Chapter 37
Morning came, gray and cold.
Families packed their wagons for the final descent, voices calling back and forth, children underfoot, the whole camp moving with the particular energy of people who could finally see the end.
Della found Theda first.
She wrapped her arms around her without a word, and Theda hugged her back just as fiercely. When they finally pulled apart, Della's eyes were wet, and so were Theda's, though she was laughing through it.
“I never guessed you and Leland…” Theda shook her head. It was a surprise, but a pleasant one. She was glad that Della had found love and that Leland had found someone who could return his feelings in the way he needed. Theda glanced over at Jem.
Oren approached Jem with his hat in his hands, looking suddenly younger than his years. “Can I come visit? Once we're settled?”
“You'd better,” Jem said. He sounded like he meant it.
Movement caught Theda's eye. It took her a second to see it was Nora. She came running across the grass, throwing her arms around Theda's waist without any warning at all, and held on tight for a moment.
“Goodbye,” Nora said, looking up at her. She then went to Jem and repeated the process. Theda and Jem exchanged looks, and a soft laugh left Theda's lips before she leaned down and hugged Nora tightly.
“Don't worry, we'll see each other again. I'm sure of it.” Nora nodded, then darted off again toward her mother's wagon, laughing the whole way.
Theda laughed too. It had been a while since she’d laughed so freely, and yet, it felt so natural. She watched Nora run, her braids bouncing, Edmund chasing after her with the same delighted energy.
Theda thought of what Phineas had told her a few nights back.
Ansel would face some manner of justice for what he'd done, time served somewhere once they reached the territory courts, the diamonds long since returned to whoever had a rightful claim on them.
Verity would manage the children and the farm alone for however long that sentence lasted.
He’d been confined to his wagon since the confrontation with Ransom’s gang. With so much going on, Theda had hardly seen him.
Theda hoped it wouldn't be hard on the children. It would be an adjustment, but there was hope. They’d get their family back together, and they’d get a future, something that had almost been taken away from them.
Theda glanced up at Jem. The way his eyes followed her, and her cheeks filled with heat.
She didn't know what waited for them in the valley, in their new home, but she was ready to find out.
---*---
The last wagon rolled out toward the trail fork, and the camp emptied slowly behind it until it was just the two of them standing on the ridge with the valley spread out below.
Jem turned to her.
“Theda.”
She looked up at him, the morning light catching the gold in her hair, and waited.
“I don't know what's next.” He took her hand, turning it over gently in his. “I don't know what they'll ask of me once we reach the territory courts. What I'll owe for everything I did before.” He paused.
“I know,” she said softly. She’d thought about it often, the many different possibilities of how things could go. She didn't want to lose him.
“These last four months have been everything I ever dreamed of, Theda. Before I even knew I was dreaming of it.” He held her gaze steady. “And whatever I'm asked to pay for my past, I'm ready to pay it. I won't run from that. I want you to know that.”
She nodded slowly, her eyes glistening but not spilling over.
“There's something else,” he said, and his voice caught slightly, the words harder to push out than he'd expected.
“I know it's selfish of me to ask, given everything still hanging over my head. But I have to know.” He drew in a breath.
“Theda Calloway, will you spend the rest of your life with me? However long that life ends up looking. Whatever shape it takes.” He swallowed.
“Because I find I can't imagine a future of mine that doesn't have you standing right in the middle of it.”
For a moment, she studied his face, then she smiled. It was a question that didn't have to be asked. They both knew the answer.
“Yes. Yes, Jem. I'll marry you.” She fought the fears warring in her heart. What would happen if he were taken from her, if there was no future with them together? If she had to live without him before their life even started together?
She didn’t know.
“I don't know what's coming for us either,” she whispered, reaching up to rest her palm against his jaw.
“But I have faith that God still has a plan in store for us.
He brought you to me out of a storm I never expected, and he's carried us both through worse than what's still ahead.” Her thumb brushed gently over his cheekbone.
“I don't believe he means to abandon us now.”
Jem leaned down and pressed a slow, tender kiss to her forehead, then circled his arms fully around her waist, drawing her close against him. She stared up at him, holding his gaze.
Her faith had always managed to carry her through, something she hoped would continue. She believed that God had great things in store for them. A good future. One that held both of them in it, side by side.