service ended, Will walked to the front with a barely discernible limp. “Ladies and gentlemen. Please stay and join us on the lawn for refreshments and to meet the newest residents of Cowboy Creek. But bear with me for just a moment before we move outdoors. Mrs. Swann, will you come forward, please?” He extended his arm in her direction.
Daniel stood and joined him. He and Will changed positions, and Daniel watched her approach with a determined smile.
Leah’s heart pounded. She’d known this was the day he planned to make the announcement, but she hadn’t known where or how. Her fingers trembled on her skirt as she raised the hem away from her feet and edged her way to the end of the pew and into the aisle. She looked forward, and the kindness in Daniel’s expression allayed her qualms as she reached him. He took her hand and tucked it familiarly into the crook of his arm, where the rough fabric was warm. He smelled good, like cedar and saving soap.
“This will come as a disappointment to many of you, but I do hope you will rejoice with us. Mrs. Swann and I knew each other years ago. We grew up together in Pennsylvania.” He glanced at his friend, standing to the side. “Along with Will, we were close. We’d lost touch for a long while, so it was a surprise to see her on the platform the day the train arrived.”
Leah observed the faces of the townsfolk as well as those of her fellow travelers. All were smiling.
“I’ve asked Mrs. Swann to be my wife, and she has agreed. We are officially engaged.”
Silence hummed for a minute, and then a dozen groans attested to the expected disappointment that one bride prospect had been removed from the already inadequate list.
“I know, I know,” Daniel said, commiserating.
And then applause broke out, softly at first, but quickly gaining enthusiasm. Shouts and whistles accompanied the outpouring of congratulations.
Leah looked toward Daniel, and when he smiled gallantly down at her, she sighed with relief. He gave her a quick hug and declared, “Now let’s go eat!”
Leah had already told her fellow traveling companions about her engagement, and they’d been happy for her. One by one they formally congratulated her.
Daniel took her hand. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
He led her across the grass to where a muscular-looking fellow dressed in clean trousers and a plain shirt stood a distance from the gathering. He had blond hair, and when he turned wary blue eyes her way, she noted scars on his cheek.
“Leah, this is my good friend Noah Burgess. He’s a farmer and rancher. He and Will and I joined up in ’62.” He glanced at his friend. “Noah, this is Leah Swann. She used to be Leah Robinson. Will and I have known her since we were children.”
Noah nodded. “Mrs. Swann. My companions speak highly of you.”
She extended her gloved hand, and he touched it briefly before releasing her fingers. “Daniel says he and Will came here to see you after the war and decided to stay. You founded Cowboy Creek.”
“Well, I was here, buying horses and planting crops. Once they’d come and bought even more land, the railroad scouted the area.” His smooth southern accent defined his heritage. “They thought it would be a good idea to sell and invest and build. So we did. And that’s how Cowboy Creek got on the map.”
“I will be happy to introduce you to my friends,” Leah offered. “I might be able to secure you a private conversation with one of the ladies and give you an edge above the others.”
“No,” he said brusquely. “I have to get back and do chores.” With that, he settled his hat on his head and turned away, heading toward the lot where horses and buggies were waiting.
Leah cast Will a nervous glance. “I guess I said the wrong thing.”
“Don’t fret yourself. He’s not a social person.”
“Or he doesn’t much like me. What does he know about me exactly?”
“It’s not you, Leah,” Daniel reassured her. “In fact, Noah’s the one who encouraged me to ask you to marry me.”
“He did?”
“Yes, he did. He rarely comes to town. We pressured him to be here this morning.”
“How did he get those scars? Is he self-conscious?”
“His gun backfired in a battle,” he answered in a low tone. “The burns were down his chest and arm, too. I think the scars still pain him, but he won’t talk about it. He was an exceptional soldier and was discharged because of his injuries.”
“And a southerner, obviously.”
“So he thought he had to fight harder than anyone else,” Daniel said with a nod.
“He’s fortunate to have you as his friend.”
“The three of us got used to looking out for each other.”
“I hope I will have friends like you do.”
He took her hand and touched her cheek with his fingertips. “You will.” His green eyes showed sincere kindness. “Until then, you have me.”
His thoughtfulness blessed her. The sun glinted off his thick chestnut hair. “You make me want to be a better person, Daniel.”
“You’re perfect just the way you are.”
She smiled. “I will let you think that.”
He tucked her hand in his and they joined the gathering.
Pippa, dressed in a striking jade green dress with crisscrossing layers of ruffles across the voluminous skirt and decorative buttons from shoulder to cuff on each sleeve, was the center of attention. The color set off her vibrant ginger-gold hair and hazel eyes. Every male’s attention was riveted on the petite beauty’s dazzling smile.
“Leah, have you heard? There’s an opera house under construction! The gentlemen were just telling me of it. Why, we can hold plays and concerts and enjoy the arts just like back east.” She looked to Daniel for confirmation. “When do you expect it will be finished, Mr. Gardner?”
Daniel’s gaze darted to Will and back to Pippa. “I’m afraid construction is temporarily delayed. The load of lumber designated for the opera house has been reassigned to another project with a pressing deadline. The council decided the houses take priority over the opera house. But only until a new order can be supplied.”
“Some of you might have heard about a shipment being stolen from the rail yard,” Quincy Davis supplied. “The lumber for the west side houses was hauled out of town and burned. The load that arrives tomorrow will need to replace that for now.”
“But we’ve put in an order for more to replace the lumber for the opera house,” Daniel assured Pippa and the bystanders.
Amos Godwin furrowed his brow. “Do you have any idea who would do something like that?”
“We don’t,” Daniel answered honestly. “And it’s worrisome. But we’ve hired additional guards for the rail yard, so it won’t happen again.”
“On a positive note,” Will interjected, “the first drive of the year is in the holding pens and will be shipping out this week.”
“You didn’t have t’ tell us that,” Old Horace said with a cackle. “We’ve smelled the money since yesterday!”
The crowd shared a laugh.
A while later, after they’d visited with other churchgoers, accepted congratulations and eaten lunch, Daniel suggested they slip away to make plans.
Even though they’d eaten, he escorted her to the hotel restaurant