Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
June, 1880
SOPHIE FORD ADJUSTED her riding habit and grabbed her gloves on the way out of her bedroom. She hadn’t ridden in almost three days, so Emma had insisted they take the older girls for a ride out to the pond.
Jamie and Junior were due back from their trip to New York sometime before dinner, and Sophie couldn’t wait for their return. They’d traveled with Clayton and Henry, and Andrew and his eldest son, Harper.
Sophie still hated to be separated from Jamie, but with the Long Depression finally over, Jamie had to ensure their railroad interests were put to good use. They’d been very careful with their money and had managed to come out ahead, which wasn’t the case for many people in the country. Sophie felt blessed to have retained enough memory of history to protect their friends and family from the worst of it.
Richard and Charity had sold their portion of the Harrisburg house to Clayton and Emma a few years after the assassination of the president, and moved to Maryland to be close to Charity’s family. They had been blessed with Richard, jr. who was fifteen, and Mary who was eight.
Clayton and Emma now lived in Harrisburg full time, choosing to rent out the D.C. townhouse at Emma’s insistence. One day it would be worth more than just a legacy for their children. They had four children: Henry, fifteen, Oliver, thirteen, Molly, eleven, and Lilly, seven.
Sophie’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of little feet on the hardwood floors.
“Mama, are you going to ride Samson?”
Sophie turned and held her arms out for her seven-year-old daughter. Savannah had been blessed with Jamie’s dark hair and blue eyes, and she was the smartest child Sophie had ever known. “Yes, Savannah. I’m going to ride Samson.”
Sophie leaned down and kissed her daughter’s cheek, keeping an arm around her as they walked down the hall.
“Lukey says Samson’s really old.” She frowned. “Will he die soon?”
“He is old, and I suspect he will die at some point soon, sweetheart. But let’s hope it’s not too soon, because he still has a lot of life in him.”
“He’s still my favorite horse.”
Sophie chuckled. “Mine too. Maybe we’ll stuff him and put him in the parlor.”
Savannah laughed. “Ew, Mama, that’s just disgusting.”
Sophie giggled and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Are you hungry?”
“Very.” She rubbed her stomach. “Is Nate coming for dinner?”
Sophie cocked her head. “What makes you ask that, Nanna?”
Savannah Ford had a ridiculous crush on Nathan Butler, Christopher and Hannah’s fourteen-year-old son. The couple had moved to Maryland with the rest of the Butler clan and built homes on their vast acreage surrounding their parents’ farm. They did manage to visit Harrisburg a few times a year, which Sophie and Emma treasured.
Christopher and Hannah now had three children, including Penny, Nathan, and Ella, who was twelve.
Savannah blushed. “Emerson said we were going to have a party.”
“Oh, he did, did he?”
“Yes. For mine and Junior’s birthdays.”
Sophie grinned. “Well, we are going to have a party, but not until the weekend. Can you wait that long?”
Savannah giggled. “I don’t know, Mama. I do miss my cousins quite badly.” She put her hand to her head in a dramatic motion. “But a new dress may help me be patient.”
Sophie shook her head. “Oh, you and your sense of humor, young one. I wonder who you get that from.”
“Mrs. Peterson... obviously.”
Sophie laughed and Savannah grinned in triumph, having made her mother laugh out loud. Not always easy to do, Sophie would readily admit. Savannah had always been the funny one, and even though she was only seven, her wit was quicker than many adults’.
Mrs. Peterson, although still very proper, had loosened up quite dramatically over the years and had become not only a valued member of their staff, but also of their family.
They arrived in the dining room to find Alexandria, Emerson, and Lucas already digging into their breakfast. The boys stood, as they had been taught, and Sophie grinned. “Good morning, everyone.”
“Good morning, Mama.” Emerson held Sophie’s chair for her, but before she sat down, she gave him a loud kiss on the cheek. Alexandria, Emerson, and Lucas all had Sophie’s coloring, although, varying shades of blond between the three. Junior and Savannah matched their father, in more ways than not.
Emerson groaned and wiped his hand down his face. “Mama!”
She laughed. “One day you’ll like girl kisses, Em. I promise.”
“May I ride Mickey today, Mama?” Alexandria asked.
Sophie smiled at her beautiful fourteen-year-old and nodded. “I don’t see why not. You’ve done so well with him.”
She clapped her hands. “Thank you.”
Mickey was a gift from Victoria, given to Alex on her thirteenth birthday. He was one of the foals from Rocky, who was now retired as a stud horse. Quincy and Christopher had their own training facility in Maryland, and in 1870, started a breeding stable. Victoria was extremely picky about the mares Rocky covered, and had made her husband a deal that she got first pick of the foals.
“Yoo-hoo,” Emma called.
“In here,” Sophie called back.
Emma arrived in the dining room with Oliver, Molly, and Lilly trailing her. Molly sat next to Alex and their heads bent together to discuss whatever it was that had happened since they saw each other last... less than twelve hours before. The cousins were closer than sisters and much nicer to each other as well.
“Just in time for breakfast.” Sophie stood and kissed her sister’s cheek. “Shocking.” She took the time to hug Oliver and Lilly, offering them a place at the table.
Emma raised an eyebrow at her daughter. “Molly, please greet your aunt.”
Molly blushed and rose to hug Sophie. “Sorry, auntie.”
Sophie laughed. “Don’t worry on my account, sweetheart. You girls may be excused if you like. We’ll head on out to the barn in about half an hour.”
Emma poured herself a cup of coffee and sat next to Savannah.
“May I be excused?” Lucas asked. Sophie’s eleven-year-old was an old soul, and usually much more interested in animals than people.
“Mrs. Ford?” Bessie asked from the doorway. “Jane and I are baking cookies should anyone care to assist me.”
A collective gasp of hope sounded around the table.
“I’ll be happy to ensure they are not poisonous,” Emerson said. “But baking is girls’ work.”
Emma giggled. “Don’t say that to your dad, Em. He used to love to cook.”
“He did?”
Sophie nodded. “Yes, he did. But now we have Jane and Bessie, who are far better than your daddy, so he has happily given over the responsibility.”
“May we help?” Savannah asked.
“Everyone who would like to be excused may be.”
The scraping of chairs on the floor created a discordant type of music, followed by the running of feet leaving the room.
“Thanks, Bessie,” Sophie said. “We’ll be leaving in about thirty minutes and should be back in a few hours. Sarah will return before us.”
It was Sarah’s day off, and with the amount of work Sophie’s children put her through, the woman certainly deserved it.
“Yes’m.”
Bessie headed out of the room and Sophie went back to her breakfast.
“Are you meeting the train?” Emma asked.
Sophie nodded. “I was thinking about it. You?”
“I’d like to. Travis said he’d drive one of the carriages.”
Sophie giggled. “Yes, you behind the reins is almost as scary as you behind the wheel.”
“Well if everyone could just fit on the back of a horse, we’d be all good.” Emma rolled her eyes. “Besides, I was born to be driven.”
“Okay, Miss Daisy.”
“What about the party this weekend, is everyone coming?”
Before Sophie could answer, Jamie called from the foyer. “Ohhh, Lucy, I’m ho-ome.”
“They’re early,” Sophie said as she pushed away from the table and rushed out of the room. She let out an excited laugh as she threw herself into the arms of her husband, kissing him as though she hadn’t kissed him in a year.
“Well, that’s something I can’t un-see,” Junior griped, using one of Jamie’s favorite expressions.
Sophie laughed and hugged her son. “You look older. Did you get older?”
“It’s been a week, Mama, I highly doubt it.”
The resemblance between father and son was uncanny. Jamie was now graying, although, not overly so. Enough to make him look distinguished, as Sophie always assured him. Junior was the spitting image of Jamie, only with a few of Sophie’s features, giving him a ridiculously beautiful face. Calvin Klein would kill for her kid to model for them, in her opinion.
“Is Clay with you?” Emma asked.
“He went home, hoping to catch you,” Jamie said as he hugged her. “He’ll figure it out and come here in a few, I’m sure.” He checked his pocket watch. “Although, it’s breakfast, so not sure why he didn’t just stop here first.”
“Oh, you’re a laugh-riot.”
“Where is everyone?” he asked as he kissed Sophie again.
“Scattered, I’d imagine,” Sophie said as she led him to the parlor. “Bessie’s baking cookies and some are helping, others are off doing something that isn’t “women’s work,” but I have a feeling once those cookies are finished, they’ll make a mad rush to the kitchen. Emma and I were going to take Alex and Molly for a ride in a bit, but we’ll postpone that.”
“You don’t have to do that, Ten-Cow. Not on my account.”
“When will the cookies be finished?” Junior asked.
“Soon, but you should eat something if you haven’t had breakfast.”
“We ate on the train.”
“In that case, Bessie’s in the kitchen, honey,” Sophie said. “Go grab some if they’re done. If they’re not, offer to help, okay?”
“Yes, Mama.”
Jamie, Sophie, and Emma had just sat down in the parlor when they heard the front door.
“Emma?” Clayton called from the foyer.
Emma stepped into the hallway. “In here, babe.”
Clayton grabbed her in a bear hug and lifted her off the ground, kissing her deeply. Henry grumbled something and Emma laughed, hugging him tightly. Once Henry had greeted Sophie and Jamie, Emma sent him to the kitchen for cookies as well.
“He’s gotten older, too,” Sophie said. “Why do they keep growing up?”
Henry had inherited his parents’ blond hair and blue eyes. He was very much like Clayton in a lot of ways, only quite shy. Jamie often said he would be the perfect program controller for a software company in the future. Quiet, a little geeky, and very, very smart.
“Andrew and the rest of the family will be here for dinner,” Jamie said.
Sophie grinned. “Oh, good.”
Unlike Gwen’s family, Andrew and Gwendolyn had chosen to live in Harrisburg. They now had three children. Harper, fourteen, Polly, twelve, and Virginia, eight.
“Did you tell them?” Clayton asked Jamie.
“Nope, waiting for you.”
“Tell us what?” Sophie and Emma asked in unison.
“Hellooo...”
Sophie gasped. “Hannah?”
Sophie and Emma rushed out of the parlor, the men following, and found almost every Butler they knew standing in the foyer.
Christopher and Quincy still looked exactly the same, neither of them graying, something they teased Jamie about mercilessly. Hannah and Victoria seemed to resemble each other more and more each year. Both still stunningly beautiful, with glossy dark hair, belying the fact that they were both pushing forty.
Children rushed their “aunties and uncles.” Jamie lifted the youngest child of the brood, four-year-old Dixie, Quincy and Victoria’s little girl.
“Unca Jamie,” she crooned, and hugged him.
“Aw, Dixie girl.” He hugged her back. “How’s my favorite four-year-old?”
“Penny, you just keep getting prettier,” Sophie said as she hugged her. “Are your mom and dad fighting the boys off?”
Penny laughed. “No. Papa bought a few more guns, though.”
“Be sure to tell your suitors that,” Christopher stressed.
“Papa,” Penny complained.
Nathan and Ella were next, then Charles, Quincy and Victoria’s fifteen-year old son, whom everyone called “Cash,” and then their ten-year-old, Desmond.
“Do Mark and Gabby know you’re here?” Sophie asked.
“They will,” Jamie said. “I sent Saunders over to let them know.”
A few of the soldiers had stayed on after the war to assist with the horses and grow the breeding business. They appreciated the work and Jamie appreciated the loyalty. Jamie, Clayton, Travis, and Mark had all benefited from the lucrative horse business, and were now running a training facility as well.
The door opened again and Sam and Rayne walked in. “Room for us?” Rayne asked.
Sophie clapped her hands. “We get you as well?”
“If you want us. We brought some very strange little people, too.” She turned to pull her children forward. Dakota Crow was now twelve and Shaye Amelia was ten. Both children had their parents’ blond hair and blue eyes, and both had Rayne’s wicked sense of humor.
“I think we’ll head back to the ballroom for now, hmm?” Sophie suggested as she hugged the Powell children. “We can visit and sort out where everyone’s going to stay.”
The brood filed back to the biggest room in the house, still impressive even fifteen years after it was built. Jamie and Sophie had made a point to build a home that would last, and upkeep was a priority for them. They wanted their home to be around for generations.
Sophie wrapped an arm around Penny’s shoulders. “How are you, Pen? Have you heard anything new on the school front?”
Penny nodded. “The University of Pennsylvania is rumored to be opening the doors to women next year for law.”
“Oh, honey, how exciting for you.”
“Yes. I have just one more year of school left and I’ll be able to attend. Daddy believes it will give the school time to iron out the wrinkles, so to speak.” Penny gave Sophie a gentle squeeze. “I love the law, Aunt Sophie. It fascinates me.”
“I know it does. You’re so like your mom, honey. In all the good ways.”
“I’m sad she couldn’t go to school. I think she loves the law more than I do.”
“I don’t know if that’s true.” Sophie laughed. “I doubt anyone could.”
“Well, Auntie Vic has informed me she will be my first client.”
“Oh, for the suffrage movement.”
Penny nodded. “Yes. She’s so brave. And Uncle Quincy lets her speak in front of men, Sophie. She’s amazing.”
“It doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous as well. I’d imagine the men don’t mind in the least.”
Penny giggled. “I agree, but Uncle Quincy goes with her to every appointment, so I don’t think the gentlemen are allowed to speak to her.”
“That’s probably very true,” Sophie said. “Have you seen Junior yet?”
Penny nodded. “Yes. We spoke on the train.”
“Was he polite?”
Penny’s eyes widened. “He’s always polite.”
Hannah and Sophie had made a pact not to put pressure on their children to choose each other. They joked about their marriage agreement until Junior and Penny were able to understand what they were talking about—after that, they backed off and vowed to let them make their own way. Although they had been known to hope privately.
Sophie smiled. “You’re a good girl, Penny.”
“I do try, Aunt Sophie, but I have to admit, not as hard as I probably should.”
Arriving in the ballroom to find Mark and Gabrielle, and their three children, along with Travis and Jessica and their brood of six, Sophie smiled. She loved the chaos.
After the groups were settled between the Maddens’ and the Fords’, it was time to ride, so the ladies gathered up the older girls and headed out to the barn. Once the horses were tacked up, they took off toward their favorite spot.
* * *
The ladies rode faster than they probably should out to the pond they’d adopted as their private swimming hole since the first summer Sophie, Emma, Hannah, Victoria, Rayne, and Jessica had arrived in the past. Their eldest daughters weren’t far behind them, although, they passed their mothers and headed for the far side of the water.
Sophie dismounted, giving Samson a little extra love. She was constantly surprised by his ability to work so hard, even though he was getting up in years, and their run certainly fell under the category of hard work. She secured his reins behind the stirrups and Victoria did the same with Rocky, while the rest of the ladies tied their horses to the trees.
Gabrielle had convinced Evaline to join them. She’d married John a few years after Gabby and Mark married. They had four boys and were settled close by and Evaline had become a great friend to everyone. Gabrielle’s parents had stayed together; the scandal they were afraid would erupt quietly died down, and life went back to normal for the family.
“Can you believe we’ve been here for more than fifteen years?” Sophie asked.
“Can you believe we’re all hitting our forties?” Emma responded. “Or in the case of you, my beautiful sister, exceeded it?”
Sophie snorted and flicked Emma’s earlobe in response.
“Ow,” Emma complained, grabbing her ear. “How do you manage to get me every time?”
“Because I’m wiser than you... you know, due to my age and all. Plus, I have more kids, which makes me quicker on the discipline draw.”
“Yeah, which is shocking, since you hated being pregnant,” Emma retorted.
“I did. But I didn’t hate practicing, which is why it kept happening.”
“Amen to that.” Hannah chuckled. “I can’t believe I managed to have three kids and not kill anyone.”
“Hey, I have six,” Jessica countered.
“Yeah, and not once ounce of extra fat,” Rayne complained. “You suck.”
Jessica giggled.
“Are we going to swim?” Gwen asked. “Because I have been dying to for months. Our little lake isn’t secluded enough.”
Victoria raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Quincy and I have had a few afternoons at the lake without prying eyes.”
“No you haven’t.” Hannah grinned.
“Shut up! What?”
“Don’t worry, no one saw anything, but Chris and I have come once or twice and heard the two of you talking... or whatever. We snuck away before we saw or heard anything we couldn’t block out of our brains.”
“That’s not helpful,” Victoria complained.
Hannah grinned in response.
Gabrielle glanced at the water. “I will refrain from swimming today, but I’m happy to watch from the bank. I’ll just soak up the sun.”
“Will the girls be embarrassed, do you think?” Jessica asked.
“Ha!” Rayne retorted. “Who cares?”
As Hannah and Emma rounded up the girls, Sophie linked her arm with Rayne’s. “How are Jacob and Amelia?”
Jacob was a well-respected doctor in Maryland now. He and Amelia lived close to the Butler clan. They’d been married for almost twelve years and had one child.
“They’re doing really well. Amelia’s pregnant again,” Rayne said.
“Oh, that’s great news. I know they desperately wanted more.”
“Yeah, it was a rough go, especially with her difficulties to have Gideon.”
Sophie smiled. “I’m so glad they’re going to have another one. Of course, the Butler clan could fill an army, even if they just had one each. There are so very many of them.”
“I know. It’s a little out of control.” Rayne laughed. “Okay, I’m getting in my skivvies. Coming?”
“Yep, in a minute.”
Christine strolled to where Sophie stood and took her hand. “Did you ever think you’d be here?”
“Not in a million years,” Sophie said. “I’m still not sure it’s real.”
Christine chuckled. “You’re an amazing friend, Soph. I can’t imagine life without you, you know.”
“Back atya, friend.” Sophie hugged her. “Ready to get in the water?”
As all the ladies except Gabrielle and Penny undressed down to their undergarments, Sophie surveyed her “family.”
What a life she’d been given, one that was never guaranteed or even expected. She watched their beautiful daughters and realized that theirs were lives heading for amazing adventures to come. They would make a difference in the future of the country and preserve the past.
She sent up a silent prayer of thanks and made a run for the water, jumping in feet first, just like she did with life. As the squeals of laughter sounded from the children around her, she grinned and shook her head.
This was their portion, and what a great one it was.