by Caryl McAdoo
Becky started unwrapping them. “What’s a cuhlopie?”
“Calliope, Rebecca. It’s an organ—a little like a piano—that’s run by steam.”
“Like this boat?”
“Yes, ma’am. Just like that.”
The girl unwrapped the two yards of lace and held it to her face. “Do you know how you’re going to make your dress, Mama? I want puffy sleeves on mine and a high collar with lace under my chin. Straight down to the floor and more lace on the bottom.”
“Well, sounds like you’ve done a powerful lot of thinking on this.” Sue smiled in front of the full-length mirror and held several turns of material off the bolt in front of her. “I haven’t really decided.”
“You’re going to be a beautiful bride, Mama.”
The days on the steamboat passed in a flurry of fabric and lace and crystal baubles. Every time her father and his blessing came to mind, Sue refused to dwell on it or even consider he might refuse. Henry had promised, and God was on the throne and in control. She had great confidence in His love for her and trusted that He had sent Henry into her life.
By the end of their way up the Mississippi, two new, beautiful dresses hung sparkling and finished in the water closet, hidden from male eyes. Sue and Becky flanked Henry on the deck as the grand ship pulled into the harbor at Memphis. Two bellmen and Levi waited beside the trunks.
Sue could hardly believe how the city had grown. New buildings rose toward the sky in every direction. The ship’s captain rang the bell from his gingerbread tower announcing its arrival, and the walkway was lowered to the dock. People clamored to get off and greet families and businessmen. In no hurry, Sue waited for the crowd to disperse somewhat, then strolled to the walkway holding Becky’s hand.
Suddenly, a dark cloud settled over her heart. Would her joy be turned to mourning? How could she face another day if her father said no?
Certain she could find her childhood home, Sue wondered for the thousandth time if her daddy still lived there. Her stomach rolled, and her breath came hard. Ten years—a full decade—had passed, and today—this day—she might face him again.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
SUE STEPPED UP TO THE front door holding Henry’s hand. Becky stood at her side. A rock the size of Gibraltar rolled in her stomach. Her breath caught, and her knees threatened failure. She made a fist, lifted it to the door, and knocked with great trepidation. Her heart pounded. Seconds seemed like hours. Her mouth went dry, and dizziness jeopardized her consciousness.
She turned to Henry. “What if he doesn’t live here anymore?”
“Then we’ll find him.” He squeezed her hand softly.
At last, she heard footsteps making their way to the door on the hardwood floor inside. It opened, and a kind-looking lady peered out. “Good morning. May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m—” Sue’s voice cracked. She stopped and cleared her throat. Had her father remarried? She smiled at the woman and began again. “My name is Susannah Abbott Baylor, and I’m trying—”
The lady’s face lit up like the full moon over the prairie. Her eyes widened. “You’re Miss Susannah?” She opened the door wider and hollered back inside. “Judge! Judge! It’s Miss Susannah! She’s come home!” She wrapped her arm around Sue’s shoulder and guided her inside. “I keep house for your father, dear.”
Becky took Sue’s hand, and Henry fell back.
“Hurry, Judge! It’s Susannah! Your Susannah! She’s here!”
A step tap step tap sounded in rapid succession. Her daddy appeared in the doorway of his study with a cane in his hand. Tears filled her eyes. He looked so much older. His hair had thinned and grayed, and his once broad shoulders seemed frail compared to what she remembered. She froze.
The lady stepped back and spoke softly, with great compassion in her voice. “See, Judge? I told you. God has answered our prayers. She’s come home.”
Her father dropped his cane and ran to her, embraced her, and Sue hugged him back. “Daddy, oh, Daddy, it’s been so long! I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?” She broke into sobs and held him tighter.
He squeezed, then held her back. “Shhh. I want to look at your face, Susannah. My dear Susannah, how my heart has yearned to see you again. I didn’t know if you were even alive. But now you’re home. Of course you are forgiven, Daughter.” He turned to the woman and held up his hand. “Bring a robe and sandals, kill the fatted calf! My daughter was dead, and now she lives!” He filled his lungs, then exhaled slowly. “It’s time to celebrate.”
The lady hurried in one direction, then turned and went in another. “Oh, my goodness! Which way am I going? I’ll prepare a grand homecoming dinner, sir.” She turned to Susannah. “Welcome home, miss! Welcome home.”
Her daddy looked past her for the first time and glared at Henry. “And who has brought you home to me, Susannah? This man isn’t Andrew, unless I’ve gone senile.”
“Daddy, I want you to meet Patrick Henry Buckmeyer. He wants to marry me.” She turned to her daughter. “And this. This is your granddaughter, Rebecca Ruth. We call her Becky.”
Becky stepped up. “So proud to make your acquaintance, Grandfather!” She giggled. “I’m so glad Daddy brought us to see you!” She hugged him tight, then turned and looked up at Sue. “And, Mama, you are the only one who calls me Becky. Daddy always calls me Rebecca.”
The declaration took Sue by surprise. “Well, which do you prefer, sweetheart?”
“I like Rebecca.” She smiled, which softened her tone. “It is the name you gave me.”
Her father looked sternly at Sue. “Well, well.” He patted the little girl’s back. “So Patrick here is her father, and he finally wants to marry you?”
Henry stepped forward with his hand extended. “I go by Henry, sir. Rebecca’s father, Andrew, passed before she was born, but she’s been praying for a daddy and adopted me.” He smiled and extended his hand.
The judge shook it, but not heartily. “Well, well.” He looked to Sue again. “Sounds to me like there’s a long story I need to hear. Come into the study and catch me up.”
Rebecca held her grandfather’s hand, and he led her to his study. Henry brought up the rear. Sue wished Levi had come, but understood why he’d elected to stay at the hotel since the man was no kin of his.
“I sent three separate letters, Daddy, but never heard back. I didn’t know—I guess you never—”
“Letters?” He stopped and turned to face her. “I never got any letters, Susannah. Not one word in ten years from you—my only daughter.”
Her eyes filled with tears, but she did her best not to let them fall. “Oh, Daddy, I’m so sorry. There’s no mail service out there; I sent them with travelers. One, a man name of Winston, said he was an old friend of yours. I’d hoped he’d be faithful.”
He closed his eyes, obviously thinking. “Cheney Winston, had to be. Heard he met an ill fate on the Mississippi. Steamboat fire.” He threw his free hand in the air. “It is good to know you wrote, and now you’re here. All is well with my soul.” He looked down at his granddaughter. “How about you, young lady? All well with you?”
“Yes, sir, Grandfather.”
“Then let’s hear what your mother has to say for herself. What do you say?”
“I say let’s!”
Sue started the story before she even took a seat. “Anyway, after Andrew and I married, we went to the Sulphur Fork Prairie in the Texas territory, where his brother worked a steam-powered sawmill. He had invited Andy to be his partner in a logging business.”
She shared much of the past decade, with Becky interjecting and embellishing Sue’s version. “In Jefferson, Henry bought our neighbors’ cotton and a flatboat that we took to New Orleans.” Sue glanced over at her fiancé. “From there, he brought us here on a steamboat. I’ve missed you so much, Daddy. I’m sorry for leaving the way I did. All these years, I’ve wanted to see you again, face you, and ask your forgiveness.”
&nb
sp; He nodded deeply one time. “You’ve made my heart glad once again, Susannah. I have suffered over your impetuousness and absence these ten years gone by, but, yes, Daughter, I certainly do forgive you and love you every bit as much as I ever have.”
Henry stood. “Sir, Judge Abbott, I love your daughter, too. More than life. I brought her here to Memphis for the opportunity of asking you, sir, for her hand in marriage.”
A sudden rush of love overwhelmed Sue, and her eyes filled with humble tears that God had made her to be this man’s wife.
Her father looked taken aback. Shocking the great Judge Abbott had never been an easy thing to do. He stood, with a slight gesture toward Henry. “Ladies, if you’ll grant us leave of your most pleasurable company; we men have matters to discuss.”
Sue glanced at Henry, a bit shaken herself. He gave her a little nod as though saying, “I’m fine,” but she didn’t want to leave him in there alone. Why would her daddy ask such a thing? Nonetheless, she rose and took Rebecca’s hand. “You’ll excuse us then, Daddy. Henry.”
* * *
THE JUDGE SAT BEHIND HIS desk and gestured toward the wingback chair that rested in front of it where Sue had been sitting before. “Please sit.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“If I heard right, you’ve known my daughter for a month now?”
Henry smiled. “Yes, sir. But though we weren’t formally introduced before, I’ve been smitten with Susannah for four years.”
“So, you used her misfortune to worm your way into her life?”
“No, not at all, sir; she came to me asking for help. Actually, it quite surprised me, but I do understand that you might see it that way. I do not.”
“What’s your trade, son?”
“I don’t have just one exactly.”
“Jack-of-all-trades, master of none?”
Henry looked past the man to the bookcase that covered the wall behind his desk and then met his eyes again. “I wouldn’t say that, exactly. Although I do make a good living through trade. And I hunt.”
“Been married before?”
“No, sir.”
“Engaged?”
“No, sir, I never asked a woman to wed, not until now.”
“Fathered any children?”
Henry shook his head; this was one tough old man. “No, sir. None.”
“Well, to your credit, you are here asking for my blessing. Why’d it take you so long if you’ve been smitten with her for four years now?”
“I wanted to have more to offer. I’ve been working hard, saving, and, of course, the vow.”
“The what?”
Henry explained Sue’s promise to God, and her reasons for making it, then about the long line of suitors she’d rebuffed over the years. “I never should’ve waited so long to get to know her, but my mother took ill, and . . . plans change.” He grinned. “I knew one thing for sure, your daughter’s vow would not be broken, and so, here I am.”
The judge looked away, then nodded ever so slightly. He faced Henry again. “Your mother, is she better now?”
“No, sir. She went home to her reward.”
“And are you a believer, Mister Buckmeyer?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your father, is he alive?”
“Last I heard.”
The judge held his hand out. “You’ve seen my house; the one Susannah grew up in. I do not want to think of her out there living in that wild Texas territory in some drafty sod cabin. Of course, it’s only natural that I want what is best for my daughter and for her to be happy.” He stood and held his hands out, palms up, as though showing Henry the opulence of his estate. “Can you build my Susannah such a house as she grew up in?”
He lifted a finger that silenced Henry, then paced. “Excuse me for speculating, but it appears that you’re not of her station, Mister Buckmeyer. Even without my help, it seems that she’s done well for herself financially, and now, as I see it, you might wish to capitalize on her hard-won success. What do you say to that?”
Henry stood, raised his shirt enough to undo his money belt, then went to pulling the gold coins out. “This is what I sold my bois d’arc seeds for this year, less what I spent on the way here.” After he’d stacked the money on the judge’s desk, he retrieved the jewelry and jewels he’d acquired over the years and inherited, and laid those down as well. “My mother lived frugally, and I was her only heir. Some of these pieces I bought for her because she loved the sparkle, but I could hardly get her to wear any of it, though she did enjoy fingering them.” He smiled.
The judge looked at the pile of gold chains, rings, lockets, and sparkling pins. “Very impressive.”
“Sir, I want to give Sue and Rebecca the best of everything.”
“Commendable.”
“And you should know, even though she hired me to accompany her on the Jefferson Trace, I’ve not taken one cent from your daughter, sir.” He held his hands behind his back and nodded to the wealth. “And this doesn’t even include our cotton money. That’s in the safe back at the hotel.” He smiled. “Sir, I give you my word that I will build your daughter a home befitting the lady she is.”
The judge stared at him for many minutes.
Henry’s heart beat against his chest, but he didn’t say more.
The man walked over and flung his study’s door open. “Susannah!”
* * *
SHE HEARD HIS CALL from her room upstairs and immediately rose.
“Can I bring your dolly, Mama?”
“Of course, but hurry along.” Sue ran down the stairs, then slowed and caught her breath before rounding the corner. “Yes, Daddy?”
“Come in here, please.”
She walked into his study and sat down. A tall, fairly wide stack of gold coins sat on her father’s desk flanked by an assortment of jewels. None of that had been there when she’d left, and their cotton money she knew to be in the safe at the hotel. Had her father bought Henry off? Or tried to? Henry wouldn’t accept, would he?
The judge did seem in a better mood, and she certainly never expected that. Had the talk gone well? She glanced at Henry to discern any speck of an answer from his countenance. He stood beside her and only slightly grinned when she looked his way. Rebecca walked straight past to her grandfather and climbed onto his knee. He lifted her and sat her back a bit, smiling broadly.
She laid her face on his chest. “I can hear your heart beating.”
“Well, that’s a good thing. I see you have one of your mother’s dolls there. Did you know I bought that for her when she was about your age?”
“No, sir. I never imagined that she grew up in such a fine house with so many dolls.” Rebecca played with a brass button on his vest. “Are you rich, Granddaddy?”
Sue cleared her throat. “Excuse me. I appreciate that you two need to get to know one another, but I’m a bit anxious here, Daddy.” She stared at her father. “Won’t you please tell me what you had to say to my Henry?”
The judge raised one eyebrow and turned to Rebecca. “Her Henry?”
The girl smiled. “Actually, truth be known, sir, he was my Henry first. Did he tell you that he’s a friend of President Jackson?”
The judge looked at Henry with raised eyebrows, then stuck out his bottom lip. “No, he did not.”
“Well, he is. And did he tell you he was a hero at the Battle of New Orleans with Old Hickory himself?”
Her grandfather smiled now. “Didn’t mention that either.”
Sue cleared her throat again.
“Oh, Susannah, you were always too impatient. I’ve heard your mother tell you a hundred times that patience was a virtue.”
“Daddy!”
“I need to know something.” He leaned toward her. “Do you truly love this man, Daughter?”
She turned and looked into Henry’s face. “Yes, I do, Daddy, with all my heart and soul and mind. I know I said I loved Andrew all those years ago, and I did, but I also wanted to show you, prove that I was
grown. That love doesn’t even compare to the love I hold in my heart for this man. Daddy, I know that God made me to be his wife, and him to be my husband.”
Rebecca took her grandfather’s face in her hands. “And I love him, too, and the sweet Lord sent him to be my daddy. I want him to stay with us forever and ever, so please, Granddaddy, tell me and tell me now that you are going to give us your blessing!”
He burst out laughing. “You are so much like your mother when she was your age, young lady.” He looked to Susannah and studied her face, then to Henry, and, last, back to his granddaughter. He nodded. “All right then, yes. I will give my blessing on this union. But on one condition.”
Sue held her breath. “Condition? But, Daddy—”
“Wait, Susannah.” He held up his hand with his palm toward her. “My stipulation is that you’ll allow me the honor of marrying you while you’re here. You don’t have to leave right away, do you?”
Sue jumped up and hugged Henry’s neck, then ran around and hugged her daddy and Rebecca together. “Of course! Of course, you can marry us! I’d love that! How soon can you get to it?”
“My goodness, were you thinking to get married before supper, Susannah?”
She laughed and ran back around to Henry. “Could we?”
“Mama! We didn’t bring our dresses!”
She looked at her daughter. “I was only teasing, silly. Would tomorrow night be too soon?”
Her daddy laughed the way Sue remembered him laughing before her mother passed. “Tomorrow evening works for me. I’d like to book you and Henry a suite at the fanciest place I can find for your honeymoon weekend. Consider it a wedding gift.” He lifted Rebecca and sat her on his desk. It made Sue smile. He used to sit her up on that very same desk. “And that way, my granddaughter and I can have a little time as well. We’ll get to know one another better.”
Henry dropped to one knee, and the room stilled. He retrieved the special gold and emerald ring from his vest pocket—the one Rebecca had chosen at Titus’s Trading Post—then held it up toward her. “Susannah, now that your father has given his blessing.”
