My Heart Belongs in Ruby City, Idaho

by Susanne Dietze

  She didn’t want to stop, didn’t want to breathe, but at length he pulled away, trailing his lips down her chin to the lacy collar at her throat. Then he slid his hands to her fingers and dropped to the rocks at their feet. “The ring’s already on your hand.”

  “I was going to give it back to you.”

  “You aren’t still planning on that, are you?” He kissed the finger, just shy of the ring.

  “Not anymore.” She laughed.

  “We may be married, but I never asked proper-like. I love you, and I’m never going to stop trying to make you the happiest woman in Idaho. Will you marry me? Again, for real this time?”

  She tugged him up to kiss him again. “Yes,” she said between peppered kisses. “Yes.”

  Two weeks later

  Mrs. Horner—Jolene—and Cornelia stepped back to admire their handiwork. “Go on,” Jolene urged. “Take a look.”

  Rebecca obeyed, stepping up to the barley twist washstand in her room at the boardinghouse to peer at the small looking glass atop it. She couldn’t see much beyond her face, but she didn’t need to see how she looked in the creamy bridal gown Cornelia had stayed up late to help her stitch. She’d seen that, in the Cooks’ full-length mirror. She’d even seen the veil, when Mrs. Horner wore it last week when she married Uncle Giff down in the parlor.

  But she’d never seen it atop her pale hair, framing her cheeks. Or the way it made her eyes sparkle at her reflection.

  Maybe it was love that did that.

  “It’s perfect, Jolene.” From Mrs. Horner to Jolene Fordham, Rebecca’s stepmother-in-law. She spun and embraced her. “Thank you.”

  “We have to keep these things in the family.” Her chest swelled with joy.

  Resplendent in her cobalt blue gown, maid of honor Cornelia glanced around the room. “All ready? Is your bag at the livery?”

  “Johnny took it first thing.” Since Giff moved into the boardinghouse after their wedding, Tad settled into the livery, where Rebecca would join him. Tad promised to start on the homestead in the valley soon, though, so they’d be snug by the first snowfall.

  “Don’t forget your flowers.” Cornelia pointed.

  Rebecca scooped up the bouquet of wildflowers lying on her bed, a smattering of fragrant white and yellow posies tied with a green ribbon, similar to her first wedding bouquet.

  Johnny waited at the foot of the stairs, handsome in a new broadcloth suit.

  “Both Ma and Pa would’ve been busting their buttons, they’d be so proud. Raymond, too.”

  Tears stung her eyes, but she didn’t mind thinking of her loved ones. Today, their memory brought joy. “I’m glad you’re here, big brother.”

  “And I’m not going anywhere, either.” He escorted her, Jolene, and Cornelia into the Fordham livery’s coach, which had been festooned with flowers and white streamers and harnessed to Madge. He drove them from the house, along the unusually empty street toward the creek. “I’m the first hire of Ruby Ranch. Tad said I could be the one to tell you.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful.” Rebecca squeezed his arm.

  Johnny pulled the carriage to a stop at the bend before they reached the creek. “Eloise’s brother got a job at Ruby Ranch, too. Turns out Donald knows a fair bit about cattle. Tad was glad to bring him on.”

  “And I’m sure you’re glad you’ll see more of Eloise,” Rebecca whispered in his ear when he assisted her from the carriage.

  Johnny’s lips twitched as he helped Jolene and Cornelia down.

  Jolene stepped ahead. “I’ll make sure they’re ready for you, Rebecca. Pause at the tree until I give you the signal.”

  Just as they’d practiced. Rebecca nodded, but she didn’t care about making an entrance. She wanted to rush to the creek where Tad would be waiting at the spot where he’d first picked wildflowers for her.

  “I should tell you one more thing so you don’t hear it from someone else.” Johnny’s gaze flickered back the direction they’d come. “The judge did some sentencing this morning. He took it easier on Dottie and took Ralph’s cooperation into consideration, but they won’t be going anywhere for a while. Bowe will serve out his sentence, too, but he told the judge that when he got out, he wanted to be the kind of man his mama and grandmammy would be proud of.”

  “I hope he will be.”

  Cornelia tapped her sleeve. “Jolene’s waving at us. Let’s go.”

  Johnny led them through the trees. Cornelia scurried ahead, bouquet in hand, for the procession. Then Rebecca turned the corner. Straight ahead, in front of the willows that lined the creek, stood Tad, shoulders stiff, a scab on his ear. Then he caught sight of her and his jaw gaped.

  To his side, best man Theodore smiled, as did the black-coated circuit preacher, a young man with bandy legs and a prayer book in his hands.

  She reached Tad and took his hands. “Nervous?”

  “Not anymore.” He kissed her left hand, currently bare of the opal ring. He’d had it sized so it would be a perfect fit today.

  “Dearly beloved,” the preacher began. This was the wedding she always wanted: a preacher, flowers, friends, and so much love she couldn’t stop smiling.

  “Do you, Rebecca Mary, take Thaddeus Percival, to be your husband….”

  She did. And Tad took her to be his wife, too.

  The kiss was far shorter than their first wedding’s kiss, but Rebecca received many more from what seemed like the whole town. Theodore and Cornelia, who congratulated them while holding hands. Giff and Jolene. Even Mr. Kaplan, the stagecoach driver, was there, along with most of the town—which explained why the streets had seemed deserted. Johnny and Eloise hugged her, and Eloise’s nieces Wilma and Pauline danced in the aisle.

  “Thanks for coming, Doc.” Tad shook Dr. Wilkie’s hand.

  “I’m not a doctor, remember? But I’d be happy to deliver your baby a year from now, if you find yourself in Silver City.”

  Tad choked.

  Longbeard stood off at a distance. Rebecca waved, but he didn’t wave back.

  “He came, sweetheart,” Tad whispered in her ear. “That says a lot.”

  Only one guest looked sour, or at least, he pretended to. Ulysses stuffed his hands in his pockets and pouted. “I guess I never stood a chance, did I?”

  It was impossible not to smile. “You know how brides carry tokens at their weddings, Ulysses? Look at this.” She reached into the tiny bag Cornelia had sewn to match Rebecca’s dress and pulled out the objects she’d tucked in this morning. “This handkerchief was my mother’s. This pin was Tad’s mother’s.”

  “And that’s my jasper!” His gold tooth flashed.

  “It reminds me God gave me friends, like you.” She hugged him, gasping for breath when he squeezed her too tight.

  “Do I get to kiss the bride?” He looked to Tad.

  “Absolutely.”

  He gave her a loud smack on the cheek.

  After the kisses and the feasting and the well-wishing, Tad pulled her behind the crowd. “Everyone’s kissed you dozens of times today except me.”

  “Only Ulysses did it a dozen times.”

  “Well, I’d sure like to catch up.”

  Her toes sizzled as Tad lowered his lips to hers.

  Their loved ones’ hooting and hollering drew them apart. Tad smiled down at her. “The cake’s been cut, we’ve hugged everyone, and we’re officially married. What do you say we go home?”

  The livery, the house in the valley—anywhere Tad was, wherever God led them. “I’m ready.”

  No mistake.

  Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she’s the award-winning author of a dozen new and upcoming historical romances who’s seen her work on the ECPA and Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller Lists for Inspirational Fiction. Married to a pastor and the mom of two, Susanne lives in California and enjoys fancy-schmancy tea parties, the beach, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. You
can visit her online at www.susannedietze.com and subscribe to her newsletters at http://eepurl.com/bieza5.