Homespun Bride

love was for her.
    As if she realized that he intended to kiss her, she tipped toward him an infinitesimal amount. Her eyes widened with such honesty, and they were the color of his dreams. Her smile was every last piece of his heart.
    “Good night, Mr. McKaslin.” The serene notes of her voice blew through his spirit like the rarest of joys.
    He opened the door for her. “Good night, Miss Kramer. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
    “Good.” Her smile was the last thing he saw as he tipped his hat to her and left her in the care of her aunt, who was in the act of charging toward the door.
    Maybe it wasn’t so polite to run off, he thought, as he took the steps two at a time, but he wasn’t a parlor-sitting kind of man. And he wanted to end the evening when it was perfect. Just perfect.
    The snow fell soft and airy as an answered prayer. His boots sank up to his ankles in the new blanket of snowfall and he rubbed Sunny’s nose before he slogged back to the sleigh. Funny how it did feel as though God had been watching out for him in the end. That He hadn’t forgotten a simple hardworking man after all.
    Thad settled on the seat, pulled the robes tight and gathered the reins in his gloved hands. Snow tapped on his hat brim and slapped his cheek as he turned Sunny in a lazy half circle, nosing him away from the bright lights of the Worthington home and into the cloying darkness.
    Maybe things just take time to work out for His good; that’s all. Maybe that’s what he’d lost sight of when he was so far from home and everyone he loved, his heart dashed. Faith had been a painful thing for a long spell, and now it was hurting in a whole new way.
    The wind kicked up, cold and shrill, so he knuckled down his hat against the stinging snowflakes. That pain seemed to spread through his chest like wildfire. For whatever reason, he was being given a second chance with Noelle. What he didn’t know was that gratitude could hurt, too.
    Noelle’s words tonight came back to him. It’s easy to fall into the habit of walking through life. It’s safer. Because you don’t have to risk as much. You don’t have to really feel. Maybe that had been his problem more than he’d realized. He’d gotten awfully used to walking through his life instead of feeling it. That made it tough to know anything much of value, including God’s presence.
    You didn’t give up on me and I thank You for it.
    Thad gave Sunny more rein, but the mustang already knew where he was going, heading toward the falls, toward home.
    * * *
    In the bedroom she shared with Matilda, Noelle carefully poured the pitcher of warm water and measured the rise of the water level in the porcelain basin. The pitcher clinked gently onto the stand, and she felt the curls of heat from the water’s surface against her face.
    Happiness still strummed through her, and it was a good feeling, and a welcome change. She splashed water on her face and reached for the bottle of soft soap she liked so well. The lilac scent always reminded her of late spring, when the earth was warm and the sun’s warmth a welcome friend.
    She lathered and scrubbed and rinsed, going over the evening’s events in her mind. Whatever God’s purpose in all of this—her blindness, Thad’s coming back to Angel Falls, his plans for a ranch and a home and a family starting to come to fruition—she could not know. She could only trust that He was bringing them both to the greatest good for their separate lives.
    She patted her face dry in the soft towel and rehung it on the bar. Footsteps marched down the hall like a division of soldiers coming closer.
    “Angelina!” Henrietta’s voice echoed above the strike of her shoes. “I am shocked. Simply beside myself with agitation at what I’ve only just heard from your father.”
    And what shocking behavior would it be this time? Noelle wondered as she sprinkled tooth powder onto her toothbrush. Knowing Angelina, it was bound to be most entertaining.
    Robert’s cane tapped after Henrietta. “Now, now, dear, it’s not as bad as all that—”
    “Not that bad?” Henrietta’s outrage echoed in the corridor. “Caught smoking behind the outhouses! I cannot think of why Clarissa Bell would accuse you of such a thing!”
    Poor Henrietta, Noelle thought in turn, for it was not easy being a general in charge of such troops. It took a lot of internal fortitude to stay in denial about Angelina’s rebellion, which was not acceptable for a