Orphan Train Romance 1 - 5 (33 page)

Serena spent the next day by herself with only John for company since Paul needed to finalize the shipping and sale of his cattle, but Serena did not mind.  She spent the morning playing with John.  During the afternoon, she went around to some of the nearby businesses letting people know about John, and if his family were looking for him, where he would be.  Paul joined her for dinner at the hotel, but spent the night with his men.  He had already paid the men that were working for him temporarily.  He was planning to send the men who worked year round at the Big Spring Ranch on home without him early the next morning, along with the wagons full of supplies.  Curly would also be going back to the ranch since Paul had recently hired him to be the cook for the hired hands on the ranch.

Early the next morning, Serena decided she needed to talk to Paul about what she had overheard on their wedding day when he had turned down the wedding gift.  Even though she was glad she insisted on going on the cattle drive and she felt like she had gotten to know Paul better, she knew she was holding part of herself back from him because of what she had heard.  She needed to hear from Paul that he did not regret his decision to take her as a mail-order bride.  She was determined to talk to him that evening after John was put into bed.  She was very nervous for the conversation.  What if he admitted that he had been having second thoughts on that first day and had married her out of obligation?

Paul arrived later that morning having already eaten an early breakfast with his men before sending them off to the ranch.  He had purchased a newspaper and after greeting Serena, settled in a large chair to read it.  Serena tried to allow him the time he seemed to need to read, but suddenly she could not stand it any longer.

“Paul, I would like to talk with you,” she announced to him, her voice shaking as she spoke.  She could not believe how nervous she felt. 

Paul looked up over the paper and opened his mouth as if to put her off, but something must have clued him in from her face because he folded the paper and put it aside. 

“Come and sit by me,” he invited.  “Did you want to talk about John some more?  Because if so, I don’t think we need to.  I did agree to bring him back with us.”

“This has nothing to do with John,” Serena said as she shook her head.

“What is it then?” Paul asked when Serena did not continue talking.

“On the day we were married, I overheard you talking to Alex.”

“Yes…..” Paul prompted her, looking confused, when she did not continue.

“Anna and Katrina had left to go to the church and I had come down the hallway of the reverend’s home thinking you would be alone waiting for me in the parlor.  But then I heard you talking to Alex.  He tried to give you a wedding gift and you refused it.”

“Yes,” Paul smiled a bit at her words.  “Luke and I had given Alex the same gift when he married Anna.”

“But you refused it,” Serena said again.

Paul looked very confused.  “Just tell me what you are thinking.”

“I would like to know why you didn’t want to accept the gift and take me to the hotel for our first night together.  I am wondering if you were having second thoughts about marrying me.  Did you go ahead and marry me anyway only because you had already committed?  Because you had to?”

“No, I married you because I wanted to.  I did not want to accept the gift because I felt we needed time to get to know each other first.  True, we wrote many letters over the last year, but writing letters is different from actually spending time together.  I didn’t want you to be forced into doing something you might not have been ready for.” 

Paul took her hand while he was talking and continued.  “For the record, I did not give the wedding gift back to Alex.  I kept the money to be used in the future.  You have to remember that I did not know you would want to go on the cattle drive with me.  I thought you would have wanted to stay behind with Anna and Katrina.  I felt since we would have been separated for these long weeks, that it would be best to start our marriage officially when I returned.”

“Do you regret that I insisted on coming with you?”

“At first I didn’t think it was a good idea.  I do believe that most women should not be on a cattle drive.  But you have handled it well.  I know Curly was grateful for your help.  I do not regret you came with me.”

“I am glad that Anna, Katrina and I are back together,” Serena admitted to him.  “But the main reason I came to Montana was to marry you.  I have always wanted a real family.  Do you think we can ever be one someday?”

“I think we are a real family right now,” Paul leaned over and gave her a kiss with his words.  “I have an idea about the wedding gift.  When we return to the ranch, I will take you to Pine Valley for a few days.  We will have a real wedding trip.”

Serena’s heart swelled with joy.  She did not expect Paul to feel the same way she did or to even understand.  Suddenly she realized that over the last few weeks, she had learned to love him very much.

****

Serena and Paul left Bozeman the next day and headed for home.  Paul had already sent the men and Curly on home and so they traveled by themselves.  The trip home took less time than it did when they were traveling with the cattle.  Paul told her he estimated that they would be home in about three to four days, depending on how fast they traveled.

Serena enjoyed the time alone with Paul.  They were both on horses and Paul kept John with him.  They also had a horse that carried all of their food and supplies to get home.  They did not hurry home and would stop early each night to set up camp.  These were the best times of the day for Serena because after John had fallen asleep, they would sit by the camp fire and talk about many things. 

During one of these times, Paul told Serena that he had come to love her and Serena was able to repeat the words back to him.  As they did so, she realized that no one had ever told her they loved her before in her life and it was a nice feeling to finally find love.

Early on the third morning, a man rode into camp.  Serena was busy making oatmeal for breakfast and Paul was packing up supplies on the extra horse.  John was sitting on a rock nearby playing with some sticks and leaves, along with the carved horse one of the cowboys had given him.

“Howdy,” the man called as he entered their camp.  Serena watched Paul greet him with a handshake as they exchanged names.  He introduced himself as Isaac Walton.  She saw the man look at John and immediately his face lit up. 

“Ben!” he called with joy and ran over to the boy.  The child’s face also lit up with recognition and joy and he yelled out “Pa,” lifting his arms as he did so to be picked up.

Mr. Walton picked him up and cuddled the child in his arms.  “I can’t believe I have found you.  We have been looking all over for you.”

Paul and Serena exchanged glances during this reunion between father and son.  She knew her time as a temporary mother had come to an end. 

“I take it you know this boy,” Paul smiled as he stated the obvious and the man tried to keep his emotions under control with the joy of finding his son.

“This is my youngest son, Benjamin,” Mr. Walton said.  “My wife has been sick and one afternoon while she was resting, we figured he must have woken up early from his nap and wandered off looking for me or his two older brothers.  We have been looking for him for days.  We thought….”  Mr. Walton did not finish his sentence.  Both Paul and Serena knew what he had thought.  When a small child was lost in the mountains, the ending probably would not have been good.

“We found him about five miles from here,” Paul told the man and explained to Mr. Walton how Serena had found the boy and had cared for him.  Mr. Walton told them that he had run into a group of cowboys the day before who let him know his son had been found and was being cared for by Paul and Serena.

While Paul and Mr. Walton were talking and exchanging information about Ben, Serena’s eyes filled with tears and she turned her back.  She was happy the boy had been found by his father of course, but she realized and admitted to herself that she was hoping that the situation might have been different and she could have kept him and raised him.  She had started to love the child like her own. 

However, Serena admitted to herself that deep down, she had known Ben had a family all along.  Even though he was scratched and bruised when she found him, she could tell that he had been well cared for. 

Serena heard footsteps coming behind her and quickly brushed away her tears before turning around.  “I am much obliged, ma’am.  Thank you for caring for Ben.”

Serena nodded at his words.  “He is a very sweet little boy.  It was not a problem.  I am glad we found him and we were able to care for him until we found his family.”

Paul invited Mr. Walton to join them for breakfast, but the man wanted to get Ben back to his wife as soon as possible.  Just that quickly they were gone.

Both Serena and Paul were quiet after they left.  Serena was wishing she could have held John, or Ben, one more time, but she also knew it would have made it harder to let him go.  She knew that things had worked out for the best. 

Serena quickly started to finish breakfast when she felt a hand on her shoulder.  Paul turned her around, enveloped her in a hug and Serena could not hold back her tears any longer.  Paul just held her while she sobbed.  She cried for quite a while and could not seem to stop.

When the tears finally started to slow down, she apologized to Paul.  “I’m sorry for crying so much.  I know Ben is better off with his own family.”

“I think these tears are more than just for sadness that Ben is gone,” Paul commented.  “I think these are healing tears.  We are starting a new life together.  We have our whole lives ahead of us.”

Serena thought about what Paul said and she knew that he was right.  She had had many losses in her life, but now it was time to look forward and not dwell on her past.  She had married a good man.  She loved her new life and the fact that she would be living close to Anna and Katrina.  Her childhood might not have been ideal, but it could have been worse.  She realized that what she had gone through had made her a stronger woman.

“In fact,” Paul said with a teasing grin.  “Once we get back to the ranch, we can get started on growing our family.”

Serena laughed at his words and allowed her husband to kiss her to seal his promise. 

When they arrived at the ranch, they were greeted almost like royalty.  Serena was glad to see Anna and that she still felt well even though she was due to have her baby in a few weeks.  Katrina looked very happy as she described her new school and students.  The school had been open for a week and she loved her new job.  Sage was jumping around giving her own details about how wonderful school was.

Alex and Luke were there to greet them, too.  They greeted each other with big bear hugs like brothers do and then Alex took the horses into the barn to be cared for.  Paul gave Luke a leather pouch that had the proceeds of the cattle sale and told him a number, which made Luke smile pretty big. 

They must have done well with the sale of the cattle
, Serena thought when she saw the exchange.  Luke walked towards the main house with the leather pouch.  Serena noticed Katrina following him with her eyes, which she thought was very interesting. 

Paul and Serena spent the next few days at the ranch.  Paul had some chores he needed to get done and he wanted Serena to rest a bit before they took their honeymoon trip in nearby Pine Valley. 

When they finally arrived in Pine Valley, Serena was very excited to spend some quality time with her new husband.  She no longer doubted the reasons behind her marriage to Paul.  Anyone could see that he was very happy being married to her. 

They ate at the small restaurant in the hotel and then did quite a bit of shopping.  Paul wanted to make sure she had enough dresses and other supplies since it was getting close to winter and sometimes the snow was too deep to go anywhere.  They tended to stay on the ranch throughout the winter and did not take any trips into town since it just was not safe to be traveling when a huge blizzard or snowstorm could come upon them at any moment. 

Paul stopped in the post office to pick up their mail.  As he leafed through the letters, he stopped suddenly and handed Serena an envelope.  She saw that it was from Maple Grove and it was written in Charlotte’s handwriting.

Serena wanted to read the letter right away, so they stopped and sat on a bench that had been placed in front of the post office.  She quickly slit the letter open and started to read.

My dear Serena,

I am writing in hope you will be able to get this letter before winter sets in as I know you probably will not be able to leave the ranch for quite a few months.

Everyone is doing well here.  The children all miss you greatly, especially Rose.  She has asked if she could stay in the loft that was your room and we agreed.

Caleb has been spending quite a bit of time trying to perfect a pastry that he had heard about from a French couple that came to stay in Maple Grove a few weeks ago.  It is delicious and I am sure it will become a favorite with our customers.

I hope you are happy in your new marriage with Paul.  Please write and tell me about your wedding.  I so wish I could have been there to see you get married.

You are always in my prayers, along with Anna and Serena.  Please know that I love you very much.

Love,

Your mother, Charlotte

Serena sighed with relief as started to replace the letter, but then allowed Paul read it when he requested.  She had been afraid the letter would bear bad news.

“It sounds like Charlotte thinks of herself as your mother,” Paul commented when he finished reading the letter. 

“Yes, she does, although I didn’t realize it until right before I left to come here,” Serena agreed.  “I think I have had a hard time trusting people and I tend to push them away.  It has been hard for me to know who really cares for me and who just pretends like they care.”

“Maybe we can go visit your other family some day,” Paul offered, and with Paul’s words, Serena realized she did have another family.  She had two families, the one who raised her during her teenage years and a new one with Paul and his brothers, along with Anna and Serena.  She was blessed indeed. 

****

That evening when they had retired to their hotel room, Paul tried to give her a small box.

“I have a wedding gift for you,” Paul explained when Serena questioned him with her eyes. 

“You didn’t need to get me anything,” Serena protested.  She felt he had spent enough on her that day, although they had purchased material and other supplies for the entire family, not just her.  Serena had had fun buying fabric and small gifts for the new baby that was coming.  She also helped Paul choose a few toys, including a beautiful porcelain doll, for Sage for Christmas.  Paul had bought himself a new pair of boots and a heavy overcoat. 

“This gift is a tradition,” Paul said and he handed her the box.  Serena suddenly recognized the box as the one he had slipped in his pocket right after they were married. 

Serena slowly opened the lid and saw a beautiful cameo nestled among some white fabric. 

“A tradition?” she questioned as she carefully removed the jewelry piece from the box to look at it closer.

“My grandfather gave my grandmother a necklace like this one when they married.  My father did the same with my mother.  Alex gave one to Anna and now I am giving one to you.”

“Does it have a special meaning?” Serena wondered as she ran her finger over the beautiful piece.  There was a finely carved side view of a woman made out of white stone that had been set in another stone that was light blue in color.  The chain the cameo hung on was gold.  Surrounding the woman in stone was metal that had been arranged to look like lace.  It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen.

“I don’t know if there is a special meaning for all cameos, but in our family, when a man gives his wife a cameo, it signifies his love for her, a love that will last throughout all time.”

Serena threw her arms around Paul at his words.  He held her silently for a moment, and then turned her around to help her put the necklace around her neck.  She had found a family.

THE END