A Vote of Confidence (29 page)

“He knew I was coming for a visit, of course, but he wasn’t expecting me to arrive this soon. Imagine my surprise when I saw
him walking along the street in Boise.”

“No more surprised than I was to see you.”

Daphne continued as if her brother hadn’t spoken. “I have been eager to meet you from the moment I learned you were running
for mayor. I knew right then that you and I should be friends.”

“I would like that,” Gwen said, meaning it.

“What made you decide to run? Was it something you’ve always wanted to do?”

Gwen laughed softly. “No. It was my sister’s idea. I wouldn’t have thought of it on my own, but Cleo is nothing if not a freethinker.”

“Oh, yes. Morgan told me that you have a twin sister. I wish I’d had a sister close to my own age.” Daphne touched Morgan’s
forearm and smiled at him. “Not that I don’t adore my older brother, but he was scarcely ever around from the time I turned
six. I feel like we are just now getting to know one another.”

It was strange, the way this information made Gwen feel even closer to Morgan. Both of them had been separated from their
sisters when they were younger. Both of them had been given a second chance to become closer to their siblings once again.

To Daphne, she said, “Then I hope you will remain in Bethlehem Springs for a long time. It’s good to reconnect with one’s
family.”

“I hope she’ll stay too.” Morgan straightened in his chair. “But I think it’s time we started for home. It’s been a long day,
and the hour grows late.”

Gwen wasn’t ready for them to leave yet, but she could think of no reason for them to remain. However, she
could
think of a reason for them to return. “Would you both come to Sunday dinner? My father and sister will be here. I know they’d
like to meet you, Miss McKinley.”

Daphne didn’t even glance at her brother. “We’d love to come.”

“We would, indeed.” Morgan stood, then offered his hand to his sister.

Gwen followed them down the steps and along the walk to the gate. It was there that Morgan stopped and turned, so suddenly
she almost ran into him.

In a low voice he said, “If it’s all right, Miss Arlington, I will call upon you again tomorrow.”

Morgan parked his automobile at the sidewalk near Gwen’s front gate and whispered a quick prayer for God’s blessing. The last
time he’d asked a woman to marry him, it had been a bad decision. Even now, the memory left a nasty taste in his mouth. But
Gwen was nothing like Yvette. For that matter, he was a much different man than he’d been before.

Now if only she loved him too. If only she said yes when he asked her. Last night he’d felt as if something had changed between
them. Changed in her.

Please
,
God
,
let me not be mistaken.

He opened the passenger door and stepped onto the sidewalk. His lungs felt starved for air, and he took a moment to draw a
deep breath before opening the gate and striding toward the house. The front door was open, and he could see through to the
kitchen where Gwen sat at the table, holding a cup between two hands.

If I’ve ever wanted anything
,
Lord
,
it’s her.

He rapped on the doorjamb. Gwen started, as if surprised by the sound, then turned toward the door. Did she look glad or sorry
to see him? He couldn’t be sure. Her face was hidden in shadows.

“Good morning.” He removed his hat. “I hope I haven’t come too early in the day.”

“No.” She rose and came toward him. “It isn’t too early.”

What if he’d misread her last night? What if she wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say? He could destroy any chance he had
with her if he spoke too soon.

“Does Owen have a lesson today?” he asked.

“Not today. He’s working for the Humphreys at the mercantile for the summer.” She pushed open the screen door. “We’ll resume
his lessons in the fall when school starts up again.”

“No summer off for me?” He stepped inside.

She shook her head, voice grave. “Owen is one of my
advanced
students. He can take the summer off without losing ground. You need your lessons.”

Morgan couldn’t keep from chuckling, loving her all the more for her sense of humor. A slow smile curved her mouth, and the
room felt the brighter for it.

Now. Now was the time. Now, while she was smiling at him, teasing him.

“Miss Arlington, I never want to miss another lesson with you. Not any lesson, piano or otherwise, that you want to give me.”

Their smiles faded in unison.

“And now, Gwen” — he gently clasped her upper arms with his hands — “I’m going to kiss you.”

Gwen found it difficult to breathe and impossible to speak. All she could do was watch as he lowered his mouth toward hers.
It was sweet torture, his kiss, his arms now embracing her. Loving Morgan must have been God’s purpose for her all along,
for surely nothing in her life had felt so right as this.

At long last, he drew back, far enough that she could look into his eyes and see her own swirling emotions mirrored in them.

“I love you, Gwen.”

And I love you.

“Marry me.”

“Marry you?” she whispered.

“Yes, marry me.”

She hadn’t wanted marriage. She had turned her back on it years ago. But now she couldn’t remember why. Looking into his dark
eyes, she couldn’t think of a single reason why she wouldn’t want to be his wife.

“Marry me.” Another smile began to curve the corners of his mouth, and he nodded, as if to show her how to respond.

Marry him.

Love him.

Cherish him.

Laugh with him.

Grow old with him.

Holding her breath, she nodded in return.

His smile widened a second before he kissed her again, long and warm and sweet. She didn’t care if he never stopped. She was
willing to stay right there forever, wrapped in his arms, his lips upon hers, their hearts beating in unison.

When he drew back a second time, he surprised her by sweeping her feet off the floor and cradling her in his arms. “You’ve
made me the happiest man in the world, Gwen Arlington. Shall we go tell my sister? Then we can drive out to the ranch to tell
your father and Cleo.” As if he anticipated what she would say, he continued, “I don’t want to wait until tomorrow. I want
to tell them now.”

She laughed, her joy matching his. “Yes. Let’s go tell them. Let’s tell everyone. Let’s tell the entire world.”

As Morgan’s automobile approached the ranch house, a cloud of dust whirling up behind it, Gwen saw Cleo dismount and tie her horse to the corral fence. A moment later, their father appeared
from inside the barn. Cleo waved at the passengers in the automobile, then the two of them strode toward the house to await
their arrival.

Excitement and nerves erupted in Gwen’s stomach. She knew Cleo and their father liked Morgan, but maybe they would think Gwen
was rushing things. Maybe they would think she hadn’t thought things through. And if they didn’t approve? What then?

The touring car rolled to a stop, and Morgan helped Gwen and Daphne out of the automobile.

“Dad, Cleo,” Gwen said as the three of them stepped forward, “I’d like you to meet Morgan’s sister, Daphne McKinley. Daphne,
this is my father, Griff Arlington, and my sister, Cleo.”

“How do you do?” Daphne offered her hand to Cleo’s father first, then to Cleo. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

After the group exchanged a few pleasantries, Gwen’s father said, “Let’s go up on the porch out of the sun.”

The five of them trouped up the steps. While the others sat on chairs, Cleo leaned her backside against the porch rail and
crossed one booted foot over the other while crossing her arms over her chest. Gwen wondered if her sister had already guessed
the reason for their visit. Something about her shrewd expression said she had.

Her father asked Daphne a number of questions about her trip to Idaho and how long she meant to stay and if she’d ever been
on a cattle ranch before. Gwen wished he would stop before she exploded with the news of her engagement.

At long last, Morgan cleared his throat and leaned forward on his chair. “Mr. Arlington, I wonder if I might have a word alone
with you.”

Before their father could answer, Cleo said, “Say no, Dad. I think I’d like to hear this too.” She pinned Morgan with a fierce
gaze. “I reckon Gwennie and your sister already know what’s on your mind, so why should I be left out? Go on. Speak your piece
here and now.”

Gwen couldn’t recall a time she’d seen Morgan when he looked less than confident, but that’s how he looked now. He glanced
at her, a question in his eyes, and she gave a slight shrug in answer.

“All right.” He cleared his throat again. “Mr. Arlington, I’ve proposed marriage to your daughter, and she has done me the
honor of saying yes. So we’ve come to ask for your blessing.”

Cleo let out a whoop as she pushed off the rail. “I knew it!” She grabbed Gwen’s hand, pulled her up from her chair, and wrapped
her in a tight embrace. With her mouth close to Gwen’s ear, Cleo whispered, “I’m so glad you came to your senses, Gwennie.
I’m so happy for you and Morgan.”

“Morgan,” their father said, laughter in his voice, “I believe Cleo has answered for the both of us. You and Gwen have our
blessing with our whole hearts.”

Although Gwen asked and Morgan agreed that their engagement would be kept a secret until one of them was sworn in as mayor,
it didn’t escape people’s notice that the two candidates spent a great deal of time in each other’s company in those days
leading up to the Tuesday of the election. Edna Updike, Gwen’s next-door neighbor, reportedly said that if Gwen was elected,
at least the townsfolk would know she had a competent man behind her, telling her what she needed to know and what she needed
to do.

When that comment reached Gwen’s ears — passed along on election day by Cleo, who had gone to the municipal building to check
on the voting — it nearly sent her through the roof. “As if I need Morgan to tell me what to do for Bethlehem Springs. Doesn’t
Mrs. Updike know I formed my campaign platform on my own? I didn’t even know Morgan when I decided to run for office.”

Cleo shook her head. “Edna Updike doesn’t think a woman should have an opinion apart from a man’s say so. You know that, Gwennie.
Don’t pay her no mind.”

“I don’t want anyone thinking I’m a puppet, that’s all. You don’t suppose Morgan thinks that’s what I’ll be?” More nervous
than she’d expected she’d be on Election Day, Gwen paced the parlor.

Her sister made a sound that was half laugh, half snort. “Nobody who knows you will think that. Especially not Morgan.”

Footsteps on the front porch caused Gwen to turn around just as her father and Morgan opened the screen door. “Any more news?”
she asked them.

Morgan shook his head. “We were told they’ll have the results about nine o’clock. We can go to the municipal building to await
the announcement or they can send someone to us with the final tally.”

Gwen glanced at the clock. Not yet seven. She might go crazy before the next two hours were up.

“Where’s Daphne?” Cleo asked Morgan. “I thought she was coming over with you.”

“She said she had some writing to do and wondered if it was okay for her to stay at home. I imagine her correspondence is
more important to her than our local politics.” He shrugged. “Especially when I told her Gwen was certain to win.”

“I wish you would quit saying that.”

He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “Stop fussing. The election is yours.”

“None of us can know that for sure.”

“Sweetheart, I’ve talked to as many people as I could since the night of the debate. Everyone knows by now that I voted for
you today. Maybe I should have pulled my name off the ballot, but — ”

“No,” she interrupted. “I wouldn’t have wanted to win that way.”

He gave her an encouraging smile.

Perhaps the election shouldn’t mean as much to her now. She and Morgan were engaged and had settled on a date in mid-August
for the wedding. After they married, she would move from her little house on Wallula to Morgan’s larger home on Sky view. Other women would be content to live the simple life, overseeing
their husbands’ homes. Why wasn’t she like that? Why did she want more?