Sweet Annie (17 page)

He grasped her shoulders and
held her firmly. "I'm building a house."

The
words sank in slowly. "A—a house? Where did you get the money for a
house?"

"I borrowed it."

A
loan? She shook her head. "Daddy loaned you money for a house?"

"No.
I borrowed it from the bank in Fort Parker." "But you asked
him?"

He nodded, obviously
uncomfortable with the subject.

"My father turned you
down. But the other bank loaned money to you? Just like that?"

“No, they came and looked
at my business to make sure it was a sound investment. Once they were sure of
that, they gave me the money."

"I'm sorry." Her
disappointment in her father weighed like a weight in her chest. “It must be a
lot of money," she said, trying to comprehend.

"It's not going to be
a mansion," he said, sounding almost apologetic. "Not as nice as this
house you live in now."

"Where?" she
asked, suddenly excited and forgetting everything except what this meant.

"I couldn't afford a
lot in town. Besides, your father controls most of the deeds, which I already
knew. I found land outside town and I bought enough to keep horses and build a
barn and plant a garden. This property's better anyway."

Annie gripped his forearms.
"Are you going to take me there?"

"Now?"

"Yes, now! I want to
see it! I want to see where we're going to live."

He glanced behind her. "This is
dangerous."

"They're asleep,"
she assured him. "No one will see us."

"I don't know, Annie,
I don't think it's wise."

"Oh, please, Luke. The
days are so hard to get through." She touched his face and pleaded into
his eyes. "If I can see it, I'll have a picture in my mind to get me
through the days and nights. Please?''

His hair shone in the
silvery glow of the moon. He dipped his head and took her lips in a crush of
damp heat. Annie clung to him. "All right," he said hoarsely.
"All right."

After assisting her to Wrangler's back, he mounted
behind and urged the horse into a gallop, avoiding houses and heading straight
away from Copper Creek.

“Is it far?'' she asked over her shoulder.

"No. About five miles."

They'd ridden for several
minutes when he guided the horse across a shallow stream. “This is the quickest
way," he said.

Wrangler carried them up
the bank on the other side and they topped a rise and a slope of pines came
into view.

"It's just over here," he said.

The open area he indicated
held a stark framework, barely visible in the darkness. “Is that our house?''

"It will be."
Luke brought the horse to a stop and slid from his back, then reached up for
her. "The ground is uneven here, so watch your step."

She held tightly to his arm, her attention riveted
on the wooden skeleton. "I wish it was light out, so I could really see
it."

"There's nothing much to see yet."

"This is the door?"

"Yes."

"Only
one?"

"I'll
build you a bigger house later."

"I
wasn't criticizing." She turned and grasped his forearms. "I told you
I'd live anywhere with you, and I meant it, but I think this will be the most
beautiful house ever."

"You're
easy to please," he said with a lazy smile and touched her hair.

Annie
grasped his hand for support and made her way to the opening in the framework. “A
wood floor? That's good."

"Did
you think I'd let you sleep with snakes and bugs?"

"And a
fireplace."

"Not brick, the field
stones were free."

"I love the stones.
Did you do this yourself?"

"No, Gil helped me.
And a couple of friends."

"Have you told
Gil...about us, I mean?"

He shook his head.

"Oh."

"But
I think he suspects something. A single man getting a house ready is pretty
suspicious."

"So,"
she glanced around, wishing she could see better. "This is the...sitting
room?"

“The
kitchen is the other end down there—all one long room really."

The
space seemed adequate. Another doorway led to a separate room. "The
bedroom?"

"Uh-huh."

Annie
released his hand and stood in the center of the wooden floor, wrapping her arms
around herself. This would be her home soon. She would live here with Luke.
They could be alone together, have all the time they wanted to talk and kiss
and whatever else they pleased. "No one will monitor my time or my
activities here. No one will tell me what I can and cannot do in this house of
ours. Oh, it's almost too good to be true."

"It's
more than that," he said softly from beside her. "Isn't it?"

She caught his hands.
"Of course it is! Oh, yes, Luke, so much more. I'm sorry I sounded selfish
just then. I'm excited about us being together. I can't wait until we don't
have to leave each other and go our separate ways at night."

Luke
caught her against him and hugged her fiercely. Her enthusiasm buoyed his
spirits for another week of dawn to dusk work. She was worth every minute,
every hour and every day and every aching muscle. He didn't ever want to
disappoint her. She deserved so much happiness and love and he wanted to give
it to her.

Every
swing of the hammer, every stone and nail and peg was one step closer to them
being together. He'd worked his whole life toward this goal, though he'd never
recognized it until lately. School, ranching, learning his trade, those had all
been steps toward winning Annie. Beneath his hands and in his arms she seemed
so feminine and fragile. But so real, finally.

He
enjoyed the scent of her hair, the glide of her silky dress against his thighs,
the sound of her sigh against his heart. Out of all the men who could have
ridden into her life and received her favor, he'd been the one she'd wanted. He
would do anything for her, anything to please her, anything to see her smile,
hear her laugh, win her kiss.

Bending
his knees, he dipped to scoop her into his arms. Beneath the canopy of stars,
he spun in a circle, her skirt billowing, her laughter floating toward the
mountains. He revolved until it seemed the heavens smeared into streaks of
light and Annie placed her head on his chest.

Sinking
to the floorboards on his knees, she wrapped her arms around his neck while the
world continued to spin, slowing, slowing.

"Thank you,
Luke," she whispered.

"Thank you,
Annie."

"Let's
do this again on our wedding night. And on every anniversary for the rest of
our lives. Let's be just this happy."

"Okay," he
promised.

She
lifted her head. "Maybe you'll get tired of carrying me."

"Never," he
denied.

"Maybe I'll grow fat
and you'll hurt yourself."

"Look
how big I am," he said. "Look how tiny you are. I could carry two of
you."

She placed her palm along
his cheek. "I'm gonna hold you to that promise."

"You do that."

In the weeks until the Fourth of July party, Annie only saw
Luke on two occasions. Once when her parents rented a rig and took her for a
Sunday ride, and the other a night like the last, where she met him and he
showed her the progress on their house.

"I
should be doing something to help," she'd told him.

"You're
giving me the strength," he'd assured her. "Besides, there will be
plenty to do when it's finished and needs a woman's touch."

A
woman's touch, he'd said, and she'd held that close to her heart since. The
only man who'd ever seen her as a woman, and he was the man her parents despised.

She'd
helped the girls with their hay wagon float and the decorations for the party,
but when time came for the parade and for the girls to perch atop the crepe
paper flowers and ride through town, she asked Charmaine to push her to the
boardwalk and go on without her.

"Not
a chance," her cousin refused. "In fact, look at what the girls came
up with!"

Doneta
Parker and Mary Chancelor held out an apron of red, white and blue felt roses.
"It's for you, Annie," they chorused. "You have the place of
honor on our float."

Annie'd
never ridden on the float before. She'd always watched and waved from the side
of the street as the floats passed. "You're sure?"

"Positive. Up you
go!"

She
took Charmaine's and Mary's hands and climbed the stack of crates to the back
of the bed, which no longer resembled a hay wagon, but a fluttering mass of
vivid crepe paper.

She
took her seat where instructed. The other girls, chattering and checking their
hair and gloves, seated themselves all around her.

The
volunteer fire department's three-piece band sounded more like they were
warming up than playing a patriotic tune, but they energetically led the gaily
decorated procession toward the main street and through town.

Ahead,
the floats were cheered by townspeople along the sides of the street, and the
girls' anticipation heightened. Annie's heart fluttered nervously, though she
was having a grand time. A small black dog barked at the wagon ahead of theirs
and a man in a hat picked it up and placed it in an empty flower pot in front
of Miss Marples' Ice Cream Emporium.

Annie
laughed at the sight, and then their float came into view of the crowd. The
onlookers cheered and clapped and Annie waved as hard as the schoolgirls.

She scanned the crowd,
seeking one shiny black head and devilish smile, and after straining to find
him, finally recognized the smile, but his hair was hidden beneath a straw hat.
Grinning, Annie waved and blew a kiss. He caught it and pressed it to his
heart.

The
float had moved several feet forward, and Annie let go of the image she'd been
seeking and the next person she spotted was Burdy. Will sat on his shoulders,
waving like mad, so she waved back. Burdy, however, scowled as dark as a
thundercloud. From his side, Diana cast him a wary glance.

Beside her brother's family
in the crowd stood her parents, her mother in a cream-colored silk dress and
white gloves, her father in a lightweight suit and tie.

Her
mother brought her hand to her mouth and fluttered like a cattail in a stiff
wind. Eldon immediately reached to support his wife, his angry eyes never leaving
Annie.

Had they seen her wave at
Luke? Had they seen the kiss she'd blown and his reaction? Would Burdy stomp
through the crowd and wallop him? She could say she'd been waving at one of the
children—or Lizzy's little sisters, yes, that was it.

A sick sensation rolled in
her stomach.

The
parade had another few blocks to travel, so she pasted on a smile and endured
the ride, waving absently when Charmaine pointed out Uncle Mort and Aunt Vera.

The
wagons came to a halt in an open lot at the east end of town, and a few owners
came to get their rigs and horses.

"This
one goes back to the livery," a woman from the church Ladies' League's
float called. "You girls need a ride back?"

The girls swept Annie along
with them, and as long as Charmaine stayed with her, Annie didn't mind. Luke
had returned to the livery and met the returning crowd, leading the rigs
inside, unhitching horses and turning them into the corral beside the building.

He stayed busy and Annie
didn't dare approach him in public, so she took a seat beside her cousin on a
bench inside the stable. The others left a few at a time, obviously not
thinking that Annie's chair had been left behind at the start of the parade and
she would have no way back without help.