Chapter Nine

*Chapter Note. While I was writing the previous chapter, I had a feeling I had gotten something wrong, so I went back to Togetherness and my notes and discovered my niggle was correct. I have corrected the name Evangeline to Angeline. Angeline Meder was a real person, though little is written about her. In fact, the only place I found her name was on a ship manifest from when Moses Meder came with his wife and daughter to California from the Northeast. Moses Meder owned what is known today as Wilder Ranch State Park near Santa Cruz, California. He owned a dairy there known for it's butter and sold out to Wilder in 1870. And that's your history lesson for today.

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Sleeping in an extra hour had the Cartwrights and their entourage up at six in the morning. Adam and Shiloh allowed the boys to sleep while everything was packed and taken up to the coach waiting in front of the Western Hotel.

When everyone but Shiloh sat down to breakfast, Lo excused himself and disappeared into the streets.

"Adam, where is Lo going?" asked Shiloh, standing at the side of the table and watching Lo go out the back of the restaurant. She'd just come up from the cellar after feeding Aaron his usual breakfast appetizer.

Standing and moving out her chair, Adam answered, "Chinatown." When she questioned him with a look, he added, "He's going to get some food to his liking. The heat's ruined much of what he brought with him."

"Did you give him money? He shouldn't have to pay for anything. He does more than his share."

Adam had resumed his meal and was just about to take a bite of eggs, but stopped and raised his brows.

She smiled and said quietly, "Of course you did."

The waiter had been watching for her as Adam had requested and brought a plate of eggs, bacon, biscuits and a glass of milk.

She looked at Adam. "No coffee?"

"Uh, no. You've haven't been drinking coffee at home." He shrugged as he chewed a piece of steak. "Milk's better for you."

"So when did you become a doctor?" she said sarcastically, then ordered hot tea.

Abel reached over from Amalee's lap, holding out a piece of egg to Aaron who opened his mouth and waited for whatever delicious thing his brother was going to drop in.

Looking back at Abel, Shiloh smiled and winked, sending the little boy into a fit of laughter. She broke up a biscuit and between bites of her own, she popped very small pieces of the biscuit dipped in a little maple syrup into the baby's mouth. The stickiness kept the child's mouth occupied until his mother was ready with another bite.

Abel leaned over toward his mother while Amalee held him to keep him from falling to the floor. "Me want bite."

Shiloh smiled and broke off a larger piece of biscuit, dipped it in the syrup and popped it in Abel's mouth, leaving the child smiling and nodding as he chewed.

At the end of the meal, around seven in the morning, Shiloh leaned back in her chair and blew out of her mouth. It was getting warm in the restaurant which, she knew, meant it was even warmer outside. "Adam, how long to the foothills from here?"

"Several hours, Sweetheart," said Adam, looking at her dress. "You should have worn something lighter."

I brought a lighter dress with me," she said. "I'll change in the coach. After all, these people apparently know who I am. I have to keep up appearances."

Adam stood and took Abel from Amalee before he moved Shiloh's chair out as she stood. "I never thought you cared what other people thought," he said with a cheeky smile.

"I've just performed a song for a play that everyone seems to be scrambling to see."

"So you're doing this for the benefit of the play?" he said, leading the Cartwright troupe out of the hotel and to their waiting coach.

"You could say that," Shiloh answered, just before the hotel manager stopped her with the latest edition of the San Francisco Call.

"Miss Whitney, would you do me the honor of signing the likeness of you in the paper?"

Shiloh passed Aaron to Amalee and took the quill the manager offered.

"I do hope you plan to perform Redemption in Sacramento," the manager said. "I'm sure you'll have several sold out performances here."

She smiled. "Well, it's not quite ready yet, but I think we can arrange it. And thank you for the…cool…accommodations last night. They were perfect," she said with a wink and a wide smile.

Adam leaned into her as they walked away. "I do believe the man almost swooned."

Lo arrived just as Adam got the women and children inside the coach, and without a word, the Chinaman climbed up to the box of the coach with his gunny sack of food.

Adam didn't want to ask what he was able to get because most likely it would be ruined by the time they were high enough for the air to cool. "Charlie, don't waste any time getting out of this heat. We'll stay in Placerville tonight."

"Yes, sir," Charlie said as he nodded, thinking he and Lo had the best seats on the coach at the moment. At least they had somewhat of a breeze blowing as the coach rambled on, albeit a hot breeze.

In the coach Shiloh and Amalee had already stripped the boys down to their diapers by the time Adam climbed in and removed his jacket. "You should go ahead and change, Sweetheart. It's going to get hot fast."

Shiloh did as Adam suggested and settled into her place by the window while Adam sat next to her, holding on to Aaron as he and Abel played on the coach floor. It wasn't long before the heat made both boys testy and drowsy. He passed Aaron to Amalee and stood Abel by the window while holding onto the child's legs. This occupied Abel for a time until the fussiness came with the heat and the inevitable inability to give him any comfort.

It was the evening of another miserable day of travel when the heat finally began to subside, maybe because of the approaching darkness or maybe because they were almost into Placerville and cooler air…if the air was really cooler. Adam knew that sometimes the heat waves made it all the way up to the Ponderosa. He hoped this wasn't one of those times.

Shiloh had said hardly a word all day. The boys had been miserable and were content to sit on her lap, or lay next to her, but it seemed that everyone in Adam's extended family was…unhappy…though Shiloh did offer a slight smile every now and then. Now, having checked into the Cary House in Placerville, he discovered why she was so quiet as the first thing she did when they entered their room was run to the bedroom and throw up. He left the children with Amalee and entered the bedroom behind her, stopping to pour water into the washbowl and dip a towel in. He moved behind Shiloh who was hanging out of the window which opened onto a narrow alley.

"Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" he asked.

Leaning back against the wall, she accepted the towel and wiped her face. "I didn't want to worry you. Besides, there was nothing you could do about it."

Moving a hand to the side of her face, he said, "I'll get the boys fed and settled tonight. Why don't you lay down and get some rest? It's been a long day." He noticed for the first time that her hands were shaking.

When she realized he saw them, she clasped them. "You're right. I am tired."

Stepping into her, he moved both hands to either side of her face and looked into her eyes. He was silent for a moment as he studied her, but finally asked, "I can get a doctor."

Now she gave him a genuine smile, though it was a tired one. "I'm really all right. As you said, it's been a long…hot…day. I do feel better now. Just tired."

"What about the baby?"

She pressed against him and gazed back into his eyes. "The baby's fine. I just lost what we had for lunch. It was really too hot to eat. It didn't settle well."

Adam felt her forehead, then moved his hand to her neck. Her skin felt cool, so he relented. "I'll take the ladies and the boys down to the restaurant for dinner and leave you to rest. Would you like me to bring something back for you?"

"Nothing feels appealing at the moment." She folded her lips and gave it some thought, then said, "Do you think Placerville has ice cream?" When Adam's nostrils flared as he tried not to smile, she said, "It's cold. I want something cold."

Chuckling, he said, "I'll ask. Do you want me to wake you if I find it?"

She was too tired to laugh. She simply closed her eyes and smiled. Feeling his hands on her arms, she opened her eyes in time to see he was turning her around and guiding her toward the bed. Grimacing, she said, "Wait. I need to clean out my mouth."

"You packed the brush and mint leaves Hop Sing gave you?"

"Of course. I'll only be a minute."

The next thing she remembered was Adam bending over her and kissing her forehead. Now, she opened her eyes to a dark, silent room, feeling coolness around her, enough so that she pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. Turning to her side, she realized Adam was in bed with her. She reached for him, and when her fingers touched his cool skin, his head turned toward her first, then his body, and before she knew it, his arms were around her holding her against him.

"Ssh. I'm here. Go back to sleep. It's not morning yet."

"Ice cream?" she whispered sleepily.

He chuckled almost silently, then whispered, "They do have ice cream in Placerville. You'll have some tomorrow." He kissed her nose, then said ever more quietly. "Go to sleep."

She was gone before she finished her nod, but with a smile still on her lips.

The next morning, Adam arranged for breakfast in the hotel rooms, and though it was a bit cramped everyone was in a much better mood than the day before. After he got the boys settled at the small table with Amalee and Angeline, he prepared two plates and took them into the bedroom, then went back for coffee and milk.

Sitting on the side of the bed, he softly kissed his wife awake, and when her arms moved around his neck, he applied a firmer kiss to her mouth, leaving her almost breathless. "Good morning," he whispered as he kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her eyes, and then her lips again. "I've brought breakfast."

"Ice cream?"

"No," he said with smiling eyes. "But fresh, hot bread and butter."

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Resuming their travels, they sat in the coach with Abel between them and Aaron on his mother's lap. Shiloh occasionally glanced over at Adam and smiled amid Abel's babble and Aaron's gurgles in answer to his brother. The heat was gone, and all was back to normal.

The coach arrived at the Lake House just before dinnertime and before they could unload, Ben stopped them and led them to the Ponderosa for dinner.

Entering the house, Adam said, "Amalee, this is my brother, Hoss," nodding to Hoss, "and his wife Annie." Again he paused, indicating Annie, "and their son, Eric, and coming down the stairs is my youngest brother, Little Joe."

"Amalee, nice to meet you," said Joe. "And it's just Joe. I'll take this one off your hands," he said as he lifted Aaron and moved his arm underneath Aaron's behind, then watched as Aaron pouted.

The pout remained as the baby's breath came in short snorts.

Shiloh looked up at Adam. "Now or do we wait until he's screaming?"

"Wait a minute. He knows me," said Joe.

Aaron's bottom lip blew out as he squeezed his eyes closed and his cry escaped in a low rumble. By the time his mouth opened wide, he had run out of breath, so it manifested as a silent bawl until he sucked in a breath while everyone else held theirs. Aaron let out a scream Joe would never forget.

Joe's own pout as he held Aaron out toward Adam made everyone laugh.

"He's not a year yet, Joe, and he's been away for three months. He doesn't remember you," said Adam, laughing and heading for the table. He stopped and looked at the table where there was a high chair on either side in the middle of two chairs. He chose the side facing the door. Once Shiloh was seated, he passed Aaron to her. Abel would be his responsibility tonight.

After everyone was seated and the prayer was said, all the Cartwrights and Angeline began passing serving dishes around, save Shiloh who nodded now and then when Adam offered to add food to her plate.

"Amalee," said Adam, "I know this isn't something unusual at your parent's house." Smiling, he said, "Make yourself at home."

"Angeline, how are your parents?" asked Ben after he had surveyed what seemed to

be an ever growing family.

"They seemed tired, Mr. Cartwright. Working in the dairy all these years…so many hours on their feet, bending and lifting…my father will be seventy this year, and mother's not far behind him," said Angeline.

"It must have been hard to leave," said Hoss, who remembered Angeline from when he was still a child.

"It was, Hoss, but they wanted me to have this opportunity. It was this or find something else in Santa Cruz. There's not much available in the way of jobs for respectable women there. And if I'd stayed, Mama and Papa would have felt guilty. But they have friends around them who'll make sure they're cared for, and they'll have the income from the lease of the dairy." She looked over at Adam. "I haven't thanked you properly for the opportunity here."

Adam had stopped eating, propped his elbows on the table and was listening intently to Angeline. "Well, I can't think of anyone more qualified to run the Ponderosa dairy than you," answered Adam. "But I thought Moses sold the dairy."

Shaking her head, she said, "No, it's leased. Papa wanted me to decide when to sell it, and I'm not going to do that while they're still with us. And when I say thank you, I'm not just talking about running your dairy, Adam. I'm talking about…" She looked around the table and smiled. "I remember coming here with my father to build to your sawmill. You all made us…me…feel like I was part of a bigger family. You must understand, Mr. Cartwright, my father still considers that one of the best times of his life. I think part of him regrets moving on."

"I offered your father some land to settle here and run the sawmill as a partner." Ben looked off and smiled. "He had his mind set on a dairy back then." Moving his gaze to his eldest, he said, "It was Adam who remembered that and decided to build a dairy over two decades later." After sharing a knowing gaze with his son, Ben added, "And if Moses ever decides he wants to be closer to his daughter, the offer still stands."

That evening at the Lake House, after Angeline and Amalee were settled in their rooms and Abel had been laid down, Shiloh sat back against the headboard of the bed, giving Aaron his bedtime meal while Adam untucked his shirt, kicked his boots off and began unpacking his valise.

He listened to his wife whisper to their son and smiled when Aaron grunted or laughed. They stole his heart once again when he turned to find Aaron reaching up to touch his mother's face and Shiloh bending to kiss the little hand that didn't quite make it. Furrowing his brow, he remembered the young woman who came home from college to run the family ranch explain to him that she never wanted to marry or have children. She had more important things to accomplish in her life. Taking a deep breath, he settle into a satisfied smile. She'd married him and given him sons despite what she'd thought she wanted four years ago. Part of him still wondered if she was truly happy with her choice. But then he'd watch her with the boys and dismiss the thought. The children occupied much of her time now. She found her happiness in them and in her music, but what would happen when the children were older and starting their own lives. Would she have regrets then?

Shiloh felt Adam's eyes on her and glanced up to see a smile on his face. Not the casual kind, but rather the hungry kind. She knew she wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon.