A Loving Vow To Be Made (Book 1 of The Loving You Series)

Chapter 7.

Dear Diary April 12th, 1867, Bannack, Montana;

Jon and I arrived in Bannack and found a home for sale that was next door to the town's seamstress, which was owned by a very nice lady, named Mrs. Thompson. As soon as we settled in, John went out immediately to find work, unfortunately, as the weeks went by, he was unable to find any job at all and blamed me for moving here and away from our home and stable income from New York.

After a month of waiting, Jon was able to find a job in the local mine as a manager. Soon life was going really well for both of us. I would walk over the two general stores and visit with my friend Rachel and we planned on staring a quilting bee this coming summer. But then a situation arose in the mine and Jon lost his job and he turned his sorrows to the bottle, which bothered and worried me. I knew before I even met him, that Jon was struggling with a drinking problem and after drinking to excess, he could become very violent.

After a fight, we had two weeks later and me suffering from the first beating that he ever did to me, I went for a walk and ended up in front of the general store. I was sidetracked by the sound of sobbing that was coming from around back. When I went to investigate, I saw Rachel, sitting on a bench crying her eyes out. Out of compassion for my friendship with this woman I pulled out my handkerchief and approached her, when she heard my footsteps her crying stopped and when she looked up to find me standing before her, she jumped up and ran straight into my arms.

Dear Diary September 19th, 1867.

It was a few months later that I haven't heard from Rachael, which had me really worried, so worried in fact that I was thinking of paying her a visit. I had just put on my shawl when there came a knock on my door when I answered it, I got to see that it was Rachael. She seemed a lot bigger and rounder then the last time I saw her, as well as very pale and she had dark shadows beneath her eyes. As soon as she noticed me staring at her belly she immediately threw herself into my arms and began to weep. Apparently, she just returned from another trip back east and then found out that she was pregnant. She has been hiding from her family so that she could hide the pregnancy. She told me she was so scared, she didn't know how to tell her husband, as well as jeopardize the relationship her husband had with Jason who was now known as Jack. Before I could warn her about Jack, she asked me if I would.....

Back to the Present...

Before Savannah could continue reading, the book was swiped out of her hands and when she looked behind her it was none other than her father, Jon Eden.

"Where did you get this Daughter, and what gave you the right to read it?"

"What do you mean, what gives me the right, I have every right to read the book mama kept."

Savannah tried to grab back the book, but was unable to do so; it was surprising to see that her father had such good fast reflexes for a man who was always stumbling around town carrying a whiskey bottle drunk out of his head. He must be less drunk and soberer right now then he was at any other time.

Tucking the book into his jacket pocket, Jon raised his fist and was about to hit her when he was thrown to the floor and his hands were being tied behind his back by Ramsay. After he was secured, Ramsay got up from the floor and reached Savannah within a second and embraced her. His hands were everywhere, it seemed like he was checking for any bruises or injuries. Savannah was about to tell him that she was fine when he grabbed a hold of her right hand that had the cut on it.

"Are you OK? He asked as he looked at her, when did this happen?" Ramsay asked as he stared at the open wound on Savannah's hand. "There's no need to worry, Ram, it's just a scratch, nothing a bandage won't fix!" Savannah reassured him. But then tears started to blur her vision and very silently they began to run down her face. Because of what she just found out from seeing her mama's old room and then from reading her diary, Savannah dropped to the floor and broke out into tears. Now that she knew the truth regarding the circumstances of Quinn's birth, it still made her cry and to think of the sacrifices her mother went through to spare Savannah's reputation. All she wanted to do for the moment was curl up into a ball and weep forever, but she knew she couldn't do that because she had people that depended on her. She could feel the love that Ramsay had for her already; especially when he picked her up and carried her back to the boarding house where she and Quinn had been staying. Once they reached the boarding house, Savannah thought that he would let her go, but he didn't. Instead, he carried her into the parlor room and sat in the rocking chair that was placed before the fireplace and consoled her. He didn't speak; all he did was let her cry on his shoulder which truly touched Savannah's heart. She thanked God for this man, this special man who came into her life.

Ramsay was glad that, Savannah was done crying. It felt so good to hold her in his arms, he realized that they just shared their first special moment. When he was certain that she was finished, he moved her head away from his chest and began to wipe away her tears from her face. Even though he knew that she was upset, he couldn't resist kissing her. At first softly then it became more insistent; his hands began to cradle her face, and hers did also to his. They were so wrapped up in their kiss that they were both unaware of the tugging sensation that happened to be coming from one four-year-old and five-year-old, below them. In a voice both of them spoke in and making them sound more like twins, Quinn and Joey asked together,

"Can we have a kiss too?" Ramsay and Savannah looked at each other and laughed. Picking them both up and settling them on their laps, they kissed both of their cheeks making a funny wet smacking sound, causing the children to add giggle sounds to the room in which all of them sat.