Chapter 12: Thank you to all the fans of this story, without it would never be where it is now. I'm glad that it's gone this far though:) :) This chapter is dedicated to all the dedicated EO shippers, you know who you are.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters except for well you know who they are.
That evening when Elliot returned home from dropping off Olivia he walked into a quiet house. He went up stairs to check on Ethan. He found the boy sprawled in bed, the covers bunched at the bottom. Elliot walked in and pulled the sheet and blankets back over the boy and kissed his head. "Good night son." He didn't get a response.
Elliot went to his own room and changed for bed. Tomorrow morning he and his neighbor helpers would be done thrashing his wheat and oats. Elliot was glad that it would be done. Then in the afternoon he and Ethan would take the grain that he was selling to town, go and see Olivia and then they would come home and have a visit about Elliot's desire to marry Olivia. He and Ethan had talked before about his possibly getting married again but they hadn't talked about it in any great detail. Elliot wanted to be sure that Ethan was ok with his getting married again and his getting a new mother. He wanted this to be a decision between the two of them. He also wanted to talk to Ethan about his birthday and Olivia's kind offer to have a party for him.
The next morning, Ethan was up before his Pa. He went out and collected the eggs and then came back in the house. Still no Pa. He went to Pa's room and found him still asleep so he said, "Pa?"
Elliot yawned and rolled over. "Oh, Ethan. You're already up son?"
"Yes sir and I already picked the eggs and carried in a fresh bucket of water from the well."
"That's good son. I'll be up in a few minutes then to cook breakfast and we need to have a talk." Elliot said.
He watched Ethan leave the room and then he got up and dressed. When he reached the kitchen Ethan was already there waiting for him to cook the eggs and salt pork. He cracked the eggs into the pan and watched them begin to fry before he said anything to Ethan. "Son do you like Olivia?"
"Yes, sir. Ms. Olivia is really nice and she cooks great."
"So you wouldn't object too much if I decided that I wanted to marry Ms. Olivia?" Elliot threw out. He felt like he was on a fishing expedition.
"No sir. Pa, if you married Ms. Olivia would I get to call her Ma or would I have to call her Ms. Olivia still?" Ethan asked. It was something that he had been thinking about for quite some time. He hoped his father said that he could and not tell him that they would see or that he had to wait and ask Ms. Olivia himself. Then another thought crossed his mind. If his Pa married Ms. Olivia and she became his Ma then he would have a grandfather. He had never had one of those before either. This was just sounding better and better.
Elliot was quiet for a minute, he was sure that Olivia would be thrilled with Ethan calling her Ma but decided that he would use caution and said, "I don't think Olivia would mind if you called her Ma but I think that you should ask her yourself. Now, I haven't bought a ring for her yet so I want you to keep quiet about this ok."
"Yes sir. Pa, are you going to buy the ring from her grandfather, Mr. Percy?"
"No son. I thought you and I would go to Dalton to buy Olivia's ring."
"Yes sir." Ethan said. "Pa?"
"Yes son."
"Pa, I told Ms. Olivia yesterday that I can hardly remember my own Ma."
(A/N: Yes I know how to talk but remember Ethan is an 8 year old boy and they don't always speak correctly!)
"Is that true Ethan?" Elliot said. He was concerned, why hadn't Ethan said anything to him.
"Yes, sir. I only remember a few things about her. I remember that she was always happy and that she had blonde hair and blue eyes. I remember that she always used to say, Ethan, you are just a smaller version of your Pa." Ethan said.
"Well son," Elliot said, pulling his chair up in front of Ethan's. "You were only a small boy when your Ma died and she didn't die in a nice way. It's ok that you don't remember everything about her and I'm glad that you remember all the good things about her, that's what's important."
"Ok Pa." Ethan said. He climbed out of his chair and into his father's lap, something he hadn't done for quite some time. "I love you Pa and I'm glad that you're marrying Ms. Olivia."
Elliot wrapped his arms around his son and squeezed him until he wiggled. "I love you too son. Now go catch the horses. We'll let the calves nurse the cow and milk her tonight. Someday we're going to build us an ice house so that we can keep things cold."
Half an hour later after the chores were done and the grain loaded into the wagon, Elliot and Ethan headed to Rock Springs. Soon there after they were pulling up in front of Percy Benson's store. Olivia was in the back and didn't see them but she heard Elliot's laugh and rushed out.
"Livie, dear, look who's here to sell me his grain." Percy said, giving a big belly laugh that reminded Olivia of Santa Clause.
"Good morning Elliot and Ethan." Olivia said.
"Good morning Ms. Olivia." Ethan said.
"Morning Olivia." Elliot said.
"Livie, dear, why don't you watch things out here for me and give Ethan a piece of horehound candy to put in his pocket. Elliot and I need to go outside and discuss a few things around back."
"Ok Granddad." Olivia said. "Come along Ethan."
Elliot and Percy took his wagon around the back of Percy's store and immediately Percy said to Elliot. "Ok, Elliot. I know you're here to sell grain but what is the real question you want to ask me. Let it out my boy."
"Mr. Benson." Elliot started.
"Percy, Elliot. I have been Percy to you for a long time; don't get all formal on me now."
"Ok, Percy, I would like to ask your permission to marry Olivia."
"Well, you don't need to ask me, Elliot. You need to ask Livie. Have you boughten a ring yet?" Percy asked.
"No sir. I plan to drive over to Dalton with Ethan this afternoon and get one. Then I would like to ask Olivia when we go out driving on Sunday."
"Well it sounds to me like you have it all planned out then." Percy said. "Now about this grain. You have wheat and oats here. It looks clean and of good variety. I will give you three dollars a bushel for it."
"Ok, that sounds fair. Thank you Percy."
"You're more than welcome. I always know that I can count on a quality product when I buy from you, Elliot. I also want to say that I am glad that you are marrying my granddaughter because I know that I can trust you to take care of her. I can also say that I know that she will take good care of you and Ethan."
"Thank you Percy. I know that this is the right thing to do."
Inside the store while Percy and Elliot where outside, Olivia was questioning Ethan about his upcoming birthday. "So Ethan what kind of cake would you like for you birthday?"
"Well Ms. Casey always makes me a white cake or a yellow cake but I really do like chocolate with chocolate frosting."
"Ok, well I don't know if your father told you this or not but I plan to bake your birthday cake this year." Olivia said. "So I will make you a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting."
"Oh boy! Thank you so much Ms. Olivia!" Ethan said hugging her in his exuberance.
Olivia hugged the boy back, enjoying his little boy smell. "Are there any friends you would like to invite to your party?"
"Party? I thought you were just making me a cake to have with Pa and me."
"No I want you to have a party too."
"Oh wow. Wow. I've never had a real party before. I thought those were just for town kids. Oliver and Emily always have a party for their birthday and they are really neat."
"Well then you shall have a party too. So who would you like to invite?"
"Well Oliver and Emily of course and Mr. Percy and can I invite some of my farm friends?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't you think you could invite your friends that live in the country?"
"Well cause, Ms. Casey, she always told Oliver and Emily that I was the only country kid they could invite to their parties."
"I see." Olivia said. "Well I see no reason why you can't invite four friends. We'll have to talk to your father but I think Oliver and Emily and two more friends should be enough."
"Talk to me about what?" Elliot said as he and Percy walked back in the door.
"About Ethan's birthday party." Olivia said.
"Oh, well we can talk about that on Sunday when we go riding. Ethan and I need to get going. We have to drive over to Dalton before dark." Elliot said.
"Oh, ok." Olivia said. She took a few steps toward Elliot. In a whisper, she said, "I'm sorry. I thought that you had talked to him about it."
"No, no. I'm not upset darlin'. I just need to get going and won't be back to town until Sunday." Elliot said. He hated the thought that Olivia thought that he was upset with her.
"Oh, ok." Olivia said. She laid a hand on his chest. "So I won't see you until Sunday then."
"No darlin'. I'm sorry." Elliot said. He kept his voice quiet so that the other store patrons wouldn't hear him using the endearment towards Olivia.
"Alright. I gave Ethan some candy he has it in his pocket. Would you like me to make you some sandwiches to take with you on your trip to Dalton?" Olivia asked.
"If you would, I would appreciate it." Elliot said. "Ethan, son, go get in the wagon. I'm going with Olivia into the back so that she can make us some sandwiches to take with us on our trip to Dalton.
"Yes sir." Ethan said and went to the wagon.
Elliot followed Olivia into the back where she and her grandfather lived and into the kitchen. Olivia quickly made four thick sandwiches and wrapped them in brown paper. Then she turned with them in her hands to give them to Elliot. He took the sandwiches, set them on the table and grabbed her up and kissed her. "I guess that will have to hold me over until Sunday huh?"
Olivia just smiled and picked up his sandwiches again and handed them to him. "You. Now go on and get out of here before folks talk."
Elliot laughed and said, "Don't worry folks are going to be talking."
"Why?" Olivia asked, confused.
"Because Mrs. Perry was out there in your granddad's store when we came back here and she is the biggest busy body in town."
"Elliot! How dare you talk about someone like that?!" Olivia said. "Go now."
"Yes, ma'm." Elliot said. He went out the front and nodded to Mrs. Perry as he went out the door.
It took Elliot and Ethan three hours to drive to Dalton because it was so hot. When they arrived they went to the soda fountain there first. Dalton was a much bigger town than Rock Springs and had a variety of stores that Rock Springs didn't. One of those was the soda fountain and Elliot decided that since Ethan had did so well with not telling Olivia about his asking her to marry him that he decided that he needed to give him a treat. "Let's go to the soda fountain first Ethan."
"What's a soda fountain Pa?"
"Oh they have things like soda pop and ice cream. I decided that you needed a treat before school starts and since you've been such a big help this summer." Elliot said.
He and Ethan went in and sat down at one of their fancy little tables. A waitress came up right away and said, "Welcome gents. What can I get for you?"
"Oh how about two root beers and two dishes of vanilla ice cream." Elliot said.
Ethan was bouncing around in his seat and looking around the place with wide eyes and a look of awe on his face. "This place is really neat Pa."
"I know. Just think you'll have something to tell Emily and Oliver on Sunday that doesn't involve slopping hogs or chasing cows."
"I like doing that stuff Pa and Emily likes hearing about it."
"She does, does she?" Elliot said.
"Yes sir. She says that what her Pa does is scary. Because he is gone from home a lot and makes her Ma worry. She also says that she doesn't care for living in town."
"Hmm. Do you think Olivia will like living on our ranch with us?"
"Yes sir. I think we'll like her living there too. Pa are you going to have more kids?"
"I don't know son." Elliot said.
Shortly thereafter their root beer's and ice cream arrived. Ethan took a drink of his root beer and giggled. "It tickles your mouth Pa."
"Yup. That's the fun part about drinking soda pop." Elliot said.
They enjoyed their treat and after Elliot paid their bill of fifty cents they went and made their way down to the general mercantile. When they made it there they found that he no long sold jewelry and we're directed to a jewelry store down the street.
Once there, Elliot looked at the store front and down at himself and Ethan. "We better brush our clothes off, son."
Father and son brushed the dust from them and took off their hats and then walked into the store. They were greeted by a man in a suit with slicked back hair and a pretty girl with her hair all in curls. "Hello sir, how may we help you?"
"I'm looking for a wedding ring." Elliot said.
"Ah yes. Right this way." The man said. He led Elliot to a case full of rings from the very exquisite and expensive to the very plain and in expensive. Elliot choose one in the mid range. It had a small stone set in that the man told him was a diamond in a plain gold band. Elliot called Ethan over whom was walking around looking in all the cases. "Yes Pa."
"What do you think of this? Do you think Olivia will like it?"
"I do Pa. I think Ms. Olivia will love it." Ethan said.
"Ok, we'll take it." Elliot told the man. They went down the counter and the man totaled up the bill and Ethan watched in awe as his father took out twenty-five dollars and paid for the ring.
They walked out of the store a few minutes later, the ring in a small box in Elliot's vest pocket. "We'll buy new suits in Rock Springs." Elliot said as they passed a suit shop on their way to where their wagon was parked.
By the time they reached home, Ethan was sleeping against Elliot's shoulder so he lifted the boy down from the wagon and carried him in the house. He stripped him down to his underclothes and covered him up. He propped the window open to let in the cool evening air and then went down to unhitch the horses and turn them out for the night. By the time he was finished the moon was high in the sky. Elliot went in and took the ring out of his pocket and looked at it again. He was sure that the day was Tuesday that meant he had four more days before he could give it to Olivia and ask her to be his wife. He would use the four days to think of the right thing to say.
Ok what do you think? According to this thing this chapter is 6 pages long, I think that in its self is a record! Please R&R, I am really trying to make up for lost time with these chapters and since I'm not doing anything, well ok I'm putting off cleaning my hose but that's ok. Next chapter will be a proposal, ahhhhh; well hopefully, who knows maybe scraggly guy will make an appearance and kidnap Olivia. Gasp!