Cole's Redemption (Love Amongst the Pines) (20 page)

             
"How much farther?" Miriam called out to the grizzled man

who
held the reins. "Oh, 'bout four or five hours, I reckon."

             
Miriam's heart sank. "I was hoping to get there while there was still some daylight.

             
"Can't be helped. If my horse hadn't thrown a shoe back at that last miner's camp, we'd be on schedule. As it is, we're lucky to get this far.

             
"It's not that much longer,"
Melly
called out behind her.

             
Miriam sat back in her seat. As the scenery flew by, she could not help but let the worry build within her. For the thousandth time that day, part of her was certain that she'd be too late, that her son had already died. The other half of her mind was set on seeing him just around the next bend, or come riding up on a grand, gray gelding like the one he rode years before in Boston. She bargained with God over and over, as she had since the beginning of her trip west. If only Cole was still alive, she promised to mend her ways and to never oppose him again.

             
After the ceremony, the townspeople met in front of the

church
. Lemonade and apple cider were served up in abundance, and the crowd gathered to see the toast of the new bride and groom.

             
"Come on up here, gunslinger. Your work's not over yet." Judge called out over the crowd.

             
Cole walked up the church steps, with Natty in tow behind him. "Yes, Judge. I'm here."

             
"Now that we've had a chance to enjoy the festivities, it's time for the wedding presents."

             
A cheer went up from the guests. Judge put his hand up and calmed the crowd. "It has been noted by us, the townspeople of
Whispering Pines, that we have been a bit lax in our duties. There is a parcel of land south of here that is prime real estate, donated to the town, and thereby awarded to this fine young couple. It is the desire of this township, and all of the surrounding farms, that this deed
be
presented on this day to Mr. and Mrs. Cole
Remmington
. And, from here forthwith, that they shall be the sole owners of this acreage, and so shall remain as members of this community for as long as they can put up with us."

             
A ripple of laughter cut through the crowd.

             
"Which won't be until sunset, if we don't quit all this
jawin
' and start
buildin
'!"
Steffan
Geary called out from the crowd.

With laughter and a few shouts of encouragement, the crowd broke and began loading up into the wagons. It turned out, Cole realized later, that while he'd been cooped up in the Judge's house since arriving in town Saturday afternoon, the townsfolk had been quite busy.
             

They had hauled all of the lumber and supplies out to the property. The wooden frame had been put up, and the floors were already filled in.

             
"Oh my, God!" Natty said as Cole helped her down from the wagon. "Did you know about this?" She asked her husband.

             
"Not a thing. Judge had me so pent up yesterday, I wouldn't have known if my ass was on fire, let alone anything like this!"

             
"Come on, Gunslinger," Judge called from another wagon pulling up beside them. "Let's get some walls on that house!"

             
Cole leaned down and gave Natty another deep kiss.

             
"Just you wait, Natalie. We'll have you sleeping on your new floors tonight for sure."

             
"As long as you're there with me, that's all I care about."

             
In minutes, the rest of the town arrived. The ladies set up food in the back of their wagons and the men, after grabbing hearty platefuls, ate their fill. Within the hour, the property came alive with the sounds of saws and hammers. Though it was late September, the afternoon grew warm, and several of the men divested themselves of their shirts. Natty looked around the sea of half naked men until she found the one that caught her eye.

             
She smiled as she watched the lean, muscled form of her husband help to carry a load of lumber towards the single floored structure that was taking shape.

             
"Careful not to hurt his hands!" Doc Evans called out as the men passed by him.

             
"I don't reckon he'd do anything that would keep him from his wedding night," Judge called out.

             
Natty caught Cole's smile as he laughed along with the other men. When he looked back at her, she felt the thrill of his glance and quickly envisioned just what the night still held for them.

             
"Come on, dearie," Bessie called behind her, "let's get the line formed up so we can have a wedding shower.

             
"Oh, I couldn't possibly accept more gifts! You've all done so much."

             
"Well, it's not so much gifts, as it is advice." Myra Evans told her. "Things a woman needs to know." The women around her laughed. Feeling a little foolish, Natty followed them to the other side of the property.

             
Under a copse of trees, several chairs had been set out. She was led to the chair at the center of the ring and given the seat of the highest attention.

             
"Now, Mrs.
Remmington
, we wish to welcome you to the society of married ladies, for the town of Whispering Pines." The women all laughed.

             
"Listen to you, Bessie, I swear, you're going to scare the poor child half to death." A tall, slender woman stepped forward. "Don't you pay her any
attention.
My name is Laura
Murtry
. My husband owns the dry goods store. That's Edna
Tarlton
, her husband runs the livery, and that's Anna Geary. You met her husband when he walloped your husband's hands the night of the hanging."

             
Introductions continued around the gathering, including the two town widows and several, as yet, unmarried ladies. All in all, they each brought gifts forward. Natty could hardly keep track of all the recipes, cloth samples, and several offers from various ladies to teach her cooking, sewing, and general house managing.

             
"I really appreciate all that you're doing. But I can't possibly accept all this."

             
"Why not?" Laura
Murtry
asked, her tone slightly indignant.

             
"Because I have nothing to give back. And it feels a lot like charity. My Ma never accepted any charity, and neither should I." Natty felt the wind go out of her arguments like air from a pig's bladder.

             
"Natalie
Remmington
," Bessie started. "This
ain't
charity! This is being neighborly. It's what we would have done for your
mother if
she'd have
let us. She kept you holed up on that mountain so we never could get to be friends with you!"

             
"Honey, next spring," Anna Geary leaned forward. "My Elizabeth is getting married, too! She's marrying Tyler
Akin's
boy, Seth. I am planning a huge wedding. For something like that, it takes everyone's help to pull it off. Trust me. As a new bride, you'll be in the thick of it!"

             
"But, I don't know anything! I mean, I can't cook or sew, or do anything useful. All I know is mining!"

             
The women shared nervous glances around the circle.

             
Bessie Watkins cleared her throat. "Well, there is one thing that you might share with us."

             
"There is?" "Your Mama was a dancer, wasn't she?"

             
"Yes. When we lived in San Francisco, why?"

             
"We've heard that you're quite the stomper yourself."

             
"You want me to dance for you?"

             
The women around her gasped.
  Finally, Bessie's daughter Mary Margaret spoke up.

             
"
Naw
. They want you to teach them how to dance! All those fancy dancehall steps. You know, jigs and waltzes, and everything! Could you do that? We could get Mrs. Fletcher to send off for some music, and we could have a regular cotillion!"

             
Natty stared incredulous at her bridal party. "You really would want to learn that? I mean, Ma always said that you'd judged her no better than a trollop, and that's why she stayed away."

             
Bessie leaned forward. "I think you're mother got that impression we were
turnin
' our noses up at her because any new person that comes into town gets what we call a 'critical eye.'
There's
a few old biddies, none present--I might add, who think they're all better than the rest of us. We all were young brides at one time, and it's easy for them to prey on women who don't yet have their feet under them. No one ever talked bad about your mother, Sweetie. We were just cautious and curious. It's partly our fault that we didn't extend the olive branch before now. After a time, we just thought she didn't want to be friends. I see that we were wrong."

             
"Oh." Natty thought she might cry then. "It was such a waste. I mean, if she'd have known she could have had real friends maybe when Pa left, it wouldn't have hit her so hard."

             
"We tried to send medicine and food when she was ill, but your Uncle just brought it back down the mountain. I guess it was a little too late to be friendly by then." Anna Geary sniffed.

             
"It's not too late now. I am sorry that there was such a big misunderstanding about it all."

             
"Nonsense, we'll try harder from now on." Anna said and the other ladies nodded in agreement.

             
As the afternoon waned, Judge sat back with his cool lemonade and watched the townspeople around him. Who'd have thought that a few short weeks ago this town would embrace the half-pint gambler's daughter and her gunslinger husband? But there you have it.

             
"If only you'd been here to see it,
Tildy
," Judge stated quietly. He looked over to the side of the property where the
women all sat in a circle, the lovely Natty in its center, being treated like a princess for the first time in her life. He could almost see
the his
late wife standing just outside the gathering; her tall, slender figure leaning over, making an accounting of the goings on.

             
In his vision, she turned and walked toward him. Her hair, a pretty chestnut brown was pulled back in a chignon the way she always liked to wear it. Her smile was broad, and her face a gentle tan with just a smattering of freckles to decorate her nose.

             
"Now, J.A.," she'd tell him, in her low, throaty voice, "don't you think it's about time you stopped watching life and started living it?"

             
Damn, Judge thought
,
if that didn't sound just like her. "I love you
Tildy
, I always have and I always will."

             
"I know that, you old coot. But it isn't time for you to die yet. I swear you've got a few good years left. You need to get on with your life. You need to start out again, just like those two." She pointed to where Cole walked
;
now approaching Natty. For a moment, they both watched the younger man, his stride full of vigor, and a grizzly eating grin on his face as he walked up to meet his bride.

             
"I don't think I can," he told his imaginary apparition.

             
"I think you better. I loved you more than anything in life, J.A., but you're wasting precious time. There might be someone out there who needs you worse than I do right now."

J
udge laughed nervously, "Who'd have thought I'd have gotten the first wife's permission?"

             
"I just want you to be happy, J.A."

             
For a moment, Judge closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears.  It was no use.  A single tear escaped and slid down his face.  He'd cried for his wife many times over the years, but this time he felt an odd comfort with her memory and a little bit less pain.