Page 3 of A Convenient Heart
It had been years since she’d lost control of her classroom like this. Even longer since she’d had to resort to bribery. But these were desperate times.
Her plea worked, and the last hour of the day flew past—probably because she dreaded what the children would ask.
The inquisition was as terrible as she’d imagined, but she was able to shorten it a bit as she rushed the children into their coats and out the door.
“I have known him for months.” Technically true, though she’d never met her intended groom in person.
“He is a businessman.” John had told her about investing in the railroad, though she hadn’t understood it all from his letters. There would be time to discuss it at length soon enough.
“No, he isn’t from around here.” They hadn’t discussed where they would live, other than agreeing that she needed to stay and finish the school term as her contract stipulated.
“Where did we meet? I answered an ad in a newspaper.”
These last words were said as she ushered the children out the door with her own woolen cape on and arms wide lest they dawdle any longer.
As she crossed out of the doorway, she caught sight of a familiar figure standing on the boardwalk just outside.
Drew McGraw. Her cousin and his three younger brothers owned a ranch well outside of town. She hadn’t seen him in weeks, and he had a couple of days’ worth of scruff on his jaw.
Her stomach was already twisty with anticipation and nerves as she crossed the boardwalk to him, watching the last of her students scurry toward their homes.
“What’s this I just overheard?” He stretched out his arms as she walked toward him.
“What are you doing in town?” She asked the question as she joined in the affectionate hug. Maybe he’d be distracted…
But he was just as inquisitive as one of her students. He squeezed her shoulders, then stepped back to look into her face. “You met someone?”
She bit her lip and nodded. Icy wind bit at her cheeks but didn’t cool the blush there.
“How come you haven’t told the family?”
She saw the hint of hurt in his eyes and felt a pang of remorse. “I wanted to make certain that it…that he…”
She couldn’t say the words aloud. There was still a part of her that worried that John would step off the train, take one look at her, and change his mind about the whole thing. Finding a husband to marry, bearing children of her own…her long-held dreams were coming true. Finally.
Drew didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and that was all right too.
“Did you bring the children with you?” she asked.
Drew’s thirteen-year-old son David, ten-year-old daughter Josephine, and five-year-old daughter Tillie were as close as if they were Merritt’s own nieces and nephew, and Merritt missed them dearly.
“Not this time. Gotta grab a load of supplies and head back. Wanted to check if you’re still coming for Christmas.”
In the excitement of John’s arrival, she’d forgotten about her promise to come and stay with the McGraw cousins for Christmas next week.
She’d be a married woman by then.
And John already knew how much her cousins meant to her. “I’ll be there.”
We’ll be there.
The train whistle blew, the sound carried on a stiff wind, still far in the distance.
Her gaze flicked toward the end of town where the station was located. Her heart pounded.
“I’ve got to go,” she said. “I’m meeting…him.”
This was the moment her life would change forever.
