by Indiana Wake
“I think I’ll stop at one.”
“I don’t know.” Gareth kissed her head. “Depends on how many your body wants.”
“If you want more, you carry them for nine months,” Mary grumbled. She looked up at her husband. “By the way, is Steven all right? I bumped into him earlier in the courtyard and he looked rather shaken.”
“I don’t know. He’s locked himself in his room. He didn’t come to dinner, either.”
That was unlike Steven. He was always the first one at the dinner table. His appetite was very big. That was very telling.
Mary sat up.
“Why would he do that?”
“I think the foundations his beliefs are on have been shaken.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I think he’s in love.”
Mary wasn’t surprised by that. And she knew who with.
“With Andrea?”
“You saw it, too, did you?”
Mary shrugged.
“How could I not? It wasn’t difficult to miss, especially since Andrea keeps coming over here more than she used to. I had a feeling it was because of Steven. And he does go over to the boarding house all the time, what else could he be going for?”
“He’s been seeing her every day in the last two weeks. Not taking her out, just going to see her.” Gareth shrugged one shoulder. “I think something must have happened today.”
“Maybe he’s finally realized that he’s in love with her.”
“I don’t see how that would spook him.”
Mary slapped her husband’s arm.
“Come on, Gareth, Steven was married to Maisie for a good amount of time. They loved each other. He probably thinks it’s wrong to want another woman when he’s still mourning his wife.”
“But Maisie’s been dead for years now. And she wouldn’t want Steven to mooch around after her. That wouldn’t be her final wish.”
“But the dead’s final wishes never get listened to, do they?” Mary pointed out.
“From my experience, not really.” Gareth’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve got a plan going on in that pretty head of yours, haven’t you?”
“Me?” Mary tried to act innocent. “What makes you say that?”
“I know that look on your face. You’re planning something and it’s big.” Gareth tickled Mary under the chin, making her squeal and slap his hand away. “Are you going to tell me or keep it to yourself?”
“Are you going to keep tickling me if I don’t tell you?”
“Yep.”
Mary rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand.
“Well, maybe I’ll keep it to myself for now. I don’t respond to tickling.”
“Are you sure about that?” Gareth chuckled. He half-heartedly tried to tug his hand out of Mary’s grip. “At least no one can blame me if this goes wrong.”
Mary laughed, and leaned in to kiss him.
“I’ll carry the can this time.”
Chapter Eight
For the next week, Steven kept himself to the mission. He didn’t want to leave in case he bumped into Andrea. For he knew that if he did that then things would get even more awkward. Steven wasn’t about to go through that, seeing the sadness in Andrea’s eyes. It would be too much to resist.
He shouldn’t have kissed her. But at the time he couldn’t stop himself. It was far too tempting. And Andrea had appeared to be more than willing for him to carry on. However, Steven had immediately felt the guilt creeping in. What about Maisie? His wife’s memory was still there, faintly, but it was around. Steven felt like he was doing the wrong thing and betraying her memory.
That and rolling about in windblown sheets was not how Andrea was meant to be treated. She deserved to be treated better, by someone else. Definitely not by him.
Steven kept telling himself that as he kept himself busy in the mission station. That someone was more deserving of Andrea than him, a brooding widower. But he knew that was not true. Every time he was around her, Steven felt better. He found himself smiling, enjoying her company. Andrea was a down-to-earth, sensible girl but she had a fun side, a sweet side that Steven adored.
But he didn’t look further into it all. Not until the day he took the plunge and kissed her. Andrea had been caught off-guard, but she had reached for him. And she had looked lovely lying there, tangled in the sheet with her eyes sparkling from the laughter.
He was in love with her. And that felt like a bad thing. Maisie wasn’t around anymore, she had been dead for years, but Steven still believed he had a responsibility to her memory.
It was ridiculous, he knew that. The problem was, he couldn’t stop himself. He had to stay distant from Andrea or he was going to end up with his feelings turned upside-down. How could he put Andrea through that? How could he expect her to be with a man who still had feelings for his wife?
And what would his in-laws think? They loved him as he had been married to their daughter. What would they think if he suddenly went off and married someone else? They wouldn’t be happy.
Steven didn’t know what to do. Maybe coming to San Francisco hadn’t been the best idea. He should have stayed back on the East Coast. Then this mess wouldn’t have occurred.
He was still troubled as to what to do when Gareth shoved a bowl of strawberries into his hands and told him Mary wanted some. He was not about to deprive a pregnant woman of a foodstuff she had been wanting almost every hour of the day, so Steven headed up to Mary and Gareth’s room. Mary was dressed and sitting on the bed, above the sheets. She had the window open just behind her and a gentle breeze was coming through, brushing through her blonde hair as she scribbled on a notepad. She looked up and smiled at Steven as he entered.
“Hey, Steven.”
“Hey.” Steven held up the bowl. “I brought you those strawberries you wanted.”
“Oh, thank you!” Mary put the notepad aside and beckoned him over with both hands. “You are a saint.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Steven sat on a chair next to the bed and placed the bowl in Mary’s lap. “But I do my best.”
“I know you do.” Mary gave him a mischievous grin as she popped a half-cut piece of strawberry into her mouth. “And I would call you a saint.”
She was up to something. Steven hadn’t known Mary long, but he could tell when she was plotting. There was a glint in her eye and she was a lot bouncier than normal. Gareth had warned Steven when Mary was like that to avoid her as he could be part of the plot without realizing it.
Steven knew he should have left. But he was curious. And he wanted to see what his brother-in-law’s wife was up to.
“What are you up to, Mary?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You’ve got that look in your eye. Gareth says it perks up when you’re planning something big.”
“I’m just sorting out my matchmaking business,” Mary said around a mouthful of fruit. She swallowed her food and continued. “I’ve had a few more replies. It seems to have taken a lot more interest than I anticipated. With Amy, Andrea and the others sending out letters of their own to their wider circle of friends, people are beginning to like the idea of coming out here.”
“That’s good.” Steven nodded toward the open window. They could hear the sounds of the street from there as people went on their way to work and various errands. “It’ll stop some of these men dragging their knuckles along the ground.”
“They’re not that bad here!”
“Have you seen some of them?”
Mary laughed.
“Fair point. You never know.” She winked at him. “Maybe we could find someone for you.”
That’s what she was up to. Finding a match for him. Almost immediately, Steven began shaking his head.
“I don’t know about that, Mary.”
“Why not? Have you found someone else?”
“I’m still grieving.”
Mary sighed.
“No disrespect to you or your late wife’s memory, but
she’s been dead a long time.”
Steven fixed her with a hard stare.
“Anyone can grieve as long as they want.”
Mary was silent for a moment. Then she went back to her strawberries, very swiftly switching topics.
“Oh, that reminds me. You’ll be very pleased with me on this.”
“Depends on what you’ve done.”
“I’ve finally got the most stubborn girl of the lot successfully matched up.”
Steven grunted.
“Poor girl. Which one’s the unlucky one?”
“Andrea.”
Steven was sure if he had been standing up, he would have fallen over.
“Andrea? You’ve managed to match her up?”
“Yes.” Mary huffed. “That girl. She’s lovely but she’s the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met, even more so than Amy. And that’s saying something.”
“She’s actually…” Steven couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Andrea had not said a word about this. “When did this happen?”
“Very recently. I’m surprised you didn’t know about it.” Mary arched an eyebrow. “She never said anything?”
“No.”
“Well, Andrea was desperate to get married and someone in the next town over was impressed by her in their letters. Andrea’s made a choice to be his wife by the end of the month.” Mary sat back with a satisfied smile. “She’s leaving in the next few days.”
Steven felt like he had been punched in the gut. Andrea was matched up to someone else. She had made no mention of marriage after their first couple of meetings. Steven had been led to believe that she didn’t want to marry anymore. What was going on? Why had he been left out of it? Weren’t the two of them friends?
“She’s… she’s really leaving?”
“Yes.” Mary chomped on another strawberry. “I think she believes there’s nothing for her here. Her cousin’s married now, and Andrea doesn’t think any of the men here are suitable. Well, not the ones I’ve found, anyway.” She giggled. “I never knew you could turn down a man because he ate as loudly as a cow.”
Steven barely heard the last bit. All he could think about was Andrea leaving San Francisco. She couldn’t. He couldn’t let her go anywhere.
Steven rose shakily to his feet.
“Excuse me a moment, Mary,” he mumbled.
Then he was out of the door, practically breaking into a run as he turned into the hallway.
Chapter Nine
“You have a visitor, Andrea.” Mrs. Buxley put her head around the door of the drawing room. “And he’s very eager to see you.”
It had to be Steven. Andrea hadn’t trusted that Mary would be able to do it, but he was here. She put aside her book and stood.
“Let him in, Mrs. Buxley.”
“I don’t think I can keep him out, honey.” Mrs. Buxley stepped aside and headed into the hall. “I’ll leave you to it, Mr. Baltrusch.”
Andrea could feel her heart in her mouth. It had been heart-breaking to see Steven walking – running – away from her like a bat out of hell. She didn’t think watching a man actively run away from her would feel so awful. She had wanted to run after him, but it was clear Steven didn’t want to be stopped.
So, she had let him go. And she waited. For two days, Andrea didn’t see Steven. He didn’t even leave the mission. On the third day, Andrea had gone to the mission to see him. But Steven refused to see her. That had resulted in Andrea breaking down.
She was supposed to be strong, not a weeping mess in front of everyone. That wasn’t her at all. And yet Steven had managed to do that to her with a simple kiss.
It wasn’t as simple as that, either. Steven had taken something from her. Something very important. And Andrea wasn’t sure if she would be able to get it back.
That was when Mary had called her in and she had explained that she was in love. Mary had told her she understood and to leave it to her.
All she could hope was that Mary had managed to work some of her magic to get Steven to come back. Andrea didn’t think she could cope with having the man she had inadvertently fallen in love with actively avoiding her.
The door burst open as it closed after Mrs. Buxley, and Steven strode in. He was walking with a purpose, his dark eyes blazing. Andrea had never seen him look like that and it caused her to step back.
“Steven? What…”
She barely got any more out before Steven grabbed her and pulled her, almost too roughly, toward him. Andrea fell against his chest and his mouth slammed onto hers. It wasn’t a sweet, gentle kiss like it had been a week earlier. This one was fierce, passionate, and fiery. And Andrea found herself grabbing at his shirt, holding him close as she kissed him back.
This wasn’t how she expected things to go, but she would take it. And it felt incredible. Steven held her close and deepened the kiss, almost as if he was refusing to let her go. When he did finally raise his head and break the kiss, Andrea was almost out of breath. She felt lightheaded and had to lean against him as her legs threatened to give way.
“What was… what was that for?”
“That was basically my way of begging.”
“Begging?” Andrea stared at him. “Begging for what?”
“What do you think?” Steven cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again. “I’m begging for you to stay, here in San Francisco.”
He wanted her to stay. Andrea felt like she hadn’t heard him correctly. Then Steven kissed her hard for a third time, leaning his forehead against hers as he finished.
“Please, Andrea. Stay here. Don’t go and marry someone else.”
She had to keep the act up. Andrea gently shrugged him away from her and backed out of reach.
“What is there for me here? My matches have been failures. I need a husband and there isn’t anyone here who finds me worthy.”
“That’s a lie!” Steven cried. He caught himself and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “I find you worthy, Andrea.”
Did he? Andrea snorted.
“Steven, you’re still mourning your wife. And you’ve mentioned you don’t want to marry again.”
“Well, I lied.” Steven opened his eyes and looked pained. He spread his hands. “I’m helpless here, Andrea. What I felt for you… it scared me. I lied so I didn’t get my heart taken away from me again. But it was stolen before I realized what had happened.”
“What are you saying, Steven?”
Steven gave a mirthless chuckle.
“Come on, Andrea, you’re more intelligent than that. I fell in love with you. Despite my intentions not to, I couldn’t bring myself to keep away. I had to seek you out. And I fell for you. The thought of you leaving to marry someone else kills me.” He approached her, taking her hands and kissing her palms. “Please, I don’t want you to go.”
This was it. Andrea had been dubious that this would happen. And yet Steven was here, confessing his feelings for her. She had to stop herself from throwing her arms around his neck, squaring her shoulders as she looked up at him.
“If you want me to stay, you know what you have to say. Simply saying that you love me isn’t going to get you far if you haven’t got anything to offer.”
Steven groaned.
“You drive a hard bargain.”
“I know.”
Taking a breath, Steven smiled and cupped her jaw in his hand.
“Andrea Malekou, will you marry me?”
“I will.”
Andrea didn’t need to think about it. Steven let out a heavy sigh, all the tension seeming to leave his shoulders. Then he gathered her in his arms and hugged her.
“Thank the Lord.” He kissed her, smiling as he drew back. “I hope I can be more deserving than that man you were going to marry.”
“If there was a man to marry.”
“What are you talking about?”
Andrea giggled at the confusion passing over Steven’s face.
“It was a plan concocted by Mary. She knew you were in lov
e with me, but that you weren’t going to say anything, so we decided to see if you would admit it when pushed.”
“Which I did.” Steven closed his eyes and shook his head. “That little witch. I should’ve guessed she was up to something involving me.”
“She’s a wily one, all right.”
“And a sneaky little madam.” Steven lowered his head, whispering before he kissed her. “Remind me to thank her later.”
Epilogue
Gareth sat beside his wife as his brother-in-law sat with Paul Stanier on the other side of the barn, both men deep in conversation. They were both smiling, and Steven was looking a lot more relaxed. Gareth saw him looking across with genuine love in his eyes towards his new wife. Andrea was resplendent in her dress, Amy standing beside her and looking more tearful.
Gareth looked at Mary, who was sipping on a glass of water. She wasn’t as pale as before and there was a healthy glow beginning to come out of her now. Even when she was struggling with her own health, Mary was still doing the work she had set out to do.
“I don’t know how you do it, honey,” he said warmly, covering her hand with his. “I never thought Steven would find someone else after my sister. He was devoted to Maisie.”
“Are you annoyed at me?”
“Not at all. Maisie wouldn’t have wanted him to be moping after her for the rest of his life.”
If anything, if she was able, Maisie would be coming back as a spirit to whack Steven over the head for his prolonged mourning. Gareth could see his little sister becoming a poltergeist just to wind up her former husband.
“I’m glad about that.” Mary reached for another strawberry, especially laid out for her by the bride and groom. “I can tell when things are awkward due to the tension. And there was clearly an instant attraction between them two, but neither was willing to admit it without being pushed.”
Gareth chuckled. He kissed her fingers.
“You do have a knack for this. I don’t know why I doubted this before.”
