A Tender Moment Under the Stars: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book Page 9

  “Two days away,” she acknowledged. “And how long does it go on?”

  “Through the month.”

  She widened her eyes in surprise. “The whole month?”

  “Until August the first, yes. Then we start to break everything down but while we’re breaking it down, people are still selling their wares and playing the last of the games that are standing. The entire town shows up and we always have a wonderful time.”

  “I’m really looking forward to it, Sol. I really am.”

  “Good. You’ll have a great time.”

  “You’re going to let me help out, right?”

  Solomon didn’t immediately answer. Isabel was slowly becoming used to the fact that she might have to wait a bit for answers to her questions. He was the type of man to think about his response before saying it, which was a good—but confusing—thing for Isabel. At least for now. She didn’t know him as well as she would in the future. She knew of friends who had been married for years that didn’t even bother to ask questions of one another because they already knew what the answer would be.

  That’s how she hoped to be with Solomon someday.

  “You know what?” Solomon said. “Let’s go for a horseback ride when we get back from town. Unless you’d rather do that first. I think we’d have a wonderful time on a ride. I could show you this property and then we can just take the horses into town and ride around there. How does that sound?”

  Isabel liked the prospect and nodded. “Yes, let’s do that. I’d love to look around the house at some point, explore, and see all the lovely paintings and sculptures and decorations you have here. It’s really quite a nice house.”

  “I love hearing that,” Solomon said. “My mother was the one who decorated all of this.”

  Isabel looked closely at him. She’d just realized it was the first time he’d mentioned her to Isabel. She hesitated to ask what happened to the woman. It didn’t seem like Solomon had many emotions when it came to her. And he’d used the word “was”, implying she was deceased. Isabel didn’t want to open wounds by asking what happened to her.

  As it turned out, she didn’t have to. Solomon didn’t seem to have a problem talking about her, though the subject matter would have made anyone but the big lumberjack uncomfortable, Isabel thought.

  “My mother worked at the brothel my father frequented,” he said with no emotion. “She was a beautiful woman and captured my pa’s heart right away. He tried to make an honest woman out of her—a wife and mother. But he couldn’t. In the end, a person will do what they want to do.”

  Isabel’s chest clenched with tension and she held her breath for a few seconds so it didn’t come out shakily.

  “She left when I was about seven. I remember her quite well, believe it or not. I can’t say that I have any feelings for her. She was never really like a mother. Gertie was more of a mother to me than she ever was.”

  “Gertie’s been working for you that long?”

  Solomon nodded, giving her a direct look. “Yeah. She’s the woman I would consider a mother figure if I needed one.”

  Isabel looked over her shoulder at the small woman working in the kitchen. Then she turned her eyes back to the six-foot-four giant in front of her.

  She couldn’t help smiling.

  Chapter 14

  Solomon was determined to make the ride a good one for Isabel. He was glad to have her there and welcomed the distraction she posed from his normal routine.

  He’d been thinking about it since her arrival the day before and how tragic it was that she’d ridden on the same train as Betty. He didn’t spend much time on the man Isabel had befriended, despite Betty’s claims. If Isabel was entertained by anyone on the one-and-a-half-day trip, he was grateful. She was probably very nervous traveling across the country like that—especially alone.

  He saddled up the horse he was giving her and led the mare out to where Isabel was standing in the courtyard. Before he continued, he stopped and gazed at her. She was standing with her back to him, her long hair coming out of her bonnet and spilling over her shoulders and back. As she turned, he could see her green eyes studying the land around her. She had a look of contentment on her face that made Solomon’s heart happy.

  He took the horse to her and handed her the reins. “Here you go, Izzy.”

  Isabel turned to him. “Oh, thank you.” She took the reins from him and ran her eyes over the horse. It looked to stand between fourteen and fifteen hands, which was about the right size horse for a woman of her stature.

  “I hope you like her,” Solomon said. “Her name is – believe it or not – Bella. I thought she’d be appropriate for you.”

  “I really do appreciate it. I...” Isabel stopped. Her cheeks flushed and Solomon wondered what she’d been about to say. He didn’t know if he should ask. She looked away from him and murmured, “I was going to offer to pay for her but I don’t want you to be angry with me for it.”

  Solomon’s eyebrows shot up and he let out an abrupt laugh. “Imagine that! A wife paying her husband for a horse! That will never happen!”

  Isabel turned her eyes back to him. “But I’m…”

  He shook his head and she stopped speaking. “Yes, you’re not my wife yet. That’s neither here nor there. You will be. And that’s all that matters. No, of course, I would never take money from you for a horse or anything else. But I certainly won’t get mad if you offer. It shows great character. I like that.”

  Isabel smiled and proceeded to pull herself up on the horse.

  “If you want to get to know her and ride her around the courtyard for a bit you can. I still need to get Max out of his stall and get him saddled.”

  “Max is your horse?”

  Again, Solomon let out an amused laugh. “Well, I won’t be saddling up the Groomsman I can tell you that.”

  When her cheeks flushed and she looked away, he felt bad.

  “I’m sorry. I was only teasing you. Don’t be embarrassed. We all ask silly and obvious things sometimes.”

  When Isabel turned her eyes to him, her face seemed to deepen even more in color. He realized he’d used the wrong words and it was his turn to be embarrassed. This time, his laugh was half-hearted and he turned away quickly.

  “I’ll be right back. Go ahead and get used to Bella.”

  He could feel her eyes on his back as he went into the stables. He looked over his shoulder after passing under the threshold and saw her leaning over, talking to the horse and patting the animal’s enormous neck. A warm feeling filled him and he went to get Max ready for their ride.

  Fifteen minutes later, they were riding down the fence line that ran around his property. It would take some time if they were to go all the way around but that wasn’t Solomon’s plan. It was pretty much all more of the same once you got to the top of the highest hill that allowed them to overlook the entire area.

  At the top of that peak, he stopped his horse and she followed suit.

  “Now you see there, that’s the house,” He pointed to the house in the valley below. Isabel nodded.

  “And how much of this property is yours?”

  “It’s all mine. It would take a long time if we were to explore it all. You can’t really see from here where my property ends but you can see the main road from here. See?” He pointed again and glanced at her. She was peering in the direction he was indicating through focused eyes.

  “I see it. Barely.”

  “Yes. But you can see it. So going that way, that’s how you would determine where my property ends.”

  “So you don’t own any on the other side of the main road?”

  He shook his head. “No. That’s my boundary line right there. All along that main road. When you look behind us and all around us, there’s nothing that would indicate to you—not that you could see, anyway—that would let you know where my property ends. It goes too far.”

  “Beyond the average eyesight.” She looked at him. “That’s a lot of land, Sol.”


  He smiled. “Isn’t it? Look out there. You can see the lumber mill from here.”

  Again, he glanced at her to see her reaction to that. She looked highly interested, which surprised and pleased him. He didn’t want to bore her.

  “There is one special thing I want to show you before we go in town, though.”

  She turned her eyes to look at him. “Oh? And what’s that?”

  “It’s an amazing sight,” Solomon said, mischievously, “but you’ll have to wait until we get there to see it.”

  She looked anxious and they rode for ten minutes until he heard her say, “I smell water. I hear water. You have a stream on the property?” She sounded extremely excited.

  “I live alongside a river. It’s not a stream.”

  “I hear crashing water.”

  He turned to her. “Oh?”

  She laughed. “Yes. I expect there’s a waterfall around. Sorry to spoil your surprise but I recognize that sound. There was a waterfall near my home, too. I love the sound and sight of it. Lead on, Sol. I’ll be right beside you.”

  Solomon didn’t know if he was nervous or if he was supposed to be upset she’d figured it out before seeing it. He didn’t feel either one. The only person that made him nervous was Betty. Even Isabel, as his future wife, didn’t make him feel nervous like Betty did.

  Solomon wasn’t a perfect man and he knew it. He’d fought with Betty a few times while they’d been together and was afraid the woman would use those instances against him to perhaps break him and Isabel up.

  He didn’t want to think ill of the woman. She’d been a wonderful partner for years. But she knew everything there was to know about him, leading up to four years ago.

  She didn’t know him now. And he was determined to keep it that way. The less time he spent with Betty around, the better. He wanted to concentrate all his thoughts and attention on Isabel. She was the one he intended to marry after all.

  “Oh my,” he heard Isabel say breathlessly when they came out onto a peak that let them see the waterfall. It was right in front of them, surrounded by rocks jutting out of the ground and green foliage that was unrivaled in color and health. “This is stunning, Sol. It reminds me of home. And that’s a very good thing.”

  “I want to make this place your home,” Solomon said. “I want you to think of it as your home.”

  “I’m sure I will eventually,” Isabel reassured him. “Just like Bella will become my horse and I will feel free to get a drink for myself and food for myself whenever I want it. Right now, it does still feel like your home. But it’s only been one day. You can’t expect more than that.”

  Solomon nodded, knowing she was exactly right. “Yes, of course. Well, one can hope that it doesn’t take too long.”

  They rode toward the waterfall in silence. Solomon could feel the mist of the rushing water sweep over his face the closer they got. It cooled him off in a pleasant way.

  “This truly is something, Sol. Thank you for bringing me here. It’s not a long ride from the house. I suspect it will be one of the places I come to the most.” She went to the edge of the riverbed where it was flat and the water calm so that Bella could get a drink.

  Solomon came up beside her. “You like it then?”

  “I love it,” she gushed. “I really do love it.”

  Solomon wanted to jump down from his horse and grab her off hers and give her a big kiss. But he didn’t. It was still too soon for all of that. One day wasn’t enough to tell them if they were really compatible. And with the height difference, that might prolong it for a bit. She didn’t seem to mind the huge difference in their stature. He was glad of that.

  It seemed God had sent him the perfect woman inside, even if the outside might seem a little strange to the people who saw them around town.

  “It’s a good thing everyone in town knows me and therefore will be good to you,” he said. “Otherwise, I fear we would gain a lot of attention.”

  “Because of our differences?” she asked, giving him a look of sorrow.

  “Yes. But don’t be upset by those differences. I know we can turn it into good.”

  Chapter 15

  Izzy woke up in the middle of the night. She listened to the crickets chirping and wondered what time it was and why she was wide awake.

  She slid her legs over the edge of the bed and leaned forward to take the candle beside her bed in hand. She felt for the box of matches that always sat beside it and lit one, touching it to the wick of the tall candle.

  Isabel picked the candle up by the curled handle of the holder and pushed the blankets away from her. She’d set her slippers nearby and went to them, sliding them on and pulling her long white robe around her shoulders.

  She’d been given a room with a balcony, which pleased her more than she thought it would. When she pulled back the drapes and opened both doors to proceed through the middle, a breeze lifted her robe making it swirl behind her. She reached up and pulled off her nightcap, shaking her head to let her long auburn curls fall freely over her shoulders.

  Isabel went to the edge of the balcony and rested her hands on the railing, looking out at the nearly full moon and the vast number of stars that dotted the night sky. She thought about the ride they’d taken, the waterfall, the festival, her new life.

  A conversation she’d had with her mother before her life ended came to Isabel’s mind. June was able to comprehend and think all the way up to her death, which made it even harder for Isabel to deal with. She hated that her mother had been trapped in a dying body while her mind was still sharp as a needle.

  “You’re going to find someone good, Izzy, I know you will. God won’t have anything else for you,” her mother had said.

  “I know God is on my side,” Isabel had responded, “but I don’t think He will make these decisions. It’s up to us to decide what He would want for us and go with that. He gave us free will to make our own decisions.”

  “You will follow His guidance though. If the situation you are in is not right, count on Him to make it better. You must have faith. Maintain it, build it, make it stronger. That’s the only way to have a successful life while on Earth. One that God can be proud of so when you see Him, he will welcome you with open arms and say ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’.”

  “Those are the words I want to hear,” Isabel had told her mother. Her heart had surged with love for her Father in Heaven. “I want to do what He thinks is right.”

  “I know you do.” Her mother had reached forward and patted Isabel’s hand over the newspaper they were scouring. “I know you do. And you will. It’s just in your nature to do the right thing, Izzy. For you and for everyone around you.”

  “Thank you for your words of encouragement, Momma. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  The memory flashed through her mind, leaving her with a melancholy feeling. It hadn’t been long since her mother died. She was still trying to cope with never seeing her lovely face again, never giving her a warm hug or a kiss on the cheek. She missed her to her very core, even if she was in a better place with no pain or tears.

  She heard a sound behind her and turned to see Solomon had come into her room and crossed to come out on the deck with her. For a moment, she was almost frightened. But when she saw the compassionate look on his face, her heart softened.