“When are you going to have the baby, Mama?” Wyatt asked.
“Oh, in another few weeks,” Marty replied and reached out to ruffle his hair.
Benjamin curled up next to her as Jake moved the team out and headed for home. “Mama, will we have a big bed?”
“No,” Marty told them. “Your papa made you each your very own bed.”
“We don’t have to share?” Samuel asked in amazement.
“Nope. You’ll have a bed all your own. But you three will share a room. At least until we can afford to add on to the house.”
“We can share,” Wyatt declared. “We can share real good.”
Samuel nodded in agreement. “We have to share. We’re brothers now.”
Marty chuckled and touched the boy’s face. “That’s right. You are brothers, and together we are a family.”
Chapter 27
Friday June 23, 1894
“You may now kiss your bride,” the preacher announced.
Alice trembled as Robert took hold of her and pulled her close. She closed her eyes in anticipation and then felt his warm lips on hers. A spark of passion grew into a flame. She wanted the kiss to go on forever. She wanted always to remember this moment in time.
But as quickly as it started, it stopped and Robert pulled away. Alice could barely hear the crowd of onlookers cheering them. Her heart beat so loudly in her ears that it drowned out nearly everything else.
People soon began to surround them, offering congratulations and well-wishes. Alice found herself separated from Robert as the ladies moved in around her, commenting on her pale blue gown and her carefully styled hair.
“I think the lace trim on your bodice is perfect,” Laura Reid said, reaching out to touch the modest neckline. “So fine and delicate.”
“She looks like an angel,” Hannah declared. “When she said she didn’t need a fancy wedding dress, I wasn’t sure I could approve. After all, it is the rage.”
The ladies around her laughed. “Since when have we Texans worried about what the rest of the world thinks?” Carissa Atherton questioned.
“I like the pleating in the bodice,” Hannah pointed out. “It took hours of tedious work, but it came out beautifully.”
The others agreed while Alice craned her neck to find where Robert had gotten off to.
Since the wedding had taken place midmorning, everyone was now prepared to celebrate with a spread of food that Hannah and some of the other women had been busy making all week.
Alice wasn’t a bit hungry, however. She wanted only to be left alone with Robert. She wanted to again feel his lips upon hers. She felt her cheeks grow hot and looked around, almost worried she’d spoken her desires aloud.
Little by little the crowd thinned, and Robert came to reclaim her. Alice allowed him to lead her to the head table. He helped her to take a seat before offering to get her food.
“You sit tight. I’ll fetch a plate for both of us.”
She nodded her approval and couldn’t help but watch him as he walked away. He was her husband. They were really and truly married. Alice marveled at the thought and reached up to touch the scar along her jaw. It might have been her imagination, but the scar felt less prominent. Maybe it really was fading, as Marty had suggested.
The thought of Marty caused Alice to search for her dear friend. She finally spotted Marty standing away from the others near one of the cottonwood trees. The grimace on her face suggested she was in pain. For a moment it didn’t register, and then all at once Alice feared the reason.
Leaving her place of honor, Alice hurried across the yard to where Marty stood. “Is it the baby?”
Marty looked up, her face pale and her mouth tightly clenched. She nodded, drew a deep breath, and then straightened. “It started just before the wedding. I didn’t want to say anything. It’s your day, after all.” Her features relaxed. The pain had apparently passed.
“Is it too early?”
“I don’t know. Hannah has insisted that I was further along than I originally thought.” Marty gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry to spoil things.”
“You aren’t spoiling anything. But you need to get to bed. Come, and I’ll help you.” Alice looked around for Hannah.
“Oh, don’t make a fuss. I don’t want everyone knowing. Jake will—” Marty gasped and bent over, clutching her stomach.
Alice couldn’t take any more. “Someone, please come help me. Marty is going to have the baby!”
Jake was first to reach them, with Hannah close behind. Several other people followed until nearly everyone had gathered to see what assistance they might offer. Hannah ordered people around like a well-trained general.
“Jake, get her into the house and help her out of her gown. Ravinia, put more water on the stove and then get that stack of towels I set aside.”
They quickly obeyed, and Alice could only stand helplessly watching as Jake carried Marty away. Robert seemed to understand and put his arm around her waist.
“Alice, she’s in good hands. My ma is the best midwife around these parts.”
“I believe you. I just wish there were something I could do to help.”
“There is,” Carissa Atherton announced. “You can go on with your wedding celebration. Marty would want you to do so. Now come. The birthing will probably take some time.”
Reluctantly Alice allowed Robert to lead her back to the table. Carissa took over as hostess, and soon had everyone’s focus back on the festivities. Alice found it almost impossible to eat despite the wonderful array of foods set before her. Robert didn’t seem to have any problem at all, and after he’d cleared his plate, he started in on hers. He spoke casually with those who came to speak to them, while Alice’s mind was on the delivery of Marty’s baby.
“I can’t stand not knowing what’s happening,” she whispered to Robert when they were finally alone.
“I understand, but this is our wedding day, and I’d really like for you to share it with me.” He smiled and patted her hand. “You know Aunt Marty wouldn’t like it if she knew you were neglecting me.”
This made Alice smile. She could imagine Marty chiding her quite severely. Just then Simon came up to the table with Wyatt, Samuel, and Benjamin in tow.
“They’re worried about their mama,” Simon declared. “I told them she’d be done having the baby pretty soon. That’s right, isn’t it?”
Alice could see the hopefulness in the boys’ eyes. She nodded. “That’s right. Sometimes babies seem to take forever, but other times they come real quick. You boys just need to pray and ask God to watch over your mama.” She gave them a smile. “Everything will be all right.”
Two hours later, Alice’s mother appeared at the door. It seemed that everyone noticed her at once, and silence blanketed the yard. She smiled and made her announcement.
“It’s a girl.”
Cheers erupted from the crowd, and several of the attendees rushed toward Ravinia Chesterfield to learn more. Robert, however, took the opportunity to slip away with Alice.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he led her away from the party.
“Anyplace where we can be alone,” he said.
He pulled her behind the smokehouse and drew her into his arms. Without giving her a chance to protest, Robert pressed his mouth to hers. A charge like lightning shot through her, and Alice wrapped her arms around him as if she might otherwise drown.
The kiss seemed to go on forever, and Alice lost all thought of anyone but her husband. When he finally lifted his head, Alice found herself almost faint.
Robert grinned like a little boy who’d just gotten away with a prank. “And that, Mrs. Barnett, is how to properly kiss your husband.”
Her senses returned and Alice smiled. “Behind the smokehouse?”
He laughed. “I hid here for many a questionable deed. I tried my first smoke here. I figured no one would know, ’cause the smokehouse was in use. My pa caught me just the same. I came here once when I stole cookies that my ma
had forbidden me to eat. I don’t know why I figured she’d not notice them missin’ off the plate. She never said a word about it, however, but when I was half sick from havin’ eaten too many, she just smiled and gave me castor oil.”
“Goodness, I had no idea you were such a hooligan,” Alice said, unable to hide her amusement. “I don’t know if I would have married you had I known.”
Robert nodded most soberly and tightened his hold on her. “That’s why I didn’t tell you.” He kissed her again, but this time it was brief and left Alice longing for more.
“Come along, Mrs. Barnett. I’m sure we’ll be missed if we don’t return, and I, for one, don’t want my pa comin’ in search of me.”
Alice quickly agreed. “Neither do I, Mr. Barnett. I wouldn’t want to scandalize him.”
Robert laughed heartily and drew her alongside him. “I don’t know how I ever enjoyed life before you came here, but I have a feelin’ it’s only gonna get better. Ma once told me that Pa was a blessing from heaven, and that’s how I feel about you. God knew the kind of wife I needed, and He brought you right to my doorstep.”
Alice leaned closer and smiled. God had known her heart and her desires, too, and He had given not only her mother and brother back to her, but brought an entirely new family, as well. Most important, God had given her a man who would love her despite her scars.
“And just where have you two been?” Robert’s father asked with a raised brow.
Robert gave him a sheepish grin. “I was just showin’ Alice around—behind the smokehouse.” His father roared with laughter, and Alice felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. There would be no keeping secrets in this family, and maybe that was for the best. Secrets had a way of coming between folks, and Alice wanted nothing to ever come between her and her beloved. Smiling, she gave a sigh and prayed that this moment in time would last forever.
Tracie Peterson is the award-winning author of over one hundred novels, both historical and contemporary. Her avid research resonates in her stories, as seen in her bestselling HEIRS OF MONTANA and ALASKAN QUEST series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana. Visit Tracie’s website at www.traciepeterson.com and her blog at www.writespassage.blogspot.com.
Books by Tracie Peterson
* * *
www.traciepeterson.com
LONE STAR BRIDES
A Sensible Arrangement • A Moment in Time
LAND OF SHINING WATER
The Icecutter’s Daughter • The Quarryman’s Bride The Miner’s Lady
LAND OF THE LONE STAR
Chasing the Sun • Touching the Sky • Taming the Wind
BRIDAL VEIL ISLAND*
To Have and To Hold • To Love and Cherish To Honor and Trust
SONG OF ALASKA
Dawn’s Prelude • Morning’s Refrain • Twilight’s Serenade
STRIKING A MATCH
Embers of Love • Hearts Aglow • Hope Rekindled
ALASKAN QUEST
Summer of the Midnight Sun
Under the Northern Lights • Whispers of Winter
Alaskan Quest (3 in 1)
BRIDES OF GALLATIN COUNTY
A Promise to Believe In • A Love to Last Forever
A Dream to Call My Own
THE BROADMOOR LEGACY *
A Daughter’s Inheritance • An Unexpected Love
A Surrendered Heart
BELLS OF LOWELL*
Daughter of the Loom • A Fragile Design These Tangled Threads
LIGHTS OF LOWELL*
A Tapestry of Hope • A Love Woven True The Pattern of Her Heart
DESERT ROSES
Shadows of the Canyon • Across the Years Beneath a Harvest Sky
HEIRS OF MONTANA
Land of My Heart • The Coming Storm
To Dream Anew • The Hope Within
LADIES OF LIBERTY
A Lady of High Regard • A Lady of Hidden Intent
A Lady of Secret Devotion
RIBBONS OF STEEL**
Distant Dreams • A Hope Beyond • A Promise for Tomorrow
RIBBONS WEST**
Westward the Dream • Separate Roads • Ties That Bind
WESTWARD CHRONICLES
A Shelter of Hope • Hidden in a Whisper • A Veiled Reflection
YUKON QUEST
Treasures of the North • Ashes and Ice • Rivers of Gold
House of Secrets • A Slender Thread • Where My Heart Belongs All Things Hidden***
* with Judith Miller ** with Judith Pella ***with Kimberley Woodhouse
Resources: bethanyhouse.com/AnOpenBook
Website: www.bethanyhouse.com
Facebook: Bethany House
Moment in Time, A (Lone Star Brides Book #2) Page 26
