Steamy Western Romance Book Series Set In 19th Century Kansas
Love On The High Plains by Simone Beaudelaire
Series Excerpt
One evening, a few days later, the Heitschmidts and Cody gathered again in the parlor of the family homestead. As usual, Kristina and her suitor sat rather too close together on the rose-printed sofa, their hands interlaced.
Kristina has the most beautiful hands, Cody thought, his mind turning maudlin again. He grinned at himself. Besotted fool.
“How are the plans coming?” James asked them, drawing Cody back to the present.
“Well,” Kristina said, “on my end, I think everything is underway. I talked to Lydia about the menu for the reception, and it sounds delicious. She's keeping me in the dark about the cake, says it's her gift to us.” She smiled. “The lady's altar guild has ordered me a bouquet of roses to carry, and for the rest, the silk ones in the storage room will work. I have everything I'm planning to wear ready, except the skirt Becky is making. It's almost finished. She says I can try it on tomorrow.”
“As I see it,” Cody added, “we have two problems. The first is music. Who is going to play for the ceremony? The best musician in town is going to be… busy.”
“I mentioned it to Allison,” Kristina replied. “She said we shouldn't worry. She has a plan.”
Cody quirked one black eyebrow.
“I don't know what she has in mind either,” Kristina replied to his unasked question, “but at this late date, there isn't much choice. We have to trust her. I'm so wrapped up in the cantata preparations, I can't even think about it until Sunday, and then it's less than a week.”
Cody squeezed Kristina's hand.
Now that he'd gotten over the idea of letting a woman be in charge of the choir, things at the church were falling into place beautifully. Yesterday, Thursday, they had spent their evening together talking about the sermon, the scriptures, and the main points of the outline for Sunday's service. Kristina, upon hearing his ideas, immediately came to light with three hymns he would never have considered, but somehow fit perfectly.
How foolish I was to try to take this away from her.
He'd seen God-given gifts before, and hers was too powerful to be denied. No wonder was angry when I tried to interfere. Casually, gently, he'd suggested a fourth hymn for Sunday. He'd watched her go through the range of emotions from irritation to understanding to agreement. He could almost see gears turning in her head as she considered how to turn his request into something special.
The process is still ragged. We need practice working together at this, but now that we're trying to be open to each other, we're seeing success. Already, this will be a smoother service than the ones I've led up to this point.
“All right, Cody,” James said, “out with it. What's the other problem?”
The question dragged him out of his contemplations. He raked his fingers through his hair. “The critical one. Who performs the ceremony? I can't marry myself.”
“Oh, is that all?” James's relief showed on his face. “I'll do it.”
“Can you?” Cody's eyes widened with surprise.
“Sure,” James replied. “I've been head of the elder board for ten years. After the previous minister passed away, I took correspondence lessons and earned the designation of lay minister. In an emergency, I can perform weddings, baptisms and funerals as well as preach. I'm glad I don't have to do it all the time though. It isn't my calling; I was only helping out. But for my daughter…” James stopped, his eyes going distant for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had roughened. “I think it would be fitting. And nice.”
Tepid words, but the intensity of James's tone told Cody a great deal. He turned to his soon-to-be-wife and felt no surprise at seeing tears glimmering in her eyes, turning the turquoise blue more intense, like paintings he'd seen of the Mediterranean.
Cody offered a quick prayer of thanks that James had accepted him. He would be a member of the Heitschmidt family moving forward. His parents lived too far away now, both geographically and socially, for him to be more than just a visitor in their lives.
He could still remember his father's disapproval when he announced he was entering seminary, not politics. The relationship between father and son had been strained for years over the decision, but when Cody's passion for the ministry didn't wane, Harold had finally made peace with it and found him a job as associate pastor at a large and wealthy church in Austin. Unimpressed by the showy congregation, Cody had refused, preferring a poor and struggling ministry in the rough areas of Galveston. That had been the second blow to their relationship.
Only now, in occasional letters, did State Senator Harold Williams begin to show signs of respecting his son's calling.
Now I'll have a father again. Cody liked James’s calm, unpretentious manner. While an important person in the town, he put on no airs and held himself superior to no one. He didn't shy from hard work and didn't hesitate to ask it of others. This was a man Cody admired and wanted to emulate.
There's only one fly in the ointment. I need advice… but I won't be getting it here.
With every passing moment, the desire grew, but he cringed to imagine the fumbling, hurried joining that was certain to follow the wedding. I want Kristina so bad it hurts, but not like that. What to do? I suppose I'll have to ask Wesley, though I don't know if my bride's protective close friend would be much better than her father.
“Thank you, James,” Cody told his future father-in-law, forcing his thoughts back to the conversation again. “It puts my mind at ease. I guess everything is under control then.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” James said suddenly, “a package came for you today. Let me go get it. I'll be right back… now where did I leave that thing?”
Cody grinned as James bustled out of the room. As if it's even possible to lose something in this immaculate house. But I'm not sorry. James's insistence that the courting couple have a brief time of privacy each day—not enough to get into trouble, but enough to enjoy a taste of what was to come—pleased Cody tremendously.
It seemed as though every time he pulled Kristina into his arms, she transformed a bit more in his mind into the image of his ideal woman. Or maybe that image is being transformed by her. I don't know. All I know is I want to kiss her.
As always, she turned eagerly towards him. Whatever maidenly embarrassment she might have felt at first had long since melted in the heat of their passion. She cupped his face in long, cool fingers and drew him down, receiving the brush of his lips with a welcoming sigh. Despite his burning arousal, Cody took his time, savoring his lady's lips, memorizing this kiss, this moment, burning each touch and taste and scent into his memory.
There was no way James could have been gone for ten minutes, and neither of them heard him knock, so they were still crushed in each other's arms, tending each other's lips with passionate thoroughness, when James cleared his throat.
Kristina sprang back, her face flaming.
Cody took her hand and patted it reassuringly. Yes, they'd been caught kissing, but that was all, and James certainly hadn't been surprised. The wry look in his eyes told Cody that. He extended a parcel wrapped in brown paper, which Cody took, glancing at the return address. It came from his former advisor from the seminary.
“Well, Cody, I hate to chase you out early, but Kristina needs her rest. Tomorrow, as you might recall, is the big dress rehearsal for the cantata, and then the performance is the day after. It always wears her out, and this year it's particularly important she not get sick.”
Cody nodded. In defiance of custom, he brushed his lips over Kristina's again, making her blush burn even brighter, until her cheeks outshone her hair, and then he squeezed her hand gently and left.
Outside, the night temperature had dropped to a frigid low. It appeared the weather was turning back towards winter again.
As he made his way through the clear, frosty night, his mind played over the next few days. Tomorrow, along with putting the finishing touches on his sermon, he'd be at choir practice for three hours in the afternoon.
Sunday would also be busier than usual with a regular service in the morning and the cantata in the evening. During the week, Kristina needed to evaluate what furniture she would require to make the vicarage livable for a lady with high standards. Tuesday, his parents were due to arrive. Despite what was sure to be wild last-minute preparations, choir practice was taking place on Wednesday as usual. Christmas would not be postponed. The wedding would be Friday afternoon, and he had a Christmas Eve service and another Sunday to prepare for immediately afterward.
What a flurry. James was absolutely right to send me on my way and make Kristina rest.
With so much on his mind, Cody found himself at his front door sooner than he expected. His thoughts still far away, he absently let himself into the vicarage, flung his coat on the arm of the sofa and dropped the package on the seat. The fire was dying, so he poked at it with an iron utensil and added a couple of logs.
Then, as light and heat flared in the room, he untied the coarse twine holding shut the paper wrapping and looked inside. A book, simply bound in stiffened gray paper with black lettering, bore the name A Christian Man's Guide to Marriage by George Wilson. Cody had never heard of an author by that name. He opened the cover and found a note from his former mentor inside.
Dear Cody,
Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend, as the event is so close to Christmas, but I wanted to send a gift. Based on the conversations we've had, I think this book might be useful to you. Read it right away. Best wishes.
Dr. Abraham Thomas
Cody grinned. He'd learned so much from Dr. Thomas, and his note, like his conversation style and sermons, was succinct, blunt, and straightforward. “The gospel is simple, son,” he'd told him, “and most folks like that simplicity. Unless you're planning to preach in your daddy's fancy church for politicians, bring the people the message and don't put on airs. They'll thank you for it.”
It had been good advice, and Cody had kept it to this day.
And now here's some new advice: read this book right away. I don't have much time for reading, but I'd hate to ignore Dr. Thomas.
Opening to the introduction, Cody's face went slack with shock. This was not a book about being kind to your wife or listening to her opinions.
The first line he read nearly jumped off the page and slapped him on the head.
Congratulations, young man, on keeping yourself chaste in preparation for your upcoming marriage. You may be wondering how to proceed and hoping it will all work out. You may also be wondering what the scriptures have to say on the subject of marital intimacy.
This book addresses these questions from a Biblical and medical perspective. After reading, you should be able to engage in the God-given act of intimacy with confidence you and your wife will both find the process uplifting and enjoyable.
Before you begin, here is some strong advice, to be ignored at your peril. Do not begin reading this more than two weeks before your wedding. It contains strongly-worded information which you will likely find arousing. Reading too far ahead is not wise.
Next, under no circumstances should you be alone with your bride once you begin. No doubt your control is already tenuous. You didn't wait this long to miss the prize at the end…
Cody considered the book, leafing through the pages and scanning the illustrations with interest. Well, there are less than two weeks until the wedding, and I'll scarcely have a moment alone with Kristina between now and then, so all should be well.
Cody set the book down and crossed the room to the washbasin, where he cleaned his teeth before stripping down to his undergarments, wrapping himself in a blanket, and settling back to read.
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