The Little Matchmaker Part 2
Almanzo and Laura have another argument, but it doesn't last very long thanks to a little matchmaker. Story complete in one chapter.
The Little Matchmaker Part 2
“Beth, how many times do I have to tell you that there is nothing between Thea and me,” Almanzo said, staring at her.
Laura frowned. She was standing at the sink washing off the dishes. As soon as she finished, she handed Manly one to dry.
“I’ve been hearing all kinds of things, Almanzo,” she said, washing off another dish as Manly put one in the cabinet. “And every time I need you for something, you’re upstairs with her.”
“Yes, it’s true, we’re always talking,” Almanzo answered, as he accepted another dish. “I can’t lie, Laura, sometimes we get to talking too much, but it’s always about you and what you’d like and what you want and how much money I want to spend and….”
Laura stopped handing him dishes and turned around to look at him; a frown still on her face. “So you’re telling me that you neglect me and your daughter because of some piece of jewelry she wants to sell you?”
“How many times a day does Coop visit with you? I swear, Beth, I’m beginning to think he likes you a bit too much. I don’t complain every time he shows you another belt buckle or a decorative horseshoe do I?”
“Oh, Manly,” Laura said, turning back to the dishes. “Now that’s ridiculous, Cooper is a…
“Married? Yes and so is Thea. And I’ll remind you in case you’ve forgotten. They are married to each other. And they are very much in love.”
Laura looked at him. “You don’t sound too happy about it. You sound a little disappointed to me.”
Almanzo frowned. “Beth,” he sighed, shaking his head. He threw down the dish towel and walked out, just as three and half year old Rose wandered in.
“Papa?”
But Almanzo wasn’t listening; he walked right past his daughter as if she didn’t exist. She waited and watched as he walked out the door, and then, with a look toward her mother in the kitchen, followed him outside.
“Papa?” Rose called, running after him, “Papa, stop.”
And Almanzo turned and with a smile bent down to her height. He caught her as she ran into his arms.
“You know, Rosey, you shouldn’t be running in the middle of the street like that, you have to be very careful.”
“I wanted to be with you, Papa,” she said, looking in his eyes. “I wanted to cheer you up. I heard you and Mama Beth yelling at each other again.”
“Yeah,” Almanzo, said, rubbing her cheek and stroking her hair. “I made a mountain out of a molehill, didn’t I? I shouldn’t get mad at your Mama, but sometimes I do. Nothing to fret over Rosey Posey, we all get angry sometimes.”
“Yes, but you and Mama get angry at each other too much. Don’t you love her?”
Almanzo stared at his daughter. Out of the mouths of babes, he thought as he stood up. “Of course I love your Mama.”
“You don’t act like it,” Rose said.
Almanzo looked at his daughter. “Come on,” he said, as he extended his hand. “Come take a walk with me.”
“Are you going to see that lady, Mrs. Highsmith? Mama Beth says that she thinks…”
Almanzo looked at his daughter. She was a smart one.
“I don’t love Mrs. Highsmith, Rosey. I love your mother; I’ll always love your mother. And you can tell her I told you that.”
He was talking to her as if she were older. He was forgetting how old she really was, just like he kept forgetting Beth’s age.
“Manly,” a voice called after him. He turned to find Laura staring at him.
“Beth,” he whispered, looking into her eyes, “My Beth.”
And he dropped Rose’s hand and ran into her arms in the middle of the street.
He kissed her and forgot everything else.
They parted and he stared into her eyes. “I can’t stay angry at you anymore,” he smiled.
“I don’t want you to be angry,” she said, as the two of them drew closer together. They were about to kiss again when a small voice called….
“Papa,”
Almanzo released Laura and looked downward.
“Rose?”
“Over here, Papa.”
Laura and Almanzo turned to find Rose in the middle of the street, Cooper Highsmith holding her hand.
“She just ran out to say hello, right Rose?”
“I’m so sorry, Coop.” Laura said, Almanzo’s arms resting lightly on her shoulders. He was still looking into her brown eyes as she was looking into his blue ones. It’s just that we were a bit….“
“I’ll take her back,” Coop said, “Thea has a surprise for her. And you two have a surprise in the barn back there.”
But the two of them weren’t really paying attention, they were more interested each other.
“Come on, Rose,” Cooper said, looking at Laura and Almanzo. They couldn’t take their eyes off each other and they had forgotten that they were still in the middle of the street. “We’ll see them soon. Let me take you to the barn in back of the boardinghouse. You’ve been there before, right?”
“Are we going to see Mrs. Highsmith?”
Cooper smiled and looked into her eyes. “You are a smart little lady, Rose,” he whispered, bending down to kiss her forehead. He looked into her eyes, stood up and took her hand again. “Come on; let’s leave your Mama and Papa alone for now.”
XXXXXXXXXX
“These are beautiful,” Laura said, going through the baby dresses that Thea had discovered.
“I saw them and thought of you and Mannie,” she said.
“It looks like Rose loves them too,” Cooper said, as Rose grabbed a pretty pastel blue dress with lots of lace and handed it to Almanzo.
“Rose,” Laura said, frowning, but Almanzo just took the dress and took hold of his daughter’s hand.
“Come on, Rosey, let’s go try this on.”
“And the furniture is lovely,” Laura said. “We really could use them in Rose’s new bedroom. Manly was going to build some of it, but with this…”
“It was all there,” Thea smiled, looking at her. “All we thought of was you and Mannie. Use it well.”
Laura smiled back, ran into her arms and kissed her on the cheek. “I don’t know how to…”
“You don’t owe us anything, Laura. The gift of your love and friendship is all that is needed here.”
“Beth, Coop, Thea,” Almanzo called from the little curtained off area that Thea used to store her things in. “You’ve got to take a look.”
“Ladies, come here,” Cooper said, smiling. “Laura, your daughter looks beautiful.”
Rose was the first one out followed by Almanzo. He was beaming as he looked at Laura.
“She looks like a little princess,” Almanzo said, as he looked at his wife. “All that lace.”
“I have to admit that color looks really good on her.”
Almanzo smiled and nodded. “I have to agree.”
“And it fits her well, although some of them need to be taken in.”
“And that should be no trouble for you, Beth. You can do anything.”
“So,” Thea said, looking at Laura. “Does this mean that you like it?”
“Of course, they like it,” Mr. Edwards said, as he walked into the Highsmith’s room. “It was partly my idea to get it for them.” He turned to Laura. “After all, she is my goddaughter and I promised your Pa that I’d watch out for his family.”
“And we appreciate everything you’ve done for us, Isaiah, and all of you.” Almanzo smiled. And there were hugs and kisses all around until Mr. Edwards made his announcement.
“Mr. Sherwood Montague requests the honor of your presence in the dining room as dinner is being served. Jenny and Rachel are helping out tonight. Is everyone ready?”
“Let’s go,” Cooper said, looking at his wife. “I’m starved.”
XXXXXXXXXXXX
“I absolutely can’t believe that Mr. Montague made that cold chicken with the weeds and sprinkles….”
They had moved into one of guest bedrooms upstairs; it had reminded them of their small bedroom in the house that Almanzo and Charles built to surprise Laura with.
“It’s called lemon chicken and it has herbs and aspic and…”
“Tarragon,” Almanzo said, smiling, moving closer to her on the bed. “You don’t have to remind me. Mr. Montague was so surprised that two of us knew exactly what his dish was.”
“Uh, Manly,” Laura said, “Guess who told him about it?”
Almanzo’s eyes went wide and his shy smile appeared on his lips. “And you probably made the potato salad.” He put his arms around her shoulders. “Go ahead and tell me that I’m wrong.”
Laura smiled and shook her head. “Okay, you’re wrong. Mr. Montague did all the cooking. We got to talking about the lemon chicken recipe because it was so hot. He told me that he wanted to show off his culinary skills.”
“I guess that means he wanted to show us all he could cook,” Almanzo answered, still smiling. “Well, I got news for him. No one, no one beats my wife at cooking, no one.”
“That’s all well and good, but if I remember right…”
He kissed her lightly on the lips, pulled back and stared into her eyes.
“There were several times I could question it, though,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.
“MANLY,” Laura said, as Almanzo started to laugh. It took a few seconds before Laura joined in, and they kissed again.
“Did you like the surprise?”
“You mean you knew all the time?”
“You mean about Rose’s furniture for her new room? Yes and no, Laura. I saw Isaiah and Coop maneuvering it into the barn out back, that’s the yes part. I had no idea it was supposed to be for Rose’s new room. No one even told me. Did you know that they all chipped in to buy the set for us, too?”
“And I guess that included Thea Simms Highsmith didn’t it?” Laura shook her head and frowned. “No, no one told me a thing. How did you find out?”
Almanzo was trying not to smile. “Rose repeated exactly what she heard Thea, Cooper and Isaiah talking about. And that’s when Mrs. Thea Simms Highsmith walked inside to show you and confirmed it. She’s a smart little thing, Beth. Sometimes I forget that she’s only three and a half going on four. It’s amazing how much like her Ma she is.”
Laura looked into his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean, Almanzo?”
His smile only widened. “Only the good things, darlin’,” he whispered, playing with her long loose auburn hair. He shook his head. “Only the good things, that’s all. I love you, Beth, and I always will.”
And Almanzo kissed her again and this time there was no interruption.
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