AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The workweek is over!” she said, rushing to him and raising her lips for his kiss. “Now we get two entire days together!”
He smiled. “We do at that. How would you feel about going to a social and dance at the church tomorrow evening? There will be some men with instruments, and we will eat as a congregation and then dance the night away. Do you like to dance?”
Constance nodded. “I love to dance. I went to all the dances back in Beckham.” She didn’t add that she was always the girl in the corner, leaning against the wall, and making sure it didn’t fall down.
“Well then, we’re going to have fun dancing tomorrow!”
“Will your family be there?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes my brothers bring their families, but my parents will stay at home.”
“Could we do a picnic for lunch tomorrow? Would you mind?”
“I’d love to. I’ll hitch up the buggy, and we’ll take a nice long drive. We can picnic by the river if you’d like.”
Constance clapped. “I would adore that!” She’d always been drawn to water, and her parents had taken her to the beach multiple times.
“Then we have our whole day planned. Sunday will just be church and a quiet day at home, if that’s all right with you.”
“Of course. I don’t need to always be doing something fun. I can stay home and be happy here.”
“A lot of times on Sunday, Ma will have the whole family over for Sunday dinner. I haven’t heard if she’s doing that this week, but I have a feeling she’s going to insist. She’ll want the entire family to meet you and get to know you.”
“I would like that a lot. I have no friends here, so it would be nice if I could meet some of your sisters-in-law. I’d love to become friends with them.”
“I’m thinking Ma will have us, but if not, you really are content to spend the day at home?”
She smiled, turning and walking toward the kitchen. “Of course I am.”
As he ate her cooking, he watched her, thinking that God had sent him the only woman in the world who was perfect for him, and he was glad. She could cook, and she enjoyed his attentions. What more could a man ask for in a wife?
“What are you thinking?” she asked, realizing he’d been watching her.
“That you’re a woman who can truly make me happy. I’m so thankful I sent that letter to the matchmaker in your town. My life will never be the same.”
Chapter Five
Constance made them a picnic lunch as soon as she had finished the breakfast dishes the following day. There was no picnic basket, as she would have liked, so she put all their food into his lunch pail. It would work until she could talk him into buying her a picnic basket. Perhaps she could request it for Christmas.
He came in from hitching the horses to the buggy as she was walking toward the door with their food. “We need to be home in time for me to cook for the church supper,” she told him.
He nodded. “We’ll go now and come back when we’ve eaten. I want to show you the beautiful area we live in.”
“I’d love that!”
After helping her into the buggy, he talked to her about the history of the Indians in the area and the early settlers of Sioux Falls. They drove along the river as he stopped to point out several things, and they had their picnic near the falls and the abandoned Queen Bee Mill. He told her the story of the mill that had cost so much to build and was only open for two years.
“We just didn’t have enough power from the river or enough wheat needing to be ground,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s still beautiful though.”
“It is. Why it’s the tallest building I’ve seen!”
“Seven stories,” he said. “I hear someone else is planning to make a go of it, but no one can seem to make it work.”
“That’s really sad. I hate when buildings that are that beautiful can’t be used for their intended purpose.” She smiled. “Wouldn’t it be fun to buy a building like that just to raise your family in? I’d think I was living in a castle!”
He frowned for a moment. “Do you not find our house large enough?”
Constance immediately regretted her words. “Oh, no! That’s not what I meant at all. I’m just having a little moment of daydreaming. I think our house is wonderful. Why, I haven’t even been upstairs to see the other bedrooms yet. And there’s a water closet! I don’t know of a woman who could find a way to complain of a house with a water closet.”
