Laney bit back a grin at the glare on Luke’s face. She knew he resented the lack of privacy, but she couldn’t afford Miss Hastings’s disapproval right now.
“You look beautiful,” Luke said, taking her hand as they walked into the parlor.
Laney ducked her head, unaccustomed to such compliments. “Thank you. Miss Hastings doesn’t approve of my ‘mannish garb.’” She threw him a cheeky grin.
He leaned in close, his tone conspiratorial. “If she ever wants to catch a man, she’d better not insist you wear dresses like this one too often,” he drawled. “You overshadow her by a mile.”
She laughed, enjoying the glint of admiration in his green eyes, as well as the easy camaraderie they had fallen into as though they had never disagreed. “Why are you flattering me?”
“I’m not. It’s all true.”
She sank onto the couch. “Have a seat.”
He started to sit next to her, but mindful of Miss Hastings pacing the foyer just outside the room, Laney motioned him to a wing chair across from her.
She gathered courage about her like a shield. “I’m glad you’ve come, Luke. I—I need to speak with you, too.”
“What is it?”
Her eyes misted. She longed to sink into his arms, but Miss Hastings’s shadow fell across the doorway, keeping them at a proper distance.
“I—I wanted to tell you that I will go to Oregon with you—if you still want me to.”
Wordlessly Luke stared at her for such a length of time that Laney thought maybe he hadn’t heard her. Finally she cleared her throat. “If you still want me, that is,” she repeated.
“If I…?”
“Well?” A frown furrowed her brow. He could say something. Even if he didn’t want her anymore.
“No.”
“No? You don’t want to marry me?” Laney grimaced as her voice reached a high pitch and cracked. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and wished she could take it all back. She should have let him tell her what he came to say first. He probably would have spared her the humiliation of this rejection by telling her up front he had changed his mind about her.
“I don’t want you to go to Oregon.”
Laney leaped to her feet. “Yes, Luke. You’ve made that perfectly clear. Just say what you came to say and get out of here.”
“If you don’t simmer down and stop that yelling, Miss Hastings is going to be in here throwing me out in two seconds flat.”
As if answering a summons, Miss Hastings appeared in the doorway. “Is he manhandling you, Miss Jenkins? Shall I call in Mr. Witherspoon to escort him out?”
Luke grimaced and glared at Laney. “That won’t be necessary, Miss Hastings,” he said. “Miss Jenkins offered to come west with me…and—”
The poor woman’s face was instantly stripped of color. “Miss Jenkins, I am afraid I did not realize you were a woman of questionable morals when I allowed you to move into my establishment. Perhaps your peculiar ways should have raised my suspicions, but being a Christian woman, I hesitate to judge a person without proof.”
Mortified, Laney flailed her arms at Luke. “Look what you’ve gone and done, Luke. Miss Hastings, I promise, this isn’t the way it appears. I meant I would marry Luke and then move west with him.”
“Oh, that is a relief.” She nodded but didn’t quite smile. “You are getting married, then. When will you be moving out? I am afraid I cannot give you a refund for the month in advance you’ve paid, but I informed you of that fact when you insisted upon paying ahead of time.”
“It doesn’t matter, Miss Hastings,” Laney said glumly. “Mr. St. John has decided he doesn’t want me to marry him after all.”
“How unchivalrous! I would have expected more from the son of one of Harper’s most distinguished citizens.”
Something akin to a growl escaped Luke’s throat. “Wait!” He took hold of Laney’s hand and led her back to the couch. “Sit down,” he commanded. Then he strode to the door and extended his arm in that direction. Miss Hastings turned three shades of red and stepped out of the room.
Laney heard her gasp when he pulled the door firmly shut behind her. “Luke, you’re going to get me thrown out of here!”
“You don’t want to live here anyway.” He sat next to her and took her hands. “Now tell me why you changed your mind about coming to Oregon with me. Is it just because you lost the soddy? Because that’s exactly the same bad reasoning as it would have been for me to marry you just because I didn’t think I’d ever be able to head west.”
“That’s not it, and it doesn’t really matter since you don’t want me anymore, anyway. Don’t worry about thinking you have to do the right thing by me. I don’t go where I’m not wanted!”
“Yes, I know.” Luke chuckled. He cupped her chin. “Tell me. What changed your mind?”
Laney gave a sigh. “Jane.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Oh Luke. Jane made me realize that if you don’t have the ones you love around you, it doesn’t really matter if you have the best land in the world or not. I can be happier in Oregon with you than I would be on my land, in my soddy, without you.”
He bent forward and pressed his forehead to hers.
Laney closed her eyes, savoring his closeness.
“Laney,” he whispered, drawing her closer. His mouth moved over hers and clung until she could hardly breathe. All too soon, his lips left hers. He pressed her head against his shoulder.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting in the familiarity of his arms. “I meant it, Luke. I’ll be happy anywhere, as long as we’re together.”
“I feel the same way,” he said against her hair. “I’d rather stay here with you than go there without you.”
Laney pulled away and stared for a moment, trying to wrap her mind around his words. “Then why did you say you didn’t want me to go?”
“Because I’ve already made up my mind not to go west.”
Relief nearly overwhelmed her as she looked into his love-filled eyes. Still, she needed to be positive. “But are you sure, Luke? You’ve wanted it for so long.”
“Something changed inside of me when Pa got hurt. What if I hadn’t been here to help? I need to stay close to the family. And as far as my land goes, I can raise my own herd right here. It may never be as prosperous as Pa’s, but it’ll be mine…ours, if you’ll have me.”
“I will, Luke. But where are we going to live?”
“I want to build our herd right here. On your land.”
Laney felt the color drain from her face, and she sent him a blank stare. “Didn’t you know? I mean…why else would I be living here?”
Luke nodded. “I know what you did for your pa.” He moved closer and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her close. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize the consequences. I would have made sure you didn’t worry about your land for even one minute.”
She sighed against his shoulder. “Oh Luke. I think sometimes we just have to be brought low for God to show us the truth about ourselves. I had to realize that my land wasn’t the most important thing. God is. And the chance for my pa to come to know the Lord.”
“Has he?”
“No, but I’m not giving up. He’s softening.” Laney gave a short laugh. “He hates it, but he’s definitely changing, in spite of himself. I know it won’t be long before he accepts Jesus.”
“I’m glad to hear it. We’ll keep praying for him.” He pulled back and studied her, a twinkle lighting his eyes. “How soon can you be ready to move back out to the soddy?”
Was he being cruel? Or had he simply misunderstood? “What do you mean? It’s gone. Garner sold it to another buyer already.”
Luke grinned broadly, pulled out a document, and handed it over to Laney.
“A deed?”
“Read it.”
Her hands began to tremble as she glanced down and read the name on the deed. “Luke St. John.” She threw him an accusing glare. “You bought my land?”
“Stop looking at me like that. Pa bought it. Garner wanted you to keep it, but he knew you wouldn’t accept an extension. Pa wanted to give you the opportunity to buy it, but when you moved out before he could offer you a deal, he decided to give it to us as a wedding present instead.”
“A wedding present? We can’t take this. We have to make him let us pay for it.”
Luke placed his hand over hers. “It’s a gift, honey. A gift. I’m not going to hurt Ma and Pa by trying to pay for it.” He slid to his knee in front of her. “You never answered me. Will you share it with me?”
Her eyes misted. “Oh Luke. You know I will.”
Mesmerized by her tears, Luke cupped her face and brought his lips to hers for a brief, tender kiss.
“When can we get married?”
“Wh–when do you want us to?”
“As soon as possible, before something else goes wrong.”
“But where would we live? With Pa and Jane and me, the soddy’s awfully crowded already.”
“I can add a room on to the soddy for now, and I can start hauling sandstone from the creek to build a real house as soon as possible. It still might take a couple of years before we can move out of the soddy though. Is that all right with you?”
Laney flung herself into his arms, nearly knocking him backward. “It’s wonderful. If you’re sure you can put up with Pa. I—I can keep making dresses for Mr. Tucker, and we can save our money for our herd.”
Luke frowned.
“What?” Laney asked. Then understanding dawned. “You don’t want me to keep working for Tucker?”
Luke smiled, hugged her, then pulled back again to look into her eyes. “I don’t guess it would hurt anything, as long as you promise not to get yourself all worn out like you did last fall.”
The corners of her lips tilted upward. “I thought you might fight me on that part of it. I don’t have to work if you don’t want me to.”
“There’d be an uproar in town if the womenfolk thought I tried to keep you from making their gowns.” He grinned. “I guess since the woman from Proverbs could take care of her family and still buy and sell land, my Laney can sew to help build our herd.”
“We’ll work together,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder. Suddenly she jumped up and reached out for him. “Come on.”
“Where?”
“You, sir, have to ask my pa for my hand in marriage.”
Luke stood and grinned. “Are you sure you want me to?”
Laney laughed. “It’s a risk. He might say no just to get under my skin. Then where would we be?”
“Maybe I’d better not ask, then.”
“Come on. And maybe while you’re at it, you can let him know he’s welcome in our home.”
Luke pulled her back and wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his forehead against hers. “You’ve changed,” he said softly.
She nodded. “God changed me, Luke. I’m not sure how it happened, really. But all the fighting and anger, it’s just not there anymore.”
“So I don’t guess I have to worry about you flattening me once a day, then?”
She sent him a cheeky grin. “I’m not making any promises. A girl can only change so fast.”
“What about the dress? I kind of like it. Think you might wear it again, even without Miss Hastings around to insist on proper attire?”
“I’ll wear a dress to church on Sundays.”
“Then I’ll look forward to every Sunday for the rest of my life.”
“And of course I’ll keep a skirt handy to pull over my britches when I go to town.”
“Of course, we wouldn’t want the town dowagers to talk.”
Laney smiled and squeezed his hand. “Oh Luke. I’m so happy it’s all finally working out. Let’s go tell Pa and Jane.”
Luke pulled her back toward him. Laney caught her breath at the love shining from his eyes. Laney’s mind filled with the memory of their first kiss. She smiled.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Just that I’m glad I kissed you last fall, or we might never have decided to get married.”
“You kissed me? I kissed you after the harvest dance and then asked you to marry me.”
Laney regarded him through narrowed eyes. “Luke St. John, you know good and well that if I hadn’t kissed you, you never would have gotten up the gumption to admit you love me in the first place. And that was two weeks before any ol’ dance!”
His lips twitched, and Laney felt the heat rush to her cheeks. “Oh, you’re teasing. Will I ever learn not to get so riled at you?”
“We have a lifetime for you to figure it out.” He pulled her close.
Laney smiled as his mouth closed over hers in a kiss very much like the one that had started it all.