For Love

Chapter 43

Jason reached for her hand. She slipped it into his, their old comfortable friendship returning in an instant. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and warm. "I know how you feel. Things worked out for the best, didn't they?"

"She loves you. More than I ever did, and I was head over heels."

Jason let go of her hand, not allowing the moment to grow too intimate. "Yes. Well, it seems we're both on the paths we were destined for."

"Oh! I almost forgot!" She pulled the infamous necklace out of her pocket and held it out to Jason. "I suppose I should return it."

Jason smiled and with a shake of his head, closed her hand back over it. "Consider it a wedding gift."

Hannah put it back in her pocket and peeked through her eyelashes. "A souvenir of Seattle?"

"That sounds like an excellent description. Do with it what you like, I bought it for you."

"Thank you," she said with a pretty pink tint in her cheeks.

Kincaid exited the store with a sack of flour over his shoulder. He plopped it in the back of the wagon and stood next to Jason. "You two get to say your goodbyes?" he asked.

"Yes, we did," said Jason, and offered him his hand. "Thank you, for all your help."

"It wasn't much," said Kincaid, shaking Jason's hand heartily, a funny quirk turning up the side of his mouth. "But sure was worth it."

Jason's smile deepened, remembering the nervous wreck Kincaid had been the night before the wedding. There was gossip, of course, over why Hannah rushed to marry a total stranger, but none of that mattered to him. She looked happy, and he had no worries she would be taken care of, not that it was any of his business. Still, he cared. "Hannah tells me you're headed for Nebraska."

"Yes, sir, after we wait out the winter in Olympia. They need another deputy, so it'll tide us over until it's good to travel again. My folks are there. It'll be a might different from back east, and sure different from here, but I reckon she'll get along with my ma well enough."

Hannah gave her husband a loving smile, and Jason put to rest any lingering doubts he may have entertained. She had made her choice. Knowing Hannah, it was a good one.

"Well, good luck, to both of you. Goodbye, Hannah."

Hannah smiled. "Goodbye, Jason. Good luck to you and Laurie too."

He stepped back from the wagon to get out of Kincaid's way. The man pulled himself up to sit next to his wife and, with a definitive wave, drove the horses forward. Hannah waved furiously, first at Jason, and then to the brides waving from the dormitory, shouts of promised letters permeating the air.

Shaking his head at himself, Jason's attention fastened on Clancey situating some crates on his deck. He wandered over to watch him sort through his cargo. He leaned on one of the dock posts, crossed his arms, and said, "Clancey, are you leaving?"

Clancey looked up from the sailor he had been ordering around and adjusted his captain's hat. "Aye, Jason. Tonight, at high tide."

"Oh. I thought you were staying for a few more days."

"Well, that was before said he needed me to pick up a shipment out of Portland, and Lottie's in need of booze, and Aaron's got me picking up a ring for the beautiful Miss Cloom. They're planning on getting' hitched in a few weeks, you know."

Clancey chuckled, and Jason's frown disappeared as he relaxed. Aaron might take a while to make up his mind, but once it was made, he didn't waste time. "Well, will you be back in time to ship the lumber?"