Two Years Later

It was a glorious, sunny day in the middle of May, and there was not a cloud in the sky.

Gideon was looking for his wife, which wasn’t such an easy task anymore, because their homestead had morphed into a large ranch with over two hundred horses. 

Rosie had proudly named it “Agatha’s Acres” in honor of her great-aunt.

On top of that, it was surrounded by plots of land and homes owned by their family, so Rosie could literally be anywhere. 

The business was thriving, and they now employed almost fifty people, contributing to a large number of workers coming from the steadily growing town of Mercy Hollow. Rosie and her sister Temperance were at the helm of it all, and they’d earned themselves a great reputation for having the healthiest and strongest horses around.

“Have you seen Rosie?” Gideon asked one of the ranch hands, who was fixing a loose wire along the fence line. The man pointed him in the direction of the newest, even larger barn that was still being built. 

On his way there, Gideon went past the riding arena and saw ten-year-old Phoebe teaching a much younger group of three boys how to ride. She was doing amazing on her own, but Caleb was still close by to supervise everything. Those two had grown so close, they were hardly seen alone. If you saw one, the other was never far away. 

Gideon tipped his hat at Caleb, who did the same, and kept riding toward the tall frame of the building, which still needed a roof and all the interior, but he could count nearly twenty men working on the construction. It was a very busy place. There was loud hammering, and some of the men were carrying large beams, while others nailed wide flat slats to the walls.

And amid all of the chaos stood his wife, seven months pregnant with their second child; Rosie was fully in command of all of the men around her.

Seeing her so effortlessly in charge like that, Gideon almost burst with pride.

He stopped his horse at a safe distance near a water trough and walked right up to her. She was talking to two foremen, pointing up at the trusses being erected. When she turned, she immediately noticed him and her face broke out in the biggest smile.

“What a pleasure to see you here!” she called out to him.

“I’ve come to get you,” Gideon said with a huge grin. “Did you forget what day it is?”

She stepped away from both men, pushing her round belly out and right at him.

“Do you hear how your father talks to me?” Rosie murmured to the baby.

Gideon walked toward her and pulled her into his arms. 

“Well?” he asked with a single raised eyebrow.

Rosie grinned at him.

“As if I could forget the day my father takes office as mayor of Mercy Hollow!” she finally said, slowly walking toward the exit.

“Then why aren’t you dressed yet?” Gideon asked challengingly.

“Because the dress I thought I could wear doesn’t fit me today!” Rosie whispered with a stern expression. “Agatha was different. This one must be a boy, because I’m much bigger than I ever was, so now my mother and Mrs. Larkin are working on letting out that dress for me. I only came out here to see how things were going.”

Gideon smiled warmly at her.

“You are as beautiful as ever, sweetheart,” he told her. “But it’s almost time to leave, so I think we should go back to the house and get you ready.”

“As long as I fit into that dress,” Rosie moped, but she giggled regardless. “In the worst case scenario, I’ll have to wear a potato sack to the inauguration.”

Gideon didn’t immediately answer, then he burst out in laughter.

Rosie stared at him with her mouth open in mock outrage.

“It’s not funny!” she whined.

“What I would give to see you in that potato sack,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Rosie snorted at that.

Gideon guided her to the buggy waiting to the side of the unfinished barn, then he gently helped her to climb inside.

“I’ll see you at the house,” he said, giving her belly a kiss.

She smiled at him. 

Gideon couldn’t believe how lucky he was.

Her smile was always so beautiful, but now that she was carrying his second child, she was even more so.

“See you at the house,” she said, taking the reins with a grin.

The horse moved the second she softly clicked her tongue. 

Rosie and Caleb both had this innate gift where they were able to connect with a horse on a level nobody else could. He almost saw the same in Phoebe, though she still needed to learn a lot. Thankfully, his niece had the best teachers right by her side.

Gideon returned to his horse and rode after his wife.

He thought about how much his life had changed in the last three years.

He remembered the struggle of having to take in Phoebe as a little girl, not making enough money to give them both the life they deserved. 

He’d never planned to have a beautiful family like this, counting everybody who was around now—from Rosie’s parents and sisters to their husbands and friends. 

He’d never imagined how fulfilling it was to belong.

As a young man, he’d had all those dreams, and it was remarkable that today they’d all come true. His life was actually better than what he’d dreamed about. 

Now, he was the head of an entire hospital, fully equipped with all the latest tools and supplies to take care of everybody in the area. It was going so well, people from Bismarck and all around the district started to seek him out. They called him “the best doctor in all of northern Dakota”, though he didn’t think that he deserved that title.

Riding up to the modest little house, which was still as quaint and unchanged as most on the original homestead, he saw Verity in a rocking chair with sweet little Agatha on her lap, making funny faces at his daughter to make her laugh. It always worked. 

His seventeen-month-old child was a happy little girl, cackling loudly at whatever Verity was telling her. 

Verity was now officially a schoolteacher, though the schoolhouse was currently being renovated as well, so she had some time off to play with all the children on the ranch.

Gideon slid off his saddle, then rushed to help his wife climb out of the buggy. Rosie loved it when he was able to lift her out of it, gently putting her on the ground. So, when he was there, she just lifted her arms and waited for him to do just that. And Gideon loved nothing more than to oblige. Even at seven months pregnant, she was only a dainty little thing.

“Where is Temperance?” Rosie asked Verity when she walked up to the porch.

Verity didn’t look up as she blew raspberries at Agatha, who promptly burst out laughing yet again.

“I haven’t seen her,” Verity replied. “Maybe she’s helping Mother and Mrs. Larkin sew a tent to your dress, just so you can go to Father’s inauguration. Right, Agatha? Your mommy is as big as a whaaaaale right now.” 

Rosie gasped at that.

Agatha cackled so hard at the word whale that Verity repeated it several times.

Gideon couldn’t help but laugh.

Rosie spun around to him, once again with mock outrage.

“Is everybody going against me now?” she said with that cute little pout she did.

“Nobody is against you,” Verity said with a cheeky grin. “I’m just stating a fact.”

“I’ll remind you of that when you have babies of your own!” Rosie told her as she walked toward the door. “I’ll do that with every single one of your ten children.”

“Ha!” Verity called out. “We’ll see!”

Rosie walked into the house, and when Gideon heard the raised voices inside, he decided to stay outside. He took the chair next to Verity and cooed at his lovely little daughter.

“Smart man,” she said to him. “It’s safer out here.”

They chatted for a little while about the school and Verity’s plans for the future.

It was such a relaxing afternoon that Gideon almost forgot the time.

Caleb hadn’t. He brought their carriage around, which would hold all of the women.

When Rosie finally appeared in the doorway, she looked stunning.

He got up and picked up their daughter Agatha to allow Verity to get up as well. 

Suddenly, there was a lot of commotion, and everybody rushed to get going.

“I can’t miss my husband’s inauguration!” Lavinia called out, as she supported Rosie by the elbow to safely walk down the two steps from the porch.

Phoebe appeared out of nowhere—all cleaned up and changed into a dress.

Gideon stared at her for a second before he realized that she must have sneaked into the house through the back door. She was so grown up already, and way too independent.

Gideon hurried to help all of the women into the carriage—Lavinia and Mrs. Larkin on the one side, and Rosie, Phoebe, and Verity on the other. He and Caleb would sit at the front to drive the vehicle.

On the way into town, there was a lot of chatter and giggling in the carriage, but everybody was in the best mood.

“Can you believe that Father is going to be the mayor of Mercy Hollow?” Verity exclaimed.

“It is quite something,” Rosie replied with a nod. “He’s most certainly come a long way.”

“Yes, he has,” Lavinia confirmed proudly. “I don’t recognize this man from the one just a few years ago. And he has done so very much for the community…He deserves this.”

“Well, the whole town loves him! After all, he’s the one who got everybody their money back,” Rosie said matter-of-factly. “But they all love you too!” she said to her mother.

“Yeah! The education fund to give all the students free schooling was your idea!” Verity chimed in. “No wonder I’ll have to hire a new teacher soon. We have so many pupils!”

Driving into the town, it quickly became apparent that everyone was excited about their new mayor. 

Several banners in the colors red, white, and blue were spanning Main Street, and all of them read “Horatio Bellamy for Mayor!” The roads were filled with people, music was playing, and everybody was waving little flags in the same colors. 

The atmosphere was exuberant.

Coming up to the old brick building, the long, wide stairs were already full of town folk waiting for the big moment when their new mayor would come out, and Reverend Pritchard would swear him into office. A small podium was set up at the top.

Gideon stopped the carriage right in front, so that the ladies could get situated.

They were greeted with smiles and even cheers.

Caleb was so kind to take care of their horse and carriage, while Gideon followed the women through the crowd toward the front.

An office clerk spotted them and guided them to a special area, where they had set up chairs for the new mayor’s family.

As everybody took their places, Gideon couldn’t help but smile.

There they were, three generations of the Fairchild family. 

Their status was not only secured in their newly created wealth, but in the love that grew out of faith in each other, making the broken hearts whole again.

Gideon was proud, and when Horatio finally took to the stage amid roaring applause and cheers, Rosie didn’t look at anybody else. She only had eyes for her husband.

THE END