An Uninvited Bride on his Doorstep by Ava Winters
Epilogue
Gregory cleaned up nice.
Winona thought it probably made her a silly girl to think about such a thing at the moment, but she couldn’t help herself. Gregory looked a fine gentleman in his new suit. It was very snappy, from the black and grey striped trousers extending up from his new polished black boots, to his waist. There, a matching vest with beautiful brass buttons added to the picture.
The buttons shone in stark contrast to the material, and added a dapper brightness to the look, polishing the outfit just as the buttons were polished. He looked like a proper, successful rancher as well, because he had his father’s pocket watch with the brass chain visible from a loop on the vest until it disappeared into his pocket. His jacket was solid black and quite fine as well.
His shirt was stiff and white and the black bow tie with its thick cloth made it look even whiter. On top of his head, he wore a lovely black derby, which suited him more than the regular Stetson he ordinarily wore.
Of course, the most attractive thing Gregory wore was on his face. It was the bright smile that seemed to carry with it all the happiness any man could hope to have in this life. She smiled at the sight. Gregory got that happiness on his wedding day like most people did instead of through the roundabout way she and her husband had found it.
Her brother-in-law looked very nice, and she realized he was a fine man. Louise had captured the heart of a very fine man indeed. It felt a little strange to have known him for as long as she had only to just now really notice it. She blushed, chastising herself for not having noticed it sooner.
She thought there were a great many things she probably ought to have noticed sooner than she did. The conversation with her mother and father ought not to have been so revelatory, really. Parents behaved in the best interests of their children. At least, they tried to behave in their children’s best interests, although oftentimes their actions had the opposite effect.
Even Sterling Koch acted in favor of Jude’s best interests. The problem, she imagined, wasn’t really the intent of parents. Their intentions were always good, Winona guessed. At some point, the actions took over and became the goal in and of themselves. At some point, how the child reflected on them meant more than what the child needed or wanted.
Good intentions.
There was something someone used to say. Winona thought perhaps it was an old schoolteacher. Hell was full of good intent, but heaven was full of good works. Something like that. A book of proverbs in the Koch house said the road to hell is paved with good intentions and said it was first suggested by some ancient Roman king. Winona didn’t know who said it, but she imagined it was true. She imagined everyone wanted to be judged by their intentions.
But everyone wanted to judge others by their actions, didn’t they? Didn’t she?
She pressed her lips together and forced her mind back to the moment, to notice again that Louise had captured the heart of a very fine man. Of course, it was easy to notice things now that the Kochs weren’t a part of her life and now that she didn’t have to live like some kind of outcast, someone clothed in shame and driven away rather than someone welcomed.
And that was remarkable.
She didn’t know if she were welcome before all of this and her time fully removed from the town and the people had simply made the welcome more obvious to her now that she was back. Winona suspected, though, that the town as a whole was closer now. They didn’t have a leader to cling to, a man to check with before making a decision one way or another. Instead, they had to rely on neighbors, friends and loved ones. She thought it made the town blossom, and she felt like a part of Westridge in ways she never had before.
And Greg, the fine man in front of her, looking at his bride as though she were Aphrodite risen from the sea, was a part of Westridge now, too. The church was full of people who’d probably looked down on him and his entire family or, if not actively looking down on him, nevertheless didn’t want to draw attention to themselves by welcoming him.
A fine man, that one. And, of course, Winona was also very aware of Gregory’s involvement in her rescue, how he’d stood right by Logan’s side, and she owed more than one brother for her freedom. She was glad Gregory smiled, so glad he was happy. She hoped he was able to remain happy for the rest of his life, to have a perfect happily ever after like in the storybooks. The thought was pleasant—a happily ever after for everyone. She smiled as she looked at him and then let her eyes move to the two men who stood beside him.
Jay also cleaned up very nicely indeed.
Jay’s outfit was as light as Gregory’s was dark. Both appeared youthful and vibrant, but Jay appeared more of a man about town, a man who was involved, a man who likely spoke to everyone he saw and left them smiling afterward. Above his boots, he wore brown, brushed cotton trousers with a high waist.
A gold-colored Spencer vest just barely extended below the waistband. He wore a pocket watch with a chain as well, although with his lighter clothing it didn’t stand out as much. His coat was long, a light tan frock coat that almost looked white compared to his brother’s jacket. He wore the same starch-stiff white shirt, although once again it didn’t stand out quite the same as it did next to the black of Gregory’s vest and jacket.
He had a puffy silk tie, almost like an ascot. That tie was black, blacker than anything Gregory wore, and made for such a lovely sharp contrast with the rest of his outfit that it automatically drew the eye there. Without that black tie, Jay might have appeared a bit of a dandy. With it, the outfit gave him an almost distinguished air. On his head, he wore a cream-colored straw derby, and the overall effect was to make him seem a proper gentleman.
What a change!
What a change to see the two of them there at the front of the altar, dressed in fine clothes, clothes she knew her father bought for them. She imagined her father would spend some time trying to make up for what he’d done to their father, although none of them held him accountable for it now.
In fact, she’d insisted they accept the clothes, insisted that they take the gift, because her father had used her as the excuse for his behavior and because he had prevailed upon their father to keep the truth hidden. She’d insisted they help her redeem the role she unwittingly played, and she was glad she did. Of course, she also knew enough of herself that she not only wanted them to have the clothes but also wanted her father to be out the money it took to buy them.
And then there was Logan.
As she looked at him next to his brother, her heart swelled. His brothers looked like gentleman ranchers, heavy on the gentleman and light on the rancher. Logan, too, looked like a gentleman rancher but his outfit, while just as formal, tipped to the other side so the rancher part of the look was far more evident. He wore a long black frock coat over a grey and black striped vest.
He wore the same puffed silk tie as Jay, but with the coat, vest, and black trousers, it blended with the outfit and didn’t serve as a focal point. He wore a black Stetson high enough that it might have seemed a top hat if not for the wideness of the brim. The lambskin black gloves he wore added an air of importance to the look. His brothers seemed like part of a wealthy ranching family. Logan looked like the patriarch of that family.
She realized she wore an obvious smile on her face, and she wasn’t able to control it. Just looking at her husband made her mind race crazily, traveling over all their interactions. Even the painful interactions that seemed rewritten by her mind, a lovely trick that made her feel a bit like a silly romantic. She didn’t mind that at all, though. In fact, she liked the thought of being silly over Logan.
They were building a home together now, and she would be a strong woman. She would cook and keep the house. She would help with the ranch, and she would use whatever talents she had to manage the household and, where appropriate, the business of the ranch. She would stand by Logan’s side in the bad years, and she would help him celebrate the good years. He was the patriarch, and by God, Winona would be the matriarch. She would do all of those things.
But for now, it felt wonderful to instead behave like one of the heroines in a traveling melodrama and just be filled with silly, overly emotional wonder that the hero in the ten-gallon hat belonged to her. She turned her attention back to Gregory but couldn’t keep her attention there and looked at her husband again.
The focal point of Gregory’s outfit unquestionably had to be the line of brass buttons on his vest. The focal point of Jay’s outfit was, of course, his tie. As for Logan, there was no focal point at all. The whole outfit was the focal point or perhaps, the whole outfit made the man himself the focal point. He stood proudly by his brothers, and Winona thought the pride he showed was well-earned.
She smiled as she looked at him and smiled when she thought he probably drew far more eyes than the groom. In fact, he likely drew more eyes than the bride! Winona thought Louise looked lovely as well, though, and it seemed such a strange and wonderful change to be able to appreciate loveliness in anything again.
It didn’t seem strange at all to see Logan as the man he was now, although she might have believed it strange had she imagined seeing him this way just a few months before.
She was finally free.
She wasn’t only free from Jude but free from everything he represented, everything she’d run away from and everything her running had caused. The wedding was lovely because life was lovely. Life was finally unequivocally lovely, and the man who stood in the front of the church like the patriarch of a noble ranching family was her man.
Hers.
Dear God, that felt wonderful. Logan was hers and, perhaps more importantly, she was his. That felt better than just about anything she could imagine. She was resolved, as well. She had every intention of being his for the rest of her life.
She’d run away and ended up with him. She’d remained to keep herself from a fate that was worse. He wasn’t an alternative to something worse anymore. He was everything she wanted, everything she could possibly hope to have.
Louise Sawyer, who was about to become Louise Foley, looked absolutely stunning, Winona thought. Her eyes traveled to Logan’s mother’s ring on Louise’s finger, and she felt a burst of pride she’d prevailed upon Gregory to take it. It made the moment more than their wedding. It made the moment also about the addition of someone to her family.
Her family!
That thought gave her pause. It described her marriage to Logan, too, didn’t it? At least, it described her now, after all the Koch business was behind them. She looked at the men again, Gregory in his dark clothes and Jay in his brighter clothes. She loved them both, already thinking of them as brothers. Did they love her as well? Again, she smiled at the thought. She’d become an addition to their family finally and now that family was hers.
Of course, there remained no doubt at all that she loved the oldest brother at the altar.
She returned her gaze to Louise, admiring the beautiful, cream-colored taffeta gown. There was a great deal of fabric, and Winona wondered at that. Winona never wore a bustle. Nonetheless, she knew such accoutrements grew more popular, and even expected in the larger towns in the West, and she imagined there would come a time when they were expected in Westridge. In the wedding gown, it was certainly pretty but she was happy to keep from having to walk around with such a thing behind her. She tried to focus her thoughts and to keep her mind on the ceremony. It wasn’t an easy thing to do. Even with only a month or so passing since Koch’s trial ended with him sent to prison, her mind still swirled with the newness of all her joy, and it made it difficult now to focus on the joy of Gregory and Louise. It was like the Bible, though, she thought. All things were made new.
She heard soft weeping and turned to see her stepmother beside her, dabbing at her eyes with her father’s handkerchief. She reached over and gently touched her stepmother’s hand. Her stepmother looked at her and smiled in embarrassment at her tears and then turned her attention back to the couple. Surprisingly, when Winona moved her hand back, her father replaced it with his and her stepmother turned hers toward her father’s.
In a moment their fingers interlaced, and Winona felt certain the moment represented the first time she’d ever seen her parents hold hands. She smiled at the sight. She noticed also that her stepmother leaned in slightly toward her father, and though he kept his eyes forward when she did, his features softened a bit in satisfaction. She’d certainly never seen that before.
All things were made new, indeed.
THE END?
(turn the page)