Sweet Annie (23 page)

"Remember
I have an account in my father's name at the milliner's and the
mercantile," Annie said wryly. "He paid for this gown."

"But
you saved him a fortune by making it yourself!" Charmaine touched a satin
sleeve reverently.

"I
promise to help make yours, too," Annie told her. "When that
too-good-to-be-true fellow comes along."

"You will? Oh, Annie,
you're a dear!"

"Guy
helped at the house the last two evenings, Annie," Lizzy said. "He
said it's close to being finished."

"Luke
tells me of the progress," Annie replied. "It's terribly frustrating
not being able to go see it myself."

"You
haven't seen it?" Charmaine asked.

She shook her head.
"It's out of the question for me to leave with him without being
chaperoned, and neither Mother nor Daddy will accompany me."

"I'll go with
you!" Charmaine said. "Why haven't you asked?"

Annie shrugged.

"You know I'm not
upset that he wanted you instead of me, don't you? No one could be happier for
you than I am."

"I know that. You're a
treasure. I suppose I didn't want to be any more of a burden than I've already
been."

"Fiddlesticks!"
Charmaine said in a huff. "I'll go with you. Plan a date."

Annie gave her a heartfelt smile. "I
will."

Charmaine turned to Lizzy.
"Shall we show her now?"

Eyes
sparkling, Lizzy nodded.

"What?"
Annie asked.

"We
have something for you." Charmaine left the room and returned with a flat
carton.

"What
is it?"

"You're going to have to open it."

Annie sat on the bed with
the box beside her and lifted the lid. Beneath layers of tissue lay a gauzy
white silk gown. She lifted it from the box. "Why, it's beautiful!"
The garment unfolded as she raised it. "It's a nightgown."

"Yes," Charmaine
said, bouncing on the bed beside her. "We ordered it from a store in
Chicago. Lizzy's aunt bought one for her for her wedding night."

"Not exactly like this one," Lizzy said.

"Goodness, you can see
right through it!" Annie exclaimed, and her face grew warm.

"That's the
idea." Charmaine giggled.

Lizzy added, "He will
love it."

Annie
stared at the gown and touched a hand to her hot cheek. Her pitifully few
encounters with Luke had all seemed so natural and she had welcomed them. But
now thinking about her wedding and the nights to follow, her nerves fluttered.
Those had been spontaneous heated kisses and touches, but a wedding night was
planned.
Expected. Anticipated.

If
Luke was going to see her in this nightgown, he would see that her body wasn't
perfect. Whatever was wrong with the joint in her right hip gave it a different
proportion than the other. She'd never before thought of him actually seeing
that. Seeing her! "Oh, my goodness."

Mildred's steps sounded in
the hallway. "I've prepared lemonade, girls."

Annie slammed the lid on
the box.

Charmaine giggled, and
Annie and Lizzy joined her.

"Thank you,
Mother!" Annie called, a whole new worry opened in her mind.

Sunday
afternoon had been decided upon. After Luke got his rigs put away and his
horses brushed and fed and watered after church he would take Annie and
Charmaine to the house.

Annie
fidgeted all through church. When the service ended, she pulled on her coat and
walked beside Charmaine down the aisle to shake Preacher Davidson's hand.
"Only a week left now," he said with a smile.

Her
heart fluttered. "I can't believe the wedding's almost here," she
replied.

Her
parents were directly behind her, and the preacher said nothing to them about
the upcoming event, but greeted them politely.

Luke
stood at the bottom of the three steps, wearing a dark-navy coat.

Annie's heart lifted when
she saw him waiting, his black hair glistening in the autumn sun, and she
smiled a warm welcome. Her father gave her his arm and she grasped it to
descend the stairs. She looked up at him, his collar turned against the brisk
wind, his expression unreadable. "Perhaps you'd like to join us, Daddy? Come
see the house Luke has built?"

Eldon met Luke's gaze.

"You're
welcome to come along," Luke said with a nod.

A
muscle jumped in Eldon's jaw. He turned to his wife, who stood four feet away,
her attention deliberately focused on the street, her fingers white on the
reticule she gripped with both hands.

Eldon shook his head.

Mildred
faced them. "Just where is this house you are building, Mr.
Carpenter?"

"It's
about five miles northeast of here," Luke replied. "I bought several
acres with the protection of the foothills at the back of the house. The
landscape is beautiful this time of year."

"And
Annie will be expected to live in the middle of nowhere with no
protection?"

"It's
a short ride to town," he replied. "Closer than the Renlows' place,
actually."

"I
hardly think an isolated cabin in the woods is an appropriate place for a young
lady. She would be better off in town."

"There
wasn't any property available in town," Luke told her. "Not that I
could buy, anyway." He observed Annie's father deliberately, then looked
away. "Besides, this way I have a place for horses."

Annie's
parents exchanged an uncomfortable glance.

"Afternoon,
son," Uncle Mort greeted Luke, extending his hand. Luke shook it
solemnly.

"Good day, Mr.
Carpenter," Aunt Vera said.

Luke gave her a smile.
"Ma'am."

Eldon
turned to join his wife. They walked toward the Renlows' wagon and Annie's aunt
and uncle followed.

Annie
swallowed the ache in her throat, blinked, and turned her attention away from
her unaccepting parents only to find Burdell's gaze locked on them. Diana waved
cheerfully from her place at his side. In his father's arms, Will spotted Annie
and his face brightened with an adorable grin.

Burdell
turned away abruptly and strode toward the street. Will attempted to look back
and wave over his shoulder.

Annie
waved, then brought her hand up to cover her trembling lips. Luke stretched a
palm toward her, and she clung to it.

Charmaine followed, pushing
Annie's chair.

Luke
had brought his best buggy, and he assisted Annie and Charmaine both to the
wide front seat, then placed the wheelchair in the back seat. Annie was delighted
to sit in the front and not in her usual place beside her chair, as she did
when she rode with her parents. Luke's consideration to place Charmaine at her
side, even though the space was tight, pleased her, too. The crowded seating
placed them shoulder to shoulder, and Luke's knee brushed Annie's skirts with
each bump and sway.

The vivid shades of flaxen
and yellow almost hurt Annie's eyes. They crossed the shallow creek, and even
the rivulet of water appeared gold in color. The grass along the banks now lay
brown and matted with leaves. A rich glaze shone on the high wooded slopes and
the aspen leaves made a brilliant carpet on the dark, damp earth. Hawks sailed
in circles above the foothills and a haze hung along the skyline. A small herd
of pronghom grazed in the distance.

They topped a rise, and
there on a flat section stood the house and a barn, a corral and a windmill,
its shiny new blade taming slowly in the sunlight.

Annie brought her hand to
her heart in surprise. "Oh!"

It had been dark last time
she'd been here, and the house hadn't been closed in or roofed. Wood siding and
shingles testified to a land with readily available lumber.

The house wasn't large, only
one story with two windows and a door on the front, but it appeared solid and
well-planned with the foothills and the forest at its back. A deer stood
drinking from the trough beneath the windmill.

"Look!" Annie
cried, pointing. "Isn't he beautiful?"

"She," Luke
corrected. "And you won't think so once they start eating your
garden."

Luke pulled the buggy to a
halt and the deer ran toward the protection of the foliage where it joined
another that had been concealed among the trees until it moved. He helped the
ladies to the ground and walked behind Annie and Charmaine as they approached
the door.

His sudden attack of nerves
surprised him. He'd been working for weeks on end to build and prepare this
home and now that she was about to see it, he worried that it was small and
crude and not at all like the place she was accustomed to living in. "I
plan to add a porch later. We've got lots of land, and we can add on to the
house if we need to."

Annie and her cousin
stopped in front of the door.

"And
I didn't make a ramp, because I didn't think you'd need it. But if you want
one, I can add it easily."

Annie smiled at him and
shook her head.

"Go ahead," he
said. "It's open."

Charmaine
reached forward and turned the knob. Annie steadied herself with a hand on the
door frame and entered. Luke's belly dipped in anticipation of her reaction.
He'd worked so hard and dreamed so many dreams of them together in this place.
It wasn't at all the style of life she was accustomed to, and he prepared for
her reaction nervously.

The
glass-paned windows allowed sun to spill across the hardwood floors he'd spent
hours sanding and varnishing. The room they entered held only two plain
straight-backed chairs. Guy Halverson had helped him build the mantel over the
fireplace as well as the cupboards and shelves in the kitchen area.

"Not
much furniture yet," he said. "I thought you'd like to choose
it."

She released her cousin's
arm and walked toward the other end of the room. He'd purchased a sturdy table
and four chairs that a neighbor had been willing to sell.

"I ordered the
stove—the newest model with a water reservoir." He was babbling, and she
wasn't saying anything. Didn't she like the house? Striding to the cast iron
stove, he showed her the covered well at the back.

"I like it," she
said simply.

An
awkward silence stretched out. Luke glanced from Annie to Charmaine and up at
the stove pipe he'd vented through the wall.

“Would
you mind if I went out to see if I can spot the deer again?" Charmaine
asked, sidling away.

"No,"
Luke replied. "I wouldn't wander into the woods if I were you."

"No,
I'll stay close." She hurried across the room and out the door, plainly
giving them time alone.

Annie
opened the cupboard doors, inspected the cast iron pump he'd installed.

"You
won't have to go out to pump water," he said.

"I see that."

“Want to see the other
room?''

She raised those
heart-stopping eyes to his, and today, because of the deep-blue dress and
matching jacket she wore, they were more gray than green. His heart thumped
erratically. They both knew the only other room was the bedroom.

She nodded.
"Okay."

He
took her hand and led her back across the room to the closed door. He leaned
forward and opened it. Annie walked in ahead of him.

The
room seemed huge and hollow with no furniture. Guy had helped him place pegs
along one wall and build a cabinet in one comer.

"We
haven't discussed furnishings," he said. "I didn't want to buy
anything we didn't need. What will you be bringing?"

She
glanced away, and he realized her cheeks were tinged with color. Lord, he
didn't want her uncomfortable with him or this room or anything they'd planned
for their life together. With a step, he moved behind her, placing his hands on
her shoulders and bending to nuzzle her sweetly scented hair and neck. The
uniquely feminine scent of lilacs enfolded him. "I love you, Annie."