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Aimee said she was coming for a visit. Truth was, Selina didn’t want her to come. The very thought of it tied her stomach into knots. Especially after all those words about how wonderful Aimee thought Michael was. Sounded as if Aimee loved him, too.
Like a flung rock to the head, reality smacked her. Dear Lord. She is, isn’t she? Aimee’s in love with Michael.
Selina pondered how Aimee was more Michael’s type than she was. Aimee was unmarried and a real looker, too. Would Michael fall for her once he laid eyes on her and saw how sweet and kind she acted?
With Michael and her being married in name only, would Michael get their marriage annulled so he could marry Aimee? That thought frightened her more than anything ever had in her life before. Well, there was no way she would let that happen. She had to figure out a way to win Michael’s heart—and fast. She’d have to work harder to learn how to write so she could write Aimee and tell her she wasn’t welcome here. If not, she feared she would lose Michael forever.
That night Selina wrestled with her sheets. Long before the sun peeked over the mountain, she got up, flew through breakfast and chores and then hurried over to Rainee’s.
A surprised Rainee greeted her at the door.
“What am I gonna do, Rainee?” Selina blurted before she even stepped inside. “I can’t have her show up now…”
Rainee opened the door to let her in.
Emily and Rosie looked up from the table and their puzzle, then rushed over to Selina and hugged her.
“You want to help us put our puzzle together?” Rosie asked.
Selina glanced at the wooden puzzle pieces scattered on the kitchen table. Normally she would love to spend time with the girls, but today she had too much on her mind and really wanted to talk to Rainee.
“Not today, girls,” Rainee said. “I want you to go find Esther and stay with her until I tell you it is okay to come back inside, okay?”
“Yes, Mother,” they both said with disappointment.
Selina hated disappointing them like that, but she’d make it up to them later.
When the girls were out of sight, Rainee looped arms with Selina and led her to the living room. A tray with a pot of tea, cups, the small plates she learned were called saucers, and all the fixings for tea were set on the round table between them.
Rainee fixed them both a cup of the dark brew. “Now, tell me what this is all about. Who is coming to see you?” She held the cup to her lips.
“Aimee. She says she’s comin’ for a visit. She’s real purty, Rainee. And Michael fell in love with the woman in them letters. The letters were more her than me. I’m so afraid when he meets her and gets to know her, he’ll send my hide packin’.”
“Michael would never do that, Selina. He is a man of his word.”
“Maybe so, but I ain’t takin’ any chances.”
Rainee seemed to be studying Selina for a moment. Her tea cup tinkled when she set it down. “I have an idea. Come with me.”
Selina followed Rainee into one of the rooms. There stood the same kind of treadle sewing machine that Selina had at her house but didn’t know how to use.
Rainee showed her how to use the machine. Selina caught on fast, and the two of them commenced to sewing.
That evening, Selina couldn’t wait until Michael got home. With supper on the stove, she sat on the sofa, watching the door.
The boards on the steps creaked.
Selina hurried to stand in front of the fireplace.
Footsteps sounded on the porch, then stopped at the door.
Selina held her breath.
The door squeaked opened.
Michael stepped inside and stopped when his attention landed on her. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Se-Selina? Is that—is that you?”
Michael was certain his heart had stopped beating. The vision in front of him could not be his wife. “What happened?”
She frowned. “What do you mean, what happened? Ya told me you wanted me to make dresses, so I did. Well, one at least anyways.”
“That was days ago, and you made it clear you weren’t going to wear dresses.”
“A woman can change her mind, can’t she?”
“Guess so. But, you said you weren’t changing for anyone.”
“Ain’t changin’ who I am, just what I’m wearin’.”
Boy was he ever glad she did. She looked great in a dress. He ran his eyes down the length of her. Her molasses, copper-and-honey-colored hair hung to her waist in waves. The woman really did have a shape to be envied by any woman.
The vision of loveliness standing in front of the fireplace was more of what he had in mind when he pictured the woman he had married.
His heart picked up its pace as she glided toward him, looking and walking every bit the lady. Her pink skirt swished with each step she took, and he found he couldn’t peel his eyes away from her.
