After locking the door behind them, Adam trotted to catch up with her as she left the hotel and made her way to the long white stairway that went all the way down into the business terraces. She was taking the stairs at fairly quick pace, and when he caught her and took her hand, he pulled back, forcing her to slow down.
“Why are you in such a hurry? We have some time to kill. You should be enjoying this view.” She stopped and breathed deeply. When she turned to start down the stairs again, he pulled her back. “Are you going to sulk every time I tell you ‘no?’”
“I don’t know. What are you going to do the first time I tell you ‘no?’”
“I left you alone.”
“What?”
“A few nights ago at Jim’s, you turned away and said you had a headache.” Her mouth twisted. “Shiloh, there are certain things I won’t do because I know you wouldn’t want me to. There are certain things I don’t want you to do. And it has nothing to do with your ability or inability to do them. I don’t want you to get hurt, and I don’t want you to get overwhelmed. You told me the night I asked you to marry me that you can’t do it all yet you’re still involved with everything you were doing. I’m not going to add to it.”
“Are you telling me there was nothing at all about me in that newspaper article?” Adam winced. “See, it does have to do with me.”
“It was nothing that you had to or could handle. What the article said was that there was a rivalry between Will and me over a woman, and that you, Mrs. Cartwright, are none other than the Shiloh Whitney that inherited the Flying W and Isabella Whitney, the singer. Now you tell me; what is there for you to do?”
She thought for a moment, started to speak, then didn’t, but rather sighed.
He put his arms around her waist and held her against him. “Now, this is the last week and a half of our honeymoon, and then it’s back to reality, and even though reality has somewhat followed us so far, it hasn’t followed us here. We have no worries while we’re here. Alright?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Her face took on a slightly lost expression while her arms hung limp at her sides. Raising her chin with a finger, he said, “Sweetheart, we will deal with it all when we get home. Can you forget about it for a little while?” he asked, moving his face closer to hers as she backed away.
“What are you doing?”
“Attempting to help you forget it,” he said, kissing her.
“Adam…” He kissed her again, and ended with a crooked smile.
“Someone might see us.”
“I don’t care,” he whispered as he surrounded her with his arms, and kissed her again, long, slowly, deeply. “Forgotten?”
“Almost,” she said as she moved her arms around his neck, and after the next kiss, she said, “For now.”
Smiling, he took her hand and they walked slowly down the stairway, then perused the shops along the main street. “Adam, what is this?” she asked, holding up a shell.
“It’s abalone; the shell of a sea snail.”
“This looks like mother of pearl.”
“That’s because it is.”
She walked into a shop, and looked around the shelves that held rosewood boxes, brushes, hand mirrors, trays, and all manner of items inlaid with mother of pearl. Next, she stopped at a counter behind which was a display of mother of pearl jewelry in addition to jewelry made from brightly colored corals. Adam watched her as she looked at the jewelry, asking the merchant to let her see a set of ear rings; tiny dangling roses carved in a pink-orange coral. She went back to the rosewood boxes and opened one, looking at the velvet lining, then running her hand over the smooth outside with intricate mother of pearl inlays.
Turning to the merchant, she said, “It’s all very beautiful. Thank you.”
Adam took the rosewood box from the shelf and set it on the counter, then asked for the ear rings she had looked at. “Would you ship these to the Flying W Ranch, Virginia City, Nevada Territory?” he asked as he paid the merchant. When the transaction was completed, the merchant thanked him, then nodded to Shiloh, smiling.
Adam held the door for her and she stepped out onto the sandy path. “Adam, you didn’t have to do that. I can do without them.”
“You don’t have to,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulder, and continuing down the street.
After browsing several shops, they ended up on the beach walking hand in hand toward the shipwreck. The keel of the ship was embedded in the sand and the surf broke over her decks. “What was she?” asked Shiloh.
“A schooner. Look, there’s part of her name…A C T I V E. I can’t make out the rest.”
“She’s smaller than the Sovereign, isn’t she?”
“She only had two masts where a clipper ship has three.”
“I wonder how long she’s been here.”
“Hard to tell…a year, maybe less. I’m sure she was salvaged, though I don’t know why she wasn’t taken apart for the wood. She was probably a lumber ship.” Looking up at the sky, he said, “It’s probably around five, and you were famished as I recall. You ready for dinner?”
Smiling, she took his hand, and they walked back up the beach to the path that led to the street. In a few minutes, they were seated at an outdoor table with a view of the small harbor and the bay. Sipping white wine while waiting for their dinner, Adam watched as Shiloh looked out over Monterey Bay. He reached over and covered her hand. “How are you?”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I like this little town. It’s calm…peaceful…beautiful. It’s what I imagine our home could be without…”
“Don’t,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Just imagine home like this…for now.”
She looked down at his hand on hers and smiled wistfully. “Tell me about the Meders.”
“Pa met Moses Meder in San Francisco almost twenty years ago. At the time he was building lumber mills and shortly after that he bought part of a rancho. He turned it into a dairy about ten years ago.”
“Why do you want to see it?”
“I have an idea for the Ponderosa and the Flying W…a dairy. We can make butter and cheese and sell it in Virginia City, Gold Hill, Carson City, and even Genoa. We have plenty of cows. We might as well use them.”
“How in the world are you going to add anything else to what we already have?” she asked, laughing. “You keep saying you have a plan up your sleeve. If you’d share that with me, it would probably go a long way to ease my mind.”
“It’s simple. We get out of the business of doing everything ourselves and become managers. For instance, you have Johnny and Billy taking care of the day to day chores with the horses, right?”
“Yes, mostly.”
“And Hank takes care of the day to day chores dealing with the upkeep of the ranch and the cattle.” She nodded. “There’s no reason we can’t apply that to the Ponderosa. Either Joe or Hoss can become a foreman or we can hire someone else as foreman and let the ranch hands do the work. We can do the same with the dairy…hire a manager. That way we only have to oversee it, and that leaves us to do as much or as little of the physical work as we want.” He lifted her hand to his lips. “And that leaves me time to design buildings.”
“What about the timber?”
Adam grimaced. “I’m not sure I want to give up the oversight of the cutting just yet. The crews aren’t always the same men, and sometimes we have to stay on top of them. But there are four of us who can run a lumber camp.”
“I’m not sure I want to give up the physical work that I do,” Shiloh said, thoughtfully.
“Then you don’t have to. But in reality, Sweetheart, that’s exactly what you’ve done with Hank. You meet with him in the morning and go over the day’s work and leave it to him. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about.”
Glancing up at him with a timid smile, she asked, “Would you promise me something?”
Leaning forward and propping his elbow on the table with his chin in his hand, he looked at her with a loving smile. “Of course.”
“Would you make sure you carve out a little time for us…just us?”
His smile turned into a wide grin. “You bet.”
After a dinner of succulent lobster, Adam moved his chair next to Shiloh’s, and they sipped wine while enjoying another striking sunset. When Shiloh became giggly, Adam ordered coffee.
“Why coffee?” she asked.
“Because it’s getting a little chilly, and I thought it might help keep you warm.”
She giggled. “Liar.”
“Alright,” he said with a satisfied smile. “Because I don’t want to have to carry you up all those steps to the top of the hill.” Taking her hand in both of his, he added, “And I don’t want you to fall asleep too soon tonight.” A familiar feeling of titillation welled within her as she turned away, smiling shyly and blushing. The next thing she felt were his lips on her neck. “Hm…there’s those goose bumps,” he said softly.
It was dark by the time they reached the top of the steps near the hotel. On the way up the stairs to their room, Adam started pulling ribbons, combs and pins out of her hair, one by one. “Stop it,” she laughed when she turned to face him at the door. He stepped into her, pressing her up against the door as he kissed her, and at the same time, he searched for the key in his pocket, then fumbled with the lock of the door. Pushing it open, he wrapped an arm around her waist and swept her inside. Both started unbuttoning each other amid her giggles and his chuckles. He reached around unfastening her skirt, and moving his hands underneath the back of her blouse, he untied her corset. Soon they fell on the bed in each other’s arms, rolling in order to remove the last of those garments that were in the way.
Well into the night, they lay in each other’s arms, their passions sated. As they basked in the afterglow, the moon bathed them in a soft white light through the French doors that led out to their terrace.
Adam started to pull his arms from around her when she grabbed hold of him. “I thought you were asleep,” he whispered.
“Why did you think that?” she whispered back.
He chuckled, and kissed her ear. “Because your eyes were closed. I’m just going to pull the curtains closed.”
“Leave them,” she said, holding on and smiling contentedly. “This feels too good to move. Just close your eyes if the light is bothering you.”
He nestled back up against her with his head next to hers, his nose against her cheek, placing tiny kisses on her jaw, and soon they both settled into a comfortably sound sleep.
You know, some people thought this one is the worst of them all…kind of a fantasy that never would have happened. I don’t know about that. All these places really did exist back then. The Lick House was real and accurately described, the Cliff House and the beach, too. And Santa Cruz in the mid-1800s was the way I described it. The Meders were real, and so was their dairy. In fact a couple of those buildings are still there. Thomas Maquire and his opera house in San Francisco and VC were real. Even the San Francisco mayors I have in the stories were all real. This one’s a story back, but Eliza Biscaciante was real and her story was real. She eventually regained her popularity in South America (from Adam’s encouragement, of course!), but she was singing in Gentlemen’s Clubs in San Francisco for drinks at one point. I love working history into my stories.
I suppose my favorite part of all of this was their time on the beach. I’ve been to that very beach, but it’s not a little hideaway any longer…it’s got quite a surfing crowd these days. But the description of the creek coming off the bluff down through the woods is true as well as the small pool of water on the beach. And you can get stuck on that beach at high tide. The cliffs are so high, you can’t climb out. You either have to swim around the points or you have to wait for the tide to go back out. A lot did happen in this one, but as I said, I think this one is my favorite of them all.
Thanks so much, Marie. I think you have just a little ways to go to the end of this one.
I was in a lot of pain last weekend so I didn’t get to finish it. I’ve been busy all week so I’m looking forward to figuring out where I left off. I love this story. I’m loving the entire series! I love long long stories and a series to boot? What more could I ask for! Okay, off to figure out where I left off before I hurt my back last weekend. 🙂
~ A great way to start a new beginning! I look forward to reading each chapter and commenting about them as I read them. 🙂 I just love this couple!
~ Poor Shiloh, she doesn’t do well on those stage coaches. I don’t think I would have either! I just can’t imagine having to travel via a stage coach to get anywhere. I’m glad they arrived at Sacramento safe and sound…Who is this mysterious man?
~ What an opulent hotel, Adam. Presidential Suite? Very impressive indeed! Who was the gent inquiring about them that didn’t want to identify himself? Hmmmm
~ Adam was very adamant about not letting Shiloh sing even if it was for just one night. I can’t blame him though, they’re on their honeymoon! Somehow I don’t think Shiloh will be in that beautiful nightgown and robe too long after breakfast is over. 😉
~ Oh snap! That witch, Natalie Peterson and Will! I just knew he was the “mystery man”. Those two…ooooooh, this is going to get GOOD! LOL
~ Who is this mysterious thug? No doubt a hinchman for Will. I was hoping Adam would get him and show him a thing or two. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of him, Will, or that nasty Natalie.
~ I sure would have loved to been at dinner! The food sounded divine. Is Adam and Shiloh moving to SFO? I must keep reading! 🙂
~ I don’t like this Daniel guy. Not respecting the institution of marriage. I think he has a thing for Shiloh. He’s trouble indeed!
~ What is that no good Daniel up to? It seems the whole world is after poor Shiloh. First it’s Will, Natalie and the mystery man, now Daniel. Somehow I think their honeymoon is going to be a firestorm!
~ It’s almost like she saw a ghost! Who…or what did she see? The plot thickens. 😮
~ Shiloh is so good to go along with Adam, even though these types of events are what she despises the most. She’s such a trooper. The mayor’s wife was so excited to see they had a celebrity in the house, however, she was quite rude to drag her around like a rag doll. Poor Shiloh. Oh boy, the well just got deep! Will is going to make it tough for Adam and his new firm. I know Adam will work it out. Don’t mess with a Cartwright, buddy! That darn Peterson woman…I can just see her body language now; like she’s got the upper hand and she’s going to make Shiloh’s life a living hell. rrrrr
~ Well, the mayor’s reception went well….Cartwrights 1, Will and Natalie, 0. ROTFL
~ What a powerful chapter. How stupid is Will? I mean to come to the hotel where Adam and Shiloh are staying and make such a scene. Did he think it would end well for him? Now the hotel has his face and he will be escorted out if he tries to step in again. I can’t wait to see what Natalie has up here sleeve. I almost feel sorry for her, though…Natalie, that is…She’s just a pawn in this scheme. I’m not sure if she wants Will or if she wants Adam, but she’s a sad lost soul; I pity her.
~ How cute was this chapter. I loved the “escort” Shiloh had for the banquet hall and the “password”. Pretty clever of shiloh to come up with something only Adam would know. I loved their banter at the breakfast table. Too cute!
~ How sweet are Mary and Harold? The seawall thing was so fun! I don’t think I would want to do it in the dead of winter but it might be something fun to share with your beloved in the summer! I loved this chapter!
~ The Alta California is nothing but a sleazy rag paper. On the front page no doubt. I wonder how much money Will paid them to run that article. He’s such a sleaze bag. I sure hope Shiloh does not find out about this; she’ll be heartbroken thinking she’s caused all of this drama for Adam. What she doesn’t know is if you mess with the Cartwrights, you’re messing with a mighty empire nobody can defend against.
~ What a lighthearted chapter. It was so good to see Shiloh smile and be childlike again. I was so sorry Adam couldn’t fully enjoy it with her. 🙁 I hope she is able to get him to feel the inner child he never got to experience. I was just glad they were finally free of all the drama which had encapsulated them in SFO. I just wonder if there is not drama around the bend….
~ Will is a scoundrel! Thank goodness the mayor sees through his stupidness and told him to keep his personal life out of his professional one. I have a sneaking suspicion good ole Will is going to amp it up a notch to try and discredit Adam with not only SFO but with Shiloh, too! Spec, Spec, Spec…She’s a character! I love that girl! ROTFL
~ Sounds like they’re finally going to be able to have the honeymoon they were expecting. The little town they are going to visit sounds delightful. The thought of Shiloh getting kidnapped by Will…makes me shiver.
~ Okay, I don’t know if I was stone cold drunk would I try a fried grasshopper. LOL but wow, that was too funny! The food sounded fantastic, however, I don’t do any seafood or fish, but I do love empanadas! Loved seeing them having such a great time in Spanishtown, even if the jerk who’s following them showed up.
~ What is Daniel up to and what does he want with Will? Those two along with Natalie; a deadly combo. 🙁 Shiloh seeing Micah? What?? Oh poor thing. She wants so much for her brother to be alive. :'(
~ I feel so bad for them, they can’t seem to catch a break on the drama left behind at SFO. Hopefully their time in Santa Cruz will be more enjoyable. The clipper ship sounded lovely.
~ Shiloh’s so cute. She’s a feisty thing and Adam has her hands full. I can understand her frustration with Adam not being forthright about the accusations Will thrusted upon him trying to get the Mayor to take away the contract for the courthouse, but at the same time I see Adam’s point, why burden her with the nonsense when he knew there was no merit to it and the mayor dismissed Will’s claim? She has so much already on her plate and what purpose would it serve her for him to tell her about Will’s ridiculous attempts to try and hurt him and the new company he is with.
~ What a great chapter. It seems maybe they should have gone to Santa Cruz for their honeymoon instead and just let everyone think they were going to San Francisco. LOL Loved how she got a bit tipsy again. Very cute! “Liar,” she said. ROTFL Loved it!
~Somehow I don’t think Shiloh’s to keen on learning the ropes of a dairy farm. LOL She did seem to enjoy the trip to the Meder farm though. 🙂
~ Interesting on how they made cheese and butter back then. I don’t think I like the whole rennent thing though. 🙁 Thank goodness I wasn’t born back in the 19th century or on a farm. I’m too much of a city girl! LOL
~ Why do I feel something is going to happen while they’re camping? Sounds blissful though…If you like camping and fishing. Seems it’s right up Shiloh’s alley!
~ I think Adam may have trouble getting Shiloh to leave their little private slice of heaven. I loved this chapter. I’m glad everything is going so well…for now. 😉
~ Shame on you, Adam Cartwright, for making Shiloh…no forcing her to face her fear of the water the way you did. He needs to realize you have to slowly let someone adjust to a fear. Help them in a safe environment. He’s lucky it didn’t backfire on him and her fear become worse when she was knocked about by the wave that took her under. I’m a good swimmer and that’s happened to me on more than one occasion and it’s scary as heck! Oh, Adam, I’m not happy with you. 🙁 Thank goodness Shiloh is strong and is willing to try it again.
~ My heart stopped when Adam called for Shiloh and she didn’t answer. I thought I can only imagine the fear that set in to him as he called her and no answer came. I can breathe again.
~ Ick…I don’t know if I would want to wake up to raccoons, skunks, and rabbits in my camp. LOL
~ Awe, I wonder if she is pregnant. She’ll make a great mom. She just doesn’t know it yet. 🙂
~ I never thought Ben would be such a “traditionalist” not wanting to move The Ponderosa forward. I can see how that would frustrate Adam. He’ll have to use his ingenuity at the Flying W.
~ I hope she’s not going to have issues having children. They’ll both make great parents. I kind of hope she is with child. 🙂
~ This poor couple haven’t had much of a honeymoon when they’ve been in the city. I guess that’s why Shiloh enjoyed the beach and Santa Cruz so much. Nobody knew them and most of all, they were away from Will!
~ Wow! What a great ending! Such a great opportunity for both Adam, Shiloh, and both ranches to be involved with the railroad. I know it was hard for Shiloh to have Adam sign the contracts instead of her now that she was married to him. I’m glad those times have changed! While I still am somewhat of a traditionalist at heart, I believe a woman can stand firmly on her own and share equally in a marriage partnership. It seems Shiloh and I think a lot alike. 🙂
Looking forward to the next story in the series!
Thanks for such a sweet tender story. I hope we get to see Will and his sidekick again. I love seeing them make fools of themselves. LOL