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Annie had a length of Japanese silk in the palest of jade greens. It had been a christening gift.
“My mother’s cousin’s husband,” she told Evelyn, “was a merchant in Oriental goods. They lived in London and sent this to me when I was born. I never met them, but I saved this because it always seemed like such a special gift.”
“It’s beautiful,” Evelyn agreed, feeling the delicate texture. “And it’ll be perfect with your eyes and your hair.”
She knew Annie was disappointed not to be able to wear her mother’s wedding dress, which Owen had saved for her. But her mother had been a tiny woman, no taller than Jesse, and there wasn’t enough material in the dress to make it long enough.
“It’ll be perfect,” Evelyn repeated. “Besides, you should wear green on the first of May.” She began to sing, “Green is the color of my true love’s dress...”
“Isn’t it ‘robe’? ‘My true love’s robe’?”
“The important thing is, it’s green and you wear it!” Evelyn held the fabric up and measured it against her arm. “There’s about three yards here, and it’s not too wide. It’ll have to be a fairly simple pattern. I don’t think I have anything we can use. Why don’t we go up to the house and look at some of Gran’s old books? I remember there was a dress in one of them—oh, it was so pretty.” Her hands began to move in excitement. “It had a high waist, and a long, slim skirt, and something I don’t know—braid or something, all here and here.
“It was Egyptian, I think, or maybe Greek. Simple, but oh, so elegant.” She regarded her sister-in-law. “Just like you.”
Annie cocked an eyebrow. “So now I’m simple, am I?”
“No, no, I just meant you like things that aren’t all fancy and full of doo-dads.” Evelyn flushed with embarrassment, then caught the gleam in Annie’s eye. “All right, so the truth is out. Who but a simpleton would marry my brother anyway?”
“Who would marry mine?”
“Guess it makes us both pretty simple, doesn’t it? But come on, what do you say? Let’s go look at those books and see what we can find.”
At the ranch, they spent the afternoon with Jake in the back parlor. The boy had taken a fall off his horse earlier in the week and reinjured the ankle he’d broken the past winter. He threw himself into the dress hunt with the alacrity of the extremely bored. Eventually Evelyn found the pattern she remembered.
“It’s beautiful,” Annie said, “but it’s got no sleeves or anything. I’d be embarrassed.”
“Okay,” Evelyn said, “let’s see what else there is.”
They were on the verge of resignation when Jake called for Annie. He’d picked up a book after they’d discarded it and was flipping pages when a picture caught his eye. He held the book up for her to see. “Look at this here. It looks pretty elegant to me.”
A slender woman stood alone on the page. There were flowers in the black hair piled on her head, held in place by a wooden comb. Her dark eyes tilted up at the comers.
Annie caught her breath as she gazed. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
“It says she’s from Siam,” Jake said. “Isn’t that somewhere near Japan?”
“I think so. Somewhere in the Orient, anyway. Evelyn, come look at this.”
“Oh, that’s pretty,” Evelyn said. “I think it’s in two pieces. A dress with a long skirt—it would be almost like the Greek dress we saw. But the jacket would cover your shoulders. The sleeves are long but the bodice is short.” She looked at Annie with a dressmaker’s eye. “We might have enough. Or we might have to make a shorter sleeve. One that just covers your elbows.” She pored over the picture again. “I don’t see how it closes. The jacket must have a placket with the buttons hidden inside.
“I’ve got some muslin at home—let’s see if we can make one out of that. If we run into trouble, I bet Rebecca will help us out.”
Annie leaned over to kiss Jake on the cheek, then laughed as his cheeks flooded with color. “Thank you, brother-to-be. I think you may have found my wedding dress for me.”
***
TWO DAYS BEFORE THE wedding, Evelyn delivered the dress to Annie. It had turned out perfectly. By foregoing the triple folds of a placket in favor of white frog closures, Evelyn was able to fashion sleeves that came nearly to the wrist. And there were enough scraps of fabric left for Owen to make matching slippers. Annie tried on the dress and slippers, and wept with delight.
“Oh, my baby girl,” sighed Owen, “you are so beautiful.”
“Oh, Papa, thank you. I’m just so happy.” She flew up the stairs again to remove the dress.
Evelyn spoke carefully. “Have you decided what to do, Papa? You know you’re welcome to come to the farm.”
“I know, girl, and it’s not that I don’t appreciate it. But you’ve got your own lives, Evelyn, and soon you’ll have your little one to worry about. I don’t want to be in the way.”
“Don’t be silly. You’d never be in the way.”
“Don’t be too sure now,” he cautioned. “Before we came to this country, after Megan died, my sister lived with us—me and the kids. She was a wonderful woman—been dead these past five years. But she was a wonderful woman. And I remember wishing she’d just go home.
“I loved her, but I wanted her to just go home and leave us alone.” He lit his pipe and pulled on it. “I don’t ever want anyone feeling that way about me. So I think for now, we’ll leave things the way they are.
“You might see me a bit more often at the dinner hour,” he added with a chuckle. “Be too far to walk to Annie’s.”
“Do you know where they’re going to live? Daniel won't tell me a thing.”
“I’m sworn to secrecy. Can’t even tell Annie!”
“She doesn’t know?”
“Says she doesn’t care, either. As long as he’s happy.”
“Oh, my Lord! Maybe she is a simpleton. Imagine trusting a man with something like that!”
Owen began to laugh, then got up to answer the knock on the door. “Well, speak of the devil!”
“Annie home?” Daniel asked.
“Upstairs. Should be down in a minute. You’ve missed supper, boy.”
“That’s all right. I can only stay a minute, anyway.”
As he entered the parlor, Evelyn jumped up and grabbed his arm.
“Tell me,” she pleaded in a whisper. “Please tell me where you’re going to live.” As he shook his head, she pouted. “You told Owen.”
“Owen knows how to keep his mouth shut.”
“Oh, please. I won't tell her. But if you tell me, I’ll tell you what her dress looks like.”
“See what I mean? Evelyn, I love you, but you’ve never kept a secret in your life.”
She stomped her foot, pleaded and begged, and finally she sulked. But he remained adamant. In two days, all the world would know.
She sighed. “That means you won't tell me?”
“In two more days, you’ll know everything.”
“All right. I guess if nobody else knows, either...”
He gave her a noncommittal smile. He didn’t tell her John Patrick and the younger twins had helped him build a platform for the tent he’d erected on a wide shelf of the leeward knoll overlooking the meadow. Didn’t tell her Molly had helped him with small decorative touches, and Brian had helped him build a small rope corral for his few horses. Or that, in a moment of uncertainty, he’d told Jesse every single detail of his plan. Least said, he told himself, soonest mended.
He turned at the sound of Annie’s footstep on the stairs. As she held out her hand, he could see she’d been crying. “Aroon, do you feel all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Been crying?”
“Just a little. You know they say the bride is supposed to have the jitters.”
“No second thoughts?”
“Silly!”
“Come out to the porch for a minute.”
Annie stepped out into the soft night. Daniel wrapped his arms around her and she leaned back against his chest.
“I just stopped by to tell you I love you,” he said. She lifted a beaming face to him and he bent to kiss her, whispered her name. She turned toward him, pressed her head into the hollow of his shoulder and lifted her arms up around his neck.
“I love you, Daniel.” Her voice had the soft sound of a laughing brook. “I miss you so much.”
“Two more days, aroon. Two more days and we’ll be together.” When he pulled himself away from her lips again, he said, “We’ll get married at the house. The preacher should be there at two o’clock. All right?”
Her smile was radiant.
“Mother said you can come any time. The guest room’s ready for you. Owen can use my room—I’ll bunk with Jake.”
He thought of the pelts and books he’d transferred to their temporary home, wondered if she’d bring the teddy bear. Owen had given him a key to their cottage and his brothers were ready to move her bed to the tent as soon as she arrived at the ranch. Maybe he’d tell Brian to bring the bear as well.
He lost himself in her eyes, stood and gazed into them until Lowell arrived to take Evelyn home. Stepping off the porch, Daniel took her hand in his, slipped the ring off her finger. He’d made it for her—three strands of copper, silver and gold, entwined in the Celtic symbol of eternity. He kissed the place where it had rested, then looked up into her stricken face.
“Aroon. No, sweetheart. Oh, Annie.” He tried to pull her close again but she pushed at him, staring at his hands. “I’m sorry, aroon. I thought you’d know.” He held the ring out to her. “I need to have it back, sweetheart, so I can give it to you. At the wedding. Sweetheart, how could you think...?”
But she was grabbing frantically for the ring. He let it go and she thrust it onto her finger, turning it round and round as she stared down at it.
“Oh, Annie, do you think I could ever let you go? It’s yours, sweetheart. I’d never take it from you. I’m sorry... I thought you’d realize... I’m sorry. I love you, aroon. I’d never take it back.”
She gave him a strained smile, then leaned against his chest again.
“I guess it... I guess I’m kind of silly,” she whispered. “But when you took it away, I felt so alone.”
“It’s all right, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have done it. I didn’t think.” He put his hand under her chin, raised her face to his once more and kissed her. “You keep it. I’ll find another one for us to use. I love you, Annie. I’ll never leave you.”
“I know. I don’t know why...”
“It doesn’t matter. You keep it safe.” He kissed the ring and said, “I love you, Annie.”
“I love you, Daniel.”
“Good night, aroon.”
He turned at the gate and saw her gazing down at the ring, turning it round and round on her finger. Her hair caught the sparkle from the stars, her face was like a white flower in the moonlight. When she looked up at him, the love in her eyes warmed him through.