Chapter 11  

Lucy watched her disappear inside the house, a welter of emotions wheeling through her. What a relief to know the truth had come out at last and Martha’s mental state was no longer in question. At the same time, she grieved for the pain Martha must feel after being betrayed by someone she’d long considered a friend.

And what’s going to happen to me? Now that Andrew no longer needed someone to keep an eye on his aunt, was there any reason for her to stay?

When the door closed behind Martha, Lucy turned around to face that question head on, to ask Andrew straight out. She squared her shoulders . . . and caught him watching her with a serious expression. When he continued to stare without speaking, she suddenly realized how she must look, with her ash-covered dress and her hair straggling around her face. She clapped her hands to her cheeks. “I must look a fright. Let me go inside and freshen up. Then I need to discuss something with you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the way you look.” He stepped closer, and his expression took on an intensity that left her breathless. “For a moment there, I was afraid I’d lost you,” he whispered.

Lucy brushed a strand of hair away from her face and gave a shaky laugh. “But you found me. And thanks to you, I’m safe.” She took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “Now that we know Martha wasn’t imagining things after all, I don’t suppose you’ll be needing me here any longer.”

Andrew closed the distance between them and cupped her cheeks in his hands. “I can’t think of anything further from the truth.” His breath stirred a tendril of hair above her left ear. “It nearly tore me apart when I thought I might have lost you. I couldn’t stand it if that really happened.”

The simple statement took her breath away. Lucy’s heart stopped, then started up again, hammering like the hooves of a runaway horse.

He slipped one arm around her waist. “I only know one way to keep you with me always, and that’s to ask you to be my wife.” He dragged his thumb across her cheek, sending a shiver of delight through her. “Lucy, will you marry me?”

Her lips trembled so, she couldn’t speak. Resting her hands on his shirt, she looked up into his soot-streaked face and knew this was what she wanted for the rest of her life . . . to spend it at Andrew’s side.

Raising herself on her tiptoes, she wound her arms around his neck and answered him with her kiss.

Fingers of gold and crimson wove across the western sky. Lucy sat beside Andrew on the top porch step and nestled her head on his shoulder as they watched the sunset. She closed her eyes and let a sense of pure contentment wash over her. They had spent the hour since Andrew’s proposal marveling at the way God brought them together and dreaming of the future.

The doorknob rattled behind them, followed by a startled exclamation. “What in thunder?”

Lucy sprang to her feet, with Andrew right beside her. He was the first to find his voice.

“How was your prayer time, Aunt Martha?”

Martha regarded them with an unreadable expression. “The Lord and I got everything worked out. Looks like you two got a few things straightened out, too.”

Lucy felt Andrew reach for her hand, and she wrapped her fingers around his.

“We have some news for you,” he said.

Martha chuckled. “And I’ll bet I can guess what it is.”

Lucy’s cheeks grew warm. She looked up at the man beside her and smiled. “Andrew asked me to marry him.”

A wide grin spread across Martha’s face. “I had an idea this was going to happen. Just like Burt and Bessie.”

Lucy crinkled her forehead. “That bull and heifer you and your husband brought out here with you?” She glanced at Andrew, who appeared to be stifling a grin, then looked back at Martha. “I thought you said all they did was butt heads.”

“That’s right. At first, anyway.”

“What happened later?”

Martha’s hearty laugh rang out, and she waved one arm toward the cattle that dotted the nearby hillside. “Where do you think that line of stock came from?”

“Oh.” Lucy nodded. Then Martha’s meaning registered. “Oh!”

Still chuckling, Martha plopped down in her rocking chair. “This seems to be an evening for announcements. I have a little news of my own.”

“News? Tell us!” Lucy took a seat in the other rocker, while Andrew leaned back against the porch rail.

Martha rocked back and forth with a gentle motion. “I did some deep thinking while I was upstairs. With the railroad coming through, it’s going to change everything. As hard as I’ve worked to hang on to this land, it’s difficult to think it won’t be the Diamond S much longer. Nothing is going to be the same.”

A lump formed in Lucy’s throat. She reached over and laid her hand on Martha’s arm. “Andrew and I have been talking about that. We want you to come live with us in North Fork. I know it won’t be the same, but at least we’ll be together as a family.”

Martha patted Lucy’s hand. “Thank you, dear. That’s a comfort.” She looked at Andrew with a speculative gleam in her eyes. “So it’s pretty much a certainty the railroad is coming through here?”

“I’m afraid so. I know it’s going to be hard for you to say good-bye to this place.”

“And you think they’ll offer me a fair price for the land?”

“I’m sure of it, Aunt Martha. They won’t be out to cheat you. You’ll be financially secure for the rest of your days.”

Martha slapped both hands on the arms of her rocker. “In that case, let ’em come! I’m ready to sell.”

Andrew couldn’t have looked more dazed if she’d hit him on the head with a two-by-four. “You are?”

“Yep. It’s time for me to do what your uncle and I always dreamed of. I’m going to take that money and see the world.” She turned to Lucy. “Since the two of us have hit it off so well, I was going to ask you to come along . . . but it appears you’ve gotten a better offer.”

“But . . . but . . .” Andrew sputtered like a teakettle on the boil. “You can’t go off on your own like that! There’s no telling what you might run up against.”

Martha quelled him with a look. “Need I remind you, I’ve run up against plenty of dangers right here—including that fire this afternoon. I expect I can handle anything—or anyone—I come across.”

Laughter bubbled from Lucy’s throat. “After seeing you in action, I’m sure you can.”

Martha bobbed her head as if that settled the matter. Rising, she walked to the front door. “I’m going to brew myself a pot of tea and let you get back to that conversation I interrupted.”

Andrew stared after her. “A lone woman traveling the world? That’s the craziest idea I’ve ever heard of.”

Lucy hopped out of her chair and swatted him on the shoulder. “How many times do I have to tell you, your aunt is not crazy?” She slipped into the circle of his arms, which was quickly becoming her favorite place to be, and pressed the tip of her forefinger into the cleft in his chin. A perfect fit, just as she’d suspected. “After all, she knew we were meant for each other, even before we did.”

“That she did.” Andrew brushed a kiss against her temple, and laughter rumbled from his chest. Framing her cheeks with his hands, he bent his head toward hers. Just before their lips met, she heard him murmur, “I guess Burt and Bessie set a pretty good example, after all.”