Chapter 18
LAUREN
My nose is cold, and I can’t feel the tips of my fingers, but I can’t stop laughing at Bolt as he pulls the sleigh and us all over the place, no matter how hard Grant tries to get him to go one way then another.
Finally, he calms down and Grant heads toward the tree line. I finally comment when he’s passed several perfect trees for the house. “Are we heading somewhere specific? Look, there’s another one … you’ve passed up a dozen trees already.”
“Yeah, I know, but I saw one off in a field the other day that screamed out, ‘I am the one’. I want you to see it first.”
A few minutes later, I start smelling wood smoke. “Do you smell that?”
“Nope.”
I look over at him and frown. He didn’t even ask me what I was smelling before saying no, but he seems determined to reach this one spot. Suddenly, the woods open up and before us is a home I’d never seen before.
Grant stops the sleigh in the front yard, looking at it and then at me.
“I had no idea there were any homes out this way. My heavens Grant, it’s beautiful, look at that porch. Whoever built this sure put an awful lot of care into every little detail. It even has a stone walkway that someone has shoveled off.”
“You like it?”
“It’s stunning. Do you know who lives here?”
“Would you like to meet them?”
“Should we just show up like this? I didn’t even bring a dish.”
“I think it will be alright.”
If it had not been for Grant’s steady hand, I would have fallen out of the sleigh while looking at the house. “My goodness Grant, they even have an archway over there. Is that not just beautiful? I’m not sure what to look at first. Is that a swing under that tree?”
“I believe so, come on before you turn into a popsicle.”
Stomping our boots off on the walkway, Grant holds my hand as we walk up the steps. Bolt is standing still for a change, simply watching us. When Grant pushes the front door open without knocking, I try to pull him back.
“Grant, what has gotten into you? You can’t just walk into someone’s home.”
He smiles mischievously down at me before picking me up and twirling me around in a very open but empty house. The only thing besides the massive fireplace that takes up the entire wall is a lone Christmas tree with a single bow in the middle, made of bright blue material.
“What do you think?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“The house, what do you think? Here, let me show you around. Of course, this is the main living space. I think a couple of couches and chairs in this location would be the warmest. At this end there are two bedrooms, separated by double doors that can be opened in the summer to help cool the place down. Now, over here is the kitchen and prep area. I think these butcher-block counters are beautiful. But these are not the best features … come on.”
I’m walking, or I should say being pulled behind him, to the other end of the house where he swings open a massive door.
Large glass windows look out on the porch that wraps all the way around the home, along with another set of double doors, but he doesn’t stop in here, just tugs me into another area where I gasp when I see a huge claw-foot tub sitting in the middle of the floor.
“There are built-in wardrobes over here and linen closets, also room enough to add things like a built-in commode when I can get it shipped here.”
Grant just keeps talking, but the more he shows me, the more confused I am, and he must have finally noticed. “What’s wrong?”
“Why are you showing me all this?”
“Damn, I am doing this all wrong … I got so excited over …”
Before he finishes his sentence, he has me in his arms, heading back out to the main living area, sitting me down in front of the tree.
“Would you open that bow for me?”
“It’s so pretty, I hate to touch it.” But I reach up gently, tugging on one end, only for a box to appear in the middle. Grant takes the box, then gets on one knee in front of me, opening it up slowly.
“Lauren, my Little Mouse, will you marry me?”
I look down at him, then at the large sapphire-and-diamond ring sparkling in the firelight. “According to you, we already are.”
“Yes, but I want you to choose me of your own accord. I want to be your choice, the one your heart wants to be with for life.”
“Oh, Grant honey, yes! I would marry you a dozen times and never regret it.”
Just as he’s sliding that stunning ring on my finger, whoops and yells suddenly surround us as people start coming out of a room I hadn’t noticed behind the kitchen. Old man Harvey, Beatrice, Reggie, and Pastor Owen all gather around us, full of congratulations.
“Grant, when you started pulling her all over the house, you had us worried there for a minute,” Reggie yells out.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you all doing out here?”
Mr. Harvey pulls me close, hugging me affectionately before saying, “We wanted to celebrate this with you and be here to witness your wedding in your new home.”
“My home?”
Everyone gets quiet, all eyes on Grant.
“This is all ours, Little Mouse. It’s what I have been doing all this time.
The days you thought I was working in the mine, I was here with the crew trying to get this finished before winter set in.
I have told you so many white lies that in the end, I was avoiding you because I didn’t know if I could whisper another one.
You have no idea how many times it almost slipped, and Reggie almost spilled the beans when you told him I was up at the mine because I had been writing to him about the house, and he knew that’s where I was working most days.
He rode all the way from Boston to personally give me my mother’s ring so I could give it to you. I know she would have loved you.”
“This … is all … ours?” I motion all around. “But what about Eliza’s cabin?”
“It will always be Eliza’s. I wanted something that was ours, something we both dreamed of.
A place to build our future together, a legacy we could leave our kids.
In a few days, the wagons will start arriving with some things I wanted to keep from the property I sold, but I left our home mostly empty so that we could pick out the furniture together.
We are going to spend all of January traveling for a well-deserved honeymoon. While we are gone, Reggie will oversee our things being moved from the cabin here, and then Milo and his wife will move into the cabin, a perk for the new foreman I hired to work the silver mine. This is my gift to you.”
“But I don’t have a gift for you that could ever compare to this.”
“My Little Mouse, you are the best gift a beast like me could ever receive. I am the blessed one here. Now go get changed, I am impatient and ready to marry my wife again, and this time we are going to do it right.”
Beatrice grabs my hand, pulling me behind her as I look all around. “Come child, stop your woolgathering. I can’t wait to see you in this dress. Martha has been working on it for weeks.”
Hanging on the wall is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. Made of blue silk, it has a corseted top with flowy ruffled sleeves, and the bottom layers are outlined in what looks like small pearls.
Hands undress me as I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience.
Tugs on my hair and the smell of perfume complete the experience, only for me to find myself standing in front of a full-length mirror, looking at a stranger.
One with free flowing, glistening blonde hair, bright hazel eyes that look bluer because of the color of the dress, and pale, non-bruised skin.
A smile lights up my features as Beatrice stares at me through the mirror.
I watch as she wipes a small tear from her cheek.
“My child, look at what a change … it’s amazing what a good man, food, a happy home, and true love will do for the soul. I feel like a better person simply being able to watch it all unfold in front of me. Are you ready to take your next step?”
I nod, all of this finally sinking in, especially the fact that the girl standing there looking at me … is me.
“Count to ten before coming out,” she says, kissing me on the cheek, all smiles, and heads out the door.
Taking a deep breath, I count slowly, making sure when I open the door not to snag my dress, only to stop dead when I see Grant waiting for me in a matching dress coat.
My eyes take it all in - tall, dark boots hug his massive thighs, long, powerful legs covered in dark denim.
His bright crisp white shirt stands out against the blue coat, finished off by the black cowboy hat on his head.
He is dressed in an outfit that practically has me drooling.
Grant’s huge hand engulfs my smaller one, and I almost don’t hear the preacher’s words for staring at the love in his eyes. I don’t know what I did to deserve him or this life, but I send a prayer of thanks, nonetheless. The kiss I receive at the end of the service curls my toes.
Cheers and hollers break us apart, followed by a picnic shared by friends as we all sit on the floor on a blanket in front of the massive fireplace, listening to all their parts in how they made this happen without me finding out.
Because we don’t have a bed in our new home yet, Grant whisks me back into the sleigh, and I wave at everyone as they load up in the wagon heading back home. He carries me through the door, kissing me the entire time, before leaving to head back out to put Bolt in the barn.
I sit down in my rocking chair, my fingers running over the intricate details of the dress and take a moment to reflect as I look around the small cabin that has become my safe haven, a place of healing.
Grant stomping his feet brings me back, and I can’t stop the smile on my face when he steps in front of me.
“Strip, I want to make love to my Little Mouse.”
“I am not a mouse, Grant. How did I even get that nickname?”
“Well, maybe it’s your beady little eyes or the whiskers that twitch when you smile a certain way.”
“Do you remember what you told me to do if you ever got out of hand?” I grab a skillet off the wall and start chasing him around the table with it. Our laughter can be heard clearly across time.
The End