I went to the rough-hewn table encircled by three-legged stools and took a seat, hoping I wasn’t making a mistake. Sam already knew more than he should, but we were starting a life together, and I needed to trust him with everything.
He worked quickly and then closed the firebox, before taking the seat next to me. “What is it, Ally?”
“I wasn’t sure I should tell you. I don’t want to get your hopes up only to disappoint you all over again.”
“I don’t want us to keep things from each other. Good or bad. You shouldn’t have to shoulder anything alone. Whether we hope together or mourn together, I want to do it as one.”
“I love you, Sam.”
“I love you, too. I am choosing to believe that God has a purpose for all of this.” Pain and frustration strained his voice as he took my hand into his. “Though I can’t fathom what it might be.”
I couldn’t begin to fathom it, either.
“There might be a way,” I said, “but we’re trying to find someone who can tell us if it would work.” I explained Papa’s suggestion and that Grace and Maggie had already told us they didn’t know the answer, but we were waiting to hear what Hope and the Howletts had to say.
Sam was pensive as he listened, and then he let out a long breath.“Let’s decide to hope. To believe that God will make a way where there seems to be none.” He gently squeezed my hand. “And if we learn otherwise, we’ll face the disappointment later.” He straightened and said, “Let’s get married and not think or worry about the rest of it for now.”
I nodded and blinked away my tears, trying to smile.
Our wedding was small but heartfelt in the little canvas church on Montgomery Street. Reverend Green performed the ceremony, and Father, Hazel, Paddy, Johnnie, and Mrs. Green bore witness to our vows.
Sam faced me and took my hands in his. He was wearing a new suit, and he and Johnnie had visited the barber right after breakfast. Both were sporting new haircuts, and Sam’s beard had been trimmed close to his face. The scar in his eyebrow rarely drew my attention anymore, nor did theMbranded into his thumb. They told a different story than the one I’d first imagined and were the very reasons I’d fallen in love with him. He didn’t talk about the scars on his back, but I knew they also had a story to tell. One I hoped I would learn in time.
Reverend Green said, “Samuel Robert Kendal, do you promise to love Ally Jean Adams, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her as long as you both shall live?”
Sam’s loving gaze found mine as he nodded. “I do.”
My heart felt like it might burst from joy and sorrow as Reverend Green asked me the same question.
“I do,” I whispered, my voice weak with emotion.
“The ring seals the vows of marriage and represents a promise for eternal and everlasting love,” Reverend Green said. “Samuel, repeat after me. I, Samuel Robert Kendal, take thee, Ally Jean Adams, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness andin health, to love and to cherish forever, according to God’s holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge thee my troth.”
Sam repeated the reverend’s words and slipped a solid gold band on my finger.
“I hope you don’t mind,” he said after it was on my hand. “I had our first nugget melted and turned into a ring.”
“Our gold?” I asked, admiring it.
“From our little bit of heaven on the Yuba River.”
I ran my thumb along the smooth metal, marveling that I had fallen in love with Sam right where the gold had been found and it was now on my finger as a constant reminder of his love, sacrifice, and devotion.
It was my turn to repeat after Reverend Green, and since it wasn’t customary for men to wear wedding bands, I had none to put on his finger.
“Forasmuch asSam and Ally have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company of witnesses, and thereto have given their pledge, each to the other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving a ring and by joining hands, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Reverend Green closed his Bible. “Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” He smiled at Sam. “And you may now kiss your bride.”
Sam did just that.
Afterward, Mrs. Green invited us to their simple canvas room behind the church for an early luncheon, but as soon as it was over, we returned to the hotel, where Sam had a dozen men working to install the windows, build the interior walls downstairs, and make beds in the hotel rooms upstairs.
Hazel and I changed into serviceable dresses and spent most of the day cleaning up after the work crews. If I couldn’t stay with Sam longer than a few weeks, I wanted to make sure I helped him as much as possible to repay him for taking me to Downieville. The money he could have made those three weeks at Bess’s Place would have been more than enough to finish the hotel with someto spare. I offered him the gold, but he said it was for Father and Hazel if I left, though he vowed to care for them.
Evening set, and we finally quit working to have a bit of supper. Since Father was the most adept at cooking, and he was still too weak to do a lot of the heavy lifting, he volunteered to make our meal.
I sat next to Sam at the kitchen table. Paddy sat across from us, and the children sat to our left and right. As I took my seat, my thigh pressed against Sam’s, and he glanced up at me, warmth in his brown eyes.
I loved feeling him close and sharing secret glances. Every time we had passed each other that day, he’d offered me a tender smile or a fond look. I wanted to please him more than anything. To show him the same love and sacrifice he’d shown me.
