“You don’t have to say anything else.You have just made me the happiest man alive!” Derek chuckled.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but we should get Emilia to the doctor,” Lily’s quiet voice made Emilia turn. She’d seen Lily standing there at a distance and hadn’t really taken the time to make sure she was all right. She felt guilty for a moment and turned toward her cousin.
“Are you all right? Thank goodness, I wasn’t sure if you were far enough away from the cabin.”
Lily fell to her knees and wrapped Emilia in a tight hug. “Thank you, Emilia. I’m so sorry. I am so sorry I couldn’t help you and that you are hurt. This is all my fault.”
At Lily’s reminder that Emilia was hurt, the aches and pains were remembered. “It’s not your fault, Lily. No one knew this was going to happen, and I think I am going to be just fine.”
Lily nodded and pulled back. “You’re getting married, so you had better be okay!”
“Yes, I suppose I am.” Emilia giggled nervously. She wasn’t sure how to say it, she wasn’t sure she even believed it yet. Here she was, the person who had always been so skeptical of going after that happily ever after, engaged to the man she had never expected would be her husband.
“Come on, let’s get you up. You are looking paler by the second.” Derek’s worried face interrupted her thoughts.
He tucked his hands under one of her arms and Lily did the same under her other one. Between the two of them, they helped her over to her mare, who was also looking at her with a curious gaze.
They lifted her up into the saddle and, despite the pain in her leg, Emilia was fairly certain she would be able to ride.
As they started toward the road, Emilia listened while Lily filled Derek in on everything that had happened since the day before, about the fire and how Emilia had helped her out of the house.
Emilia just relaxed into the saddle, focusing on the calming rhythm of the horse’s walking as they went. She didn’t have the energy to add to the conversation. In fact, she didn’t have any energy left at all.
By the time the town was in sight, Emilia felt as if she was going to fall off of her horse. Derek noticed and moved her to ride in front of him. Emilia was relieved. She let herself lean against him and fell asleep.
She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but the next thing she knew, they were lifting her down off of the horse and half carrying her, half helping her into the doctor’s office.
They laid her down on a bed and she was given some more cool water to drink while the doctor applied a cool cream to her burns. Emilia could hardly wait for everything to be said and done so she could rest. Any energy she might have saved up the night before seemed to have vanished and it felt as if she hadn’t slept in over a week.
The doctor wrapped her foot and said she would have to stay off of it for a few weeks. She was glad it wasn’t broken.
“Is she going to be all right?” Derek’s low voice floated into the room as he spoke to the doctor in the hall.
The doctor’s concerned voice came next. “If she would have been in that fire much longer, she would have died. You are lucky you made it in time. She should make a full recovery. It may take some time, though. Her lungs were weak already, and the smoke has done a bit of damage. You should let her rest for a while. I think maybe she should stay here for a night, in case there are any complications.
We need to watch that she doesn’t get pneumonia. She needs to stay indoors for a few weeks and she should breathe steam for several days to help her lungs recover. The next 24 hours are important. She may have trouble breathing, depending on how much smoke she inhaled.”
“Can I go in?” Lily’s voice interrupted the men’s voices.
“I don’t see why not. If she’s sleeping, though, don’t wake her up. I’m sure she had had a rough time of it today and should get all the rest she can.” The doctor sounded concerned.
Emilia gave a little smile, it was nice to feel like she had friends who cared about her. Of course, her mother and sister had always cared about her, but it was different when it felt like people cared about you because they wanted to and not simply because they were family.
Lily slipped into the bedroom and took a seat beside her bed. Emilia squeezed her cousin’s hand as she scooped Emilia’s up from the bedside.
“How are you feeling?” Lily looked down at her with worry.
“Better than I was before.” Emilia gave a nervous giggle. She felt so lucky to have survived the fire. The flames licking at the cabin around her haunted her vision when she closed her eyes. “My throat hurts, and it hurts some to breathe.”
“I’m so glad you’re all right. If you would have…” Lily shook her head. “I couldn’t have forgiven myself. I’m still not sure if I can. You got hurt and it was all my fault.”
“Don’t say that, Lily. I chose to come after you. That’s what family does.”
Lily nodded. “You are my family, Emilia. You were right. I didn’t need to go anywhere to find family.” Emilia opened her mouth to answer, but Lily shook her head. “Shhh… you need to rest, doctor’s orders.”
Emilia smiled. For a moment, she thought about arguing, but instead, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her away.
Chapter 35
Lily snuck out of the bedroom, careful not to make any noise that would wake Emilia up. She nearly ran into Derek, who was leaning against the wall, right next to the bedroom door.
“How is she? She still sleeping?” His face was full of love and concern.
“Yes, she’s still sleeping. It’s been nearly two hours. Are we going to take her home today, or leave her here till tomorrow?”
“The doc thinks it’s best if she stays for a night. I already sent someone to let your family know that you’re both here. I heard George and the sheriff just got back a little while ago,” Derek said.
“Oh, no. George.” Lily felt guilty as she thought of George and the sheriff going on a wild goose chase. She had wanted to tell George about her plans, she really had, but she hadn’t trusted that he wouldn’t try to talk her out of them.
Now that everything was said and done, her entire plan seemed silly. She couldn’t believe that she’d actually gone through with it. “They must be so angry with me.” Lily shook her head, embarrassed.
“I think they are all just very glad that you are okay. George cares about you, you know.”
Lily was surprised by Derek’s words. It hadn’t been hard to see that he disapproved of any relationship between her and his friend. She wondered what was making him speak positively on George’s behalf now.
“Really? I thought that he cared about a lot of people.” Lily looked at him skeptically.
“He does, but I think he cares a little more for you than he’s willing to let on. I think he is probably going to be a little hurt that you didn’t tell him the truth or even tell him you were leaving town.”
Lily nodded. “You’re probably right. It was very selfish of me. I didn’t mean to hurt—” The sound of commotion at the front door made both of them turn.
The twins were shoving in through the front door, with her mother and George right behind them. Lily’s eyes met George’s gaze and she looked away quickly. What was she going to tell him? She knew she had to apologize.
Her mother was crushing her into an embrace before she had a chance to say or do anything. Lily drew in a breath.
“Thank goodness you are all right. I was so worried about you. Please, don’t ever do anything like this again. My heart can’t take it. It just can’t.” Lily hugged her mother back as they cried together.
The twins were next and they each gave her a quick, shy hug. Lily knew they were probably embarrassed to be seen hugging their sister.
Lily rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes to wipe away any stray tears. Finally, it was just her standing in front of George. Her mother and the twins were swarming around Derek, bombarding him with questions about Emilia.
<
br /> “So, it turns out that you weren’t headed to Bransford, after all.” George was giving her a weird look. It wasn’t anger, but she couldn’t quite place what it was.
“No, I wasn’t.” Lily paused, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I guess I was just—”
“You don’t have to explain. I think I understand. It’s just… we were all worried about you. I kept thinking that you were going to be kidnapped by some bandits or taken by some Indians to be someone else’s wife.”
“I wouldn’t have married an Indian,” Lily giggled.
“I don’t know. You might have changed your mind when they presented the two of you to some big muscle-covered chief. I’ve heard that girls like Indians.”
Lily shook her head and grinned. “You’re not mad at me?” She realized that it was what she had feared most. She had worried that George wouldn’t want to talk to her anymore, and that he would be very angry that he had chased after her in the wrong direction.
If she had known George was going to be involved, she probably wouldn’t have lied to her mother.
“I’m not mad at you, I’m just glad that you’re all right. That’s all that matters. How is Emilia?”
“She’s doing a little better. She’s resting now.”
“I heard what happened with the fire. It could have been you trapped in there.” George shook his head, a haunted look in his eyes.
“I know. I’m really sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen this way. I just thought I would go to Eagleton and find my family.”
“Isn’t the family you have here enough for you?” For a moment, George did sound a little angry.
“That’s what everyone has been saying, and I think I finally realize that they are right. I just let other things blind me to what was hiding right in front of me.” Lily was ashamed to say it. She could have avoided all of this if she had just taken some time and thought things through. “Will you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive on my part. The one you should talk to is your mother. She was worried sick about you.”
Lily nodded bowing her head. “Thank you for looking for me.”
George reached out and pulled her chin up until their gazes met. “I would always look for you, whether you were in trouble or not.”
They held their gazes like that for a moment and Lily felt a tingle go down her spine. She had never expected George to say something like that to her.
“You should go talk to your mother. I think she’s the one who deserves an explanation,” George added abruptly, taking a step back.
Lily turned to find her mother sitting in one of the parlor chairs, looking pale. She knew George was right. She needed to explain to her mother and set things right.
She could always talk with George about what he had said later. She walked over and sat down in a large chair directly across from Carolyn.
“How are you, Ma?” It seemed like a strange question to start with, but Lily didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m much better now that I know the two of you are safe.”
“I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen.” Lily looked down at her hands in her lap. She was surprised when Carolyn reached out and took her hands into her own. “Don’t be sorry. Just learn from your mistakes.”
Lily looked up at her mother, surprised once again that someone she cared about wasn’t angry with her. “How can you not be mad at me? What I did was awful. I left you to look for a family that doesn’t even know I exist, and even if they do, they might not even care about me.”
Carolyn shook her head. “When you grow up, you will understand how much I love you, Lily. In the end, all I want is for you to feel happy and loved. If you needed to find that with someone else, I would have understood. I just wish you would have trusted me enough to be honest with me and to come to me for help.”
A tear escaped Lily’s eye as she nodded. “Me too, Ma. I’m so sorry that I left the way I did. I caused so much trouble.”
“That’s in the past, now. The doctor says that Emilia will be just fine. We are going to be just fine. In a couple of weeks, this will all blow over and we will look back at is as an interesting time in our lives.”
“You think so?” Lily hoped her mother was right. She was fairly certain that she would always remember this as one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, when she had let down everyone that she cared the most about.
She shook her head and leaned in to give her mother another hug. Pulling back, she saw her mother was crying, too.
“I think I realize now that it’s not who you came from that matters. It’s the people that love you who are important. I know it isn’t whoever gave birth to me, or whoever their family was. It’s you and Pa and the twins and Emilia and even George and Derek.”
Her mother smiled and nodded. “I’m glad you can see that now. We all love you, more than you will ever know. We will always be here for you. If you need answers, we understand, and when you find those answers, we’ll be here for you.”
“I don’t need any more answers, Ma. I have already found them. They are all here—you all are my answers. You are my family.”
Lily knew that the words she was saying were true. She had found the family that loved her, and that was all she had really ever needed.
“Mama, Emilia saved my life. She pushed me out the window and almost died to save me. That is real love.”
“Yes, Lily. That is real love and a real family.”
Lily leaned back in the chair and listened to the soft drone of conversation between George, Derek, and the twins. She hoped that Emilia would get better quickly and that they could all put this time behind them.
She couldn’t wait to tell everyone the news of Derek and Emilia’s engagement. She couldn’t have thought of a better match for her cousin. But she was still confused about Derek’s twin. She hadn’t known he had a twin, until she had heard him talking about it to Emilia by the burning cabin.
She wondered if she would get a chance to meet him, or if he really was as terrible as Derek had made him out to be. If he was, Lily was glad that she had gotten to know the good twin.
---*---
Lily stood in the dimly lit room, watching her cousin sleep. For a moment, she thought about waking her to tell her what she wanted to say. They’d been back in town for a whole night, and it was now the morning of their first full day back.
They had all decided, with the doctor’s approval, that it would be best to give Emilia some uninterrupted time in town to recover under the doctor’s close supervision.
Emilia began to stir and before Lily could slip out, she had been spotted.
“Lily, what are you doing here? How long have I been asleep?” Emilia looked confused.
“You’ve been out since yesterday afternoon, when we brought you here.” Lily hurried over to Emilia’s side and sat down in the chair beside her bed. “I’m sorry if I woke you. I actually have something for you.” She pulled the white envelope from her pocket.
That morning, she had gone down to the post office to check for any mail for Emilia. She knew her cousin would be anxious about receiving any letters from home.
She had even run into the sheriff and apologized for the wild goose chase she had sent him on. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment as she remembered the conversation.
“Is that from my mother?” Emilia reached for the letter, enthusiasm all over her face.
An Enduring Love to Heal Her: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 26
