by Vivi Holt
“Still.”
“It was lovely. I can’t get enough of the countryside around here. It’s so very beautiful. So wild and full of life.” Katie smiled at Mr. and Mrs. Hutchins as she spoke, trying to avoid making eye contact with Kristoff.
“I’m glad you think so,” he said, “I hope you liked my place just as well. The two properties are very similar.”
“Oh, I did. Even though it was dark, I could tell it was a beautiful home and property.” Katie glanced up at him, wondering why he would care what she thought of his home if he had decided against marrying her.
“Would you like to take a walk?” he asked suddenly, standing to his feet and holding out one hand toward Katie.
Katie took his hand, and stood as well, still holding the small, yellow bonnet. Her dress no longer fit as well as it once did, and had inched upwards causing it to gather and scrunch together above her waist. She tugged at it, trying in vain to pull it down to where it was intended to sit on her hips. She lay her work down on the sofa, and followed Kristoff from the room.
Mrs. Hutchins looked up from her knitting and beamed at the pair, as they walked hand-in-hand past her and out onto the front porch.
“Have a nice time,” she said.
Katie’s heart was racing and felt as though it might catapult itself into her throat at any moment. The touch of Kristoff’s large, warm hand in hers sent shivers pulsating through her body. The confident way he led her from the house made her feel giddy. What was he doing? Where was he taking her? He started down the porch steps, then turned and pulled her into his chest, kissing her abruptly on the mouth. Caught off guard, Katie whimpered. His hands crept around behind her back, drawing her closer still, and she melted into his embrace. Katie’s arms stole around his neck, and she stood on tip-toe to kiss him back. He groaned, then pulled away from her, his mouth in a lop-sided grin.
“So, you do like me,” he said with a chuckle.
“Hmmm.” Katie’s eyes were still half-closed, and she was reveling in the feel of his arms around her body. His hands felt their way around from her back to the sides of her waist, and she remembered her growing bump. She pushed him backwards, and he stumbled down the stairs.
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry, Kristoff. Are you all right?” Katie hurried down the steps to him.
“What on earth?” he stuttered. “What’s going on? Something is wrong – don’t say it’s not. We were kissing and you were enjoying it. Then all of a sudden your face turned ashen and you pushed me away. Something is bothering you, and I think it’s high time you tell me the truth Katie.” He regained his balance and stood looking at her with his hands on his hips.
“I just don’t think we should. You know. . . kiss like that. Not until we’re married.” Katie crossed her arms over her middle, and her gaze fell to the ground.
“And that’s all?”
“That’s all.”
She heard Kristoff sigh loudly. “I still feel as though you’re not telling me something, but if you say that’s all it is, then I’ll believe you. If we’re going to be married on Friday . . .”
Katie’s eyes flew to his face, and she stepped toward him with hope, “You still want to marry me?”
Kristoff looked confused. He frowned, and reached for Katie’s hands. Holding them in his own, he watched her face closely.
“Of course I do. Isn’t that what we planned? Nothing’s changed, has it?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure.”
“You mean, you aren’t sure about me?”
“No, nothing like that. Nothing’s changed for me, I just wasn’t sure you still wanted to get married. I overheard you talking to that woman, Belle Waters, in your store.”
“Oh, her. Belle’s had an interest in me for years. It’s nothing. It’s not reciprocal, I assure you. There has never been anything between us, and there never will be.”
Kristoff twisted his hands in hers so that their fingers were interlaced. Her breath caught. Perhaps she had misheard him. It seemed almost like a dream, or a nightmare, now that she was thinking of it. Had it really happened?
“I also heard you tell her you didn’t intend to go through with it. That I wasn’t what you had expected, and . . .”
“I didn’t say that. Oh wait, I did say that.”
Katie felt a weight crushing her chest. Was he trying to hurt her? Without warning, Kristoff laughed heartily. His face turned red, and he laughed until tears squeezed from his closed eyes and onto his cheeks. Katie watched him in utter confusion. He looked as though he might be going mad? She giggled a little along with him, since his laugh was so infectious she couldn’t help herself. Perhaps they were both mad. Finally Kristoff stopped laughing, and looked at her with affection in his eyes.
“What is it?” she asked him.
“I did say that.” He whispered it kindly. “Is that what you’ve been worrying about all this time? Well, you needn’t have worried. I was talking to my miller. He brought in a barrel of flour to replace the one you – well, he brought it anyway – and it was full of weevils. I told him I wasn’t going to pay him for it. That’s what I was talking about. It wasn’t about you and I wasn’t speaking to Belle. She had already left when he arrived.”
He smiled at her, reaching up to push a stray strand of hair from her face. Katie’s mouth dropped open. Could it be true? He wasn’t speaking of their wedding at all, but talking to his supplier about some bad flour. He wanted to marry her still. She didn’t have to go back to Boston to face the world alone. She drew a deep breath into her lungs and closed her eyes, drinking in the moment. She should tell him about the baby. He was happy, they were alone; it was the perfect time. Maybe he wouldn’t be upset. She couldn’t keep it from him any longer, not the way he was looking at her. Not the way she was feeling when she looked at him.
“Kristoff, there’s something…”
Just then, he leaned into kiss her again, and the passion between them ignited a fire deep inside Katie that surprised her. She forgot the words she was going to say, so carefully planned in quiet moments, and became lost in this moment, her head spinning and her heart pounding. The softness of his lips, his firm arms wrapped tightly around her. Nothing else mattered.
Chapter Sixteen
It was the day before the wedding, and Kristoff had arrived at the Hutchins’ farm in a weathered looking open wagon just before noon. Dressed in brown pants and a blue, button-down shirt with a tan Stetson perched on top of his blonde curls, he grinned down at Katie before leaping to the ground. Katie’s heart fluttered at the sight of him. After last night, she felt an intense and growing attraction to him. She was standing in the yard playing fetch with one of the Hutchins’ two black and white dogs, when he pulled in, and her heart raced when she realized who it was. She reached up to straighten her wind-blown hair, and ran her palms down her wrinkled and dusty skirts in an attempt to smooth them.
“I thought you might like to come and have a picnic with me. It’s such a beautiful day, and it would be a good chance for us to get to know each other a little better. What do you say?”
“That sounds lovely,” said Katie, thinking again how considerate Kristoff could be.
“Great! You don’t have to bring a thing, I’ve already packed everything we need. Just bring your sun bonnet, and we’ll go.”
Katie hurried inside to grab her bonnet. Mrs. Hutchins stood in the kitchen kneading bread dough on the counter. Her sleeves were rolled up high, and her arms were covered in white flour from her hands to her elbows. She smiled at Katie as she pushed down hard, deftly spinning and folding the dough.
“Kristoff’s here,” said Katie, reaching for the blue bonnet that was hanging by its long strings on a hook by the back door next to Mr. Hutchins work hat. “He wants to take me on a picnic.”
“What a good idea. The weather is perfect for it. You kids have fun.”
Katie nodded and ran back to Kristoff as she tied the bonnet onto her head, her boots clacking loudly on the timber boa
rds of the farmhouse floor. Kristoff and Katie rode silently in the wagon for a while, each quietly enjoying the company of the other and the warmth beating down from the sun high above them chasing away the last of the winter chill. A flock of ducks flew by overhead, their loud quacking echoing down over the couple. Katie tipped her head back to watch their steady formation flapping by.
“Happy?” asked Kristoff. His eyes crinkled around the edges as he smiled at Katie.
“Mmm.” Katie nodded. She gripped the edge of the wagon seat to steady herself, and turned her head to survey the contents of the wagon bed behind her. She could see a picnic rug, a basket – no doubt full of food and drink – an umbrella, and a large, soft cushion. It looked as though Kristoff had thought of everything. She wondered if he had always been this romantic.
“Do you ever miss Boston?” she asked.
“Yes, sometimes. I don’t really miss the city itself much. I miss my family. But of course, my parents are gone and I don’t have any siblings. So, mostly I miss my extended family – including Hannah, of course. I think it would’ve been different if I’d had immediate family living there. Perhaps I wouldn’t have left Boston, but since I didn’t really have anything tying me down – I thought I’d try my hand at being a Pioneer. It all sounded very adventurous and exciting at the time, and I was still so young.”
“Are you glad you did it?”
“Yes, I am. I wouldn’t change a thing. Although of course, there’s always a cost to every choice we make in life, one way or the other.”
“What was the cost – if you don’t mind my prying?”
“I don’t mind at all. The cost was loneliness. Until now, that is.” He grinned at her, and tipped his hat toward her deferentially.
“Oh.” Katie was taken aback by his bluntness, and his willingness to be so open and vulnerable with her. He hadn’t seemed embarrassed to share such deeply personal feelings with her. Katie looked at him with admiration. She wished she could be so open and trusting with him. She just didn’t know how to – she’d never been like that with anyone. Even with Nicholas, she’d always kept up something of a mask, to hide any pain or difficulty she might be experiencing, as though she were somehow protecting him from it. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to be. I’m not afraid of loneliness. I prefer not to be lonely though, of course, that’s why I’m so glad you’re here.”
Katie felt a warmth, that didn’t come from the sunny day, drifting to her very core. It had been a long time since she’d felt so safe, secure and accepted. She relished the feeling, and fell silent again as the sound of the bay’s hooves beat a steady rhythm amidst the twittering of birds, and the rustling of leaves in the late winter breeze.
The wagon trundled by several homesteads in a range of shapes and sizes, and in various states of repair. In one yard, children played hopscotch and several dogs roamed free, barking at the passersby while keeping their distance. The next property was still and abandoned looking, but Katie could see smoke winding from the chimney. She wondered who might live there. Soon after, they reached Kristoff’s long, winding driveway. He jumped from the wagon to open the gate, then returned to drive the horse through it, before leaping out to close it again behind them.
“I don’t remember us having to open the gate when we came over for the party the other night,” observed Katie.
“No, I moved the cattle to another field that night so I could prop the gate open.”
Katie realized there was a lot she would have to learn about living on a farm. She’d never even visited one before coming to Sacramento, and the whole concept of looking after animals and property were so foreign to her.
Chickens were scratching about in the yard as the wagon trundled in. They fluttered out of the way with loud squawks as the wagon passed. Katie wondered if she would be collecting their eggs every morning. She wasn’t even sure how to go about doing something like that. There was so much to consider on a farm. She felt a stab of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. She wondered if she would ever learn to be useful out here.
The wagon continued through the yard, and down the edge of the field. A set of wagon tracks stretched out before them, and their horse carried on trotting as though he knew where he was travelling. Kristoff let him have his head.
“Where are we going?” asked Katie.
“There’s a lovely hollow down by the lake. I thought we might sit there.”
Before long, a small lake appeared beyond a patch of conifers. There were fir trees lining the banks of the lake, and a variety of waterfowl dotted its surface and shoreline. Behind it rose the mighty peaks of the Sierra Nevada, and Katie gasped in delight at the beauty of the scene laid out before her.
“Do you like it?” asked Kristoff, grinning.
“It’s absolutely stunning. I’ve never seen anything so wild and beautiful.”
“This is the edge of my property. The lake divides my land from Mr. Smythe’s ranch, over yonder.”
“Do you ever see the Smythe’s?”
“Every now and then, they’re good folk. They shop in my store whenever they come to town.”
“What about the other neighbors, do you know any of them?”
He tipped his head to one side and narrowed his eyes, “Of course, all of them. Didn’t you know your neighbors in Boston?”
“Not many of them – Hannah, of course, but I knew her from school.”
Kristoff shook his head in disbelief.
“Sure is a different life in the city, I guess.”
“Yes it is.”
Kristoff stopped the wagon beside a small patch of green grass. A large boulder marked the edge of the lake next to the clearing, and beyond it rose the edge of the dark woods.
“How about here?” he asked.
“It’s perfect.”
Kristoff climbed from the wagon, and helped Katie to the ground. He unhitched the bay to graze in the clearing, and then set up the picnic rug, driving the umbrella into the ground behind it to give Katie shade to sit in. She settled on the soft cushion he’d brought with them, and watched with delight as he unpacked a never-ending stream of goodies from the picnic basket.
There were ham sandwiches, slices of cheese, freshly baked ginger snap cookies, and fruit slices. There was lemonade to drink, and pieces of decadent chocolate for dessert. Katie had never eaten such a lavish picnic before, and she ate until she could hold no more.
“That was delicious,” she said, rubbing her full stomach with satisfaction.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Kristoff lay on one side, his hand supporting his head, as he watched Katie finish her meal with obvious pleasure.
“Did you make all of this yourself?”
“I wish I could say yes. But Mrs. Dane comes to help me out at home a few days per week. You’ll get to meet her soon. She’s a magician in the kitchen, and is responsible for most of my meals, including the food we ate at our engagement party. Although of course I’m sure you’ll want to take charge of all of that after you settle in.”
Katie nodded. She was looking forward to being Mrs. Kristoff Petersen, and couldn’t wait to show him how well she could take care of him. He’d been taking such good care of her, she wanted to reciprocate, and soon she’d have the chance.
“Would you like to take a walk?” asked Kristoff, standing slowly and stretching his arms above his head with a yawn. “I might just go to sleep here if I don’t get moving soon.”
“That sounds nice. If I can walk after all of that food.” Katie chuckled as Kristoff helped pull her to her feet. He tugged a little too hard, and she landed softly against his chest, her face tipped to meet his. He kissed her lightly on the mouth, and stared lovingly into her eyes.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he whispered against her parted lips.
She smiled in response, and kissed him back, pulling his head toward hers with one hand. He groaned and kissed her harder, as he ran his fingers through her loose hair. Katie matched his passio
n, and their kiss grew deeper and more demanding. Kristoff lifted Katie from her feet, high above his head while their lips remained joined. Then he pulled away from her with a smile, and gently lowered her back to the ground. Taking her hand in his, he led her toward the woods.
“Where are you taking me, Mr. Petersen – do you intend to kill me and dump me in the woods?” asked Katie, laughing.
He turned to face her with a lowered brow and narrowed eyes. “How did you know that?” he asked in a tremulous voice.
Katie stopped, her eyes widening.
Kristoff laughed loudly, and swung her up into his arms, darting into the woods.
“You’re mine now, Mrs. Pearson,” he shouted. Katie squealed and the two of them giggled together as he ran.
When they were deep inside the woods, Kristoff set Katie’s feet back on the ground gently, and took her hand in his again. The two of them explored amongst the trees and down to the edge of the lake, finding a duck’s nest buried in leaves and twigs, with six large, white eggs in the center. Just as they bent to admire the nest, the mother duck came flying at them, quacking and flapping her wings.
Katie and Kristoff jumped out of the way, and dashed back toward the wagon laughing. Katie felt her foot slip on something. She stopped running to turn back and investigate. It looked to be some kind of nest.
“Is that a bee’s nest?” she asked. “It must have fallen from one of the nearby trees.”
Kristoff bent to peer at it. Just then, a swarm of bees emerged from the nest, surrounding them quickly.
“Yes it is, run!” shouted Kristoff.
He took Katie’s hand, and pulled her behind him, the bees buzzing after them. Katie felt a sting on her arm, and another on the back of her neck. She squealed and ran faster. Then her ankle twisted in a hole, and she fell to the ground with a thud, letting go of Kristoff’s hand. He turned and ran back to her.
“Are you all right?” he asked, swatting at bees.
“I think I twisted my ankle, it hurts,” sobbed Katie.
“Can you stand on it?”
