Micah crossed the porch and sat next to her, taking her hand in his since the motion hadn’t seemed to bother her before. “I’m thinking about how much everything changed today, how it’s all different now.”
“Is it a good different or a bad different?”
Turning to face her despite not being able to see her as clearly as he’d like, Micah brought his free hand up to run his fingers gently down her cheek. By the way she bit her lip and the way her hands tightened in his, he could tell she was still worried about where he fell in all this. “It’s a good different, Ellie. I’m in on this. I’m all in. I know we went about this backwards because we needed to, but I don’t regret it at all. It’s our story, and I’ll thank God for it for all my days.”
His brothers had come to understand their reasoning, even agreed he’d made the right decision. Isaac was still a little hesitant to validate it as much as Micah would’ve liked, but he’dapologized for jumping to a conclusion not in line whatsoever with Micah’s character.
Ellie’s eyes met his, and while he couldn’t see well enough to see the honeycomb color, he pictured them in his mind’s eye nonetheless. “Where do we go from here?” Her voice sounded thick, and he knew she held back tears as bravely as she could. Reaching up once more, Micah ran his thumb over her cheek and felt the tell tale wetness of tears he wished she’d never had to cry.
He knew what she was asking. Where would she stay tonight? What would he expect of her? They’d discussed it a little on the way to the ranch after getting married, but they’d not had time to get into specifics. “First, I’ll walk you to the door of yours and Louisa’s cottage. It’s been a long day, and you need your rest. Then, I’ll go stay in my room inside. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to talk to Isaac about building us a house over in the meadow,” he said as he pointed to the spot he’d been standing in earlier. The thought of sitting next to Ellie on their own front porch as the sun set behind the tree line felt like the most peaceful thing he could ever imagine.
“If you wait to build until my trust gets released,” she paused. “Ifmy trust gets released, I can pay for it.” Her voice held hesitance, as though she wasn’t sure what she wanted him to say.
Micah shook his head, as sure as he’d been about anything in his life. “No, ma’am. I told you the money is yours to do with as you choose. I’ll build us a cabin, and as long as you’re not looking for anything fancy, I think I can keep us pretty comfortable.” He made a good living, as Isaac paid more than fairly on the ranch. Plus, as one of the Sutton brothers, they all held part ownership and could draw on the funds whenever they needed. Even Zeke, who hadn’t lived in Cloverdale since he turned eighteen three years before, had a stake. “I meant what I said, Ellie. This isn’t about the money for me.”
Ellie nodded slowly, taking a shuddering breath as she did so. “I can’t believe you’re real.” The words were low, whispered as though she hadn’t meant to say them out loud.
“We’re real, darlin’, and I plan to prove to you there are men in this world worth trusting.” With that, he leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her head, relishing the feel of her skin on his lips. He stood to his feet, offering her his arm. “May I walk you to your door, Mrs. Sutton?” It was unconventional, but nothing about their courtship had been conventional so far.
“Yes, please.”
Chapter Nine
“Austin,” Louisa scolded as he pulled Lainey Turnmeyer’s pigtail braid that Sunday. “Stop right this instant.” She sighed heavily, clapping her hands. “One more time through, children, and then we can be done.”
They were practicing for the Founder’s Day Festival program, and the children were…distracted at best. In this one rehearsal alone, Tommy Thorton had decided to do a running spin kick and accidentally ended up in the church’s rose bush. Little Lainey had almost hit Austin in the nose after the way he kept pulling her braid. She was a year younger than him, but full of spunk and Ellie couldn’t blame her for growing weary of his shenanigans.
“I don’t wanna,” Benjamin whined as he plopped down to a seated position. “I wanna hear more about Gideon and his army. Why can’t we do that instead of sing?”
All the boys and some of the girls echoed the sentiment, and Ellie couldn’t disagree with them. “Children,” she said softly as she moved in front of them. They quieted down, a trick she’dlearned from Louisa when she needed them all to pay attention was to speak softly. Their curiosity would get the better of them sometimes, and they’d listen. “Mrs. Florence has asked us to perform at the festival. Now, we all love Mrs. Florence, don’t we?”
The children nodded, and of course, they did. Florence and Hal Day were one of the sweetest couples she’d ever met. Hal ran the livery, and Florence was involved in all manner of things in town. Mostly, she was exceedingly kind and welcoming to anyone new to town, and Mr. Hal always had penny candies ready and waiting for any children who wanted them.
“Good,” Ellie continued. “Sometimes, we do something we don’t necessarily want to do for the sake of someone we love, but the faster we run through our song, the faster you can all go play until church starts.”
Cecily stood in the back where she’d been doing her best to keep the children around her quiet, but there was only so much she could do. “Besides, I heard they’ll have lots of cakes and pies at the festival, but if you guys don’t shape up you might not get any.” A mischievous glint in her eye had Ellie turning to hide her grin, but Louisa didn’t even try.
“That’s a girl with seven younger siblings right there,” Louisa said as the children straightened right up and prepared to perform. “Children do tend to be highly food motivated.” Even as Cecily and Louisa spoke, Ellie could see the children’s eyes lighting up as they whispered about what goodies their families had planned to bring.
“I am too, I suppose,” Ellie agreed. They began to sing, and six-year-old Abbie Turner sang so loudly and off key Ellie fought the urge to cover her ears. Still the little curly headed blonde with the big ribbon in her hair was so cute it was more charming than anything. The boys began to fidget, of course, and some of theolder ones barely did any motions Louisa had taught. All in all, Ellie was pleased with their cooperation.
“Wonderful,” Louisa said with a clap as they finished. “That’s all I need from you today. We’ll adjourn for now and come back next week for even more lessons from the life of Gideon. Next time, we’ll learn how he got a little too big for his britches and forgot all God had done for him, and how we can avoid the same in our own lives.”
As the children ran off to play for the twenty or so minutes until church started, Louisa, Amelia Burgen, and Ellie gathered together. Amelia’s son, Nathan, had been in an awful accident roughly a month before at their family’s sawmill, but Callie had managed to save his life by amputating his leg. He’d gone home, and Amelia and her husband traded off coming to church so someone could stay with Nathan.
Amelia looked tired, and Ellie took her hand. “How is Nathan doing?”
“He’s getting a little better everyday, but Dr. Thorn says it’ll be a good while before he feels like himself again. He goes in and out of melancholy at the idea of how much his life will change, but he’s mostly kept a good outlook.”
“If it’s too much to help with Sunday School,” Louisa said quickly. “You know you’re welcome to step back. We can handle it.”
Amelia shook her head. “I’d like to help when I can be here. The children bring me a lot of joy, and even though I’m only able to be here every other week, it’s something I look forward to.” Ellie would never forget sitting in the waiting room of the clinic while Callie and Jacob performed surgery on Nathan, every second touch and go as she’d had to cauterize the vessels in his leg to stop the bleeding. Still, Amelia had fallen to her knees and petitioned the Lord every moment to save her son. It had beenan example of a faith Ellie had never witnessed before, and it had encouraged her burgeoning one greatly.
“We’re glad you’re here, especially when Micah and I have to go to California.” They didn’t know exactly when the trip would happen, as Mr. Goddard was still doing research into procedures there and working up a document for the judge, but it would more than likely be sooner rather than later. Ellie wasn’t sure how she felt about their impending trip, as the whole thing felt like a brick in her stomach whenever she thought of it. Being on the ranch, helping Louisa with the children even though it wasn’t what she wanted to pour her energy into long term, it had been healing.
What exactly she did want to pour her energy into long term, she didn’t know. The thought of the art she’d left behind in California, as well as any and all skills she’d learned from Miss Lutken, threatened to break her heart a little further. Could she ask Micah for some art supplies here? Would he think her silly or foolish?
“I’m praying this ugly business is all put to rest for you soon,” Amelia said with a soft smile. “You know, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you Bertram and I were a marriage of convenience. I grew up here, and he’d already started the sawmill. The aunt I’d lived with most of my life passed away, and I was about to sign with an agency in New Orleans to become a mail order bride when he stopped me and told me he’d marry me.” Her eyes softened, clearly miles and years away. “It was hard at first, but it’s been one of the best decisions of my life.”
