Jewel's Dream (3 page)

She couldn’t wait to meet him, see him, smile at him, and touch him. She believed that this was going to happen soon. She’d prayed for it and she knew that God would deliver. This was truly His will.

The day dawned gray, soggy, and cold. Jewel hated to be out in weather like this. She had to go to work, but she wished she could do something that made being out in this kind of nastiness worth it.

The thought of romance was far away when trying to get to work without being spattered by the slush thrown up by passing carriages. When she arrived, the girls at work were just as grumpy as Jewel for having to brave the terrible conditions to get there. An air of gloom settled over the room in the basement of Barnaby’s. Then once she was settled in her seat to sew, Jewel thought all morning about the letter she hoped to find waiting on her at the post office.

By the time she was able to escape that evening, she felt like an old petticoat that’d been washed too many times. She was tired and worn out and she almost went straight home. But she had another letter to mail and she hoped there would be one from James waiting for her. So, she trudged the extra steps to the post office to complete her mission. She picked her way through puddles and ice and sincerely hoped that her James Harland and Laramie, Wyoming was worth all this misery.

The man in charge of the post office looked up as she entered. She was a regular here now. She smiled as she locked eyes with him.

“Got one for you, Miss Wood,” he said, reaching down behind the counter. “I put it aside for you since I knew you’d be in to pick it up today. Got another to send?”

Jewel nodded. “Thank you, sir.” She put the envelope in her bag and handed the letter she’d written to James the night before over.

“Looks like you’ve got quite a beau there,” he said.

“Well, we have been having some interesting conversations,” Jewel answered. “I feel like I know him very well, though I’ve never laid eyes on the man.”

“You’re not the only one to try this, you know. Several girls in the neighborhood are looking to meet men from out west. I suppose it must have a bit of charm to it, though I honestly don’t understand it,” he said.

“Well, I never thought I’d do it myself, but my friends talked me into it. Now I’m glad they did,” Jewel said. “Guess I’ll be on my way. The weather’s so ugly it’s going to slow me down. I need to get home in time for supper.”

Late that night, after the family had eaten dinner and said their prayers, Jewel sat on her bed with a lamp still burning. This was the first chance she’d had to read the latest letter. She’d been dying to come to her room, but her parents were enjoying a rare night where they were home with their family all evening. She couldn’t be absent.

When she carefully pulled the envelope open, she noticed that this letter was shorter than most. For a moment she was alarmed. Her heartbeat sped up a bit in anticipation. Was he ending their association? Had he run out of things to say to her? She was very worried about the contents of this letter.

James had not answered any of her questions in this note. His words were few, but his meaning was quite clear.

Will you come to Laramie?

Jewel felt as if she would burst. She wanted to do a dance, but there wasn’t room for that in her tiny little bedroom and she’d wake up her brothers if she even tried. So she sat there on the edge of her bed and took deep breaths and smiled until her cheeks hurt.

Happy Valentine’s Day to me, finally
, she thought.

They’d all been so disappointed that Valentine’s Day was lonely for them and their plan to take control of their futures was working out. Jewel and each of her friends had found a man from out west to correspond with. They were all getting closer to making new lives.

Jewel had been skeptical, but now she was thrilled that she’d taken the pact they’d made seriously. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t even know James Harland existed. He wouldn’t know about her, either. Their match would not have been made.

She settled down to write a letter of response to him. Then she changed her mind. The important question he had for her called for something better than a simple return letter.

James Harland hadn’t been expecting the telegram. It was short, three words only, from a Miss Jewel Wood.

“
I will come.
”

Well, that certainly put a definitive answer to it. James had been rather enjoying the idea that he wouldn’t have to deal with a reply for several more days. He was prepared to consider himself an unattached bachelor for just a while longer. Instead, he had this telegram.

With efficient, businesslike movements, James pushed his chair back from the desk and opened a small drawer on the side. A stack of letters bound together with twine was inside, tucked under a ledger and some newspaper clippings. They were from Jewel, the sender of this rather abrupt telegram. James rifled through them, from the newest to the oldest, pausing as he reached the very first letter.

It was attached to a clipped copy of his advertisement from
The Matrimonial Times
. He scanned the letter she’d written to him quickly. He chuckled a bit. She was concerned that there may be wild animals here. She also says she likes a good laugh. Well, they’d have to see how that part went. He could show her wild animals, but it may be difficult for him to resurrect a sense of humor that had been crushed some time ago.

A different man might have felt some trepidation that this woman was no socialite. But James felt like she would fill the bill very well. He wasn’t willing for this to be any different from business as usual. He flipped open his datebook and inserted a note to purchase train tickets for the woman who would eventually become his wife.

As much as he realized he was different, he wasn’t really planning to change. He was looking for a partner in a wife. He wasn’t a romantic man and he hoped that Jewel Wood wouldn’t expect that from him. He’d been careful to not mention anything related to romance or love so she wouldn’t get the wrong impression.

If she got here and ended up not being suitable for one reason or another, he would send her home to New York City.

She had told him she was a seamstress and her parents were servants. He believed she was looking for a better life for herself. He could certainly give her that. He felt it was a fair trade. She would give him respectability to help him meet his career aspirations. He would give her stability and a better life.

He worried a bit about what his mother would say about his cheeky arrangement, but he would deal with that issue if it actually became a problem. For now, though, he would plan for the changes that were about to occur.

Standing just outside the door of the post office, Jewel stared at the envelope in her hand. It was larger than usual, and thicker as well. She had almost been expecting a telegram in reply to her own, but this envelope had arrived the day after she’d stopped looking for a return telegram.

Jewel hesitated looking down at the envelope in her hands from James. The middle of the street wasn’t the place to be reading letters or opening packages. She really ought to open it at home. She couldn’t make herself wait. So she inserted one finger under the flap and ripped it open with most unladylike haste. Inside was a short letter, and a train ticket, printed on heavy card stock. She read the letter quickly.

Dear Jewel,

I received your reply to my invitation. I’m pleased that you have agreed to come here. Obviously, my goal is that you will become my wife. We can work out those details when we see each other. I’ll be waiting on you to arrive and I’ll pick you up at the station.

Sincerely,

James

Carefully, Jewel slipped both the letter and the tickets back into the envelope, folding it closed to secure them inside. Then she clutched the envelope to her chest and squealed loudly, jumping up and down. People in the street stopped and stared, but Jewel was far too excited to notice or care. Slipping the precious envelope securely inside her valise, she skipped gaily home.

Once she got home, she realized what had to happen next. This was the part she’d pushed out of her mind since she started this process. Her parents would likely not agree with her latest decision.

She decided that she should take the opportunity when it presented itself and not wait for a better time. She had halfway decided she would wait until they were in good moods, but that could delay her plan significantly. When she did see them together, they weren’t always cheerful.

She had placed the railway tickets safely in a drawer when she went back downstairs. Both parents were in the kitchen having tea before supper. Now was her chance and she decided to take it.

“Have you gone daft?” asked her mother.

Both parents sat at the kitchen table looking at their only daughter with complete disbelief.

Well, this is getting off to a good start
, she thought.

“I knew you were acting oddly lately,” Rosa Wood said, resting her face in the palm of her hand.

“I haven’t lost my mind, Mother,” Jewel said, with as much patience as she could muster. “And I’m not being odd, either. Lots of women do this. Lydia’s cousin went west to get married, and now she has four children. And a fifth on the way.”

“Who is Lydia?” asked her father.

“She’s a friend of Eva’s, I believe.”

“So this is something you’ve only heard about? You have no other reference than a friend of a friend?” he continued, shaking his head.

“What’s wrong with young Jensen?” Rosa asked, speaking of her father’s right hand man at the stables. “He’s been asking after you for years. You could’ve had a child or two by now if you didn’t keep turning him down. He’s a respectable young man. Handsome, too.”

“Mother, I don’t want to be another generation married to a stable manager and working as a maid. In this house or any other one. I don’t mean any disrespect to you for your choices or how you’ve raised me. I just want something different. That’s all.” She looked back and forth between her parents, hoping they would understand.

“That’s all? Sounds like quite a bit to me,” said Thomas Wood.

“Wait, Thomas,” said her mother. “I understand what Jewel’s saying even if she didn’t say it so gently.”

Her father sniffed loudly and turned his head away.

“Jewel, tell us more,” said her mother. Her mother was always slower to anger than her father. In this case, however, Jewel recognized her mother’s method of gathering information. She usually used the garnered information to help her see that she was wrong and her parents were right.

“James Harland is a lawyer. In Laramie, Wyoming. It’s out west. Even if he weren’t a lawyer, I’d rather go there and make a new start. I don’t want to repair dresses and shirts for the rest of my life. I don’t want to be a maid, either.”

“A lawyer? That’s just too good to be true.” Her father gave an incredulous snort, not unhurt by Jewel’s lack of interest in stable managers. “This James fellow can tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear. Who knows who he really is. How can you be sure?”

“How did you come by this idea, Jewel?” her mother asked. Jewel could see that her mother was just as peeved as her father was but she was trying to keep it from showing.

Jewel rolled her eyes, exasperated. She didn’t want to tell them the whole truth, but she had to tell them something. She opted to stand up for what she really wanted to do with her life.

“I’m not fifteen anymore. I’m more than old enough to be making my own decisions about my future. It doesn’t matter how I decided, the fact is that I did decide. I’ve got some money saved up from working at Barnaby’s, and James sent me the train tickets. In any case, I’ve already told him I’ll come. I did that last week.”

“Oh,
Jewel.
Of all the foolish, headstrong things to do—
”

Thomas put a hand on her mother’s shoulder, stopping her lecture.

“If you’re that dead set on going, we can’t stop you,” he said soberly. “But you should know that if you get in trouble out there, there won’t be anything we can do. You’re going to be on your own.”

“I know that, Father.” Jewel said quietly. “I’m not asking anything of you. I can take care of myself. I failed to mention that I’ve prayed long and hard about this. I believe that the Lord is leading me to this.”

Thomas sighed and shook his head. Her mother looked alarmed, but remained silent.

“I certainly hope so,” he said and got up and left the room.

James stood at the train station, waiting. His foot tapped lightly on the unpolished floor showing his impatience and even a tinge of nervousness. He didn’t have anything but her description to go from, but he assumed it wouldn’t be too hard to find her. There probably weren’t going to be too many young women getting off the train in Laramie, Wyoming completely alone.

In fact, there were very few women getting off in Laramie, Wyoming at all. An older woman stepped down, helped by who must have been her daughter. They were followed by two small children. This was obviously not Miss Wood.

Soon, another young woman appeared. She was the right age, but she was terribly overdressed. Rustling satin skirts with flouncy petticoats and enormous puffy sleeves weren’t practical for traveling. She had even bigger hair. This was definitely not Miss Wood.

There was only one other lady on the platform, and she was facing the other way. James was walking toward her when she turned around, and he stopped in his tracks.

She was
beautiful.

Her hair was glossy brown, neatly coiled at the nape of her neck and crowned with an understated hat. Instead of a large, dramatic dress, she wore a simple blouse, tucked into a skirt and covered with an unbuttoned jacket. James, however, was much more caught by her eyes, which were large and expressive. Before he knew it, James found himself staring.

The woman stared back. James knew he ought to stop staring, but he just couldn’t. The woman raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re not James Harland, by any chance, are you?” she asked. Even her voice sounded lovely. James coughed and forced himself to speak.