Grooms with Honor Series, Books 7-9

by Linda K. Hubalek

  “Need a match?”

  Poppy whirled around to see Adolph leaning against the door frame, holding the box of matches.

  “Why would I need a match?”

  “To burn one—or two—photographs?” Adolph asked in a serious tone.

  “Well, this one,” Poppy said as she picked up the frame with Anna Marie’s photo, “could be tossed in the stove because it’s unrecognizable, so no use keeping it. I might give this frame to Linnea though, as she said they were going to have Fergus take a portrait of Sophia for her first birthday. Don’t you think this picture frame would make a nice gift?”

  “I think your decision is best on both accounts,” Adolph replied as he removed the photo from the filigree frame and handed it to Poppy.

  Poppy took the portrait but waited for Adolph’s nod before she walked to the stove, opened the fire door, and threw the photo on top of the burning wood. She watched the cardboard catch fire and turn black before closing the metal door.

  “What about the other portrait? What do you want to do with it?”

  “Set it on the parlor table beside the crystal vase of roses. That way we can admire it wherever we sit in the room.”

  “I think that’s a good idea. Poppy, please forgive me for hurting you. It was never my intention to do so.”

  Poppy made the first move. She walked to Adolph, wrapped her arms around his waist, and stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss.

  “I’m sorry too, Adolph. I know with all my heart you’d never intentionally hurt me. I’ve never had a man I could trust before.”

  “I’m glad you can trust me to try to do the right thing. I’m sure there will be more times than we can count in our next fifty years together that I’ll do something that riles or hurts you. But please know now that I really do love you, Poppy. You’ve burrowed into my heart, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

  “I love you too, Adolph. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

  They sealed their love with a long kiss before Adolph pulled back.

  “I’d like to say our wedding vows again in church this next Sunday, with or without the congregation being present. Your choice.”

  “Why? We’ve said them once already.”

  “I asked Pastor to leave out one section of the service because we’d just met, and it didn’t apply to us at the time. Are you game to stand before the altar and do the service again?”

  Poppy broke out into a broad smile. “I don’t know what you have up your sleeve, Mr. Bjorklund, but I’m game—but not in front of the entire congregation this time. How about just us, Pastor, and Kaitlyn after the service?”

  “That’s a wonderful idea, Mrs. Bjorklund.”

  Adolph picked up their wedding portrait and handed it to Poppy, and then blew out the lantern. They made their way, hand in hand to the parlor where Poppy set the frame on the table. She touched the embedded flowers around the frame’s front. Adolph really did pick the best frame for their wedding portrait.

  “Thank you for everything, Adolph. Not just for this frame, but for this beautiful house, the furnishings, and for marrying me, even if I didn’t look like…the horned devil.”

  Adolph threw back his head and laughed. “I'm glad I chose you anyway. You’re the perfect woman for me.”

  Adolph pulled her close again and whispered, “let’s go upstairs before the cat beats us to bed.”

  Chapter 17

  After Pastor and Kaitlyn had greeted everyone after church, the four of them walked back up the aisle to the altar. Kaitlyn sat down in her usual place. The pastor picked up his service hymnal from the altar and turned toward them.

  “Please face each other and hold hands,” Pastor said as he found his place in the hymnal. Adolph was confident the man had performed the wedding service enough times to say it by heart, but he always had the hymnal turned to the right page to start with, even if he never turned another page.

  “I’m glad you’re both ready to finish the wedding vows,” Pastor Reagan smiled while looking at them. The pastor then cleared his throat and turned serious.

  “Adolph, will you have this woman to be your wife; to live together with her in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?”

  “I will,” Adolph answered while staring intently into Poppy’s eyes.

  Adolph had asked for Poppy’s ring before they started the ceremony. Now he slid the diamond ring back on her left ring finger.

  “Poppy, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

  Pastor turned slightly to address Poppy.

  “Poppy, will you have this man to be your husband; to live together with him in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?”

  Poppy squeezed his hands and clearly said, “Yes, I will.”

  “Adolph and Poppy, in so much as the two of you, have agreed to live together in Matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows, the giving of this ring and the joining of your hands, I now declare you to be husband and wife.

  “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up his countenance unto you and give you peace.”

  “Want to seal your vows with another kiss, Adolph?” Pastor Reagan asked with a grin on his face.

  “With pleasure, sir.”

  ***

  Poppy threw her arms around Adolph’s neck and met Adolph’s lips with enthusiasm. What incredible luck to find such an adoring husband through a—she had to admit—deceiving marriage advertisement. Poppy had used another woman’s photograph to protect herself, but by doing so, Adolph had chosen and accepted her with all her good and bad traits.

  Adolph was a groom of honor, and Poppy knew he’d always love and adore her.

  ~*~*~*~*~

  Nolan’s Vow

  Grooms with Honor Series, Book 8

  Copyright © 2018 by Linda K. Hubalek

  Published by Butterfield Books Inc.

  A historical romance set in 1885.

  Nolan Clancy finished his military career in Fort Ellis, Montana Territory and is traveling home to run his grandparent’s café in Kansas. His train is delayed in Miller Springs, Montana Territory because of a snow storm, and he helps a woman feed the waylaid passengers in the café in town.

  Holly Brandt grew up on military forts where her father was an interpreter between the soldiers and the Indians. Her mother, a full-blooded Cheyenne, and Holly’s two sisters died in Kansas before she and her father moved to the Montana Territory. Her father’s death leaves Holly orphaned and homeless until she finds work in a café.

  When the café owner decides to sell her business and move away, Nolan invites Holly to travel to Kansas with him.

  People don’t always treat Holly with respect because of her mother’s Cheyenne heritage, but Nolan sees her as a kind woman always wanting to help others. His pastor has always told him to respect and honor women as it says in the wedding vows, and Nolan realizes he wants to say the real wedding vows to Holly.

  But will their differences, along with the townspeople’s interference, let them have their happily ever after?

  Nolan and Holly

  I always picture my characters, either imaginary or from real images, when I write my books. For the Grooms with Honor series I’m using couples I found in my great-grandparents’ photo album, dating back to the early 1880s to early 1900s period. My great-grandparents were born in Sweden, moved to Kansas, and married in 1892.

  There are no names written on the back of these photographs, and I don’t recognize them as any of my rel
atives.

  These couples don’t look like our modern-day cover models (men with rippling muscles and women with flawless makeup), but they show real couples starting their new life together as husband and wife during the same period as the couples in my Grooms with Honor series.

  While you’re reading Nolan’s Vow, you can pretend this portrait is of Nolan Clancy and Holly Brandt. Hopefully, I’ve given them a good start in their married life.

  Chapter 1

  Miller Springs, Montana Territory

  December 1885

  “You going to wait on us or not?”

  Nolan Clancy glanced at the recent irate customer in this little café. The man wasn’t the first to throw a question at the harried waitress. He’d only seen her from the back of her faded black dress as she rushed between the dining room and the kitchen.

  It was a small building with less than two dozen tables to seat customers, and it was full of the travelers who had disembarked the train for food.

  “Come on, lady! Get out here and take our order. Can’t you understand English?”

  “Stupid half-breed,” grumbled the man’s companion at the table.

  One more remark like that and Nolan would introduce himself to the men, and not with a polite handshake.

  “She seems to be alone back there in the kitchen, Ronald. Maybe we should have something other than a ham sandwich?” Nolan tensed at the man’s words and their meaning. Good grief! Besides the room being full where all could hear his remark, he was just plain crude.

  “Shut up, Griffin. I’m hungry for food, not a squaw.”

  Nolan reached to his right side and flicked open the flap on his holster, making his Remington Army revolver ready to use if need be. He’d already taken off his hat, dress gloves, and blue cavalry greatcoat when he entered the building, hanging them on an available hook on the side wall.

  He was officially out of the army as of a few days ago, but maybe still dressed as a soldier would help curb the attitudes of these yahoos.

  The café door opened again, letting in cold air and a swirl of snow as more people walked in, hoping they’d found a place to eat. Unfortunately, the train was full of passengers trapped in a little Montana Territory town, and many had ventured off the train for food and a warmer place to wait out the delay.

  The door opened again as a couple left, unwilling to wait any longer for service. Was there another café in town though?

  When Nolan stepped off the train, all he saw was a single street with a scattering of snow-covered false-front buildings, with empty lots between them. Houses were sparse, situated on either side of the main street. The dwellings ranged from log cabins, wood-framed homes, to a few tents. The town was located between the mountains and the prairie, so it had a smattering of pines, firs, and deciduous trees, which hadn’t been cut down yet for building sites. And everything was covered with a thick layer of snow.

  I wonder if we have snow at home yet. Kansas had cold weather and snow in winter, but it didn’t start as early or last as long as the Montana Territory winters.

  The kitchen door swung open, with the waitress balancing a tray of stacked empty cups on the one hand while carrying a full enamel pot of coffee with her other. Did she have every cup in the café on one tray? Nolan jumped to his feet and came to her aid as the tray started to wobble.

  “Here, let me help you, Ma’am. I’ll take the tray and set it down for you.”

  Her eyes flashed from the tray to his face, and her shoulder dipped as he took the tray with both hands. Nolan was glad she grabbed the pot handle with both hands because he was afraid that was the next thing heading for the floor.

  “Seems like you were surprised with a sudden full café. Do you have any help?” She looked at him questionably. Maybe the woman didn’t understand English.

  The woman’s light blue eyes were a contrast to her golden skin, but Nolan liked the combination, along with her shiny coal black hair pulled back in a braided bun at the nape of her neck.

  “Ma’am? May I help you serve your customers?” Nolan said slowly, hoping she knew some words other than her own language.

  “Why? Are you an Army cook?” The woman answered in clear English.

  “No, ma’am, I’m Nolan Clancy, just out of the military and heading home. Seems like we’re stuck in your little village for a while, so I’d be glad to serve or cook if you need help.”

  “Oh, I don’t know…”

  “I grew up in my grandparent’s café, so I can do anything related to making and serving food...except make a decent pie.” Nolan smiled when his words relaxed her shoulders.

  “I’d really appreciate that. My boss slipped on a patch of ice this morning and is back in bed, so...” She stopped and covered her mouth like she’d said too much.

  “Quit flirting and let the woman get our meals out, Soldier!”

  Nolan took the coffee pot from the woman and set it on the side table beside the tray of cups, and then turned to face the crowded room.

  “Help yourself to the coffee while we dish up and serve the meal then,” Nolan announced while first waving at the table, then at the kitchen door. “After you, Ma’am, I think you have a bunch of hungry customers to feed.”

  Nolan looked around the kitchen as he unbuttoned his fatigue blouse. He’d be plenty warm working in his vest and shirt.

  “What’s your name, Ma’am?”

  “Miss Holly Brandt, sir. Thank you for your help,” she said politely but looked like she was ready to bolt back into the dining room instead of staying by herself with him.

  “Well, Miss Brandt, I’m pleased to meet you and glad to be of service. When I was growing up, our town preacher drilled into us boys to always help a woman in need, be it to cross the street or defend her life.” Nolan looked around where to put his discarded clothing, then draped it across the back of a chair next to the side table.

  “What’s on your menu today, Miss Brandt?”

  “Um, I just made a single pot of stew because we hardly have more than eight to ten people on a bad winter day, and it’s easy to keep warm while customers wander in. I never expected the train to have problems and travelers venturing off to eat here.”

  “You have canned meat and vegetables in your pantry?” Nolan asked as he eyed the pot on the stove, and then the closed door, which probably led to the storage room.

  “Yes, we grew a garden and canned quite a bit for the winter months. Why?”

  “Perfect. We’ll serve Clancy Stew then. Please put two more pots on the stove to warm them up while I get the supplies I need.”

  Nolan knew Miss Brandt was staring at his back when he opened the pantry door, but he was almost excited thinking of making his grandfather’s secret stew. He grabbed several varieties of canned vegetables and two jars of canned meat to make an armful of supplies.

  “What are you making?”

  “More stew. I assumed you started this pot hours ago.”

  “Yes, early this morning, before I baked the bread and pies I thought I needed for the day. But I don’t have enough to feed everyone in the packed dining room, let alone if more people wander in next.”

  “Not a problem with my grandfather’s recipe. One pot of his stew could feed ten to sixty people.”

  “How?”

  Nolan was already popping the seals on the glass jar lids he had lined up on the side table while he spoke. “Could you hand me a long wooden spoon, please?

  “Thank you,” Nolan said as he held one open jar of meat over one pot, then proceeded to spoon the contents into a heating pan.

  “Grandpa would heat various canned vegetables, and canned beef if need be, and then mix it with the original batch of stew to make it stretch.”

  “It makes sense, but it wouldn’t taste or look the same as the original stew.”

  “Didn’t matter to Grandpa’s customers. They all knew it would taste good.”

  Nolan noticed the loaves of bread on the worktable and nodded his head toward it as
he continued to fill the two pots with the canned goods.

  “Were sandwiches an option for today’s meal?”

  “Yes, made with ham and cheese. Should I start making some sandwiches?”

  Nolan thought a minute before answering. What else did his grandparent’s serve on “stretch the stew” days?

  “Slice the bread loaves, then cut the slices into diagonal halves. We’ll single layer them on a baking sheet, then put slices of cheese on top, and heat them in the oven until it melts. We’ll put two half slices on the plate with a bowl of stew.”

  A man pushed open the kitchen door. “Do you have more coffee made?” he asked.

  Nolan lifted the second pot off the stove and carried it to the door to exchange with the man.

  “Thanks for helping out. We’ll have food out pretty soon.”

  Nolan turned back to Miss Brandt. “What kind of pie did you make for dessert today?”

  “All I made is three cherry pies, so that won’t be enough.”

  “But you have more fruit in the pantry, so we can whip up Grandma’s ‘Berry Crumble.’ And do have any cream?”

  “Yes, but it’s not whipped.”

  “Well, we may or may not have the cream whipped depending on our time. Let’s get the main meal out first.”

  ***

  Holly was stunned when Mr. Clancy took over the kitchen, but he soon proved he knew what he was doing. Mrs. Randolph always did the cooking, and Holly took care of the prep work and customers. When her employer slipped on the ice patch this morning on the way to the outhouse, Holly assured the older woman she could handle the usual slow day in the café. Never did she expect to feed sixty people instead of the twenty or so regular customers she expected.

  She was also surprised when the man called out to the men hassling her. She’d heard derogatory comments her whole life because of her parentage, but few people, other than her father, stood up to her hecklers.