The New Sister in Law
Eliza Jane reflects on her feelings the first night after Laura and Almanzo’s spur of the moment wedding. A one shot, complete in one chapter.
Eliza Jane was having trouble concentrating on her lesson plan. She was much too happy now that she found out she had a job starting next Monday. Mr. Williams had answered that wire she had sent yesterday after Laura left on the stage for Radnor. She’d be teaching in Currie, at the job left vacant by Miss Minnie Trimble after she had gotten married to her new husband, Mr. Thomas Martin, a millionaire, who had made his fortune in the iron ore business during the Civil War. He was building a ranch on the outskirts of Currie for himself and Minnie to retire to so it would be really easy to move into the teacher’s house over the weekend.
But Eliza had no idea how she was going to get to there. She really had no one to take her except for Laura and Almanzo and she wasn’t sure if her brother would speak to her again. After all, she had never, ever lied to him, not in the entire seven years that they had been living together.
Eliza Jane would never forget the way her brother looked at her after the ceremony was over. After standing in the back watching as the two of them take their vows, Eliza shyly made her way to where her brother stood, shaking hands with everyone. She waited until he noticed her and when finally did, Almanzo jumped into her arms, his face shining with happiness. She had never seen him smile like that before, but then again, he had never been in love before.
But it wasn’t the only thing Eliza noticed. It was the way they kept looking at each other as if they knew they were meant for each other. They looked so happy together. There was a glow about them. It was as if they belonged together and that nothing could ever break them apart.
And while she felt happy for them, she felt a little let down, a little disappointed and a little jealous that, from now on, Almanzo wouldn’t be a part of her life anymore. She would never hear about his dreams, his accomplishments and his disappointments. She would never give him advice or ask for his help when she needed it.
And she would never be first in his life anymore. She had gotten used to his company for seven years and had thought that he would be there for her forever.
But that was all over now.
It would be Laura who he would come home to now. It would be Laura who would give him guidance, it would be Laura who would feed him and mend his clothes and it would be Laura who would hold him in her arms and comfort him when he was upset. But it would be Laura who would give him the love that he needed and that was the only thing that mattered the most to her.
Eliza Jane hadn’t the slightest idea why she was the last one to leave the party at the Blind School after the ceremony. Maybe it was because she wanted to see who was going to leave first? Maybe it was because she really didn’t want to say goodnight to anyone else. Or maybe it was because she hadn’t wanted anyone to see her going upstairs alone.
Or have someone see her crying, especially her own brother.
But she really shouldn’t be crying at all. She knew she had the teaching job in Currie and she knew that Mr. Williams had found someone to take Laura’s place in Radnor. She knew everything was going to work out and she knew that if she was going make it on her own, she would have to get used to it. She even knew the teaching job in Walnut Grove would work out. Mr. Williams had told her as much. Even though she hadn’t gone on to Radnor, all he talked about was how great a teacher Laura was, how she connected to the students and how everyone had loved her.
She looked down at her half done lesson plan and shook her head. It was late, really late, where were they? They should have been back by now. She needed to talk to Laura, she needed her lesson plan. She needed to work with her and get the students used to her being their new teacher. Willie had been taken by surprise. He was used to her being a student and it would be hard for them to accept her.
She made a cup of tea for herself and sat down in her favorite chair. She looked over at the rocker near the fireplace and imagined Almanzo sitting there talking a mile a minute about his day.
But there was no Almanzo, there was no Laura, there was no one.
She was the one who kicked them out this morning. She was the one who packed the lunch for them. She was the one who wanted time alone without them around so she would be free to send and receive messages from Mr. Williams without them knowing. She was the one who told them not to worry about the time, that they should just go out and do whatever they wanted.
Don’t mind me; she told them, I’ll be fine. I’m leaving Saturday anyway. Don’t worry.
She shook her head and cleared her thoughts. Concentrate EJ, she told herself. Get back to reality.
She finished her tea, washed out her cup and, with one last look outside, disappeared into her room.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Thursday morning, Eliza Jane found Almanzo in the kitchen, whistling and acting as if everything was normal. He was finishing up his third cup of coffee when she appeared in the kitchen doorway, wondering what was going on.
“Almanzo?” she asked, staring at him as if she’d never seen him before. “You already ate breakfast?”
Almanzo’s grin was a mile wide. He nodded his head. “We’ve got your toast and eggs right here; Beth had it on the stove.”
Almanzo grabbed her journal and her school books out of her hand and placed them on the table. He pulled out her chair and watched her as she sat down. He went over to the stove and placed Eliza’s breakfast in front of her. She stared at it as if she’d never seen scrambled eggs with toast or the plate it was on before.
“Where’s Laura this morning? I need her….”
“She’s outside doing some last minute chores, but everything else is done. Right now, we’re just waitin’ on you.” His smile got wider. “You know somethin’ Sis? I wouldn’t be surprised if Beth is outside waitin’ on us. I said I’d stay in here and serve you your breakfast.”
Eliza stared at him. “Almanzo, is Laura coming back in because I really need….”
Almanzo smiled and nodded his head. “Are you talking about her lesson plan? Don’t you worry, Sis, I’ve got it right here. Beth wrote it out last night before we….” But he didn’t finish. His thoughts were elsewhere.
And he smiled just thinking about it.
He picked up a handwritten paper from the dining room table and handed it to her. He wanted to place it in her journal, but Eliza shook her head.
“Hey, you two,” Laura called from the door. “It’s getting late. Almanzo, I need you for a second.”
“Be there in a jif, Beth,” he said, grabbing the plate and placed it on top of the pile of plates in the sink. “See ya outside, Sis,” Almanzo said and joined Laura at the door.
“Almanzo,” she called as he kissed Laura on the lips and put his arm around her. “What about….”
“We’ve got it all under control, Sis,” Almanzo said, his eyes on Laura the entire time. “The kitchen will be all clean by the time I drive you and Laura back here after school.”
She wanted to ask where they were last night, but she didn’t have the heart to. They were newlyweds after all and it really wasn’t any of her business. But she was curious. They could have told her, it wasn’t right that they should keep secrets especially from her.
But then again, she should have come clean about her own secrets.
Well, she was going to have to if she needed Almanzo to drive her out there in the rig.
Eliza placed Laura’s lesson plan carefully in her journal, hoping that nothing fell out of it, especially those telegrams about the teaching job. It was the last thing that she wanted either of them to see.
Satisfied that everything was in place, she picked up her school books and hurried out the door to join her brother and his new wife.
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