She jumped up, then bent and kissed him, then jumped up again. She started for the door, stopped, then, wringing her hands, came back again. “Don’t go anywhere. I’m going to get the doctor.” She started off again, then, laughing, came back. “Of course you can’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”
Tori raced down the hall and burst into the kitchen where Dr. Hendricks, his wife, and Maggie ate breakfast.
“He’s awake!” she shouted, then ran around the table to grab the doctor’s hand. Laughter mixed with tears as she tugged. “Come with me, he’s awake.”
Tori, Maggie, Dr. Hendricks, and his wife, crowded into the small room. Jesse opened his eyes.
“Hi, doc. I guess I’m not dead.”
The doctor wore a huge grin. “No, son, you’re a lot stronger than I thought.” He turned. “I need time alone with my patient, so I want you all to finish breakfast. Tori, in a few minutes bring me some tepid water for him to drink.” No one moved. He made a waving motion with his hands. “Scoot.”
Two days after the tornado, Jesse went home by wagon. Sadness enveloped him when they rode past the collapsed bank building. He would sure miss his friend, Paul. His gaze wandered to Tori, grinning at the tales he’d heard from several visitors on how she’d faced down a crowd of people to dig him out. He shook his head, imagining his little spitfire even giving Pastor Dave what for.
Tori sat beside him, holding his hand as the wagon made its way home. Michael drove, with Rachel sitting alongside him in the front. Ellie and Hunter were at home, preparing a welcome.
Moisture gathered in his eyes as he squeezed Tori’s hand. He’d always wanted to be part of a real family, and at last he’d obtained his heart’s desire. But the most important member of his family was Tori. Who fought to save him, who stayed all night with him, who promised, most likely in a fit of terror, to have his babies. The thing that meant the most to him, though, was when she said she loved him.
Tori gazed at Jesse and smiled. “I love you,” he mouthed.
“I love you, too.” She leaned and gave him a lingering kiss.
She’d told him last night she wasn’t merely babbling when he woke up. Red-faced, she remarked he needed to get well so they could start on the numerous babies she’d promised. Happiness bubbled in his chest. Tori had overcome her lack of trust in their love. She would take a chance.
Michael and Tori each took one side of him as he walked into his house. Laughing and joking, they all gathered around, trying to hug him, but at the same time, not cause additional pain.
Despite Tori’s protests, Jesse insisted on sitting at the table for supper with his family surrounding him. What he’d always wanted, he’d be damned if he wouldn’t enjoy every minute of family life. He’d found where he belonged.
EPILOGUE
Norman, Oklahoma Territory
May, 1895
Jesse ushered the crowd down the aisle to the seats he’d saved earlier by placing numerous gloves and hats on the chairs so the whole family could sit together.
Rachel, swollen with her first child, held onto her husband Walter’s arm as they moved into the row of seats. Ellie and Hunter followed.
“Henry, come back here,” Tori hissed in the little boy’s direction as she held firmly onto six-week-old Benjamin. Jesse hurried past her, scooped up two-year-old Henry, then plopped him next to his twin sister, Priscilla. Four–year-old Paul picked that moment to yell. “There he is, Mama. I can see Michael.”
“Yes, I see him, too, Paul. Now you must sit quietly.”
“Why is he wearing a ladies’ dress?”
“That’s not a dress, son,” Jesse said, pulling him onto his lap. “It’s called a gown, and the reason he’s wearing it is because he’s graduating from college today. That’s what students wear when they graduate.”
“Will I wear a gown and graduate from college, too?” The little boy with the serious face and huge brown eyes behind spectacles studied his father.
“Yes, you will graduate from college and wear a gown. As will Priscilla, Henry, and Benjamin.”
“Will I be all grown up by then, Papa?”
“Yes, you will, son. Yes, you will, just like Michael.”
Nudged from the side, Jesse glanced up. Alice Draper, Michael’s fiancée, was her usual frantic self. Jesse stood, so the girl could pass him to take the seat between Rachel and Ellie. With Alice planning a wedding three weeks after Michael’s graduation, she could be excused for appearing a bit disheveled.
Things were calm for a short while, as the dignified ceremony for the first graduates of The Norman Territorial University School of Pharmacy were called forward to be awarded degrees. Then Benjamin let out a lusty scream, reminding his mother meal time loomed. Tori tried to quiet the baby, but only food would appease him. Jesse again chased Henry down the aisle. The child headed directly for Michael, his sticky hands reaching out for his beloved cousin. Very responsible Paul attempted to wrangle a set of keys from Priscilla, who desperately tried to swallow them. Jesse took his seat again with a red-faced Henry doing his best to get back down. No longer able to hold off, Tori scooted past her family and headed out the building to feed Benjamin. Priscilla screamed, “Mama,” as she started down the aisle. Tori went back, and, holding a still bellowing Benjamin in one arm, took the toddler’s hand and made her escape. Jesse jumped up to chase Henry again.
Jesse gazed at his ever-growing family. He’d picked this restaurant in Norman for the celebratory dinner because children were welcomed. At least for the moment they were all quiet, even though Henry eyed his twin’s curls, which usually meant he was about to pull them.