Missy vibrated to the core of her being with a mixture of fear and victory. She’d taken care of herself in a dangerous situation. Whether she became a secretary or not, she would carry that knowledge with her. She need never again feel she was a burden to anyone. From now on, she knew she could take care of herself.
But as they continued on to the house Wade now owned, the sense of victory began to feel a little unsatisfying. Why wasn’t it enough? Yes, it proved she was strong. That she could survive on her own. But that now seemed such a lonely thought.
They reached the house.
At the sound coming from within, she grabbed Wade’s arm. “I hear yelling. And not in play.”
Wade’s expression darkened. “I know.” He took her hand as he threw open the door.
The sight before them made Missy gasp. Mrs. Williams bent over Joey, her voice raised in harsh tones as she threatened to whip him if he didn’t finish his work.
Annie crouched in the corner, her eyes filled with fear.
Wade stepped to Mrs. Williams. “What’s going on here?”
Joey skittered away, huddling behind the rocking chair.
Missy scooped Annie into her arms and fled to the rocking chair to hold her tight, one hand pulling Joey to her side.
Mrs. Williams smoothed the front of her dress and faced Wade, her expression tight. “The boy defied me. Said he wasn’t going to do the arithmetic. Said his uncle wouldn’t make him. I intend to show him that while I’m caring for him, I am boss. He will do what I say.” She shifted about as if trying to ease the strain on her corset. “It’s necessary to establish one’s authority from the onset.”
“That is not the way to do it. You’re being a bully. My niece and nephew don’t need your methods. You have ten minutes to collect your things and leave.”
With a mighty huff, Mrs. Williams headed for her room. “I’ll not be staying where my authority is challenged.”
“You’ll not be staying at all. That’s already been decided.”
The children shivered in Missy’s arms as Wade stood at the door, waiting for Mrs. Williams to leave. She took but half of her allotted time and stormed past Wade and out into the cold without so much as a goodbye.
He closed the door quietly behind her and let out his breath with a whoosh, then studied the frightened children. With a muffled groan he crossed the floor and squatted before Missy and her lapful of children.
“I am so sorry that happened. It’s my fault. Can you ever forgive me?”
Annie threw herself into his arms, sobbing against his neck.
He held out an inviting hand to Joey who stiffened in Missy’s arms a moment, then leaned forward into Wade’s embrace. He held them both and lifted his eyes to Missy.
Seeing the misery and sorrow written in his gaze, she pressed her hand to his cheek. He closed his eyes and held the children until they grew restless.
Now was her chance to do something for him. To make him see what a good man he was.
“Children, would you please go play in your bedroom while your uncle and I talk?”
Joey took Annie’s hand and led her away. He paused at the door to look back.
Sensing his fragile state of mind, Missy smiled. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
Wade rose as the children left. He scrubbed at his neck. “I made rather a mess of that, didn’t I?”
“On the contrary. I’d say you prevented a disaster.”
His eyes sought an explanation.
“You could have let Mrs. Williams continue to use her methods.”
He shook his head. “Her methods are far too severe. The children only need a gentle word to guide them.”
“That’s right.” Missy smiled. “Did you hear what you said?”
“I said her methods are too severe.”
“You said more than that. You said they only need a gentle word. Don’t you see? You know what they need and you give it to them.”
Realization dawned. “I guess I do.” His shoulders sagged again. “But I can’t look after them by myself. What am I going to do now?”
“You’ll figure it out. You know what they need. You simply have to listen to your heart.”
As he considered her advice, a slow smile came to his mouth. He pulled her into his arms. “If I were to follow my heart I would ask you to stay and take care of them. Will you?”
She loved the children and it was on the tip of her tongue to say yes, but she wanted so much more. “I want to be more than a temporary housekeeper.”
He dropped his arms and stepped back. “You want to be a secretary.”
“Not necessarily. Secretarial school is only a place where I hoped I’d find some value. Where I could do something that would make me feel independent.” She now understood what she truly wanted was to be needed.
“You’re needed here.”
Yes, it was true, and she was sorely tempted to accept the position of housekeeper simply so she could stay with Wade and the children. But too often in the past she had been a convenience at best, a nuisance at worst. “I need to be more than a convenience.”
He laughed, though she couldn’t imagine what he saw as funny in her statement.
“You’ve pushed and prodded me since I saw you in town before Christmas,” he finally said. “You’ve made me uncomfortable at times. But you’ve also given me something I haven’t had in a long time—hope that the future was worth pursuing.”
“I’m glad.” And she truly was. But was he preparing to pursue his future without her? What did she have to do or say in order to get him to confess he loved her?
She hesitated. Was she so certain he did? Yes. Her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. Yes, she knew he loved her. The question was, did he know it?
“Missy, I realized something when I saw you and Vic. When I thought he was going to hurt you.” Wade chuckled softly. “You turned the tables on him rather quickly.” He sobered again. “At that moment, I realized I don’t have to take care of you. You can take care of yourself.”
A protest pressed against her teeth. True, she had defended herself, but... “It doesn’t mean I don’t need anyone.”
“It doesn’t?” He pulled her closer and trailed a finger along her cheek.
Wrought wordless by his touch, she could only shake her head.
“I’m looking to the future more and more now,” he said.
She nodded. When had she ever been struck speechless before? And now, when she wanted so badly to say the things filling her heart, her tongue refused to work.
Wade’s smile was gentle. “Which is not to say I might not make mistakes in the future. I might fail those I love.”
A protest escaped her frozen tongue. “But not on purpose.”
“Never on purpose.” He continued his distracting way of stroking her face, when all she wanted was to hear him confess he loved her. “So you’re not set on going to secretarial school?”
She grabbed him by his upper arms, momentarily sidetracked by the strength beneath her palms. If she got her way, she’d get plenty of opportunity to admire his muscles in the future.
“Wade Snyder, I love you. Why would I want to go to secretarial school?”
His eyes widened, then a slow, bright-as-the-sun, sweet-as-the-moon smile lit his features. “What did you say?”
She gave him a bold look. “You heard me. Now what are you going to do about it?” Never in her life had she been so forward. Nor so sure of herself.
He tipped his head back and laughed. Then, still grinning, he pulled her to his chest. “This is what I’m going to do about it.” He kissed her.
With all her heart and soul, she wanted to respond. But there was one thing she wanted even more, and she broke off the kiss.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his gaze lingering on her mouth.
“Haven’t you forgotten something?”
“I don’t think so. The woman I love has just said she loves me. What else is there to remember?”
Her heart overflowing, she chuckled. “You forgot to tell me you love me.”
For a moment he looked confused. “Why, so I did. Missy Porter, I love you to the moon and back. I love you deeper, wider, farther than I thought was possible.” He fell to one knee and took her hand. “Will you do me the favor of becoming my wife?”
“Let me think about it a moment.” She pretended to give it serious contemplation while he waited on his knee. But she couldn’t contain her joy. “Yes, I’ll marry you. A thousand times over.” She pulled him to his feet, threw her arms around him and lifted her face for a kiss.
The look he gave her made her glow inside, and then she forgot everything as he kissed her. She’d come home. Back to love and belonging. She vowed she would do her best to provide the same for those in her home.
* * *
Wade could never have guessed at the whoops and hollers, the flurry of activity and the heap of comments that would ensue after his announcement that he and Missy meant to marry.
“We have decided to get married right away,” he said when things quieted down. “There’s the children to consider. They need a settled home.”
“But Missy deserves a church wedding,” Louise said. “It’s what her parents would have wanted.”
As soon as she said that, Wade knew he had lost any argument he might have before he launched it. “How long does it take to do a church wedding?” He foresaw months of preparation to perfect a thousand things he knew in the back of his mind must be done. “There isn’t even a preacher here.” And barely a church. The outside was done, the pews made, but he wasn’t even sure what else needed doing.
Eddie held up his hand. “Constable Allen is able to perform marriages and he’s in town for a day or two.”
“How long would it take to find a suitable dress for Missy?” Wade pressed.
“I have something that will do, I believe,” Linette said. “Unless she’s got her heart set on something fancy. In that case we have to order yard goods and make the dress. That would take, oh, probably most of the winter, unless we can persuade Petey to make a special trip for us.”
Wade sensed she was teasing but he wasn’t certain.
Missy shook her head vigorously. “I don’t want a fancy dress. I just want to get married.” She sat next to Wade, gripping his hand hard enough to make his fingers tingle. Or was that simply from the knowledge they would soon be married? His heart picked up its pace at the thought. He could hardly wait to share the rest of his life with Missy and the children. Perhaps many more children if God saw fit to allow it.
Eddie slapped his knee. “Then what’s wrong with Saturday?”
Wade could not stop a grin from spreading clear across his face. “Saturday sounds ideal.” Missy agreed before the words were out of his mouth.
The next day was a flurry of activity as the women baked up a storm in the kitchen, then disappeared upstairs to fit a dress for Missy.
Eddie took Wade to town to help prepare the church and speak to Constable Allen.
Cassie kindly offered to take care of the children for the day.
It wasn’t until evening that Wade got a chance to speak to Missy alone. “Are we going to survive this?”
She laughed. “We certainly are, and we’ll look back on our wedding day as a celebration shared by our friends.” She grew pensive. “I only wish Mama and Papa could be here.”
“And I wish my sister and her husband could be, too.” He considered that for a moment. “But I suppose if they were here, we might never have met.” It was a strange thought.
“Things have worked out in surprising ways,” Missy concurred. “Perhaps if it wasn’t for Vic, Louise and I might still be back in Montana. And I might still think I was a bother to everyone.”
Wade pulled her into the circle of his arms. “I hope you never think that again. You are dearer than life to me. I expect as we spend our years together, our love will continue to grow, though at the moment, it hardly seems it could get any bigger.”
She hugged him. “I might need to be reminded from time to time.”
He smiled down at her in the moonlight. “I will spend the rest of my life looking for ways to remind you. But for now, will this do?” And he claimed her lips.