Page 101 of A Forgotten Heart
The line of tension in his forehead relaxed. Had he really not known her answer would be yes? It had always been yes, from the moment he’d made her smile beside the Christmas tree all those years ago.
He leaned down, hesitating only a breath before he brushed his lips against hers. His kiss felt like hope. Like home. Like love.
She responded to his kiss, trying to communicate her sincerity. Her devotion. And that she would always stand by him. No matter what.
He shifted to put his arm around her, and when he did, she felt him wince a little.
She pulled away from his eager lips. “Come on. Let’s go see the doctor.”
He groaned, but she felt his smile against her cheek. “Always so bossy.”
She stifled her giggle to sound as serious as possible. “Only to you.”
He chuckled. “Merry Christmas, my darling.”
She tugged the brim of his hat. “Merry Christmas.”
He brushed one more kiss over her lips, then she turned him in the direction of the doctor’s office.
As they walked along the boardwalk, comfortable in each other’s presence, she didn’t know what the future would hold. Whether she’d be allowed to keep teaching after they married,or what would happen with the McGraw land, or even if Quade would be sentenced.
But she did know that Nick would stand beside her through it all.
And that was enough.
Chapter 20
SEPTEMBER 1894 - NINE MONTHS LATER
Elsie loved the smell of a new school year. The fresh paper. The chalk. The end of summer breeze through the windows. New beginnings.
She was back where she belonged.
She glanced around her classroom, a broom and dustpan in her hand. There. With the floor swept, she only had a few unfinished touches before the first day of school tomorrow.
She rubbed the stiffness away from her neck, her muscles aching. The last few days had been nonstop.
The past nine months had been nonstop.
Starting right after Christmas, when Nick left Calvin to finish his teaching certificate. It’d been harder than she’d expected to say goodbye, to have a long-distance courtship.
Now she picked up the pile of slates on a bookshelf and absently started to lay one on each desk.
Last spring, Nick’s graduation couldn’t come fast enough. Knowing Nick would only be gone a few months and that he would come home almost every weekend had helped, but thoseweekends had been brief, sometimes only allowing a few hours together before he had to take the train back.
She’d been so lonely without him.
But…
Oh, the love letters he’d sent would make any girl swoon. Letters that she would cherish forever. She’d written back faithfully.
She shook her head and continued her task. The slate frames tapped on the wooden desks, echoing in the room.
The day of their wedding finally came. Everything had been so wonderful.
May flowers had bloomed, and the aroma of springtime and happiness had flooded the air.
She’d never been so happy—to be united with him and take his name. Nearly everyone in Calvin had attended. Mother and Father had come in on the train.
