"Surprise!" John said as Ruth and Sally came through the door.

"Oh, my!' Ruth said as she saw John surrounded by three crates.

"Your things have arrived!" John said with a smile as he came forward and took the box out of Ruth's arms.

"Which ones are mine?" Sally asked, rushing forward.

"Well, I don't rightly know," John said as he set down the box and picked up a crowbar. "I waited until you got home so that we could open them together. Which one should we start with?"

"This one," Sally said happily and she reached out for the one that was closest to her.

"All right," John said and began prying up the lid on the first crate. "It looks like bed clothes."

"That's mine!' Sally said happily and began to pull the coverlet out of the box.

"Don't drag it on the floor, Sally, let me help you," Ruth said stepping forward to pick up the end that was dragging on the floor.

Sally ran forward into her room and throwing her end of the coverlet on the bed, she ran back out into the living area as Ruth smiled, put her end on the bed and followed Sally.

"What's in the other ones, Papa?" Sally asked as she peered into the open crate. "That one just has Mama's things."

John laughed and pried the lid off the next crate.

"Clothes," Sally said with a sigh and ran to the next crate.

"Now hold up," John said, "you can't always tell what's in a box."

He began to pull out one dress after another.

"Ruth, these seem to be yours," John said with a laugh as the couch began to fill with taffeta and cotton and silk.

"Ah, ha!" He said triumphantly as he pulled two dolls out of the middle of the crate. "I suspected as much!

"Those are mine," Sally said, happily snatching them out of his hands.

"The rest are just dresses," John said as he began to put the dresses from the couch back into the crate.

The final crate was books and Sally's dresses, which they carried into her bedroom.

"Get busy putting these away, all right Sallygirl?" John said as he set the last load of books on to her shelf.

"Yes, Papa," Sally said, as she picked up a book and climbed on to the bed.

"Don't read too long, Sally. I want you to have your things put away before dinner. Understand?" John said as he kissed her head.

"Yes," Sally said as she pushed her dresses up into a heap and leaned against them.

John smiled and stepped back into the living area.

"I didn't realize I had so many dresses," Ruth said with a sigh. "I don't know how I'll ever make them all fit into the bedroom."

"I'm not sure you can, Love," John said gently.

Ruth nodded with downcast eyes.

"How many do you think I should get rid of?" Ruth asked sadly as she looked the crates that were overflowing with gowns.

"Do you think you can manage to part with ten?" John asked with a slight wince.

"Ten!" Ruth said loudly, just as a knock was heard on the door.

John walked over to open it and welcomed Lily in.

"Jim told me that your things had arrived and look what else: your new curtains!" Lily said happily as she held out the package.

"Ruth, you have the loveliest things!" She exclaimed as she looked into the crate nearest her.

"Well, I have appointments at the office, so I am going to leave you ladies to it," John said, putting on his hat and kissing Ruth on the cheek before heading towards the door. "I'll be home for dinner."

He looked back at Ruth and seeing the overwhelmed look on her face, he came back to put his hands on her waist.

"You asked me for a number, Ruth, but I trust your judgement and I'm sure whatever you decide will be fine," he said in a low, quiet tone and then kissed her on the lips.

"I love you," he said as he took her hand.

Ruth walked with him to the door, shut it behind him and leaned against it.

"Jim said he'd watch the children so I can help, if you'd like me to," Lily said with a smile as she turned from admiring the dresses.

"Thank you, Lily," Ruth said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"What's wrong, Sweetie?" Lily said coming over to her and taking her hand.

"John said I need to get rid of 10 of these dresses!" Ruth answered and burst into tears.

"Why would he want you to get rid of your things?" Lily asked with a frown. "That doesn't sound like John at all!"

"Please don't think badly of John, Lily. He's right," Ruth said, "they won't all fit in the space we have. It's just I don't want to get rid of any of them. There are so many good memories with each one."

"Whenever Jim wants me to get rid of something, he always says that I get to keep the memories," Lily said sympathetically. "So, ten, huh?" Lily said putting her hands on her hips and looking at the piles of dresses and then back at Ruth.

Ruth nodded.

"Well," Lily said, putting her hand on her cheek, "are there any that don't fit anymore? It might be easier to get rid of those since you can't wear them."

"But they can be retailored to fit," Ruth said sadly.

"There aren't any dressmakers here in Virginia City, Ruth," Lily said quietly. "Don't you think that you would have had them redone if you were going to when you were in San Francisco?"

"You're right, Lily," Ruth said dashing the tears from her cheeks. "And I guess I need to start somewhere. If I had really wanted to wear them again, I would have had them altered already."

"Let's drag one of these crates out onto the front porch and we'll put the ones that you're going to let go out there. That way you won't be tempted to take any back," Lily said as she took the coverlet out of the first box and put it on the coach before dragging the crate towards the door.

Ruth walked over and began to push and they managed to get the crate outside and on to the porch.

Ruth stepped back inside and began pulling dresses out.

"I think John was being kind, when he asked for ten" Ruth said as she pulled dress after dress out and laid them on top of each other.

"Let's start with ten, Ruth," Lily said. "And see what we can do from there. What do you think?"

Ruth nodded and picked up the first dress.

Hi, Mrs. Mason," Sally said as she came out of her room.

"Hi, Sally," Lily said, coming over to put her arm around Sally's shoulders. "Are you excited that all your things are here?"

"Yes," Sally said nodding. "Mama, my clothes are all put away."

"Good, Sally, thank you," Ruth said, putting down the dress and coming over to her.

"Sally, if it's all right with your mama, maybe you'd like to go over to the store and spend some time with Jenny, Will and Mr. Mason."

"Can I, Mama?" Sally asked.

"If you'd like to, Sally. Of course you may." Ruth said. "I'll walk you over."

"I can do it," Sally said and ran out the door, slamming the door behind her.

Ruth sighed and picked up a pink taffeta gown.

"This was the first dress I ever wore to a dance," she said as she smoothed down the ruffle around the neckline.

"Oh, it's beautiful, Ruth," Lily said and took it from her hands. "That must have been the most exciting night."

Lily walked slowly towards the door and taking a quick glance at Ruth, she eased the door open and put the dress softly into the crate on the porch.

"One," Lily said with a sad smile.

"Yes, one," Ruth said dashing the tears from her cheeks.

"This one appears to have a stain on it," Lily said, picking up a blue velvet dress that was covered in ruffles.

"It's fruit punch," Ruth said with a laugh. "My date was so nervous. He got us each a glass of punch and proceeded to pour both glasses down my dress. We never could get the stains out."

"Two?" Lily said moving towards the open door.

"Definitely two," Ruth said.

Story by story dresses made their way into the crate. Some went with laughter and some with tears, but eventually ten made it into the crate on the front porch.

"That's ten," Lily said, putting her hands on her hips as she surveyed the piles of dresses still surrounding them.

"Ten more," Ruth said with resignation.

"Are you sure, Sweetie?" Lily said, taking Ruth's hand.

"Yes," Ruth said using her free hand to once again wipe the tears from her cheeks. "There isn't room and I don't need all the dresses and it isn't fair to John to not have a place to put his things. I just need to be ruthless about it all."

"All right," Lily said sympathetically. "Which one next?"

"You've been so sweet, Lily, but I've gotten rid of the easy ones. I need you to help me decide which ones are not going to work in Virginia City and you need to tell me the truth. If you're too diplomatic, I'll just sit here and cry and not be able to get rid of any of them. Can you help me, Lily and not let me give into my emotions?"

"All right, Ruth, but remember you asked me to do it." Lily said picking up a green silk.

"This one is out of style. There is a lot more lace than is in fashion now," Lily said and held it out to her.

"My father ordered that lace from Paris," Ruth said as she tenderly touched the dress.

"Out of style, out the door?' Lily said laughingly and she moved away slowly.

"Yes, a woman must be in fashion," Ruth said with a hitch in her voice and turned away.

Lily sighed as she saw Ruth's shoulders shaking but she resisted the urge to go to her.

"There are two here that are almost the same style," Lily said holding out two dresses. "Which one do you like better?"

"Oh, those were made by my grandmother's seamstress. Red was so scandalous but I loved that I could put it on and feel like a different woman: not an unwed mother," Ruth said sadly.

"Well, you aren't an unwed mother any more," Lily said firmly, "The red goes."

"And the purple too, it will only remind me of the red," Ruth said.

"Good," Lily said with a smile as she hurried out the door.

"These are the most casual ones I have," Ruth said picking up two cotton dresses. "Do you think they are all right?'

She held them up and turned toward Lily.

"They're beautiful, Ruth," Lily said taking them from her hands. "I'll put them on your bed."

Lily came back to find Ruth weeping on the coach with an emerald green silk dress in her lap.

"What's wrong, Sweetie?" She asked, taking a seat next to Ruth.

"This dress…this dress," Ruth started to sob and Lily put her arms around her and pulled her to her chest.

"What about this dress?" Lily asked as the tears began to subside.

"This is the dress I wore the night Sally was conceived. I was so sure Jack was going to ask me to marry him and then he took my virginity and left me," Ruth said softly.

"It goes," Lily said angrily, standing and taking it from her hands. "You have a wonderful husband now and he is a wonderful father and Jack does not deserve another thought for the rest of your life. Good riddance to him and the dress."

Lily shook the dress vehemently and tossed it into the crate.

Ruth laughed.

"You are such a good friend, Lily. Thank you!"

After that dress, Ruth seemed to have no problems getting rid of another seven dresses and when she and Lily hung up the remaining ones, they all fit in the space with a little bit of room for some of John's things as well.

"That was a very productive afternoon. I think John will be thrilled," Lily said giving her a hug. "I know Jim would be if I had accomplished what you did today."

"Thank you so much, Lily. Can you help me put up the curtains?"

"Absolutely, and then I need to run start dinner," Lily said happily as she shook out the curtains.

The curtains went up quickly and with another hug, Lily headed out the door.

"I want you and the family to come to dinner," Ruth said as she turned towards her bedroom.

"Yes, we'd love to come," Lily called as she walked out the door and ran smack into Jim

"Whoa," he said with a smile, grabbing her shoulders to steady her.

"Oops, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Lily said with a smile and taking a step back.

"It's all right," John said, taking step back. "How did it go?'

"Wonderfully," Lily said with a huge smile. "See for yourself," she said as she gestured toward the over flowing crate.

"Wow, that looks like more than 10 dresses," John said leaning in to look.

"It's twenty one by my count," Lily said.

"Twenty one? That is wonderful," John said reaching for the door. "However did you manage that? I thought ten was going to be a struggle."

"John," Lily said, placing her hand on his arm, "twenty one was an incredible struggle."

She paused for a moment before saying, "May I offer you some advice, John?"

"Of course, Lily, I don't think you've steered me wrong yet."

"This was really hard for Ruth, John. I know for men it's just things, but for a woman it is a lot of memories. Those dresses went out the door with a lot of tears and Ruth has to grieve them a bit."

"Grieve? Grieve that?" John said shaking his head. "I don't understand."

"The loss of her former life," Lily said groping for words.

"Ruth loves you so much," Lily said quickly when she saw the hurt look on John's face. "That full crate is proof of that…it's just that life has changed so much for Ruth and…she's given up a lot with the move and I'm sure she is happy to have done that, but there's still a little bit of grieving that she needs to do over those things she's left behind."

John shook his head.

"Oh, I'm making a mess of this," Lily said worriedly.

"No, Lily, I appreciate your insight. Please go on," John said placing his hand over hers.

"Ruth loves you and loves her new life," Lily said firmly, "but her life is very different from what she has always known. Not worse and if you asked her she would probably say better, but her life has changed and I think getting rid of the dresses has made her realize just how big a change that is."

"So, what do I do?" John asked.

"Understand that her sadness has absolutely nothing to do with you. Be gentle with her and keep the idea that you are dealing with someone who is grieving a bit. You're a good man and I'm sure you have an excellent bedside manner," Lily said.

"So, I shouldn't be too excited about what she did this afternoon?"

"Yes, be excited, just make sure you touch her a lot and remind her how much you love her and keep your focus on her rather than all the dresses that are gone. You'll know what to do for her," Lily said patting his hand. "I'll give you two some time before sending Sally home…give you some time to get things sorted out."

"Thanks, Lily for all your help and the advice," John said as he stepped towards the door.

"You're welcome," Lily called over her shoulder as she walked across the yard. "Ruth wants to see if Jim can sell some of those dresses, so he'll be over for them."

"Tell him thank you, Lily," John called.

"Ruth, I'm home," John called as he walked in the door.

"John, come in and see," Ruth said excitedly, coming out of the bedroom and kissing him.

John took her hand and followed her in the bedroom

"Ruth, I can't believe you made everything fit!" He said pulling her towards him and kissing her. "I saw that huge pile of dresses in the crate on the porch. It looks like you got rid of more than ten dresses."

"Twenty one," she said proudly.

"Ah, Honey, I am so proud of you. I know how hard that must have been," John said putting his arms around her.

"It was, but it needed to be done. Lily was so helpful. I told her we need to invite her family to dinner," Ruth said putting her head on his chest.

Honey are you crying?" John asked as he felt is shirt starting to get wet.

Ruth nodded.

"I'm sorry this was so hard for you and that we don't have more room,' he said as he rubbed her back.

"No, I'm just being silly," Ruth said, wiping away her tears.

"You are not being silly." John said continuing to rub her back. "You moved here and your life has changed and you've had to give up so much to be my wife."

"You're worth it," Ruth said, taking a step back. "My life is so much happier than I ever thought it would be."

"But don't you miss the dances and the dinner parties and the restaurants?" John asked as he held out a handkerchief to her.

"Yes…I did…and I spent the afternoon grieving that loss…but now that I see you and think about how I'm not lonely anymore and what good husband you are and how good you are with Sally, those dances and restaurants and even those dresses on the front porch pale in comparison," Ruth put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I've been stupid about the dresses and I'm done grieving.'

"Are you sure?" John said.

"Yes," she said firmly as she took his hand. "Did you see that the curtains came?"

"Yes, and I think they're very pretty," John said laughing at the change of subject as he allowed himself to be led out of the bedroom.

"I do too. I think we made a very good choice and it just feels more like home," Ruth said as she leaned into his arm.

She looked up at him and saw love and pride on his face.

"What?" She asked.

"I was just thinking how blessed I am to have found you and how happy I am to have Sally and you in my life," John said, pulling her around to stand in front of him and taking her hands. "I'm so proud of you, Honey. I'm not sure I would have done as well as you and Sally have with all the changes you have had to make."

"Thank you," Ruth said putting her arms around him and putting her head on her chest. "I wish I had done better when we first moved in."

"You were fine. I should have realized you just needed some time and not been so hard on you. I'm sorry about that Ruth," John said hugging her tight.

"There's no need to apologize," Ruth said. "My mother used to say that when you know better you do better. We both know better."

"We do, Ruth," John said.

"Mama, Papa," Sally said as she ran in the door. "Guess what!"

"We definitely do" John said as he and Ruth held out their arms to wrap Sally up in a three way hug.

"I for one am very glad to know better," John whispered as he kissed each of their heads.

THE END