Hopefully Matched

by Ginny Sterling

  “That was sweet,” Jeremiah said quietly. “I’m glad Miss Miller has a beau.”

  “Apparently so,” she agreed without looking at Jeremiah.

  “I would treat you good, you know? I’d make sure you never regretted your decision.”

  She was stunned by his admission and how certain he seemed to be. There was no doubt in him and yet, it tore at her. Why couldn’t she be decisive like he was? He had gotten off the train, taken to her right away and was passing up the chance to talk to other eligible women.

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why are you so set on me?”

  “My Ava, there is something in you that just rubs me the right way. I like how you seem so polite that it’s downright prudish. And other times,” his voice dropped softly, giving her goosebumps as she found herself leaning towards him to hear what he had to say. “Sometimes, I see such a spark of life inside of you that is hidden away. I am man enough to set that spark free, too.”

  “You are arrogant,” she whispered. “Very arrogant.”

  “A bit,” he said with a knowing grin. “Especially when I know I am right. Now, how about something sweet? I know you liked that peach tart the other night.”

  “Very much so and I promise not to disgrace myself this time,” she said, smiling, and instantly felt alarm at his laughter.

  “Then I will win!”

  “What?”

  “Ava, if you aren’t trying to eat a pie quickly, then when I shovel mine in during the competition, I am sure to win. I see peach… and oh ho! I see a lemon pie for my little sour woman!”

  “Sour woman? I’m not sour!” Ava took a seat opposite of him. “Lemon? No, I’m going for the peach pie, sir! And yes, you have competition!”

  “We shall see! I bet the southern belle in you won’t let you relax enough to enjoy yourself,” he taunted. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief, warm and possessive as they gazed at her.

  “I saw you shove the pie in your mouth the other night, Jeremiah Ellington! I know I can win this. You eat like a delicate bird,” she countered with bravado. They both smirked at each other, thinking of how much she had fed him over the last few days. He ate like a horse and they both knew it. She ignored the stares from the other people at the table at the personal announcement she gave. She just admitted she was with him at night, even if it was evening time and nothing inappropriate happened. At his laughter, she grinned and continued boldly on. “A little, dainty thing, too!” she added as she tossed a napkin at him. “You’ll need this, sir!”

  To her surprise, Jeremiah tossed the napkin back towards her, very nearly landing upon the pie she sat in front of. She plucked it off of the table and tucked it in the collar of her dress daintily. “Prepare to lose,” she said politely and raised an eyebrow.

  At her words, a bell rang in the distance while someone shouted “go!” nearby. Ava picked up a fork and took a massive bite, glancing over at Jeremiah. He was watching her and grinning as he dove his whole hand into the pie. He shoved a large glob into his mouth and grinned, lemon cream peeking through his lips. While it should have been gross, Ava gaped with a mouthful of peach pie at the barbaric way he was attacking his pie. Looking down the table, she saw several other familiar faces covered in fruits of all kinds. There was a blueberry on one man’s nose, strawberries on another’s forehead. It looked like she was the only one using a fork!

  Jeremiah grinned and took another massive scoop of pie, shoving it in his mouth again. “Ur woozing, my Aba!” he squeezed out, much to her mortification. My goodness! she thought as she was disgusted as well as intrigued by the lemon on his lips.

  “Lordy have mercy poo!” she exclaimed and glanced down the table again, horrified. Could she even do this? Women didn’t shove pies in their faces! What had she done?

  The crowd was screaming around them and Jeremiah sat there pushing as much lemon cream pie in his mouth as he could. It was on his chin and in his eyebrows! Pie eating contests were funny and disgusting! This realization caused her to laugh aloud and come up with a game plan!

  Grinning snidely at Jeremiah, Ava stretched her arms and pushed up her sleeves. This caused his eyebrows to shoot straight upwards, complete with lemony goo. She gave him a mock salute with her fork and stabbed it into the table near her pie tin angrily. One thing she hated was losing and he was clearly ahead. She stuck both of her hands into the peach pie and shoved two handfuls into her mouth, barely chewing.

  Jeremiah and the man sitting next to him both began to choke in complete shock as they gasped at her audacity. This caused pie filling to go flying out of their mouths, thus stopping the other participants abruptly in their tracks. Pride was gone! Her brain was focused on two things: shove the peach pie in her mouth and beat Jeremiah.

  When he caught his breath, he began to laugh uproariously. Wiping his eyes, he smiled as Ava stood up chewing, throwing both her dirty hands in the air signifying she had won. She jumped excitedly and then grimaced, yanking her napkin from her collar and wiping her mouth. She saw the peaches and crust crammed under her fingernails. She paled at the realization of what she had just done when, suddenly, she heard a slow clap begin.

  Jeremiah stood, clapping. There was lemon filling on his shirt in a few spots, on his hands and still in his eyebrows. He looked so amused and proud at her excitement.

  “That’s my woman,” he claimed proudly and leaned over the table, kissing her boldly on the mouth in front of the others and smearing lemon on her face. Ava didn’t quite feel so bad as she realized that she had less pie filling on her than her competitors. It was the expression on his face that made her feel like all was right in the world, losing control and enjoying herself for once. She was beyond overjoyed when she was given a clean pie tin for her trophy, vowing to display it somewhere in the house.

  Laughing, all the contestants were able to clean off their hands and faces in a pail of water nearby. Several congratulated Ava on her win. Thankfully, none patted her on the back. Somehow, her gown remained clean from pie filling. Her corset was making it hard to get comfortable, forcing her to rest for a bit on the quilt they had spread under the tree earlier in the day. The last thing she wanted after shirking off her decorum was to end up vomiting in the bushes somewhere. Jeremiah teased that he was almost as full but hadn’t eaten nearly as much pie as she had. The warm air, combined with the full stomach she had, caused Ava to doze off in the shade with a smile on her face.

  9

  Ava awoke to the sound of gunfire, jerking her upwards in horror as much has her corset would allow. She felt dazed, muddled and scared hearing another blast. “What is that?” she asked, seeing Jeremiah sitting nearby whittling. He had a pocketknife out, making smooth, small strokes resulting in curls of wood.

  “Shooting contest. I hated to wake you and wasn’t sure you wanted to participate after your big win,” he teased. “Honestly, I didn’t head over because I have shot enough guns to last a lifetime for me personally. That and I would hate to be bested by a woman again.”

  “Sherriff Melton is shooting?” she asked.

  “You know her? She looks pretty confident. Is she as good as she thinks?”

  “Better! Or so I have heard from others.”

  “Yes, I’m glad I didn’t go. My honor couldn’t take much more.”

  “I’m sure your honor will be just fine.”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps you’ll save me a dance later when the music starts?”

  Another loud pop went off in the distance. Out of the corner of her eye, Ava saw the whiskey barrel lids swinging. This indicated that someone had just hit the target the furthest distance away.

  “My goodness! Someone hit that? That must have been Melton…” her sentence trailed off as she heard another shot fired followed by loud cheering. The barrel lid again swung wildly. “… no, that was Melton.”

  “Are you sure? If you haven’t seen him in action, how do you know?”

  “I’ve been told that
she was quite the sharpshooter and could hit any mark she put her eye on. Can you?”

  “If I had to? Yes.”

  “Then why aren’t you competing?”

  “I don’t need to.” With a practiced flick of his wrist, he drew his gun easily. He aimed far from her but didn’t fire. “You only aim away and you only shoot what you have to. I didn’t compete because there was a completely different contest going on over there.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There is a contest of wills going, as well as skill. Your sheriff is proving himself to be capable to the townfolk. I believe he feels threatened by the rangers that have arrived. It’s a challenge to his manhood.”

  “Ah, I think I understand now.”

  “Have you ever shot a gun? Do you even have one?”

  “Yes, I’ve a small revolver that Peter kept in the house. No, I have never fired it.”

  “You should probably learn.”

  “I’d rather not.”

  “What if you needed protection? Could you load it?”

  Ava stopped immediately, realizing that she had no idea how many bullets were even in the old revolver she had hidden upstairs in her room. Was it even loaded?

  “Maybe you could show me?” she asked. “So if some man gets out of line…”

  “If some man gets out of line with my woman, you won’t have to shoot him. I will.”

  “I meant you, you goose.”

  “I realize that but I don’t feel I have been out of line. Tiptoed it? Yes,” he said with a grin. “It’s like dancing. You sway over the line and then pull back. Does that mean you’ll save a dance for me?”

  “Yes, I suppose I will,” she said with mock pretense. She was actually pretty excited to see if he could dance or what kind of songs would be played. Coordination wasn’t her strong suit, so she hoped it was plenty of slower songs rather than country jigs. Those had her tripping over her own feet.

  Hopping to his feet, Jeremiah extended his hand towards Ava where she sat. “Come. I think the others are heading over to the field now. Unless you’d rather stay here?”

  “No, I feel bad wasting the day away by falling asleep.”

  “You fell asleep?”

  “You know I did, you cad!” she teased, slapping her hand into his. “What shall I do with my trophy?”

  “Fold the quilt and tuck it inside. No one will touch it.” She did so and carefully placed her pie tin out of sight. Several other quilts were left under the trees to hold their spots. By folding it up, she assumed that they were done out here and wrapping up the evening. This made her feel a bit melancholy.

  Walking silently, she marveled at how right it felt to have her arm resting on his. He had been such a gentleman and surprised her at each turn. She had missed the days of courting before she had married Peter. Now, she was getting a taste of what being special felt like again. She wasn’t ready for the evening to come to a close and hoped they would be able to dance long into the night.

  The open field was the perfect setting. Massive hooks from a nearby barn, casting a glow as the sun began to set in the distance. Hay bales were carefully lined up to provide seating. A few men, including the tall, blond man that looked to be courting Melissa were plucking fiddles, preparing to start up the music.

  Preacher Smith took that moment to clear his throat loudly. “We are very pleased to have a chance to celebrate the arrival of our guests into town. As a reminder, we will be having services in the morning sharply at nine AM. I expect to see you all there.” Several whoops of approval and a round of applause faded away as the music started up.

  The twang of a plucky quadrille started up, causing Ava to step back. She did not intend to trip. Quadrilles could be tricky with all the steps. Jeremiah stopped her, grabbing her hand.

  “Don’t turn tail and run, big winner. Dance with me.”

  Ava watched the couples line up and looked at Jeremiah’s eager expression. Apparently, the man loved to dance. Stepping into place, she nodded at him. Just remember your moves, she thought.

  Marching forwards towards him, she gave a bow and stepped back. Her right hand met his, their palms lying flat against each other. Spinning in a small circle, she stepped back. Her left hand met his. They spun again, opposite, and stepped back again. This time, both hands met up in the air. He leaned forward and then back. Ava repeated the steps almost catty corner with another young man, and then again, the opposite direction with another partner. Jeremiah was then her partner again, and they danced down the line when it was their turn, quickly followed by another couple, and another. Everyone clapped and stomped until the line had been reformed. It was lively and fun, much more so than she ever remembered.

  “May I have this dance?” a tall ranger asked politely, interrupting Ava and Jeremiah’s dance with laughter in his eyes.

  “No,” Jeremiah said from behind and looked hard at Ava. While she liked Jeremiah a lot and was attracted to him, it was flattering to have someone else interested in her. Besides, a bit of jealousy might be a good thing for him, too, she thought.

  “Of course,” Ava said politely, looking away from Jeremiah. She placed her hand on his and walked forward.

  “He is going to be quite upset,” the blond man said easily. “I am Gideon Ashton.”

  “Very nice to meet you, Mr. Ashton. And yes, I have a feeling that he might be just that,” she said, daring a glance over Mr. Ashton’s shoulder at Jeremiah. He was no longer standing off to the side but dancing with another woman in the distance. That cad!

  “So, if you knew he would be upset, why did you accept?” he asked smoothly.

  “Why did you ask?”

  “For the very same reason, I’m guessing. Is Miss Miller watching us?”

  “So, is that how it stands?” Ava asked, comprehending quickly that he was not interested in her but the dark-haired woman that was glaring daggers at her. “Oh yes, Miss Miller is watching us like a hawk. And my Mr. Ellington?”

  “He is trying not to,” Gideon said with a laugh, swaying Ava in a large circle with flourish and the notes of the waltz carried. “It’s ironic how two strangers can feel possessive, is it not? You look very happy with him.”

  “Yes, I believe Miss Miller is not very happy with you right now. I am not her favorite person for some reason.”

  “And I believe your Mr. Ellington is about ready to put a bullet between my eyes if I do not turn you over. Shall we?”

  “Mr. Ashton, I do believe that would be healthiest for you,” she agreed with a laugh. “Why don’t you lead me over to Mr. Ellington and switch partners?”

  “Capital idea! It was a pleasure meeting you Mrs. Buchannan, soon to be Ellington.”

  “We shall see about that,” she demurred with a blush.

  “Mr. Ellington, I believe Mrs. Buchannan prefers you as a dance partner. Perhaps we can trade places?”

  Jeremiah said not a word, but gave a stiff bow towards Ava. He kept a fair distance from her, dancing with his arms extended. “Are you jealous?” she asked surprised.

  “I do not relish the idea of you giving the first waltz to another man.”

  “Don’t be silly, Jeremiah.”

  “There is nothing silly about it.”

  “Then why are you upset?”

  “Because my soon-to-be wife should be giving all her dances to me.”

  “I thought we’d get to know each other better. Give us time, remember?”

  “And after that display? I’m thinking I am a bit more possessive than I realized and not above trying to get my way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that I’m thinking that we should be getting married sooner rather than later so no one else can take you from me.”

  “Jeremiah…”

  “And I’m not too proud to coerce you into it. I’ve seen how you respond to me.”

  This caused her to laugh. Jeremiah had never seemed so stern or upset. This was a new side to him and she wasn’t fazed in the
slightest. “Coerce how?”

  “Well, Mrs. Buchannan,” he said with a wicked smile, pulling her closer into his arms. “You blatantly admitted to being with me at night while we choked down our peach tarts on your front porch. However, you neglected to say what time it was or the fact that it was outside. You simply told everyone at the table we were together at night.”

  “That is easily explainable…” she started in surprise, looking at the devious glint in his eyes.

  “And I am not above telling people you have seen me naked. That you barged right in and ogled my naked body for an unhealthy amount of time,” he said lightly at her gasp. “How do you think Preacher Smith would feel about that?”

  “You wouldn’t!”

  “I most certainly would. I have never given you any inclination that I didn’t want you for my wife. One look at that beautiful face, that tender heart, and I was smitten. The fact that we get along so well has me desperate to make you mine.” Jeremiah leaned down, whispering in her ear for her alone. Nuzzling her neck, she found herself smiling at the touch. “And I shall.”

  “You are incorrigible,” she breathed in delight, her eyes closing at the smell of soap from him. There was something that drew her to him like a moth to a flame.

  “And you two are putting on quite the display today,” Preacher Smith interrupted loudly, as he tapped on Ava’s shoulder. She leaped out of Jeremiah’s arms, mortified.

  “I expect to see you both in church. You, young lady. Gluttony and pride is a sin. I saw you at the contest, my dear.” He then pointed at Jeremiah, “And you, sir. Lust is also a sin, if you didn’t realize it already.”

  “Yes, sir, it is,” Jeremiah agreed with a beaming smile at Ava and a lecherous wink. “The lady just agreed to be my wife.”

  “Then I shall announce it tomorrow morning at the services. Front row, you two!” the preacher ordered with a proud smile. “Glad to see you happy, Miss Ava.”