Homespun Bride

Jillian Hart95“If you l-leave me, Rob—” Henrietta choked on asob “—I shall never forgive you. Mark my words! I willhold it against you for all eternity, that’s wh-what I’lld-do.”Her aunt broke down again, all tears and incoherentfear. Noelle unfolded her hands from prayer and roseto find a fresh handkerchief from the top bureau drawer.The eerie, waiting silence of the room and of the housemade her padding footsteps seem louder than a herd ofhorses at feed time.“Here, Henrietta.” She felt her way to the other sideof the bed, where her aunt sat sobbing. “What more canI do for you?”“There’s nothing you can do, child. All I want is tosee my Robert awake and alive and as good as new.That’s what I want.” She took the handkerchief andblew her nose with a trumpeting sound. “That man!Why did he go and do that? Mr. McKaslin told him notto buy that mare. Not a lick of sense. He’s at that age.”Knowing her aunt needed to talk, that it wouldcomfort her, Noelle knelt on the wood floor. “Whatage?”“Selling the house in town, moving out here to thiswilderness is trouble enough. But he quit his job at thebank. Quit. We still have our girls to raise and marryoff, every single one of them. This is not the time tobegin a horse ranch. Weddings are expensive and we’llhave five of them, and Lydia’s and Meredith’s finishingschool costs. Next year Angelina will be attendingthe academy in Boston, and the year after that Minnie.How will we find good matches for the girls and theirlasting happiness if we cannot afford it?”Noelle found Henrietta’s elbow and from there, took