Melinda and the Wild West (22 page)

As Gilbert watched her take off, he was at a loss
for words, leaving him with his mouth wide open in surprise. What
did she mean that she was in love with another? He watched her as
she walked away with long and quick strides, the distance widening
between them. He shook his head in confustion and quickly ran after
her. Just as she was heading down the slope, he caught up to her
and grabbed her firmly around the arm to stop her.

Looking into her eyes, he asked, “Did you
say you weren’t engaged to Henry?”

“Yes, Gilbert. I did. Now let go of me and
leave me alone.”

Her voice had an edge to it and Gilbert
could see that she was not in the mood to talk anymore. Melinda
struggled to pull herself away from his firm grasp but he would not
let her go. He could see that her frustration began to leave and
was replaced with sorrow.

As she struggled to pull away, he held her
tightly by the arm and asked in a tender voice, “Who are you in
love with, Melinda?”

She turned to face him and answered
impatiently, “Are you so oblivious of my feelings, Gilbert? Don’t
you know? Can’t you tell how I feel about you?”

She struggled out of his grasp, as he stood
motionless with surprise written all over his face. This was not
what he had expected at all. She had come right to the point and
said what she felt and his heart swelled within him.

Gilbert noticed that Melinda was walking at a
very fast pace and he ran to catch up to her. As he dashed in front
of her, she came to a stop. Then he took her by the shoulders with
both hands and said, “Don’t be so stubborn, Melinda. Listen to me.
Please listen. Give me a chance to explain. All right?”

Melinda averted her eyes so he could not see
the pain inside them. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel
pity for her.

Gilbert had already seen the sorrow within
them. She could not hide it sufficiently from one who knew her so
well. It pained him deeply to see her feel this way and he groaned
inside himself. He needed to finally tell her how he felt about
her. There was no time to wait for a proper courtship. She needed
to know right now without any hesitation.

“Melinda, listen to me.” When he saw that
she was avoiding eye contact, he decided to go a different
direction. “So, I guess I slugged an innocent man all for nothing,
didn’t I?”

That got her attention right away, and she
turned to face him. “What?”

“Melinda, I didn’t talk to you the night of
the recital because I knew Henry was proposing to you that night.
You had been dating for some time and I thought you might accept. I
couldn’t face you, knowing this.”

“Why not, Gilbert?” Melinda looked up into
his eyes with intensity, waiting for an answer, the right
answer.

“Because of my feelings for you, Melinda. For
the longest time I’ve tried to deny my deep love for you. Then when
I realized that I needed you in my life, I thought it was too late.
When I thought I’d lost you to another, I couldn’t bear it. I ached
inside just thinking that you belonged to Henry. That’s when Jenny
opened my eyes and told me that I needed to fight for you. So, I
went to the school yesterday and confronted Henry. But I guess I
hit an innocent man, didn’t I?”

When he saw the surprised look in her eyes,
he smiled. “Melinda, my heart is filled with so much love. There is
no other woman in this world for me but you.”

Gilbert saw her eyes widen and her mouth
open slightly. He smiled with amusement. “Did you hear me, Melinda?
I have fallen in love with you. The day I saw you wading in that
stream and heard you laughing so delightfully, I knew I was going
to lose my heart. But I tried to guard it so carefully and I
shouldn’t have.”

Melinda’s features softened as she looked
into his eyes and asked, “You actually fought for me, Gilbert?”

“Uh-huh. But I’m afraid it didn’t go well at
all. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I was afraid you were mad at me for
what happened.”

“You fought for me?” she asked once again in
disbelief.

Gilbert grinned as he took a handkerchief
from his pocket and dabbed the wetness from her cheeks. “Melinda, I
fell for your charm, your honesty, your determination, and your
independence. I fell for your frankness and boldness to say what
was on your mind. And yes, I even fell in love with your
stubbornness and your strong self-will. There isn’t a thing about
you that I’m not in love with. I even love the way we argue
together.”

Melinda’s eyes began to glow with each word,
more so from the tone of his voice than from the words he said.

He put his handkerchief back in his pocket and
chuckled softly as he watched a smile playing at the corners of her
lips. He slid his hands around her waist and embraced her in his
arms. Gilbert held her for the longest time while she leaned her
head against his shoulder. As he squeezed her tightly against his
chest, he felt her respond to his touch and melt into his arms with
a soft sigh.

Gilbert snuggled his cheek next to hers and
he whispered into her ear, “Besides, Melinda, I just love the way
you melt into my arms and respond to my hugs. It makes me want to
hold you forever. When we’re apart, it seems as if my life isn’t
complete. All I do is think about you and how much I love you.” He
took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Will you marry me,
Melinda?”

Melinda’s heart fluttered and her pulse
raced as she listened to every word he said. His warm breath
against her ear sent tingles down her spine. Her spirits soared and
she did not want to come back down to earth again. She could not
imagine being happier than she was at this very moment. Just
hearing his voice telling her of his love was all she needed to
send her spirits soaring. The touch of his hands against her back
made her heart sing. His arms were strong and warm and protective.
Happiness flooded through her and she wondered if this was a dream,
if this was what fairy tales were like.

Yes, he was her knight in shining armor and
he had actually saved her from a ferocious beast and a blinding
blizzard. The thought of him in shining armor made her grin.

While she was cradled in his arms, he said
softly, “Please tell me you’ll marry me, Melinda.”

Then he pulled back to look into her eyes
and she smiled and slowly nodded. “I realized I had fallen in love
with you when you kissed my hand at Christmastime. During my whole
vacation, I kept thinking about you and comparing other men to you
and no one seemed to measure up. There was no one else who had your
qualities. And then, when you kissed me at the terminal, I realized
I had lost my heart to you.” She looked lovingly into his eyes and
said, “Besides, Gilbert, didn’t you see that I was singing that
love song to you at my recital? I thought you noticed that I was
looking at you and singing only to you. Didn’t you notice?”

As Gilbert listened, he searched her face
and eyes and his heart skipped a beat. He knew at that very moment
he would love her, not for just a lifetime, but for all
eternity.

“Yes, I noticed, Melinda.”

Gilbert’s eyes trailed down to her mouth as
he pulled her close to his chest and touched his warm lips to hers.
He kissed her with such tenderness that warmth crept into her rosy
cheeks and traveled down to the tips of her toes. The heat from his
passionate kiss enveloped her from the inside out and happiness
overtook her. His kiss was one of tenderness and longing as his
hands caressed her back. It was the most romantic and passionate
kiss she had ever felt in her life.

Melinda knew that Gilbert had the purest love for
her. She knew that Gilbert loved her unconditionally and this
impressed her so much. He was not judgmental of her. He accepted
her for who she was. Gilbert had let her know that her strong
self-will and stubborn attitude were assets rather than weaknesses.
In fact, Melinda felt their love could rise above any love in
history.

When he finally released her lips, she
looked into his eyes and asked once again, “Did you really fight
for me?”

“Well, in a way. I really went there for the
sole purpose of convincing you to marry me and not Henry.”

Melinda smiled. “I’ve never had anyone fight
for me before, Gilbert.”

“Then you’re in for a real treat because I’ll
never let you go ever again.”

A month passed quickly. Gilbert and Jenny
whistled merrily as they cleaned the house to prepare for his
wedding, which was the following morning. They wanted the house to
be perfectly clean for Melinda’s arrival to her new home. Gilbert
swept as Jenny dusted.

“Pa?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I don’t know what to call Miss Gamble when
you get married tomorrow. Should I call her Ma or Mama, or should I
just call her what you call her—Melinda?”

“Whatever makes you feel the most
comfortable, darlin’.”

“Yesterday when I saw Miss Gamble, she told me that
she loved me and she knew I was special from the first time she saw
me.” Jenny’s voice cracked and tears formed in her eyes.

Gilbert took a handkerchief out of his
pocket and knelt down beside Jenny and wiped her cheeks dry.

“Pa, she loved me even when I caused her
bunches of trouble. She even loved me when I wouldn’t do my lessons
at school and she said it was all right and she was patient with me
until I was ready to do my lessons.”

“Hmm, so you gave your new teacher
heartaches?”

“Yes, Pa. I did.”

Gilbert chuckled as he stuffed his
handkerchief in his pocket. Then he kissed Jenny on the cheek and
hugged her. Just then he heard a knock at the door. When Jenny
opened it, Martha walked in carrying a large bundle in her arms and
a broad smile on her face.

“Gilbert, I have made this wedding present
for you. It’s a feather quilt for your bed so that your new wife
won’t get cold.”

Gilbert grinned at Martha
and teasingly said, “Don’t worry about that, Martha. It’s
my
responsibility to
keep her warm at night. She’s so cuddly that I won’t let go of her,
I’m afraid.”

Martha blushed and reprimanded him teasingly.
“Gilbert!”

“Oh, Martha, don’t act so innocent. You had
this planned all along. Remember that mistletoe?”

Martha acted innocent as usual and replied,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Gilbert.”

“Martha, don’t play coy with me. I saw you
set up the snack table right next to the doorway in the kitchen. I
knew what you were doing. You didn’t fool me one bit.”

Martha grinned. “Well, I had to do
something. You certainly weren’t. You seemed to be too busy to
court her.”

“No, I wasn’t too busy, Martha. I was
scared. It was fear that overtook me.”

“Fear? But you’re so tough. I wouldn’t think
that such a tough man would ever feel scared about anything.”

Gilbert grinned at her compliment. “Martha,
even tough guys get scared.”

“Were you afraid of Melinda? When I noticed
that you wouldn’t kiss her beneath the mistletoe, I should have
realized it.”

“Oh, no, Martha. You’re wrong. I wasn’t
afraid of Melinda. I wanted to kiss her very much. I wanted to take
her in my arms and kiss her more than you know but when I looked
into her eyes that night, I could tell she wasn’t ready. I realized
I couldn’t embarrass her. Nor could I back down after you pointed
out the mistletoe. She would think I didn’t like her at all and
that would be even worse than embarrassing her. So, I just kissed
her hand.”

“Oh, Gilbert. That was so chivalrous. So
what were you afraid of?”

“Myself. I was afraid of what I would do to this
precious person. I didn’t want to ruin her life. Melinda was an
Eastern lady and I was a rancher. I thought the two wouldn’t mix.
But she helped me to realize that I was wrong.”

“Absolutely. Look at me,” said Martha proudly. “I
have fared quite well in this western world.”

***

After Martha went home, she found Melinda in
the most cheerful mood. Melinda’s heart soared as she remembered
how Gilbert had asked Uncle William for her hand in marriage since
her father was not around. School was over, and she was preparing
for her wedding day. Melinda was so excited. Her parents would
arrive tomorrow morning for the wedding and life could not be more
perfect.

She could not sit still, so she decided to
take one last afternoon walk before her wedding day. It was May and
the air smelled fresh as she strolled toward the mountains. She
felt a slight breeze sift through her hair and brush across her
cheeks.

As she walked toward the woods, she watched
the crystal water running down from the mountain over stones and
rocks. It shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight. The sound of it
was soothing and lulling to her nerves. A carpet of yellow and
white wildflowers was blooming on every side of the valley and a
sweet fragrance was in the air. The sunshine was pleasant on her
shoulders and she could see the hand of God in every blade of
grass, leaf, tree, and bud. Colorful butterflies emerged, showing
off God’s handiwork. Every part of nature was a picture to
behold.

Melinda searched for a soft place to lie
down. She spied a beautiful patch of weeds that looked like
spearmint or catnip, yet they were taller. She noticed the leaves
were heart-shaped with ragged edges that tapered to a point at the
end. It looked so inviting that she collapsed upon them.

As she lay upon her soft bed of weeds, she leaned
her face into them to smell the mint fragrance, but instead of
smelling like mint, it bit her nose, cheeks, eyelids and mouth. Her
hands and lower arms began to sting as if bees or mosquitoes were
attacking her.

Melinda instantly jumped up and squealed in
pain, looking for the insects that had bit her, but she found none
at all. Her face felt as if it were on fire and her hands and arms
prickled with intense pain. The pain was unbearable and she ran
home to Aunt Martha as fast as she could run.