Melinda and the Wild West (20 page)

She sighed. Gilbert’s tenderness had its
effect on Melinda as she breathlessly answered, “She’s easy to
love, Gilbert.”

He smiled in agreement, not saying a
word.

His eyes looked deeply into hers, searching
them and wondering what her true feelings were for him. Then he
took her firmly by the shoulders and pulled her close to him,
kissing her tenderly upon the lips, lingering longer than he
expected. He had never been so impulsive before, but with Melinda,
he seemed like a different person. As he deepened their kiss and
wrapped his arms around her, his love for her grew by leaps and
bounds.

The love he felt for this woman was undeniable.
For the first time in eight years, he was truly in love. The
happiness he felt when he was around her was indescribable. This
woman had changed his life for the better and she did not even know
it.

But what surprised him the most about her was
when she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her
toes, and kissed him right back with a passion he had not expected.
Her kiss sent a tingle down his spine. She never ceased to amaze
him. She was never one to hide her feelings and it made his heart
race with even greater love for this amazingly affectionate woman.
Did she know the effects she was having on him?

Melinda’s influence had made him want to become
a better person. Each day he felt greater happiness than he had
ever felt before, and it was all because of her. Had he done
something right, after all, for God to reward him with such a
treasure?

April rains were warming the ground and a
few flowers began to pop out of the earth. Spring was on its way.
The ground was like a beautiful green carpet of grass and weeds.
Leaves were budding and gently moving with the breeze.

On the evening of the recital, it seemed
that everyone was excited about the event. Friends and neighbors
showed up, along with many strangers from neighboring towns such as
Montpelier. Henry sat in the front row and Gilbert sat in the
middle section with Jenny.

Melinda was wearing a mauve silk dress with a lovely
train that trailed after her as she walked. Her hair was placed
loosely upon her head with ringlets cascading over the combs in the
back, and a white flower was pinned in her hair. Around her slender
neck she wore simple pearls.

Melinda opened her recital with a lively
Spanish song that created a cheerful mood for the evening. Her
voice was rich and beautiful. Each note and word that she sang
delighted and lifted the spirits of everyone there. It was as if
she were singing from the depths of her heart.

Gilbert relaxed as he listened to each
melodic note she sang and his heart swelled within him as she came
upon the climax of each song. When she finally sang a love song, he
noticed that she glanced at him quite often and he felt as if she
were singing to him. His pulse picked up speed as he listened to
each word she sang, and he wondered if she really was singing to
him.

The evening came to a close with a
melancholy Irish song that touched the hearts of the audience and
brought tears to many. The mellow sound of her voice expressed a
message of love. When she gave a bow, the applause was heartfelt
and Melinda smiled to the audience.

After the recital, Gilbert noticed a long
line of people waiting to shake Melinda’s hand and thank her for
the lovely evening. He also noticed Henry standing at the end of
the line with a broad smile on his face and a bunch of flowers in
his hand. Gilbert knew that he would ask Melinda to marry him after
the recital.

What would Melinda’s answer be? They had been dating
for some time and she probably would like to settle down. She was
past the age that women usually married, so why wouldn’t she accept
such an offer? Henry had a good, secure job and the townsfolk
seemed to think that she would accept his offer. There would be no
reason to refuse.

Gilbert’s heart felt heavy and he could not
approach her. If he shook her hand, he knew his heart would skip a
beat and then what would he do? He had not even had a chance to
court her and now she was receiving an offer of marriage that very
night. Sadness overtook him and he felt heartsick. Gilbert’s chest
tightened as he took Jenny’s hand, and they walked out of the
building without a word.

When Melinda saw Gilbert and Jenny leave,
she wondered why they did not stand in line to talk to her. Perhaps
they had something pressing afterwards. What else could it be?
Maybe he would stop off at the house later and tell her what he
thought.

When the Tabernacle had been cleared of
people, Henry took Melinda aside and proposed to her. Melinda was
expecting it because she, like everyone else, had heard the gossip
in town.

When Henry gave her the flowers and
proposed, she smiled warmly and said with kindness, “Henry, you’re
a very sweet person and I like you a lot. But we’ve already talked
about this before, remember? We’re friends and that’s all it can
be. The fact is that you would be a perfect match for me. You
believe in education for women. You have stated the fact that I
could continue teaching after marriage, and you definitely believe
in equality for women. You’re not opinionated or stubborn like most
men I’ve met. In fact, you’re everything a woman would want,
but…”

When Henry noticed her hesitation, he asked,
“But what, Melinda? Tell me.”

“I’m sorry, Henry, but when I marry it will
be for love. That’s important to me.”

With disappointment, he asked, “Melinda, do
you love someone else? Is that it?”

Melinda hesitated for a moment, looking down
at the floor and biting her lip. “Yes, I do.”

Henry stood a while in thought, as if
wondering how he could defeat his rival. “That’s all I wanted to
know, Melinda, because if you didn’t love another, I wouldn’t give
up. But I guess its time to bow out, isn’t it?” He gave a crooked
smile and said quietly in a defeated manner, “Good luck, Melinda. I
hope he loves you, too.”

Henry turned to leave, but Melinda touched
his arm and he turned and looked into her eyes.

“Henry, I’ve loved the times we’ve spent
together. Please, we’re still friends, aren’t we? I don’t want to
lose you as a dear friend. We’ve had good times, you know. Very
good times.”

Henry smiled and nodded. “You’re right. We
have.”

“Henry, are you still going to bring your
lunch to school so we can eat together, like usual?”

He nodded and touched her cheek gently. Then
it came to him. He would treat her like everything was all right,
hoping he still had a chance to win her over. Surely an educated
gentleman had a better chance than an uneducated cattle rancher. He
would do whatever it took to defeat Gilbert.

“I’d love to have lunch with you every day.
This doesn’t change anything.”

“Thank you, Henry. I still need a friend,
you know.”

“I know.”

Melinda wrapped her arms around him and gave
him a hug before sending him on his way. After he left, she thought
about what he had said: “I hope he loves you, too.”

She truly didn’t know whether Gilbert loved
her or not. He had never said. All she knew was that he was afraid
of their differences and had told her so at the Valentine’s Dance.
She knew that he liked her a lot, but she was certain he was afraid
of commitment.

She gathered her skirts and slowly walked toward
the front door. She stopped on the step just outside the door and
gazed thoughtfully into the night sky, noticing the brightness of
the stars above. She gave a sigh as she thought of her quandary.
This was the first time she had fallen in love and she had to fall
for someone who was afraid to commit to a relationship. What a
dilemma!

Two weeks had passed since Melinda’s recital
and Gilbert had continuously heard from Jenny how happy Melinda
was. Jenny had told him how Henry would bring his lunch to school
and they would sit and eat together in the classroom during
lunchtime. Then she told him how she laughed at Henry’s jokes as
they ate and how jovial they sounded together.

Jenny hoped to spark something in her father
by telling him this news so he would not dilly-dally any longer and
start to court Melinda. She hoped that he would get a little
jealous and then do something about it, like fight for the woman he
loved. Her father was dragging his feet and she thought she could
help him along.

But unbeknownst to her, Jenny’s gossip created just
the opposite effect. Gilbert assumed that the friendliness and
joviality between Melinda and Henry indicated that she had actually
accepted Henry’s proposal. After all, what man in his right mind
would continue a relationship with a woman if he had been refused
by her? And Gilbert knew, begrudgingly, that Melinda and Henry had
so much in common. Defeated, Gilbert avoided going to town because
he did not want to hear about their engagement. He kept busy on his
ranch and Jenny worked beside him, as usual.

Gilbert’s heart ached. How could he have
lost someone as dear to him as she was? Why had he been so cautious
and dimwitted? He was a fool. He knew he had lost his heart to her
when he had picked her up at the terminal in January and yet he did
not act upon it. She had responded to his tender kiss both times he
kissed her, and she would have accepted his proposal. He knew that
now. Was it too late? Would he still have a chance to win her over?
Could he steal her away from Henry without the town looking down
upon him? He had never felt such deep love for someone as he did
for Melinda. No, he had to remove Melinda from his memory because
he ached too deeply inside just knowing that he had lost her to
another.

Suddenly a loud noise came from the kitchen,
jolting him out of his thoughts. Jenny had tied a couple of strings
to two black pans and then tied them to her feet, clomping around
the kitchen. Each pan came down with a loud thud until Gilbert
demanded, “Enough! Enough! Cease and desist! No more noise,
Jenny.”

That ended the fun for Jenny and she put away
the pans. She noticed that her father had been moping around the
house lately and was extra grumpy. It did not take long for Jenny
to see that she needed to do something about it.

“Pa, I’m taking you out of this house. What
do you want to do?”

“Nothing. I’ll be all right soon. Don’t
worry about me. I’ve just been working hard and I’m tired. That’s
all.”

“I know what to do. You promised to take me
fishing for the longest time and you haven’t. You said you would
teach me how to fish. How about it, Pa?”

Gilbert smiled at his daughter. He realized
he had not been in the best of spirits and he needed to change all
that.

“All right, darlin’. Get my fishing gear and
let’s get movin’. First, we’ll dig us some worms.”

“Thanks, Pa.”

Jenny was not really interested in fishing,
but she had to do something to get her father out of the house. He
was working extra hard lately and he needed some free time from his
chores and the ranch. She could not figure out what was bothering
him. He had been extra moody ever since her teacher’s recital. She
knew that he loved to fish and perhaps this would settle him
down.

After digging for worms, Gilbert and Jenny
saddled their horses and took off toward Bear Lake. As they rode,
they talked. When Jenny brought up school and Miss Gamble, she
noticed that her father would quickly change the subject, which was
unusual. He was always interested when she talked about her
education.

“Hey Pa, why don’t we go see Miss Gamble and
invite her to go fishing with us?”

Gilbert was taken aback by this suggestion
and he quickly blurted out, “We’re not going to Martha’s home
anymore, Jenny, and certainly not to see Miss Gamble.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s busy with other matters at
this time. No more discussion, all right? We’re going fishing and
we’re going to have a good time. Got it?”

“No, I don’t get it, Pa. Why can’t we see
Miss Gamble any more?”

“Because Henry wouldn’t like it.”

“Heck with Henry, Pa. Why don’t you fight
for her?”

Gilbert looked over at her in surprise and
asked, “What did you say?”

“I said to fight for her,” she said as she
swung a fist in the air with determination. “Tom and Sam fought for
me and that made me realize who really cared. Sam wouldn’t let Tom
tell him what to do, so he fought for me.”

Gilbert stared at her with concern. “You had
two boys fight over you?”

“Sure, Pa. Don’t you think Miss Gamble is
worth it?” She gave another punch in the air for emphasis while
holding tight to the reins with her other hand.

“It’s different in this situation, darlin’.
Completely different.”

“Well, at least think about it. All right,
Pa?”

Gilbert looked out toward the beautiful lake
they were approaching, and said, “I’ll think about it.”

When they arrived at Bear Lake, Gilbert taught
Jenny how to put a worm on her hook. Jenny cringed as she followed
his instructions.

When Gilbert saw Jenny wrinkle her nose as
she shoved the worm on the hook, he grinned. This was exactly what
he needed. He enjoyed fishing because it was so relaxing. Being
with his daughter was the perfect therapy for what ailed him. She
was the most important part of his life and he adored her beyond
explanation.

Gilbert noticed a few splashes in the water
where the fish were lunging for flies and mosquitoes. The fish were
biting. He taught Jenny how to throw her line into the water and
then he threw in his hook. Jenny sat beside him on the bank,
holding her rod. She sat still, but not one fish was interested in
her bait. After a while, she became bored and wondered why her
father loved this sport so much.