He glanced up at her briefly. “I’ve dealt with many injured animals—and children—over the years.”
“You’re so comfortable around them. I wish I wasn’t so afraid of them.”
“The children?” He smirked, setting the horse’s bandaged foot down.
Adelia rolled her eyes. “No, the horses.”
“You’ll get used to it. You can’t expect yourself to be comfortable with it, or know what to do, when you’ve never really dealt with them. I just grew up with horses, and I’m still careful around them. You can have the best behaving horse in the world, but they do spook and so you always need to be watching them.”
“That makes me feel so much better.” Adelia shook her head, meeting Nathaniel’s gaze.
“You’re beautiful.”
Feeling the heat rising in her face, Adelia looked down at the pink ribbon on her dress. “Thank you.”
She felt his warm hand under her chin, and she glanced up at him as he leaned toward her. Closing her eyes as their lips met, she tried to ignore the fact that they were right beside a horse, and he’d said you always have to watch them. When he pulled away, Adelia opened her eyes slowly, his face still close to hers. Her first proper kiss and it was more than she’d expected. In a good way. Gentle and caring.
“Nathaniel?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for making me feel wanted.”
He smiled, his brown eyes meeting hers. “Adelia, anyone who didn’t want you in the past was foolish. It’s their loss.”
It was quiet for a few seconds, as Nathaniel moved to lean back against the pile of hay behind them, the light of the lantern casting shadows on his face.
“Did I ever tell you that I got adopted once?”
He looked up at her from under his eyebrows and shook his head.
Adelia looked down at her hands. “I was adopted when I was nine by a family who had three children. The Winstons.”
“What were they like?”
“They were nice enough, but they didn’t like me in the end. I suppose it was my fault, because I had been a miserable cloud around the house, and I didn’t talk as much as I think Mrs. Winston was hoping.”
“You were just a child, and in a new home. It would’ve been scary. If they didn’t give you the time to get comfortable there, and to help you feel at home, it’s not your fault.”
Adelia felt the tears stinging in the back of her eyes. “Yes, I was scared, and her children teased me quite a bit. And Mr. Winston was always getting mad at me and locking me in the basement.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Adelia. I can’t even imagine.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“If I were to ever meet Mr. Winston, it would take everything in me to not punch him.”
Adelia let out a laugh, smiling up at him through her blurred vision. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? Not even Timothy. He doesn’t know the whole story of my time there. I don’t want anyone to know.”
“I won’t tell, but why don’t you want people to know?”
“It’s embarrassing. I was a letdown to the Winstons, and I was the one who messed up my only chance to leave the orphanage.”
“You didn’t mess it up. They did, because they didn’t take the time to get to know how wonderful you are.”
Adelia smiled, as she stood and turned to sit down beside him, reaching for his hand. Outside, the crickets chirped, and the wind whistled over the barn. She rested her head on Nathaniel’s shoulder and felt his arm wrap around her.
“When did you say your brother was coming home?” he said softly.
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“All right, the horse’s bandage will be good until then. He might want to replace it in the evening.”
“I’ll be glad for him to be home.”
He let out a long breath. “This kind of stuff always seems to happen during the most inconvenient times.”
“Yes, I noticed that. I’ve been here for nearly two months, and the fence has never broken, and the horses have never been injured. He leaves for two days, and both things happen.”
“I’ll fix the fence before I go. It’s just the one board that snapped so it won’t take long. Then you can let the other horse back outside.”
“Thank you.” Adelia smiled, glancing at the horse who now shifted its weight in the stall, as it munched on some hay. Sitting beside Nathaniel, she wished that the moment would last forever. She felt happy with him, and Adelia realized that all her life she had been afraid to love people in case they were taken from her or turned on her. And she’d been afraid to let people love her, because that’s when she always seemed to end up hurting them.
Most of her life, she’d avoided having close friends, all because she was afraid of being hurt. She now wondered if her experience at the orphanage might’ve been different if she was there now. Would she have been more open to making friends with the other children?
She knew it was too late to go back, and there was no use dwelling on the past, because at that time in her life, that was where she had been. She couldn’t be upset with herself for how she behaved in that situation, because that was all she knew at the time. She had reacted to things in the only way she knew how, even if it hadn’t necessarily been the right way.
Now, though, she knew that there was more. Life was full of pain, and hurt, but it was also capable of being full of love, joy, and light, if you only are willing to open the door for it.
“Adelia?”
“Yes, Nathaniel?”
She felt his thumb gently stroke the top of her hand. “I love you.”
Feeling her breath catch at the word, and hardly daring to believe it, she hesitantly replied, “I love you too.”
Chapter 27
Nathaniel sat down at the table he always had lunch with Adelia at, and she came out of the kitchen with two bowls of stew, steam rising above them.
It had been almost a week since Adelia had shown up at his door late at night, and he was glad everything had turned out all right.
As she set one of the bowls in front of him, he glanced up at her. “The children told me you gave them lemonade after school yesterday.”
She nodded, sitting down across from him. “Yes, I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course, it is. I just wanted to thank you, because they were quite excited to tell me about it when they got home.”
“Well, it was a hot day, and I’d just made some fresh stuff when I saw them walking past on their way home from school.”
“Are all the things you’re giving them, and me,” he glanced down at the bowl of stew, “coming out of your pay?”
She shook her head. “The lemonade, and my lunch are courtesy of Mrs. Tiller. Plus, your meal is just the leftover food that wasn’t served during lunch that Mrs. Tiller doesn’t mind giving to people.”
“I just wanted to make sure, I hate to think I’m stealing from Mrs. Tiller or you’re spending all your hard-earned wages.” He picked up the fork she’d set down by the bowl, and stirred his food, feeling the warmth from the steam on his hand.
“Well.” She shrugged. “You can take that up with her yourself, because I don’t feel like trying to convince her to let you pay. She’s very stubborn.”
Nathaniel chuckled, shaking his head. “Ah, that I know very well.”
After taking a sip of water, he set the glass back down and glanced up at her. “I’m going to be in town this evening for a school board meeting. You said you were working until seven today?”
She just nodded, and Nathaniel continued. “I’ll be done there around seven if you would like a ride home?”
“That would be nice, thank you.”
“Of course.” Nathaniel lifted a savory slice of potato from the bowl and put it in his mouth. Ever since meeting Adelia, he was happy to say he was enjoying delicious food every day in comparison to the dry sandwiches, and runny eggs he’d usually been making for himself.
He
glanced up at Adelia, whose lovely brown hair was pinned back, and her blue eyes were bright in comparison with her dark, red dress. “Kate did the funniest thing this morning.”
“What’s that?” She smiled, taking a bite of her food.
“She came down the ladder, with a huge bow tied in her hair, and I asked her what the special occasion was. Apparently, there’s a new boy her age in school.”
Adelia raised her eyebrows and laughed lightly. “And so it starts.”
“They’re growing up way too fast.”
“They’re wonderful children. You’re very lucky.”
He nodded, because he knew this already. Every day he thought about how lucky he was to have his children, and not a day passed where he wasn’t grateful for having them in his life. He would be nothing without them, and they had pushed him to become a better man.
The rest of lunch passed by quickly, as time always seemed to when he was with Adelia. Too soon it was time to leave and he made his way outside in the direction of the sawmill where he would be for the rest of the afternoon.
He found the work at the sawmill easy at this point, and it was a repetitive type of work that often had him lost in thought.
Mr. Murphy was already sitting on one of the stumps by the saw, eating his sandwich as Nathaniel approached.
“Good afternoon boy. How was lunch with the lady?”
Nathaniel looked down at the ground, suppressing a smile. “It was nice as always.”
“Ahh, young love.”
“I’m not young, Mr. Murphy.” Nathaniel chuckled.
“How old are you?”
“I’m thirty.”
Mr. Murphy whistled, shaking his head. “That’s young in my books.”
“Well, if you say so, I’ll take the compliment.”
“I remember when me and Bessie were courting. It was so exciting and new. Time sure goes fast. Now we just argue, and she threatens to stop feeding me if I keep leaving my socks lying around.”
Nathaniel just shook his head, smiling as he went to turn the saw on. The afternoon sun was warm on his back, and as he began to work, he could feel the sweat beginning to soak through his shirt.
He glanced in the direction of the school and wondered how the children’s day was going and whether Kate had taken that ridiculous bow off yet. He would never forget her mischievous grin as she proudly showed off the bright purple ribbon which he wasn’t even sure where she’d gotten it from.
With thoughts of his children in mind, he continued to work hard, only stopping for a drink of water every now and then.
“Thank you again for the ride, Nathaniel.”
He climbed up into the seat beside her and took the reins in hand. “Anytime.”
“How was the meeting?”
“It was good. Just the usual discussion on what the children are learning, and where the funding should be going.”
“Sounds exciting.”
Nathaniel shook his head, smiling. “Oh, it is. It’s the best part of my month.”
“Was that sarcasm?” Adelia laughed, as Nathaniel lifted the reins and got the horses to slowly begin making their way forward.
“Possibly.”
“I didn’t know you had that in you.”
“I didn’t know either.”
They rode quietly, the only sound was the creaking of the wagon as they made their way out of town on the road that would lead to Adelia’s house. Nathaniel knew they would be making a stop along the way, and he felt the nerves rising inside him, as he chewed his bottom lip. He didn’t know how she would react, and he just hoped it wouldn’t ruin things between them.
Chapter 28
Adelia gazed up at the pale blue sky which she knew would soon be painted a pale yellow and orange as the sun would begin to set.
“You know,” she started, turning to Nathaniel who held the reins of the horses in front of them tightly, “when I was in the city, the sky seemed so much smaller. Out here, it seems to stretch on forever.”
He smiled, looking up slightly. “Yes, it’s very beautiful around here.”
“Thank you again for the ride. I don’t mind walking, but sometimes it’s tiring after working all day.”
“Yes, I can imagine it would be,” Nathaniel said quickly.
Adelia furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she looked at him closely. He seemed tense this evening. His sharp jaw looked clenched, and he bit his bottom lip without appearing to be aware he was even doing it.
She imagined he was likely just tired, and perhaps overwhelmed with his work at the sawmill on top of the farm, and his children.
Adelia folded her hands in her lap, as she looked back up to the sky, and sat quietly. After a few minutes had gone by, she realized he was slowing down. Looking to him for an explanation, she couldn’t meet his glance as he was focused on the road in front of them.
When the wagon came to a complete stop, Adelia moved her head around in search of a reason for Nathaniel to have needed to stop.
“Nathaniel—”
“I just thought I’d stop and show you this place that the children and I found once, and now we come here quite often to watch the sunset.”
Adelia smiled as Nathaniel jumped down from the wagon and came around to the other side. She took his outstretched hand as she climbed down, and when she was steadily standing again, he didn’t let go of her hand which suited her just fine.
Interlacing her fingers with his, she walked slowly alongside him up a grassy hill, with several colors of clover around them.
“It’s a lovely evening, isn’t it?” Adelia took a long breath in, enjoying the faint smell of the clover.
“It sure is. I hope you don’t mind the quick stop? I didn’t even ask if you needed to get home right away.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. The house will survive just fine without me for a few extra minutes.”
When they reached the top of the hill, Adelia was led to a single tree that looked out of place in the otherwise clear landscape. It was a tall oak with twisting branches and a thick stump that almost seemed to be right out of a fairy tale.
“We always sit along the roots here.” Nathaniel sat down, and Adelia knelt down beside him as he let go of her hand.
As she settled in, she looked out over the horizon where the sun was nearly at the point of setting. “It’s a perfect view from here. I’m excited to see the sunset. I always think the orange and pink colors are so beautiful.”
“Yes, it’s always so peaceful at this time of day.”
Adelia looked up at a large bird with its huge wings outstretched as it soared over them. “Do you know what kind of bird that is?”
“That’s a bald eagle.”
“I’ve never seen a bird that big before.”
Nathaniel smiled a little, squinting to look at it. “I always think it’s fascinating how they can just fly without flapping their wings at times.”
“Yes, I’ve never noticed that before.” Adelia looked at Nathaniel whose dark brown eyes were focused on the eagle. She rested her head on his shoulder, and she felt his head lower to rest on her head.
They sat quietly like this for a few minutes, and Adelia just admired the sky which now began to turn a faint orange color.
“Adelia, do you think you’ll stay in Burchcreek?”
“I’d like to. It’s a nice community, and I have nowhere else to go. I plan to just keep working here until I have enough to pay Timothy back.”
“And what about when you do pay him back?”
She shrugged, looking down at her hands. “I don’t know yet. I’m just going to see where life takes me.”
“That’s a nice way to live sometimes.”
“Life has changed for me so suddenly at times, that often planning my future is pointless.”
“Same for me.”
She smiled contently, as the silence returned. She found that with Nathaniel the moments where they weren’t talking, but were just quiet with one another, didn’t feel un
comfortable as it often did with other people.
There was something different about him, and she was glad she’d opened up to him about the things she’d kept so close to her, even if it had been scary.
She knew there would always be people in life who would hurt you and turn away from you when you needed them the most. But she also now knew that you couldn’t just build a wall around yourself. Because then you’d miss out on people like Nathaniel, and the friends she’d made in Burchcreek who were good people too. They’d been there for her long before she had let them in.
“Adelia?”
“Yes, Nathaniel?” She closed her eyes, enjoying the warm breeze that kissed her skin.
“Will you marry me?”
Adelia opened her eyes quickly, lifting her head off his shoulder and watched as he slowly pulled something out from his pocket. “Nathaniel—”
“Adelia Mason, ever since you arrived in Burchcreek you have brought so much light into my life and have taught me so many things. I would be honored to call you my wife.” Tears glistened in his eyes, as she felt his hand reach for her own. She knew her own eyes mirrored his as she willed herself to stay calm long enough to reply.
“Yes, absolutely yes, Nathaniel. You’ve also taught me so much. When I first came here, I was bitter and angry, and now, I understand my pain and I’m not scared of it anymore. I would love to be your wife.”
He grinned, as he slid a beautiful ring with a gold band onto her finger, and when she met his gaze again, she leaned closer to him until their lips met.
When she pulled away, she felt the tears in her eyes as his gaze met her own.
“The children?” she asked, suddenly feeling worried.
“They’re happy for me, and us. I knew I wanted you to be my wife, and after having a long conversation with Isabella, George, and Kate last night, I felt ready. I just hoped you were too.” He paused, looking at her for a few seconds.
“I haven’t felt like this since Isabella was alive, and even though I will never forget her, which I hope you’ll understand, I truly love you, Adelia. I feel like I deserve to have a second chance at love. Everyone deserves to experience love in their life, and I’m so happy you found your brother because otherwise I would never have met you, and perhaps would never have learned all that I have since I’ve known you.”
A Chance to Love (Life's a Chance Book 3) Page 9
