Early that evening, while Adam waited for his meeting time with Rebecca, he sat in the cozy parlor with his family and his faithful old beagle, Scout. The dog lounged on Adam’s lap, both of them happy to be reunited.
At fifteen years old, his sister Cora had become a blonde-haired, green-eyed beauty who had outgrown her dolls but not her blabby mouth. In the few minutes he’d been sitting in the parlor, she’d told him everything happening in their village and at school where she spent the better part of her days. He knew who had married, who had died, and who bought what herbs or salves in the greenhouse for their ailments. She filled him in on the trouble their little brothers had gotten into last week, and on and on. Her joy at having him home again was apparent as she blathered on about everything he’d missed in the last seven months.
Adam was enjoying the little blabbermouth and couldn’t help teasing her a bit. “Gads, Cora, your yammering is about to make my ears bleed.” He stuck a finger in his ear then inspected it as if searching for blood.
With a laugh, Cora dove across the settee and pinched his arm. “You better not have come home just to torment me, Adam. I get enough of that from these two,” she said, glancing at her younger brothers who were sprawled on the carpet playing marbles.
“You deserve it,” said nine-year-old Jeremiah with a dismissive shrug. Levi, who was two years younger, nodded his head.
Adam grinned at the skinny, messy-haired boys. Faith must have fits trying to tame those wild mops of hair for school and church. He remembered her applying the brush to his own unruly mass of hair many a time before he convinced her he was too old for her fussing.
“See how it is here?” Cora said to Adam. “I was counting on you to defend me from these two pups.”
“I’m not a pup!” Levi said, whacking Cora with a lacy settee pillow.
Adam exchanged a grin with Duke, his father, and was sorry he’d been away so much of the past several years. He missed his family. He missed sitting in their comfortable parlor in the evenings, sharing stories, and playing board games with his family. He missed the man-to-man talks he had with Duke. He missed Faith and her sisterly-motherly love. She and Adam had been through so much together, had come so far from those awful days of living behind the brothel their mother had owned. Their family had been broken and pieced back together, but like a broken bone that healed, they had become stronger from the trauma.
“We’re eager to have you back at the mill,” his father said, propping his stocking-clad feet on a low table. Duke’s wide shoulders nearly spanned the width of the wingback chair. He was a bear of a man, fit and strong and smart. Dark-haired and brown-eyed, he was handsome and had an admirable sense of humor. He was a perfect husband to Adam’s sister, Faith, and loving father to their children. To Adam, Duke was more than a father; he was a friend—and everything Adam aspired to become.
“That’s all he’s been talking about for the last month,” Faith said to Adam, a smile gracing her pretty face. The purple shade of her dress favored her, as did marriage and motherhood. Legs crossed, foot bobbing and peeking from beneath her pleated skirt, she sat in her padded rocking chair crocheting what looked to be a sweater, happily participating in their conversation. He marveled at her ability to manage the greenhouse and their busy household without falling over from exhaustion.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Adam admitted to his father. “I’ve missed working the mill and watching you and your brothers antagonize each other all day,”
Duke chuckled. “That hasn’t changed any. It will be good to have you back so you can share the abuse.”
The abuse Duke referred to was good-natured ribbing that was batted back and forth between the Grayson brothers and the mill crew. Their days at the mill were filled with hard work and lots of heckling that helped to lighten the load.
“Thought we might go hunting this weekend,” his father said.
Adam loved hunting with his dad and uncles. “That will make Scout happy,” Adam said, ruffling the dog’s ears. “We need Uncle Boyd to come along and bring Sailor.”
His father’s burst of laughter elicited Adam’s in return. “That dog is worthless in a hunt.”
“I know, but having Boyd around is priceless. Plus, Sailor is good company for Scout. This old fella isn’t going to run down anything, are you, buddy?” he asked, scratching the dog’s head again as his father’s laughter subsided. Some of Adam’s best memories were those he spent with his father and uncles on a hunt.
“I wish I could invite all your uncles,” his father said, “but we’ve got a big order at the mill right now. With two of us gone the others need to be there. Besides, I’m surprised you will let me take you away from Rebecca already.”
Adam laughed. “It’s a sacrifice, but I suspect she might be glad to be rid of me for a while by then.”
His father’s laughter told Adam he hadn’t lost his touch for bantering and heckling and having some good-natured fun with his dad.
Faith tilted her head and studied Adam. “It’s hard to believe you’ll soon be married. I can well imagine how happy you are to be home with Rebecca.”
Words couldn’t describe what he felt, but he nodded to acknowledge his joy. “I’m glad to be here with all of you, too—and even with Miss Blabby Mouth and her tormentors,” he said, tweaking Cora’s ribs.
She squealed and slapped his hand away, but they were both enjoying their reunion. The sound of his family’s laughter and their conversation flowed over him, soothing the raw places in his lonely heart. He was home. He was finally going to live his dream.
Stroking her mare’s neck, Rebecca waited beneath the long hanging limbs of the willow tree that she and Adam had claimed as their special place many years earlier. She had dreamed about this moment for months, and now that Adam was finally home and she had touched him, heard the rich, soothing sound of his voice, she longed to be with him.
The sound of his boots crunching along the loamy, rocky shore told her he was about to round the bend of Canadaway Creek. As he came into view, Rebecca drank in the sight of him, grown tall in manhood, his stride long and sure, brown hair fluttering in the evening breeze and tangling in his collar. Hands jammed deep in his jacket pockets, Adam followed his dog, Scout. The dog scampered along the creek’s edge, sniffing the rocky ground as he and his master made their way toward the willow tree.
Rebecca knew the instant Scout spotted her. The beagle lifted his head and released a happy howl as he raced toward her.
When Adam spied her, he gave her that slow you’re-all-I’ve-been-able-to-think-about smile that never failed to warm her heart. Each time they met was like a first time, new and exciting and packed with emotion.
Usually it was Adam who arrived first, who waited for her, but today Rebecca wanted to welcome him back to their wonderful willow world. That’s what they called their private little nest beneath the fat willow tree squatted on the bank of the burbling creek. The long drooping branches of the willow created a wall of leafy green that encircled them and had provided privacy for years while they shared their thoughts and dreams and even their heartaches.
Scout knew this place well, and he barreled inside with a happy yip.
Laughing, Rebecca rubbed his knobby head and tried to avoid his wildly swinging tail. Star and Scout had friended each other long ago and now greeted each other nose-to-nose.
Adam parted the branches and slipped into the sacred space that had nourished their love.
Rebecca moved into his arms and released a long, satisfied sigh.
“I never knew four hours could be so long,” he said.
With her cheek against his warm chest, Rebecca nodded. “Or that twenty minutes could be so short.”
“Is that all you have tonight?” he asked.
Again, she nodded. “I need to get back before Daddy comes home.”
“I understand,” Adam said.
She knew he did. They had built and nourished their love throughout a decade with stolen moments. Twenty minutes here, ten minutes there, sometimes even a minute to exchange a hug and the unspoken knowledge that they cared about and missed each other, was a treat. They accepted that from the beginning. At thirteen, they both understood they were too young to fully embrace their powerful love, but they tended it with care knowing one day they would be old enough to claim it, and each other.
“Remember the day Melissa Archer caught us kissing here?” Rebecca asked, her voice quiet, her face still resting against Adam’s muscled chest.
The sound of his chuckle rumbled beneath her ear. “All I remember is you. Your lips were so soft and your eyes looked like big brown chestnuts up close.”
She smiled and eased back in his arms. “We have so many wonderful memories, Adam, and we haven’t even married yet or begun our family. Can you imagine what we will be able to share when we’re as old as Grandma Grayson or Agatha Brown?”
“We’ll put them all in a book and share them with our great grandchildren.”
Smiling, she tugged his hand and sat on the small wool blanket she’d spread beneath the tree.
He sat beside her and pulled her into his arms. “I have so many plans for us, my love, so many places I want to show you.”
His endearment flowed over her. “Where will you take me first?” she asked, eager to hear his thoughts, loving the sound of his voice and the assurance that he was really home, that his strong arms would carry her to their wedding day and into their future.
“Crane Landing,” he said. “You’ll love it there. The ships are... I can’t explain how magnificent they are or what it’s like to launch a vessel that size. It’s like a moment when time seems to stop, when everything holds its breath while the sails swell with wind and carry her out to sea.”
“Reminds me of watching a foal being born, waiting for it to breathe, to recognize its mother, to find its legs.”
He nodded. “Yes, it’s a moment like that,” he said. “Something beautiful is being born in that moment.”
“It’ll be like that when we have children,” she said.
“The birth of our children will be worlds beyond that, darling.”
A rush of excitement brought her upright and she gazed into his eyes. “I’m eager to have children, but I hope we’ll have a few months to ourselves first.”
“It’s probably safe to say we will have at least nine months.”
She laughed and settled back in his arms. “Tell me more about Crane Landing. Will we take a holiday there after our nuptials?”
“I’d like that, but only if it’s your desire.”
“I want to see the place you’ve written so much about in your letters.”
His arms tightened around her in a warm hug. “There’s so much to show you. At floodtide I’ll take you upriver in a birch bark canoe to my favorite fishing hole. We’ll store our canoe at Petticoat Landing, which is a raft landing for the wood cutters during the spring freshet. From there, we will take an overgrown trail that threads seven miles back into the hollow where meadow-rue and pink lady’s-slipper orchids grow tall and fragrant and the wild sarsaparilla carpets the forest floor. We can make camp right next to the creek and listen to the water tumble over the stream bed. And then we’ll fall asleep in each other’s arms hearing the sounds of the whippoorwills and night hawks, and the howls of a lone timber wolf in the far distance.”
“Oh, Adam...” Rebecca turned to see his face. “It sounds so beautiful and romantic.”
“It is, Rebecca, but not so romantic when I’m alone or with Leo,” he said, releasing a light laugh.
“I should hope not,” she said, laughing with him. “Although I’m sure Leo is a much better fisherman than I.”
“Even an inexperienced fisherman would catch a slew there. It’s the best fishing hole I’ve found,” Adam continued. “As the morning fog lifts off the water we fish brook trout with minnows and soft-shelled crabs. I’ve caught so many trout there in the first hour after dawn that it puts a bend in my bamboo rod.”
“This is beginning to sound like one of those tall tales my Grandpa Tucker used to tell. Are you jesting?”
“No. It’s all true.” He paused, and a sheepish expression crossed his face. “Am I being boorish?”
“No,” she said, honestly. “I love hearing your voice and learning about your world and the wondrous things you’ve seen and experienced in your travels.”
“I’ll share everything with you, Rebecca. When we go to Crane Landing, we’ll fish trout for our supper and enjoy our meal beneath the stars. I want to take you to this place. I want you to see the clear, cold waters of the high mountain streams that I fish. I want you to experience the cool mists that the ocean continually sweeps inland. Once you hear the wild song of the mighty Crane River as it moves over the cobbled bottom and cuts its way to the ocean, you’ll never forget it. And the endless forests with their mix of pitch pine, gray birch, red maple and many other species creates a wonderful home for the beautiful creatures you love. You must see it, Rebecca.”
His voice and the images he had evoked with his words mesmerized her. “It sounds majestic,” she said, softly. “While you’ve been gone I’ve been living on our memories, but, Adam, there is so much more awaiting us. I’m eager to see all these wonderful places you want to share with me.”
“We’ll take our children to these places, too, Rebecca. We’ll sink our roots right here in Fredonia and raise our children in the loving bosom of our family while we explore the world around us as life permits.”
A vivid memory of Adam rose up in her mind, and Rebecca smiled. “Then maybe I’ll finally get that train ride to Buffalo you promised me. Do you remember that? I was about to turn sixteen, and we both wanted to sneak away and get married. When we finally admitted that eloping was not only impossible, but the wrong thing to do, you promised to take me to Buffalo on the train after we married.”
“What I recall is that you were angry with me for talking sense into that pretty head of yours.” An almost sad expression crossed his face. “You probably don’t remember how ashamed I was that I couldn’t afford to marry and support you then.”
Rebecca cupped his jaw. “There isn’t a moment I’ve spent with you that’s not etched in my mind. I remember everything, Adam.”
“In that case, do you remember where we buried our worry stones?”
“Of course,” she said with a laugh. “From that knob on the willow trunk it is six paces in that direction,” she said, gesturing just left of where they were sitting.
“Well, love, today is the day we dig them up.” Adam pulled a pointed rock out of his coat pocket. “I picked this up on my way here. Shall we unearth our treasures?”
“Yes, and I hope we never have to bury them again,” she said, relief and hope flooding through her.
At thirteen they had found the stones during one of their many trips to the creek. The stones had been polished smooth during their tumbling journey down the creek. Adam, who knew about such things, had told her that rubbing the surface of a smooth stone was calming and would ease worry. So they carried them and used them as they worked out their daily troubles, but each time Adam left for university or his apprenticeship they buried their stones. It was their way of leaving their pain and their worries for the rain to wash away. They would dig up their stones each time he returned home and bury them again when he left. Six long years later they were finally, hopefully, digging up their stones for the last time.
“Mark the spot if you can,” Adam said, challenging Rebecca to find their hidden treasure.
“You doubt me, sir?” Rebecca gladly accepted his challenge and haughtily lifted her nose as she placed her palm on the damp ground. “Here. Dig if you dare.”
Laughing, Adam raked a deep furrow in the damp earth with his pointed stone.
Scout took that as a sign and dug in with both paws, raking and throwing clumps of dirt as if searching for a long lost bone.
“Whoa, fella,” Adam said, wrestling Scout away from the small hole he’d managed to dig. “This is my job.” He picked up a broken piece of a branch and tossed it toward the creek. With a happy yip, Scout shot from beneath the tree and raced to the creek bank where the branch landed.
Grinning, Rebecca nodded at the hole. “A little deeper and you’ll find both stones.”
“If you’re wrong, you’ll owe me a kiss.”
“I’ll kiss you even if I’m right.”
Oh, how she loved that look in his eyes that shut out the rest of the world, that told her all he could see was her.
“Then what shall we wager?” he asked, his voice playful.
“I’d like that train ride you promised me eight years ago. I’ve been waiting a long time, you know.”
“Will you settle for a train ride to Crane Landing instead of Buffalo?”
She kissed him to answer his question and because she couldn’t help herself. She needed this honorable, remarkable man. The girl in her wanted to reunite with her friend and sweetheart. The woman in her needed to connect with the man Adam had become, the man she would marry, the man who would love her and father her children and be her lifelong companion.
He kissed her with tender affection.
Night peepers began their rhythmic chirping as Canadaway Creek burbled in the background. Tucked in their nest beneath the willow tree, Rebecca and Adam allowed themselves one sweet kiss.
The quiet nicker of Rebecca’s mare told her it was time to go.
Slowly, she eased away... and received a wet lick from Scout on her right ear. “Ack!” she said, wiping her ear with the sleeve of her sweater. Laughing, she picked up his stick and threw it back toward the creek.
Exchanging a smile with Adam, she said, “I need to get home.”
He nodded and released a ragged sigh. “I know.”
They sat for a moment, Rebecca leaning against him, safe in his arms, as they listened to the familiar sounds of evening settling in. The creek was deeply shadowed; the sound of tumbling water from early day was now a quiet babble as it flowed by them.
“I’ll bring you and Daddy lunch tomorrow,” she said, easing herself away from Adam’s warmth. “I can’t go all day without seeing you.”
“I’d like that,” he said, returning to the excavation of their stones.
She was off by six inches, but they found their special stones and wiped them clean with Adam’s blue handkerchief. The small misshapen rocks nested in their palms, their weight comforting and familiar. They would keep them in their pockets, a secret that only the two of them shared. For Rebecca, holding the stone in her hand was like having a part of Adam with her, a token of their love that was as solid and unyielding as their worry stones.
Shifting her gaze from the stone in her palm to Adam’s handsome face, she said, “I believe you owe me a kiss, sir.”
To her surprise, Adam pulled her down beside him, rolled her to her back and ended with a playful nip on her neck. “If I recall correctly, missy, you still owe me a pair of boots.”
Rebecca burst out laughing and immediately clapped a hand over her mouth to keep the sound from traveling the creek.
“Tossing them in the creek was unforgivably cruel, Rebecca Jean.”
When she caught her breath, she said, “I was fifteen and frustrated, Adam. I was in a fit that day and not in control of my actions.”
“I’ll say.” His lopsided grin made her laugh again.
“I’ll add a piece of apple pie to your lunch tomorrow,” she said, loving the playful sparkle in his eyes. “Will that pay my debt?”
His eyes sparkled with love. “Marry me tomorrow and I’ll consider your debt paid.”
She laughed and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Get off me. I can’t be late.”
He rolled off and lunged to his feet, pulling her up with him. “Seriously, Rebecca. Maybe we should move up our wedding. We could spend our first month at Crane Landing in a pretty little house by the river. When we return to Fredonia, the furniture we ordered for our home will be here.”
She searched his eyes. “Could we really do that?”
A slow, sure smile lifted his lips and made her stomach light with anticipation. “I’ll have to work things out at the mill, but I don’t want to wait another single day to be with you,” he said. “Please, marry me tomorrow.”
“Oh, Adam...” She gave him an enthusiastic hug. “I don’t want to wait either.” She looked into his handsome face and knew she would do anything—anything at all—to be with him. “Come by tomorrow evening after you finish at the mill, and we’ll tell Mama and Daddy what we’ve decided.” She swung herself onto Star’s strong back and looked down into his handsome upturned face. “Bring Pastor Ainsley with you.”