A New Day: Shays Story

Shay awoke with a groan. Momentarily disoriented she looked around. She was lying on the side of the road in a patch of grass. Testing to see if she was hurt, she noted the only pain she felt came from her right ankle.

She had gone riding by herself yesterday. This was an absolutely shocking thing for a lady of her station to do. But, sometimes, she just had to escape. She needed to escape the tedium and pressure of being a proper lady of the south. She would put on some of her brother’s old clothes and sneak out late at night to go riding.

Unfortunately last night her horse had spooked and dumped her unceremoniously in this patch of wooded road. It would be some time yet before anyone even realized she was missing. She was not expected to be up early.

She sat up slowly, pulling her knees to her chin, and contemplated what she should do next. She couldn’t walk home because she had sprained her ankle when the horse threw her. She supposed that the best course of action was to sit and wait for someone to come along.

Not five minutes later she heard a horse approaching. Hallelujah she was saved. As the horse and rider drew to a stop she groaned to herself. Why did it have to be him?

She looked up into brilliant green eyes and said, “Good morning Mr. McLane.” She had known Michael McLane her entire life. His family owned the plantation next to theirs. The closest thing to a next door neighbor one can have with hundreds of acres separating homes. He was three years older than she. They had grown up together, gone to school together, and he had tormented her mercilessly her entire life.

“I didn’t realize you had returned from your travels,” she said as if she wasn’t sitting in the dirt in men’s clothing.

“I returned a few days ago. Tell me Miss Shay why are you sitting here all by your lonesome?” He had a voice like warm honeyed whiskey and he was the most handsome man in this part of the country. She had been in love with him for years. Not that he would ever be interested in someone like her. Proper southern gentlemen did not fall in love with ladies who would rather go riding than do needlework.

“I fancied a chat with the woodland creatures. What do you think I’m doing?”

He chuckled and got down off of his horse, saying, “Would you like a ride home?”

She extended her hand and said, “Yes. Thank you.” When their hands touched she felt as though she was shot with a bolt of lightning. Gasping she looked into his eyes. He just smiled, picked her up, and placed her on his horse. He then swung up behind her.

“Isn’t today your birthday celebration?” he asked as they set off down the road.

“Yes, I turned 18 two days ago.”

“Finally,” he muttered under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing”, he said. They drew up outside of her house. Helping her down from the horse he carried her onto the porch. “We’ll just wait here until someone wakes up to take you upstairs. It is a pity you won’t be able to dance at your own birthday celebration.”

She shrugged, unconcerned. “I’m not much for the frivolity. I much prefer the quiet.”

“As do I. Shay, I have a confession to make.”

She looked at him as he was framed by the rays of rising sun. He made her heart skip a beat just by looking at him. But, she could never let him know that. She arched an eyebrow and said, “A confession?”

He took both of her hands in one of his work roughened hands. He was no dandy lord of the manor. He worked just as hard as anyone else on their plantation. “I am going to move out west soon. I want to start a new home. A new life. Something I have built with my own two hands.”

She blinked and said, “That sounds absolutely marvelous. Does your father know?”

He nodded. “I have been planning this for years. I was just waiting.”

“Waiting for what?”

“For you.” She looked at him completely dumbfounded. “I have been in love with you since I was 5 years old. I have been waiting for you to come of age, hoping that you would marry me, and start a homestead with me.”

She sat there, speechless, as he kept talking. “I have found a beautiful piece of land in the west. I staked a claim on it. I want to raise horses and cattle. So what do you say?”

“Are you asking me to marry you?” she asked. She felt that she needed to clarify this situation.

“Yes.”

“And you want me to come with you and be a rancher’s wife?”

Grinning he said, “Yes.”

Suddenly, she threw her arms around his neck and said, “Oh yes! I have loved you for so very long. This is the happiest day of my life.”

With tears of joy streaming down her face, Shay and Michael kissed for the first time as the sun suddenly burst free over the horizon. The start of a new day and of the rest of their lives.