by Megan West
“I will promise you to be more careful in the future,”she replied.“But you have to do something for me, too.”
“Name it,”Simon said.
“Tell me why you cover one side of your face all the time and why we have been married for over a month and are still sleeping in separate bedrooms.”
Simon sighed deeply as he looked down at his hands. He didn’t speak for a long time. Emma had almost given up on getting an answer when he finally looked at her once more.
“I suppose I do owe you an explanation,”he said quietly.“This is hard for me because I didn’t expect to actually like you so much. Then when you got out of that carriage and I saw you for the first time….You were so beautiful with that wild deep red hair and those cat green eyes. I knew that you were so far out of my league. I should have let you go right then and there. Just given you some money and sent you back home. But once I had seen you, I couldn’t do it. I knew I’d never have another chance at someone like you.”
“I don’t understand, Simon. Why would you not have told me this? I’ve been thinking that you were sorry you had brought me here.”
“Oh no, no. Emma, you are truly the best thing that has ever happened to me. But you deserve so much more than to be married to a freak.”
“A freak? What are you talking about, Simon? You aren’t a freak!”
Without any warning, he whipped back the hair that had always covered the side of his face and turned to her. There, on the upper side of his face, close to his ear, was a perfect symbol burned into his skin. Although it was still noticeable, it seemed to have faded into more of a white scar. Emma was quite sure, however, that it was much worse to Simon than it actually looked in reality.
Reaching out, she traced it lightly with her finger.
“Simon,”she whispered.“What happened to you?”
Eyes cast downward; he began to tell his horrific story.
“When I was about 8 years old, I was outside with my Pa while he was branding the cattle. We used to do that a lot back then to keep away thieves. I always liked to watch my Pa work on the ranch. I was supposed to stay back while he did the branding because you just never knew what might happen. Anyway, through a comedy of errors, so to speak, this one cow didn’t like the pain and kicked out. I was too close and got knocked to the ground. Unfortunately, I landed on the branding iron that had been knocked from my Pa’s hand. I didn’t feel it too much because I passed out almost immediately. At first, it almost looked like I wasn’t going to make it. But, I’ve got to tell you, my Ma was one determined woman. She was not going to let go of me. So I got better. Sadly, my face was ruined. Kids screamed and ran away from me at first. Later, they laughed and pointed. Called me names. Freak seemed to be the favorite. So I stayed away from people until I learned how to hide my face.”
Emma was speechless. Her heart hurt so badly for him; for the tormented little boy he had been and for the man who felt he was unworthy. Tears gathered in her eyes and threatened to spill over but she didn’t even notice.
“Simon,”she whispered.“You are not a freak. All of them were wrong. You are one of the most handsome men I have ever met in my life. You have also shown me that you are a good person. You are generous, kind, considerate, and wonderful. During all of the talking we have done in the last month, I have come to understand the remarkable man you are. I am proud to be your wife! You have to stop keeping me at arm’s length. I want to be your wife in every sense of the word. Do you understand what I am saying to you?”
Clasping her hand tightly, he started to nod slowly.
“Yes, I think I do. And I’m so sorry for not trusting you but it’s hard to trust when you’ve had the life that I have. That’s not an excuse, though. I should have given you a chance.”
“Yes, you should have,”Emma said with a small laugh.“Now, do you think I might have a proper“husbandly”kiss from you?”
Gazing directly into her eyes, Simon leaned in and Emma met him halfway. Their lips met gently as they finally started their life together.
Ten months later, Emma was propped up in bed holding two small blanket clad bundles. She and Simon were smiling broadly at them.
“I still can’t believe we have twins,”he said.
“Me either,”Emma laughed softly.
“What shall we name them?”Simon asked.
“Well, would you mind if we named our daughter Amelia, after my mother?”she asked.
“Amelia Callaghan,”he said.“I think that sounds like a fine name.”
“What about our son?”she asked.“He needs a name, too.”
“How about we call him Dylan, after my father?”
“Dylan. Yes, that is a strong name.”
“Dylan and Amelia Callaghan. Those sound like perfect names for two perfect children,”Simon said.“I love you, Emma. Thank you so much for everything you have brought into my life.”
“I love you, too, Simon. You have no idea what you mean to me.”
Looking down at the new lives that their love had created, they both smiled once more.
“Our lives are really going to change now,”Emma said.
“Yes, I know,”Simon agreed.“And I can’t wait!”
The End
Next up: CASSANDRA AND NOAH'S STORY!
Cassandra and Noah's Story
Cassandra DuMont carefully studied the man who sat at her side in the horse driven carriage on the way from the train station to his home in Salem, Oregon.
By this time tomorrow, Noah Montgomery would be her husband. She had traveled all the way from New Orleans, Louisiana to Oregon just to marry him. They had met through a mail order bride agency called Coast to Coast Connections. The sole purpose of the agency was to match single men and women who, for various reasons, were looking for a spouse.
In Cassandra’s case, at 28 years old, she was considered to be an old maid. Her parents had taken ill one right after the other when she was of a marriageable age and she had been the only one to take care of them. They needed an income and it was up to her to find a way to support the family.
It was quite by chance that she met one of the more popular fortune tellers in the city. Camille took Cassandra under her wing and taught her everything about reading someone’s future. In no time, she was reading Tarot cards, palms and looking through a crystal ball. On the evenings that she could get someone to come in and stay with her parents for a while, she would go to the French Quarter and read fortunes for money. It amazed her at how much money she could make. Camille said that she was a natural at it and Cassandra supposed she was right.
Then her parents had passed away within less than a year of each other and she was left alone. At her age, the only men that showed any interest in her were much older men. She even gave a couple of them a chance but, in the end, she just could not see herself dutifully marrying either of them. There was also the fact that she had garnered somewhat of a reputation with her chosen way to make money. Handsome, young, respectable men just did not want to be seen with a fortune teller.
That was when she had spotted an ad in the local newspaper about the Coast to Coast Connections Agency. After reading what they did, she decided that if she was going to marry for the sake of convenience, the least she could do was to get something out of it. In this case, she was getting the chance for some travel and adventure.
Noah Montgomery was a well to do man and a widower. His wife had died during childbirth several years ago and he had not been interested in taking another wife. However, he had realized during that time that he did need a wife if, for no other reason, than to run his household and be hostess to his host for entertaining.
Cassandra was pretty sure that she could do that. After all, she had managed her parents’ home all the while taking care of them when they were ill. It couldn’t be that much more difficult to manage the house of rich man.
It was har
d to figure him out so far. He had been rather quiet since meeting her at the train station. Even though he was ten years her senior, he was still very handsome. She imagined that he had been considered one of the more sought after eligible bachelors in the city of Salem.
“I suppose you are curious as to why I would seek a mail order bride,” Noah said, startling her.
It was as if he could read her mind.
“I admit to being a little puzzled,” Cassandra managed to say.
“The simple truth is that, if I were to marry any of the single women in Salem, there would be certain expectations of me that I am not interested in honoring. Any of the families here would be bearing down upon me to commit to a conventional marriage. I suppose this is something that you and I should have discussed before now, but I assumed that you would feel the same way about a marriage of convenience as I do.”
Marriage of convenience? Had he really just said that?
Looking at him from under her eyelashes, she tried to read his face. He seemed serious enough about everything that he had just said. Cassandra was not certain as to how she felt about that.
If this was a marriage of convenience, that meant no chance of falling in love with each other and having a true marriage. It meant that there would be no children.
It would take some time to process this. And what in the world had made him believe that she would want such a marriage?
“Cassandra? Did you understand what I just said?”
Clearing her throat, she looked at him fully now.
“Yes, of course I understand,” she managed to say.
“And you agree?”
“Of course. A marriage of convenience is precisely what I wanted,” she lied.
“Excellent. Then we can proceed from here,” Noah said as if he had just closed a business deal.
She supposed that, since he was a businessman, she should not be so surprised that he would approach marriage in such a way as well. To him, it was a business deal and, apparently, nothing more. This made her feel extremely sad for some reason. Tears started to form in her eyes; tears that she would never let him see.
Cassandra listened as Noah talked on about plans in the coming days. The sadness within her became even worse. This was supposed to be an exciting time in her life. She was getting married! Not only that, but she had relocated across the country to a new life. Yet, from the way Noah talked; they would be nothing more than business partners.
She supposed that she should be grateful for that in some ways. However, she had fostered the hope that the two of them would get along and that they might even fall in love eventually. It did not seem as if that was something that he was open to considering. He had made up his mind that this would be nothing more than an arrangement that would mutually benefit them both.
“Is that agreeable with you?” Noah’s voice broke into her thoughts.
“I’m so sorry,” she stammered. “I fear that my mind wandered there for a second. Would you kindly repeat your last sentence?”
A slight look of irritation crossed Noah’s face but he quickly recovered.
“I was saying that there will be a minister at the house when we arrive and he will perform the marriage. I asked if that was agreeable with you.”
“Oh yes, of course. That’s fine,” Cassandra agreed even though her heart sank even more.
Apparently, she was not to receive even a semblance of a wedding. This man probably would not give her a chance to freshen up a bit and slip into the dress that she had bought in a New Orleans shop before leaving. Tears threatened once more, but she was determined that there was no way that she would give into them in front of Noah Montgomery.
Had she ever met anyone so thoughtless and insensitive? She highly doubted it.
Noah noticed that Cassandra had become very quiet on the ride to his home. He was starting to wonder if he had made a mistake in keeping things so businesslike. Coast to Coast Connections had sent him her information sheet and she had seemed perfect for his needs. When he saw her age; he was even more convinced that she was the right choice. After all, any women who were still single by the age of 28 surely had some sort of issue. Usually, it was because they were plain or unattractive in some other way.
How wrong he had been!
As soon as Cassandra DuMont had stepped down from the train, she had taken his breath away.
Miss DuMont was anything but plain. In fact, she was clearly one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He had been prepared for many things, but her beauty was not one of them. There must be something else that had caused her to remain unmarried for so long. Either that or the men in New Orleans were all blind.
He had decided that he would need to take this very slowly. Surely, she had not planned to be saddled with a man of his age. However, he did have money and that meant something to a lot of women no matter what their ages. He only hoped that she did not regret her decision once she had seen him person.
Now, looking at this lovely young woman seated next to him in the carriage, he took full stock of her. She was tall, but not taller than him. Her hair was dark auburn and seemed to be quite thick and lustrous in spite of being pulled back into a fashionable knot under the hat she wore.
It was her eyes, however, that had mesmerized him from the first moment that she had looked at him. A rather unique green color with golden flecks in them, they were framed by long dark lashes. He had nearly been unable to speak.
That was probably the reason that he had turned into such an insensitive twit, rambling on about how things would be once they had reached his home. He had already practically put the woman to sleep out of boredom. Why had it not occurred to him that she might actually want a wedding rather than a short exchanging of vows in the parlor of his house? Maybe he should ask her what she wanted in that regard.
He was just about to open his mouth to voice the question when she looked at him.
“I feel that you have arranged everything quite efficiently,” she said almost primly. “No need to bother with all the fuss of a wedding when we are simply entering into a business arrangement.”
Noah was surprised to find himself more than a bit let down at her words. Well, what could he expect? He had given her no options before presenting everything as being completed with no room for any changes. Was it too late to start over and fix this or had they truly got off on the wrong foot?
Well, at least he had not said anything before discovering how she felt about things. That could have been rather humiliating. He had been right. She would never find a man of his age attractive.
“Excellent,” he said.
At that point, they both faced straight ahead and remained quiet for the rest of the ride.
When the carriage came to a stop, Noah opened the door and exited. He stood and waited to help Cassandra out of it. Taking his hand, she stepped out onto what turned out to be a driveway that ran in a semi-circle in front of the one of the largest houses she had ever seen.
“Oh my!” she breathed as she gazed at the enormous structure.
“Do you like it?” Noah could not keep himself from asking.
“This is magnificent!” She was so caught up in the beauty of this house that she momentarily forgot that she was still holding onto his hand.
“Noah, this is so much grander than I imagined!”
“I am pleased that you approve,” he said smiling.
Suddenly realizing that she was still clutching his hand, she slowly extricated it and smiled back at him shyly.
“Why don’t we go inside?” he asked as he offered her his arm.
They walked up a set of steps leading onto a large and wonderful porch that ran the length of the house. Cassandra had, of course, seen her fair share of large mansions in and around New Orleans, but she was not going to get to live in any of those.
The large door swung open as they approached it and a rather matronly middle aged woman was standing there smiling widely.
“
You must be Miss DuMont!” the woman exclaimed. “Welcome to your new home!”
“Cassandra, this is my housekeeper, Larissa,” Noah said by way of introduction. “Larissa, as you have so correctly guessed, this is Cassandra DuMont.”
“Soon to be Mrs. Montgomery!” Larissa enthused as she clasped Cassandra’s hands. “Actually, the minister is already here and waiting in the parlor.”
“Ah, then,” Noah said. “We should not keep them waiting. Shall we go in?”
Before Cassandra could reply, Larissa cleared her throat.
“Mr. Noah, a word, please,” she said.
Noah looked decidedly confused, but took the hint.
“Of course, Larissa,” he replied. “I’ll only be a moment.”
Larissa led the way to another room followed by Noah.
When they returned, Larissa was smiling and Noah looked even more confused than ever, but also a bit embarrassed.
“Cassandra, please accept my apologies. Apparently, I have had a lapse of manners. Larissa has reminded me that you have had a very long trip and may want to freshen up before the ceremony. So I will leave you in her very capable hands.”
“Oh….” Cassandra said a bit confused as well, but she also had to admit to herself that she was relieved for Larissa’s consideration.
“Come along with me, ma’am,” Larissa said as she led Cassandra away and up a majestic staircase.
As they walked, Larissa talked animatedly the entire time. At the top of the stairs, she turned to the left, leading down a rather wide hallway.
“Your suite is right this way, ma’am,” Larissa said. “It’s so wonderful that you have come, Miss Cassandra. I tell you, it’s not right that a man be alone. Mr. Noah has been on his own far too long. Now, I know that the two of you did not meet under traditional conditions. But that does not mean that you won’t grow to care about each other. Both of you are attractive and mature people. I just have a really good feeling about all of this!”
Larissa was somewhat energetic and it was difficult for Cassandra to keep up with her. But it was an energy that she could appreciate. Already, she felt better about being here.
