Jewel's Dream (8 page)
Authors: Annie Boone
And then the parson pronounced them husband and wife. James was allowed to kiss his bride for the first time as his wife. This was indeed her dream come true.
A grandstand had been erected in the park, hung with red, white and blue bunting. A significant portion of Laramie’s population was gathered before it, milling around as they waiting for the results of the mayoral elections. Families came in from the surrounding country, and children ran happily back and forth, chasing each other or begging their parents for treats. A few enterprising shop owners had set up stands, and sales of popcorn and lemonade boomed.
Sophia, however, was still too young to be interested in eating much more than her fingers. Jewel held Sophia against her chest, cooing softly. James stood behind her, watching over her shoulder. It seemed to Jewel that he was more interested in the baby than the election results.
Not that that’s a bad thing
, she thought, smiling.
Sophia gurgled, managing a demanding “
ba
” as she reached for her father. Jewel handed her over to James, who gladly took the baby. Mrs. Harland, standing nearby, shook her head.
“I never would have pegged him for a doting father,” she said. “That child has him wrapped around her little finger.”
Jewel shrugged. “I think he was like that the whole time. It’s just that nobody ever noticed.” she smiled, watching James baby talk to Sophia.
“If you insist,” Mrs. Harland sniffed. “He’s changed quite a bit since you arrived, in my opinion.”
“For the better I hope,” Jewel said.
“More or less,” Mrs. Harland treated Jewel to a rare smile.
Shaking her head, Jewel approached James, who was having his hair investigated by baby hands.
“Nervous?”
James lifted his head, interrupting Sophia’s play.
“Actually, not really. I feel quite well,” he said.
“That’s surprising. I thought you would’ve been sweating bullets by now,” Jewel said, raising an eyebrow at him. James was silent for a moment, watching her, then transferred his gaze to Sophia.
“I think I’ll be happy no matter who wins the election,” he said, giving the little girl a kiss. “Though I might uproot the whole law firm and move us all to Denver if Pendleton wins. The town would go to the dogs, anyway.”
Jewel laughed at him, and James scowled at her.
“I mean it. Do you really think that degenerate should be in charge of an entire city?”
Jewel stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
“Oh, James. Never change.”
There was a loud cough on the grandstand, and the crowd slowly began to quiet.
“I think that’s your cue.” Jewel said, taking Sophia back. James nodded and took a deep breath, marching up on to the stage. Jewel watched from the sidelines, a smile on her face while Sophia attempted to grab her earbobs.
James was right. No matter what, they were going to be happy.
The End
Thank you for reading
Jewel’s Dream
. This book is part of a series put together by the Sweet & Clean Book Club.
The authors of the Sweet & Clean Book Club love to collaborate on romance and other stories. We share characters, locations, and all sorts of details. You can learn more about the other books in this Valentine’s Day series at our
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Annie Boone (ME!)
Christina Ward
Jackie Marie Stephens
Kate Cambridge
Trinity Bellingham
Faith Parsons
Lorena Dove
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Jewel’s Dream
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Sarah grabbed her black skirt in one hand and hitched it up from her ankles as she ran across the busy street. I can’t be late again! The precious family bible was safely tucked away in the purse she held tightly under her other arm. She thought back to the romance novel left behind at home. You just had to read that one more chapter…
She ran around the corner gathering glares from the passers-by. A woman of her age should not be running. A lady of twenty-six, should be gracefully walking, no, gliding, serenely down the street with dignity. Pffft. That’s not what the heroine in her romance novel did.
She slowed down to catch her breath just a block away from the meeting place of the bible study group. A young boy on the other side of the street caught her attention.
“A flower for the missus’?” He waved a rose in front of a middle aged gentleman. “Never too late to show your love on Valentine’s Day! Only a dime!”
The pail of flowers at his feet was nearly empty. Clearly the boy was right. Valentine’s Day… she sighed and refastened the cloak around her shoulders. Such a romantic holiday. If only someone would buy me a rose!
But no one did. Of course, as a governess, she was obliged to stay single until her charges had either married or, in case of boys, left for boarding school. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want love. She dreamt of it every day. Love like in her novels, love like in Corinthians 13.
She marched on leaving behind the boy still performing his Valentine’s sales pitch, trying to sell the last of his flowers. Even a card would be nice. Catherine, the girl she had raised and tutored, showed her the Valentine’s card she’d received from her husband that morning. It was such an exquisitely painted picture. Ah, young love. She was jealous of both the card and the rich, handsome husband who had sent it.
Jealous? No… She shook her head. Rather, she was sad that her time living with the Taurell’s was coming to an end. Catherine, now married, was set to move out in a few days. Leaving to live with her husband in Manhattan. With Catherine gone Sarah would be all alone.
She looked up at the sign above the door. Well, maybe not completely alone. She thought about her friends and the bible nestled in her purse.
* * *
Sarah was just putting one of the simple wooden chairs back against the wall when she almost walked straight into Jewel. As always she had put too many teacups on the tray and they wobbled precariously with every step Jewel took. Sarah let the girl pass before continuing her work.
With the chair back in its rightful place Sarah turned to face the small group of women who remained behind after the Bible study was over. She could still hear old Mrs. Taylor in the hallway, chattering away about her flowers with Mrs. White, but most of the others were long gone by now.
At the serving table, Sarah noticed Maddie Burns sweeping crumbs into her hand. Sarah headed over to her friend, but was welcomed with a sigh instead of Maddie’s usual bright, cheery smile. Jewel joined them a moment later once the last of the tea cups had been cleared. “Don’t be sad, Maddie. It’s just a silly holiday.”
Ah, of course Valentine’s Day. The six of them seemed to be the only women in the whole Bible study group without a secret, or not so secret, admirer.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” said Sarah putting on her most uplifting smile. She didn’t quite believe her own words though.
Caroline and Eva lined the remaining chairs up against the walls, while Mae divided up the leftover tea cakes into six piles and wrapped them in napkins. Soon they would join the conversation too as Sarah already noticed their heads turning her way.
“But we never get flowers or cards.” Maddie quickly blinked back a tear. Just like Catherine had done before her wedding when she didn’t want to ruin her makeup with tears. But Sarah was pretty sure in Maddie’s case these weren’t tears of joy she was holding back. “How are we going to find husbands if we’re already old maids?”
“If anyone’s going to end up an old maid it’s probably me. I’m practically a spinster in many men’s eyes already!” Sarah patted Maddie’s shoulder. “Besides, you’re too pretty to be an old maid.”
“I’m not sure it’s about being pretty,” Mae pointed out as she handed Jewel a napkin full of cakes. “Most of those girls have families to help them out. Dowries. Connections.”
Sarah thought back to her employers, who felt almost like her family. Her real family was back in England, at least what was left of it – she had lost her mother as a child, and her father had always been distant. But while the Taurell’s were happy to help her find a new job, a new family to stay with; no one in their social circle would ever be interested in any other kind of relationship with Sarah.
“We need to make our own connections.” Caroline wiped her hands on her skirt and approached the table.
“And pray on it,” Jewel added.
“I’ve been praying,” Eva joined the conversation. “I don’t think we’re going to find husbands here in New York City. There are too many other women in better circumstances than ourselves. We need to look somewhere else.”
Caroline raised her eyebrows. “Where else would we go?”
Surely not back to England?
“I don’t want any old husband,” Mae chimed in. “I want a man I can love. A man who will love and respect me in return.”
Maddie laughed. “That rules out all the young men around here. I can no more see myself marrying one of the boys from the factory than I would jump off the roof of this building.”
“Wait.” Caroline held up a finger as if she’d just had an idea. “A few months ago, I was at the library and I overheard two of the librarians talking about the Matrimonial Times.”
“Marry a stranger? Move out west?” Jewel pursed her lips. “I can’t believe you’re suggesting it.”
“It’s not going to hurt to buy a copy.” Caroline looked at Jewel, who hadn’t yet offered any better suggestions.
“I suppose there’s no harm in reading it,” Jewel admitted.
“The worst that could happen is that we’d get a letter we wouldn’t want to answer.” Mae passed the last of the napkin-wrapped cakes to Eva.
Eva tucked the neat package into her reticule. “No one’s going to make us write back.”
Sarah watched her friends in silence as they all mulled over the idea. It was bold, certainly unusual, almost crazy. But there was something about it, something that made it seem like it was a sign from the heavens.
“If we do this, we might never see each other again,” Jewel quietly broke the silence. “We need to pray on it. What if God has another plan for us?”
“God put the idea in Caroline’s head,” Maddie said.
“And if it’s not a good idea, surely God will send us a sign that we shouldn’t do it,” Sarah added, more and more convinced it was the perfect plan.
“But, the frontier? It’s going to be so much different.” Eva bit her lip. “What if we hate it there?”
“It might be exciting…” Sarah said.
“Everything worth doing is a risk.” Mae held her hands out to her friends. “A risk and an opportunity. We don’t know what life will be like on the frontier, but it will be a fresh start. And no matter what, we’ll remain friends. We’ll write. We’ll visit. We’ll keep each other in our hearts, no matter what.”
Eva swallowed hard, then nodded. “It’s agreed then?”
“Agreed,” the other girls all said as one.
____
I hope you enjoyed reading the bonus first chapter of Christina Ward’s book in the series.
To continue reading
Sarah’s Journey
, find it here on Amazon
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