The Reality Of Love
"Miss. James leans over the desk looking through all the papers as she keeps flipping her hair over and running her fingers through it.
She then stacks the letters from her mother to Mrs. Swan in a nice square.
The lady of the house opens the drawers, trying to find some string or twine, something to tie the letters with.
Out of nowhere the door opens, and Mr. Myer comes in and leans against the doorway looking like a sly fox.
“Getting our dinners planned for the first year of our marriage? Or you are trying to get all our papers ready for Pastor Kent?"
Freya found the twine and tied off the letters before putting them in a box.
As she gave her hair a quick braid fighting the curls; Miss. James spoke to Mitchell.
"First of all, the pastor's name is Camden not Kent. Get it right. Second, I am trying to find some important papers for Miss. Swan, she left them here by mistake."
As she went back to finding the rest of the letters and more twine for them Mitchell walked into the room and wrapped his arms around her body.
“So, what is the first thing we are going to do for our honeymoon my loving sweet darlin’?” He asked, whispering in her ear.
Freya took Mr. Myer’s hands off her and bent his fingers backwards before quickly letting go.
“How about you spend that alone out back in the barn. If you're lucky Cinnamon might not kick you. Now get out of my room. I have other things to do today and one of them isn’t dealing with you.” Miss. James said, looking at the banker’s son.
Mr. Myer grabbed her by the throat and forced her head upwards pushing her into a wall.
“Soon I’ll be taming that mouth of yours. You don’t have that slave anymore to watch over you.”
Mitchell’s eyes got huge with a wildness, his hair falling into his face when he slammed Freya’s head back into the wall.
Before the lady of the house could say anything, Mr. James called her downstairs.
Mitchell let her go then wrapped his hand around her and pulled her closer to him.
“I think you might need to go on a diet soon my love. Or wear your corset a lot tighter. You should be a vision walking down the aisle, a beautiful angel, not a pound cake.”
Miss. James elbowed the man she hated more than anything in the stomach then left the room while fixing her dress, smoothing it out in places.
As she ran down the stairs Mr. Myer followed her. “Who taught you to do such a thing, Miss. James?” Mr. Myer asked while fixing his tie and trying to come down from his fit of rage.
Freya’s eyes turned into ice and she gave him an innocent smile. “I did have two older brothers, Mr. Myers. How else did you think I kept them from picking on me?”
As they reached the bottom step, they saw Pastor Camden standing there with three bibles in his hands.
“Hello Pastor, what are you doing here? I wouldn’t get that bible close to Mr. Myers unless you want to lose a holy book.” Mr. James gave his daughter a firm look.
“Freya Elizabeth James behave. Pastor Camden is here to finally get your wedding on the books. Now go and make some tea for us and meet us at the breakfast table. And we still need to talk about your trip to the Capital you took last week. My brother told me last a few days ago while we were drinking. Why is your hair messy? Have you been running or something my boy? Might want to fix that.”
Miss. James stormed off to the kitchen swearing under her breath at her Uncle Kendall.
(Ayden has a big mouth and must try to close his mouth for good.)
Twenty minutes later, Miss. James came out of the kitchen with a tray of tea and scones.
“Now that we have something to eat, it's time to do some planning.” William said, grabbing a cup for some tea.
"Freya puppet can you pour us some tea?”
As the lady of the house stood up to pour the tea Mr. Myer pulled out a small box out of his jacket.
“I think it’s time for this ring Miss. James. It was my grandmother’s ring. I hope the ring fits your finger.” He slipped it on her finger before she could pull her hand away.
And before she could say a word, the front door flew open hitting the wall.
“Well, Nathel is gone. Took off in the dead of night. Now I don’t have any help on the ranch at all.” Kendall James turned around and saw them at the dining table.
“So, are you going to help your little brother out William or do I have to keep Ayden home to do the stuff around the ranch? Because I really don’t think he is built for ranching."
"Oh, hi Pastor Camden, what are you doing here?”
Freya’s father marched over and grabbed his brother by the arm before pulling him into the study. “We will be right out. Go on without us.”
The lady of the house finished serving tea and scones to the table at large. Pastor Camden sipped his tea for a moment or so. “Let’s get started, shall we? What is the first thing we want to address in this meeting?”
Before Freya could sit down to join them Mr. Myer held the chair where she couldn’t join them.
“This is man’s business. How about you go finish what you were doing or go try to knit something pretty. Maybe the wedding gift you are going to give me. Go on now my love.”
Freya yanked the chair hard and sat down.
“It’s our meeting Mr. Myer, not just you’re meeting. I think we should address our pasts. Mainly his past. To be fair I don’t know if Mr. Myer is his real name from a hole in the wall. For all we know he is an axe murder or worse, already married.”
The man in question was rubbing his legs due to the pain coursing through them. As the meeting went on Mr. Myer wouldn’t let Miss. James say one word.
Pastor Camden drank his tea while trying to listen to the two James brothers in the study.
As the meeting went on, the lady of the house kept taking the ring he put on her finger off and on and each time she put the ring back on it burned her finger.
“Now let’s talk about the dowry I am going to get for marrying my loving firecracker Freya? I was thinking of the house girl Tabatha, but she ran off. Guess I’ll just take Freya’s love as my payment. Maybe we can possibly talk about the obey thing in the vows. I don’t think we'll need that when we get married. I’m sure once Freya becomes heavy with our first child, she’ll settle down very nicely.”
The lady of the house pulled the hair tie out of her hair, freeing it from the braid that felt like it was causing a headache.
Mitchell was putting on the charm as if it was the pastor who he is to marry instead of the southern bell.
As Pastor Camden got another scone and spread a little jam on it while listening to Mr. Myers. Freya started running her fingers through her hair trying not to run to the barn and jump on Cinnamon to ride to the local tavern.
Mitchell leaned over and saw Freya’s leg shaking just wanting to get up and go. He put his hand on her leg, rubbing it trying to comfort her. “I was wondering, my soon to be wife, do you get your well? How can I say this? Do you get your monthly visitor regularly or do you have one at all?”
Before the lady of the house could make a break for it Pastor Camden finished his scone and dusted himself off.
“I think I have heard enough today. I’ll see you two on Sunday. And Mr. Myers, I think it’s best you brush up on the bible. Maybe you’ll learn how to be well, let's just say to be more human. Have a good day. I'll pop into your father’s study and say my fair wishes and take my leave.”
The lady of the house started cleaning the table, not looking at the bottom feeder standing there in a cheap suit.
“Well, I think that meeting went well. Oh, damn I forgot I want to tell the pastor not to put the news of us getting married in the paper. Some things are just for family after all.”
Freya eyed the tea kettle still full of hot water.
“And just think, the sooner we get married the sooner we can start baking buns in your little oven there. Maybe we should start practicing right now, maybe meet me when it's a little darker and quieter.”
Miss. James wiped down the table after putting all the teacups on the tray along with the rest of the scones. She slung the rag over her shoulder.
“You know you will have to be a bit quicker on your feet when we have our little ones running around. I was thinking a dozen children, six of each. Or maybe enough for two football teams with a few backups.”
The lady of the house put her hands on her hips livid and trying to figure out how to get away from the snake.
Mitchell wraps his arms around her and tries to pull her closer to him. He let go with one arm and lifted her head up so he could kiss her.
As his mouth touched hers, Freya pulled away and pushed him away from her.
(Why does he taste like whiskey at this hour of the day?)
Mitchell pulled her back to him and tried to kiss her again. She shoved him again this time harder.
“Oh come on my southernfire sooner or later you’ll have to get used to my kiss at some point.”
Freya threw the rag on the table and got on her tiptoes to make herself look taller.
“Theodora her name was Theodora. Not Tabatha or whatever name your little mind can come up with. And even if she was her she and her family wouldn’t be for sale or anything! As for your payment or dowry, let’s just say you would be worse off then the people you see wandering the streets of the Capital because I will never love you. Let’s talk about this obeying you; you said that doesn’t need to be in the vows. It doesn’t matter if it was in the vows or not, I will never listen to you. I sooner obey the scarecrow. At least he wouldn’t ask about my monthly visitor like you had. What happens to my body is for me to know and not you. One last thing you low life bottom feeder snake of pathetic use of a man you come near me again thinking you will have your way think again!!”
Freya grabbed the iron kettle opened Mr. Myers’s pants and poured the boiling tea into them.
“Why don’t you try practicing making a child with that?”
Miss. James slammed the kettle down onto his foot. Mr. Myers hopped on one foot while holding the other and swearing loudly.
“Get back here you good for nothing… Little BITC…...!!! I’m going to tell your father what you have….” Mitchell then fell onto the floor, landing on his back.
Freya quickly ran out of the dining room and out of the house. She sprinted to the wild sunflowers and started to cry wishing she was with her forever, wishing to be with her Union Soldier again.
The lady of the house wiped off the tears with her shirt sleeve and sniffed. She then looked at the ring he put on her hand, tore it off and threw it into the flowers as far away as possible.
The fiery redhead then stuffed her hand down into her pocket and pulled out the union soldier’s last letter.
Dear Mrs. Rosemen,
It still feels strange to call you, my wife. Oh, how I miss holding you tightly in my arms.
To smell your sweet fragrance how it lingers around me. Maybe we should try to bottle it someday.
My southern fire, I can’t wait to bring you home to our home we will build one day.
I’ve written to my grandmother and Little Storm telling them of us getting married. The words they had to me. They weren’t very lady-like. I’m sure like rain they’ll have words for you once they meet you.
Little Storm keeps asking me to show her what you look like. She's about gone blind looking at the photo.
Each time I close my eyes I see you in that wedding dress from that day.
What a vision you were, but then again, each time I see you I think I am seeing things.
You might have to prove that you are real when we see each other. Kiss me on the day we see one another.
Maybe that isn’t good enough, maybe pinch me awake. Then again if I am dreaming, I might not want to awake.
I keep the photo of us on our wedding day under my pillow to have dreams of you.
A man in one of the fox holes said, “I woke up to reality and it was as I feared, the war still rages all around.”
It’s sad to say that he is right. But I shall not waste my time thinking of that. I’ll think of you instead, my fiery little southerner.
Maybe when we see each other we can go on a proper honeymoon.
But for now, I’ll just let your last kiss build me a beautiful dream of wild sunflowers and honeysuckle and roses.
Until next time my loving wife my Freya Rosemen.
I love you.
Love,
Your soldier boy Johnathon
P.S. Is our cousin Ayden always frantic over things or did he have an important date to get back to? Now I must get back to the war around me.
As Freya folded the letter back up, she thought of the reality that was waiting for her at her home. It wasn't the dream she wanted to be in. It was nothing but nightmares.
Miss. James took the second piece of paper out of the envelope and looked at it. It was picture perfect, the only piece of the dream world, the world to where she could have what she wished, not the one that causes her nothing but pain.
She looked at the photo once more, closed her eyes and remembered that one last kiss; the kiss to build a dream upon.
Comments