Darby had a strange look on his face. “You intend to return my money to me? All of it?”
“Yes. I will give you all that we have left and I will find some way of giving you back everything that we have already spent.”
“Everything? Including the money that mother spent on her train tickets to get Esther here?”
James was startled. He hadn’t thought of the cost of the tickets to bring them here, but he supposed that he understood why Darby wanted everything Virginia had spent on Esther. “I will give you the price of the tickets, so long as you go away and leave Esther alone. And one other thing you should know. I did not marry Esther to get your mother’s money. And never once did she offer such a deal to me. She would never have done such a thing. She was a caring, kind, generous woman and her only wish was that Esther be happy.”
Darby raised his chin arrogantly. “If you weren’t marrying for the money then how is it you spent so much of it so quickly?”
“Because your mother left specific instructions for us to fix up the Inn. I can show you the letter that she wrote. She wanted Esther to finally have a beautiful home like she had grown up in. Esther got excited about it and wanted to fulfill your mother’s dying wishes as best she could.”
“You have documentation showing my mother’s wishes?”
“I do. I have kept every letter and every note she left.”
“You will not challenge my claim to her money then; even though you have the documents that could challenge my claim?”
James was confused. This fellow seemed to be daring him to fight him for Virginia’s money, money he never asked for. He looked into Darby’s cold
eyes and stated firmly.
“I will not challenge you for your mother’s money; it should go to you. Had she known you were alive, you would have had it. Not that you deserve it in the least, having abandoned her as you did.” James couldn’t help himself from adding that final remark. “She only left the money to Esther because she thought you were lost. She held off until she knew that she was going to die and that you were nowhere to be found. You are her rightful heir and therefore the money legally belongs to you.”
Darby pulled a letter from his pocket. “You can reach me at this address. It has all of my information. I will take my leave of you now.”
James saw something, perhaps he felt it, but something gnawed at him. “Wouldn’t you stay for the wedding? Your mother would like that. Come and join us, and don’t hide behind a tree this time. Come and be our guest.”
Darby looked shaken by the invitation. His face went pale, then red, then he laughed. “I will not come to this wedding. Don’t think you can sweet talk me into giving up on my pursuits. The money is mine.”
James shook his head. He decided that there was no point in trying to reason with this man. He had ideas in his head that were so corrupt he could not see that James loved Esther for herself and would do anything for her.
He took one last look at Darby, took the letter from him, shook his head in pity and walked out of the church.
Chapter Eleven
Early the next morning Esther rose and began to dress. She was sad that Darby had behaved so badly, but she would not let her grief over things of her past dampen her enthusiasm about her future. She now knew without any doubt that James loved her for her. She knew he was a good and honest man and although she was concerned about the money they now owed to Darby, she believed that they would be happy forever together.
Anna arrived and helped Esther finish dressing. James had gone to the church earlier and most of the townsfolk had already begun to arrive at the church. Grace Noble arrived just before Esther was to make her way down to the church herself.
“I brought you something special Esther,” Grace cooed.
“What is it?” Esther laughed as Grace opened a box which held a blue locket.
“Look inside.” Grace smiled as she offered the gift to Esther. When she opened the locket there was a small white magnolia blossom. Esther teared up as she looked into Grace’s kind eyes.
“Magnolia?”
“You can still smell it, a little.” Esther threw her arms around Grace.
“Thank you so much Grace, I haven’t the words to express how much this means to me!” Esther took a long deep breath of the magnolia and could pick up the faintest scent form it. It took her back to Louisiana and her childhood. She could almost feel her parent’s presence and Virginia with her too.
Grace took the locket and stepped behind Esther. She took the blue ribbon and wrapped it around Esther’s graceful neck. “Now, I wore this on my wedding day, but it takes care of a couple of things we need. Something borrowed, and something blue.” Grace laughed and nodded to Anna. Anna handed Esther a pale blue handkerchief.
“Something old,” Anna said. “I carried it at my wedding to Brody.”
“And my dress is new,” Esther smiled. “We’ve got everything covered.”
“It is a very good day Esther, your wedding is filled with good luck and great friends!” Anna straightened the locket and smoothed out the veil that Esther wore. “We had best get to the church, don’t you think?”
****
Grace opened the door of the church and Anna followed close behind her. Esther brought up the rear. James looked at his bride and fell in love all over again. She was awash in pale yellow taffeta and silk, and her long chestnut brown hair hung in curls down to her waist. She looked so young and so pretty.
James was transformed as he watched her walk down the aisle toward him. He was suddenly a young man again experiencing loves first blush. He was as happy in this moment as he ever had been.
A slight movement caught his attention and he peered out of the corner of his eye at what it might be. What he saw made him smile even broader. A tall man had entered the church without anyone noticing. Darby seemed to have a way of appearing in places without anyone noticing him. Strange for such an unusually tall man to be able to do such things. James motioned with his head to Esther to look in the direction he indicated. She looked over to where Darby was standing and she smiled. The day was turning out to be just as perfect as James had hoped.
Just a few hours later the reception was well underway. It was proving to be quite the party. James was happy to see his widowed sister who had arrived with her three children just minutes before the wedding began. His niece Millicent had also come with them.
Darby had come to Esther and made amends. James was happily introducing his sister and niece around to everyone he knew when Grover came to him and pulled him away from the other guests.
“The tall man, Darby Delany is his name.” Grover said in a conspiratorial way.
“Yes, he is Virginia’s son.”
“I didn’t know that, but I did find out that he is a very wealthy lawyer from England.”
“He’s very wealthy?” James was mystified. A wealthy man insisting on such a meager inheritance?
“Yes. Apparently he is worth millions. He married very well to the daughter of some Earl or something and he has investments all over the world. He’s been staying up north at McDougal’s Inn. His wife and son are there now.”
“He’s married with children?” James shook his head. What a strange man this Darby was.
“My dear uncle, are you coming back to the party? Esther is asking for you.” Millicent Granger asked, as she took James’s arm.
Grover turned and looked into the eyes of a girl who instantly stole his heart. She had dark, olive green eyes and a smile that could melt ice.
James noticed the look on Grover’s face. “Sheriff Grover Wright, allow me to introduce my neice, Millicent Granger.
“A pleasure, Ma’am,” Grover said with a blush. He took Millicent’s hand and kissed it without thinking. He suddenly felt silly for such an antiquated gesture and straightened up.
“Everyone calls me Millie, I hope you will too Mr. Wright?”
“I would be honored Millie, and please call me Grover.”
The End
You can read more about Grover’s story in
The Brides of Wyldewood: Volume Two
Coming Soon!
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