PART 6
Amy stood on the back porch, deeply lost in her thoughts. She gave a little jump when someone cleared their throat next to her, announcing their arrival. She turned on her heel and gave Dan an incredulous look; this boy just didn't know when to quit did he?
"Can I help you?" Amy said, a bit harsher than she meant to.
Dan swallowed a bit and said, "Listen, I just want to talk to you." Amy resisted the urge to just walk away, and instead nodded her head ever so slightly. Dan became more comfortable and nodded his head. "Alright, I won't waste your time tellin' you I love Bess, cuz you know that already. I think we've known for a while now…just scared of tellin' each other. And well, the first thing outta my mouth…..the second," Dan gave a small grin, "Was me askin' her to marry me."
Amy just gave Dan an uncomfortable glance and was about to speak when he went on. "Look, I know you may think it was a spur of the moment thing, and I know you may think that I don't deserve a girl like Bess….and you're right, I don't. She's so wonderful, how could I ever hope to deserve her. But I do know that I love her. Ever since we were kids and she drove me crazy….and I just want you to know that I'll do my best to see that we do it with your consent," Dan finally finished, and mentally crossed his fingers.
Amy gave Dan an exasperated look and said, "It's not that I don't want you two to get married." At Dan's skeptical look she went on, "I'll admit I had my reservations….and I still do, but I've always seen something between you two. I just don't want Bess to throw away this opportunity for something that…..that…" Amy looked away, and Dan got her silent message that she wished to be left alone. As he was leaving, he turned back and said, "Mrs. Laurence, I never had no family…this here at Plumbfield's been the closest I've ever come. You 'n Mr. Laurence have been part of that from the beginnin', sponsorin' me and all. I just wanna say that I thank ya, and I respect ya, and any decision you make…..but I love Bess too much to give up….and believe me, I won't."
Amy made sure Dan was gone before she turned around and briskly wiped a trace of a tear in her eye. She sigh and left the porch, not in any particular direction, but simply wandering….thinking of her own past and youth.
As Jo hurried into the kitchen, she ran right into Dan. "What's going on!?" she exclaimed, "I heard yelling? Is something wrong?"
"Naw," Dan said, running a hand through his hair.
Nick came in the back door and also inquired after the yelling, "I saw Amy runnin' off one way…and Bess another, did somethin' happen?"
Dan sighed and said, "Bess and I are gonna get married."
Jo smiled and began to hug Dan when realization swept over her and she said, "You just told them, didn't you?" Dan nodded. "Well, I'm sure they'll come around," Jo said, "Well….I hope Amy will anyway."
Dan nodded and asked Nick where Bess had run off to. "Don't know Dan, looked like the school house…but why would she be goin' there?" Nick replied. Yet Dan must have known something the others didn't, because he raced out of the door with a knowing look.
Jo bit her lip and gave Nick a worried look….which he mirrored back. Yet another problem to add on to the list……
"I always used to think that my parents were terribly romantic," Bess said, swinging her legs as she sat on the desk next to Dan in the semi-dark schoolroom. "They ran into each other in Europe….fell in love in Paris, it was the most romantic thing I'd ever heard of. Better than any fairytale or story. I thought that when I grew up, I'd be just like them. I'd fall in love, get married, and they'd be SO happy for me. I never thought mother would react like this…"
Dan took her hand, "She just cares about you-"
"Yeah? Well she's got a funny way of showing it," Bess interrupted.
Dan hopped down off the desk and stood in front of Bess, taking both her hands in his. "I love you, you know that. And Bess, I wanna marry you more than anythin' but maybe we should listen to your parents." At Bess' shocked look he went on, "Your scholarship is a great thing….Bess you've got so much talent! If you go there, and we wait to get married, then…." Dan trailed off and looked away so he wouldn't have to see Bess' reaction. After a moment or two of silence Bess gently pushed up Dan's chin with her finger and said, "I love you too. And you're right, I do want that scholarship. But I can't stand the thought of us waiting!"
"I know, and neither can I Bess….but what if it's the only way?" Dan asked.
"The only way? What do you mean Dan?"
"The only way we'll ever truly be happy." That brought silence over the two, and neither of them said anything for a long time.
"Where would you go?" Bess asked.
"West," was the only reply Dan could give her. He sat back on the desk with her, and grasped her hand tightly. Bess turned and, with a hopeless sigh from Bess, the two touched foreheads.
The quiet chirping of crickets was the only sound that could be heard as Jo sat outside on the back porch once again, the moonlight streaming across her face. It was beginning to be her favorite part of the day; everyone was safe, in bed. No one could leave her at night…well, no one had so far!
"You okay?" A voice greeted her as she looked up.
"What?"
"Are you okay? I mean, you didn't eat much at supper again, and I…I can tell," Nick said.
"Well I'm fine."
"Oh, alright, if you say so," Nick said, sitting down next to her.
After a few minutes of silence, the inevitable happened. Jo said, "Rob wants to go to school."
After a few more moments of silence Nick said in confusion, "And you don't want him to?"
"He wants to go to school in Boston with Daisy and Demi," she added. Nick just nodded, finally understanding.
"Are you gonna let him?"
"Well," Jo said taking a deep breath, "he wants to…and it's an excellent opportunity…"
"When does he leave?" Nick asked.
"Two weeks." Nick looked at Jo in the moonlight, and he saw her. He saw how she tried to be cheerful when she felt like she was losing her family….her "career"….her life. And he saw how painful it would be for her to part with her real son. Yet how she put all of the children's dreams above her pain. He saw how she doubted herself, how she wondered and feared the future. And finally, and most greatly, he admired her.
"You ain't never put your needs in front of them," he said simply. She gave him a small smile, and a nod, and then went back to looking at the stars. After a while, he got up and gazed at the stars from the porch railing. "Ain't nothin' like lookin' at them stars from a ship in the middle of the ocean….nothin' for miles around. You wouldn't believe it," he said, and started to walk towards the barn. "Nick," Jo called after him. He paused, and turned back. "Don't you ever wish you could go on one more adventure….see those stars one more time?" she asked.
He walked back over to her and said, "There's stars everywhere-if ya just look." He began walking away and said, "As for adventures….never stopped havin' them!" Jo shot a happy, secret grin in his direction and it was Nick she gazed at as he walked away… her shining star when she needed him.
PART 7
