Tasting Love’s Delight – Extended Epilogue

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May 1895

Constance, Washington

Henry held Collette’s hand as they stood on the station platform waiting for the train to come in. She was a bundle of raw nerves. Despite over five years having passed since her fight with her older sister Eugenie, she was still trapped in the mindset that her sister was angry with her. 

“Don’t forget to breathe,” Henry suggested looking down at his wife with kindness. 

“I am breathing,” Collette said, a little snappily. “I’m just worried about Joshua, it’s time for his nap.” 

“And my mother will put him down for it,” Henry said. “Really, all this worrying isn’t good for the baby.” His gaze slid from her beautiful face to her distended belly. It wouldn’t be long now, and Joshua would either have a little brother or sister. Henry was hoping for a girl. He liked the idea of one of each. 

“The baby will be fine,” Collette insisted. She rubbed the side of her belly as though in a little bit of pain. 

Henry knew that at this late stage, Collette was not very comfortable. She complained of pains and cramps, the baby kicking her and her feet constantly being sore. They had even brought in a stool for her to sit on while working in the bakery. 

The kitchen at Blackwood Bakery was her domain and Collette would remain there until the last moment before the baby came. She had done so with Joshua, and it seemed she was determined not to change a thing. 

Henry wished she would reconsider. They had been able to hire two new bakers a year ago and both were capable of running the kitchen without either him or Collette in it. This wasn’t the time to broach that subject though. Henry could see that a mile away. 

Collette was too worried about her mother and sister arriving shortly to speak of anything else. 

“Is the train late?” Collette asked, looking up and down the track. 

“No,” Henry said. “Not that anyone could say. It should be here in about ten, fifteen minutes. We can go and sit on one of the benches.” 

He had offered to make this journey out to the station alone. Collette had insisted on coming with her, despite being so very pregnant. 

“I’m fine, you can go and sit if you want to,” she said. Pregnancy brought out the stubborn mule in his wife and he had learned in their four years of marriage not to interfere when her back was up. 

They waited for a while longer, watching people arrive on the platform, some with luggage and others without. 

Constance, which had once been a sleepy little lumber town, was growing. There were more stores and more houses going up all the time. The sound of hammers and saws could be heard constantly throughout the town as people arrived and brought with them their businesses, ideas, and families. 

“Morning,” a voice said. 

Henry turned to see the long-time sheriff of Constance, Curly Thomas, standing beside them. 

“Good morning, Sheriff,” he said. 

Despite the passage of time, there was little love between Henry, Collette, and the sheriff. He had arrested Collette when she came to Constance on the suspicion of murder. Of course, he had been wrong, and Henry and his best friend Alistair had proven it, but the sting of his actions still burned in Henry’s heart. 

“What brings you fine folks here today?” he asked, smiling at them. 

Collette regarded him coolly. “My mother and sister are arriving from Philadelphia.” 

“Oh? How lovely for you,” he said. “I am expecting a very important package to arrive today.” He rubbed his hands together in a greedy gesture. “I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time.” 

The shrill scream of steam engine rounding the corner and coming into view, stilled their conversation and saved Henry from coming up with a remark. He couldn’t think of what to say to something like that. 

“Oh goodness,” Collette said. “My stomach is all butterflies. On the one hand I’m so excited to see them again after so long but on the other I’m afraid of what they will think of…well…of everything.” 

Henry put a supportive arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. “It will be fine. I’m sure they are just as nervous as you are.” 

He would admit to a certain amount of the jitters too. From the letters that Mrs. La Rue wrote to Collette, he deduced that she was a strict but kind woman who loved Collette dearly. Her sister Eugenie, however, was brash and very forthright in her writing style and he couldn’t help wondering if they were like that in the flesh too. 

The train pulled into the station and before long the doors were open, and people disembarked en masse. It didn’t take long to spot Mrs. La Rue and Eugenie. They were the spitting image of Collette. Both were slender, blonde, and dressed well. There was no question of who they were when Henry saw them. 

He was proven right when Collette raised a hand and her mother, the older of the two, raised her hand in greeting as well. 

The two women made their way through the throng of passengers to where he and Collette stood, their suitcases in hand. 

“Ah, Collette, look at you,” her mother said smiling. She had the same blue eyes as Collette. Henry began to wonder if Collette’s father had featured at all in her make up. 

“Maman!” Collette said, using the French word. They embraced. Then Collette turned to her sister and tentatively held out her arms. “Eugenie. It’s so good to see you.”

“Collette, you’re looking well,” Eugenie said stiffly. She didn’t step into the hug but offered her hand for Collette to shake. 

Collette took her hand and smiled. “Welcome. This is Henry, my husband as you both know from my letters.” 

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Mrs. La Rue said. 

“The pleasure is all mine,” Henry said. “Shall we go? We have a light lunch waiting at the house.” 

“Sounds marvelous,” Mrs. La Rue said, taking Henry’s arm as they headed to the steps that led down from the platform.  

The drive back to the house was a pleasant one. Mrs. La Rue, Louisa, as she asked him to call her, was full of things to say. She commented on the town as they rode in, told him all about the train journey and how much she loved the way it rocked on the rails. She spoke at length about the food on the train and how she and Eugenie had considered stepping in to help the chefs in the kitchen as their desserts needed work. 

This had Henry laughing. Collette had not been able to help herself on her journey out to Washington State and had insinuated herself into the kitchen. It was a good thing she had, as the chefs on the train had been integral in clearing her name, proving beyond a doubt that she hadn’t been in town to commit the murder she was accused of. Henry thought he would let Collette tell that story. 

Sitting in the back of the cart, Collette and Eugenie seemed to be eyeing each other like cats at the crossing of territories. 

When they reached the house, Henry’s mother was on the porch with little Joshua awake and playing on a blanket. 

“He wouldn’t go down for his nap,” she said as Collette and Henry arrived with their guests. “I think he is too excited to meet his other grandmother and his aunt.” 

As introductions were made, Joshua, who was about to turn three years old, smiled up at his aunt and other grandmother. Louisa didn’t hesitate a moment but scooped him up in her arms and planted kisses on his cheeks. Joshua had a moment of fear and concern and then seemed to melt and soften in her arms. 

“I am your grandmère and this is your Tante Eugenie,” she said. 

Joshua regarded them both with his serious little face. Despite having Henry’s dark hair, he had Collette’s eyes and nose. He looked every bit a La Rue. 

As they went inside and got immersed in the wonderful meal that Henry’s mother had made, he noted how stiffly Eugenie was still acting. She seemed to have something on her mind. Louisa and his own mother, Angela, were instantly friends. They fussed over Joshua and told stories of their families which had Collette, Henry, and Eugenie up in arms at various times and it seemed that this visit might not be the disaster that he feared it might have been. 

When the meal was over, Joshua was more than ready for his nap and Henry took his beloved son upstairs to bed. He tucked him in and sang him a song as the little boy’s eyelids slid closed and his breathing became soft and regular. 

For a long moment he stood watching his firstborn sleep thinking how angelic he was when not running around causing mayhem. 

Henry went downstairs and was about to go out onto the porch to enjoy the wonderful May weather, when his mother stopped him with a hiss. 

“What?” he asked, his nerves suddenly twanging. Was Collette in labor, did he need to rush off for the midwife? He could see Louisa pointing through the parlor window. 

Henry stepped into the parlor, where his mother sat beside Louisa, and both women gestured for him not to make a sound as he finally saw what they were looking at.

Sitting on the rocking chairs on the porch were Collette and Eugenie. They were rocking back and forth speaking softly to each other. Despite their voices being low, Henry could still hear what they were saying. 

“I’m so glad you came out with Maman,” Collette said. “I don’t think she should travel all this way alone.” 

“Why not? She loves trains,” Eugenie said. “I however can do without them. That rocking motion makes me a little ill. I drank all the peppermint tea we had on the way out here.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry it affected you like that,” Collette said. 

Eugenie reached out, possibly to pat her hand. 

“I wanted to talk to you so many times after you left,” Eugenie said after a short silence. “I wanted to tell you that I was wrong.” 

“What about?” Collette asked. 

“I was wrong about never changing anything,” Eugenie said. “At the bakery, I mean. We lost grandpère and it was all so horrible, and you wanted to do things differently and I couldn’t let him go. It felt like you wanted to sweep him away before I was ready to have that happen.” 

“Oh, Eugenie, I didn’t mean to,” Collette said. “I was just trying to do what grandpère had done with his own life; push the boundaries of what sugar and flour could do.” 

“I know that now,” Eugenie said. “That’s why I wanted to come and see you. Some things can’t be said in a letter. They must be said in person. This apology had to be delivered in person.” 

They shifted and in a moment the sisters were hugging each other. Henry could hear them sniffling and sobbing into each other’s shoulders. After years of being angry with each other they were finally making amends. His heart felt about two tons lighter. 

When Collette and Eugenie finally came inside, Henry, Louisa and his mother tried to look as though they hadn’t eavesdropped and failed. 

“You are talking again?” Louisa asked, tentatively. 

“We’re fine Maman,” Eugenie said. She held Collette’s hand for a moment and then released her. 

As they took seats, Henry shifted to allow his wife to sit beside him on the sofa. He propped her up with cushions and held her hand in his as they talked with the family. This was such a happy moment for him. To have his mother and sister-in-law there and everything to be all right, was the greatest gift he could ever have. 

He smiled and when Collette lifted her feet and snuggled up to him, he put his arm around her knowing that this was what he had always wanted his life to be like. Things would change and that was good, so long as the core of their union remained love. Then storms could break around them and they would weather it all. Family was the best solid rock he could ever build a future on, and his family had grown today. And it would grow again in a few weeks when their child was born. 

Henry smiled and welcomed a future full of light and love and happiness. 

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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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