A Tender Moment Under the Stars: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book Read online

  “I’m glad you do,” Freddie said, grinning. “Now tell me about this letter you got. It’s the only one in answer to your ad?”

  “Yeah, I reckon there aren’t a lot of girls in the East who are wantin’ to have fun and adventure. I thought the ad was written pretty well.”

  “I wasn’t lyin’ when you showed it to me and I said it was good,” Freddie said, tilting his bottle in Solomon’s direction.

  “Yeah, but you’re a man, and I’m not lookin’ for a man.”

  They both laughed.

  “Tell me about the letter,” Freddie said anxiously. He was stopped briefly by one of their friends who wished him a happy birthday. He held up one hand and said thank you before looking back at Solomon.

  “I wasn’t disappointed that I only got one,” Solomon replied. He took another drink from the bottle before continuing, “I liked the one I got a lot. It was enough for me.”

  “Did you bring it?” Freddie asked, scanning Solomon’s waist as if he could see through the fabric to a piece of paper. “Can I read it?”

  Solomon nodded. “You can read it, but I didn’t bring it with me. You can read it when you come over to my place tonight after your ma makes your birthday dinner. Make sure you save me a plate and bring it with you.”

  Freddie grinned. “You know I will. I always do. But you still gotta tell me what you can about it. Right now. I want to hear about it.”

  Solomon looked behind him when he was bumped into. It was Suzie Burkins. She had grabbed his arm to balance herself after bumping into him.

  “Oh, my!” she exclaimed, looking frantically up and him and then at Freddie. “I am terribly sorry! My…my heel has broken.”

  “Good Lord,” Solomon said. “Do we need to get you to the doctor?”

  He turned to her and looked down at her foot.

  “Sol.” He glanced at Freddie. “The heel of her shoe, Sol, not her actual heel.”

  Solomon didn’t mind the light laughter at his expense. He rolled his eyes and gave them a sheepish look. He was just glad it was only those closest to them that had seen his blunder.

  “I didn’t mean to bump into you, Sol,” Suzie said, sweetly, “but I’m glad it was you instead of some of these blighters around here.” She waved her hand at the rest of the crowd. She shook her head. “Some of them are just beastly if you ask me. I knew bumping into you would be a much more rewarding experience.”

  Solomon stared down at her, blinking. Most of what she’d said meant little to him. He wasn’t sure what a “blighter” was and couldn’t help wondering why she would think bumping into him, in particular, could be rewarding.

  Instead of making an utter fool of himself, he decided that she’d complimented him and he would react accordingly.

  “Thank you, Bella. What a kind thing to say.”

  “Oh, you are very welcome!” Suzie gushed, batting her eyelashes and grinning. She blew him a kiss and then one to Freddie. “Happy birthday, sweetiekins.”

  “Thanks, Bella. Enjoy the party.”

  She laughed. “Oh, I am. You’re a wonderful host.”

  Freddie nodded, his face a near blank. “Thanks again.”

  Suzie sashayed away and the two men watched.

  “She’s got a nice form,” Freddie said. “But I’m afraid there’s not much under that blond mop of hers.”

  Solomon was completely confused by the woman. She seemed so appealing but yet, there was a fakeness about that appeal that was a turn-off. He’d let her hang on him a few times in the past but never pursued anything more than friendship. He wasn’t sure she was capable of being in a committed relationship. Some women just weren’t. Same for some men.

  Solomon returned to the letter. “I’m going to write to her,” he said bluntly.

  Freddie looked at him. “You’re gonna write to Bella?”

  For a moment, Solomon was confused and then he realized what he’d done. “Oh, no. I was talking about Isabel. I’m going to write back to her. I want her to come here to Texas.”

  Freddie stared at Solomon for a moment, a surprised look on his oval face. “What? Already? From one letter?”

  “She said she doesn’t want to wait. She prefers getting to know someone face to face instead of through letters. I think that’s a great idea. I’m anxious to have a companion anyway.”

  Freddie drew his eyebrows together and narrowed his brown eyes. “Doesn’t it seem a little odd that she’d want to get out of Virginia fast? Perhaps she’s a wanted woman. A fugitive from the law.”

  It took a moment before Solomon realized Freddie was teasing him. He decided to play along just for fun. “I reckon she could be,” he said, solemnly. “But I think it’s more likely that she’s spent the last five years taking care of a sickly mother who has now passed on and she’s ready to get away from all of that.”

  A look of discovery came to Freddie’s face. “Ah! Yes! That could be it.”

  They both laughed.

  “Whatever you decide to do, just know I’m here for you,” Freddie said, lifting the Coca-Cola bottle in a salute. “And if you bring her here, I’ll be here for her, too.”

  “Thanks, Freddie,” Solomon said genuinely. “I appreciate that.”

  Chapter 4

  The sun was bright and warm on Isabel’s face when she stepped out of the real estate agent’s office in the community building. The successful sale of her mother’s worldly goods had garnered her a few thousand dollars she hadn’t expected. Apparently, it wasn’t just the four-bedroom house that her parents had owned. It was the house and the land it stood on. And that included an entire mountain behind the house, over two hundred acres of land.

  Chills ran over Isabel’s skin despite the warmth of the sun. It was a little hard to believe. She actually was a wealthy woman.

  She pulled in a deep breath and set out to return to the house and finish packing. She had two weeks left before she had to be out but she wasn’t about to take that time. She wanted to go to Texas and was anxious to get a reply to her letter. She was expecting one any day now. It had been a week so the letter might come at any time.

  If he chose to reply.

  Isabel was not a woman without sense. She had a back-up plan in case he didn’t reply before the two weeks was up. With the tremendous amount of money she’d received for the land and house, she was able to rethink those plans. No matter what, she was leaving Morningside, she was leaving Virginia. She didn’t want to go across the ocean.

  She might just go to Texas and pick a place to settle down. She could find a man there and if she didn’t, she’d keep moving until she found one.

  Instead of going straight home from there, she turned and crossed the street, looking both ways and waiting for a horse and rider to pass. The man in the saddle tipped his hat to her and she nodded at him. She didn’t recognize him. There were many people she didn’t recognize in town since she’d emerged from her caretaking position.

  She hurried to the post office and took delight in the sound of the bell above her head when she went in. For some reason, those bells always made her happy.

  There was no one at the clerk’s desk so she went straight to it and leaned on the counter. Lawrence, the clerk, was seated in the corner, stamping several pieces of paper.

  Isabel cleared her throat, making the clerk jump. He spun around, already smiling.

  “Hello! Ah, hello, Izzy! You’ve come for your letter!”

  Isabel felt a tingle run over her. “I have a letter?”

  “Why, yes, you do. Here you go.” He pulled the letter from the slot and handed it to her. “I hope it’s a good letter.”

  Isabel looked from the letter to the clerk and back again. “Oh, me, too, Lawrence. Me, too.” She was breathless as she turned and went back to the door to leave. It was from him.

  She made a pleased sound in the back of her throat and went outside only to sit on the bench set against the wall to the right of the post office.

  Isabel’s hands were shak
ing as she opened the letter. This would decide her fate. This letter from Solomon Bedford from Steven’s Gulch, Texas. Isabel liked that name. If he didn’t want her there, she might go anyway and start a new life with a different name.

  She unfolded the letter and read through it anxiously.

  Dear Miss Isabel,

  I was delighted to read your letter. It does sound like you are deserving of some fun and entertainment. I believe you will be able to find what you are looking for here in Texas. I would be happy to provide room and board for you while we get to know each other better. I understand that you are anxious to leave after what you have told me.

  I was left a good deal of property from my father. He died five years ago, attacked by a bear while searching for trees for our lumber mill. That is to say, my lumber mill. I own it, along with many acres and also the general supply store. I like to work in the supply store instead of the lumber mill.

  I am twenty-six. I have blond hair and blue eyes. Many of the people in my town call me “big man” because I am tall and large in stature. But I am not an aggressive person. I only tell you this so that you will not think differently when you see me, as many often do.

  I look forward to meeting you at the train station. You will need to take the check I have enclosed and take it to the station where you are and buy the ticket. Please send me a telegram with the time you will be leaving and the time you expect to get here so I will know when to meet you.

  Thank you for replying to my ad. I am anxious to meet you.

  Yours truly,

  Solomon Bedford

  Isabel read it through again. She had to look in the envelope to retrieve the check. She read it and examined his signature with fascination. It looped and swirled like he might be an artist or a creator of some kind. Perhaps he wrote or created music.

  Her excitement was growing by the moment. She didn’t want to wait any longer. But she still had packing to do. She couldn’t run out to the train station and leave now. There was estate business to take care of.

  She stared out into space, tapping the check against her lips, making a list in her mind of tasks that needed to be done.

  Isabel was already at the post office, where she could send a telegram. But she would have to come back to do that because she needed to pack completely and make sure everything was going where she wanted it to go.

  She hopped to her feet and left the post office bench behind, hurrying back across the street to her buggy. She was heading home five minutes later, her anxiety and excitement at a peak.

  Isabel detoured from her house to go to the train station. It was a small shack out near the train tracks and couldn’t really be called a station. There was nowhere inside for anyone to sit. The attendant there took the tickets and a second attendant sat outside on the platform where passengers could get on and off. He was only there, as far as Isabel knew, to take luggage to and from the train.

  She pulled the buggy into the lot and jumped down, running up the short hill to the station, holding her skirt up so she wouldn’t trip. Once she was at the top, she smiled at Anthony approaching the shack where he was sitting. She could see him through the one window. The counter in front of him was actually part of the door that allowed Anthony to get in and out. He smiled back at her.

  “Looking for the next train, Miss?” he said.

  She stopped short, giving him an odd expression. She didn’t remember having been particularly close to the man before she put everything on hold for her mother.

  “I…I would like the times of the trains, yes. But from tomorrow, if you would. I have a few things left to do before I leave.”

  “I understand. And where will you be traveling to?” The man picked up a pair of spectacles on the table to his right and slid them onto his face. He turned in the other direction and Isabel noticed that even though he’d put his glasses on, he still curled up his nose and squinted.

  “Texas,” she said. “I’ll be going to Steven’s Gulch, Texas.”

  Anthony glanced at her over his shoulder. “Oh? Texas. Let’s see. Here we go. Steven’s Gulch…right there. Ah, okay. Let me see. That goes past here at nine-thirty and five-thirty.”

  “I’ll want to take the nine-thirty,” Isabel said quickly. “Can you give me a ticket, please?”

  Anthony nodded, turning back to face her. “Sure thing, dearie. Will ya be comin’ back?”

  Isabel shook her head. “No. I won’t be coming back.”

  The words sounded so final to Isabel. And they should have. Because they were. Her life was about to change. She was closing one chapter and starting another. To her, it felt like the end of a novel and the beginning of another, not just a chapter.

  Her heart beating hard, she took the ticket and ran back down to the buggy. It had been a long time since she’d exercised her legs. She’d been playing kickball one day and sitting in a rocking chair the next. She would never regret the time she’d spent caring for her mother. But now it was the start of a new day and she was ready for it. She’d been ready.

  She took the buggy back home. When she stepped down, she looked at the house she would be leaving behind, memories flooding her mind. She could almost see June years ago, tending the garden and smiling at her as she came home from the schoolhouse. Her father had died when she was six but she still harbored some fond memories of him.

  She passed through the front gate and surveyed the left side of the lawn and then the right. She’d made sure it was taken care of by the local boys for five years. Now it was someone else’s responsibility.

  Isabel would miss a lot about Virginia. She knew that Texas wasn’t necessarily as lush and green as Virginia, but that it had its own rich rewards.

  Nothing was keeping her in Morningside now.

  It was time to start all over again, this time as a grown woman with her own money, making her own decisions.

  Chapter 5

  The Fourth of July Celebration preparations were in full swing in Steven’s Gulch. It was something nearly everyone in town participated in somehow, either selling their baked goods, carvings, and many other things to their neighbors and the travelers that came to see the show.

  The youngsters always put on a play, usually about the signing of the Declaration of Independence, with all the little ones dressed in the Founding Father’s clothes and declaring their personal love for the country.

  Solomon always thought that it had to be harder for some of the children in the little town. There were people struggling to get by. The only reprieve they had was their neighbors. Everyone in Steven’s Gulch took care of one another. That was probably one of the reasons there was so little for Sheriff Jack to do.

  Every year since his father’s death, he’d carried on the family tradition of taking a meal to a needy family at least once a week. Usually, that day fell on a Sunday. If Solomon didn’t want to take it to them, he would ask them over, insisting, if they resisted.

  The moment he rode into Steven’s Gulch, he felt the energy popping around him. It was his job this time around to build and run—on a part-time basis—the “shoot the duck” game. He’d also supplied his own cotton candy maker, which he’d be manning throughout his time at the “shoot the duck” booth.

  He could see Freddie at their spot, setting pieces of wood down and unrolling paper signs. A big metal box behind him carried the mechanisms that would make the game function. It also had the pop gun rifles that would be used to shoot the metal ducks down.