Dearly Beloved

Chapter 26

The days leading up to Charlie's wedding were busy ones at the ranch. Rachel arrived from Denver, and to Lou's great contentment was planning to stay for an extended visit. She was there when Lou presented Charlie with the cameo earrings the former station mistress had given her before her own wedding. Having no children of her own, Rachel was more than happy for them to be passed onto Charlie, and all three women shed a few tears when she tried them on.

While everyone else focused on the wedding, Beth quietly packed her things and prepared for her trip to St. Louis with Hannah. Jamie had ignored her since their conversation in her bedroom, and she knew he was punishing her for leaving. Suddenly the trip home couldn't arrive soon enough for Beth.

The night before the wedding, she knocked quietly on Charlie's bedroom door then poked her head inside.

"Not asleep yet, are you?"

"Hardly," Charlie replied ruefully. She had been pacing the floor, sleep the furthest thing from her mind.

"Thought not." Beth slipped inside, a wrapped package behind her back. She presented it to Charlie. "Here, I wanted to give you this. It's not your real wedding present, just something I made for you."

Charlie grinned as she unceremoniously ripped apart the brown paper. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the soft cotton nightgown inside, with a daintily stitched yoke that she knew must have taken Beth weeks to do.

"Beth, it's beautiful… Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it." Beth perched on the end of Charlie's bed as she held the nightdress up against herself and admired it in the mirror.

"Don't see as I'll get any use for it tonight… I'll never be able to sleep."

Beth smiled knowingly. "Nervous?"

"No, excited, I guess." Charlie sat down next to her.

"I remember what that's like. Not long to go now."

"What about you?" Charlie asked tentatively. "You're leaving for St. Louis in a couple of days."

"I suppose I'm excited." Beth bobbed her head. "I'm looking forward to seeing my family, my friends. That doesn't mean I won't miss you all though."

"You won't stay away long, will you?"

Beth sighed as she stood up and moved away from the bed. "I don't know, Charlie. It's complicated…"

"No, it's not. I know there's nothing going on between you and Jamie. It was just that one night, and I haven't told anyone."

"Charlie…"

"He's bringing April Ramsay to the wedding, you know," she said abruptly.

"He is?" Beth looked away, momentarily stunned. "I didn't know that."

Charlie got up in order to look Beth squarely in the face. "He's not going to bother you anymore. So there's no need for you to stay away. All right?"

"All right," Beth acquiesced, but did not elaborate further.

"Good."

Beth forced herself to smile and took Charlie's hand. "You know, you should really try and get some sleep. If nothing else, it will make tomorrow get here sooner."

"I'll try."

Beth moved to leave but was stopped when Charlie gave her a brief hug.

"Thank you for the nightgown, Beth."

She pecked Charlie's cheek then left quickly.


The next day the wedding went off without a hitch, and Charlie became Charlotte Ashmore. Ben's beaming smile greeted the guests at the wedding feast in town, and soon everyone was eating and dancing and celebrating the newlyweds.

Beth endured watching everyone enjoy themselves while she felt lonesome and empty inside. The ceremony had been beautiful and she couldn't have been happier for Charlie and Ben. But the cold manner with which Jamie had escorted her out of the church, and the fact he had murmured only a few polite utterances to her all day, made her realize that the sooner she left Sweetwater the better. The sight of him laughing and dancing with April Ramsay hurt her more than she wanted to admit. After a few hours she decided she couldn't bear it any longer and was determined to take Hannah home.

"You're leavin'?" Lou asked with concern when Beth appeared before her, the sleeping child in her arms. She had been having such a good time with Rachel and Melanie that she hadn't given a Beth a second thought all night. Lou realized guiltily that she had forgotten that the wedding might be difficult for her.

"I'd like to get Hannah back to the ranch, and I'm tired too," Beth explained to all three women. "I can take myself if I can borrow one of the buggies."

"Don't be silly, Jamie will take you."

"No, no. Please, I- I don't want to interrupt his evening," Beth said quickly. "He's having such a good time. You all are. I'm better driving the buggy now, I've been practicing."

"Not drivin' at night, you haven't." Lou sought out her son in the crowd and waved him over, not noticing the look of distress on her daughter-in-law's face.

Jamie wandered over, pausing only when Beth turned around he saw her with his mother. His face hardened slightly, noticed only by Beth. She looked away, resting her check on Hannah's curly head and wishing they were elsewhere.

"What's up, Ma?"

"Can you take Beth home? Hannah's already asleep."

Jamie stammered a response but Beth spoke up again.

"Honestly, Louise, I'm fine. Maybe we should just stay."

"You said yourself you're tired. Charlie won't mind," Lou replied firmly. "But I'm not lettin' you and Hannah go alone. Jamie?"

"Course," he murmured, lifting his eyes to Beth who was trying her best to avoid looking at him. "I can take them home."

Lou kissed her son's cheek and then did the same to Hannah's. "Good night."

Beth cleared her throat. "Good night."

They left the church hall in silence, Jamie trailing behind her. Beth was embarrassed and angry that she was being forced to accept assistance from the one person she wanted to avoid. When they reached the family's buggy she turned to face him.

"I don't need a chaperone," Beth said bluntly. "You don't have to come."

Jamie's lips formed into a thin line, biting back his own discomfort at their unintended proximity. "You heard what Ma said."

"I'm quite capable of looking after myself, despite what you all think."

"I never said you weren't," Jamie said with mounting annoyance. "I didn't ask for the privilege, remember."

Beth's eyes blazed. "Of course not. What about April? You must be worried she'll think you rude for leaving her alone at your sister's wedding."

"Leave April out of this."

"Why? Are you so sure of her sudden affection for you?" Beth knew she sounded bitter but she couldn't help herself. She adjusted Hannah in her arms, glad for the small buffer that her daughter placed between them.

Jamie planted his hands on his hips, sighing with frustration. "I don't care about April Ramsay."

"Then why bring her?"

"What do you care?" Jamie retorted.

"I don't," Beth said defensively.

Jamie's tone was sarcastic. "Obviously."

Beth turned away, biting back any further outbursts that threatened to make her regret even more about what was going on between them. She settled Hannah into the soft basket that had been secured in the back of the buggy and tucked her in firmly. Jamie double checked the fastenings but Beth snatched them out of his hands, pushing him away with her elbow as she took over the task.

"I'm just trying to help you like I was asked. Why won't you let me?"

"I don't want you," Beth muttered in a low but cutting voice. "Why don't you listen?"

Jamie glowered, masking the pain her words inflicted. He stepped away from the buggy. "I heard you just fine."

Beth lowered her eyes, ashamed. She was trying to think about what she could possibly say to make him understand how difficult this was for her, how confused he made her feel, when Ethan appeared behind his brother.

"You goin' home already, Beth?" he asked, oblivious to the emotion on both their faces.

She nodded weakly in response.

"Ethan? How do you feel about drivin' the buggy?" Jamie asked, still looking at Beth and not his little brother. "Can you see Beth and Hannah home?"

"Yeah, course I can."

"I should get back to April," Jamie said evenly.

Beth met his eyes and for once allowed him to see that his words had hurt her. Ethan scrambled up onto the driver's seat and Beth joined him in the buggy. Jamie handed him the reins.

"Take it slow," he instructed. "Be careful. And use the lantern if you lose the moonlight."

"I will, I ain't a little kid," Ethan replied with a mix of excitement and disdain in his thirteen-year-old voice.

"Go on then."

Jamie waited as Ethan geed up the horses and drove away. She was gone.