Three Weeks Later:
Gideon stood on the dais, the entire ballroom applauding. Alberta thought she might burst with pride. He looked so handsome, yet so very humble as he received the news of his victory. She blew him a kiss as he scoured the crowd for her face. He pretended to catch it in his fist and clutched it to his heart as he beamed down at her. “Dear friends,” he began. “I cannot tell you how happy I am to be standing here today, Governor Elect of Montana. All of you here know how hard I have worked to reach this position, the sacrifices I have made.” Aaron and Alberta shared a conspiratorial wink and smiled thinking about the marriage of expedience that never came about. She fiddled with her wedding band, thinking how close she had come to a loveless union, and how glad she was that instead she had found passion and abiding adoration.
“But, without you, my friends and my supporters none of this would have been possible. I would like to thank everyone who contributed money and time to help me, but most importantly I would like to thank my friends from Sun River. What a motley collection of folk we all are, bound by ties of friendship and respect as we carve our way to making this majestic part of the world a prosperous and hospitable place . As I look out at the couples who have inspired me, your courage in reaching out, placing advertisements to secure your happiness gave me the strength to look for something I did not even know I wanted.” Alberta looked at the loving glances her new friends gave one another, and the pride they all shared in their friend on the dais. It warmed her heart that she was a part of this wonderful community.
“Madelaine, where are you?” Maddy blushed as everybody turned to look at her. “There you are. Don’t look so scared! I want to say thank you for your personal contribution – not to my campaign but to my life. If you had not introduced me to your delightful friend, Alberta, then I would not be standing here a happily married man. You have given me a gift beyond measure, one I will cherish until the day I die.” Everybody clapped and hollered. Alberta felt tears well in her eyes, as her friend turned and hugged her tightly.
“Without Alberta by my side throughout this campaign I think I might have given up. Her unstinting love and support has kept me strong, and I know she will continue to be by my side, battling for all of you as we take Montana into the Twentieth Century and beyond. The future is bright, and I pray that you will continue to have faith in us that we will deliver what you need.”
He stepped back from the podium and bowed gracefully. Alberta accepted the kisses and embraces of her new friends, as she made her way towards him. He had made his way down from the stage and was doing the same. She surreptitiously wiped her tears away, as she watched him lift up baby Clara and then kiss her on her tiny nose, as he ruffled Christopher’s curly locks. But she could hold her emotions back no longer as she embraced Aaron, the man who had engineered everything for Gideon, and had been a true friend. Freddy came up beside her, and slipped an arm around her waist. “You must be so very proud.”
“I am.”
“And you are happy?”
“Over the moon.”
“You’ve been wearing your corsets a little looser recently, or am I imagining things?” she asked with a sly wink.
“Don’t say anything,” Alberta gasped. “I didn’t want to trouble him until the election was over!”
“I don’t think it will trouble him in the slightest. Think it will make him the happiest man alive.”
“I already am, nothing can make my life any more perfect,” Gideon said as he overheard Frederica’s last words. He hugged her, and then turned the full force of his smile on Alberta. Her knees went weak just at the sight of him. She didn’t care that it wasn’t right, or proper, she flung her arms around him and lavished his face and neck with kisses. “Maybe I should win elections every day,” he teased as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her as if nobody was looking.
“I am so very proud of you,” she whispered. “You are going to be an excellent Governor.”
“And an excellent father too,” he said with a grin.
“You knew?” she exclaimed.
“Of course I knew. I have many faults, but even I can spot when my wife begins to get plumper and more delicious every day, despite eating like a sparrow and working every hour God sends!”
“Are you happy? It is all I have wanted for so long,” she said, praying that he would understand. They had said that they would wait until he had been in office and she didn’t want him to think she had broken her promise – not that there was much she could have done about it anyway.
“I am delighted my darling. You have made me the happiest man alive.”
The End
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