One day a waiter complained that Ginger had been uppity with him and news that a colored gal was cooking at the hotel caused the owner to fire her. He did, however, mention her to a friend, Yvette, and asked if she knew anyone looking for a housekeeper. It was Yvette who told Marian about Ginger. Marian met her and hired her on the spot.
Ginger didn't think she'd like living in a small town. Her experiences with white people had left her defensive and sassy, but she liked Marian and her family, and after a week in the house, she felt right at home. Marian treated her well and bought new linens just for her.
Ginger had made a beautiful wedding cake with sugar roses in three different colors for three brides. The cake sat in the middle of the dining table and whenever anyone walked by, they just had to touch those roses to see if they were real. Ginger stood with her hands on her hips and, waving a spoon, announced that the next person who put a finger on her roses would lose it. No one touched that cake again.
Jimmy liked Ginger. She would make him anything he wanted. She said he was too skinny and she needed to fatten him up. She would make him the best cookies he'd ever tasted, but he wouldn't tell Becky that.
James had hired three musicians to come to play The Wedding March. Chairs were moved out of the parlor and folding chairs from the town hall were brought to the ranch and set up, leaving an aisle for the bridal procession. Three were put in the corner for the musicians and they sat ready to play. The food was prepared and Ginger went up the stairs to see if the brides were ready. They were standing in Marian's room hugging each other when she opened the door.
"What in tarnation are you doin'," she said. "You got people waitin' for you. Now wipe your faces and git on downstairs. My food is getting cold."
One by one they walked past Ginger. Becky stopped at the top of the stairs.
"You have to call the men," she said to Ginger. "They're supposed to be waiting for us, aren't they?"
"Lordy, I forgot the men," Ginger said. "I'm gonna call them right now."
Ginger waddled down the stairs and out the front door. She looked toward James' house and put her hands to her mouth and shouted.
"You all git over here now."
James, Evan, and Adam walked down the porch steps and started to walk across the yard.
"Come on now, we ain't got all day."
"She's bossy," Adam said.
Evan and James smiled. They saw Tom Beasley walking toward the house. He liked Ginger. He tried to talk to her, but she always walked away from him shaking her head. It didn't deter Tom from trying again. Now, as he approached her, she rolled her eyes.
"Lord, get this man away from me."
Tom frowned.
"Go on, git," she said, and he went into the house.
Ginger had her hands on her hips again and she was pursing her lips as James, Evan, and Adam walked past her and into the house.
"You all go into the parlor. The preacher's waitin.' "
She walked behind them and when they were in position by the fireplace, she went back to the stairs for the brides. The guests from town were seated in folding chairs.
Mrs. Gray was at the front and Jimmy sat next to her. She had taken a liking to the boy and gave him two bits whenever she saw him, so Jimmy made sure she saw him.
"Jimmy," James said and the boy took his place beside his uncle.
When Becky was in place, Ginger pointed to the musicians, and The Wedding March began. When James saw Becky in her lovely white gown, he smiled. She looked like a princess. When Marian entered the room, Evan held his breath. She was too beautiful for words. And when Hannah walked down the aisle between the folding chairs, Adam felt tears form in his eyes. He couldn't see anything but her.
After the preacher pronounced them men and wives, the party began. Everyone raved about Ginger's cooking. The couples danced and drank champagne, and when the evening was over, Hannah and Adam changed their clothes and went to the small hotel in town. The guests said it was the nicest wedding, or weddings, they'd ever been to.
The following day, James and Becky went to Denver on the train. In the spring, they would go to San Francisco, but with winter coming soon, Denver would have to do. Becky told Marian she had never been so happy in all her life, and Marian said the same. They hugged and wished each other goodbye.
Marian and Evan were going to Europe for their honeymoon. They, too, would wait until spring. In the meantime, they were content to stay in at home getting to know each other. She and Evan gave Hannah and Adam a very special wedding gift -- a trip to Paris. They were not waiting for spring. They were leaving on the next train. When they returned, James hoped to have a little house built for them near the hill where Hannah loved to paint. James also asked Adam to keep his books and gave him a raise.
Everyone went to the train station. Becky and James were going west, and Hannah and Adam were going east. Hannah had wanted to show Adam where she grew up, but there wasn't enough time. One day, she promised, he would see New Beach. But for now, Paris would be enough.
The boat they took to Paris was elegant and Marian had paid for first-class accommodations. They disembarked in Marseilles and took the train to Paris. Hannah was so overwhelmed at being there that she couldn't sleep. She kept looking out the hotel window in amazement. And as she and Adam strolled along the Champs-Élysées, she sighed. She was sharing Paris with the man she loved, the man who had made all her dreams come true.
Author's Notes
It is no accident that I chose the New Jersey shore as the location for Hannah's Dream. I grew up there, and Red Bank played a major part in my life. My sister took me shopping there when I was in my early teens, and when I got my driver's license, I dropped my father off at the train station every day so I could have the car to drive to school. Both my sons were born in Riverview Hospital, now Riverview Medical Center, near East Front Street, and when I worked for Starbucks as a barista, I helped open the store on the corner of White and Broad streets.
I wanted the names of the stores where Hannah and her mother shopped to be authentic, so I researched the Red Bank Register archives and took the names from stores that advertised in the paper in 1895. I also discovered that the sheriff at that time was Theodore Aumack, but the situations depicted involving Sheriff Aumack are fictitious. Mrs. Weis' Temple of Fashion existed. Mrs. Weis built the large store to replace two wooden stores that burned down. The building, located on Broad Street, still exists, as does the sign she erected.
Long Branch was a favorite summer vacation spot for Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, James A. Garfield, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson. Celebrities such as Edwin and Joseph Booth (brothers of John Wilkes Booth) and Edwin Forrest visited. Lillian Russell, Lily Langtry, and Diamond Jim Brady frequented the seaside resort, whose beaches were a favorite subject of artist Winslow Homer. I imagine a place like Mrs. Porter's would have existed, though it is entirely fictitious.
About the Author
A.L. Jambor writes romance novels as Lenore Butler. She was born and raised in New Jersey. She met her husband at Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck, gave birth to her two sons in Red Bank, and lived in Tuckerton for several years before moving to Largo, Florida.
She credits her imagination with keeping her sane in the years before she began to write. Amy loves the styles of the Victorian era. She also loves the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Lucy Maud Montgomery. She found inspiration in the simple romance between Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe and hopes to one day create a character as wonderful as Anne.
She is currently working on a time travel romance.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
&
nbsp; Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Author's Notes
About the Author
Hannah's Dream Page 28
