Her Heart's Desire (17 page)

“
I hope so.” And she knew
just the words he could say. He would tell her that the kiss showed
him that he wanted to be with her instead of Ethel Mae. She nearly
squealed in joy. “I really do hope so.”

She picked up her steps as they
approached him, mentally planning out the moment when he’d tell her
that last night as he was in bed, it all became clear to him and
that he knew, without a doubt, that he belonged with her. Then he’d
kiss her for real, and they’d get married and live happily ever
after.

When they reached Rick, they stopped
to greet him. “What brings you to the park?” Sally asked, hoping
he’d say it was her.

With a shrug, he said, “It’s Saturday,
and I thought it’d be nice to go for a walk.”

“
We thought the same,”
Sally said.

“
It’s a lovely
day.”

“
Yes, it is.”

He turned to Ethel Mae. “I was
wondering if I might have a word with you for a few minutes? I
won’t keep you away from Sally for long.”

Sally’s heart stopped. There was no
way he’d asked to speak to Ethel Mae when he really wanted to speak
to her. There just wasn’t!

Ethel Mae glanced at Sally
uncertainly. “Alright.”

“
She’ll be right back,”
Rick told her.

She tried to return his smile but
couldn’t as he turned away and led Ethel Mae away from her. This
was it. He had made his decision, and even after her best efforts,
he still wanted her friend. She felt utterly foolish in
entertaining the notion that he’d end up with her.

She watched as Rick talked to Ethel
Mae, their backs to her so she couldn’t even see the expression on
their faces. She wondered if he’d try his kiss on her but quickly
dismissed that idea since they were right in the middle of the park
where anyone could see them. When he’d kissed her the evening
before, they were in a more secluded spot so it was a private
enough matter. That was good. She didn’t know if she could bear to
watch him kiss another woman.

She could only imagine the things he
was telling her right now. Words of love and admiration. Words she
longed to hear him tell her but he wouldn’t. At one point, Ethel
Mae laughed, and Sally thought she was going to be sick. Did he
tell her about tripping on a crack in the sidewalk?

Sally watched as Ethel Mae returned to
her. Rick didn’t even bother looking back in her direction as he
left the park. Her heart plummeted. This didn’t look good. It
didn’t look good at all!

When her friend was by her side, Sally
waited for her to explain what she and Rick talked about, but her
friend gave her a secretive smile and continued on the path they’d
started. Groaning, Sally finally asked, “What happened?” when it
became clear her friend wasn’t going to volunteer the
information.

“
Nothing,” Ethel Mae
replied.

“
Nothing? You were
laughing. I don’t consider that nothing.”

“
Well, I meant that nothing
of real interest happened.”

Sally stared at her in disbelief.
Since when had Ethel Mae ever held anything back from her? “Even if
it wasn’t interesting, I’d like to know.”

She shrugged. “He told me a few
jokes.”

“
A few jokes?”

“
Yes, and they weren’t too
bad.”

Hardly understanding what her friend
was saying, she dumbly asked, “All he wanted to do was tell you a
few jokes?”

“
I suppose so since that’s
all he did.”

“
Did he ask to see you
again?”

“
I don’t
remember.”

“
You don’t
remember?”

“
I just remember him
telling me some funny things that happened at his job.”

“
Like what?” In the times
she’d talked to him, Sally couldn’t recall anything overly funny
that happened at the courthouse. Sure, he had a sense of humor, but
it seemed when it came to his job, he was serious.

“
I don’t
remember.”

“
You don’t
remember!”

Ethel Mae stopped to face her
friend.

Sally halted her steps and waited for
her to explain.

“
Maybe they weren’t that
funny after all. Hmm…” With a shrug, she laughed. “They seemed
funny at the time.”

Ethel Mae started walking again, and
Sally let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t understand why you
can’t remember any of his jokes.”

“
Sally, are you still
talking about that?”

“
I just want to know what
he wanted.”

“
And I told you that he
wanted to tell me some jokes. Nothing else happened. Now let’s go
to the mercantile so I can pick up a new hat. I want to look nice
when Samuel takes me for a walk tomorrow.”

Realizing that was all she’d get out
of her friend, Sally reluctantly let the matter go. At least Ethel
Mae still wasn’t interested in him. “Alright. Let’s look for the
hat.”

Though she couldn’t be sure, she
thought she saw a knowing smile cross Ethel Mae’s face, and though
she wondered about it, she followed her friend to the
mercantile.

***

“
Oh come on, Sally,” Ethel
Mae encouraged as she stood up from the couch in the parlor. “It’s
such a lovely spring night. Why not enjoy it?”

“
I don’t feel like it,”
Sally said, picking up a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that she
thought might fit in the picture she and her friend had spent the
past hour putting together. “Besides, we’re halfway done. We might
as well finish it before we go to bed.”

“
Since when have you
preferred to do something indoors when you could be
outside?”

Ever since it became clear that Rick
was still in love with her friend, but Sally decided not to say it.
She knew she’d been moping about ever since they ran into Rick
earlier that day and she was struggling to put on a happy face, but
even so, her heart ached and there was nothing she could do to stop
it. It was much worse than when Michael told her he wouldn’t be
courting her anymore.

Ethel Mae groaned and walked over to
her. “I think some fresh air is exactly what you need.”

“
I got fresh air earlier
today.” And a lot of good that did her! “Don’t you want to finish
this tonight?” She motioned to the puzzle.

“
Only after I’ve been
outside for a bit. Come on. It won’t hurt to look at the
stars.”

Sally found the right place for the
piece of her puzzle and put it in.

“
Good. You got it in. Now
let’s go.”

Before Sally could protest, Ethel Mae
took her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. “I never knew you
could be so demanding,” Sally said in surprise as her friend urged
her to the door.

Ethel Mae stopped in the entryway and
handed Sally her bonnet. “Here.”

“
What do I need with this?
It’s dark out there.”

“
Well, it might
rain.”

Sally’s eyebrows furrowed. “Rain? You
just said it’s a lovely night for looking at the stars and you’re
talking about rain?”

She groaned again. “Oh, just hold it
then.”

“
What is wrong with you?”
she demanded as Ethel Mae shoved her out the front door.

“
Nothing. You just need to
go outside for a while, that’s all.”

Sally stumbled onto the porch,
clutching the bonnet in her hand. “You make no sense to
me.”

“
Do it because I’m your
friend, alright?”

“
Fine. Alright.”

“
Go over there.”

Sally looked at the bottom of the
porch steps. “Why?”

“
Because you can see the
stars better from there.”

“
Are you coming with me?”
Sally asked.

“
In a moment. I need to get
something.”

“
What do you need to
get?”

“
Something.” Sighing in
exasperation, Ethel Mae pointed to the steps. “Will you please go
down there? I’ll be with you soon.”

“
There are times when I
don’t understand you at all,” Sally called out as her friend
slipped back into the house.

With a shrug, she proceeded down the
steps and picked a spot on the lawn where she could get a good view
of the sky. She thought she heard something from the side of the
house, so she glanced over her shoulder but saw nothing. Shrugging,
she studied the quiet street before she looked at the door of Ethel
Mae’s house. What was taking her so long?

She looked back up at the sky and
wondered how long she should stay out there before going back into
the house. It was ridiculous that she was out here. She could spend
all the time she wanted to at home staring at the stars.

Another sound caught her attention,
and just as she was about to look at what caused it, a hand went
over her mouth, stopping her from screaming. A cloth went over her
mouth while someone else tied a cloth over her eyes. Then she was
lifted up, and though she struggled against the person, his grip
was too strong. Her pulse raced as she was carried to the street.
The person gently set her down so that she was sitting upright, and
if she was right, she was in a carriage.

She tried to bring her hands up to
uncover her eyes so she could see who this fiend was, but he tied
her hands together and slipped something small, round and cold
between her palms so she had to hold it. Remembering her feet
weren’t tied, she got ready to bolt from the carriage but the
person wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
The carriage moved forward, and she wiggled to try to get away from
her kidnapper but he only tightened his hold on her.

“
I’ll take your blindfold
off soon,” he whispered.

She stilled. There was something
familiar about the man.

He settled back into the seat with
her. “I won’t hurt you. Don’t be scared.”

She wasn’t scared. Well, she was at
first, but at the moment, her curiosity was getting the best of
her. Who in their right mind would kidnap her? And more
importantly, why?

“
We’ll be at our
destination in five minutes, and as soon as we are, I’ll remove
your restraints, alright?” he whispered.

She turned her face in his direction,
sensing he wasn’t going to hurt her but unable to figure out what
would make him concoct such a stupid scheme. Seriously, such a man
wouldn’t know the first thing about surprising a woman in a way
she’d want to be surprised because no woman wanted to be abducted
on the front lawn like this.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she leaned
forward and smelled him. She recognized the soap. It was Rick. She
should have known. Only Rick would think something like this would
be romantic.

Her heart leapt in excitement.
Romantic! Was he trying to be romantic? She focused on the object
in the palms of her hand. If she guessed right, it was a ring. She
tried to ask him if he realized she wasn’t Ethel Mae, but the cloth
around her mouth prevented her from speaking. He did think she was
Ethel Mae, didn’t he? Considering how dark it was outside, could he
even tell what her hair color was? She reached for the bonnet she’d
been holding but realized she must have dropped it when he put his
hand over her mouth.

Unable to tell him he got the wrong
woman, she relaxed and waited as she swayed gently from side to
side in the carriage. When it came to a stop, she heard the door
open.

Rick took her by the arm and
whispered, “We’re here. Do you want me to carry you or do you want
to walk?”

She started to answer him but the
cloth got in her way. She shook her head, hoping he got her silent
message that she couldn’t speak.

“
Oh,” he whispered. “Nod
for yes and shake your head for no. Do you want to
walk?”

She decided to shake her head, not
because she wanted to be carried but because she didn’t want to try
to walk while blindfolded. Who knew what she’d trip on?

He led her out of the carriage and
picked her up. She kept waiting for him to notice she was the wrong
woman, but he didn’t. From the sound of it, he led her up a walkway
and then a few steps before he placed her on her feet. She expected
him to explain what he was doing, but a door opened and he picked
her up again and carried her inside.

“
That’s an odd way of
bringing your bride here,” a man said.

Her eyebrows furrowed. She recognized
the voice but couldn’t place where she’d heard it.

“
I wanted to surprise her.”
This time Rick didn’t whisper, and when he spoke again, there was
no denying the excitement in his voice. “Sally, I brought you here
so we could get married.”

“
Take those things off of
her,” Ethel Mae told him.

“
Oh! Right.” He removed her
blindfold, the cloth covering her mouth and the binding around her
wrists. “Sorry about that.”

Sally was too busy looking around the
unfamiliar parlor where Ethel Mae, Samuel, and an older couple
stood with wide smiles on their faces. “What’s going on?” She knew
it was ridiculous to ask such a question when she held a wedding
ring in the palm of her hand, but she still had to ask
it.