Chapter 5

The weather the next day was a Saturday and was one of the mildest winter days they could expect up in the Sierras. Ben left for a meeting in Carson City that wasn’t until Monday, but he couldn’t pass up such a pleasant day for travel. He could enjoy a restful day in Carson, and be relaxed for the meeting on Monday. If the weather held, he would be home on Tuesday. Joe and Hoss left for a Saturday night in town and planned to spend the night because they didn’t want to return home in the dark on roads that would turn icy when the day’s melting snow froze as the temperatures dipped when the sun set. Adam stood behind Merry as they waved goodbye to Joe and Hoss at the front door. Merry pushed the door closed and could feel Adam’s warm body pressed up against her.

“Pa made us all promise years ago that we would not take a woman up to our room. But he never said anything about a woman taking one of us up to her room.”

“Oh I think you’ve been in my room every day. There’s always a chocolate waiting for me in my room when I go to bed. First it was a small porcelain box filled with chocolate drops. Then the lace handkerchief tied with a ribbon and a chocolate inside. Last night it was a ring of chocolates in the shape of a heart on my pillow.”

“That wasn’t too much over the top, was it?”

“No, I have loved every one of them. I love it even more that you remembered that promise from so long ago. But what about the champagne?”

“Lady, you have to trust me that I have a plan for that.”

“You always seem to have a plan. I like that. I never seem to have any idea what’s coming next. I like it better your way.”

“What about my earlier idea about you taking me to your room?”

Turning into his embrace and putting her arms around his waist, Meredith had to ask. “Is that what you want to do?”

“Only if you do. I don’t want to push you into anything, but if it was up to me, I’d be up there already.”

Taking Adam’s hand, Meredith pulled him toward the stairs. Laughing lightly, he let himself be led to her room. Once inside, she pushed the door closed, and Adam leaned down to kiss her. “Let’s take our time and enjoy this. So Meredith let him take the lead because she knew a lot about sex and nothing about making love. They kissed for a lot longer than she expected, and she was amazed at the physical and emotional reactions that brought about when she knew they would end up in her bed. She began to relax and enjoy each sensation. She felt Adam’s warm hands on her then before he began unbuttoning her dress as he kissed her lips, her cheeks, her neck, and anything else within range. He sucked an ear lobe into his mouth and she had never felt such a sensation of a man tasting her like that. He took her hands and put them on his shirt so that she would unbutton that first. Soon they tumbled into the bed as the rest of their clothing was discarded. Adam made tender but passionate love with her for the first time. When they finished, he felt her trembling in his arms and saw tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, but I could have a baby now.”

“You don’t need to be afraid you’ll be with child. Merry, don’t be afraid. We’ll be together. If that happens, we’ll have a baby together.” He rolled to her side, and pulled her tightly to him. She continued to cry softly. Adam stood then and pulled her up with him. “C’mon. I wasn’t going to show you this until Valentine’s Day, but this is too important. Come with me.” Completely naked, they walked to Adam’s room. He stepped to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer removing a small velvet box. He opened it and handed it to her. “It’s your ring. I was going to ask you to marry me on Valentine’s Day. We’ll always be together. So you see, it doesn’t matter if you’re with child. We’ll be married. We’ll be parents together if God blesses us with a child.”

“You would be happy if we made a child?”

“I would be thrilled. Now it doesn’t have to be today, but sometime, yes, I would think that would be wonderful. Don’t you?”

“Yes, with you, yes. But Adam, what about my past? I’ve been thinking a lot since you asked if you could court me. I have such a soiled past, what will your family think if they find out about it.”

“Sweetheart, you have a pure heart and an innocent soul. None of what happened to you is your fault. I plan to tell my father and brothers as much of your past as you give me permission to tell. I really think you should let me tell them everything.”

“But they’ll despise me then and won’t want you with me.”

“No, they’ll understand. They’re my family, and we know how hard life can be out here. People do what they have to do to survive sometimes. Wouldn’t it be better if they knew it all up front so there were no surprises?”

Nodding, Meredith leaned toward Adam hoping for an embrace and got it. He held her for a minute before he had a request.

“Let’s go back to the bed. It’s kinda cold standing here like this.”

“Can I wear the ring?”

“You can wear it on the gold chain I’ve seen you wear. On Valentine’s Day, I would like to make it official. You wouldn’t want to mess up my plans for a month of chocolates, would you?”

“No, I like your plan. It’s so very romantic. I always thought of you as the dangerous gunslinger type, but you really are a thoughtful, gentle, romantic man.”

“Don’t tell anyone. I wouldn’t want that to get around.” Hurrying down the hall with her, they got to her room and slid into bed pulling the covers over them. They talked and hugged, and when it was time for dinner, they dressed and hurried downstairs so that Hop Sing would not come looking for them. As it turned out, Hop Sing had made a very nice dinner for them with unusual dishes at which Hoss and Joe would probably have turned up their noses. Adam was more adventurous and Meredith’s palate liked a variety of flavors so Hop Sing had indulged himself and made dishes he normally didn’t get to make. He had the additional advantage of being able to eat the same dishes. He was quite happy, and then thrilled when Adam and Meredith praised his cooking and thanked him. The couple spent the evening in front of the fireplace, and then slept together in Meredith’s room after making love again. The next morning, they made love again.

“Is it going to be this way with you all the time? I think I’m going to be exhausted and walk funny if that’s the case.”

“No, sad to say, it won’t be. When I’m back to working, I won’t have as much time, and at night, I’ll be tired, so once each day will probably be the limit.” He smiled at her then. She loved seeing that dimpled smile. “Now, Hoss and Joe will be home soon so we ought to get dressed and act like we didn’t do all those things we did. Then we ought to talk to Hoss about giving us a ride to town. I don’t want people saying too much about you so you really ought to go back to the boarding house until we marry.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that. This has been so wonderful. I can’t remember anything so nice ever happening to me. I didn’t want it to end.”

“It’s not ending. It’s just like beginning the next chapter of a book. I hate to see you go too, but you know you have to go back to town, don’t you?”

“I’m going to miss you so much. I guess I could go back to work for a while. I probably don’t have to though. Your father paid me so well to be your nurse, I could live off that check for six months. Mrs. Harper says he always pays well when someone is taking care of one of his sons. Does that happen a lot?”

“Certainly more often than we would like.”

That afternoon, Hoss drove the sleigh into town again. Adam walked Meredith to the boardinghouse and promised to be in town the following Saturday to take her to dinner and church services on Sunday. She asked if there was anything that could create a problem, and he told her he would come through a blizzard if he had to. She told him not to do that, and he kissed her lightly on the cheek before walking back to the sleigh for the ride home. Adam drove the sleigh about halfway home, before waking Hoss from his nap and saying his arms couldn’t take any more. They were getting stronger but being in splints for three weeks had weakened them as much as the injuries had. Sliding into bed that night made the previous night seem like a dream. He was anxious for every night to be like that first night with Meredith. He slept well feeling that things were finally working out for him.