Chapter Six
Outside, Adam wrapped an arm around Molly as they ambled down the sidewalk a bit. She'd hesitated when he'd asked if she wanted to get some air – it was near freezing – but Adam had insisted that he was too warm and he'd keep it short.
"I love weddings," Molly sighed as they walked along. Her words drifted upwards on a puff of smoky breath. "This has been so much fun."
"It has," Adam agreed. "Kinda makes you want to do it again, doesn't it?"
Molly giggled. "Aye, it does. But with any luck, Hoss will only get married this once."
"I wasn't talking about Hoss."
Molly stopped midstride and faced Adam, one eyebrow cocked. Adam smiled and caressed her cheek with a gloved finger. "You know, when my ex-fiancée left me, I was devastated. I swore I'd never leave myself that vulnerable again. But then I met you, and I realized I'd never had any idea what love really is. I ache when we're apart, and I can't live without you." Molly gasped as Adam dropped to one knee and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out the ring box and popped it open. "Molly Deirdre O'Connell, would you do me the great honor of consenting to be my wife?"
Molly burst into tears. "You really think you have to ask?" she sniffled. "Of course I will!"
Adam's face split into a broad grin, and he leapt to his feet. Molly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. He slipped his arms around her waist and drew her close. He chuckled when they finally came up for air.
"You know, I still have a ring here in my hand, if you're interested," he said.
Tears still streaming down her face, Molly nodded. Adam pulled the ring out of the box and reached for Molly's left hand. Molly gasped as Adam slipped the ring onto her third finger.
"Where did you get this ring?" she demanded, her voice strangely hard. She yanked it off her finger and held it up to the moonlight.
Adam was flummoxed. "I bought it," he sputtered. "I bought it from a jeweler in Sacramento when I took Josie there for her birthday. What's the matter? Don't you like it?"
A fresh round of tears rose to Molly's eyes as she examined the inside of the band. "It's not that," she whimpered. "It's… this… Adam, this is me mother's ring."
"What?"
"This is me mother's ring. Look." She pointed to the initials engraved behind the emerald. "'P.O. and N.O.,'" she read. "Patrick O'Connell and Niamh O'Connell. My parents. This is me mother's wedding ring."
Adam was still trying to catch up. "But… How did it wind up with the jeweler?" he asked.
Molly wiped her eyes with her coat sleeve and slipped the ring back onto her finger. She stared at it like an old friend she'd never expected to see again. "I sold it," she whispered. "I sold it last year to pay for Fionn's lawyer."
"The jeweler said he'd bought it from another jeweler in San Francisco," Adam mused. "But Molly, I thought you said you paid Fionn's lawyer with the money your father had left you."
Molly dropped her head in shame. "I stretched the truth a bit to protect Fionn's feelings. Da left us money, sure, but it wasn't enough for both the lawyer and the farm. Whether Fionn walked or went to jail, I knew I'd need that money to buy a new place somewhere away from San Francisco. But I had to get him a good lawyer, Adam. I had to. He's…" She broke down sobbing, and Adam gathered her up in his arms.
"It's all right, sweetheart," he whispered into her ear. "You did what you had to do. I only have a few things that belonged to my mother, but I'd sell them in a minute if it meant protecting Hoss or Joe or Josie." Adam tilted Molly's face up so she was looking at him. "Come on, now. No more tears. We get to start planning our wedding!"
Molly smiled and gave him a salty kiss. "Oh, Adam, I love you so much."
"I love you, too, darling." He shivered and pulled her closer. "But I think we should probably go back inside before we freeze to death."
"Aye," Molly agreed. She dug a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped the tears from her face before they could freeze. She admired the ring on her finger. "Have you been hidin' this since September?"
Adam chuckled and started leading her back to the International House. "Yeah, I have. Been burning a hole in my sock drawer. I can't tell you how many times I nearly proposed to you since then, but I didn't want to steal Hoss's thunder."
"That was the right thing to do," Molly said. "I think I can keep this to meself for a few more hours. Is it all right if I tell Fionn, though?"
"Fionn already knows. I asked him for your hand a couple nights ago. Josie knows, too, but they're the only ones."
"You asked Fionn for me hand?"
"Didn't seem right not to. Though it did put me in a position where I couldn't say 'no' this morning when he asked me if he could court Josie." He grinned at Molly.
"So that's what had her gigglin' so hard last night," Molly muttered. "I am glad to see them together. Josie is so good for Fionn."
"Almost as good as you are for me." Adam leaned down and kissed Molly's cheek. They reached the door of the hotel and Adam sighed. "You know, I have a room here tonight. I'm sure I could slip you up there without my family seeing you." He gave her a wicked smile.
"Oh, I'm sure you could, but how would I explain my absence to Fionn? We're sleepin' at me shop tonight. He'll probably notice if I'm not there."
"Oh. Yeah."
Molly giggled and ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his neck. "Guess you'll just have to get to buildin' our house so we can get married sooner rather than later."
"Guess I will." Adam gave Molly one last lingering kiss before leading her back into the reception.
Back inside, Adam could feel Josie and Fionn's gazes boring into him the instant he and Molly stepped back into the restaurant. Fortunately, no one else seemed to have noticed their absence, so Adam led Molly straight over to where Josie and Fionn sat. No words needed to be exchanged. Josie took one look at Molly's ring finger and squealed, throwing her arms around Adam's neck. Fionn broke into an ear-to-ear grin and gathered Molly up in a tight hug before wrenching Josie off of Adam so he could shake his hand.
"Congratulations!" Josie whispered in Molly's ear as she hugged her.
Adam pulled them apart. "Tone it down, everybody," he muttered. "People are starting to stare."
Josie glanced up and saw that Adam was right. Sheriff Coffee, Sally, Jeremy Fitch, and a number of other guests were staring at the foursome quizzically. Even Ben managed to peer around Widow Hawkins's teetering up-do to raise an eyebrow.
"Fionn, dance with Molly," Josie said. "It'll throw everyone off. Come on, Adam." She grabbed her cousin's hand and dragged him onto the dancefloor. They'd danced only a few measures when Adam noticed Fionn and Molly standing in the middle of the dancefloor, their heads together and their voices hushed.
Josie spotted it, too. "Are they arguing?" she asked.
"Sure looks like it." Adam and Josie kept dancing, but Adam peeked around Josie's head to keep his eye on the O'Connells. "Oh no," he said at last. He stopped dead, and all the color drained from his face. "The ring. He must have spotted the ring. I didn't even think about how we'd explain it!"
"What on Earth are you talking about? What's wrong with the ring?"
Adam quickly filled Josie in on the history of Molly's engagement ring.
"Oh no," Josie gasped as she clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh, Adam, he's gonna feel terrible!"
"Yeah. Come on." Adam grabbed Josie's hand, and together they hustled over to the O'Connells. "Hey," he murmured, interrupting their powwow. "Let's go somewhere we can all talk." The anger flashing in Fionn's eyes surprised Adam as the younger man looked up at him, and Molly's eyes were brimming with tears. If not for Josie's presence, Adam wouldn't have known which O'Connell was the more urgent case, and he might have stood there indecisive for quite some time as the other guests' attention started to drift toward them once more.
"Yeah, come on, Fionnie," Josie said gently, taking Fionn's arm. "Let's go out to the lobby."
Fionn relaxed at Josie's touch and let her lead him out of the restaurant and into the hotel lobby. Josie was relieved that the lobby was empty; she really hadn't wanted to go out into the cold for this conversation. Fionn was trembling with rage, and going outside in that state certainly would have set off his cough again, worse than the dancing had. Josie sat them down on a long padded bench, and Fionn buried his face in his hands. Josie rubbed his back while they waited for Adam and Molly to join them. Josie's eyes were on Fionn, but she could hear Molly sniffling as she sat down next to her brother.
"Please say somethin' to me, Fionn," she whimpered.
Fionn drew a long, shaky breath and dropped his hands. "You shouldn't have sold it," he muttered, not raising his gaze. "That was Mam's ring, and you shouldn't have sold it."
"Fionn, I had to. I had to get you that lawyer."
"At what cost?!" Fionn asked, raising his head and glaring at his sister. "Mam's ring, Molly! Mam's ring! It's all we've got of her. Shouldn't go sellin' your most valuable possession just because I got in trouble."
"Not my most valuable possession," Molly murmured, almost inaudibly.
"What's that?"
Molly caught his gaze. "That ring was never me most valuable possession, Fionn," she said. "You are. You always have been, and I couldn't sit by and do nothing when I had the chance to save you. I would have sold me soul to the devil himself if it meant savin' you."
Fionn buried his face in his hands again, his shoulders quaking. Adam rose to give Molly and Fionn some privacy, but Fionn looked up and grabbed Adam's hand, his face miraculously devoid of tears.
"Thank you, Adam. Thank you for bringin' me Mam's ring home."
Adam shook his hand. "You don't owe me any thanks. It was just a happy coincidence." With a little nod at Josie, he slipped back into the restaurant. Josie gave Fionn a kiss on the cheek and followed her cousin out of the lobby.
While they waited for Fionn and Molly to return, Josie pulled Little Joe away from Hope Lovejoy for a song, and Adam gamely invited Widow Hawkins to dance to give his father a respite. When Clementine refused to release Adam after the first song, Josie snatched up her uncle.
"How you holding up, Uncle Ben?" she asked with a sly smile. She let go of his hand long enough to straighten his tie.
"Next time one of us gets married, she's not invited," Ben grumbled.
Josie giggled and rested her head against his chest as they danced.
"So Fionn, huh?" Ben asked after a few measures.
Josie blushed, and she kept her face buried in her uncle's shirt. "Seems so," she mumbled.
Ben chuckled and tilted Josie's chin up. "Good," he said, kissing her forehead. "I like Fionn."
"Me, too," Josie said with a little smile.
When the song ended, Josie claimed sibling privileges and stole Hoss away from Patience for a dance.
"Josie, I ain't ever been so happy in my life," Hoss said, beaming brightly.
Josie grinned up at him, but a wave of sadness washed over her. "I'm gonna miss you, Big Brother."
"Hey, I'm just a few miles away. Don't you worry, Little Sister. Ol' Hoss is always there for you if you need him. Now you go get Fionn back."
Josie glanced over her shoulder and saw Fionn and Molly step back into the restaurant. To Josie's relief, they were holding hands and smiling. Josie grinned up at Hoss and scampered over to reclaim Fionn. They didn't get to dance long, though, because Patience called all the single ladies to the middle of the room for the bouquet toss.
True to her word, Widow Hawkins elbowed her way through the crowd of young women and placed herself front and center. She shot an audacious wink at Ben, and Josie started laughing so hard that she completely missed seeing Patience hurl the bouquet over her shoulder. The bundle of flowers bounced off of Josie's head and directly into Molly's hands. Molly turned bright red as all the other ladies congratulated her and threw coy glances at Adam. Molly slipped out of the crowd and pulled one of the silk roses from the bouquet. She handed it to Josie.
"You deserve this," she said, giggling. "I wouldn't have caught the bouquet without your help." Josie laughed as she accepted the rose. "And maybe it'll bring you and Fionn a little luck, yeah?" Molly gave Josie a wink and glided back to Adam.
The party was still going strong at ten o'clock, but Hoss and Patience had a two-hour drive to their new home, and Ben encouraged them to take off before it got any later.
"Don't worry, son, we'll entertain the guests for you," he said with a knowing grin.
Hoss blanched and broke out in a cold sweat but gathered up Patience all the same. She'd slipped upstairs and changed into a warm wool dress more suited to a cold drive than her wedding gown was. She, too, looked frightened, and Josie gave her a bracing smile.
Hoss and Patience bid farewell to their guests and bundled up to go home together for the first time. Hoss was still pale and sweaty, and as the said goodbye, Adam pulled his brother into a hug and whispered in his ear.
"You'll figure it out. She won't laugh, and the whole thing will be amazing. Go get 'em, big fella!" He gave Hoss a hearty slap on the back, kissed Patience on the cheek, and gave the pair of them a little shove toward the door.
As they waved goodbye to the newlyweds, Ben leaned over to Adam.
"What did you say to him?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing, Pa. Brother stuff."
Ben chuckled. "So when does he get to tell you 'brother stuff'?"
"Well, Molly and I haven't set a date yet, but I'd guess June."
Ben cut off mid-chuckle and gaped at Adam. He searched for his voice.
"Are you serious? When did this happen?!"
Adam checked his pocket watch. "About two hours ago," he said, tucking the watch away. "Close your mouth, Pa, it's not becoming."
Ben clapped his jaw shut and glanced around to see if any of the other guests had overheard.
"I think we'll announce it after the new year," Adam continued. "Let Hoss have his moment."
Ben was flabbergasted. All these years, and now two of his sons were getting married within six months. He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket to dab at his eyes, but it was still damp from the ceremony, so he jammed it back in his pocket and raked his sleeve across his eyes. He clapped Adam on the back.
"That's wonderful news, son. Truly wonderful. And yes, let's keep this to ourselves a bit longer." Hoss and Patience's wagon had faded into the night, so Ben turned to the crowd. "Come on, everyone! Let's go back inside. There's still a party going on!" With a big cheer, the guests returned to the restaurant and started dancing once more.
Fionn was wheezing a bit from having been outside, so Josie made him rest before she'd let him dance again. The pair of them sipped punch and watched as Adam swept Molly around the dancefloor.
"Gonna be lonely with Hoss and Adam both gone," Josie mused.
"At least you'll still have your uncle and Joe," Fionn pointed out. "With Molly gone, my only company will be Conall." Pip's young son was still growing rapidly, and Josie was impressed by how well Fionn had already trained him to deliver messages like Pip could.
Josie smiled. "Guess I'll just have to come visit you a lot."
Fionn's eyes twinkled. "Aye, that you will. It'll be strange enough goin' home tomorrow. Got used to the Ponderosa. My pallet on the floor in Molly's shop tonight won't hold a candle to that soft, warm guestroom bed you have." He took a swig of his punch.
"You know," Josie said shyly, "I've got a room upstairs with a soft, warm bed. I bet I could sneak you up there without my family knowing."
Fionn choked on his punch, and Josie burned crimson.
"Oh! I didn't mean all of that!" she said. "I just, well, I uh… oh, dear."
Punch dribbled out of Fionn's nose, and his eyes began to stream. He ripped his handkerchief out of his pocket and mopped his face. His cough flared, and Josie rubbed his back until it settled.
"I'm so sorry, Fionn," she said. "That didn't come out right at all. It's just that, when I was sitting up with you when you were sick, you looked so snug burrowed under the covers that it was all I could do not to crawl in next to you and cuddle up." She picked at an imaginary hangnail.
Fionn took her hand. When she looked up at him, he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. "That sounds heavenly," he whispered. "Pity I can't think of a way to explain me absence to Molly. She'll notice if I'm not there." Josie smiled, and Fionn continued, "But I bet we could arrange it some other time. Just a cuddle, of course. We're takin' it slow." He winked at her.
"Well of course," Josie said, smiling. "What kind of girl do you think I am?"
"The kind that hides whiskey under her dress. How about another tipple?"
Josie giggled and extracted the flask. Checking that no one was watching – the hotel's owner wouldn't be happy if he knew someone had snuck in their own alcohol rather than putting it on Ben's rapidly rising tab – Josie and Fionn each took a hearty swig and then returned to the dancefloor.
The party didn't wind down until past midnight, and the Cartwrights were grateful they had booked rooms at the hotel. Josie, especially, knew she didn't have the energy to make it all the way home that night. During Fionn's rest breaks, Josie kept busy dancing with Ben, Adam, Little Joe, Ross Marquette, Sheriff Coffee, and even Hop Sing, and she was exhausted. Adam, too, was feeling the lack of sleep from the night before catching up to him, and much as he wished Molly could stay with him that night, he had a feeling he wouldn't have been able to stay awake long enough to celebrate their engagement anyway.
Reluctant to leave, Fionn and Molly stayed until the last of the guests had departed for home.
"Good night, my dear," Ben said, giving Molly a hug. "And congratulations," he whispered. Molly smiled shyly, and Ben gave her a knowing wink.
Josie gave Molly a hug, too. "I'm going to miss sitting up and talking to you at night," she said.
"Me, too."
"And don't forget to come see me on Tuesday."
Molly blushed and promised she would stop by Dr. Martin's clinic while Josie was there in a few days. She turned to Adam.
"And when will I see you again, Mr. Cartwright?"
Adam pulled her close and felt himself stir. "Just as soon as possible. I'll come by your shop this week so long as the weather doesn't get bad." He grinned as a thought struck him. "Hey, how about you and Fionn come over on New Year's Eve? You two can stay over that night, and we'll all ring in 1864 together."
"I'd love that! How about you, Deartháir?"
Fionn smiled and slipped an arm around Josie's waist. "Sounds great!" He turned Josie to face him and kissed her. "So I get to see you again on Friday."
"Monday," Josie corrected. "I plan to ride up to your place to listen to your lungs again."
"I'll tidy up, then."
Josie giggled and kissed Fionn one last time before he took Molly's hand and led her out of the International House and down the street to her shop. Adam and Josie watched sadly as they left.
As soon as the O'Connells were out of sight, Ben sighed. "I'm beat," he said simply. "Goodnight, kids." He patted Adam and Joe's shoulders, kissed Josie's forehead, and trudged upstairs to his room.
Little Joe heaved a sigh, too. "S'pose I should go to bed, too." He looked so forlorn that Josie gave him a big hug.
"Don't worry, Joe," she said. "Hoss is still your best friend. And if you get lonely, you know I'm always game for one of your harebrained schemes."
Joe smiled. "Thanks, Josie." He followed Ben up the stairs, clutching the banister for balance.
Adam shook his head as he watched Joe sway. "Hope he didn't overdo it with the whiskey," he muttered.
"He should be all right. Believe me, I know what overdoing it looks like on Joe."
Adam laughed and draped an arm around Josie's shoulders. "What a night, huh?"
"Yeah," Josie agreed. "And it's not over yet."
"How do you figure?"
"I need your assistance."
"With what?"
Josie pointed to her hair. "Hidden within this mass of keratin, my dear Cousin-Cousin, are at least two thousand hairpins, and I have no hope of ever finding them all on my own."
Adam threw back his head and laughed. "The Revolution of 1776, the Gold Rush of 1849, and the Great Hairpin Hunt of 1863," he said. "All right, let's get started." He offered Josie his arm and led her upstairs to her room.
Forty-five minutes later, Adam was pawing through Josie's loose tresses and announced that he thought he had found all the pins. Josie ran a brush carefully through her hair and came up with only one missed pin.
"Thank you," she said sincerely. "You have no idea how much it hurts to roll over onto one of those things in the middle of the night."
Adam examined one of the pointy metal twigs and imagined it digging into his skull. "I bet," he said. He turned to leave, but Josie stopped him.
"One more thing, I'm sorry."
"Sure."
She lifted her hair, now cascading down her back in waves. "Could you undo the top three or four buttons? I can get the rest myself."
Adam chuckled and unfastened the first few buttons on the back of Josie's gown. "I still contend that women's fashion is far more complicated than it needs to be."
"I concur." Josie turned and smiled at Adam and pulled him into a hug. "Congratulations, Adam. I'm so thrilled for you and Molly."
Adam kissed the top of her head. "Thanks, kid. I'm pretty thrilled myself. Hey, and good luck to you and Fionn. I always thought you two should get together."
Josie stuck out her tongue. "Sure, sure, you always know what everyone should do."
"One of my best qualities, if I do say so myself."
Josie giggled and gave Adam a playful little push toward the door. "Goodnight, Cousin-Cousin."
"Goodnight, Josie."
Back in his own room, Adam pulled off his tie and boots. As he sat on the edge of his bed, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and grinned. "What a great night," he said quietly as he shrugged out of his jacket and untucked his shirt.
Unfortunately, by the time he'd changed into his nightshirt and climbed, at long last, between the soft sheets of the bed, Adam was wide awake. He'd been so wiped out when the reception ended, but he seemed to have caught a second wind while searching through Josie's hair. As they so often did, his thoughts turned to Molly. He replayed his proposal over and over in his mind, smiling to himself at how well it had gone. He knew he could have proposed in the middle of a pigsty and still gotten an acceptance, but it had meant a lot to him to get the proposal just right. And having given Molly her own mother's wedding ring had only been icing on the cake. He shook his head in disbelief at his luck and rolled onto his side.
Sleep eluded Adam as his thoughts of Molly refused to quiet down. A clock gonged downstairs in the hotel lobby, and he counted off: it was two o'clock in the morning. Hoss and Patience should have reached their new home two hours ago, and Adam chuckled to himself as he wondered how his brother was getting on with his "adventure." Then he imagined his own wedding night that would happen mere months from now. He felt a familiar tingle below his navel, and he knew if he didn't silence those thoughts, he'd never get to sleep. Starting at one hundred, he began mentally counting backward in French. Somewhere in the seventies, he drifted off to sleep, the hint of a smile still flitting about his lips.