by Zina Abbott
Kendrick shook his head. “The sleeping arrangements are working out all right. The situation is wrong. It’s not what I want.”
“I see. How long before you need me to make other arrangements?”
“This Sunday would work for me.”
“Sunday? So soon? I’ll see what I can do, Mr. Denham. If you have any suggestions on where I can find a place—”
“You’ve found a place, if you want it.” Kendrick cut off her words. “Mrs. Meyer—Lydia—I know you haven’t been in Columbia very long, and you’ve known me even less time than that. And, to say my life has been turned upside down within the last couple of weeks is more than an understatement. I’ve gone from being a bachelor, to a father, to a landlord, and now I’m a man sleeping in a boardinghouse with strangers when all I really want is to take those people who have become important to me lately and officially make them my family.” Kendrick held his breath while he waited.
Her face revealing her confusion, Lydia looked up until her gaze met his. “I’m not sure exactly what you’re saying.”
Kendrick swallowed. Thinking about what he wanted to say had not been as hard as actually saying it. “Will you marry me? Maybe this proposal is too soon for you, and, if it is, I apologize. I know you were pushed out of your home of many years in Pennsylvania, and you were recently felt the need to vacate your sister’s home. I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to force you into mine.”
“I appreciate that, Mr. Denham. I do feel like I’ve not been allowed to make many of my own choices in life. And, especially with the children, I can see where it would be convenient—for both of us.”
“True. As soon as I realized what kind of a person you are, I knew you would be a wonderful mother for Madeline. You’ve got some great boys, too. But, everything else aside, I’ve come to care for you—deeply. I never thought I could love a woman as quickly as I have you, but I have.”
Lydia searched his face. “Love?”
Kendrick sucked in a deep breath and looked off to the side. “I believe so. I haven’t had a great deal of experience with the emotion, but I’m pretty sure what I feel for you is love.” His gaze reconnected with Lydia. “I’m sure it will grow with time. One thing I do know is, I want to be with you. I can no longer picture a future without you in it.”
“This is where you kiss her, Mr. Denham.”
At the sound of Caroline’s whisper, both Kendrick and Lydia turned to the door leading outside.
Kendrick frowned at the four faces stacked one on top of the other peeking through the crack of the partially-opened door. He looked at Lydia. Based on her open-mouthed expression, he suspected she thought the same thing he did.
His hands on his hips, he turned back and glowered at the foursome. “Where’s Madeline? Did you leave her by herself?”
“Oh, she’s here.” Caroline pushed open the door. Charlotte, Madeline held tight against her side, entered first, followed by her sister, Cole, and Will. Caroline turned to Lydia. “See? We told you he loves you.”
Kendrick growled deep in his throat. “What are all of you doing here? I thought I sent you boys out with Madeline.”
Wide-eyed, Will looked over at Cole, and then back at Kendrick. “We were with Madeline. Then the girls came over and wanted to know why we were outside. They’re the ones who figured out you were asking Mama to marry you.”
Charlotte placed her free hand on her hip. “And we were right. Only she hasn’t said yes yet, so you need to kiss her.”
“Look, we’re the ones who are doing the kissing, so we’ll decide when that’s going to take place.” Kendrick felt worms crawling around in his gut as he watched Caroline looked between him and Lydia. What was she going to come up with next?
“You need to move this along, Mr. Denham. We know you’re holding back because you don’t want Aunt Lydia to feel like you’re pushing her too fast.”
Charlotte tsked. “We heard him ask her already, Caro.”
Kendrick nodded. “That’s right, I did. I also told her I don’t want to push her too fast.” He turned to Lydia. “Am I?”
Lydia glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and shook her head.
“Only she hasn’t said she loves you, but we know she does.”
“We’ll work this out by ourselves, girls.” Kendrick rubbed the skin between his eyebrows. Again, he turned to Lydia, his voice sounding less certain. “Are they right?”
Lydia smiled and nodded. “Like you said, it will grow over time.”
Caroline spread her arms, palms up. “See? It’s all figured out. Now, we need to know what day you will get married.”
Will clapped his hands to his mouth and giggled. “Yeah, and where Cole and I can find a new place to sleep. You’re probably going to kick us out of the bedroom, huh?”
Kendrick snapped his gaze toward Will. “Oh, you’re right about that. From the night of the wedding on, you two are spreading out your bedrolls anywhere else but in our bedroom.”
Cole nudged his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll figure it out, Will. We won’t want to be in there, anyway.”
Kendrick grumbled his annoyance. “Look, let the two of us work it out. We’ll let you…”
“This Sunday will be fine.”
Kendrick slowly twisted to face Lydia, who stood with her lips pressed together to suppress her laughter. He once again faced the waiting audience and shrugged. “This Sunday, it is.”
Charlotte grabbed Madeline’s hand. “Hear that, Madeline? This Sunday, our Aunt Lydia will officially be your new mama…”
Caroline nodded. “…and Mr. Denham will be our Uncle Rick.”
“…and our Papa Rick.” Wearing a big grin, Will craned his neck to look at everyone in the room.
Charlotte wagged a finger between Kendrick and her aunt. “And maybe you two can start calling each other by your first names instead of all that mister and missus stuff.”
Kendrick huffed in annoyance before he turned toward Lydia and swallowed as his gaze drank in the glow of joy on her face. How about sweetheart, honey, darling, lover…
Caroline clasped her hands in front of her chin. “Can Charlotte and I stand up with you, Aunt Lydia?”
Lydia smiled and shook her head. “No, my dears. You’re not of age yet.”
Charlotte scowled. “But there’s two of us. If you add our ages together, it comes to twenty-eight.”
Lydia laughed out loud. “I’m sorry, but being a witness doesn’t work that way.”
“Then, who will you ask?”
Lydia turned to Caroline as she considered. She spoke slowly. “I don’t know if she’ll agree to it, but I will ask my sister to stand up with me.”
Cole, a sullen frown on his face, stared at his mother. “Aunt Dorcas?”
Lydia nodded. “Yes. Dorcas.” She turned to meet Kendrick’s questioning gaze with her own. “She’ll always be my sister. I need to start somewhere to mend this rift between us. If she decides against it, then I’ll choose someone else.”
After several seconds of silence, Kendrick stepped forward and rapidly flipped the back of his hands toward the children. “Out. Out. All of you. Give us some time together. Make sure you take care of Madeline.”
Cole wrinkled his brow as he stared at Kendrick. “You’re going to kiss Mama, aren’t you?”
“Yes, and we don’t need an audience. This isn’t a peep show.”
Charlotte and Caroline turned and stared at each other as realization struck them both at the same time. They each clapped a hand over their mouth then burst into giggles.
Her voice a whisper, Caroline removed her hand and leaned toward Charlotte. “So that’s what a peep show is.”
Kendrick nudged the twins, the last to leave, out the door and firmly closed it behind them. He turned and pressed his back against the solid slab of wood. “I’m staying right here. I figure the best way to keep them from barging in again is to barricade the door.” He held his arms out. “Come here, Lydia. With the win
dow being on the same wall as the door, I don’t think they can see us if they look inside.”
Laughing aloud, Lydia rushed to him with outstretched arms. She fell into his embrace. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her forehead into Kendrick’s neck. “Oh, Kendrick. I can’t believe my good fortune. I came to Columbia out of desperation, not knowing what the future held for me and my boys. Here, you offer me love and a new family.” She looked up as her gaze sought his. “A family I choose. I don’t wish to take anything away from my sons’ father, for in many ways, he was a good man. It’s just…” She looked down and shook her head.
“He wasn’t your choice.”
“No.” Lydia again gazed into his eyes. “But you are. Even though we’ve known each other for only days, I feel we’ve already been through so much. I was afraid to believe I could make a good choice this soon. I’m not sure what happened just a little while ago, but I knew.”
Kendrick tightened his hold on Lydia. “I’ve gone from being a bachelor with no one to think about but myself to a father. Soon, I’ll become a husband and stepfather—all in less than two weeks.” He grasped Lydia’s shoulders and pushed her back far enough he could gaze into her eyes. “You do realize, don’t you, I’ve never raised children?”
Her eyes bright with love, Lydia smiled. “You’ll figure it out. Look how fast you learned to be such a wonderful papa for Madeline.”
Kendrick looked off to the side. “I’m fine until she grows a little and I’m hit with something new about babies. I mean, how was I to know about teething?”
“None of us knows everything, but we do the best we can. Love is what really matters. The rest will come.”
Kendrick lifted a hand to the back of Lydia’s head and pulled her to him. “I can’t believe how fast I grew to love Madeline. I can’t believe how fast I grew to love you. I don’t know what our future will hold. I only know I want the family we are going to put together this Sunday to be part of it.” His gaze locked on Lydia’s. He licked his lips. “I’m going to kiss you now, Lydia.”
“I want you to.”
Kendrick inched his parted lips towards hers.
Lydia’s heels lifted from the floor as she eased her body up. Her breaths grew ragged and more urgent as she closed her eyes.
Positive she yearned for a kiss as much as he did, Kendrick’s anticipation intensified.
A loud knock on the door startled the two apart.
Kendrick craned his neck and glowered in the direction of the offending sound. “What?”
“Are you through kissing yet?” Caroline’s voice sounded.
“No. Go away.”
Charlotte, sounding so much like her mother it prompted Kendrick to grit his teeth, spoke next. “Hurry it up. Madeline’s diaper is wet. We need to change her.”
“You’re scolding, Lottie.”
“All right, I’ll stop. But she is wet. You hold her until they open the door.”
Kendrick turned back to face Lydia. He heaved a sigh of resignation. “It’s always going to be like this, isn’t it?”
Lydia laughed. “Yes, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Kiss me, and then we better open the door so the twins can change your daughter’s diaper. Then you need to collect my boys and go about your business.”
Again, Kendrick pulled Lydia tight against him and, heedless of the wants and needs of those waiting outside, pressed his lips to hers. For this minute of showing his love to the woman who would soon become his wife, the children could wait.
Epilogue
Columbia, California – Saturday, August 26, 1854
A fter he finished selling his meat for the morning, Kendrick set the bucket of soapy scrub water on the end of the counter. Saturday was a busy day, with many buying for Sunday, as well. Although men still greatly outnumbered women in Columbia, there were enough families, even after the great fire that destroyed most of the business district six weeks before, that enjoyed a Sunday meal served in a public dining room. Because of that, he made good meat sales to his restaurant customers on Saturdays.
Speaking of which, Kendrick scrubbed faster to finish cleaning his meat counter so he could collect Sunshine and make those deliveries.
At the sound of the door opening, he looked up, prepared to announce that store hours were over for the day. He clamped his lips shut when he saw Jeb Cardwell enter. “Morning, Jeb. I’m just about cleaned up now, but I can cut you a steak. Or, if you’re in the market for them, sell you the last two raw eggs.” With the extra mouths in my family to feed, I don’t have extra eggs like I used to.
Jeb waved his tin plate with its high, slanted lip that served as a bowl. “Morning, Rick. I’ll take the eggs and a nice steak, if it isn’t too much trouble. That’s not my main purpose for stopping by today, though.”
Kendrick stopped the circular motion of his scrub brush as he lifted his head and focused on Jeb. “I’m listening. Spit it out, Jeb.”
“Hear tell you’re leaving Columbia and plan to relocate to the valley.”
To buy some time, Kendrick continued his scrubbing. “Where did you hear that?”
Jeb shrugged. “Round and about. With my masonry business keeping me busy putting up brick buildings along Main Street, people talk, and I listen.”
“It’s true. As she grows up, it will be better for Madeline if we move somewhere else rather than stay in this county.” He tossed the brush in the bucket. “Bricklaying’s been good to you, then?”
“It has.” Jeb shook his head, a look of wonder on his face. “Most people thought that fire we had last month was a tragedy. It was—a lot of people in the central business district lost everything.”
Although sparks had singed the back of his property, all but destroying his chicken coop, the biggest loss for Kendrick was a drop in sales while his business customers struggled to reestablish themselves.
Reaching for the rag he had draped over his shoulder, Kendrick wiped away the suds of his scrub water. He lifted what was left of his hunk of meat off the hook and cut Jeb a steak. After weighing it and then using his hand scale to weigh out the gold Jeb gave him, he rescrubbed the spot on his counter.
Jeb picked up the conversation from where he left off. “As for me, the fire proved to be a boon. With the only surviving building in the business section being the one made of brick, now nearly everyone wants to rebuild using brick. I’ve got a crew I’ve been training, and we’re cementing together walls as fast as the brickyard on Shaw’s Flat Road can make bricks.”
His counter wiped clean, Kendrick moved to the end and leaned his forearm on the wood surface. “Glad to hear it, Jeb, especially since it looks like they’re paying in gold instead of expecting credit. That why you stopped by—to share your success?”
Jeb turned away and shook his head. “No. I just thought, if you’re pulling up stakes and moving down the hill, I’d see if you plan to sell this place. I’d be interested in buying.”
Kendrick stood straight. “Truth is, and I’m not sure I want this to get around, but the money for Madeline’s bedroom came through. The county clerk there in Sonora had me come in to discuss the details.” He shook his head. “I don’t know if Madeline’s mother thought I would be adding a bedroom onto a palace or not, but the amount was enough to buy several acres of pasture with a two-story, four-bedroom house, and outbuildings. Madeline’s room alone is as big as this room and the kitchen put together.”
“You giving up butchering?”
“No. There’s a nice building I’ll move closer to the main road. I’ll sell meat from there, plus make deliveries to Knight’s Ferry and Oakdale like I’ve been doing in Columbia. I’ll have room to grow some of my own beef and hogs, so I don’t have to be totally dependent upon others. I’ll probably focus more on smoked meats and sausages, things I can sell as far away as up here in gold country.”
“Marriage is going good, is it, even with the stepsons?”
“Yep, they’re good boys. Will started out feeling uns
ure of himself, but I think it was because of all the turmoil in their lives. He’s doing well now.” Kendrick’s face split into a wide grin. “As for Lydia, she’s happy as can be at the prospect of giving little Madeline a brother or sister soon. The baby will probably share her room, especially if it’s a sister.”
“She’s in the family way, is she?”
“Yep. Still feeling a little puny, but she says it should pass in the next month or so.”
Jeb stared off to the side as if contemplating a serious matter.
“You know, after seeing you with that baby, and then getting married and taking on a ready-made family, it got me to thinking. I realized what I’ve been missing—what I threw away.”
Unsure how to respond, Kendrick nodded. “I thought I was happy as a single man. It wasn’t until I gained a family that I found out how much I’d been missing.”
Jeb sucked in a deep breath and turned to Kendrick. “I did it, Rick. I wrote to my wife and asked her to consider coming out here to join me. I confessed everything—you know, that even though I never found another woman I saw regular, I wasn’t always faithful. I mean, I figured we were through, and she would wait her seven years and file for divorce based on desertion.” Jeb barked a laugh. “Well, if she’s still of a mind to file, thanks to my letter, she can add adultery to the charges against me.” He heaved a sigh. “Anyway, I told her how much I love her. Told her I miss her and my children, and if she thought she could forgive me and was willing to move to California, we could try again. If she says yes, I’ll buy the tickets and send them to her.”
“That’s great, Jeb. I hope it works out for you.”
“If she agrees to it, I need a place for her when she gets here. I was thinking this house would do well. It’s not in the main business district, but close enough I could keep my office in a corner up front. I’d change most of your shop into a nice parlor for her. As for the back, I’ll redo that in brick—two stories with bedrooms on top for the children so we’ll have our privacy downstairs. Probably change everything over to brick, as money allows.” He turned to Kendrick. “You think maybe we can work a deal?”
