In fact, the train station was empty. She was surprised by that and stood still for a moment in wonder. No one else had gotten off the train and it seemed no one was destined to get on either. She took a few more steps, noticing that only one side of the platform had a set of steps leading down to the dirt and sparse plants.
When she still didn’t see anyone coming and could think of no reason to go inside the building other than to cool off a bit, she continued to walk in the direction of the steps. She was nearly there when she heard a man’s voice speaking in a tone that made her sure he was talking to a child. She stopped, curious to hear what he said, sure that it was Edward who was speaking. Who else could it be? He must have his son and baby with him.
She listened, a smile growing on her small red lips.
“Come on, son, we have to hurry, we’re already late! We don’t want to make the new lady wait too long out in this heat, do we?”
“No, papa.” She heard the voice of a young boy.
“You are going to be a good boy for her, aren’t you?”
“Yes, papa!” The boy was excited but his voice sounded apprehensive. He was eager to please his father, that was obvious.
She began to walk again, not wanting the man and children to round the corner when she was just standing there, listening.
They met just at the corner. She stopped short and gazed at him. He did the same, looking up at her at the top of the steps.
“Claire O’Reilly?” He said. She nodded, liking that he called her Claire instead of Gabby.
“You are Edward Abbott?”
He nodded at her, taking her in. She set her bags down. Her hair was indeed long and curly and she had only gathered some of it on top of her head, letting the rest fall free around her shoulders. She had no bonnet on, did not care to hide her hair under one of them. Her green eyes flashed at him and her freckled cheeks darkened. He was pleased with the way she looked and his heart fluttered for the first time.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Gabby held out one hand and he took it. After shaking it up and down slightly, he kept his grip on her and helped her take the steps down. She leaned over and looked at the little boy. “Hello, Jonathan. How are you feeling?”
“Good.” The boy was looking at her with a strange look. It was a mixture of wonder, resentment and excitement. He looked a lot like his father. He had the same blazing blue eyes and dark hair. He had long eyelashes for a boy, making his face very attractive. She looked up at Edward again. He was not as fair as his son and she assumed Jon got some of his looks from his mother, even though she felt he looked more like his father.
She looked at the baby Edward was holding in his arms. She was small and pretty. She looked at Gabby and blinked before breaking into a tiny grin. Gabby’s heart melted. She held out her arms to see if the child would come to her. She didn’t move away from her papa, just laid against his chest.
“You want to go to Claire, pretty flower?” Edward said and Claire looked at him with wide eyes. It wasn’t “little flower” but it was too much of a coincidence for her to miss it.
****
Chapter Four
In a week, Claire had successfully immersed herself into the lifestyle. Edward had taken her to the courthouse right away and she didn’t mind at all when they married in front of the judge.
It was so very different from home, from New York, from the disdain and ridicule of her brothers, she felt like a new person. She was happy when she woke up in the morning, listening to the cries of a child she had not birthed but had come to love very quickly.
She woke up early but not as early as her husband. She noticed that although she was up in the very early morning hours, he was gone by the crack of dawn. She wasn’t sure what he needed to do that early in the morning at the vicarage. Did the plants need to be watered that early and the lawn need to be cut that early in the morning?
She had wondered it many times when she woke up during the night to attend to the baby, who was still not sleeping all the way through. She was a pleasant baby. The hardest challenge Claire faced was getting through to Jonathan. He had proven to be a stubborn little boy, insisting that he could care for the baby without her help but never being rude or disrespectful about it.
She held the baby in her arms, cradling her and cooing at her. She was standing in the kitchen, looking out the window, waiting for Edward to come home for lunch. She had made him some ham sandwiches and roasted potatoes, which he expressed great delight with the last time she had made it.
Up until the loss of Beth, they had been teaching Jon to read and write at home. When she passed, he started going to the little schoolhouse in town. He didn’t like it and came home early often, just leaving the school and walking.