by Stella Clark
“Is there nothing I can tell you to make you change your mind?” Helen said softly.
She shook her head. There was only one person who could change her mind about staying, and he wasn’t interested.
“I’ll miss you so much,” Helen said. “I’ve never had such a close friend as you since my Jack passed on.”
Clara turned and the two women clung to each other. She cried softly. Helen had been a friend to her more than anyone had ever been in her life. She stepped away from the embrace and reached for her bags.
“I’ll take those,” Helen said and wiped her face on the sleeves of her dress. “Don’t forget you have a home here forever. If you change your mind, come straight back without a single doubtful thought.”
“I will,” Clara said, knowing that her life in the West was over completely. In spite of things not working out with Nate, it had been the happiest time in her life. “Let me say goodbye to the children.”
They were outside in the backyard, enjoying the warm spring weather.
“You’re leaving, Miss Clara?” Mary asked, a stunned expression on her face.
Before she could answer, the crush of wagon wheels on the ground sounded.
Clara shifted her gaze from the children and went absolutely still as a wagon came into view with Nate on the driver’s seat. He frowned when he spotted Helen coming out of the house carrying her bags.
“Are you leaving?” he asked, his voice shocked.
Clara didn’t understand him. Had he thought she would spend the rest of her life waiting for him to make up his mind? “Yes, I’m going back home.”
He brought the wagon to a stop right in front of her. “You can’t go!”
Clara wanted to laugh and cry. “Why shouldn’t I go, Nate Linch? What reason do I have to stay?”
***
For a few seconds, Nate couldn’t speak. The pain in his chest expanded, rendering every part of him useless. His legs trembled uncontrollably and it was a good thing that he was seated.
“Come on, children, let’s go into the house,” Helen said and shepherded the protesting children inside.
That distraction gave Nate time to get himself under control. He searched for the right words to explain that feeling of joy that came to him when he was in her company. He slid from the wagon and stepped close to her.
She looked tired and defeated. “I don’t want to miss my train.”
An urge to touch her came over him. He cupped her cheeks and as he looked into her eyes, he thought he’d burst from the myriad feelings inside.
“I was a fool, Clara. You’re no less than any other woman, and you’re stronger than most.”
She shook his hands free. He felt as if he had been slapped. Had her feelings for him abated? “Clara?”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips. It didn’t sound like the Clara he knew and loved.
“You’ve now realized that I can be of use to you in the farm?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes.” It felt wrong. That was not what he had intended to say. Being so near her had muddled up his thoughts.
“Had you told me that a week ago, I’d have jumped with joy. But the past week has given me a lot of time to think. I deserve more than that. I may have a bad leg, and I may not be as pretty as other women, but that doesn’t make me less of a woman.”
“Of course it doesn’t!” he cried.
“I want a man who will love me. Someone who will not see my value in how much I can help him. Someone who will love me without reason.”
Tears filled his eyes. He had done a poor job of expressing his feelings.
“I’ve never been good with words, and I’m even less so in the presence of a beautiful woman. I know what I feel, Clara, and it has nothing to do with what you’re saying.”
A light lit up in her eyes. “Tell me then.”
“When I see you, no matter how bad things are, I feel happy. You’re like a beam of light, and when I leave that beam, I lose that joy that comes with being near you. I don’t want you to ever lift a finger, Clara; that’s not what I want you for. I’m here because I love you. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life in that beam of joy. You make me happy, Clara.”
“Oh, Nate!” she cried and jumped into his open arms. “I love you too.”
“Miss Clara?” a child’s voice called from the kitchen window. “Are you still going back home.”
Clara chuckled. “No, Mary, I’m staying. You can tell your mother that.”
“I’m right here,” Helen called in an emotional voice.
Clara buried her head back in Nate’s wide, strong chest.
The End
