“Absolutely not!” He peered into her eyes—the color of cornflowers—and wondered if it would be wrong to run all the way to Pastor Ellis’s house with his bride in his arms.
"Maybe you ought to put her down so we can say hello," Jake said, his deep voice waking Matt from his reverie as he gazed at his bride.
"Oh yes, of course," he said, slowly settling Elizabeth on her feet, delighting in the feel of her feminine form as it brushed against him.
"Elizabeth," he said, taking her hand and gesturing toward Jake and Posey, "this is my dear friend Jake Lincoln and his wife, Posey."
Jake tipped his hat and said hello while Posey smiled widely before she began to speak at a rapid pace. "We're so glad to meet you, Elizabeth. I hope you don't mind, but Matt asked if I could be your bridesmaid. I got you some flowers." She handed a bouquet to Elizabeth while keeping a smaller one for herself. "I tried to get some roses, but Mrs. Ryan seems to be the only person in town who can grow them and when I knocked on her door this morning to ask for a few and explain about you coming all the way from St. Louis to marry Matt and everything, she just stared at me and I got scared and turned and left. Maybe she was going to say yes, but I doubt it. She’s awfully contrary. But you'll probably find that out for yourself soon enough. Anyway, I know you like roses because your letters always smelled of rose perfume. But I wasn't spying on you. Honest, I wasn't. Well, maybe there was this one thing..." she glanced up at Jake who gave her a stern look "but that got resolved. As I was saying, I work at the post office and so I noticed your letters smelled like roses."
Elizabeth just stared at Posey for a minute, which wasn't surprising. She could be a bit overwhelming, especially to strangers. Jake didn't talk much at all, but Posey made up for it.
"Thank you," Elizabeth said, holding the flowers up to her face to smell them. "And please, call me Lizzie." She looked from Posey to Matt and back to Posey. "It's what I'd like my friends here in Juniper Junction to call me."
"Well, Lizzie, I think it's high time we got ourselves over to the parsonage." Matt squeezed her hand and led the way as the foursome left the train platform and headed down Main Street toward the church. Along the way several people called out their good wishes. Those who had been waiting with him at the station made their way to Jake and Posey’s house where a small wedding party was being held for them.
Pastor Ellis opened the door before they even had a chance to knock. The pastor swept them into the parlor of his home and in a matter of moments, the deed was done. They were man and wife.
* * *
Lizzie gazed at the simple gold band on her finger. Married. To Matt Foreman. Mrs. Matthew Foreman. Mrs. Elizabeth Foreman.
No matter how you said it, she was married.
And not to the detestable man her father had selected for her. Who would ever want to be Mrs. Nevie Pettit? A shudder ran through her as she considered what might be happening back in St. Louis. One advantage of her father preventing her from having friends was that there was no one who might be able to divulge her whereabouts. The only person who knew was Minnie and Minnie would never tell.
Besides, her father would never even consider that a Pendleton would confide in the help, making it highly unlikely that he'd question any of the servants. He'd just rant and stomp around the house like an angry toddler.
Oh the scandal when the wedding was called off.
She'd been terrified when she boarded the train, certain that every set of eyes knew she was running away and wasn't supposed to be there. When each person got on, she turned her face to the window to hide from their curious stares.
As the miles passed by and they left the urban blight of St. Louis and traveled for hours and hours over the farmlands and prairies, she felt the weight of the world fall from her shoulders until by the time she arrived in Juniper Junction, she was carefree Lizzie Corwin and could barely remember Elizabeth Pendleton.
She took a moment to look around the room at the folks who had gathered to wish them well. Matt's status as a well-regarded member of the community was evidenced by the kind things people said to her about him and the respect they showed for him as well. Not that she needed reassurance that she'd done the right thing... well, maybe she did, just a little.
"Lizzie, I'm so happy for you.” Posey stood in front of her. "I'd like you to meet some of my friends," she said. "But don't worry if you don't remember everyone's name. There'll be plenty of time to get to know everyone. Did Matt tell you about the Juniper Junction Quilting Society? We meet every other week on Tuesday morning at nine o'clock. We just met this week but I'll pick you up for the next meeting and we can go together. If that's alright with you?"
Lizzie paused for a moment. She'd never had anyone who didn't know her family name or who her father was, treat her so kindly. So this is what it's like out in the world.
She felt herself choke up as she looked at Posey and the smiling young ladies with her.
"Thank you, Posey. I'm not much of a sewer, but I think the quilting society sounds marvelous."
Posey cocked her head to the side. "Huh, I've never heard of a maid who didn't know how to sew. Maybe Matt got
