Falling in Love With Her Husband (33 page)

carriage. I took the bag of goods the Coleys had given me

into the kitchen. When I entered the parlor, I was surprised

to see Todd sitting at the desk with some papers in front of

him.

“I thought you were going to Mr. Fields" today.”

He looked up from the papers and smiled. “I don"t

need to work there anymore. I just brought home our own

tractor. Soon I"l start working here.”

“That"s wonderful! Can I see it?”

“I was hoping you"d ask.” He quickly grabbed his

sweater and led me to the barn. “It"s used but the parts

work. I should know. I helped him repair it.”

“You worked on this?” I stepped around to examine

the red machine that would sit one person. It looked large

and intimidating.

“It"s a John Froelich tractor. It runs on gasoline.”

“Instead of steam?”

He nodded. “I"m going to buy a threshing machine.

This tractor will pull it during the harvest season. It"l cut my

time down because it"d take longer if I used the horses.”

I was impressed he could use the tractor, let alone

understand what to do with it. “You must know a lot about

farming.”

“I learn a little more each day.”

I hugged him, laughing. “Your dream is final y

coming true! You"re a farmer, Todd.”

I could tell he was pleased, and I was pleased for

him.

***

By the end of March, I woke up in the middle of the

night not feeling well. It was a mild nausea so I thought I

could ignore it and go back to sleep, but it bothered me

enough that I had to get up. I tried not to wake Todd as I

took the kerosene lamp and went down the steps. I waited

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until I was in the kitchen before I lit it. I turned the knob so

the flame was low.

I sat at the table. The mild illness wasn"t anything I

had experienced before, so I tried to decide what could be

causing it. After a few minutes, I stood up and went to the

calendar that hung on the wall. In the news of my parents"

plans to move to town, I had forgotten to keep track of the

days in my cycle. When I realized I was late for the month

of March, my heart fluttered with excitement.

“Is everything alright?”

I turned to the kitchen door. I hadn"t heard Todd

come in.

“When I woke up, you were gone. I came to see if

anything is wrong.”

I couldn"t stop smiling. “No, nothing"s wrong. I think

I"m expecting.”

“Real y?” Suddenly he was wide awake.

“I"l have to see the doctor to make sure, but I"m

pretty sure. Barbara told me everything I need to know

about it.”

He walked over to me and kissed me. “Ann, this is

great news. I never imagined my life would change so much

in a year.”

“I can hardly remember what life was like before we

came out here. Isn"t that strange? I"m glad you took me

with you.”

“Me too.”

***

I couldn"t wait until Thursday to go into town, so I

went to Barbara"s house the next day and we went to see

the doctor. She was as excited as I was when he confirmed

my suspicions. “It looks like you"l be having an early

Christmas gift this year,” he said.

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Of course, I had to stop by the mercantile and tell Mr.

and Mrs. Coley the news. I even told them to let Mrs.

Carson know the next time she came in. I sent a telegram

to my parents. I knew they would be thrilled. The ride home

was longer than usual, for I couldn"t wait to confirm the news

with Todd. After I took Barbara and Molly home, I put the

horses and buggy in the barn.

I noted that Lightning was gone. Todd must have

gone out to the fields to make plans on where he would

plant his crops. He had mentioned needing to do that. I

dismissed my disappointment. It wasn"t like he didn"t

already know.

I went to the house and gathered food for the dog.

Sometimes the cats liked to eat with the dog, so I put the

food in an extra large bowl. I walked out to the front and set

the bowl on the porch where the dog and cats quickly ran up

to me. I grinned. The only time they seemed to care about

me was during mealtime. I sat on one of the chairs and

watched them enjoy their meal. As I rocked back and forth,

I felt tired from the day"s events. In all the excitement the

night before, I couldn"t sleep. I went over to the porch

swing, laid down and took a nap, wrapping a warm blanket

around me.

Patches" barking woke me up. I tried to ignore it but

the dog"s persistence paid off so I sat up to see what was

bothering him. Perhaps Barbara was coming over. He

often barked no matter who came to visit. I frowned as a

man on a black horse rode toward the house. I didn"t

recognize the horse, and it was too soon to recognize who

the visitor was. John didn"t come over unless he brought his

wagon. He usually brought some tools to work on Todd"s

farming equipment. Perhaps it was Mr. Fields coming to

check the condition of the tractor. Did he have a black

horse? I wished I had paid more attention when I visited

him and his wife a month ago. But Todd would be here if he

expected Mr. Fields. He wouldn"t be out in the field.

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Feeling uneasy, I pushed the blanket aside and

stood up. I grabbed the empty bowl and took it into the

house. After I placed it on the kitchen table, I hastened to

the parlor and peered out the window. A feeling of dread

came over me. It was Kent! Why was he coming here? He

wasn"t supposed to come back. He even made it a point to

apologize to my parents. So why was he here? I couldn"t

dismiss the feeling that something was wrong. I quickly

locked the front door and backed up.

Patches" barking grew more persistent. Kent was

getting closer. I stopped walking when I reached the back

door of the house. I looked out the window by the door.

Could I make it to the barn in time? Should I stay here or go

to the barn? My heart pounded fiercely in my chest. Where

was I safer? The distance to the barn seemed to span an

eternity.

The sound of someone knocking on the front door

made me jump. I knew it was him without looking out the

window. I quickly locked the back door and ran up the

steps. I didn"t consider that my movements would be loud

enough for him to hear from outside. In my panic, I thought

if I stayed in the house, he would assume I wasn"t home and

go away. I breathed heavily when I made it to the guest

bedroom, which was the first bedroom upstairs.

Just stay quiet and he’l go away.

Patches continued to bark but I could still make out

the sound of knocking from downstairs.

I forced myself to take deep breaths so I could calm

my nerves. He would go away. He would have to go away.

He doesn’t know I’m here. Does he? Did he hear me

running up the steps? Oh God, why wasn’t I more quiet?

I stood in the doorway. I couldn"t see the front door

but I could hear what was going on. The sound of glass

smashing nearly made me scream. I put my hand over my

mouth before the sound could escape my throat. Was he

really going to break into my house?

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What should I do? What should I do?!

Patches was growling and Kent screamed at him.

Sounds of a struggle made its way up the stairs. I took the

moment to take my shoes off since they made the loudest

sound possible on the hardwood floors. My feet were quiet

as I anxiously made my way across the room. I looked out

the window. I groaned when I didn"t see a tree to climb

down. Todd"s old bedroom had the tree in front of it.

Downstairs, the struggle between Patches and Kent ended.

Was Patches dead? The sound of Kent walking across the

parlor moved me to action. I slid under the bed. The bed

was high but the blanket was so long it was inches from the

floor. I readjusted it, praying that it would hide me. I set my

shoes at my head and closed my eyes, forcing my breathing

to slow down.
Pretend you’re wearing one of those horrible

corsets.

It wasn"t long before I heard footsteps coming up the

stairs. “Ann? Are you here?”

I cringed at the sound of his voice.
Go away!

“Ann, I know you"re here. I saw you from the porch

when I was coming here.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. That was my mistake. I

should have gone to the barn. He would be searching the

house and I would be safe out there.

He casually made his way up the steps.
Don’t look

under the bed!
He stopped at the guest bedroom. I saw a

drop of blood fall to the floor. Was it his blood or Patches"

blood? He walked in and looked around the room. I held

my breath as his shoes stopped in front of the bed. He left

the room and went to Todd"s old bedroom.

I had to get out of the house. When he didn"t find me

in the other bedrooms, he would surely start looking under

the beds. I had to move quickly but quietly. I slid out from

under the bed and tiptoed to the door. I peeked around the

corner. He was inside the room.

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He laughed. “I don"t understand why you"re hiding

from me.” Then he grew serious, “Is Todd here too? Is he

keeping you quiet?”

I made my way down the stairs as quietly as I could.

Since he was talking, it made it easier to hide the squeaky

sounds my footsteps made on the steps. Just as I made it

downstairs, he came out of the second bedroom. I stopped,

pressed my back to the wall, and waited to see if he would

look in my direction. I noted his bloody arm. It looked like

Patches bit him. Kent didn"t look at me. He went to the third

bedroom.

His voice turned sour. “Hmm... It looks like you two

got friendly. I thought you were going to stay pure for me. I

told you I"d be back for you.”

I didn"t listen to him. Every instinct in my body told

me to get to the barn. I ran as slowly as I dared, hoping he

wouldn"t hear my footsteps as I made my way through the

house. I unlocked the back door and opened it. Since he

was still talking, it was easy to avoid being heard.

Once I was out of the house, I ran as fast as I could

to the barn.

“Ann? Are you running away from me?” he yelled

out of my bedroom window.

I didn"t look back. I just kept running, my heart

pounding loudly in my ears. I knew Kent would be able to

outrun me. I just prayed I had enough of a head start to

make it to the barn first. Once I got the gun, he would have

to leave me alone.

I heard the back door slam shut. That meant he had

left the house.

“Ann! Wait! I can forgive you for sleeping with

Todd,” he yelled as he pursued me.

Where was the dog? Where was Todd? What did

Kent plan to do to me? I recalled my encounter with him in

the mercantile.
What am I supposed to do when he won’t

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listen to me? I can tell him no but he won’t accept it. Do I

have to point a gun at him to make him listen?

I made it to the barn. I ignored my shaking hands as

I went to the pile of chopped wood. I nearly cried in alarm

when I saw that the gun was gone. I glanced up on the

shelf and saw the axe. I grabbed it and frantically looked

around. I needed to get to Todd. He would know what to

do. My breathing was so fast that it made me lightheaded. I

forced myself to take a deep breath. I needed to think

clearly. Now wasn"t the time to faint.

Just talk sense into him.
Did I really expect him to

think I was trying to talk sense into him when I was holding

an axe in my clammy, shaky hands? I considered laying the

axe down but something stopped me. What if he didn"t just

kiss me? What if he went further than that? With Todd and