Her Heart’s Unseen Beauty – Extended Epilogue

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3 years later

Annie was outside in the chicken coop watching the twins scatter chicken feed around. Sometimes they were squealing when an exuberant hen got a little too close to their tiny bare feet. She smiled, shaking her head as she watched them, the two identical with light brown hair and brown eyes, just like their father.

Nick was due back from town soon. The children occasionally glanced along the path that led to town, watching for his horse. “Hurry up now, children. We still have the cow to feed.”

“Don’t forget, Mama. You promised to show me how to milk the cow tomorrow.”

“I didn’t forget, Sarah,” she replied.

“Me too!”

“Of course, Sadie,” she smiled.

She couldn’t help but glance toward the trail coming from town, hoping to see her husband. He had been gone for three days, in Wichita on business. Taking care of the chores and keeping a watchful eye on the twins was exhausting, yet rewarding work. Still, she would be happy when their father came home and take pity on her so that she could at least take a little nap this afternoon.

Over the past three years, the ranch had flourished. Nick had hired several more hands, which also enabled them to increase their cattle herd. This last trip up to Wichita had also seen a contract signed by one of the Army posts to the north, where Nick promised to supply them with a dozen saddle-broken horses a year. As the children scattered the last of the chicken feed, she opened the gate and let them out, their bare feet and calves smudged with dirt, their white day dresses already covered in yard dust.

Thank goodness Pearl kept her well supplied in children’s clothes, as they went through at least two or three sets of them a day. They were active, intelligent, and inquisitive children. While Annie was incredibly grateful for that, they were also exhausting. As she watched them race toward the barn, their long brown hair flying behind them and their giggles floating in the air, she smiled. She sighed and placed a hand on her slightly protruding belly, knowing that in another six months, she and Nick would welcome another child to the family.

The children disappeared into the barn, and Annie closed the gate to the chicken coop. One hand slowly swinging the empty basin. She was only halfway to the barn when she heard the sound of a buggy approaching. She paused, lifting her free hand to shade her eyes from the bright morning sun. Gifted with exquisite hearing, the children also emerged, shouting happily, thinking that it was their father.

Sarah skidded to a halt close to Annie. “That’s not Papa.”

“No, it’s not,” Annie said. Curious, she stood where she was, waiting for the buggy to approach. Finally she recognized Reverend Duffy driving. A young woman with blond hair sat stiffly beside him. When the buggy pulled to a halt, the reverend tipped his hat at her and then glanced at the children.

He pointed at one and then the other. “Let me see, you’re Sarah, and you’re Sadie.”

The toddlers giggled and shook their heads. Annie saw the glint in the reverend’s eyes and knew he was kidding. He knew how to tell the two of them apart by now. Sarah had a very tiny freckle over her left eyebrow and Sadie didn’t. Sometimes it was the only way Annie could tell them apart as well. He laughed and glanced at his passenger as he made the introductions. “Annie, I’d like you to meet Millie Bascom.”

Annie moved to the woman’s side of the buggy and smiled, wondering what the woman’s reaction to her scars would be. “Hello Millie Bascom.”

The woman smiled, and if she noted the scars, she gave no indication. “Actually, it’s Millicent, but I don’t much care for that. So Millie it is.”

Annie liked her immediately. She put on no airs. She wore a plain, light brown homespun dress with a white collar and cuffs, roll buttons down the bodice. Annie turned to the reverend with a lifted eyebrow.

“Can we talk a minute, Annie?”

She nodded. “Of course.” She turned to the children. “Girls, do you remember how I showed you to feed the cow?”

The children look at her, their jaws dropped in amazement. Sarah replied first. “We can feed the cow this morning? By ourselves?”

Annie nodded. “But you must be very careful, and do it exactly how I showed you. Can you do that?”

“Yes!” Sadie replied. She jumped up and down with excitement. Then she calmed and a look of concentration appeared on her face. “Half a can of the oats and a three-inch slice of hay.” She spread her hands apart. “This much.”

Beside her, Sarah nodded, her gaze now serious. “We can do that, Mama.”

“All right then, but I’ll be in to check in just a few minutes.” She pointed at their feet. “Watch those feet and don’t let the cow step on them, you hear?”

The two nodded, and laughing, dashed toward the barn. She watched them for a moment before turning back to the reverend and Millie. She gestured toward the house. “Won’t you come in?”

The reverend climbed out of the buggy and then moved around the horse to help Millie out. He turned to Annie. “First let me explain, and then we’ll know how to proceed.”

“Is something wrong?” She glanced between the two.

The reverend sighed and glanced it Millie. “Do you want me to explain?”

Millie swallowed, then shook her head. “I’ll do it.”

The woman looked nervous and uncertain. Annie had never seen her around town before. She wished Nick were here. He always knew how to handle surprises. Just then, her wish was answered when she heard the sound of a horse on the trail. A lone man on a horse. She recognized him by the set of his shoulders and the way he sat in the saddle. She heaved an inward sigh of relief as Nick pulled his horse into the yard. He glanced at the reverend, the woman standing beside him, and then Annie.

He quickly dismounted and stepped to Annie’s side, his hand around her waist. He nodded a greeting to the reverend and then quickly doffed his hat for the woman before placing it back on his head. “Where are the children? Is everything all right?”

Annie nodded. “They’re in the barn feeding the cow.” He simply lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t hear the cow bellowing or the children bickering, so it must be going just fine.”

Nick grinned and turned back to the reverend. “To what do we owe this visit, Reverend?”

“Like I just told your wife, this is Millie Bascom.” He turned to Millie. “Millie, this is Nick Covington, Annie’s husband.” To Nick. “She was just about to explain.”

Now both Annie and Nick turned once more to the young woman, who couldn’t be more than eighteen years old, if that.

“Like I just told your wife, my name is Millie Bascom.” Her cheeks colored. “I was headed to Winfield to get married to a man who worked on the Anderson ranch just west of town.”

“Harley Anderson, yes, I know,” Nick said.

“I… I was betrothed to the foreman there, Henry Vail.”

Annie sucked in a breath. She knew, like everybody else around these parts, that Henry Vail, the foreman at the Anderson ranch, had been killed a week ago after being gored by one of the longhorns.

“I’m so sorry,” Annie said. “We heard about what happened to Mister Vail.”

“Yes,” Millie nodded, her voice choked. “I was staying at the boarding house, but I saw the reverend yesterday afternoon and told him my situation. You see, I have no money, only what Henry sent to me for the travel.”

Annie froze. “Were you brought here through an advertisement to become a bride?”

The woman flushed again and nodded.

Annie smiled. “So was I,” she said. “It didn’t work out exactly the way it was planned, and I married Nick.” Her voice was gentle. “I know exactly how you feel, Millie, because I found myself in much the same fix.”

Millie glanced uncertainly at Nick. “How so?”

“Because the man who promised to marry Annie was my father,” Nick said. His voice was blunt but soft. “He refused to marry her because of her scars.”

Millie looked from Nick to Annie, and she saw the woman’s shoulders drop.

“I’m so sorry.” She frowned. “And then you two got married?”

Annie smiled. “It’s a long story. But let me assure you, I know what you’re going through, and if there’s anything I can do to help, anything we can do to help, please, just tell us.”

“That’s exactly what I told her,” Reverend Duffy said. “While I didn’t tell her too much, I told her a little about you two. I know that you’ve got your hands full with the growing ranch, the twins, and another little one on the way, so I thought you might be able to use some help. Maybe with housekeeping, the cooking, or even as a nanny?”

Annie gazed at the reverend and then turned to the woman, her heart leaping with wonder. She turned to glance up at Nick and saw him smiling as he glanced at her.

“I’ve been worrying about her trying to do too much,” Nick admitted. “The ranch and our interests are growing by leaps and bounds and unfortunately, I have to make a trip up into Wichita at least once a month. And the twins—”

Just then, two brown-haired bundles of energy emerged from the barn, racing toward their father, giggling with excitement. He stooped down, caught them both in his arms, and lifted them up, one on each side. The love that showed in his eyes was obvious to everyone as he gave each one of them a peck on the cheek.

“So you fed the cow?”

“And the chickens!” Sadie exclaimed.

“You have something for us, Papa? You always bring something back for us.”

He chuckled, set them both gently on the ground, and then dipped his fingers into his shirt pocket. Slowly, he extracted two pieces of peppermint stick candy. He handed one to each of the children as they squealed with delight.

“Thank you, Papa! Thank you!” The twins exclaimed in perfect unison.

Annie turned to Millie, gazing at the children with wonder. “They are a handful… from dawn to dusk. I spend half my day either chasing them down or searching for them. They love to play hide and go seek.”

Millie smiled at the children. “You know what? That was my favorite game when I was a little girl.”

The children gazed at her, then half hid behind Nick’s legs, each of them now sucking at the peppermint sticks, eyeing Millie shyly.

Just as Annie was about to speak, the sound of another horse approaching prompted her to glance over her shoulder. She recognized their foreman, Yancey Walters, riding into the yard from the north, between the house and the barn. He pulled his horse to a halt when he realized they had company. He glanced at Nick.

“Sorry for the interruption, Nick. I needed—”

He broke off and Annie hid her smile as she saw the man quickly whip off his hat as he spied Millie standing next to the reverend. The two of them stared at one another, and Annie couldn’t help but smile as she looked up at Nick and saw his own lifted eyebrow.

“Yancey Walters, I’d like to introduce you to Millie Bascom.”

Yancey quickly dismounted and doffed his hat, then strode several steps closer. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am… Miss Bascom.”

Annie grinned again. She’d never known Yancey to be short on words. It was obvious to her the rugged foreman was captivated by their visitor.

“Pleased to meet you, Mister Walters,” Millie stammered.

Annie made her decision then and there and didn’t think that Nick would object. “Yancey, Millie is going to be working for us as a housekeeper and nanny.” She turned to Millie. “Do you have any trunks with you?”

Millie looked surprised, her mouth open. “You’re hiring me?”

“I told you so,” the reverend said softly. “You won’t find two finer people in Winfield.”

“That’s true enough,” Yancey remarked.

“I do have a trunk, two of them actually, but I left them in town because I wasn’t sure where I was going to end up. I have no money, and I was just hoping and praying that I could find some work.” She looked at Annie, tears glistening in her eyes. “I have experience with children, Mrs Covington—”

“Annie.”

She nodded. “Annie. I do have experience with children. I worked at an orphanage back in Ohio. When the orphanage shut down, I found myself without a roof over my head, a job, and very few prospects. I responded to a bridal ad, but I got a telegram on the way here that Henry had passed.”

“Henry Vail?”

They all turn to Yancey.

It was Nick who replied. “Yes, Yancey, Henry Vail. Anyway, we could use the help here. Millie’s arrival couldn’t have been better timed.”

Annie caught Yancey gazing at Millie. He noticed, and his cheeks colored. She grinned and then extended a hand toward Millie. “Come on, Millie, I’ll show you to the cottage where you’ll be staying. It’s very comfortable actually, and will give you some privacy after a long day of helping with the children.”

The two started walking toward the side of the house. Behind her, she heard Yancey tell the reverend that he would head into town a little later and collect Millie’s trunks. She didn’t have to look at Nick to know that he was grinning. Life was funny sometimes. She had a feeling that she and Millie would become good friends, and that she’d be an excellent nanny for her children.

“Things worked out well for you?”

She turned toward Millie and nodded, her heart filled with love. “When I first got here, I couldn’t imagined that things would turn out the way they did. Nick and I have been married just over three years now, and I wouldn’t want to be any other place in the world.” She paused. “I want you to know that we’ll do everything we can to support you. I hope someday, you’ll feel just as happy and content as I am now.”

Millie smiled as she gazed over her shoulder at the sound of Yancey riding out of the yard. “I hope so too, Annie. I hope so too.”

Just then, the children joined them clasping Annie’s skirts for several moments as they gazed up at the pretty young woman next to their mother. Yes, everything had worked out the way it was supposed to. Even though it hadn’t seemed like it at first, Annie would never rue the day that she had arrived in Winfield only to be abandoned by Cleo Covington.

If she had never responded to Cleo’s brusque letter out of desperation, she would never have met Nick, never would’ve fallen in love with him. She had experienced the fulfillment of all their hopes and dreams, of the home for which she always yearned, and the acceptance and love and friendship that she’d always dreamed of.

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Grab my new series, "Courageous Hearts of the West", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!

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