Gray locked gazes with her. “I’ve got a seat a few cars down. My ticket only goes to Stanton, but your compartment has room for six, if I’m welcome to go on to Kansas with you.”
“Why would you want to go to Kansas?” Annabelle asked, not quite believing this moment was happening.
Gray ducked his head to step inside the compartment and sat on the bench beside her. The porter slid the door closed, and all of them sat in exquisite discomfort.
“I’ve been to China and India and Africa,” Gray finally said. “Last year I traveled from Siberia to Ceylon, but I’ve never been to Kansas. The main thing I’ve learned from traveling all over the world is that it isn’t the place that matters, it’s the people.It’syou,Annabelle. I want to go to Kansas because it is a huge and important part of you.”
He turned to her parents, who still looked astonished at his sudden arrival in the middle of a Virginia cabbage field. “I’ve never met anyone like the two of you. Maude, you walked into a room of cynical military officers and knocked them for a loop. And, Roy, I know what you sacrificed to send Annabelle to college. Your two daughters may be short in stature, but when it comes to courage, they are both giants. And I would very much like to visit the place where Annabelle and Elaine were raised.”
Her parents both gaped at Gray, uncertain what to say. They looked at each other, and Roy found his voice first. “You’re welcome to visit the farm.” He stood and gestured for Maude to stand as well. “I think my wife and I would like to go explore this fine train we’re riding on. I heard there’s a lounge car up ahead.”
Gray’s laugh was nervous, but his voice was grateful. “Two cars ahead.”
“All right, then.” Maude shot Annabelle a beaming look of encouragement on her way out the door.
Gray stepped back inside after her parents left the car. He rubbed his palms on his pant legs as he took the bench opposite her.
“Why are you really going to Kansas?” Annabelle asked.
For the first time, a hint of amusement lightened his face. “Do you really need to ask that?”
Yesterday she had stood in a government lobby with her heart in her throat as he shook hands with her to say good-bye forever, so it wasn’t an unreasonable question. “I’m asking.”
He sobered and reached for the pot of tea. His hands trembled as he poured them both a cup.
“I’ve always viewed myself as a protector,” he said after setting the teapot down with a gentle click. “It was my duty to provide for and protect my family. Building our companysent me all over the world, and I lost sight of some things. I thought that by providing for my family, everything else would fall into place like vines growing on a trellis. Things didn’t turn out that way. By the time I got home, Caroline and Luke had both chosen their own paths in life. They didn’t want or need my protection.”
She looked away. Luke and Caroline were her two least favorite subjects on the planet. One she had betrayed, and the other was the only enemy she had in the world.
Gray reached out to cover her hand with his. “Annabelle, I let you down,” he said urgently. “When you were pigeonholed into an impossible position, instead of being your protector, I abandoned you. That was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
She met his gaze and immediately felt the weight on her chest ease. She hadn’t even realized it was there.
He continued talking. “I know what your love for this country cost you. There were no easy choices, but your instincts were always right. Your compass needle pointed true north, and you never wavered. I want us to find a way forward. I can run my company from Kansas if that’s where you want to be. I don’t care if we live in Kansas or Washington or on thePelican. I’ll never make the spice company the center of my world again, because in doing so, I lost track of my family.” He swallowed hard. “It’s time for me to rebuild it, and I want to begin with you.”
She feared broaching the most dangerous topic, but this conversation was pointless until they did. “What about Luke? Have you forgiven me?”
To her surprise, the corners of his mouth tilted in a gentle smile. “There’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t put him in that jail cell. He got there all on his own.” He pushed the teacups aside and clasped both her hands in his. Warmth and strength radiated from him, but best of all were his eyes burning with gentle appeal.
“Annabelle, I love you. I love your idealism and patriotism. I love that durum wheat discoveries keep you enthralled. Annabelle ... will you marry me?”
It was hard to believe this was really happening. It was so fast, and there were still so many obstacles ahead.
“Your sister hates me.”
“But I love you. And you’ll be marrying me, not Caroline.”
She stood and navigated around the table to join him on the opposite bench. Then she was in his arms, her vision watery with tears as she looked over his shoulder at the cabbage fields flying past. They lived in a huge and expansive country, filled with choices and opportunities. Not all of them were easy, but she had found a man of character who would step into that world with her, and nothing had ever felt so right.
“I’ll gladly marry you, Gray.”
Forty-Two
THREEWEEKSLATER
NOVEMBER6, 1900
It was almost midnight, but Gray was too anxious to feel tired. Hundreds of people packed Anderson Hall on the Kansas State Agricultural College campus, awaiting the results of the presidential election. Never had an election been so personally important, for a presidential pardon was Luke’s only real hope for freedom. Even with a McKinley victory, winning a pardon would be a long shot, but all of Gray’s hope rested on the outcome of this election. He hadn’t been able to swallow a bite of food all day.
