“Sadly, we never had children. I made the rest of the journey alone, determined to reach Montana to live our dream.”
Anthony knew the realities of married life and yet he was anxious to do it again.
“Tell me one thing about your wife that you loved,” she asked, wanting to hear what drew him to his late wife and made him love her.
A smile crossed his face. “Georgia always knew how to make me smile. When life kicked us down, she would cheer me up even when she felt bad. Her health was never great.” His face contorted with pain. “It’s my fault she’s dead. I should never have made the trip across the country with her.”
“Did she want to travel to this new place?”
“Oh, yes, she was so tired of the constant battles between people about who was right and who was wrong. She was sick of the war and the senseless violence.”
Squeezing his hand, she smiled at him. “Then she did what she thought was best. Only the good Lord called her home. Nothing you could do to stop that.”
The memory of her family slowly dying from influenza crept up, and nothing she did had helped them. Finally, one of their servants took her aside and told her “Honey, it’s their time. The good Lord wants them with him. You can’t stop death.”
And she couldn’t.
“Good grief, you guys are making me feel sad. Let’s eat,” Wesley said as the cook set plates in front of them.
While they ate, they were silent.
“Do you have brothers and sisters?” Anthony asked.
“No, I was a late-in-life baby. My mother had several miscarriages before I was born,” she said. “What about you? Is your family back in Missouri?”
“Two brothers and a sister,” he said. “They’re scattered from Missouri to Texas.”
“What about you, Wesley?” she asked.
“I have two brothers and one sister,” he said, frowning. “Anthony is more of a brother to me than my own kin.”
She hoped to learn why Wesley thought so little of his family, but today was not the time.
As they finished, she noted the men watching her. She hoped the next part of the day would be fun, but it would also reveal that she had not done what they asked.
“Are you ready to leave?” Anthony said, paying the bill.
“Yes,” she said, standing.
Both men were at her side, and she thought it was nice to be treated like a lady again. They walked out the door and Anthony hurried to a wagon hitched to a post.
“We drove the wagon down here and then walked up to the doctor’s house,” Wesley said, taking her by the arm.
He helped her alight onto the wagon seat and then sat beside her.
“Where are we going?”
“We thought we’d take you out into the country and let you see some of the area. Maybe we’ll see a moose while we’re out or a bear or even a mountain lion, though I’d prefer if we didn’t see a cougar. They’re dangerous.”
The wagon pulled away from the restaurant and they traveled down the road.
“We could take you to the falls, but a lot of the men were taking their women there. Someday but not today,” Wesley said. “We want to be alone with you.”
That made her nervous, but yet she trusted these men.
When they reached the edge of town, Wesley lifted the hem of her skirt.
“What are you doing?” she said, pushing his hand away.