James stepped out of the carriage and stared up at his childhood home with great excitement and nostalgia. It had been nearly five months since he had stepped foot inside, and it seemed simultaneously as if it had been an eternity and no time had passed at all.

It was a large brick manor home just on the outskirts of the city. The house had been built by his great grandfather and had been passed down through the generations. It would one day be Charlie’s, and then eventually his son’s.

“This …” Marigold said as he helped her out of the carriage. She stared, open mouthed, at the building. “This is your home?”

“My parents’ home,” he corrected. “It hasn’t been my home in some time. I lived in the city for the last few years to be nearer to the clinic where I worked.”

“A place in which Mother and Father have kept up for you since you left,” Charlie said. “Ensuring it is all ready for when you decided to come back, whether for a visit or to stay.”

Another look of apprehension passed over Marigold’s face.

“Are you quite all right, darling?” he asked, lowering his voice as Charlie went to go unload the trunks.

She looked at him, eyes wide. “Yes,” she answered quickly, and then smiled. “Yes,” a little more calmly. “I am. It’s just all … a great deal to take in.”

The large oak front doors opened, and his parents’ butler stepped outside to greet them.

“Master James, it is wonderful to see you,” the man said, his white moustache bristling merrily.

“Mr. Todd,” James said, shaking his hand, grinning. “The joy is all mine. I’d like to introduce my fiancée, Miss Marigold Langston,” James said, gently touching Marigold’s arm.

“How do you do?” she asked, inclining her head to him.

“Mr. Todd has been working for parents ever since I was a young boy,” James told her.

“Young Master James was not even walking when I started,” Mr. Todd said, beaming proudly. “He turned into quite the remarkable young man.”

James shook his head. “Nonsense. I am still as mischievous as I was when I was a lad.”

They laughed together, and Mr. Todd led them inside.

The foyer was a large room, with a sweeping, winding staircase that led up to the private quarters. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling, all of its many candles ablaze. Paintings and gilded mirrors hung from the walls, and various heirloom pieces decorated tables and shelves.

Marigold appeared stunned as she crossed the threshold.

“There you are!” called a voice.

From the top of the stairs, a very smartly dressed woman with chestnut hair tied up in a neat knot waved down at them.

“Charles, your children are here,” the woman called behind her. She turned and began to descend the stairs in a very graceful fashion despite her excitement in her voice.

“Hullo, Mother,” James called up to her.

When she reached the bottom step, he was there to meet her, embracing her warmly as she laughed.

“My baby boy,” she said, pulling away, putting her face in her hands. Her blue eyes, just like his, searched his face. “What a man you have turned into. You’ve grown. And there is a wisdom in your eyes now.”

“Wouldn’t go so far as that, Mother,” Charlie called from the door, smirking.

She gave him a teasing glance before turning her eyes to Marigold, who was standing in the middle of the foyer at a loss for what to do.

“Darling girl,” she said, sweeping across the room, taking Marigold’s hands in her own. “Oh, you are just as pretty as a portrait, aren’t you?”

She looked over her shoulder at James, her hands still clasped around Marigold’s. “You never told me just how lovely she was, James. Abigail told me she was quite something, but my …” She turned back to Marigold, beaming. “It is absolutely wonderful to have you here with us, Marigold. Charles and I are delighted to meet you.”

Marigold seemed flustered by all of the eyes on her, but she smiled shyly. “It is wonderful to meet you as well, Mrs. Connor.”

“Oh, nonsense dear, please call me Evelyn. I am to be your mother-in-law, after all. There is no need for that sort of formality.”

Marigold’s face colored, and she nodded. “All right, then.”

“Ah, there you are,” came another voice from the stairs.

A man with a balding head and sharp grey eyes appeared dressed in something fit for a ball, but his smile was kind and welcoming as he descended the stairs with his arms thrown wide.

“My boy, home at last!” he cried as they embraced like he and his mother had.

“Charles, come and meet your darling soon to be daughter-in-law,” James’s mother said, moving aside to stand beside Marigold.

“My gracious,” Charles said, his eyes wide as he stared at Marigold. “Why, she looks just like you when I met you, Evelyn.”

This was met with laughter, and his mother just smiled and rolled her eyes.

“You jest, Charles.”

“Marigold,” he said, smiling as he stepped in front of her as graceful as James’s mother, and bowed. “Welcome to our home. We hope you will make yourself comfortable and you can treat it as if it were your own.”

“Indeed,” his mother said, nodding her head.

“Thank you very much for your kindness and hospitality,” Marigold replied.

Soon after, Abigail arrived with her husband, Luke, and their son, Edward. She was overjoyed to see Marigold, insisting that they have time to talk about the proposal from her perspective and not just through the eyes of her brother.

“And we are happy to announce that there is going to be another little one arriving in February next year,” she said, and everyone clapped heartily.

“Another baby …” Marigold said. “My, this whole family is going to be very busy, isn’t it?”

“Being busy is all they know,” James replied. “Come on, let’s go join them all for dinner.”

James was both proud and apprehensive to show Marigold the rest of the home, especially the dining area. It was lavish, as his parents enjoyed entertaining guests frequently, so there were many place settings at a very long table. There were candles all over the table, large artwork on the walls, and plenty of servers to offer them whatever food they would desire.

Dinner was a combination of all of his favorite foods. Puddings and meat pies, breads and soups. James could have sworn he had died and gone to heaven.

As they ate, his parents told him all of the latest news from within the city. They told him about some of his friends and their families –

“Henry Town is engaged as well, you know,” his mother said. “To that Lily Anders from Brooklyn.”

“Daniel Steel is now married, and his wife is expecting their first child sometime next spring as well,” his father said. “And his brother is supposedly accepting an offer as the head of his father’s department.”

“Do you remember Mr. Carlton? Well, supposedly his daughter called off the wedding with that nice man from England. Didn’t like that she could hardly understand him.”

James noticed his parents said nothing about Tessa, the woman he was once engaged to, or her family. He was grateful for that, for Marigold’s sake.

He was very interested in hearing all of the latest news; however, he was paying far closer attention to Marigold. Her nervousness had carried all throughout their day, and he was beginning to get concerned.

“So what were you two thinking about for the wedding?” his mother asked as they moved on from their second course of the meal. “What date would be most desirable for you?”

Marigold immediately looked up at James.

“I’m not sure, Mother,” he replied. “We hadn’t quite picked a date we liked yet.”

“Must not wait too long,” she said. “The minister will surely be preparing for other weddings this time of year. Best ask him as soon as possible.”

“What do you think, darling?” he asked Marigold, looking back at her. “First of November? That’s a Saturday, I believe.”

“Of course,” Marigold said, nodding. “That sounds wonderful.”

“And two weeks away!” his mother exclaimed. “Now, have you thought at all about the sort of reception you would like? And would you like the wedding in the morning or the evening?”

Marigold looked down at her plate. “Oh … I don’t know. What would you suggest?”

His mother beamed. “Well, an evening wedding would be very nice, as the guests will likely linger and talk with you, enjoying the wine and cake offered. However, a morning wedding would be very quiet and pleasant, giving you both ample time to prepare for your wedding tour.”

“Wedding tour?” Marigold asked.

“Of course, dear,” his mother said. “Every couple takes a few weeks to go and make visits with family and friends after they are married. It’s tradition.”

Marigold’s brow furrowed slightly. “Normally the bride and groom stay in town where I am from,” she replied. “None of us hardly has the time or the money to be able to take such extravagant trips –” Her eyes widened. “My apologies, I meant no offense.”

“None taken, dear,” his mother said, smiling. “Now, what of a dress? What would you like, hmm? A pretty floral dress, ivory with lace? Or would you perhaps like something more simple?”

Marigold’s face was turning a deep red. “Actually … I brought my mother’s dress from when she married my father. I … I’ve always been rather fond of it.”

There was a brief moment of silence at the table before James’s mother replied warmly.

“That sounds perfect. I can’t wait to see it.”

James caught his mother’s eye, and he could see she was attempting to say something to him. She could see that Marigold was feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“Charles, wasn’t there something you wished to tell James about the clinic? That large donation they received?”

“Oh, of course!” his father replied, his eyes brightening. “Well, just the other day, I heard …”

James was grateful that his mother could pick up on Marigold’s unease. She was protecting her and helping to take all of the attention off of her.

James reached and took Marigold’s hand under the table, squeezing it affectionately.

After that, she seemed to relax. They found themselves together in the drawing room. The large windows were dark, and the fireplace was crackling merrily. His brother, sister, and their families had all gone home to get the little ones to bed, and his parents had already bid them good night.

“How far is it to your apartment from here?” Marigold asked.

“Not very far,” James answered. “I know the way well.”

She smiled.

“Marigold?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

“Yes?”

“Is … everything all right?”

She looked away. “Of course.”

James frowned. “Marigold, I know you well enough to know that something is not fine. You can tell me what’s going on. And you should. If you can’t talk to me, then who can you talk to?”

“I …” she began, and then sighed. “I suppose I have just been very overwhelmed all day. Everything is just … big here. The people, the buildings, the trees.” She smiled at him. “I was just a little girl when my family left Pennsylvania, and so I don’t remember very much about my life before Bear Springs. So this all feels so foreign to me.”

James patted her hand affectionately. “I understand.”

“And I felt so terribly underdressed,” she said, pulling at her skirts. “Your mother and father looked as handsome as a king and queen, and here I was in this old dress.”

“You look wonderful, my darling,” James insisted. “Your dress is not nearly as wretched as you claim it is.”

“But it is very apparent that I do not come from the sort of money you do,” she pressed.

“Your father is just as wealthy as mine is,” James retorted. “He simply has more cattle and horses than mine.”

She smiled and sighed.

“Your family is wonderful, though,” she said earnestly. “They’ve been so kind to me, all of them. So welcoming. I feel as if I have done a great disservice to them by being so reserved.”

“Nonsense,” James replied gently. “They understand very well that this must be a great deal for you to take in. Soon enough they will see the bright, cheerful side of you that made me fall in love with you in the first place.”

She smiled a little more widely.

He leaned over and kissed her gently, sweetly.

As always, his heart beat rapidly. He longed to linger there in their kiss, but it was late and the poor girl needed rest.

He bid her good night a short time later and started back toward his old apartment. He wandered familiar streets and saw familiar sights. Everything around him felt slightly different, but he supposed that was because he himself had changed, not everything else.

His apartment was quiet and untouched, as if he had never left. His parents had been very kind to keep it open for him while he was gone. How had they known he would want to come back so soon? Was it because they hoped he would come back for good?

It was larger than his entire clinic in Bear Springs, he realized with a start. A place that had once felt so small to him now seemed enormous, luxurious. He was not any less grateful for his living quarters out in Utah, but it made him appreciate how well he had lived when he had lived in the city.

He sat down on the edge of his bed, staring out of the window at the city below.

It was strange, he realized, to be there, in the city with Marigold. His whole past life converging with his new and future one. An odd juxtaposition, both pulling at him in very different ways.

He laid back in the darkness, still fully dressed, and stared at the ceiling.

It was nearly perfect, being back there with Marigold. His family was nearby, his love was here. Everything he had ever known right at his fingertips, not thousands of miles away.

He hadn’t realized just how homesick he had been.

He went through his old routine of preparing himself for bed. He lingered in the bathroom, grateful for running water indoors. His room was cool as he pushed the windows open, and he was glad everything was not covered in a layer of fine orange dust.

His heart ached.

He did love Bear Springs. But New York would always be home to him.

He wondered if Marigold would ever be interested in living in New York?

Shaking his head, he rolled over in his bed. He could never ask her to uproot her entire life just because he was feeling a little homesick.

But the thought lingered, shifting and growing and deepening. Why should he have to give up everything once they were married? Maybe she would be happy in New York. Maybe she would find the sort of life she never knew she wanted.

He drifted off to sleep imagining the two of them buying a lovely little house in the country, raising a family there, and being very happy.

He wished the thought did not bring him as much joy as it did.