Page 47

I t was well past midnight when Lily carefully eased out of bed and tiptoed to the front room.

She sat down at the table, lit a lamp, and started writing.

She wrote My Dearest Matt and then couldn’t go any further.

Tears rolled off her cheeks and left big smeary splotches in the ink.

She tore the page off the tablet, dipped her pen once more, and started again.

“What are you doing?” Iris asked, so close behind her that Lily jumped and smeared ink all over the new page.

“I’m writing a letter to Matt because I can’t tell him what he needs to hear without crying,” Lily said on a sob.

Iris went to the kitchen and brought out a plate with slices of leftover wedding cake and two forks. She handed one to Lily and said, “Tell me what that sweet man needs to hear.”

Lily put the pen in the holder beside the inkwell. “I’m not sure I can put it in real words. I can’t even write down how I feel, but my heart says that I cannot cause a problem with Matt and his family.”

“Eat. Food cures everything, even broken hearts. Miz Raven told us that, and I believed every word she said.” Iris accentuated every word by jabbing her fork toward the plate.

“What makes you think there’s a problem, anyway?

He seemed smitten with you at the party tonight, which was a pretty nice welcoming event for all of us.

We weren’t sure how we would be received, and we were greeted with a wedding and a big reception. ”

Lily ate one bite of cake and told Iris about Abigail being so determined not to accept her.

“I thought I could change her mind by being kind and nice, but evidently that is not going to happen. I asked him what family meant to him,” she said with a sigh, then went on to tell her what he had said.

“After what we have all done to keep from having kids, I may never be able to have children, and he wants a big family. I can’t leave, but I can free him from being with me. ”

“You are a fool!” Iris said. “You came through a horrible experience and have led women to fight for their rights.”

“Oh, sure,” Lily argued. “They get to sit by their husbands in church. Some big victory that is.”

“Come on, now,” Iris scolded. “That gave them confidence to stand beside you when you moved out here, didn’t it? A little backbone and support from one another will give them what they need to take another step for their rights.”

“What has that got to do with today?”

“Anything worth having is worth fighting for,” Iris said, reminding her of what Miz Raven had said the night before they all left the Paradise. “Do you love Matt Maguire?”

Lily nodded and swiped a tear away. “I do.”

“Then change his sister’s mind,” Iris said.

“I’ve tried but it won’t work. What more can I do?”

“By doing what you’re already doing,” Iris answered. “And then ask Abigail to go to the meetings in town. That will show her that we are all strong women and we don’t back down from a fight.”

Lily started to say something, but a soft rap on the door stopped her. Who would be coming around the house in the wee hours of the morning?

Iris was on her feet and slinging the door open before Lily could even collect her thoughts. “Well, hello, Matt,” she said. “Is everything all right? Nothing has happened to Daisy or Claude, has it?”

“Everything is fine—or at least, I hope it is. I need to speak to Lily.”

Lily could hear the anguish in his voice and figured she didn’t need to finish her letter.

Abigail, and perhaps even his other sister, had convinced him that Lily was not a suitable woman for him to court.

She pushed back her chair, picked up a shawl from the sofa, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Matt,” she said.

“I know it’s late and this isn’t appropriate, but I can’t sleep until I get things straightened out,” he blurted out.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Iris whispered and left the room.

“Will you come sit on the porch with me?” he asked.

“Yes—and I agree, we do need to talk.” She closed the door behind her and sat down on the top step of the porch.

Mozelle flopped down close by when she stretched her long legs out and sank her bare feet into the green grass.

Her heart felt like a rock in her chest, and she held her hands tightly in her lap to keep them steady.

Matt sat down beside her, and even in that moment, the touch of his shoulder against hers sent her emotions into a whirl.

She wanted to snuggle up in his arms and have the right to put her hand on his chest—to feel his heartbeat and know that it was keeping time with hers. But that privilege had passed.

“I could tell something was wrong at the reception after Abigail talked to you and then walked away. I’ve been over at the house, and she came clean about all the ugly things she has said to you.

I came to apologize, and she will do the same tomorrow.

What she said is unforgivable, and I won’t hold it against you if you can’t let her off the hook. I love you, Lily Boyle, and—”

She butted in before he could finish. “I love you, too, but I can’t cause problems with your family.”

“Remember what my uncle preached about last Sunday in our little church here on the farm?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t—and what does that have to do with all this?” she asked.

“Leave your mother and father and cling to your wife, is the basis of what he said.” Matt took Lily’s hand in his and placed it on his chest. “That’s my heart. It will shatter if you let anything come between us—Abigail or anyone else.”

“What if I can never have children?” she whispered.

“Then we’ll love all the ones that are already here on the farm, and all the ones that will be born from now until the end of our days, when we are holding hands in eternity,” he answered.

“You are more important to me than anything else in this world. Please don’t leave with that wagon train tomorrow morning. Without you, there is no us.”

“I won’t leave,” Lily said. “I just want your promise that if you change your mind, you will be honest and tell me.”

“I promise, but it won’t happen.” Matt moved away from her and got down on one knee.

“Lily Boyle, I believe I fell in love with you the first time I laid eyes on you on that train platform. It just took my mind longer than my heart to realize it. Will you marry me? We don’t have to rush, but I want to know that you will be in my life forever. ”

“Yes, Matt, I will,” she said, and sealed their engagement with a kiss.

The rattling of pots and pans in the kitchen woke Lily later that morning.

She’d only had a couple of hours of sleep, and that was stretched out on the sofa so that she wouldn’t disturb Iris.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes and then looked around the room.

Holly had cleaned off the table and was busy peeling potatoes.

Jasmine was whipping eggs in a bowl. For a brief moment, she thought she was back at the Paradise.

Then she felt the warmth of Matt’s kisses still on her lips, and she realized where she was.

“Yes!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, what?” Iris poked her head around the doorjamb separating the front room from the kitchen.

“With all of you here, for a minute there, I thought we were back at the Paradise,” she answered, stretching the kinks out of her back.

“But the ‘yes’ means you want to be back there?” Holly asked.

“No, it means that I’m glad to be here and that I said yes when Matt proposed to me last night. We worked things out—so thank you, Iris, for reminding me that I’m a strong woman.”

“Anytime,” Iris said and disappeared back into the kitchen. “Lard is melting and is almost ready for those potatoes, Holly, and biscuits are cooking.”

Lily ate a couple of bites of cake on her way to open the windows. “There’s no stopping that ball from rolling, now that it’s got a good running start. Let’s get breakfast done and go wave as the wagon train passes by. I can’t believe Daisy is leaving, but thank God y’all are here.”

“Amen!” Jasmine said. “After the horrible reception we had in Nechesville, this is like leaving hell and landing in heaven. But what are we going to do to support ourselves?”

“We can all sew,” Lily assured her. “Beulah has offered to put as many garments as we can design and make in her store, and with four of us working, we might even be able to ship them to other places. I’ll ask her before she leaves this morning if she has some connections in surrounding towns.”

Holly kneaded the biscuit dough a few times and then cut out the biscuits with a glass. She placed them in a cast-iron skillet and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Lily frowned. “We might end up with our designs and clothing all over this part of Texas. We could sew labels in the back and folks would think that they’re getting something special. Holly, you are good at embroidery. You can design and make our tags.”

“That was my happy laugh, for all the good fortune we have had. I will gladly make tags for our creations. What will we put on them?” She stopped for a breath.

“A little blue jay,” Lily suggested, then told them the story.

“Sounds fitting,” Iris said from the kitchen. “When is the food going to be ready? And yes, yes, yes, we are excited for you and Matt.”

They had just sat down at the table, made up of three crates and covered with a cloth, when Daisy poked her head in the back door. “I couldn’t leave without getting another hug from each of you. I don’t feel so bad about leaving Lily now that you are all here with her.”

Lily was the first to wrap her up in her arms. The other three hurried over and made it a four-way hug. Tears flooded Daisy’s eyes when they broke away. “My wedding was beautiful, and ...” She blushed.

“I bet you didn’t think you would ever do that again,” Iris teased.

“What? Go to bed with a man?” Daisy asked.

“No, turn scarlet at the thought of what followed all the fun last night,” Holly answered.

“Y’all are right on both counts—and now I have to go. I hear the wheels of the first wagon coming this way. Claude is second in line, and he’s picking me up when ours gets to your house,” Daisy said.

Lily and the other three followed her through the house and out onto the porch.

“I hate goodbyes.” Lily’s voice cracked.

“This is so fitting,” Daisy said. “I’ll cherish this image forever of y’all all wearing white nightgowns, just like we did every morning at the Paradise.”

Claude stopped the wagon and jumped down to the ground. “Are you ready, darlin’?”

“I am.”

He scooped her up in his arms and set her up on the seat. “Goodbye,” he called out.

“Be safe and write!” Lily yelled.

“I promise I will!” Daisy shouted.

The four waved for a full five minutes and then went back into the house. “What’s on your mind?” Iris asked Lily as she sat down and passed her plate over to Holly for a biscuit.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Lily said around the huge lump in her throat. “Daisy has found her happiness. I’ve found mine. Y’all are next.”

“Oh, no!” Iris declared. “There were a lot of good-looking men at the party last night, but the only one that really took my eye was the wagon master, and now he’s gone.”

But according to Matt, he comes through here a couple of times a year, Lily thought, but she didn’t say a word.