Page 39 of Married By Midnight
“Are you ready?” Ian asked. He was carrying Lacey’s quilt in his arms.
Sarah nodded. “You’ll have to help me up.” Ian held out his hand and Sarah used it to lift herself from the chair. “I swear, the way this baby keeps growing I’m going to have an elephant, not a human!”
Ian laughed. He put his hand on Sarah’s belly. “Don’t talk about my son that way.”
“It could be a daughter.”
Ian leaned down and gave Sarah a kiss. She felt her toes curl in her shoes. “Only if she is like her mother.”
Sarah gave him another quick kiss and then shooed his hands away. “We are going to be late.”
“They can’t do anything until we are there.”
Ian led Sarah to the wagon and then drove her to the side of the creek away from where the cattle would be crossing.
The past six months were spent preparing the land on the farm to receive the cattle. It involved building fences, stringing wire and marking boundaries.
Ian expanded on Jacob’s idea of clearing the wheat fields. He wanted to go into business with Arlan. Instead of charging to graze the land, Arlan and Sarah would split the profits when the cattle went to market. That profit would be reinvested into the herd and eventually the Abrahams would own half the herd.
As a show of good faith, Ian purchased twenty-five head of cattle to add to Arlan’s large herd.
Sarah grieved for Dell, but she knew he would want them to keep moving forward. So, she and Ian started digging at the places marked on the map. They started at the creek first, as they didn’t want to be digging when the cattle were crossing.
It took a bit, but they eventually uncovered the first jar. Then the second. Third and more until they found a total of twenty jars. Each jar was filled with amounts ranging from twenty dollars to over one hundred in some of them. Her father had been taking care of the family.
The first thing Sarah did was pay Ian back. He refused, but she insisted. He told her that he gained more in the deal than she did. He had a wife, friends, a place to live, a baby on the way. What more could a man want?
Ian pulled the wagon up next to the creek and hopped out. He went to the back and laid out the quilt on the wagon bed. Sarah waddled around and Ian assisted her into the back of the wagon to sit.
She could hear the lowing of the steers as they moved towards the creek bed.
“Here they come!” Sarah said.
Dusty was on a horse near the creek and signaled that it was time to open the fence. Jesse lifted the fence and pulled it back, allowing the steers and their babies to move across the creek.
Arlan’s men surrounded the cattle, guiding them to where they should go. When the last one had crossed, a baby that was catching up to his momma, Arlan appeared on his horse. He rode over to where Ian and Sarah sat on the wagon.
“Ma’am,” he said tipping his hat before taking off after the herd.
She and Arlan even made their own peace. Sarah understood that he was simply a businessman and it was business, not personal.
Sarah looked at her husband and a feeling of happiness so overwhelming came over her. Ian smiled as Sarah reached up to pull him down for a kiss.
She still had her farm. Her family was expanding. They were going to name the baby Dell if it was a boy and Lacey if it was a girl.
Life was perfect. Just because she wasmarried at midnight.
Epilogue
“I think we did quite well this time,” Mrs. Pennyworth said looking over at her husband.
“That we did, dear,” he replied.
“Just think! Eight more people found love here in Creede!”
“Once a matchmaker, always a matchmaker. It is a bit easier now, as we know more.”
“Easy?” Mrs. Pennyworth looked at her husband. “You call this easy?”
