by Zoe Matthews
When the two brothers were alone, Alex looked at Luke squarely in the face. “I want to apologize.”
Luke looked surprised at his words. Obviously, he expected Alex to say something else.
“I shouldn’t have sent for Anna without you knowing,” Alex admitted. “I just would like to see you happy again. Sage deserves a father who is happy.”
“I don’t want to marry again,” Luke told him firmly, letting Alex know he meant what he said.
“I understand that now.” Alex pushed his hand through his hair. “We have another problem.”
“What is it now?” Luke asked as he turned to continue brushing the horse.
“I would like you to release Anna from her commitment to marry you.”
“Why? I never agreed to any marriage with her in the first place.”
Alex ran his hand through his hair again in frustration. “I know. But in her mind, she committed to come here to Montana as a mail order bride, to be your wife, and to be mother to Sage.”
Luke looked at Alex and then sighed in frustration like Alex had just done. He tossed the brush he was using on his horse onto the ground and stormed away. Alex almost called him back, but in the end decided to let him go.
He remembered how close he had been to Luke when they were kids. Luke and Paul always seemed to fight as brothers do, but Luke always looked out for his kid brother, for Alex. He had always looked up to him. Luke was almost eight years older than him. When Luke brought Pamela home to the ranch, he was so happy. Luke would joke around and laugh a lot. Then Sage came along and he was so proud of his little daughter. On the day she was born, he rode all over the ranch passing out cigars to all the hired hands. He seemed to have the perfect life.
Then something happened. Alex didn’t know what, but Luke stopped smiling so much. At the time Alex was still growing up, living his own life. He was not aware of what was going on between Luke and his wife. Then one day Pamela started to complain of sharp pains in the lower part of her stomach. At first, the brothers weren’t too worried, but as the day wore on, Luke finally sent Paul to town for a doctor. By the time Paul had returned, Pamela had died. The doctor thought that her appendix had ruptured when he heard of the symptoms, but he wasn’t sure. He was sorry. He needed to get back to town because someone else might need him.
Luke was never the same again. He was always calm around Sage, but he had become short with Alex and Paul, their hired hands, and just angry in general.
Alex would never be able to say he regretted Anna being here, but he did regret how he handled things. He picked up the brush and continued the care of Luke’s horse. Then he heard movement behind him. He turned and saw Luke with Anna behind him. It looked like Luke had made Anna walk quickly from the house because she was breathing as if she had been running.
Luke looked Alex straight in the eyes. “I know you asked Anna to come to marry me. I know you think you did it for… whatever reason. I appreciate it, I guess. But I won’t be marrying Anna. I won’t be marrying anyone.”
Alex watched as Luke reached for Anna and pulled her in front of him. Luke took Anna’s hand and placed it into Alex’s. He looked straight into Anna’s eye. “I release you from your commitment to marry me. You may marry…” Luke looked at Alex. “…whomever you choose.” With those words, Luke turned and walked away.
****
Anna watched in amazement as Luke left the barn. When Luke had entered the kitchen so quickly, she wasn’t sure what was going on. He hadn’t said anything. He had just grabbed her hand and practically dragged her outside to the barn. Then he had calmed down a bit when he took her hand and placed it into Alex’s. She realized what he was doing. Even though this whole mess was not his fault, he was owning up to the commitment that had been supposedly made between him and Anna. In addition, he let her know she was free.
She looked at Alex who was looking down at her. She tried to pull her hand from his, but he tightened his grip and pulled her close to him.
“Luke can be a pain, but in the end he always does the right thing,” Alex commented as he looked deep into her eyes in his usual intense way. “We need to talk.”
Anna nodded her agreement and allowed Alex to lead her out of the barn. They slowly started to walk around the barn and away from the ranch yard. Alex tucked Anna’s arm into his own.
“I apologized to Luke. I need to apologize to you.”
Anna stayed silent as Alex struggled for the words he wanted to say.
“I am sorry I brought you here to marry Luke. I just want Luke to be the way he used to be. He used to be the happiest man I knew. He was very happy with Pamela. It was very hard on him when Pamela died.
“But going behind his back wasn’t the answer to help him. I wish now I had written that first letter for myself.”
Anna felt her heart leap at his words. “I wish that, too.”
“So you are okay with not marrying Luke?”
“Yes. I am very glad things worked out the way they did. Do you think I can continue to work here until I find another job?”
Alex stopped walking and turned Anna to face him. “I have another idea and I think that you know what it is. Anna, will you marry me?”
Anna nodded her head as she smiled at him. “Yes, Alex. I would love to marry you.”
Alex whooped in delight and picked her up. He swung her around showing his joy. He set her down and kissed her in earnest. She felt a tingly feeling that started deep within her stomach and moved up through her heart, into her head and then throughout her whole body. She realized that she was feeling true happiness for the first time in her life, a deep love for someone for the first time, and that deep love was being given back to her for the first time.
Anna kissed him back trying to let him know what she was feeling, but then quickly stopped and backed slightly away, wishing she didn’t have to. She knew she could not allow much more kissing until they were officially married.
“When?” Alex asked her as he cupped her face with his hands.
“As soon as we can arrange it,” Anna answered.
CHAPTER 11
When Anna and Alex returned from the walk, Luke gave them his blessing. He was the one who suggested they leave for town to be married as soon as Sage felt well enough from her cold. Paul also gave his blessing. Later he asked Anna if she had added to her letter to her friends. He told her he had written his own letter to give to the friend she thought would be best for him to be included in the same envelope.
When Luke heard what Anna and Paul were up to, he started to ask questions about Anna’s past, along with her friends. Anna realized that Luke did not know anything about her, how she grew up in an orphanage until she was 12 and how she had been placed in a small town in Texas along with two friends whom she considered her sisters, who had been raised with her in the orphanage.
“Tell me about them,” Luke invited that evening at the dinner table.
“Serena was placed with a family who runs a bakery in town. They took her in to help with their younger children. Katrina was taken in by the mayor and his wife. They were able to send Katrina to get her teacher’s certificate. She now teaches the younger children in town.”
“So who are you matching with Paul?” Luke asked.
Anna felt confused by Luke’s questions. “Knowing Serena and Katrina’s personalities and from what I have learned as I have gotten to know Paul, I think Serena will be best for him.” She was starting to feel like a matchmaker.
“If Serena agrees to come, do you think your other friend would want to come too?”
Anna looked at him suspiciously. Had he suddenly changed his mind about marrying?
Luke shook his head as if he realized what she was thinking. “No, not for me. You said she was a teacher, right?”
Anna nodded.
“We are planning on building a small school here on the ranch. We have so many hired hands that have children who need schooling, and Sage will be ready to start school in th
e next year. I would like to offer your friend a job to teach here on the ranch. We couldn’t pay her much, but we would include room and board.”
Anna liked the idea very much, but tried not to feel too excited. After all, she hadn’t even mailed the letter yet to tell Serena about Paul.
“I will tell her of your offer. I think it is wonderful you want to offer education to the children on the ranch.”
“I am sure other families that live nearby, but that are too far away from town, would want to bring their children, too. She should have at least 15 children to teach.”
****
Three days had passed since Luke had returned and Alex had proposed to Anna. All of them left the ranch early in the morning and headed to town. They arrived in town and immediately stopped in front of the reverend’s house. Alex wanted the marriage to happen before they did anything else. He quickly jumped down from the wagon to make sure the reverend was home. Anna watched from the wagon as Alex went inside the small home after knocking on the door. He came out a few minutes later with an older man.
Paul jumped out of the wagon and helped Anna down while Luke swung Sage to the ground.
The reverend approached the wagon with Alex. He shook hands with Luke and Paul and they greeted each other as men do. He then turned to Anna. “So you want to marry Alex Bridger?”
“Yes, sir,” Anna answered.
“I have known the Bridger family for a long time. I would be honored to perform the marriage.” He gestured to the small church nearby. “Let’s get the deed done.”
The small group moved into the church. A few minutes later a round older woman, who introduced herself as the reverend’s wife, sat down at an old organ and started to play church hymns with much enthusiasm. The reverend situated Anna and Alex in front of him, with Luke, Paul and Sage standing a few feet away. The music changed to the wedding march. Anna chuckled as the reverend’s wife played the march for quite a while, and quite lively, until finally the reverend asked her to stop, which she did in the middle of the song. The woman left the organ and stood beside Paul smiling widely as she did so.
The reverend then repeated the words that have been said in millions of weddings since time began. After both Anna and Alex said their parts, and Alex slipped a small ring on her finger which she wasn’t expecting, the reverend gave Alex permission to kiss her.
And Alex did, kissing her like he had wanted to do ever since he first saw her. Anna could feel the love that had grown between them in a short period of time, and that would continue to develop between them.
Luke finally stopped the kiss by slapping his hand on Alex’s back in congratulations and bent to give Anna a brotherly hug. Paul did the same. Sage let everyone know how happy she was she now had an “Aunt Anna.” It was a wonderful wedding.
****
After the marriage had been performed, the reverend’s wife offered to serve refreshments, but the men wanted to get their errands done. They wanted to get back to the ranch in time for the evening chores.
In the general store, Anna looked around, unconsciously comparing this store to the one she had worked in for so many years. This store was a lot smaller and did not seem to offer as many things as the store in Texas did. She gave her thick letter to Paul to mail and tried not to feel too excited at the possibility that her friends might choose to join her in Montana. She knew Serena would choose to come if she decided she wanted to marry Paul. She actually had a better life with the Bakery family than Anna had had with Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Serena had enjoyed caring for the children, but she had not really felt accepted as an actual part of the family. She saw herself as more of a glorified nanny.
Katrina had had more opportunities because she was taken in by the mayor and his wife. She still lived with them even though she taught at the town’s school and could have lived in a small house that had been built for the teachers. Anna knew Katrina was grateful for the education she had received and the mayor’s family had not been stingy with their money and what they gave Katrina, but Katrina had often commented it was for show, not for love. However, Anna didn’t know if Katrina would be willing to move all the way to Montana to teach in a small ranch school.
Anna saw Luke whisper to Alex and give him an envelope. Alex shook his head and tried to give the envelope back, but Luke pushed it back into his hands. She was slightly curious what was going on, but soon forgot as the family bought some much needed supplies. Alex kept Anna beside him the entire time, and encouraged her to purchase some cloth for a new dress or two, especially since she had cut up one of hers for Sage.
Anna finally agreed and picked out two types of fabric. She also chose some fabric for a few new dresses for Sage, with Luke’s permission. Luke told her there was a sewing machine in his house that used to be Pamela’s, that Anna could use if she wished.
Luke and Paul left the store with Sage and Alex took Anna’s arm to hold her back when she started to follow them.
“They are going to go back to the ranch without us,” he informed her.
“What? Why?” Anna questioned. She watched as Alex brought out the envelope she had seen Luke give him.
“Luke and Paul went in together to give us a wedding gift.”
Anna’s eyes lit up. “Really? That was sweet of them. What is the gift?”
“Dinner in the hotel and a room for the night.”
Anna blushed as she thought of what being alone with Alex would entail, but then she felt a glimmer of excitement. After all, she was now married to him.
“How will we get back to the ranch if they take the wagon?”
“A man in town borrowed one of our horses a while back. We can pick that horse up tomorrow and ride it back together. ”
Anna smiled as she reached for Alex’s hand. “Well, let the honeymoon begin.”
They enjoyed a wonderful time together. They had a good meal at the hotel restaurant, although Alex made sure she knew he enjoyed her meals more. After the meal, they walked around the small town. Pine Valley was really quite charming. There were a few businesses along with the general store, but most of the buildings were homes. Alex commented that the town seemed to be growing each time he came. He felt that now that the town had an official train schedule, it would continue to grow.
When it got too dark to be out walking around, Alex finally led Anna into the hotel and to their room. Anna started to feel nervous again. She was excited to start her new life with Alex, but she was also very nervous for their first night together, until Alex shut the door and immediately took Anna in his arms. Anna immediately relaxed in his embrace. She had grown to love this man.
“Anna, I love you,” Alex whispered as he started to kiss her and Anna melted at his words and at his kiss. He suddenly stopped the kiss and handed Anna a small box he had pulled out of his pocket.
“It’s a wedding gift,” he explained at her questioning eyes.
“I don’t have a gift for you,” Anna said, feeling concerned. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Although she didn’t know how she could have purchased something without him knowing because he had refused to let her leave his side all day.
“Don’t worry about that,” Alex told her. “Open it.”
She carefully untied a small ribbon that was around the box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful oval-shaped cameo that was strung on a dainty chain. She gasped delightedly at the gift.
“It is beautiful, Alex. Thank you.” She kissed him quickly and then removed the cameo to look at it closer. There was a silhouette of a woman carved in white stone which had been pressed into a light pink stone background. The woman had been delicately carved with small detailed flowers in her hair. The edge of the cameo was decorated with what looked to be stone carved into lace. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen.
“We have a tradition in our family, started by my great-grandfather back in England. We give a cameo to our wife on our wedding night. I give this to you as a token of my love and commitment to y
ou.”
For the first time in many years, Anna allowed tears to fall as Alex put the necklace around her neck. Alex wiped a tear off her cheek and took her into his arms. Anna had finally found her family.
****
The next morning they enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Then they walked to the house where Alex picked up the horse. Soon they were on their way back to the ranch.
Anna enjoyed the trip back to the ranch, back to her home. Anna expressed to Alex her desire to see the mountains up close and he promised a trip to the shack for a few days as soon as he could arrange it.
