Letters and Love

Chapter Thirty: Noah

It was as though no one was breathing for a moment and no one moved. I couldn't blame them. I didn't know what to think myself after everything I had just heard. Earnest's call for an apology had been unexpected but appreciated on the heels of a major confession.

Although I had always known the Burns' family was the source of the rumor that had destroyed my reputation, I'd never thought it would be Annie herself. Though she had appeared willing enough when her father had encouraged a courtship between us, I would never have imagined she had set her heart in it. Why would I have? She was barely out of childhood and I was...well, not the kind of person to inspire a girl's passing fancy.

"Apologize?" Mrs. Burns exclaimed, her voice shrill. "Why should any of us apologize? If he had done the right thing in the first place, none of this would have happened! He is as much at fault for this as any of us!"

And she had wanted me as a son-in-law?

"Hush, wife," Mr. Burns snapped, his face a deep red. "You're going to make this all worse. We'll talk about this later. Take Annie and the rest of the children to the wagon. We're going home."

To my surprise, Annie Burns turned towards me. "I'm sorry, Mr. Coleman," she said, though she didn't raise her gaze to meet mine. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

That, I was certain, was sincere, though a bit naive. Surely she must have known what her story would do, the repercussions it could have. Had she thought it was worth it, or had she simply just not thought about it?

"I understand," I told her gently. Hadn't I seen my own sisters and brother do whatever they could to earn our parents' approval? It wouldn't surprise me if any of them had invented stories for their own ends. "I can't say I forgive you. Yet. But I do understand why you lied."

"Noah, really?" Reverend Rollins turned towards me, a reproving note in his voice.

The girl simply nodded, still unable to look at me. She turned and shuffled her way to her mother, who promptly grabbed Annie's arm and began scolding her. No wonder the girl had been so eager to have her own household if this was a sample of the treatment she had from her own parents.

"Burns," Earnest spoke up again. My friend's tone held a note of warning.

After nearly a moment of harumphing and shifting from foot to foot, Burns finally nodded. "I suppose I should say something," he said, though he didn't sound remorseful. "Sorry, Coleman. But you can't blame me for believing my own daughter. No hard feelings?"

All I could offer him was a nod of acknowledgement. There were hard feelings and I wasn't about to lie to make him feel better. While part of me understood a parent believing their child and how important that was, I couldn't forget everything that had happened because of it. He'd burned down my barn! Shot at me! His brother had just tried to gun me down in the street.

Forgiveness may be divine, as the saying went, and it was the Lord's day, but I wasn't quite ready to forgive my neighbor. Maybe, when there had been some distance and time between what had happened, I might be able to do so.

Putting his hat on his head, Burns hurried after his wife and children. Slowly, everyone else had begun to turn away. I suppose none of them felt the need to apologize for how they had been treating me.

But that was on them and not important to me. This whole ordeal was finally over. I could marry Elizabeth and put this whole thing behind me. And, with no further gossip, everyone would forget it had ever happened.

At least, that was my hope.

"Well," I said, giving Elizaebth's fingers a squeeze. "Now that we have that settled, shall we move on to the matter of our wedding?"