Part 20 (1/2)
Annie slammed the lid on the box.
Charmaine giggled, and Annie and Lizzy joined her.
”Thank you, Mother!” Annie called, a whole new worry opened in her mind.
Sunday afternoon had been decided upon. After Luke got his rigs put away and his horses brushed and fed and watered after church he would take Annie and Charmaine to the house.
Annie fidgeted all through church. When the service ended, she pulled on her coat and walked beside Charmaine down the aisle to shake Preacher Davidson's hand. ”Only a week left now,” he said with a smile.
Her heart fluttered. ”I can't believe the wedding's almost here,” she replied.
Her parents were directly behind her, and the preacher said nothing to them about the upcoming event, but greeted them politely.
Luke stood at the bottom of the three steps, wearing a dark-navy coat.
Annie's heart lifted when she saw him waiting, his black hair glistening in the autumn sun, and she smiled a warm welcome. Her father gave her his arm and she grasped it to descend the stairs. She looked up at him, his collar turned against the brisk wind, his expression unreadable. ”Perhaps you'd like to join us, Daddy? Come see the house Luke has built?”
Eldon met Luke's gaze.
”You're welcome to come along,” Luke said with a nod.
A muscle jumped in Eldon's jaw. He turned to his wife, who stood four feet away, her attention deliberately focused on the street, her fingers white on the reticule she gripped with both hands.
Eldon shook his head.
Mildred faced them. ”Just where is this house you are building, Mr. Carpenter?”
”It's about five miles northeast of here,” Luke replied. ”I bought several acres with the protection of the foothills at the back of the house. The landscape is beautiful this time of year.”
”And Annie will be expected to live in the middle of nowhere with no protection?”
”It's a short ride to town,” he replied. ”Closer than the Renlows' place, actually.”
”I hardly think an isolated cabin in the woods is an appropriate place for a young lady. She would be better off in town.”
”There wasn't any property available in town,” Luke told her. ”Not that I could buy, anyway.” He observed Annie's father deliberately, then looked away. ”Besides, this way I have a place for horses.”
Annie's parents exchanged an uncomfortable glance.
”Afternoon, son,” Uncle Mort greeted Luke, extending his hand. Luke shook it solemnly.
”Good day, Mr. Carpenter,” Aunt Vera said.
Luke gave her a smile. ”Ma'am.”
Eldon turned to join his wife. They walked toward the Renlows' wagon and Annie's aunt and uncle followed.
Annie swallowed the ache in her throat, blinked, and turned her attention away from her unaccepting parents only to find Burdell's gaze locked on them. Diana waved cheerfully from her place at his side. In his father's arms, Will spotted Annie and his face brightened with an adorable grin.
Burdell turned away abruptly and strode toward the street. Will attempted to look back and wave over his shoulder.
Annie waved, then brought her hand up to cover her trembling lips. Luke stretched a palm toward her, and she clung to it.
Charmaine followed, pus.h.i.+ng Annie's chair.
Luke had brought his best buggy, and he a.s.sisted Annie and Charmaine both to the wide front seat, then placed the wheelchair in the back seat. Annie was delighted to sit in the front and not in her usual place beside her chair, as she did when she rode with her parents. Luke's consideration to place Charmaine at her side, even though the s.p.a.ce was tight, pleased her, too.
The crowded seating placed them shoulder to shoulder, and Luke's knee brushed Annie's skirts with each b.u.mp and sway.
The vivid shades of flaxen and yellow almost hurt Annie's eyes. They crossed the shallow creek, and even the rivulet of water appeared gold in color. The gra.s.s along the banks now lay brown and matted with leaves. A rich glaze shone on the high wooded slopes and the aspen leaves made a brilliant carpet on the dark, damp earth. Hawks sailed in circles above the foothills and a haze hung along the skyline. A small herd of p.r.o.nghorn grazed in the distance.
They topped a rise, and there on a flat section stood the house and a barn, a corral and a windmill, its s.h.i.+ny new blade turning slowly in the sunlight.
Annie brought her hand to her heart in surprise. ”Oh!”
It had been dark last time she'd been here, and the house hadn't been closed in or roofed. Wood siding and s.h.i.+ngles testified to a land with readily available lumber.
The house wasn't large, only one story with two windows and a door on the front, but it appeared solid and well-planned with the foothills and the forest at its back. A deer stood drinking from the trough beneath the windmill.
”Look!” Annie cried, pointing. ”Isn't he beautiful?”
”She,” Luke corrected. ”And you won't think so once they start eating your garden.”
Luke pulled the buggy to a halt and the deer ran toward the protection of the foliage where it joined another that had been concealed among the trees until it moved. He helped the ladies to the ground and walked behind Annie and Charmaine as they approached the door.
His sudden attack of nerves surprised him. He'd been working for weeks on end to build and prepare this home and now that she was about to see it, he worried that it was small and crude and not at all like the place she was accustomed to living in. ”I plan to add a porch later. We've got lots of land, and we can add on to the house if we need to.”
Annie and her cousin stopped in front of the door.
”And I didn't make a ramp, because I didn't think you'd need it. But if you want one, I can add it easily.”
Annie smiled at him and shook her head.
”Go ahead,” he said. ”It's open.”
Charmaine reached forward and turned the k.n.o.b. Annie steadied herself with a hand on the door frame and entered. Luke's belly dipped in antic.i.p.ation of her reaction. He'd worked so hard and dreamed so many dreams of them together in this place. It wasn't at all the style of life she was accustomed to, and he prepared for her reaction nervously.
The gla.s.s-paned windows allowed sun to spill across the hardwood floors he'd spent hours sanding and varnis.h.i.+ng. The room they entered held only two plain straight-backed chairs. Guy Halverson had helped him build the mantel over the fireplace as well as the cupboards and shelves in the kitchen area.
”Not much furniture yet,” he said. ”I thought you'd like to choose it.”
She released her cousin's arm and walked toward the other end of the room. He'd purchased a st.u.r.dy table and four chairs that a neighbor had been willing to sell.
”I ordered the stove-the newest model with a water reservoir.” He was babbling, and she wasn't saying anything. Didn't she like the house? Striding to the cast iron stove, he showed her the covered well at the back.
”I like it,” she said simply.
An awkward silence stretched out. Luke glanced from Annie to Charmaine and up at the stove pipe he'd vented through the wall.
”Would you mind if I went out to see if I can spot the deer again?” Charmaine asked, sidling away.