After Jake told Tom that he most certainly could marry the widow and bring her children to the ranch as soon as he had another house built, Big Tom bear-hugged him. Jake wasn’t a small man but thought the blacksmith might have broken some ribs before he slammed Jake on the shoulder and danced away.
_____
Jack’s new house was under construction when Colt Hipper asked permission, so Jake decided to have them build another four houses using the same blueprints to save time. He let Sara order the furniture and other necessities.
The day after Colt’s visit, Jake and Sara were about to have lunch when someone else arrived at the front door.
When they heard the knock, Jake sighed then smiled at Sara and asked, “I wonder who wants to get married today?”
Sara just smiled back as Jake left the kitchen and disappeared down the hallway. She had her own guess who would be waiting on the other side of the door but was wrong. The visitor wasn’t another ranch hand asking the boss’ permission to marry.
Jake opened the door and asked, “What can I do for you, Isiah?”
The mortician replied, “I just wanted to let you know that we placed the two memorial stones.”
“Was that cost included in your first bill?”
“It was. I just wanted to tell you.”
Jake shook his hand and said, “Thank you, Isiah. I hope we don’t need to give you any more business for a few years.”
Isiah grinned and replied, “I understand. Good day, Jake.”
Jake waved as the mortician turned and left the porch. Jake closed the door and walked back to the kitchen to finish his lunch.
As he sat down, Sara said, “I’d totally forgotten about them.”
“So, did I. I’ll pay a visit to the cemetery in a little while to make sure they’re what I wrote.”
“Do you want me to come along?”
“You’re an Elliott now, Sara.”
“I am. And I couldn’t imagine not being Mrs. Jake Elliott.”
Jake leaned over and kissed her before he returned to finish his lunch.
_____
An hour later, Jake and Sara left the house and walked hand-in-hand to the family cemetery. As they made their way to the small graveyard, Jake began to regret the wording he’d given to Isiah for his father’s marker and the vague change he’d ordered for his mother’s. After the lightning event in Woman’s Breast, Jake wondered if he shouldn’t have added another word or two to both stones. But it was too late now, and he wasn’t about to order another modification.
He opened the gate to let Sara enter then followed her inside. He removed his gray Stetson adorned with his father’s elk band before they stepped closer to the graves.
When Jake looked at his father’s marker, he was surprised. The stonemason must have decided that his instructions were too bland and ignored them. Then he looked at his mother’s stone and saw another change that he hadn’t ordered.
Sara looked up at him and said, “I’m sure that your parents are very happy with what you had them carve into the stones.”
Jake didn’t answer but stared at his father’s headstone. He had directed that the stone be carved with his name, birth and death dates and then simply ‘husband and father’. It was an ambiguous way of not claiming that his father loved him at all and that he wasn’t convinced that his father loved his mother. On his mother’s stone, he had just added ‘and wife’ for the same reason. But that’s not what he read.
His mother’s altered headstone read:
Rose Anne Elliott
Apr 21, 1841 ~ July 2, 1881
Beloved Mother
And Cherished Wife
His father’s marker read:
Chester J. Elliott
Feb 11, 1839 ~ July 2, 1881
Beloved Husband
And Proud Father
Jake quietly said, “The stonemason must have made a mistake. That’s not what I wrote in my instructions. He…”
He stopped in mid-sentence without understanding why.
Sara had expected him to say more, but when he stopped speaking, she didn’t ask what had made him pause. She was sure that he’d tell her after they left the cemetery.
As Jake continued to study his father’s gravestone, he had the same eerie feeling he’d experienced when the sheriff mentioned the spooky manner of Dave Forrest’s death.
He then took Sara’s hand and said, “I think we can return now.”
After they passed through the open gateway, Jake closed it then pulled on his hat.
They walked slowly back to the house and neither said a word until they had entered the kitchen.
After they sat down, Jake said, “I don’t understand how they could have made such a mistake, Sara.”
“What mistake?”
“The stonemason didn’t carve what I had written on my instructions. He added one word to my mother’s stone and two to my father’s. On my mother’s I had written ‘and wife’ and on my father’s I’d requested just ‘husband and father’. At the time, I believed that my father didn’t really love my mother. I wanted to leave it off the stone because…well, I just didn’t want it on there.”
“But now it reads ‘beloved husband and proud father’ on your father’s stone and ‘cherished wife’ on your mother’s.”
Jake nodded but didn’t answer as he tried to rationalize how Isiah or the stonemason had taken the liberty to change what he’d ordered.
Sara took his hand and waited until he looked at her before saying, “I still think it’s beautiful, Jake.”
“The next time we go into town, I’ll stop by the mortuary and ask to see the instructions
