McKenzie (21 page)

“This one, too,” McKenzie said. “And we’ll also take some of this for the curtains. Twelve yards should be enough for now. Rosemary?”

“Six yards of this, as well, Lucille,” Rosemary said, albeit hesitantly, holding up a bolt of lavender fabric with tiny yellow flowers.

“Will this be on Zach’s charge account? Oh, forgive me—I should say, the Sawyer family account?” Lucille asked.

“Yes, thank you,” McKenzie said.

Lucille nodded as she tallied the purchases. Then, she looked at McKenzie and cleared her throat. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, and I’ve tried with all my might to keep it from you up until now, but….”

McKenzie eyed Lucille warily. As much as she liked the woman, she knew that not every word that escaped the lipsticked lips of Lucille Granger was to the benefit of her listeners.

“I’m…well, I’m the one who suggested that Zach place an advertisement for a mail-order bride in the first place. I suppose I can tell you this now, since things seem to be going so well. I wasn’t going to say a word if the two of you disliked each other, or if you weren’t suitable for our Zach, but….” Lucille flicked her wrist. “Since the two of you seem so compatible, I insist on taking a bit of the glory for arranging your marriage.”

“Now, honestly, Lucille,” Rosemary said, rolling her eyes.

“Well, it seems only fitting. I helped him write that first letter, too. Not that any of that matters now, mind you, since the marriage vows have been declared. Nevertheless, I do deserve some of the credit for the happy union.”

McKenzie began to laugh. Had she ever met anyone as forthright as Lucille in all her life? Pine Haven would lack much of its charm if it weren’t for the woman who insisted on receiving credit for arranging the marriage of the town’s most eligible bachelor.

“Is that funny?” Lucille asked.

“It’s just that….” McKenzie began to speak but found herself giggling too hard to complete her sentence. Before long, Rosemary and Lucille joined in the laughter, and tears soon ran down the women’s cheeks.

“Grandpa Asa was right when he said women sound like a bunch of hens when they laugh,” Davey said, approaching the group of women.

“Grandpa Asa said that, did he?” Rosemary asked. “Well, we’ll just have to have a little chat with him about that!” She began to laugh again, making no attempt to control the fresh tears that streamed down her face.

“Before I forget,” Lucille said, turning to McKenzie, “your canvases came in yesterday.”

“Wonderful!” McKenzie exclaimed. She hadn’t been sure if her request would be shipped in time for her plan to take shape.

Lucille reached under the counter and produced three one-foot squares of canvas. “Here are the frames, also,” she said, adding three wooden frames to the pile.

After Fred had loaded their purchases in the wagon—with Davey’s help, of course—McKenzie, Rosemary, and Davey began their return home to the ranch, Lucille’s glory-seeking not far from their minds.

“Ma?” Davey said when they were halfway home. “Will you bake me a birthday cake for my birthday in four days?”

McKenzie turned to look at Davey. His face was bright with expectation.

“I would like a chocolate cake with some of those pretty bits of crushed candy on it, like the one I saw in Lucille’s store.”

“I don’t know, Davey….” McKenzie had never made a cake before. What if it tasted terrible? What if she burned it? Her own mother had never made her a birthday cake.

“Please, Ma?” Davey pleaded, pressing his chubby hands together.

Rosemary leaned closer to McKenzie. “I would be happy to assist you in making Davey the best birthday cake ever,” she said quietly.

“I’ve never made a cake before, Rosemary,” McKenzie whispered.

“I know that, but you’ve made other things. As a matter of fact, your biscuits are right delicious, if I do say so, myself.” Rosemary winked at McKenzie.

“You promise to help me?” McKenzie asked.

“I promise, but I’m sure you’ll have no trouble.”

“Please, Ma?” Davey begged again.

“All right then, Davey, but I must insist on one minor change to your plans,” said McKenzie.

“What’s that?” Davey asked.

“I must insist that you let me put something on the top of the cake along with the bits of crushed candy that I brought from Boston, special just for you.” McKenzie thought of the swirly sucker that had traveled hundreds of miles with her.

“Really? Thank you, Ma!” Davey reached over and wrapped his arms around McKenzie’s neck. “You’re the best!”

McKenzie smiled to herself. Thankfully, she had no one to compete with in the area of being Davey’s mother. It scared her to think about how she’d fall short in comparison to someone else if she did.

***

McKenzie spent the next three days sewing curtains for the house. Hiding the evidence whenever Zach ventured into the house was proving to be a chore, but she knew surprising him would be worth it. Putting her entire heart into each seam, McKenzie pieced together pieces of fabric for each window. Soon, the house would look nothing like it had when she’d first seen it. After that chore was completed, she would focus on sewing her new dresses from the patterns Rosemary had given her to use.

Later, McKenzie hung the final curtain, and then asked Asa to hang the three pieces of canvas, complete with frames, on the wall above the fireplace in the main room. “Zach will be mighty surprised with your idea, McKenzie,” Asa said.

“I do hope so.” McKenzie eyed the frames and smiled. “Thank you for hanging those, Asa. Would you do me one last favor?”

“Sure.”

“Would you mind asking Zach and Davey to come into the house?”

“I’m on my way,” Asa said, grinning.

McKenzie heard two sets of footsteps on the porch and watched as Zach and Davey entered the house. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation and hoped Zach would accept the changes gracefully.

***

Zach squinted as he surveyed the interior of the house. Was something different? Then, it occurred to him: the windows were no longer covered with mismatched, holey blankets. McKenzie must have sewn the new curtains, which hung on each window. The effect was a big improvement. He tilted his head sideways and glanced at the frames hanging above the fireplace. A portrait had been drawn on each canvas.

“I drew them pictures, Pa,” Davey said, pointing to the frames.

Zach stepped up to the wall to get a closer look at the portraits. Sure enough, Davey’s little-boy artistry had captured the likenesses of himself, Zach, and McKenzie in separate pictures. “You did a fine job, Davey,” Zach said. His eyes misted at the hand-drawn portraits with eyes of different sizes and missing noses. Because it was only drawings of faces and no bodies, Davey had captured the very essence of an up-close caricature. He’d drawn short hair sticking up in every direction on both himself and Zach. One of Zach’s ears looked more like a square than a circle. On McKenzie’s portrait, Davey had etched long squiggles, which extended to the edges of the canvas. Zach didn’t think he’d ever seen Davey draw anything before. “I’m proud of you, Davey. You did the work of a true artist.”

“Really? Thanks, Pa!” Davey reached up and wrapped his arms around Zach’s waist. “But, it wasn’t my idea.” Davey bit his lower lip. “It was Ma’s idea.”

Zach turned to face McKenzie. “I like your idea for the portraits, McKenzie,” he said. “They’re very…unique.”

“I was thinking of how we have paintings of our entire family, including grandparents and great-grandparents, hanging above the fireplace in our parlor. It was such a hassle to have those paintings done. We had to sit so still. I was only about fourteen at the time, and it seemed as though the artist would never be done. He didn’t have the best of dispositions, either. I recall that he wanted nothing more than to be done with the job and pocket the handsome price Father paid him.” McKenzie paused. “We have our very own artist-in-residence here on the Sawyer Ranch, so I thought we’d take advantage of his fine artistic ability and have him provide his artwork for above our fireplace,” she said. The thought had done more than given the bare walls decoration—it had also brought a piece of the home she missed to Pine Haven.

Zach reached for McKenzie’s hand. She’d said “our fireplace,” and it gave him hope for their future. She’d never made mention of anything as being theirs before, although he considered everything he’d owned before knowing her as shared property. “The curtains are beautiful, McKenzie. They must have been a lot of work.”

McKenzie smiled. “I do enjoy sewing, although I can’t say as I have ever sewed curtains before.”

“Did you make them for every window in the house?”

“I did. You should see the ones upstairs—I saved my favorite fabric for those,” McKenzie said.

“I’d like to see them,” Zach said. He followed McKenzie upstairs.

“May I go back outside and play now?” Davey called after them.

“Sure, son. Go ahead. Thanks again for the nice portaits,” Zach called down before Davey ran out through the front door.

McKenzie led Zach through first Davey’s room, then her room, then finally Zach’s room. “What do you think?” she asked.

“I think you’re an amazing woman, my sweet McKenzie Sawyer,” Zach said.

***

McKenzie gulped. She’d not yet heard him ever call her by her full married name. The sound of it both delighted and scared her. “Thank you,” she said in a feeble voice.

Zach put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. “I wondered for the past few days what you were up to in here. Every time I’d come in the house, you’d act so secretive and scurry to hide what I now know was the fabric.”

“I couldn’t let you see your surprise until I was done,” McKenzie said, her legs feeling weak.

“I like my surprise very much, McKenzie,” Zach said. “The curtains are beautiful, and the portraits were a nice thought.”

“Davey was so excited to help me with those.”

“He really adores you,” Zach said.

“I adore him, too. It’ll be hard when—” McKenzie caught herself from speaking the very thing that had been on her mind more and more in recent days. She knew it was only a matter of time before someone answered the ads about Kaydie.

“It’ll be hard when what?” Zach asked.

McKenzie didn’t want to lie, but she knew of no other way around the question. “It’ll be hard when Davey gets older. I love the age he is right now.”

“I think we’ll enjoy every stage of his life,” Zach said, “although I have to agree with you—the age he is right now has been especially enjoyable.”

McKenzie nodded, grateful that Zach didn’t suspect anything. “When we were in town the other day, I asked Mr. Victor whether he’d heard anything about Kaydie, but there still had been no news,” she said.

“There will be, McKenzie. I know we’ll find her. And, when we do, you know that she may stay here as long as she wants.”

McKenzie wondered if Zach could feel the quick beating of her heart, standing as close to her as he was. He would let Kaydie stay at the ranch? McKenzie hadn’t thought about where Kaydie would stay once they’d found her, since it would be a short time—just until they had scheduled a return trip to Boston. “Thank you, Zach. I appreciate that,” she said.

“McKenzie?”

“Yes?”

Zach hesitated, looking pensive, then finally said, “McKenzie, I love you.”

McKenzie sucked in her breath. How could he love her? He barely knew her. He certainly wouldn’t love her if he knew what she needed to do once they found Kaydie.

“You don’t have to repeat that to me, McKenzie, if you aren’t ready yet. I know that love takes time to grow. I just wanted you to know the way I feel about you.” Zach paused for a moment. “I—I wasn’t sure how things would work out when we first met. We’re quite different. But I have been praying that the Lord would unite us in love, even before you stepped off that stagecoach in Pine Haven.”

McKenzie stared into Zach’s eyes, only a few inches from her own. She wanted to tell him she loved him, too, but the words were too hard to speak. Plus, she wasn’t sure if she did love him—yet. She did love the way he cared for her, the way he brought the Word of God to life when they spent their evenings together on the front porch, the way he was a wonderful father to Davey, and the way he treated the hired help as family more than employees. She loved the way he rolled his shoulders upward when he felt tense. She loved his blue eyes and the way his hair fell to one side. But loving him? She wasn’t sure she did—or should. After all, she’d been trying not to, so as to make her inevitable departure as easy as possible for everyone.

“I’ve never been in love before, McKenzie,” Zach went on. “I always wondered how it felt. Now I know. I love to watch you when you’re deep in thought, when you twirl that beautiful hair of yours around your finger. I love it when you learn something new in the Bible and your eyes light up. I love how you sewed new curtains and talked Davey into drawing portraits, how you’re fixing up our home so that it feels like it’s just as much yours as it is mine. I love to watch you with Davey—your love for him is remarkable. I love how you fit right in here at the ranch now. I love you, McKenzie, and I would consider it an honor to be able to grow old with you.”

McKenzie couldn’t find the words to respond to Zach. She thought of Louis, and how what she felt for Zach was so different from what she’d felt for him. “I thought I was in love once,” she said quietly. “His name is Louis, and he’s a prestigious doctor in Boston. I thought we would marry someday, but he married my best friend, Pearl, instead.”

“I’m sorry he broke your heart, McKenzie,” Zach said. “But, if he hadn’t, you wouldn’t be here with me now. And I’m not sorry about that.”

McKenzie nodded. “I suppose you’re right.” She sighed.

“Do you still love him, McKenzie?” Zach asked. He sounded apprehensive.

“No, Zach, I don’t. I’m not sure I ever really did. You see, I have this habit of daydreaming, and I used to envision my life with Louis. I would imagine the large, diamond wedding ring, the fancy house, and the charity work I would do, since we would have servants, and I wouldn’t have to do any work at home. I was angry at Pearl for taking the man I thought I loved.”