WOMEN OF SURPRISE 02: Lydia's Passion Page 12

  "The pond was her favorite place, it's the reason we built the house there. I was supposed to meet her there, but the wheel on my wagon broke a few miles out of town, and I was late."

  Scrubbing his hand over his face, he looked at Lydia, "I was late. And she was just lying there with blood all over her face. Laura was crying, Robert was still asleep. Thankfully, he never saw a thing."

  "And you blamed yourself for her death. All this time and you couldn't see it was just an accident?"

  "My life was finally falling into order and then Laura fell. I was late for your picnic and she fell from the tree. I never blamed you. I blamed myself for being late, for letting my work take over my life."

  "And you saw it as your wife's death all over again." Rushing to him, Lydia threw her arms about his neck. "Oh, Alexander I am so, so very sorry."

  "I should have told you how guilty I felt. I couldn't bear my shame. This was never about my not trusting you. I took the coward's way out, pushing you away because I thought it would be easier to not see you than to face what I had done and for that I need your forgiveness."

  Hugging him close, she said, "I'm so sorry for everything and there is nothing for me to forgive."

  Smoothing her hair back, he cupped her face in his hands. "Marry me, Lydia."

  "Oh, Alexander." Raining kisses all over his face, Lydia said yes. "Yes, yes, yes!" she shouted for the whole world to hear.

  "What do you think Robert and Laura are going to say when we tell them our news?" Lydia wanted everything to be perfect.

  Grinning at her, Alexander replied, "Let's go find out." They had to run the gauntlet of her family first, and after accepting hasty congratulations, managed to be out of the house within a few minutes.

  Hand in hand, they walked up the hill to Alexander's home. Robert was sitting on the porch forlornly tossing handfuls of pebbles into the flower garden and Laura was in the rocker, her arm propped up on a pillow. From the kitchen came the sounds of dishes scrapping together, Mrs. Sutherland was preparing the noonday meal.

  "Hey, Pa." Tossing another handful of pebbles on the ground, Robert barely looked up.

  "Miss Lydia!" Squealing in delight, Laura dropped the pillow to the porch floor and scrambled off the chair. "Miss Lydia, I've missed you so much."

  Lydia barely caught Laura as she flung herself off the top porch step and into her waiting arms. "I've missed you too, pumpkin."

  "Can you stay long?"

  "As long as you'd like. Your father and I have something to tell you."

  Grumbling, Robert asked, "Is it good or bad?"

  Sitting beside his son, Alexander brushed the dust off of Robert's pant legs. "I think you're going to like our news."

  Lydia sat on the bottom step pulling the young girl onto her lap. Leaning back against the railing, she smiled at Robert. "Your father has asked me to marry him and I said yes."

  "You mean it?"

  Nodding, she grinned. "Cross my heart."

  Squirming around to face them, Laura laughed. "We're going to be a family."

  Robert was hugging his father and Mrs. Sutherland stepped out onto the porch wiping her hands on the front of the apron she wore. "Did I hear right? We're going to have a wedding?"

  "Yes, ma'am." Alex stood to accept her congratulations.

  "I daresay it's about time you came to your senses."

  Their wedding took place two weeks later with the entire town serving as witness to their vows. Lydia had never felt so happy. The party that followed went on long into the night. With Robert and Laura off to spend a few nights with Aunt Margaret, the newlyweds were left by themselves at the house.

  Wedding gifts were piled high on the kitchen table. Having already rifled through most of them, Lydia laughed when she opened Mrs. Drumm's gift.

  "Oh my, what a nice surprise. And here I thought the woman disliked me." Pushing the tissue paper aside, she showed her husband a silver letter opener engraved with the letter "J".

  "I meant to ask you about that. Why don't the two of you get along?"

  "She thinks I spent too much time admiring a certain mill owner and not enough time with the students. I think it was that whole 'I'm too passionate about life' thing."

  Kissing her, he smiled. "I'm glad you're passionate."

  Rising, she took his hand. Lydia pulled them to a stop in front of the fireplace where a small fire was burning, admiring the wood carving Cole had made for their wedding gift.

  The statue stood about five inches high and was of a hummingbird, its long beak burrowing into the petal of a flower. Lydia couldn't help admiring the intricate carving. The bird reminded her of how her life had been before Alexander when she'd been busy flitting from one thing to the next, never staying put in any one place for very long.

  Alex wrapped her in his arms. Bending his head, he nuzzled her neck. "Umm, that feels good," she murmured.

  Softly, with her gaze still on the hummingbird, Lydia began to talk. "When I came here to Surprise it was for adventure and fun. I never imagined myself a schoolteacher. I guess I thought I would while away my days taking tea with Aunt Margaret, visiting with Abigail and Maggie."

  Alex pulled her closer.

  "I wasn't thinking about falling in love. This isn't where I thought I'd be." Turning in his arms to face him, she whispered against the warmth of his lips, "But I'm glad to be here."

  "That makes two of us."

  Taking her hand in his, Lydia followed her husband down the short hallway to their bedroom where they would begin their new life and she would share all of her passion with him.

  Table of Contents

  This title was previously published by Avalon Books; this version has been reproduced from the Avalon book archive files.

  Table of Contents

  This title was previously published by Avalon Books; this version has been reproduced from the Avalon book archive files.