Chapter 2
"Psst! Lucinda!"
Lucinda looked up from gathering herbs and flowers to see George beckoning her from behind a corner of the cabin. Surprised, and curious as to what he was up to, she released the wild rosemary and walked over to him.
He grabbed her by the hands and swooped her up against the wall, pinning her hands behind her back.
"Just what do you think you're up to, George Arnold?" Lucinda lifted her chin and gazed into his eyes. "You're not planning on abducting me right before our wedding, are you?"
"Absolutely, my love." George kissed her neck and heat waves pulsed up to Lucinda's face and down through her stomach. His breath was soft but ragged. "I am taking you away from the drudgery of gardening so that I may present you with a very special gift."
"You've already kissed me. I'm not letting you do more than that until after our nuptials." As much as Lucinda wanted to be strong, the feel of his body against hers, pressing against the logs of the cabin, melted her willpower. Fortunately, George was stronger than she.
"I will respect your honor, now and forevermore. I don't want to make love to you.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Scratch that. I do want to make love to you, but that isn't why I'm abducting you today. I want to give you your wedding gift."
"You don't want to wait until our wedding night?"
"No, because I want you to wear it when you walk down the aisle. Will you do that for me?"
Lucinda knew she'd do anything for George, anything he asked. She would walk through fire to be with him. But instead she said, "It depends. Is it pretty?"
"Magnificent."
"Sensible?"
"Not a bit."
The corner of her lips turned up. "I can't promise anything unless you do something for me."
"Anything." George sighed against her shoulder and kissed the soft skin along the neckline of her dress. Lucinda tried to get her breath, tried to stop her lips from trembling.
"First, let go of my hands."
George let go of her hands, but placed his on the wall beside her shoulders, not moving his body away. She remained locked in his playful embrace.
"Now, set me free."
"Never."
"If you want your wedding gift, you'll have to agree."
George shook his head. "I'm coming with you. I don't want to let you out of my sight for a second. You'll be gone too soon, and I want you near me now as much as possible."
Lucinda reached up and took his hand off the wall. "Let's go, my almost husband."
She led him through the trees to the front of the tiny cabin. Tansy and Abigail were both afield, picking flowers for the wedding. Lucinda led him inside the room and closed the door.
"Comportment be damned," she said. She went to the bed. Reaching under the pillow, she pulled out a small satin bag. She sat down on the bed and patted the spot beside her.
George pulled a velvet pouch from his pocket and sat down. The leather frame of the small bed sagged under their combined weight.
The two lovers sat knee to knee and George took Lucinda's left hand in his. He caressed her hand as he spoke.
"The very first night I saw you, the very moment I saw your hair gleaming in the firelight, I fell in love. There you were, facing off against some crazy old sourdough who thought he could take advantage of you. You stood up to him, with not an ounce of fear in your bones. I said to myself, 'That's the kind of woman I want.' Then you fed him that acorn meal with beans and gave him the worst case of stomach upset he probably ever had."
Lucinda laughed and shook her head. "After that, it's a wonder any miners ever came to me for food once I started grubstaking. I'm sure the old man told them I poisoned him."
George nodded. "Which you did, actually."
He pressed the velvet pouch into her hand. "When you agreed to work my claim with me, I thought the heavens had opened and rained good fortune upon me. The first day together, do you remember the nugget I found?"
"I do. It was a nice one."
"I kept it. I wanted a souvenir of the beginning of our new life, because even then, I knew I'd be spending forever with you. I had our first gold nugget together turned into something to last a lifetime."
Lucinda turned over the pouch. "It's in here?"
"Not the nugget." George touched the pouch. "Open it."
He pursed his lips and wiped his hands on his pants legs.
"George, are you nervous?"
"Just open it." His voice was quiet.
Lucinda untied the satin ribbon. She tipped the pouch up and let the gift slide into her hand.
She gasped, and then her breath stalled. She thought her heart froze for a moment as well. In her hand lay a necklace of three golden roses. Between the flowers were tiny pearls. A satin ribbon held them together, to tie at her neck. "Oh, George."
The flowers grew blurry, and Lucinda blinked back a tear. She was too late. It ran down the side of her nose and onto her cheek.
George kissed it away.
"Do you like it? The pearls came from San Francisco, and the gold from Diggers Flat."
She nodded, still unable to speak around the lump in her throat.
"I was worried you would think I was too romantic."
Lucinda shook her head. She tried out her voice. "This is the most meaningful thing anyone has ever done for me. I love you so much."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, joy spilling out between them. "Will you put it on me?"
"Absolutely not."
Lucinda furrowed her brows. "What? Why not?"
"I don't want to see it on you until I see you in your wedding dress." She thought she saw a shimmer in his eyes.
"It's the most beautiful gift a bride could ever want." She carefully placed it back into the pouch, and tied the ribbon.
"Now for your gift," she said. "My gift to you isn't anywhere near as incredible as yours." She handed him the satin pouch. "I made the pouch from the trimming Abigail used for my wedding dress."
George took the pouch and began untying the ribbon. "Whatever it is, I know I'm going to love it."
Lucinda covered his hand. "Before you look at it, do you remember when I decided to pretend to be your cousin, Luke?"
George's dimple appeared on his cheek. "How could I forget?"
"Do you remember how hard it was for me to let you cut off my hair?"
"I almost preferred to cut off my own hand as to snipping off your beautiful chestnut curls."
"I saved my braid."
"Yes, I remember you used it as a nest for Cinnamon."
Lucinda smiled at the memory of her little pet duck. "She loved it. But I also kept some of my hair in my possible bag. I didn't know why I was saving it at the time. But then, when I accepted the opportunity to go back east to medical college, I knew just what to do with it. I made something for you to remember me by when I'm gone."
George looked down at the bag in his hand.
"Go ahead. Open it now," Lucinda told him.
He opened the pouch, and slid a small glass case into his palm. The glass was rimmed in gold. The back of the case was solid gold, engraved with an A. Underneath the A was their wedding date.
Inside the case, visible through the glass, lying on a bed of white satin, a lock of Lucinda's hair glistened.
George ran his thumb over the glass, slow and gentle. He closed his palm around the case. Without a word, he touched Lucinda's chin, bringing her face forward, closer to his own, and kissed her, fervently and passionately. His tongue dove into her mouth, and hers traced a course along his lips and teeth. He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him, wrapping her in a tight embrace. "I will keep this on the same chain as your father's pocket watch. I'll always wear it close to my heart."
"And I will wear your necklace every day. Never will it leave my presence."
The two shared another tender kiss.
"Tansy and Abigail may come back any time." Lucinda moaned. "I'm supposed to be helping Tansy identify wild herbs.
We'd better get back outside."
George helped Lucinda to her feet. "Until I have you alone again..." He lifted her fingers and kissed them one more time before reaching to unlatch the door and step back out into the sunshine.
Shouts rang out from the edge of the forest. Tansy and Abigail raced along the dirt path to the cabin door. "Hurry! Something bad has happened!" Abigail called.
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