by Delia Parr
Frowning, he took the reins for a moment and handed them back to her. “Didn’t Mr. Breckenwith tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“He came by just about noon today. He told my son he’s not boarding this horse of yours here anymore.”
Emma felt the blood drain from her face and tightened her hold on the reins. “No, he didn’t. Did he . . . did he say why?”
“I couldn’t say. My son’s right out back in the corral. You want me to ask him?”
“No, I-I’ll stop on my way home and ask Mr. Breckenwith myself,” she replied, wondering why Zachary did not have the decency to wait until he spoke with her before changing the arrangements he had made for Mercy—unless he no longer felt responsible for the gift he had given her.
“I could keep her here for you, rub her down, and feed her while you’re gone.”
She handed him the reins again. “That’s a good idea. After I talk to Mr. Breckenwith, would I be able to board her with you if I need to?”
“Sure thing,” he said and led the horse around the livery to the corral.
Too piqued to care about her vow not to return to Zachary’s home until he had told her of his decision, she avoided Main Street and took a shortcut through several side streets to get to Coulter Lane. Every step she took only increased her determination to get an explanation for what he had done.
She paused for a moment on his front stoop and removed her riding gloves and her bonnet to freshen her hair a bit, pleased that only a few hairs had escaped the braid she had fashioned that morning. After moistening her lips, she knocked firmly on the door, waited no more than a heartbeat, and knocked again.
“The least you can do is be home so I can get an explanation,” she grumbled.
The door swung open, unleashing luscious smells of supper cooking in the kitchen, before the echo of her words had faded. Zachary had not answered the door, but she recognized the woman who did. “M-Mrs. Fellows?”
“Indeed it is. Come in, Widow Garrett. We’ve been expecting you.”
“You have?” Emma asked, dumbfounded.
“Let me take your things and hang them up,” she insisted, waiting for Emma to slip out of her cape, as well. “I’ll let Mr. Breckenwith know you’re here.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Zachary said as he stepped out of his office. “I heard a knock, but Mrs. Fellows answered before I could.”
Mrs. Fellows disappeared down the hallway without saying another word, leaving Emma alone with him.
She took a deep breath, surprised at how her heart started to beat a little faster the moment he looked at her. “I see you have a new housekeeper.”
“And a groundskeeper, as well,” he said. “The Fellows are good people.”
“Unlike a certain gentleman I know who gives a lady a gift, then doesn’t bother to tell her he’s decided to change the arrangements he made for her to keep that gift.”
His eyes started to twinkle. “I thought that might get your feathers ruffled enough to make you stop here on your way home. Apparently I succeeded.”
She dismissed wondering how he knew she had been riding in favor of why he was so intent on annoying her. “Indeed you did, although you might at least have the courtesy to tell me why it was so important to you to annoy me.”
“Truthfully? If I had asked you to come here instead of meeting with me at Hill House, I didn’t think you’d come for the simple reason you told me you wouldn’t.”
She tilted up her chin, reluctant to admit he was right. “Is there a reason why you felt it was so necessary for me to come here instead of your coming to see me at Hill House?”
“No,” he whispered. “Not a single reason. There are several, actually, but the most important reason is that I knew I didn’t have a prayer of convincing you to forgive me for being such a lout during this entire courtship of ours unless I showed you proof that I want you to be my wife. Because I love you, Emma. I love the woman of faith and character and substance you’ve been since we met, and I love you for the woman you’ll be as my helpmate and companion in whatever time we are given together as husband and wife. I want you, Emma. Only you.”
She blinked back tears, unable to think past the notion that he loved her for the woman she was.
“Here, let me show you. I’ve made a number of changes to the house that I think will convince you,” he said and gently guided her into his office.
She looked around, but had to blink hard several times until her blurred vision cleared. The last time she had taken a peek into this room, only days ago, stacks of magazines and journals had littered the entire room, leaving only a narrow aisle that led to his cluttered desk.
Now, only half the room remained cluttered; the other half, which held a lady’s desk positioned close to his, was as neat as her office at Hill House. No magazines. No journals. No law books were scattered about; rather, even the library of law books on the shelves alongside the lady’s desk stood neat and tall.
“You may not be able to practice law, per se, but there’s nothing in the law that prevents you from studying the law. You proved your ability to be discreet when you were operating the General Store, and you’ve always protected the privacy of your guests at Hill House. I’d be a very foolish man indeed if I didn’t trust you to be equally discreet about my clients or to take advantage of the help and the insight my very bright, very intelligent wife could give me,” he said.
“Truly?” Emma managed, afraid she might wake up to find this was all a dream. “You’d want me to study the law and work right here alongside you?” she asked, overwhelmed he would help her to fulfill a dream to choose law as her domain and use what she learned to help other women.
“I’d be honored to teach you and work with you and live with you here, if that’s what you really want to do,” he said, turning her toward him and gazing into her eyes. “If not, if you think you’d rather stay at Hill House, then that’s where we’ll live and my clients will simply have to get used to the idea. Or you can sell the place or keep it as an investment, and we can live here. It’s entirely up to you. All I know is that I can’t imagine living anywhere . . . not without you.”
Her heart swelled with joy that she sent directly to God as a prayer of gratitude. Cupping Zachary’s face with her hand, she let her tears run free. “Nor can I, but I would very much like to share this home with you as your wife,” she whispered as he caught her in his arms and held her close.
With her cheek pressed against his chest, she felt his heart beating as fast as her own but found it impossible to believe that he had been able to convert his office to accommodate her so quickly. Curious about the other changes he mentioned, she looked up at him and smiled. “Did you say there were other changes you wanted me to see?”
He kissed her. Hard. And then again. “Yes, madam. There are, although I’m a bit too distracted at the moment to be able to think of one.”
Grinning, she kissed him back. “Try.”
“As you wish,” he grumbled, although she sensed his grumbling was a bit feigned. He took her hand, led her out of his office, and closed the door behind them. “You’ve met Mrs. Fellows, of course. She and her husband are working here now, although I wasn’t able to promise them much beyond this week since I didn’t know how you’d react to my apology.”
She chuckled. “Actually, you might want to ask them to stay on permanently.”
“What about your mother-in-law?”
“She’s going to stay at Hill House with Warren and Anna,” she replied, quickly sharing all her family news with him. “I’m not so sure now that I should actually sell Hill House, but if I do, I know it will take time to find a buyer I could trust to keep Hill House as the very special place it’s been for everyone who has called it home. By then, hopefully both Warren and Mark will have found homes of their own.”
He nodded and led her through the parlor, which did not appear to have changed except for a fresh coat of paint on the walls. “One of
the outbuildings at the rear of the property is a cottage. The Fellows might want to move in there instead of going back and forth to the place they’ve been renting,” he suggested.
“Don’t forget about the goats,” she cautioned as they left the parlor and walked into the dining room, which remained as empty as it had been the first day she had seen it. As they neared the kitchen, the smell of roasted chicken grew even stronger.
He laughed. “I don’t imagine they’ll leave those critters behind, but there’s a strong fence around the garden behind the kitchen. Mr. Fellows already has that area weeded out and planted for his wife. And just in case you’re wondering, I’m not keeping our horses at the livery because Mr. Fellows will be tending to them in the stable behind the cottage.”
He paused in front of the kitchen door. “I have one surprise left for you. Care to guess what it is?”
She took a good whiff of air and grinned. “Supper.”
“Not exactly,” he teased and opened the door. “Supper with your family would be more correct. It’s the least I could do, since they’ve spent the better part of the past two days helping me get the house ready for you.”
Before his words could fully register, she saw her sons and their families, Wryn, Mother Garrett, and Reverend and Mrs. Glenn standing together in the kitchen. Each and every one of them, down to her youngest grandchild, was beaming with anticipation.
“Well?” Warren prompted.
Grinning, Zachary took Emma’s hand. “She said yes.”
“Y-you knew what he was doing? All of you? You knew?” Emma managed as she held on to his hand for dear life and scanned every face in the crowd.
“Not until yesterday when you rode off to Bounty,” Mother Garrett offered. “That’s when we decided to lend a hand and help get this house fixed up for you.”
“What we didn’t know was whether or not he could convince you that he would be making the worst mistake of his life by letting you go,” Benjamin told her, winking at his brothers.
Wryn clapped her hands. “Marry him. Right here and right now, Aunt Emma. We’re all here, and Mother Garrett and I helped Mrs. Fellows fix a supper that’s as fine a wedding supper as I could imagine.”
Mother Garrett nodded her approval. “She’s right, Emma. There’s no sense waiting any longer, is there?”
“All in favor say ‘aye,’ ” Wryn cried.
“Aye!” was the unified response of her sons and their wives and her grandchildren.
“Aye!” cried Mother Garrett and Reverend Glenn and Aunt Frances.
“Aye!” whispered Zachary as he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.
And marry him she did.
Right then and there, in front of all of her loved ones. Right then and there, in the presence of God, who had guided her to this moment. Right then and there, holding hands with the man who cherished her.
Widow Emma Hires Garrett, the proprietress of Hill House, quickly became Mrs. Zachary Breckenwith, wife, helpmate, and companion, but foremost always, His faithful, beloved servant.
The Beginning
EPILOGUE
EMMA’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION exceeded every one of her expectations.
As planned, she arrived at Hill House with her husband on her birthday at noon, only to find the wrought-iron gate and fencing in the front of the boardinghouse decorated with white and yellow ribbons. Although the hydrangeas planted in the front garden had yet to blossom, the tulips planted only last fall had bloomed for the occasion. More ribbons had been tied to the railing on the wraparound porch where her entire family, including Reverend Glenn and Aunt Frances, was waiting to welcome her.
After Liesel and Ditty cleared away the remnants of a scrumptious picnic dinner they had all shared on the grassy plateau and Emma opened her gifts, the games began and the air was filled with the sounds of laughter and joy that would echo in her heart forever. Three-legged races for Zachary and her three sons and the eldest grandchildren. Ring toss and hide-and-seek for Emma, her daughters-in-law, Wryn, and the younger ones, while Mother Garrett, Aunt Frances, and Reverend Glenn sat together in the gaily decorated gazebo and cheered them all on.
Finally, before the adults were too exhausted to help and the babies had to be put to bed for their afternoon naps, Emma gave each of her grandchildren a gift of her own. Before long, seven wondrous kites were flying high in the flawless blue sky over Hill House.
Blinking back tears of joy and gratitude for the blessings of this day, Emma stood just beyond the gazebo and watched in awe as the wind played with each of the kites floating above her loving family. As one kite would dip, another would be swept up in a swell of air or still another would strain to go still higher. Yet all were kept aloft by the existence of the wind, made visible only because of the movement of the kites above the earth.
Convinced such was the nature of God, with His existence made even more visible in this world through the people He had created to love Him and serve Him, Emma bowed her head. She prayed that He would continue to bless her children and grandchildren with a faith that would be strong enough to hold them steady through the joys and sorrows life held for each of them in the years ahead.
Mother Garrett stepped out of the gazebo, walked over to Emma, and put her arm around her waist. “That’s some special family we have here, isn’t it?”
Emma glanced at them all and smiled. “Yes, it is.”
“Did Wryn talk to you yet?”
“She did,” Emma said. “I have to admit I’m not surprised that she’s decided to accept Aunt Frances and Reverend Glenn’s offer to live with them. They seemed to have had an affinity for one another from the day Wryn met them,” she said, slipping her hand into her pocket to retrieve the slim packet she had stored there. Anxious to make her birthday even more memorable, she handed it to her mother-in-law. “This is for you.”
Staring at the packet, which Emma had hastily tied with one of the ribbons she’d snatched earlier from the gazebo, Mother Garrett tilted her head. “It’s your birthday, not mine.”
“It’s not a birthday present. It’s just a gift . . . a very long overdue gift. Open it.”
Mother Garrett shook her head as she untied the ribbon and stuffed it into her apron pocket. “I can’t see why you need to give me a gift for anything.”
“It’s not for just anything. It’s for everything you’ve done for me and for so many others,” Emma whispered, watching Mother Garrett as she unfolded and began to read the papers Zachary had drawn up for her.
“But this says . . . this says Hill House . . .”
“Hill House is yours now, or it will be as soon as you sign those papers and Zachary files them with the court,” Emma offered. “I’ve set up an account for you at the bank, too, so you don’t have to worry about replacing something if it breaks or if the roof starts to leak or if—”
“I can’t accept this,” Mother Garrett argued and handed the papers back to Emma.
Emma wrapped her hands around her mother-in-law’s and smiled. “Yes you can, because . . . because I can’t let just anyone take over Hill House. Besides, it’s high time you had a chance to set the rules around here, isn’t it?”
Mother Garrett’s eyes began to twinkle. “I would get to set the rules if I owned it instead of you, wouldn’t I?”
“Yes, you would.”
“And I’d get to decide who needs to work here, not that I have a mind to let Liesel or Ditty go. They’re good girls, and I wouldn’t trust anyone else to keep an eye out for Ditty, but I’ve been thinking we might need another pair of hands to help when guests are here since Anna has the girls to take care of, too.”
“You’d be the owner. You could hire anyone who suits you.”
Mother Garrett began to smile. “If I did own Hill House, Warren and Anna just might want to live here with me permanently now that I’m getting up in years and couldn’t possibly manage running the entire boardinghouse on my own.”
“I have a feeling they might,”
she replied, confident Mother Garrett would make sure the property would remain within the family when she left this world to reap her final reward.
“And Mark and Catherine wouldn’t have to worry about finding a place too quick, either, if they decide to move back here, too,” Mother Garrett suggested as her smile widened.
Emma chuckled. “For a woman who didn’t want to accept my gift, you certainly have come up with more than enough reasons to make you change your mind.”
Mother Garrett huffed. “There’s lots to consider. Not that I have to worry about Wryn anymore. She’s doing fine with Frances and Reverend Glenn, and I have a feeling she won’t be too disappointed if she ends up living there permanently. But I haven’t even thought about what you’d be doing with yourself if you didn’t have to worry about Hill House.”
“I’ll be busy enough,” Emma replied. Plans were already underway for her to start studying law with her husband. “There’s only one slight problem.”
Mother Garrett cocked her head.
Emma groaned. “Those three goats have already escaped from their pen twice. I don’t suppose I could talk you into taking them back here, could I?”
Mother laughed out loud. “Not if I live to be a hundred, but I’ll have a chat with Anson Kirk. I expect he’ll be by to see me pretty quick once he finds out I own Hill House now,” she said and stuffed the papers into her apron pocket. “I think I’ll wait until that husband of yours is finished helping little Grace with her kite before I sign the papers and give them back to him,” she said, wrapping her arms around Emma to hug her tight. “Thank you, Emma. You’re a love. Just a love.”
“And so are you,” Emma whispered, her heart full, her spirit humbled but content now that Hill House finally had the owner He had planned for this very special home all along.
