Page 22 of A Joyful Ring
“Papa said you’d be out here working as soonas you got back from Baker City.”
Gunder had been so focused on the fire he hadn’t heard Risa’s approach and jumped when she spoke. The tip of the bellows fell out of the pipe, but Gunder shoved it back in and returned to pumping the bellows as he stared at her. She stood a safe distance away, hands on her hips, as though she’d caught him misbehaving.
If she knew how often his thoughts tripped around her—around how much he wanted to kiss her and hold her—she would likely box his ears and refuse to ever allow him to sit at her supper table again.
Heaven forbid that should happen. Right now, Gunder could make it through a week of Jed’s cooking based on the fact that come Saturday evening, he’d enjoy a wonderful meal with fine company.
Then again, half of Gunder’s suppers were taken at Mrs. Franklin’s boardinghouse. While she was an excellent cook, he thought Risa’s food was better. Or maybe just eating a meal in her presence added extra flavor to every bite.
“Why are you working so hard to refine your own silver, Gunder? Everyone is talking about it. What is it you hope to accomplish?”
Although Lars and Risa, as well as most everyone in the camp, had questioned him about his plans, he hadn’t answered. He’d let them all assume he was in it to get rich.
Today, though, he had reached a limit on listening to one more lecture about how stupid he was behaving, if that were the lecture Risa plannedto deliver.
Rather than answer her, though, he motioned for her to come take over the bellows. She did without question, one more trait he greatly admired about her.
Truthfully, there were dozens of reasons he admired her. On the long drives back and forth to Baker City, he frequently listed each and every thing he liked about Risa. Not that the snakes, coyotes, and occasional deer cared, but it broke up the quiet and reinforced why she was such a special woman in his eyes.
With Risa pumping the bellows, Gunder hurried inside his tent, lifted the square of earth he’d dug up and fashioned to look like it belonged beneath his cot, then retrieved a tin box he’d hidden in a hole beneath it. He carried it over to Risa and sat beside her, handing her the box and resuming the constant motion required to keep the bellows going.
“What is this?” she asked as she brushed dust from the lid of the tin.
“Open it.” Gunder hadn’t planned to share this with her, but it somehow felt right.
Risa worked off the lid and set it beside her, then stared at the contents of the tin. Gunder had secured his money in an empty tobacco pouch Jed had given to him. He might have known Risa would wrinkle her nose at it and fasten her attention on a framed photograph. She lifted it up and wiped the glass on her sleeve.
“Is this your family?” she asked, studying the faces of his parents, sisters, and him. They’d had thephoto taken a week after Gunder had decided to travel to Lovely. Amalia and Anna had pooled their funds to purchase the picture frame. No matter where he went, he’d always have a reminder of his family. By now, though, the girls had likely changed. Amalia would be finishing her schooling in the spring and planned to get a job teaching. Anna had no doubt grown in height and was starting to look less like a girl and more like a young woman.
“That’s Amalia by my father, and Anna next to Mama.” Gunder’s throat felt tight as he said their names. Thank goodness his mother was a frequent writer of letters. At least twice a month he received a letter from her, sometimes with notes from his father and the girls. Gunder wrote a reply to each letter, describing the country, the people he met, and things he’d seen.
He never wrote about the hardships. And not once had he mentioned hauling explosives. He’d only told his parents he got work as a freighter at a mine, that it paid a decent wage, and he had Sundays free to attend church and do as he pleased after the service.
“Such a beautiful family, Gunder. Your sisters are exquisite. Does your father have to chase the boys away from Amalia every evening?”
Gunder smiled. “Not quite that often, but he has run off a few amorous young fellows. With Anna growing up, it will be challenging to have two girls of courting age.”
“It will be. Is this what you wanted me to see? The photograph of them?” Risa asked, reverentlybrushing her fingers over the image.
Gunder couldn’t help but notice her fingers linger on his face a moment longer than the others. He tried not to read anything into it, though.
“Actually, the photograph wasn’t what I wanted to show you, but I’m glad you saw it. What I wanted you to see is in that little wooden case.”
Risa picked up a small jewelry box that had belonged to Gunder’s great-grandmother. His grandmother had given it to his mother when they’d left Sweden, and his mother had given it to him when he’d left for Oregon.
Slowly, Risa opened the lid of the box, then gasped as she looked at the two pieces that represented both sides of Gunder’s family.
“A bell and a brooch,” Risa said, lifting out the finely crafted oval-shaped silver brooch. “The filigree detail is spectacular.” She held the brooch so she could study it from all angles. “Was this your mother’s?”
Gunder nodded. “It was Mama’s. She told me I needed to bring it with me so I never forget my heritage.”
“Your heritage?” Risa’s brow wrinkled. “You said your mother is a talented seamstress, and does mostly mending these days.”
“True, but Mama’s family has been jewelry makers for a long, long time. My great-grandfather made that piece for my great-grandmother for their tenth wedding anniversary. He had his own jewelry shop. My grandmother worked there even though no one knew she was the one creating some of the shop’s most popular pieces. She taught my mother,and although she has the skill, Mama never had the interest in making jewelry, but she did teach me the basics.”
Both of Risa’s brows raised. “I can hardly believe your family made this piece. It looks like something a queen would wear.”
Gunder didn’t mention once upon a time a queen had seen the brooch and commissioned his great-grandfather to make a similar piece, only studded with emeralds.
