Misinterpretation
Love Comes Softly
inspired fan fiction by Cheryl C. Malandrinos
Disclaimer: This story
follows the television movie characters, not the books. I do not own the Love
Comes Softly television movies, book series, or any of the characters. I
used a bit of dialogue from the Love Comes Softly movie.
Marty stood by the stove, confused and hurt. Had she
misinterpreted Clark’s actions yesterday? After months of living with Missie
and Clark in the cabin he had built for his family, a family that once included
his deceased wife Ellen, she realized something between them had changed. Or
had it?
After she had playfully shoved him as he planted seeds,
causing him to lose his balance and tumble into the dirt, she ran off with
Clark in pursuit. He easily caught up with her and grabbed her by the waist,
tickling her until she was breathless with laughter. For the first time since
she came, he laughed. No, he guffawed. He tossed his head back and laughed so
loud and so long that Missie appeared in the doorway to say he had “gotten his
laugh back.”
“I guess I did,” he said.
Then his expression turned serious and full of intent. His
eyes looked at her with longing, at least she thought they did, and he slowly
moved in to kiss her. And she wanted him to, she knew that, even if she used
little Aaron’s crying as an excuse to escape. She had ruined the moment, and
now it seemed Clark was willing to go back to the business of living without
the comfort of a woman by his side.
He said nothing about her note. Clark moved around her in
the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and spoke about how the wet winter made
planting easier before he sat with his coffee and Bible at the table. She had
written her heart’s desire out in that note. She knew the three of them had
become a family, and that despite her intention to go back East when she first
came to live with them, there was no place on earth she would rather be than
with Missie and Clark. So, she told him in that note that she wanted him to ask
her to stay. She even signed it “Love, Marty.” How could he not say anything?
She remained quiet the rest of the morning. If Clark
noticed, he said nothing about it. Then later that day, as Missie was out doing
her chores, he turned to her as she pretended to read.
“I haven’t seen ya turn a page for thirty minutes,” he said.
She admitted she had trouble concentrating. How could she
not? She had poured her heart out to him, and he didn’t even acknowledge her
note. Even though she didn’t want to leave, she knew at the end of the week
when the wagon trail pulled out, she would be on it. She couldn’t stay if Clark
felt nothing for her.
*
How could he have misinterpreted how Marty felt about him? Clark
would have sworn they had grown closer over the months Marty had been with them.
If he were honest with himself, when he approached the young widow on the day
of her husband’s funeral with the notion they get married, he didn’t think she
would accept him. His timing was dreadful. She was kneeling over her husband’s
freshly dug grave. But as he explained, his Missie needed a woman’s hand, and
the preacher was leaving the territory until spring.
Since that time, Marty had won over Missie, given birth to
the son she had been carrying when her husband died, and learned how to cook
and help out on the farm. She fit so well into their home life, that even when
the barn burned down and he reminded her of his promise to pay her fare to go
back East when the wagon train returned, he held out hope she would stay.
When he ran after her in the yard yesterday, her playful
laughter had sparked something in him he thought had died with Ellen. For the
first time, he saw a real future for Marty, Missie, and him as a family. He and
Marty would be husband and wife in every sense of the word. Clark even allowed himself
to think of more children padding around their happy home.
When Clark offered to bring Marty to visit with Sarah Graham
while he helped her husband Ben brand his new calves, he thought she would jump
at the chance. Ben had been the one to find her husband, Aaron, after the
accident. Sarah, a widow with children before marrying Ben, understood what
Marty was going through, and befriended her, giving her advice along the way.
“I should probably spend the day packing,” Marty said. “It’s
about that time.”
The hope he had held onto crumbled away. “Are you sure?”
Clark asked.
Marty said nothing, but she stared at him with sad,
determined eyes. He swallowed hard; his heart shattered by the understanding
she had made her decision.
“I’ll let Missie know.”
*
Missie sat between Pa and Marty on the wagon seat. Grownups
made no sense. Missie had misinterpreted how this would all turn out. Well,
that’s the word she thought she had learned from one of Marty’s books to say
she had misunderstood how Marty felt about being a part of her family.
When Pa called Missie over to tell her Marty was leaving on
the wagon train at the end of the week, she couldn’t believe it.
She balled up her fists and screamed, “No!” Then she ran
off.
The last time she felt this angry was when Pa asked Marty to
marry him. She hated Marty being there. Pa and she had done just fine on their
own. Why did they need her?
But Missie admitted she had learned so many things from
Marty, like a love for reading, how to cipher, how to sew, and a little about babies.
Marty being there allowed Missie to help out on the farm but have time to play
with Clint and the other Graham children. She had grown used to Marty and baby
Aaron being around. Their house would be so quiet without them.
She had told Marty once that Pa’s eyes lost their sparkle
after her Mama died. But when she found them in the yard the other day that
sparkle and his wild laugh had returned. Missie thought that had to mean
something.
But here they all were, sitting together without saying
anything, just like the day Pa and Marty got married. She felt the sadness
surrounding them. She could barely contain her own tears. Why did Marty have to
go?
Copyright Cheryl C. Malandrinos – All Rights Reserved
