Ginger placed a hand on Adele’s shoulder and lightly squeezed. “I hope you do, too. Edward deserves a good woman…someone who will love him. Catherine wasn’t that woman, even though they courted and knew each other. She hated being on the ranch, far away from town. I can understand the loneliness she might have felt, but many people live on the ranch, even if most of them are men. More importantly, I can’t imagine abandoning my child.” She rested a hand on her large belly and the wonderful blessing below.
Adele nodded. “I can’t imagine that behavior either. What kind of woman would do that?”
“Exactly. But enough talk about his late wife. Look at you. You are absolutely lovely.” She put her hands on Adele’s shoulders and turned her toward the bureau.
Adele looked in the mirror. The dress fit perfectly. The style was some forty years out of date, but it was still beautiful. The garment was off-the-shoulder with little cap sleeves and a fitted bodice ending in a deep vee down the front of the skirt. She wore two petticoats with it. Lastly she opened her reticule and brought out her grandmother’s pearl necklace and ear bobs to complete the outfit.
She smoothed her skirt one last time. “I think I’m ready now.”
“All right let’s go.” Ginger took her hand and led her to the living room where Edward waited with two men.
One man was tall, with dark hair a little too long and blue eyes, with a strong jaw, straight nose and full lips. He also had a revolver on his hip. Though he was quite handsome, she thought Edward was more so.
The second man was shorter, with blond hair and a full well-trimmed beard. He, too, was quite handsome.
Ginger introduced them. She started with the man wearing the gun. “My husband, Flint, is the preacher here in Angel Creek. And this handsome brute is Johnny Roberts, a friend of ours who happens to be visiting with Flint.” Then she chuckled. “How often do you find two couples with the same coloring? The men are dark haired with blue eyes and us wives are redheads with green eyes.”
Adele bowed her head. “Pleased to meet you gentlemen.” Then she laughed. “You’re right, but there are subtle differences between our colorings. Edward’s eyes are darker than Flint’s and your eyes are much darker than mine, as is your hair.”
She glanced at Edward.
He stared at her like she was a steak and he was a starving man. “You look beautiful.”
Her stomach did somersaults and her face heated to points in her cheeks. “Thank you. That’s very kind.” No one had complimented her on her appearance in years. She liked that Edward found her nice to look at.
“Nothing kind about it, just stating a fact. You’re lovely.” He held out his arm. “Should we get this done? I’d like to get home. I don’t like leaving Lissa with Cookie too long. She comes up with words no seven year-old should know.”
Adele chuckled. “Who is Cookie?”
“He’s one of the ranch hands. He had some experience cooking so I had him come up and cook for us when Mrs. Underhill needs help or has a day off. All of the men eat their meals with us in the kitchen.”
“He sounds like an interesting man and Lissa sounds quite precocious.”
Edward held his chin high. “She is very smart and she has no qualms about using that intelligence to outsmart you.”
Adele lifted a brow. “I’ll have to keep on my toes then, won’t I?”
He smiled like the proud papa he was. “Yes, you will.”
Flint cleared his throat. “Shall we get this ceremony going? Before we start, I need your middle names.”
Adele smiled and looked at the floor. “Um, yes, of course. Mine name is Colleen.”
“And mine is James.”
The preacher pointed toward the hearth. “You two, stand there. Ginger will be on Adele’s left, and Johnny will be on Edward’s right.”
They all took their places.
Flint opened his Bible. “Very good. Dearly beloved we are gathered here in the sight of our Lord, to join these two people in holy matrimony. Do you, Edward James Wharton, take this woman, Adele Colleen Jensen, to be your lawful wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, and to keep yourself only unto her for as long as you both shall live?”
“I do.”
“Do you, Adele Colleen Jensen, take this man, Edward James Wharton, as your lawful wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, to honor and obey, and to keep yourself only unto him for as long as you both shall live?”
She gazed up at Edward, saw his smile and smiled back. “I do.”
The preacher continued. “Then by the power vested in me by the Lord God Almighty, the town of Angel Creek and the Montana Territory, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Edward turned, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply.
Definitely not the quick peck on the lips she’d expected. “Oh, my.” She felt her stomach quiver and her pulse quicken. Not something she’d felt with Richard in a long time.
He grinned. “You’ll do, Mrs. Wharton. You’ll definitely do.”
Her face heated. “Thank you, sir. You will do as well.”
Edward turned to the preacher. “What do I owe you, Flint?”
The man stood with his Bible held by both hands in front of him. “Five dollars ought to do it.”
Her husband pulled out a small wad of bills from his pocket, found a five-dollar bill and handed it to the preacher. “Take Ginger and the kids to The Eatery for dinner.”
As he pocketed the money, Flint grinned. “My thoughts exactly. They haven’t had an evening out in quite a while, and they never complain, so I’ll take them out for a meal we’ll all enjoy.”
“Good plan. Now, I need to get home to Lissa. She must meet her new mama.” He smiled down at Adele.
She couldn’t help but smile back. Her dreams were coming true. She now had a husband, a child and a home to call her own.
After she collected her carpetbags she walked beside him out to the wagon, where Adele couldn’t stifle a groan.
Edward stopped and looked at her. “What’s the matter?”
Resigned to having to make the trip on another hard bench seat, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then turned her gaze his way. “I’m so sore from the hard bench seats. The stagecoach nearly finished me. I think we hit every bump and hole in the trail.”
Edward nodded. “I have taken that stage myself and know what you mean.” He stood on the wheel axel and reached under the seat. “Here.”
The thick, wool blanket he brought out was folded enough to make the trip to the ranch much more comfortable. So much so, she could enjoy the countryside even though it was much the same as she’d seen from the stagecoach…cattle grazing and empty fields that, according to her reading about Montana Territory, were supposed to be of winter wheat. It should be starting to grow enough to flower assuming it has not already done so. The plant only needs a couple of cold weeks to go dormant until the spring when it would be tilled into the soil before normal crops are planted. She also saw dark orange flowers called Indian Paintbrush which did actually look like a paintbrush.
Adele turned toward Edward. “Do you raise crops, too?”