The House
by
Janice Sagraves
ONE
She stood on the front porch of her mother’s house in town and looked out into the gathering darkness. His work days had become longer and his time with her shorter, but it wasn’t that she saw him so little that concerned her. She understood that starting a new life together for a man and woman often called for hard work and always changes, and she wasn’t complaining, but she worried. Each successive day had seen him grow quieter and more exhausted, and she worried. So short into her marriage to this wonderful man she couldn’t bare the thought of giving him up, and she worried. A gentle hand rested on her shoulder, and she looked around into her mother’s gray eyes, and she saw the worry there too. She feared that her husband was driving himself to an early grave, and she didn’t know where to start to stop it.
*******
Angelica Cartwright sat at the table in the small dining room of the little two-bedroom, weathered clapboard house her mother had bought in Bantree. After the wedding Verina Cadence had told of her plans to settle in Virginia City even before her daughter had met her future husband, but after Angelica had wed her plans changed slightly. The rest of the family hadn’t exactly been enamored with the idea – especially her youngest daughter Fiona, who had to leave Bangor to come out here to live with her mother – but Angelica and Adam were delighted.
Angelica watched her little sister sitting across from her. “You know, Fiona, you’re going to have to get used to the idea of living out here, and I think that once you see what this country has to offer you’ll be glad you came. But if you don’t, once you come of age you can always go back to Bangor.”
“I don’t know why mother insisted that I come all the way out here,” fifteen-year-old Fiona Cadence said as her soft gray eyes lit on her sister. “Lucinda said I can live with her and Charles and the children.”
“Now, Fiona, we’ve been all through that. You know why.”
“But it’s not like I’d be leaving the family or the country.”
“Nevertheless, you’re her daughter, and she feels it’s her responsibility to raise you and no one else, not even Lucinda.” She reached across the table and patted her little sister’s hand. “Just give it time, and you’ll see that I’m right.” She blinked lethargically as if having trouble keeping her eyes open.
Fiona’s face scrunched, and she took a sip of her milk. “All right,” she said as a smile lit her young face.
“Good girl.”
Verina Cadence bustled out of the kitchen with a platter heaped with hotcakes. “These are piping hot, and if I know my men’s appetites, they won’t get the chance to cool,” she said briskly as she placed it on the end of the table near Adam’s place.
Angelica’s deep violet eyes met with her mother’s pale gray ones, for they both knew that this was not the case these days.
“By-the-way, where is that husband of yours?” Mrs. Cadence asked as she seated herself. “I haven’t seen him all morning.”
“I’m right here,” said a rich baritone as Adam Cartwright came into the room. He went to Angelica and kissed her on the side of the head and did the same with her mother then sat down and proceeded to fill a cup with steaming black coffee. “Good morning, Fiona.”
“Good morning,” the girl said with a furtive grin.
Hands were clasped and heads bowed, and Adam led the family in grace. “Thank you, our Heavenly Father, for thy bounty, thy blessings and for family and friends, and for thy love and thy guidance and all the days of our lives. Amen.”
“Amen.”
“No thank you, sweetheart,” Adam said as Angelica held the bowl of ham gravy out to him. “I don’t have time,” and he took a sip of the near boiling coffee. “I need to get started as soon as possible, what with dark coming so much sooner these days. It’ll soon get to the point where I’ll be driving the wrong nails.”
“Adam, don’t you think you could slow down a little and still get the house done before the snow comes?”
“No, I want to have us well settled into our own home by then.”
“But, Adam…,”
“I know what I’m doing,” he said a bit sharply then took a good slug of his coffee and got up. “I’ll be back by suppertime,” he kissed his wife again then went out.
Angelica’s eyes riveted to her plate, and she pushed a scrap of ham about with her fork. The front door closed, and she felt herself tense. She could feel desperation closing around her and binding like a biting rope. A light touch on her wrist made her look up, and she was greeted by her mother’s troubled face and a saddened smile.
*******
Supper came and went – though Angelica had eaten little and hadn’t tasted what she had – and still no Adam. What remained had been put in the warming drawer of the big wood burning stove for him though they doubted he would touch it when he got there.
She and her mother had gathered in the neat parlor to pass the hours until time to turn in. Fiona sat at the small writing desk before the window writing in her diary as he mother sat in the rocking chair reading and her sister on the settee trying to crochet. As she gave her sister another look the pen began scratching across the page again.
“I feel so sorry for Angelica,” she wrote. “Her new husband isn’t paying much attention to her and stays away most of the time. He is working on building their new house and it keeps him away all day long and sometimes into the night. He is so dark and has gotten so distant that sometimes I don’t like being around him. He doesn’t frighten me but sometimes he seems like a different person from the one she married.” She dipped the pen into the ink well but before she could write anything else the sound of boots clomped up the steps and onto the front porch.
Angelica flew off the settee and into the small entryway, and Fiona started to follow until her mother’s stern voice halted her.
Adam was hanging up his coat and hat as Angelica brushed in. He turned to her, and she could instantly see the lines of fatigue in his face.
“Hard day?”
“Not so bad. We got more done than I expected.”
She put her hand against his cheek, and he took it and kissed her fingertips.
“Why don’t you come into the parlor and sit down, and I’ll fix you up a plate. You probably haven’t eaten enough today to fill a thimble.”
“Would it do me any good to argue?” he asked with a wan smile.
“Not one bit.”
She took him by the arm and steered him into the parlor and got him settled on the settee then bustled on to the kitchen. She got a plate from the breakfront and loaded it with man-size portions and filled a glass with icy cold water from the pump. In the short time she had known him she had never seen Adam so thoroughly beat, and it made her ache to see him this way. She put a large chunk of fresh bread on the side then hurried out.
As she entered the parlor she stopped in her tracks as her mother shushed her. One of Adam’s elbows rested on the arm of the settee – his head propped against his fist – and he was sound asleep.
Angelica’s heart sank, he had missed supper again, and she didn’t have the heart to wake him up.
*******
Angelica had left Adam on the settee covered with a blanket and turned in without him. She hadn’t been lying there long when the door opened and closed and a dark silhouette sat on the side of the bed. His boots thumped on the floor as he took them off and dropped them then he lay back next to her without even getting undressed. She nestled close to him and snuggled her head against his neck – the faint trace of his Bay Rum embracing her senses – as her arm went across his broad chest. She didn’t say anything for she could tell by his heavy breathing that he was already asleep. As her eyes closed, tears seeped out past her dense lashes, and her heart filled to bursting with pain for this man that she loved beyond words.
TWO
Angelica was waiting when Adam came out of the bedroom the next morning. He could tell by the determined look on her face that he wasn’t going to get past her this time.
“All right, what is it?” he asked resignedly.
“Would you do something for me? It isn’t much, and I think you’ll enjoy it if you’ll just let yourself.”
“What?” he said as both eyebrows rose.
“Would you come to the table and eat breakfast with me?” she took one of his hands, and her skin was warm. “We would love to have you, and I know how you adore mother’s cooking. And you’ve been in such a whirl since we got here that you haven’t given yourself a chance to really get to know my little sister or her you.” She leaned closer to him, and his raven head lowered. “I think she might believe that you’re a bit of a slave driver,” she whispered.
“Oh, well now, we can’t have that, can we?”
“And it won’t hurt anything if you get a little bit of a late start.”
“I can’t get away from you this morning?” he said as his finely sculpted mouth turned mischievously at the corners.
“Do you want to?”
He put his arms around her and pulled her against him. Without a word he took her face in his hands and kissed those warm, inviting lips. Suddenly, the house he was building for them seemed so far away.
“Sorry.”
Angelica’s head fell against him as he looked up at Fiona standing near the dining room doorway. “What is it, Fiona?”
“Breakfast is on the table.”
“All right, Fiona, we’ll be right there,” Angelica said without looking around at her.
The girl’s feet lightly skimmed the floor as she ducked back into the dining room.
“Well, I guess we’d better get in there before your mother comes after us.” He couldn’t miss the radiance in her face as she looked up at him.
The food was delicious, and Adam hadn’t realized how hungry he was. It was, however, difficult not to take notice of the three sets of feminine eyes set on him. He shoveled down a bite of sausage gravy and tried not to look up from his plate. He slathered honey and butter on his last bit of biscuit and poked it into his mouth and magically another was placed next to his eggs. Finally looking up, he met with those enticing deep violet eyes that had been one of the things that had drawn him to his wife.
“More gravy?” Mrs. Cadence asked as she lifted the bowl.
He hurriedly chewed and swallowed. “Oh, no, I’m fine. But I could use some more coffee.”
Angelica eagerly filled his cup and watched him like a hawk as he took a drink. All his life he had lived in a household of men, with two very brief exceptions, and now he found himself surrounded by women, and sometimes it was a little disconcerting. He grinned sheepishly as he thought of how many men would envy him.
The rest of the meal went on smoothly and quietly, if a bit hurriedly on his part, as he finished stuffing himself. He used a last remnant of biscuit to sop up the remaining yolk on his plate and downed the dregs of his cup. “I haven’t had a breakfast like that since I left the Ponderosa,” he said as he wiped his mouth on his napkin. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a breakfast like that.”
Mrs. Cadence beamed from the other end of the table.
“But now I have to get to work, and I’m running behind as it is,” he said as he scooted his chair back. He excused himself then went out into the entryway.
With a glance at her mother, Angelica followed after him.
“Why don’t you stay home today,” she asked as he was putting on his gun belt. “You haven’t taken any time off since you started, and this is the first decent meal you’ve had in I don’t know how long. And when was the last time you went to church with us?”
He tied the laces around his thigh then turned to her. “I wish I could, but I’m racing the snow on this, and I just can’t. You understand, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t think I do. We’ve been married for over a month, and I hardly see you, and when I do you’re usually in a hurry to leave me or too tired to notice me. Adam,” she took hold of his arm, “I’m not complaining about you working or my being alone, but I am worried about you. If you don’t slow down…”
He placed a hand gently over her mouth and smiled. “I’ll be all right. It’s not like I’m not used to hard work. Now don’t worry so much.” He stuck his hat on his head and kissed her then took his coat from the rack and started out putting it on but she took his arm.
“Won’t you let us fix some food for you to take along?”
“There isn’t time,” he said then kissed her and went out.
She just stood there feeling defeated and wishing there was something she could do, but she had never known anyone as headstrong, not even her own father, and he seemed to defy her at every turn. And she loved him too much to just sit back and watch him do this to himself. She didn’t know what she could do, but she knew she had to try.
*******
It had taken Adam a smidgen over half an hour to get to the building site, which would have been longer if he hadn’t been riding at top speed. He hadn’t wanted the ride into town to take as long as it did to get from the Ponderosa to Virginia City and the doctor. It was a lovely spot nestled back in among a stand of pines. He had gone to Siddon Banning and some of the men had come out from the lumber camp to do the clearing, the felled trees being milled into boards for the house. Siddon had been adamant, however, about not taking any payment and said it would simply be a second wedding gift, and no amount of arguing could dissuade him.
As Adam rode in a fire blazed up inside him. The men that he had paid to work for him hadn’t showed up, and everything was as it had been from the night before. He stepped down hard, and hit the ground with a grunt and called out but got no answer. Why they hadn’t come he couldn’t understand. He led Sport to the hitch rail – one of the first things that had been erected – at the front of the roofless front porch that ran the entire width of the house and wrapped the reins about it. Bracing his hands on his hips, his mouth drew into a knot, and he looked around him. He couldn’t understand why the men hadn’t shown up. They had never given him any reason to think that they were dissatisfied working for him. Then it dawned on him that this was Sunday. At the beginning they had asked for this day off, and he had given it. With a snort, he shook his head and picked up a hammer and decided it was time to get to work.
*******
Angelica didn’t really hear Reverend Gibson’s sermon. Her eyes were directed out the window, and her thoughts were with Adam. A light poke in her arm brought her attention to her mother who sat next to her, and words were unnecessary to tell her that she was being chastised. She set her violet eyes on the stocky, gray-haired man at the pulpit, but his voice soon faded into a hum again as her mind began to wander once more. There had to be a way to get Adam to slow this killing pace he kept himself to, and she felt it imperative that she work this out and soon.
Everyone stood up around her, and her mother nudged her to her feet. The voices rose as a hymnal was held in front of her. Still consumed by the threat her husband was posing to himself her singing was weak and lacked any enthusiasm then her eyes returned to the window and it trailed off altogether.
After the service, Angelica went down the steps of the little wooden church, the wheels turning furiously inside her skull.
“Angelica, where is your head?”
Angelica looked around as her mother and sister joined her.
“Forget I asked that, I already know the answer.”
“There are so many things I don’t know about the man I married. I know he loves me, I don’t have any doubt about that, but…”
“Angelica, if you really believe that there should be no but, and if you don’t you shouldn’t have married him.”
They crossed the street just before they reached The Wooden Nickel saloon.
“I do believe that, I was only going to say that he is so driven to get the house ready so we can get into it before winter that he isn’t paying much attention to me.”
“Doesn’t that make you mad?” Fiona asked.
“Yes. Mad that he’s hurting himself to please me.”
“Have you talked to him about it?” Mrs. Cadence asked.
“I haven’t really gotten the chance.”
“Then I suggest that you make your own chance. We can see what he’s doing to himself but I don’t think he can.” She took her daughter’s arm. “Men sometimes get so wound up in trying to do something special for someone they love that they lose perspective.”
“And you think that’s what has happened to Adam?”
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised.” A puckish smile turned her mouth. “I’ve seen how he looks at you when he thinks you don’t see him.”
“So have I,” Fiona added.
Now it was Angelica’s turn for an impish grin. “And so have I.”
They shared a laugh as they headed on up the street toward their house. It was good to find amusement and just to be with each other, and Angelica knew that her mother was right. If she was going to talk to Adam about this it was going to have to be at a time and place of her own choosing and on her own terms.
THREE
Adam drug himself in later than he intended to. The house was dark as he came up the steps and let himself in. Quietly, he shucked his coat and hung it on the rack and was just putting his hat with it when a candle came to life on the chest near the dining room doorway.
“I didn’t hear you,” he said as he looked around at his wife in her robe and slippers.
“I’m not surprised,” she said evenly. “I’m probably the last thing your mind was on.”
“Am I in trouble?” he asked with a tired smirk.
“Adam, this is serious. I’m worried about you, and we need to talk.”
“Can’t we do it tomorrow? I’m beat.”
“And tomorrow you’ll be out the door before I get a chance and come home exhausted again like all the other times, and you won’t want to talk about it then either. No, it has to be tonight.”
He took a ragged breath and began untying the lace around his leg. “You’re just being mulish.”
“And look who’s talking. You’re working yourself into the ground, you don’t take in enough food to keep a kitten alive, and you won’t let anyone except the four men you hired help you. Why won’t you go to your friends? If they’re the kind of friends I think they are they’d be glad to help, but you won’t even ask them. Why?”
He hung his gun belt on its customary hook and those unyielding hazel eyes turned on her. “Because they have their own work to do to get ready for winter.”
“And what about Mr. Banning? He doesn’t have cows to round in or hay to put away or anything like that. I know he would help you if you’d just go to him.”
“Siddon has the sawmill to run and too much going on to fool with me.”
“Is that it, Adam, or are you simply too proud to ask?”
“I gave you me my answer. Now I’d really rather not go into this any further. I’m tired, and I just want to go to bed.” He started toward their bedroom.
She rushed around and got into front of him and took hold of his arms. “Adam, this isn’t worth killing yourself over. All right, so we don’t get into the house this year, what of it? It’s not like we don’t have a place to stay, and I know that mother would love to have us through the winter. She hasn’t cooked for a man’s appetite in a long time, and I can see how much she’s enjoying it.” Her fingers tightened on the strong muscles. “Adam,” she placed a hand against his weathered cheek, “it’s just not worth it.”
“Don’t you want the house?”
“Not if I have to live in it alone. I’d rather live in an abandoned mine with you than the finest house without you. If we were to have a hundred years together it wouldn’t be enough, and the thought of you cutting that time short this way scares me to death and, yes, it makes me angry too.”
The look in his eyes softened. “I know I’m working hard, and I hate it that it takes so much time away from you, but when I’m finished we’ll have a home of our own, not my father’s and not your mother’s, ours.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Now I’m going to bed. I have to get up early.”
He walked on to their room and this time she didn’t try to stop him. She couldn’t get through to him and she felt so utterly at a loss. Maybe in the morning she could catch him before he left, and this time she would put her foot down. She went back to the chest and blew out the candle then followed after her husband.
*******
The gray light of predawn was just seeping into the bedroom when Angelica began to stir. A good healthy stretch eased her sleep-stiffened muscles and helped clear the haze from her brain. Warm in her contentment, she reached out to his side of the bed only to find it vacant and cool to her hand. With a hard blink, she looked around to confirm what her sense of touch had told her. Panic finished awakening her, and she scrambled from beneath the covers and grabbed her robe from the back of the rocking chair. As she rushed out her bare feet thumped the floor as she raced down the hall.
“He’s already gone.”
Angelica whirled to face her mother as she gave her robe sash a yank. “When?”
“I’d guess fifteen or twenty minutes. I didn’t see him but I heard him go. Angelica, did you talk to him last night?”
“I tried, and all I got for my trouble was frustration. He can’t see what he’s doing to me, and more importantly, what he’s doing to himself. The past several nights he’s come in so totally exhausted that he hasn’t even bothered to get undressed. He takes off his boots then lays back and is asleep almost the instant his head touches the pillow.” She shook her head and fought back the tears. “I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’m afraid if I push too hard it’ll only drive him further away from me.”
Mrs. Cadence put her arms around her daughter and patted her back.
“We’ll get through this. For Adam we have to do everything we can.”
Like Angelica, Mrs. Cadence felt so completely helpless. Her son-in-law reminded her of her Hiram in so many ways, not the least of which was his obstinacy. There had been many arguments between her and her husband, and he always seemed to win. That last night her Hiram had walked home in the fog, something which continually fostered harsh words for she had seen the danger in it when he didn’t seem to. Her heart twisted at the thought, and at the thought that Adam could be headed in the same direction.
*******
That evening Adam rounded in earlier than he had in a while, and Angelica greeted him at the door.
“Oh, sweetheart, you look like the longest day anyone ever had. Did something go wrong?”
“One of the men had promised to pick up those special beams that Siddon had cut for me, and he forgot so we had to quit early,” he said as he hung up his coat and hat.
“You look completely worn to a frazzle,” she said as she brushed back the black wisp that had fallen over his forehead.
“I am tired,” he said as he took off his gun belt.
“Then why don’t you just go on to bed? And in the morning you can have a good breakfast.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me to take the day off?”
“Would it do any good?”
With a feeble smile he kissed her then went off to their room. She watched until the door closed behind him, and her heart turned then she went into the dining room where her mother was just setting the table.
“Is he all right?” her mother asked as she put down the last plate.
“He is just so exhausted. I’ve seen sheets with more color.” Her eyebrows drew down. “I just don’t know what to do anymore except be there when he needs me.”
“Sometimes that’s all any woman can do. Now would you help me get the bowls from the kitchen?”
She agreed and they had no sooner started that way than a violent crash sounded from the back of the house.
“What was that?” Mrs. Cadence asked as they looked at each other.
At that very moment Fiona appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide and black.
“Fiona, what is it?”
“Adam fell.”
Angelica went stark white, and she dashed out past her sister, her shoes clicking rapidly on the hardwood floor. The bedroom door was already open, and her stomach rose into her throat, nearly strangling her. “Adam!” She ran to him and fell onto her knees at his side where he lay on his back near the bed. The lamp was shattered nearby, and the oil was spreading into a small pool. Carefully, she lifted him and held his head in her lap.
“I’ll get Dr. Robey,” Mrs. Cadence said then ran back out.
As Angelica looked into his face, his haggard dark eyes opened and a faint smile tipped his mouth then he raised his hand and touched her face. She took it and held it to her heart then bent over him – her arm clasping him closer – and made no attempt to control her weeping.
Fiona’s fingernails dug into the doorjamb as she watched her sister, and for the first time she truly felt that this man was family, and she feared for him. She had seen him wearing himself out in an effort to build the home that he and Angelica would call theirs, and at times she envied her sister to have someone love her so much. One hand came to her lips, and tears ran down to drip from her chin, and she hoped that their marriage wasn’t over before it really got started.
FOUR
Angelica paced back-and-forth in front of the fireplace in the parlor, flames flickering and dancing in the hearth. She knotted a handkerchief in her hands, and her eyes kept darting in the direction of the hall. Mrs. Cadence sat on the settee with her other daughter and the traces of concern were most evident around her pale gray eyes.
“Angelica, why don’t you sit down? This isn’t helping anything.”
“I can’t, Mother, not until I know. I knew he was harming himself. Why didn’t I make him stop? Why didn’t I put my foot down and make him stop?”
“Do you honestly think you could have? I never thought I would find a man more pigheaded than your father until I met Adam.”
“Well, after this things are going to be different. Nothing is worth this. Nothing is worth my husband.”
Dr. Elias Robey stepped in with his battered leather medical bag and breaths were held as desperate eyes turned to him.
“How is he, doctor?” Angelica asked as the delicate piece of lace edged linen was stretched almost to tearing.
“He’s all right,” he said with an air of reassurance. “He’s just exhausted, but with some rest I think he’ll be right as rain.”
“Thank the Good Lord,” Mrs. Cadence said with a sigh of relief.
“But he was tight lipped as a clam about what he’s been doing to himself, though I could see a lot of it for myself, so I need for you to tell me.”
“It has been so frustrating, doctor. He’s building our house and in trying to get it done before the snow he’s been pushing himself so hard that it’s painful to watch.” Angelica began knotting the handkerchief again. “He leaves with first light, sometimes before, hardly eats and gets home late so worn out that it disturbs me.”
“And you haven’t been able to do anything?”
Angelica gave a derisive little snort. “Not with that man. The other night I confronted him about it, and the next morning he was out of the house before I was awake.”
“What do you think is best for him?” Mrs. Cadence asked as she went to stand with Angelica.
“Ideally I would like for him to take at least a week to rest and eat plenty of your good cooking, but I know him so I’ll settle for four days, and you can tell him that’s doctor’s orders.”
“Oh, we’ll see to it,” Mrs. Cadence said forcefully.
“Can I see him now?”
“I don’t think he’ll go to sleep until you do,” the doctor said as one side of his mouth crooked.
Angelica thanked him and rushed from the parlor and down the hall. Quietly, she opened their bedroom door and looked inside. Adam was lying in bed with his eyes closed and the bedspread brought up around his chest, his long arms at his sides. He was wearing a soft cotton nightshirt that she figured the doctor had helped him get in to. Like a church mouse she crept in and gently sat on the mattress next to him and took his hand. After about a second he looked at her, and she couldn’t miss the weariness deep in the dark hazel.
She kissed his knuckles and fought down the fear that lingered. “The doctor says that you’re going to be all right, but if you ever do that to me again you won’t be.”
“I guess… I guess I kinda overdid it a little.”
She could see that he was fighting sleep. “Dr. Robey says you are to rest for at least four days, and you’re going to. I want you to promise me that you will. Promise me.”
“I… promise.”
“Good. The house can wait that long, and on Sunday you’re going to observe the Sabbath and not do any work.” She ran her fingers back through his heavy black hair. “And we aren’t going to worry about it. We have a roof over our heads and plenty to eat and family and if we have to wait until next year for the house to be finished we will. It isn’t worth this if it’s never built.”
“I wanted…” His eyelids dropped and his thick lashes touched his cheeks as her fingers continued running through his hair. “...to have it ready… for you…. I wanted it… for Christmas.”
“There’s plenty of room for a tree in Mother’s parlor.”
His breathing was becoming deeper as desperately needed sleep took hold.
“And I already have all I could possibly want or need.” She leaned forward and kissed his still lips, and his shaggy mustache tickled, but he didn’t move. “You.”
*******
Steve Balasco, a bartender at The Wooden Nickel, stood just outside the saloon’s batwing doors, voices and music from a tinny piano and the laughter of the girls wafting into the night. He had stepped outside for a breath of fresh air when he saw the doctor coming toward him along the boardwalk.
“Evenin’, Doc.”
“Good evening, Steve. Things get a little stuffy?”
“Yeah, just needed my lungs filled with something fresher. You been to see somebody?” he asked as his eyes flicked in the direction from which the doctor had just come.
“Adam Cartwright collapsed tonight.”
Steve pushed himself away from the wall and stood straighter. “Collapsed? Is he all right?”
“I think he will be if he’ll start taking care of himself better. According to his wife, he’s been working himself to death on their house, and if he keeps this up, he’ll succeed in killing himself. Her mother told me after her daughter left the room that he’s been working long, hard hours with little rest and less food, and he’s too proud to ask his friends for help.”
Steve riffled his thick hair and grinned. “That’s Adam all right. I’ve met mules that don’t have the stubborn he does. I think I’ll go by and see him tomorrow.”
“I think that’s a splendid idea, but right now I need to get home. I was right in the middle of my supper when Mrs. Cadence came for me. Good night, Steve.”
“Good night, Doc.”
Steve leaned back against the wall again and crossed his arms over the dark red brocaded vest as the wheels began turning behind his charcoal eyes. Tomorrow he would go by to see Adam, and then maybe make a few more stops.
*******
Angelica quietly finished buttoning her nightgown in the darkened bedroom. She had extinguished the remaining lamp as soon as Adam had nodded off, and now she didn’t want to risk disturbing him. He needed all the rest he could get right now, and she figured that she was going to have her hands full with him. Much as she loved him, he could be trying at times, though she wouldn’t change him if she could. She had never been as happy in her life as she was with this dark man, and while she knew that no marriage ran smoothly all the time, she couldn’t imagine herself being without him, and didn’t want to.
Stealthily, she drew back the covers and got into bed next to him, and his steady breathing was like a lullaby to her. She nestled close, careful not to wake him. His nearness was a tonic, but the image of him on the floor rose up, and made her pulse race.
“I can’t lose you,” she whispered.
“You won’t,” he whispered back and his arm went around her.
She kissed him on the side of the neck then settled her head on his shoulder and let the peace of the night swallow them.
FIVE
Judging by the light coming in around the curtains, Adam guessed it was getting close to noon when he finally roused himself and decided it was time to quit laying in bed like a fat sow in a mud wallow. He tittered at the thought as his tapered fingers buttoned his shirt. It had taken his wife finding him sprawled in the floor, and nearly throwing away the good thing he had to open his eyes to what he was doing.
The door opened a crack and that beloved dark brown head poked inside and a bright smile spread her lips. “Well, you’re finally up, and all I can say is that it’s about time,” she said as she came on in. “You look better today, you have more color.”
“I feel better, though I’m still some tired, and I could eat an entire herd.”
“Dinner will soon be ready, but first you have a visitor.”
“A visitor? Who is it?”
“Steve Balasco. He came earlier this morning but he didn’t expect you to stay in bed half the day.” She took his face in her hands and gazed up at him. “Are you sure you feel all right? You’re not just saying that for my benefit.”
“Now would I do that?” he asked as his eyes twinkled teasingly.
“You’d better not,” she said as she pulled his head down to meet hers. “I can tolerate a lot of things, but deceit isn’t one.”
He put his arms around her and kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in a year. He hadn’t held her this way in weeks, and it made him realize what a fool he’d been. He had what many men didn’t even come close to, and he had almost thrown it all away.
“You’d better finish getting dressed,” she said as she pulled loose from his grasp. “It’s rude to keep your friend waiting too long, and I suggest you don’t try it with me because I won’t wait.” She gave him a saucy wink and tossed her head then went out and closed the door.
He snickered as he did the last button then tucked in his shirttail. He would always be grateful to Mrs. Cadence for cajoling her daughter into coming west with her. The thought of Angelica not being in his life was something he didn’t like to think about. She was everything a man could want and needed in a wife. With another laugh, he sat down in the chair to put his boots on.
Steve was waiting in the parlor, stabbing at the charred logs in the dormant hearth with the poker when Adam came in.
“I would say good morning but I’ve been informed that I stayed in bed too long,” Adam said briskly as he came forward with his hand extended.
Steve had half expected Adam to look drawn and washed-out but his color and attitude were normal and a sparkle glinted in the dark eyes even though he did catch a touch of fatigue. He was delighted to see that he had been wrong. “Well, sometimes a man just has to recover from making a fool of himself,” he said as he pumped his friend’s hand. “Dr. Robey told me how you wound up in the floor.”
“Oh, he did,” Adam said as the telltale lone eyebrow rose. “And how much did he tell you?”
“Just that you’ve been putting in longer days and less food than you should and that you oughtta know better. And I’m gonna admit that you look better than I expected you to. I half thought I was gonna walk in on a ghost of your former self.”
“Thankfully, it didn’t get that far and with three women in the house it won’t. I can feel them watching me like a hawk already.”
“Then I’d call you lucky. A lot of men can’t even find one, let alone three, and especially one that looks like your Angelica.”
“I’m blessed, that’s for sure. She and her mother will keep me from making the same mistake twice. I’m in for it, and I know it.”
“I heard that,” Angelica said as she came in and took her husband’s arm. “Dinner is on the table. Have you eaten yet, Mr. Balasco?”
“Well, no, I haven’t but…”
“Then you’ll dine with us, and I won’t take no for an answer. We have plenty, and you are more than welcome.”
“See what I mean?” Adam said with a knowing glance.
“Then it would be my pleasure, Mrs. Cartwright.”
Adam and Angelica went out toward the dining room and Steve followed. This was a happy home, and he was glad it would stay that way.
*******
“Angelica!” Adam stuck his head out into the entryway. “Angelica!”
She came into the parlor just as he was going through the bookcase. “What’re you looking for?”
“My plans for the house,” he said as he turned to her. “I’ve looked everywhere I’ve thought they could be, and I can’t find them.”
“Adam, you’re supposed to be resting, not working on that house. Dr. Robey said four days, and if he didn’t mean it I do. I don’t want a repeat of what we had last night.”
“All I want to do is go over a few things,” he said as he started rummaging through a small cherry wood lowboy in the corner. “I don’t think that’s going to tire me out too much.”
“Well, did you try the desk?”
“Twice, and they weren’t there either time. I distinctly remember leaving them on the table in here.”
“But when was that? You’ve been so tired and preoccupied lately do you even know when that was. Maybe you didn’t bring them home. What about your saddlebags?”
“That’s the one place I forgot to look. Thanks, sweetheart.” He gave her a peck on the cheek as he went out.
She looked around after him with a crafty leer then went on back to what she was doing.
*******
That night after supper the family retired to the parlor. Adam sat on the end of the settee reading a copy of the Bantree Sentinel. Angelica was on the other end crocheting an antimacassar set for her new home while her mother had the chair by the fire, and her sister was at the desk writing in her diary.
Angelica felt all warm and safe and happy and hadn’t realized how truly tired she was. The constant repetition of the hook working through the thread had an almost hypnotic effect on her, and she felt the pace of the day fall away. She yawned quietly and demurely covered her mouth with her hand then returned to her work.
Adam was reading about the new president’s plans for the country when his name was whispered. He looked up at his mother-in-law then followed her gaze. Angelica had dozed off; her hands and crochet resting in her lap. He laid his paper aside then eased over by her, put the thread and hook on the table then brought her into his lap. She snuggled her head against his chest without waking, and his arms went securely around her. Resting his cheek against the soft dark brown hair, contentment flowed through him like a rain swollen river. For so long he had searched for the right woman that he could share his life with and it had taken near dying to bring it about, but for such happiness he felt it was worth it.
Fiona smiled as she watched them then turned back to the desk and dipped the pen into the ink well. “At first I wasn’t sure if Angelica had done the right thing by marrying Adam Cartwright,” she wrote, “but I can see now how much they love each other and how happy they are. Someday I hope that I can find a love as true as theirs.”
SIX
Angelica sat on the side of the bed and rubbed the haze from her eyes. Lately, a night’s sleep hadn’t seemed adequate enough to erase the tired feelings, and she had to fight dozing off through the day. She rubbed her hand over her stomach at the slight queasy that gurgled around. She looked at Adam, still asleep on his side of the bed. When she had made him promise that he would take it easy for four days he hadn’t gone back on his word, and she knew he wouldn’t, though she did know that by his very nature it wasn’t easy. She smiled and brushed back the black wisp that had become so familiar and so adored to her.
As she started across the room her belly began to really churn so she leaned forward against the dresser to let it pass.
“Are you all right,” the rich baritone asked as gentle hands gripped her shoulders from behind.
“I’m fine,” she said as she grasped his fingers. “I’m still a little tired from yesterday. I’ve been working harder to pull my weight and it’s catching up with me.”
“Maybe you should slow down too.”
She turned to him and rubbed her hand against the coarse, shadowy morning stubble along his strong jaw. “I’m not going at it like you were. Keeping a house isn’t like building one, and I’m not driving myself like a relentless taskmaster.” His arms went around her, and she put the side of her head against him, and his heart beat beneath her ear. “You’re not trying to go back on what we agreed, are you?”
“No, I would never do that. I made a promise, and I’ll keep it, but sitting idle when there’s still so much work to be done nags at me.”
“What about the men you hired?” she asked as she leaned back and looked into his face. “Aren’t they working even though you aren’t there?”
“I made it clear that nothing was to be done when I’m not there. I was racing the calendar as it was, but now…”
“We’ll manage. As long as we’ve got each other I feel like we can manage anything.” She put her head back and his arms tightened around her.
When they were like this he knew he held the whole world in his arms. To think, that less than two months ago he had known that she existed in name only. He had never seen her or heard that wonderful voice or tasted her lips, and now they belonged to each other body and soul. Taking a deep breath, he pressed her closer and felt her fingers ruffling the back of his thick hair and knew he had never known such sublime happiness in all of his thirty-five-plus years. He wished he could gather her up and take her back to bed, but even though he wasn’t building on their home at the present there was still plenty he could do here, and the oldest son of Ben Cartwright was no shirker.
*******
After breakfast Adam went to see Siddon Banning, and he didn’t notice Steve Balasco watching him intently as he passed the saloon. Close to fifteen minutes after his leaving, Angelica thought it the right time do something she had been planning for several days. It was a little nippy for August, especially in the morning, so she drew the long paisley shawl around her and left the porch. Her destination was close to the other end of town from the Banning mansion so she felt confident that Adam wouldn’t catch her.
Her feet lightly scuffed the hard packed street, raising tiny whiffs of dust along with the hem of her skirt and petticoats. Her fingers knotted around the fabric and on the handle of her purse as she drew closer to the little building with its weathered false front and peeling paint.
Her feet hardly made any sound as she went up the steps onto the small portico but it would take a minute for her to build up her courage.
Dr. Robey had just settled into his favorite rocking chair by the fire with a morning cup of coffee and the paper when someone knocked at the door. He grunted at the intrusion as he got up. He had more-or-less gotten used to them coming at any time of the day or night and didn’t begrudge these people anything. Being the only doctor in town and one of only two for miles he couldn’t. A man who would had no business being a doctor.
As he opened the door back his russet brown eyes widened. “Good morning, Mrs. Cartwright. I certainly didn’t expect to see you this morning. Come on in where it’s warmer.”
Thanking him, she did as he bade, and he closed the door behind her.
“Nothing’s wrong with Adam, I hope.”
“No, he’s doing fine, and keeping him from working isn’t too hard, so far. But he isn’t the reason I’m here…. It’s for me.”
“Are you sick?”
“Not in the way you mean, though I have been feeling out of sorts lately. I think I know why, but I’m here to make sure.”
The light coming through the windows glittered in his roguish eyes. “All right, let’s find out if you’re right.”
Letting her go first they went to the examining room at the back of the house.
*******
“Fiona Lillian Cadence, I have just about had it with you,” Mrs. Cadence said as she put her fists on her well-rounded hips. “If you know where your sister went, I want you to tell me this instant.”
“I promised Angelica that I wouldn’t.”
“Fiona.”
Any further discussion was cut off by the opening of the front door. Mrs. Cadence bustled from the parlor, closely followed by her youngest daughter.
“Angelica, where have you been? This one wouldn’t tell me?” Mrs. Cadence said, and she gestured to Fiona.
“I went to see Dr. Robey,” Angelica said as she was hanging her shawl on the coat rack.
“Dr. Robey? Why did you go see him? Adam isn’t…?”
“Adam’s fine. I needed to see him for myself.”
“Angelica, you aren’t…?”
“I’m fine too. Now I need to sit down. I’m rather tired.”
She went into the parlor and sat on the settee, her mother and sister coming after her.
Mrs. Cadence sat down next to her. “Angelica, I want to know why you went to see the doctor.” But before her girl could answer understanding dawned in her full face and one hand went to her mouth. “Angelica, are you?”
Angelica’s mischievous violet eyes came around to her mother’s face, and a smile slowly formed over her mouth, and she nodded.
“Oh, Angelica, do you mean what I think you do?” Fiona asked enthusiastically.
“I don’t know how that got past me after having nine of my own.”
“Well, we’ve all been so worried about Adam, and this just kind of slipped up on us.”
Mrs. Cadence took her hands. “Have you told him yet?”
“Told me what?”
All attention focused on him. Being wrapped up in the moment, they hadn’t heard him come in.
“Told me what?” he repeated as he stepped into the room.
With a look at Angelica, Mrs. Cadence got up then, with Fiona in tow, started out.
He knew something was up by the way his mother-in-law’s eyes flashed at him, and she left them alone.
“What is this all about? What’re you hiding, and what’ve you three been up to?”
“Sit down with me,” Angelica said as she patted the seat next to her.
With some hesitation, he did as she asked him to. There was something about the look on her face that filled him with some apprehension. “All right, now what’s all this about?”
Angelica took his hand and held it in her lap. “You remember how we talked about waiting until we were settled into our own home before starting a family? Well…, what if we didn’t wait? What if we started now? Would you mind?”
He felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck and a cold tingle run along his spine as a warm spot began growing in his chest. “A baby…? Are we gonna have a baby?”
A gentle smile filled her face, and her eyes were aglow. “For around a month now. I saw Dr. Robey while you were gone. I didn’t want to tell you until I saw him and made sure.” She put her hand against his cheek. “You aren’t angry or disappointed, are you?”
“Angry? Disappointed? I’m gonna be a father. How could I be anything but overjoyed?” He threw his arms around her and clutched her to him.
Adam was happier than any man could ever be. He had Angelica and now there was a baby on the way. Things were happening much faster than he had anticipated and it thought to trample him.
“I gotta let Pa know,” he said as he held her away from him. “And Siddon and Steve and Lee and…” He grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her hard on the mouth. “I love you, Angelica.” He kissed her again then dashed out into the entryway and almost immediately the front door slammed.
She laughed and rubbed her fingers along her lips where his kisses lingered. What a man she had found, and what a joy he made of her life. As she sat there, she looked down at her belly and gently placed her hand against it and could almost feel the new life growing there. “I hope you’re a healthy boy. For him I hope you’re a boy.”
*******
Ben Cartwright and his sons had set down to dinner and just said grace when a horse came into the yard and soon someone was knocking at the door.
“Hoss, would you mind seeing who that is?” Ben said.
“Ah, dadgumit, why is it these jaspers always seem to come right when you’re startin’ to eat,” Hoss said as he threw his napkin onto the table and stood.
Joe giggled.
“It ain’t funny, little brother. Maybe you’d like to see who it is.”
“Pa didn’t ask me.”
Another knock came.
“Well, somebody see who it is.”
Hoss gave Joe a cutting look and stomped into the entry. There was a brief exchange of low words then Hoss returned.
“Who was it, son?”
“Ted Jenkins an’ he had a telegram for you.” He handed his father a plain white envelope.
“A telegram?” Ben said as he took it and started opening it. “Did he say who it was from?”
“Nope,” Hoss said as he took his seat. “He didn’t even tell me where it come from; just that he had to git it to you fast. He was in a hurry to git to his dinner.”
As Hoss and Joe finished dishing up Ben read the wire. As he did his coffee eyes went perfectly round, and he stopped in mid-chew.
“Pa, what is it?” Joe asked at his father’s odd expression.
“Pa, is somethin’ wrong?”
Ben’s mouth spread from ear-to-ear. “There’s not a thing wrong.” He looked at each one of them with deliberation. “It’s from Adam…. He’s going to be a father.”
The whoops escaped through open windows and bounced off of the surrounding trees and seemed to shatter the sky. Small animals scampered off and birds flew as the silence was disrupted. Then quiet settled back briefly only to be broken again by unbridled Chinese.
SEVEN
Adam blew out the lamp and climbed into bed. As he did, Angelica snuggled close to him, soft and warm. It had been a long day filled with promise, and he wouldn’t trade what he had for anything. His wife and his child were here with him and the dark didn’t seem so dark anymore.
“Angelica, I want to start working on the house again.”
“You promised that you wouldn’t for four days.”
“I know I did, but now it’s more important than ever that I get it finished.” He snickered. “My family is growing, and I need a place for them and besides that I feel much better. Rest and food can do that for a man when he comes to his senses.”
“Two more days, it’ll only be for two more days.”
He felt her hand rest on his broad chest.
“When I found you in here on the floor, I don’t think I’ve ever been so frightened in my entire life, and I don’t want to go through that again, you simply mean too much to me. But Saturday, I won’t keep you from it. I’ll live up to my end of the bargain, and I only ask that you do the same…. Please, Adam, don’t ask me to change my mind.”
The room went still and only the ticking of the small clock on the dresser filled the void.
“All right. I guess it’s irrelevant anyway since I still haven’t found my building plans, and I’ve looked all through the house. I suppose I did leave them at the site.”
“Well, if you did they’ll still be there when you go back.”
He turned to her, and his hand went to her face. The time for talk was over as her fingers ran up and along the side of his neck and laced in his hair. As he squeezed her closer their lips touched and their breathing quickened along with their hearts.
Tonight they belonged to each other, as they would for many nights to come, and it filled him with the purest elation. “I love you,” he whispered into the darkness. Then she showed him that she felt the same as she kissed him again.
*******
Adam came out of the bedroom and pulled the door together behind him. He hadn’t felt this good in a long time. He was getting his much needed rest, eating like Hoss, this thought made him smirk, he found himself surrounded by women, one of them his beautiful Angelica, and he had a child on the way. What more could any man ask for? It felt good just to be alive and it was going to his head.
The urge to go out to the building site was intensifying but he had given his word that he would stay well away from it and devote his time to recovering from pushing himself too far and his family. He sniffed the air and caught the aroma of bacon and ham intermingled with baking biscuits and coffee and smacked his mouth.
“Good morning, Fiona,” he said briskly as the girl came out of the dining room.
“Good morning, Adam. Is Angelica still asleep?”
“She was stirring when I came out. I guess from now on she’s going to be over sleeping more, but I think we can work around it.”
“I think we can,” she said with a grin. “I was just coming to tell you that breakfast is ready.”
“All right, I’ll see if Angelica’s up.”
He watched her as she went back into the dining room. Since first seeing her it had struck him how much she didn’t look like her mother and Angelica or most of her brothers and sisters, for that matter. Her eyes were the same soft gray as her mother’s but her face was longer, her nose more curved and her ash brown hair straighter, and he knew she more resembled her father.
With a click of his teeth and a spry wink, he went back into the bedroom. Angelica was in the process of donning one of her petticoats.
“Can I help?” he asked, and he went to her and put his arms around her waist from behind.
“Not like this. Adam, I’m afraid I don’t have time for one of your playful moods.”
“Too bad,” he said as he nuzzled behind her left ear and kissed the lobe.
“Adam,” she reprimanded.
“I just came in to tell you that breakfast is ready.”
“All right, I’ll be in if you’ll ever let me finish getting dressed.”
He raised her hair and kissed the nape of her neck, and she shivered.
“Adam Stoddard Cartwright, do you mind?” She tugged away from him and grabbed another petticoat from the bed. “At this rate breakfast will be like ice before I finish. Now go on to the dining room, and I’ll be along.”
He turned her to him and looked into those deep violet pools that could drown a man. “We could stay in here and just forget about it.”
“Why is it that when men get amorous they can be such a pain?”
“Oh, I don’t think,” he kissed her right cheekbone, “most women mind.” He kissed her left cheekbone. “Are you like,” he kissed the tip of her nose, “most women?” He kissed her lips.
“Adam.”
He kissed her chin
“Adam.”
“Why be in,” he kissed the dip at the base of her throat, “such a hurry?” He kissed her right shoulder. “Wasn’t it you,” he kissed her left shoulder, “that wanted me to slow down?”
“Yes, but this isn’t what I meant.” She took his face in her hands and raised his head so that she could look into his eyes. “You know I love you that goes without saying but this isn’t the time. You promised to help mother alphabetize Daddy’s books today.”
He was instantly crestfallen. “All right, but only if you don’t need any help.”
“I have been getting dressed long enough to know how it’s done, and I do think I’m better at handling feminine accessories than you.”
“If you insist,” he said dejectedly then kissed those succulent lips again and reluctantly left the room.
She simply stood with the petticoat dangling from her hand and dragging the floor as she stared after him. This one was a handful, and she loved every second of it. As long as she lived with him she knew that her life would never be dull. She smiled and touched the dip at the base of her throat and wished she had let him stay.
*******
“Well, that completes the jays,” Mrs. Cadence said as Adam stuck a green leather bound book on the shelf.
“And there are over a hundred left. This would go a lot faster with Angelica and Fiona helping.”
“Yes, but they have other things that need to be done.” Her eyes darted to him and the corners of her mouth turned. “And it would also go faster if someone didn’t stop to read now and again.”
He looked cagily at her at the light rebuke. “I plead guilty as charged, your honor. I’ve always liked books, and when I get one in my hands I just can’t resist the temptation.”
“The more I know about you the more you remind me of my Hiram. He loved books and would spend hours at the book seller’s selecting a new one. Sometimes he would take the children with him, and I’ve gone, but mostly he liked going alone and into his own world. I think you would have liked him. He was a good man and sometimes I miss him so much.”
“I know you do.” He sat down on the settee next to her. “After all this time I can tell that Pa still misses my mother so much and Joe’s and Hoss’ too. He didn’t have much time with mine and little more with Inger, but Marie he had for seven years, though it still wasn’t long enough. Even after I got older I never really understood how he felt until I married Angelica. Every day is brighter and more worth living with her in it and if…”
She took his hand and squeezed it. “We won’t talk of such things. We should live every minute of every day to its fullest and never take each other and what we have for granted. Sadly enough, we do the latter and not the former way too often.”
“I know. I guess it’s all a part of being human.” His heavy black eyebrows drew into a pensive frown. “Could I ask you something?”
“Whatever you want to, we’re family.”
“Did you ever have any doubts about your daughter wanting to marry me?”
“Now why would you ask such a foolish thing?”
“I suppose it’s because there have been so many lost opportunities in my life to marry and finally settle down that it guess… I guess I was beginning to wonder if I was worth it.”
“Don’t ever let Angelica hear you talk that way, she’ll take the hide. I have seen few wives as madly in love with their husband as she is. And I’m going to tell you right now, before she became Mrs. Adam Cartwright, she could be a little selfish at times. But now your welfare and your every want and need are the most important things to her. I’ve seen her upset before, but when we were waiting for the doctor to tell us if you were all right the other night… I think if he had told us you weren’t she wouldn’t have made it.” She put her hand to his cheek. “Doubts? No, I never had any doubts, and I don’t think she did either. Right from the start we both knew you were the one even though it took her a little longer to realize it. Now,” and she pulled her hand away, “we’d better get back to our job or we’re liable to be here until midnight.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a broad grin and a two-fingered salute then came to his feet.
She handed him another book and watched as he flipped through it and stopped at a passage. The dark eyes followed the lines then rose to her over the page, and she saw the hint of wickedness there. Her hands clasped together and rested in her lap. It was almost like being with Hiram again and it felt good.
*******
The evening sun was waning as Angelica stepped out onto the front porch. She had helped her mother and Fiona with the supper dishes and now she just wanted some fresh air and to find her husband. She hadn’t been able to miss his restlessness growing all day. Not long after they finished he went out, and she suspected he had gone to see one of his friends in town.
“A nice evening, isn’t it?”
She whirled with a gasp as her hand went to the brooch at her throat. “I thought you went on into town.”
“I almost did,” Adam said as he began pushing the swing back-and-forth, and the chains creaked, “but it’s so nice right here I decided not to.” He stopped and held his hand out to her. “Why don’t you come and sit with me?”
“I need to get back inside and help mother with some things.”
“Well, whatever they are I don’t think a few minutes is gonna hurt anything. And how often do you get to sit on the porch with your husband?”
“All right, but only if you don’t let me stay too long.”
He reached into a small front britches pocket and came out with his watch. “I’ll time you.”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she said and went and sat next to him.
He scooted closer to her and put his arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Better?”
“Um-hum, but now it’ll be that much harder for me to get up.”
“That was the idea.”
Fiona came along the hall from the back of the house with the intention of going into the parlor. She had promised Mother that she would go looking for her sister. As she moved into the entryway she became aware of a low, deep voice. Out of curiosity, she stepped into the dining room. Its front window, which was open, looked out onto the porch, and the swing was directly in front of it. As she drew closer she realized that it was Adam in song that she heard and Angelica was with him.
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life’s busy throng,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
He was singing to her sister, and she had never heard of anything so romantic in all her young life. His was maybe the most beautiful voice she had ever been fortunate enough to hear, and she wanted to stay and listen but she felt she was intruding so she quietly went out. Mother would have to make do with only one helper, and Fiona knew that she would understand if anyone would.
EIGHT
Angelica’s eyes fluttered open and it was all she could do to push back her drowsiness. It was obviously still fairly dark outside and a lamp burned low in the room. As her brain continued to wake she gradually realized that she wasn’t alone. With a languid yawn, she stretched her arms over her head then sat up. Adam was at the small shaving stand by the door, his back to her, and as when she had seen him that first time, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. She smiled contentedly and rubbed the feeling back into her arms.
“Good morning,” he said without looking around.
“I thought I was being quiet.”
“You were, but I still heard you.”
This was just another one of the aspects of this enigmatic man she found herself married to.
“How did you sleep?” he went on as he took the towel from the bar on the side of the little stand.
“Wonderfully,” she said as she stretched again.
He turned to her wiping the remains of the shaving soap from his face. “Good, you and the baby need the rest and the energy it gives you for the day.”
Then he lowered the towel and a quick intake of breath rushed into her. “You shaved it off.”
“It was just something I wanted to try but it got to be too much trouble to take care of, and I have better things to do with my time.”
She threw back the covers then slid off the bed and went over to him and gingerly touched his smooth upper lip. “Now I’ll just have to get used to your face all over again.”
“Do you mind?” he asked with a lopsided smirk as he wiped behind one ear.
“I never could, and I must admit that I like you better without it. This way I can see all of your face, and I want to see it all.” She ran a finger over his lips. “Now I can see what a kissable mouth you have. The mustache hid it.”
He gave the towel a fling onto the dresser and pulled her to him. She looked into those eyes that cast a spell over her and read something. “All right, what do you want?”
“What makes you think I want anything?”
“Call it knowing my husband or feminine intuition, if you like. Now, at the hazard of repeating myself, what do you want?”
His arms tightened around her. “I was going to tell you anyway, so it might as well be now. I’m going out to the house and get my plans.”
Her fine eyebrows drew down. “Adam, you promised.”
“I said I wouldn’t work on the house but I don’t think going over my plans is going to constitute my going back on my word.”
“Maybe not to you, but I meant for you to distance yourself from it in every way.”
“Why? What can this hurt?”
“You,” she said as she touched his still damp cheek. “I’d put a torch to it before I’d see you again like you were the other night.”
“I only want…”
She pulled away from him and turned her back to him. “You promised.”
“Angelica, you’re overreacting to this.”
“All right, so I’m overreacting, but can you blame me? What woman wants to lose the man she loves?”
He grinned and put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re not gonna lose me simply because I ride out there and get my building plans.” Gently, he turned her to face him. “Is it something else?”
“For these few days I’ve had you to myself without the house coming between us, and it’s been a time I’ll always cherish. I haven’t had to worry about you working yourself to death.” She pushed his hair back from his forehead. “You’ve paid attention to me, you’ve paid attention Mother and Fiona, you’ve paid attention to life again,” she took his hand and placed it against her belly, “and you’ve paid attention to our baby, and I’m afraid of losing that again. Adam, I just don’t want you hurting yourself like you did before. I don’t think I could take it this time, and maybe you couldn’t either.”
“All right, if it means that much to you. I don’t think one more day is going to hurt anything.”
“And this time around you’re not going to push yourself so hard. I’m not in a hurry so you needn’t be.”
“That sounds pretty good to me.” He cupped her chin in his hand and raised it. “Now, to more important things.”
His head lowered, and her eyes closed in anticipation, and she wasn’t disappointed as he kissed her. She had won the skirmish but the battle to hold onto him had only just begun. She knew this wouldn’t be the only thing that would threaten to take him from her along the way, but he was worth any fight and any price she would have to pay. He was hers, and she was going to keep it that way.
*******
Adam had gone out to the woods just beyond the fringe of the town to cut some wood with a horse drawing a sledge, though they had plenty, but this had given him a chance to get away for a short time. Its runners had left a trail through the grass that was easy to follow, not that he needed the help. As the animal slogged along behind him on their way home, his mouth quirked into a grin as he heard his father’s voice telling his oldest son that he was half Piaute.
Before he left, he hadn’t realized that he would miss his father and brothers and Hop Sing and his home of so many years as much as he did. He had originally thought of building his and Angelica’s home on the Ponderosa but it had been important for him to make a clean break and have a place completely his own. The Ponderosa belonged to Pa and this one would belong to him, him and his beloved Angelica and their children.
As he walked on – the rifle held in the crook of his arm – the back of the house came into sight. His eyes twinkled in the sunlight as he saw Angelica waiting for him by the backdoor. As he drew closer he could see that her hands were wrung in front of her, and he couldn’t miss the relief in her face.
“You didn’t miss me, did you?” he said as he brought the horse to a stop near her and gave her a peck on the cheek.
“Oh, a little maybe. While you were gone Mr. Balasco stopped by.”
“Steve?” he asked as he began unfastening the rope around the sections of the young tree. “What did he want?”
“He knows that tomorrow you’ll be heading out to work on the house, and he wanted to know if you could use an extra set of hands.”
“I didn’t know that Steve knew one end of a hammer from the other.”
“He assured me that he could learn.”
“All right, I’ll go see him after I get finished here.”
“That won’t be necessary. I went ahead and told him that you would.”
“Oh, you did, did you,” he said as he turned to her. “And just what else did you tell him?”
“Nothing, after all, I had to leave something for you.” She pulled his head down and kissed between his eyes then went inside.
He snickered and shook his head then went back at his chore.
*******
Dinner was just being brought into the dining room when Adam finished with the chopping and came in.
“I was about to send Fiona after you,” Mrs. Cadence said as she sat a bowl of fried potatoes on the table. “Did you get finished?”
“Uh-huh, and I added that to what you already had, and you’ve got a pretty good supply laid away but I’ll go back and get some more before we leave,” he said as he rolled down a sleeve. “Out here, getting caught in the dead of winter without enough fire wood isn’t a good thing. I’ll go wash up a little and be right back.”
“And see if you can find Angelica while you’re about it. I haven’t seen her in a bit.”
He assured her that he would and went on to their room. The minute he stepped in he saw his wife sitting on the side of the bed, and he didn’t have to be told that she wasn’t feeling well. He pushed the door together then went to sit next to her.
“Did you get all the wood chopped?”
“And stored away with the rest,” he said with a nod. “Not feeling so well?”
“My stomach’s just queasy, is all, and I don’t think I can eat a bite.”
“You really should try. Remember, you’re not just eating for yourself anymore.”
“I know,” she said as she rubbed at the nausea, “but I don’t think the baby’s so hungry either.”
He leaned down close to her belly. “Listen, son, you really shouldn’t make your mother sick this way, and your father sure would appreciate it if you’d stop.”
As he sat back up he watched her face as astonishment gradually registered there.
“It’s quit.”
“Good boy,” he said as he patted her stomach.
“And how do you know it’s a boy.”
“I’m my father’s son. Now let’s go to the table, and you can tell me what you got into while I was gone.”
He kissed her then got to his feet and took her hand and she stood. Putting his arm around her shoulders, they went out together.
NINE
Adam finished locking up for the night then went back to their room, the lamp’s glow lighting his way. Angelica appeared to be already asleep, so he quietly closed the door then extinguished the light and got into bed. As he settled down into the soft mattress, he felt her snuggle close to him and her arm wrap around him.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“I wanted to talk to you first.”
“What about?”
“When you go out to the house tomorrow I want to go with you.”
“Why?”
“Since you bought the land I haven’t even been out there once. I have no idea what it looks like.”
“Pretty much like the Ponderosa, and you’ve seen that.”
“Don’t patronize me, Adam. You’ve told me very little about it. I don’t even know who you bought it from. I never questioned you before because there was plenty of time, but now I want to know.”
“If I tell you will you go to sleep?”
“All right.”
“It belonged to a man named Jamieson Glover. He came from New York with dreams of having one of the biggest and richest spreads in the state. Unfortunately, the unclaimed land he bought wasn’t enough so he began trying to buy out the homesteaders, and when they wouldn’t sell he brought in some hired gunmen and tried running them out or killing them, it made no difference to him.”
“What happened?”
“We made a stand at Lee Haymes’ place. Glover and five of his guns were killed for their trouble, and so was a four-year-old little boy and almost Steve Balasco.”
Her arm tightened around him. “You were there?”
“Yeah, I was there. Now, will you do as I asked and go to sleep?”
He felt her kiss him on the cheek then she nuzzled her face against his neck, and he could feel her soft breathing. Hugging her closer, he let his eyes go toward the ceiling. This was the first time in a while that he had let himself really think about what had happened at the Haymes’ place back in June. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and a single tear escaped and ran down the side of his face.
*******
Adam’s rich voice and Angelica’s not-so-sweet tones swelled in the parlor and Steve, Mrs. Cadence and Fiona had retreated to the dining room in self-defense.
“Adam, I can’t see that it will hurt one thing for me to go out there with you today,” Angelica said from where she sat on the settee. “If I see the house before it’s finished or after doesn’t really matter.”
Adam stalked to the cold fireplace and whirled on her. “You are a very stubborn woman.”
“That’s good, because I’m married to a very stubborn man.”
“Why is it so important for you to go out there now? It’s not like it’s going anywhere.”
“Well, I am.” She jerked to her feet. “I’m going with you.”
“Angelica.”
“I’ve had enough of this,” Mrs. Cadence said as she appeared in the doorway, Steve and Fiona standing with her. “I think we should all go.”
“Not you too,” Adam said as his shoulders slumped.
“Yes, me too. You two have been arguing about this long enough. The day is getting away from you, Adam, and what have you accomplished? If you plan on getting any work done today you need to just give in. I packed a basket with food, and I think it will make a nice outing for all of us.”
Adam frowned and looked at Steve – who simply shrugged – then he turned to his wife. “You won’t back down from this?”
She crossed her arms in front of her, and her mouth set into an even line. “Not an inch.”
He sighed and smoothed back his heavy black hair. “Well, I know when I’m licked. Go ahead and get your wraps and we’ll be on our way.”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Angelica said as she gave him a quick kiss then followed after her mother and sister.
“You were a lot of help,” Adam said as he shot Steve a dirty look.
“I learned a long time ago not to come between any man and the women in his family. You live longer that way.”
“Well, just for that, you can carry the basket, and I hope it’s heavy,” Adam said and gave Steve a thump against the chest then they went out into the entryway.
*******
They had been going for nearly thirty minutes when Adam stopped the buckboard in a clearing along a new road dotted on either side by giant pines, and Steve reined in his horse alongside.
“What’re we stopping for?” Angelica asked from where she sat next to him.
“You said you wanted to see our land. Well, this is it.”
“All this?” Angelica asked as her eyes scanned around her.
“All this. Over that way,” Adam said as he pointed off to the left, “stood Glover’s house.”
“Isn’t it there anymore?” Fiona asked.
“No,” he said as he shook his head. “A couple days after the fight somebody slipped in and burned it to the ground, and if it was who I think it was I frankly don’t blame him.”
“Who do you think it was?” Angelica asked.
“The father of that little boy I told you about. Now let’s go see the house.” He gave the reins a snap and they started on again with Steve coming along behind.
They hadn’t gone much farther up the road when Adam stopped the team again but no one asked him why. The sounds of hammering and sawing and voices filled the air. Adam looked at those around him, and he could tell that this came as no surprise to them. He started the horses again at a faster pace and they continued on.
After a few minutes they came to a curve in the road and into a large clearing where the house was and the buckboard was stopped again. The large two-story white dwelling was nearly completed. The roof had been put on the front porch and a good sized barn stood across the yard from it. Men, many of which Adam knew and some he didn’t, swarmed about like bees busying themselves with different tasks. Women were at tables spread with clothes and food and children played.
Adam looked at Angelica and fire flicked in his dark hazel eyes. “Is this why I couldn’t find my building plans?”
“I gave them to Mr. Balasco when he came to see you the morning after you collapsed, and he took them to Mr. Banning.”
Steve squirmed in his saddle as he caught those icy eyes.
“And it was his job to watch you when you went on into town and make sure you didn’t come out here,” Angelica went on.
“Even me and Fiona were in on it,” Mrs. Cadence said proudly.
“Angelica, you knew I wanted to do this?” Adam said as he turned back to her.
“What good is stubborn pride when you won’t even ask your friends for help?” Angelica took his arm. “Adam, you have done so much for others, and they saw this as a way to give back to you. Mr. Balasco told us what you did for them in June and many times before that. They did it because you’re their friend, and I did it because I love you. No matter who built it this will still be our home, and even if you hadn’t driven one nail you designed it, and it’s a wonderful design.” She looked around into the clearing. “It’s the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen in the most beautiful place in the world.” She turned back to him. “But even if it were just a sod hut with only one room that leaked when it rained, it would be like the grandest palace because I was sharing it with you.” A smile curled the sides of her mouth. “Adam, take me to our house.”
He just looked at her and love and pride swelled inside him. She was one of the blessings he had in this life, and if he didn’t have a cent to his name he would have all the riches any man could wish for. He touched her face then looked at Mrs. Cadence and Fiona in the rear seat then turned to Steve. Yes indeed, he was a rich man and his wealth went beyond mere money.
With a click of his teeth, he slapped the reins against the team’s backs and they started into the yard. Home waited.
THE END