ROMANCE: His Reluctant Heart (Historical Western Victorian Romance) (Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Fantasy Short Stories) (158 page)

              “You’ve met her father. I’m not sure what to do about that.”

              “He is a pill, that’s for sure. Still… he might come around if you’re persistent.”

              Mary cleared her throat. “I like chocolates.”

              Matt and Doc looked at her, both surprised to hear her speak. “What?” Matt was the first to ask.

              “I like chocolates. You could get your girl a box of chocolates and that might help you win her over.” Her unhappy expression never faltered. “I’m just saying.”

              No one spoke for a minute. Wanting to break the silence, the Doctor coughed, drank down his coffee, and motioned for Mary to hop out of the booth.

              “Better get back to the salt mines. You coming, Matty?”

              “Let me just finish my coffee. I’m right behind  you.”

              Left alone in the nearly empty diner, Matt’s mind wandered back to the night he’d danced with Emma. Had her hair smelled like strawberries? He thought so. She’d seemed so slight and soft against him, a slip of a girl with a quick wit and an inviting smile. How had he let her get away?

              He was just resolving to find out where she lived and knock on her door when he saw a streak of blue passing his window in a hurry. The woman was wearing a raincoat and running, but she looked familiar.

              Matt had already paid, so he jumped out of the booth, threw a tip on the table, and ran into the rain. “Emma!”

              She stopped running, turned and stood in the rain, looking back at him. She hesitated. “Matt! Come on, follow me. Let’s get out of the rain!”

              He ran after her as they ducked on to the porch of the empty church. “I have the keys. Just a second.” She let them in, flicking on the lights.

              They stood dripping in the entryway to the holy place, each dripping on the carpet and exchanging nervous looks. “I’m sorry about the other night.” She began, catching his eye, then looking away. “I just wanted to say that. It’s not right you’d be treated that way.”

              “It’s okay.”

              “Not really.”

              “Okay, not really.” He agreed with a little smile.

              She noticed his grin and returned it. “I hope that you still like it up here.”

              “I do. I like the peace, the quiet of it all. It’s the right pace of life for me. I guess I’d always hoped I’d be a country doctor.”

              “You don’t get much more country than Mitigoog, I guess. Anyway, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. That’s all.” She turned to leave.

              “You can make it up though.” He suggested.

              “Oh?” She asked, her voice rising with a hopeful note.

              He took a step closer. She didn’t retreat. Remembering where they were, he didn’t plan to try to kiss her. But he did reach across the emptiness and took her hands. “Emma Butler, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the fair this week?”

              “So formal, Mr. Conroy.” Her words were light-hearted, but her voice shook slightly as she said them.

              “I’m a Southern boy, and I don’t feel like we got off on the right foot. I’d like to ask your father’s permission, but if he says no, I’d like you to know I’d still be honored if you chose to meet me all the same.”

              She thought about that. “He’ll say no. I’m sure of it. But… I wouldn’t mind if you asked.” She kissed him again on his cheek, lingering. Then she whispered. “And I’ll be there either way.”

---

              No one was more surprised than Matt Conroy when he found he was driving through the winding backstreets of Mitigoog with Emma in his passenger seat on the first evening of the Adams County Fair. He said as much after commenting on how pretty his date was.

              “I didn’t think he’d say yes either, to be honest.” She admitted. He started to turn the wrong way, so she quickly corrected his turns. “Main Street is that way.”

              “Thanks. So- why do you think he was okay with it?”

              “What can he do? Lock me up in a tower? I bugged him about it, and I think Mom probably spoke with him. He was terrible about me dating when I was in high school. If he didn’t approve of the guy and hadn’t seen him in our church every single Sunday, he pretty much chased them off.” She sounded a trifle bitter as she spoke, then switched gears by changing to an upbeat tone. “But that was then, this is now. And here we are on Main! How would you have ever managed to get here without me?”

              “You’re a great navigator, ma’am.”

              “Ma’am? Hmm. I can get used to being called that, I guess.”

              “Well how about Emma?”

              “Mmmm… I’d say ma’am is better.”

              “Sweetie pie?”

              “
Maybe
.” She laughed.

              One thing he soon found out about Emma was that she had a taste for cotton candy. After paying for admission, they made a beeline to the cotton candy booth. Soon, they were tearing off airy threads of the sugary stuff.               She happily stuffed a big wad of it into his mouth, which he did his best to polish off in one gulp. She clapped at his efforts.

              “Impressive stuff, Mr. Conroy.”

              “Friends call me Matt, ma’am.” He managed to say between bites of the fast-melting candy.

              “Oh, but we’re very formal here in the Midwest, Mr. Conroy. I might call you honey bear, though.”

              “You call me whatever you like, so long as you call me.”

              She pointed to the “high striker,” the strongman game. “Care to test your strength with the mallet, Mr. Conroy?”

              “Oh, all right. I suppose. Though I’m better at shooting the ducks, if truth be told.” When it was his turn, he hit the mark and the striker went up, up, up to 900 just short of the bell.”

              “Well that’s a rip!” Emma proclaimed. He started to shell out some more money, but she stopped him. “I’m teasing! Don’t. I know you’d hit the bell if you kept at it, I’m just messing with you.”

              “To be honest, I’m not always good at knowing when I’m being picked on.” He admitted.

              “That’s okay. You’re smart, and that’s great. Maybe I’m not as smart as you-”

              “I don’t believe that for a second.” Matt interrupted. She took his arm and they walked the fair together, taking in the smells and sights. Normally, he’d be nearly sick from all the people. With her on his arm, he felt much stronger.

              “Okay, book smart. I’ve got a lot of common sense though. If someone were picking on you, I’d tell you right away.”

              “That’s sweet of you.”

              “You look out for me, I promise to do the same. It’s only fair.”

              They found a quiet bench beside the ferris wheel and sat to finish their cotton candy. “What do you plan to do with yourself?” Matt asked. “I wanted to know more about you before but, you know. Things didn’t go so hot.”

              She sat close to him, nearly snuggling. “Oh, let’s call this the first date and forget about that. The burger was kind of dry anyway. I should have known something would go wrong. It’s never a good sign.”

              “All forgotten.” He promised.

              Emma crossed her legs and bobbed her foot as she talked. “I’m going to school, as you might guess, and it’s not cheap. I’d like to move out on my own, rent a place. But the scholarships and loans I’ve taken aren’t quite enough.”

              “Oh, I know all about loans.” Matt groaned. “I’ll be paying off med school for a long time.”

              “Yep. So I’m studying at Central Michigan. There’s an extension a few towns over; it’s a long drive, not very fun. Anyway, I’m don’t laugh.”

              “Laugh?” He was confused. “I promise wouldn’t do that.”

              “Well… I’m studying business. I’d like to open a bakery.”

              “Cool!”

              “Seriously?”

              He nodded. “Seriously. My great-grandfather was a baker. He served in WWII, Europe. They sent him to school after and he opened a pie shop with a partner back in Raleigh.”

              “You’re kidding!”

              “Nope. We’ve got recipes in the family still. I bet my Mom could dig them up, if you ever want to see them.”

              She looked behind them, up and over her shoulder at the ferris wheel. “Hey, you want to go up there? Look at the stars with me?”

              Damn it. Why did we sit here?
His mood plummeted instantly. Everything had been going so well. He wanted nothing more than to get in the seat next to her and share in that experience. At the same time, his gut was turning somersaults. “You know… why don’t you go for a spin first, and I’ll go next? I need to use the bathroom real quick.”

              “You sure? I can wait.”

              “Yeah. I’m going to sit this one out. Next for sure.”

              She looked a little disappointed, but gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Meet you back here.”

              Burying his hands deep in his jeans pockets, Matt stared at the ground as he walked away. He didn’t need the bathroom, but he did want to work up some courage before putting himself in that precarious little machine. He didn’t like to even think of it, to be honest. Worst of all, he didn’t like the idea that he might suffer a panic attack with her right there to witness it. That would be humiliating.

              He was about to circle back to the ferris wheel when he looked up and was horrified to see he was face-to-face with the Reverend Frank Butler.

              The man was standing next to his wife and had his own hands shoved into his pockets. “Where’s my daughter? You just went and left her alone?”

              “Excuse me, sir, I was just heading back from the bathroom.” He explained. “She’s off that way.”

              “Heck of a thing, to leave her on her own.” The man repeated, but his wife hushed him.

              “Don’t worry about a thing, Matt. You go ahead and meet Emma, have fun. We’re just here to take a stroll and we’ll stay out of your hair. I promise.” She added firmly, causing the Reverend to shut his mouth before saying anything further.

              Matt turned on his heel after excusing himself to leave and was nearly back to the wheel when he heard screams. The ferris wheel was stopped, as normally happens during the ride, but near the top, one of the compartments had broken loose from one side of the wheel. It was still attached by the other side, but was tilting crazily, forcing its lone passenger to hold on tight to stay in her seat.

              It was, as he feared, Emma.

              He sprinted to the man who was running the machine. The ferris wheel operator was on a walkie talkie, explaining the situation to someone else on the other end. “I don’t know what happened! I don’t dare run the machine, it could snap off part-way through the descent.”

              “They gotta climb down.” The voice from the other side explained. “That thing won’t hold too long.”