An Uninvited Bride on his Doorstep by Ava Winters
Chapter Thirty-One
Life was funny sometimes. That was all there was to it. Oh, it wasn’t the kind of funny a man felt sitting around to a campfire listening to old-timers sharing knee-slapping tales about when they were young, or funny the way some men just brought a smile to everyone’s face when they talked. It was more like the kind of funny that made a man shake his head in wonder at how things arrived at wherever they arrived.
Gregory chuckled and shook his head as he reflected on that. Overnight, his family had gone from being outcasts to being heroes. They’d gone from carrying around shame that didn’t belong to them and wearing it like a big smudge of mud on a clean white shirt to attracting glances of admiration from people in town.
And it all happened because a girl ran away from home.
That was the funny part. Winona ran away and met and married Logan and suddenly everything in life was just fine. Oh, that wasn’t fair, really. Winona ran away and held onto Logan the way a man holds onto the reins when a horse is running out of control. She didn’t sink hooks into him, at least not on purpose.
For that matter, it would be just as true to say Logan got his hooks into her. Those two were a couple of lovebirds, and Gregory didn’t think anyone could ever pry the two of them apart. They were two peas now, nestled together in the pod, and that was how they would be forever.
And it all started just because a girl ran away. That was funny.
But there was more to it that was funny. This girl ran away, and it wasn’t just her ma and pa who made her want to run. Instead, she had put Logan into a real sticky situation. She put him right in the middle of a test of wills with the most powerful family in the area so suddenly that Gregory and his brothers all had to stand up to a man even the bravest men in Texas would be afraid to face.
That should have been something that hurt them instead of helping them. But it didn’t hurt them. It made Winona’s father finally come clean about what really happened with their Pa, and that changed everything about how people saw them. The whole town came together, and Sterling Koch and his family weren’t powerful enough to stand against them.
Gregory was pretty sure the town coming together like that did a great deal more for everyone than any of Koch’s plan for the railroad would have done. It could have just been that he looked at the world with eyes that were a little brighter now than they used to be, but it seemed to him the whole town seemed a lot happier and a lot stronger.
He certainly felt stronger.
He’d been head over heels for Louise Sawyer ever since he first saw her in Mrs. Crenshaw’s class seven years ago, but he’d been too scared to approach her. His parents never even knew he liked her. His brothers didn’t even know he liked her until a year ago when he’d finally found the strength to approach her in public and ask if he could call on her. He had nearly died of shock when she said yes!
It was another month before he finally worked up the courage to call on her and he’d only seen her five times before the fiasco with the Kochs at the social had spoiled everything.
Except it hadn’t spoiled everything. Gregory had. Louise had made it clear she liked him even before Gregory had gained enough gumption to court her. She’d given no indication her feelings had changed after the dance, but Gregory had avoided her nonetheless, certain that her parents would disapprove, and their relationship would eventually succumb to their pressure.
Gregory realized now that his pride as much as his fear was to blame for his mistakes. He might not show it the way Jay and Logan did, but he had tremendous pride in his family name, and it hurt him terribly to see the people of Westridge abuse it for so long. So rather than risk learning that Louise felt the same, he shunned her so he’d never have to feel the pain that would come with hearing his family besmirched by someone he loved so much.
He did love her. Today, he would tell her.
In the month since Winona’s rescue from Jude Koch, Gregory had seen Louise no fewer than seventeen times. Watching Logan and Winona overcome tremendous adversity and remain close with one another inspired him. The fear and the pride were still there, but they no longer held the same power over him they once did.
So, the day after Winona’s rescue, Gregory had woken early, washed, brushed his best suit and polished his boots until they gleamed. Then he’d saddled the most beautiful horse they owned—a blood bay with a shimmering coat and a spirited attitude—and ridden straight for the Sawyer’s house. When he arrived, he declared his intention to court Louise and asked if she would be so kind as to accompany him on a ride.
Of course, she’d accepted, and things had been wonderful between them ever since. The more time they spent together the more deeply he fell in love. She was the most fascinating person he’d ever met: sweet and gentle one moment, fiery and spirited the next, but always fair and possessed of a maturity that far exceeded her years. She was everything Gregory had ever wanted and more than he’d ever hoped to find. Today, he would tell her so.
He reached into his pocket, where the small felt box Logan and Winona had given him the night before remained securely shut. He recalled his surprise when they’d given it to him.
“I can’t take this!” he’d exclaimed to Winona said, wide-eyed. “This was Ma’s engagement ring! She’d want you to have it.”
“Well, I want you to have it,” Winona said in that self-assured way she had when she knew she was right and whoever she happened to be talking to at the moment would just have to deal with it. “Logan and I are already married, and I think this ring would mean more to you than it does to me.”
He’d wanted so much to accept the gift, but he didn’t until he looked at Logan and his older brother said, “Take it. Show Louise how much she means to you. Show her every day.”
Winona had rolled her eyes at that and laid a hand on Logan’s chest. “Okay, Tennyson, I think Gregory can handle it from here.”
“Tenny-who?”
“Never mind,” Winona said, kissing him softly on the cheek. Logan’s face had lit up in a wide, boyish grin at her touch, as it usually did. Gregory wondered idly if Logan was aware of that reaction or if it was as subconscious as the grin that would come unawares to Gregory himself whenever he saw Louise.
He wore that grin now as he pulled the wagon to a stop in front of the Sawyers’ porch, despite the fact his heart pounded with anxiety. Louise waved when she saw him, smiling brightly and practically bounding down the steps. She opened her arms as though to embrace him but caught herself at the least second and let them drop to her sides awkwardly.
“Good afternoon, Gregory,” she said, her voice as awkward as her posture.
Gregory stared at the beautifully awkward girl in front of him and momentarily forgot his nervousness for the joy of seeing her once more. He grinned and replied, in an exaggeratedly formal tone, “And a very pleasant afternoon to you, Miss Louise. I’ve come to see if you would care to enjoy a scenic ramble through the local countryside. The day is terribly lovely, and it would be such a pity to waste it confined to one’s house.”
Louise rolled her eyes. “You’re insufferable, Gregory.”
“And yet you suffer me,” he replied.
“Miracles abound,” Louise quipped. “Since you ask, I am available for a ride, but it will have to be brief. My parents are expecting company for supper.”
“Oh? Someone I know?”
She laughed. “There are only a few hundred people in town, Gregory. Odds are you know them.”
“Who is it?”
“Jeb Cain.”
Gregory’s eyes widened in shock. “Jeb Cain? I knew it! He’s sweet on you, isn’t he? Your parents invited him over so he could court you! Admit it!”
Jeb Cain was nearly seventy years old and happily married to their former schoolteacher, the erstwhile Mrs. Crenshaw. Louise rolled her eyes again but couldn’t stifle a chuckle. “I swear, Greg Foley, you’ll be the death of me one day.”
“Greg? Since when am I Greg?”
“Since I said so,” Louise replied pertly. “Now are you going to take me for a ride or are we going to stand here all day jawing at each other?”
Gregory grinned and offered her his arm. She took it and he led her to the wagon. He helped her into the seat then hopped in from the other side.
They drove slowly through the town, stopping every so often to chat with their friends and neighbors. They ran into Cordelia and Clarence Huxtable in front of the general store.
“Cordelia!” Louise cried, waving at them. “You’ve returned from your honeymoon!”
“Why Louise!” Cordelia said, beaming. “I swear you grow prettier every time I see you. Isn’t she pretty, Clarence?”
“Pretty as a cactus rose during the first bloom of spring,” Clarence confirmed in his delightfully sonorous voice.
Louise blushed prettily and Gregory thought that a cactus rose was a pretty fair comparison after all. “Not nearly as pretty as you, Cordelia.”
“Well now,” Clarence chuckled. “That’s hardly a fair comparison. The world has never known beauty like Cordelia’s.”
“Oh, go on with you,” Cordelia said, blushing like a ripe tomato.
Clarence smiled down at his wife and said, “I’m a slave to the truth dear and can’t help but share it.”
“My heavens,” Cordelia said, shaking her head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” She looked up at Louise and Gregory. “So, what are you two lovely young people up to today?”
“Gregory’s taking me for a ride through the countryside,” Louise said.
“Well, how lovely!” Cordelia said. Everything was lovely to Cordelia since she and Clarence married three weeks ago.
“It’s a beautiful day for it,” Clarence agreed.
“Well,” Cordelia said, beaming once more. “Don’t let two old folks like us interrupt your ride. Have a lovely day and we’ll see you both at church on Sunday.”
Gregory and Louise said their goodbyes to Clarence and Cordelia, then proceeded out of town. The first winter storm had not yet arrived, and the road was in excellent condition, offering them a smooth ride as they proceeded through the rolling hills and fields of prairie grass, broken here and there by stands of pine or maple and patches of sunflowers or thimbleweed.
When they reached a particularly beautiful meadow with sundrops, columbine, and prickly poppy generously complementing the ubiquitous thimbleweed, Gregory stopped.
“Why are we stopping?” Louise asked.
“Well, I figure this would be as good a place as any,” Gregory responded.
“For what?” Louise asked.
Gregory smiled and dismounted from the wagon. He walked to the other side and held out a hand to help Louise descend. She smiled quizzically at him but allowed him to lead her several paces into the meadow.
The anxiety that left Gregory when he picked Louise up earlier returned in full force and his knees fairly knocked when he finally stopped and turned to Louise. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out at first.
Louise smiled softly. Without warning, she leaned forward and kissed him. Her lips were soft and cool on his and it felt as though all his senses tingled under her touch. When she pulled away, he opened his mouth again and this time there was no hesitation in his voice.
“Louise, you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met. I thought that the moment I first saw you in Mrs. Crenshaw’s classroom. I wish I’d had the courage then to tell you how I feel about you. I wish I had the courage a thousand times over the past seven years.
“Now that I know you, I know you’re not only beautiful. You’re smart, and strong ,and kind. You’re too good for me.”
“Oh, Gregory,” Louise said. She reached up and softly stroked his hair.
“It’s true,” he insisted. “You’re too good for me but you like me anyway. You’ll never know how much I appreciate you for that.” He reached into his pocket and fished out the little felt box.
When Louise saw it, she gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
Gregory got down on one knee and lifted the box. “Louise Sawyer, I love you. I’ve been in love with you for seven years and I’ll be in love with you for seventy more. You’re the most perfect woman on earth and if you’ll do me the honor of becoming my wife, I promise you I will spend every day for the rest of my life doing everything I can to be a husband worthy of you. Will you marry me?”
Louise’s eyes were suddenly dewy with tears. She didn’t respond immediately and for a terrible moment, Gregory thought she would refuse. Then she threw her arms around him and kissed him everywhere—his cheeks, his neck, his face, his forehead, saying over, and over again, “Yes, yes, yes, I will!”
Finally, she simply held him, laughing and crying. Gregory smiled through his own tears of joy. When Louise whispered, “I love you,” he squeezed her tightly, his heart full.
They held each other for a long time, saying nothing, each savoring the feel of the other in their arms. After several minutes, Gregory started laughing.
Louise pulled away. “What’s so funny?” she asked.
“I never put the ring on your finger,” he said. “It’s still in the box. I got so nervous, I forgot to put the ring on your finger.”
Louise smiled radiantly and offered her left hand, fingers pointed downward.
Gregory grinned and got back on one knee. He opened the box with a flourish, eliciting a giggle from Louise. Then he gently retrieved the ring and placed it carefully on her finger. Louise lifted the ring and gasped. “Oh, Gregory! It’s beautiful!”
“You’re beautiful,” Gregory said.
She smiled down at him. “I love you, Gregory Foley.”
“I love you too, Louise Foley.”