Chapter Thirty-Six
Stevensville Fairgrounds
Middle of August
Since the great big win at court, which reallocated Ezra’s stolen fortune to finance the rebuilding of all the damaged buildings in town as well as any affected homes outside of it, the newly elected mayor—who was none other than Timothy Richards himself—came up with the perfect idea to celebrate the victory.
Running it by all the townsfolk at their latest meeting, he suggested organizing a summer fair in celebration of Stevensville’s new era.
The idea was a raving success and embraced by all.
So, for the last two weeks, the town center had been abuzz with creativity, planning, and building.
Suggestions for different variations of stands, entertainment, and events kept pouring in, and as it turned out, this new Stevensville Summer Fair shaped up to be the largest one yet—even bigger than the famous Christmas Fair.
The grand opening would take place on the third Saturday of the month, and the entire town was getting ready to attend.
Madelaine, Evelyn, Mrs. Keagan, her daughter Maggie, and Mary, who was now officially the mayor’s wife, had come to town to visit the general store and pick out some of the new fabrics from the latest delivery.
As it was, they could barely get inside.
All the women in town scrambled to get ready for the new summer fair, each of them wanting to look good in their new dresses.
“Goodness!” Madelaine exclaimed as she squeezed through the door, trying to reach the counter where the bolts of fabrics and ribbon displays were located.
“We can only hope that we’ll be able to snatch some of that new fabric, but it doesn’t look promising, ladies,” she called out to the others, who followed her single file.
Madelaine was disappointed because she had a very special surprise for Luke and needed to look her absolute best, but by the looks of it, all the newest and prettiest fabrics had already been taken.
There were empty paper rolls stripped of unknown silks and velvets everywhere.
But then Mrs. Higgins, the store owner’s wife, caught Madelaine’s attention and waved to the women to come over and follow her toward the back of the store.
“Mrs. Cross! Mrs. Richards! What an honor to see you here!” she exclaimed.
“Mrs. Whitfield, Mrs. Keagan, please follow me,” she said, leading the little group of women away from the crowd inside the store through a thick curtain, past multiple shelves and storage rooms, into yet another storage room, far in the back of the building. It was much quieter there.
“First of all, I was instructed to keep a certain amount of bolts in the back so you could have a look at the latest ones first, Mrs. Richards. The mayor requested this for you,” Mrs. Higgins informed Mary, who seemed entirely overwhelmed.
“Thank you so much! I did not expect this,” Mary gasped. “Please, ladies, I need your expertise and help with this. I’ve never picked out fabric for a dress before,” she said, almost crying with gratitude.
“There’s something else,” Mrs. Higgins said, as she turned to Madelaine.
“It’s for you.” Her expression changed to a solemn one as she pulled out a large box tied up with several strings to hold it all together.
The box looked a little dinged up, and it had numerous stamps and writings scribbled all across it.
“This came today,” Mrs. Higgins said as she put the large item onto a small table.
Madelaine struggled to understand her emotional expression as the woman cut off the strings so Madelaine could look at it.
The women abandoned their hunt for the best fabric as they surrounded Madelaine, who didn’t understand what she was looking at. Mrs. Higgins wiped underneath her eyes and pointed at the address printed and stamped at the top of the lid.
“It came all the way from Paris, in France,” she said to Madelaine.
“Eighteen months ago, your father visited our store to order a very special gift for your mother. All he had was a crumpled newspaper cut out and a piece of blue ribbon, which he had supposedly cut from your mother’s favorite dress.
” Madelaine could barely swallow around the lump in her throat when she heard what Mrs. Higgins was telling her.
“He wanted me to order this particular dress for her. She had seen it in one of those fancy French magazines,” Mrs. Higgins continued, blinking rapidly, so the tears wouldn’t fall.
“I told him that it could take many months before it would get here—if it even made it this far west—but he was adamant. It was supposed to be a gift for their wedding anniversary.”
Staring at the box, Madelaine was in such shock, she couldn’t move. “This is the original order,” Mrs. Higgins said, handing her a piece of paper. Madelaine let loose a gut-wrenching sob when she saw her father’s neat handwriting describing the most beautiful dress. ‘For my beloved Anna,’ it said.
***
Stevensville Fairgrounds
Third Saturday of August
It was the most anticipated event of the summer—the grand opening of the Stevensville Summer Fair—and spirits were high as the entire town and surrounding residents gathered at the newly built town hall—a large building with tall ceilings, specifically for special events and gatherings.
Maggie would be looking after the children tonight so Luke and Madelaine could thoroughly enjoy themselves.
Luke waited in the living room, nervous and excited to take his beloved wife out on a romantic evening.
As he stood in front of the window, looking at all the beautiful flowers and roses blooming in the gardens surrounding his home, he couldn’t help but smile—romance was not something he and Madelaine lacked in their relationship.
Since their move back to the Peterson ranch several months ago, him and his wife had truly arrived home. Luke finally understood what this place meant to Madelaine. So much so that he had been working on a great surprise for her almost all of last week. He couldn’t wait to show her.
When Madelaine finally stepped into the room, she took his breath away.
She wore a beautiful blue satin dress, its bodice covered in tiny satin roses, which created a stunning effect as they tapered off all over the wide skirt.
The darker blue enhanced her complexion and her bright green eyes.
There were even little blue roses in her fancy hairdo—yet another artful creation by Evelyn, no doubt.
He swallowed hard as she twirled in front of him.
“How did I get so lucky, Mrs. Cross?” he asked with a raspy voice, which elicited a small giggle from her. “I feel blessed every single day, and I thank the Lord every day for bringing you into my life,” he said solemnly. “You truly saved me.”
“You’ve saved me in more ways than one, my dear husband. I praise God in every prayer that He sent you to me,” she replied.
Madelaine looked up at him through thick dark lashes, and Luke had half a mind to throw his wife over his shoulder and carry her straight back to their bedroom, but he was just as excited about his surprise for her.
“I need to show you something!” he exclaimed. He took her by the hand and pulled her with him, through the kitchen, out the back door, and even past the small shed which had belonged to her mother and contained all her gardening tools.
“Close your eyes!” he called out to her.
“What?” she exclaimed, clearly in shock. “I’ll fall if I can’t see where I’m going!” she complained. Luke pulled her around, so she faced the house again.
“I’ll go slowly, I promise,” he said. “Do you trust me?”
Madelaine smiled brightly. “Always. With all my heart,” she said without hesitation.
Luke couldn’t help himself; he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It was a quick but passionate kiss, and when he released her lips, Madelaine was out of breath.
“Eyes closed! Don’t open them until I tell you!” he said, and when she did as he said, he pulled her back around and slowly guided her.
“One more step,” he announced. “Are you ready?”
Madelaine seemed impatient. “Yes, of course I’m ready! What is it?”
“Open your eyes!” he said, and when Madelaine looked into the direction he was pointing at, she froze. She gaped with an open mouth
Right there, on a small hill, around the corner from a small set of thick pine trees, stood a little chapel.
It looked exactly like a miniature version of the beautiful church in town, but it was small enough that barely ten people would fit inside of it.
The spire reached far enough into the evening sky to point at the breathtaking sunset, dousing the landscape in stunning tones of gold, orange, and red.
Madelaine seemed speechless. She stared at the chapel, then back at Luke, and again at the chapel.
“Do you like it?” he asked a little apprehensively.
Madelaine needed several attempts to reply. “I love it!” she croaked eventually. A small giggle escaped her as she lifted her skirt to walk closer.
“Did you build this?” she asked, her voice filled with awe. “For me?”
“Yes. Me, Caleb, and Alvarez did,” Luke said proudly. “And Simon helped, too.”
“Can we go inside?” Madelaine asked. Luke walked ahead to open the door for her.
She stepped inside and promptly began to cry. “This is the most beautiful chapel I have ever seen!”
***
When Luke and Madelaine entered the town hall a short while later, the place was already filled with people.
Luke had seen the inside of the new building before, but the decorations tonight surpassed anything he could have imagined.
There were flowers everywhere, filling the air with the scents of roses, lilac, and honeysuckle.
When he looked down at his wife, he saw the sheer joy in her eyes as she took it all in.
Everybody was in high spirits, and all the women looked stunning in the latest fashionable dresses, some swirling around the room, dancing to an upbeat waltz. The air was filled with the laughter and celebratory conversation of all those who had fought for this town.
What neither Luke nor Madelaine had anticipated was the reception they would get when they walked inside.
All their closest friends and family were already there: Timothy and Mary, Caleb and Evelyn, James, and even Father David greeted them first. But then the music stopped, and suddenly the entire room broke out in ear-shattering cheers and jubilation.
Everyone around them was clapping their hands, applauding them, calling out their names.
The overall excitement was palpable. Luke was proud of everything all of them had achieved as a community. It had shaped and formed bonds between these people that could never be broken again, and the neighborly spirit had grown exponentially over these last weeks. Stevensville was flourishing.
While Luke soaked in the moment, holding his beautiful wife’s hand, looking deep into her eyes, he felt closer to God than he ever had before. He felt a certainty which was unshakeable, unrelenting, and never-ending—God was right there, watching over every single one of them.