Page 29 of A Joyful Ring
“She sees a good man with a big heart who loves unselfishly.” Risa offered her father a pointed look. “Does this mean you’ll finally admit you love her and are ready to court her?”
“Court her? No.” Lars shook his head. “How could I possibly do that when I’m here and she’s there, and there’s so much to consider?”
“What’s there to consider, Papa?” Risa asked, her voice rising along with her temper. “She loves you. That’s as plain as the pert little nose on her pretty face. You love her, and don’t you dare deny it.”
Lars sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I do love her. I love her like I thought I’d never love another after losing your sweet mother.”
“Then do something about it,” Risa said, slapping her hand on the table for emphasis.
Gunder, who was by now acquainted with her temper and the way she sometimes tried to parent her father, said nothing as he ate his meal.
Smart man, Risa thought as she passed him the carrots, then turned her attention back to her father. “I don’t understand the problem, Papa. Just marry Gloria and enjoy whatever years of happiness the good Lord gives to you.”
“It’s not that simple, Girlie. I can’t just quit my job. What would I do for work? And there’s this place we’ve poured so much blood and sweat and tears into. I can’t walk away from it. Or you.”
Risa rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t be walking away from anything. I could stay here and keep things up. The way you and Gunder have spoken about the growth in Baker City, couldn’t you start your own freight business with King and Prince? I bet it wouldn’t take any time at all to build up a business that would keep you as busy as you want to be. Besides, I don’t think Gloria is hurting for money.”
Lars scowled and shook his head. “Her husband left her well taken care of. She doesn’t need to run the boardinghouse for money. She does it for the company and to give her something to do. Which is one more reason this won’t work. Gloria is used to fine things. I’m nobody.”
Risa hopped out of her chair and wrapped herarms around her father’s shoulders, giving him a hug. “You’re somebody very special to me, Papa.” She kissed his cheek, then resumed her seat. “All we’re going to do is argue until we’re both exhausted. Let’s talk about this again in a few days.”
“That’s a wise plan,” her father said, and helped himself to a large serving of hash.
Gunder offered Risa an approving nod, then looked across the table at Lars. “Do you want to switch shifts with me tomorrow so you and Risa have some time to work through things?”
“No,” Lars said, shaking his head as he took a handful of carrot sticks. “I need to see Gloria and discuss matters with her first.”
“At least consider courting her, Papa. It’s not like you don’t see her every other day as it is. Perhaps take her to a restaurant for a nice meal, or to a concert or play. From the newspapers you bring home, it seems there is always something happening in town.”
“I’ll give consideration to your suggestions, but let’s talk about something else. Did you see the article in the newspaper about the Southern Pacific line from Los Angeles to San Francisco being completed last month? The way more and more railroad tracks are being laid, it won’t be long until we have a train running through Eastern Oregon and connecting us to Portland as well as the rest of the country.”
“You think so?” Gunder asked, pausing with a bite of hash halfway to his mouth. “It would have saved a lot of time if I could have ridden the trainall the way here, or at least to Baker City, or even Boise. Do you really think we’ll have a train here someday?”
“I’m sure of it,” Lars said with a smile, looking relaxed and more like himself.
Risa wouldn’t hound him about Gloria for now, but she wasn’t going to give up too easily on her father embracing the opportunity for a happy future. She looked over at Gunder and sighed. Especially when her own seemed so incredibly far out of reach.
Chapter Seven
December
Careful not to spill a drop of the precious melted silver in the small pan he held with a pair of pliers, Gunder knew the success of the piece rested in his ability to pour decisively and fast while keeping his movements controlled and accurate.
Only once the silver was inside the mold he’d made from a mixture of sand and clay did he release the breath he’d been holding and return inside his tent while the silver cooled.
Upon learning of Gunder’s ability to repair jewelry, Mr. Goodwin had asked him if he was capable of making jewelry. Gunder had warned him he was out of practice, but was willing to try. The man had commissioned him to make three necklace pendants, one for each of his daughters, forChristmas. Mr. Goodwin had ordered silver chains, and all Gunder had to do was create the pendants.
It helped that Mr. Goodwin had supplied Gunder with good, clean silver for melting. Each pendant featured the daughter’s initial with engraved flourishes around it. Gunder had finished two of them, keeping the design pretty but simple. He had his own special project he needed to complete before Christmas arrived in a few weeks. Although he’d inwardly debated back and forth about making it, the silver he’d just poured into a mold was going to be a promise ring for Risa. A promise of what he hoped to one day provide for her sometime in the distant future, if she were of a mind to wait for him. Otherwise, she could view the ring as a gift of friendship.
Gunder thought she loved him. Thought he could see the depths of her affection for him in her beautiful blueberry-blue gaze and hear it every time she said his name, but he still wasn’t certain. Despite thinking about it nearly every day since the Fourth of July, he hadn’t even kissed her yet. He’d dreamed about it so many times, it always seemed like he had, but he had a feeling the reality of tasting Risa’s sweet lips would far surpass anything he could possibly imagine.
However, there would be no kisses, no declarations of feelings, until he could at least show her he intended to provide for her. He thought he’d saved enough to buy one of the Lovely lots. They’d just have to wait to wed until he could afford to build a shack on it. Perhaps in another year or two.
The thought of waiting that long to hold her, tolove her, made him want to shout in frustration, but wait he would because Risa was special, a woman to be treasured, and that is what he intended to do. Cherish her. Shelter her. Protect her, even if it was from him.
Gunder sighed and took out the small set of tools he used for jewelry repair. When Gloria Franklin had learned he could make repairs, she must have spread the word to every female in a fifty-mile radius of Baker City. He’d had a steady supply of pieces to work on, and the funds he made from the work had given him hope for his future. He still sent money every month to his parents, but not as much as he had been. His mother had read between the lines about his feelings for Risa, and his father had told him to stop sending money because Gunder needed to save it for his future.
He intended to keep sending money, at least until spring. By then, his mother would have plenty of new mending projects, and winter would be behind them.
