Runaway Heart
Page 25
Mayor Morrison had to gavel down the spontaneous applause that erupted as Holly resumed her seat. When quiet was restored, the Mayor said gruffly, "The council will take a fifteen-minute recess to consider Miss Lambeth's petition. When we return, we will announce our decision."
Holly felt as though she were reliving the time she had applied to become schoolteacher, only this anxiety was more acute. It was hard to believe that had been nearly a year ago. She had arrived in Riverbend feeling as though she were about to serve a penal sentence. All she had hoped for then was to endure it long enough to let the gossip about her and Jim Mercer's broken engagement die down. Now that seemed almost unimportant except as the reason she had come to Oregon in the first place.
Holly sat stiffly in her chair, hardly conscious of the people who came up to shake her hand or pat her shoulder and wish her well. Her mind was locked into that inner room where Joel's fate and hers was being decided. She couldn't even pray. No words came to her to plead except, "Help! Lord. Please, Lord."
Finally, a nudge from Vi alerted her that the members were taking their places on the platform. The mayor moved to center stage and, shuffling some papers, declared, "As you all know, the case brought before this membership was an unusual one, and under most circumstances such a petition would not even have been considered. However, since Miss Lambeth is known to us all, has established her name and reputation in Riverbend, and is held in high esteem by all who know her, we hereby grant an affirmative response to her appeal to adopt the minor child Joel McKay."
You've won, Holly, you've won!" cried Vi, hugging her.
Relief made Holly weak, as the realization broke through her tension; joy filled her heart bringing both tears and laughter.
Caught up in the excitement, Holly felt dazed, astonished, still unable to believe that it had really happened. People she did not even recognize came up to congratulate her. Then, suddenly, Holly looked around—searching for the one face that was missing. Blaine! Where was Blaine?
The following week was the last week of school. After the rest of the children had left for the day, Joel helped Holly tidy up the classroom. Both he and Holly were finding it hard to believe that what they had hoped and prayed for had really come true.
"And will I be your little boy forever and ever after?" he asked her now as he had a dozen times since the hearing.
"Yes, Joel, and my big boy and my grown son and my great strong manly son when I am an old, old lady!" Holly told him, laughing and hugging him and tousling his hair.
"You'll never be old!" he declared, then added anxiously, "Will you?"
"Not for a long, long time," she laughed.
Holly had not told Joel that she had been offered a contract for another year to teach, because she was unsure of what she was going to do. Even that fact astonished her. Six months ago the thought that she would not be heading home in June never entered her mind. She had not yet written her family about the adoption. This presented another puzzling problem. Of course, she felt sure the Lambeth family would have welcomed Joel with the proverbial open arms. But Holly knew what her mother's and other female relatives' private reaction would be—a single woman with an adopted child would have a difficult time finding a husband!
"May I go now?" Joel's voice broke in on her thoughts. "Uncle Ned said I should come and work at the store after school today. He has lots of boxes to put away."
"Yes, go ahead, Joel. We're about finished here," Holly said. Good old Ned, he had been her staunch support right from the start and had taken Joel under his wing immediately. Holly was grateful, too, that the long breech with Hetty was finally healed. Although they were still careful with each other and would probably never be close—at least not like Holly and Vi were, there was now peace about their relationship, past and present.
After Joel left, Holly was so preoccupied she did not hear buggy wheels outside nor the sound of footsteps on the porch. The schoolroom door was open because the weather was mild, but it wasn't until he said her name that she looked up and saw Blaine in the doorway.
"Holly, may I come in?"
She was on her knees in the front of the low shelf, straightening books that the Primary pupils used.
"Of course, Blaine," she said and sat back on her heels, dust—cloth in hand. "What brings you out here this time of day?"
He pulled up one of the wooden stools and sat down.
"Business."
"Business?"
"Yes, serious business."
"What kind of serious business?"
"The most serious business there is."
"And what is that?" Holly, smiled, knowing that Blaine enjoyed conundrums and word games. "Love."
"Love?" Holly gasped.
Blaine chuckled, "You have a most annoying habit of repeating everything I say."
"Well, you say the most amazing things!"
"Yes, love is amazing, and it is also serious business," he paused. "I love you, Holly, and I'm not sure what to do about it."
Holly blinked, tried to absorb what Blaine had said.
"I guess I've known I was falling in love with you over the last year. I certainly respected you. Admired you. I respect you for your courage, your honesty, your independence," his smile broadened, "your sense of fun, your generosity, and your sweetness—"
Blushing, Holly got to her feet and Blaine stood, too. Twisting the dustcloth nervously, Holly moved to a safe distance, distractedly dusting the top of the teacher's desk. "You make me sound like a paragon of virtue!"
"Well, of course I do. Doesn't every man think the woman he loves is perfect?" He moved steadily toward her. She took a few steps backward, bumped into the blackboard and found herself trapped. "When I realized I really loved you—maybe it was the day of the picnic or the night out at the Renner's farm or maybe at the Christmas party or during the epidemic—who knows when it was? I just knew."
"But you never said anything, you never spoke about—"
"What could I say? I thought that maybe Adam was in the picture. And then when he left town and you decided to petition for Joel's adoption as a single woman, I realized you weren't planning to marry Adam. I began to think there might be a chance for me. But I didn't want to say anything before the hearing for fear you might think I was just doing it to make the adoption possible."
Holly thought of Adam and his proposal. She glanced up at Blaine. She stared at him in disbelief. "But it would have—"
"Yes, but then you wouldn't have known you were able to do it on your own."
The meaning of what he was saying finally penetrated. Blaine cared, really cared, wanted her to have the confidence, the justifiable pride of accomplishing that alone, wanted her to have that victory for herself.
"But you could have said something—," she faltered.
Blaine plunged his hands into his pockets and stared over her head out the window. "I couldn't. I know the kind of background you come from. I recognized it the moment I met you. Maybe because I come from the same kind. I know what a family like yours expects of a husband, and it isn't the life of a country doctor in a frontier town." Blaine shook his head.
"I don't even know why I came out here today. I probably shouldn't have. I just kept thinking that school is ending and that you'd probably be leaving, and I might never see you again. I guess I thought I couldn't let you go without at least..."
"At least what?"
"Telling you how I feel. But what do I have to offer you? A doctor's life doesn't belong to him or his family, it belongs to his patients. Any time, any hour of night or day—it isn't much of a life to offer a woman. The truth is I didn't dare hope that you could love me. Didn't dare ask you—"
"Oh, ask me! Please ask me, Blaine!" the words were out of her mouth before she realized she had said them.
His expression showed the joyous shock. "Holly! You mean it?"
"I never meant anything more," she said softly.
He held out his arms and she went into them. Holly felt
his strength enfold, envelop her. She felt infinitely safe, unconditionally loved. For a long time they stood, just holding each other, heartbeat against heartbeat. Then slowly Holly raised her face, looked into Blaine's eyes, and knew that at last she had found what she had been looking for all her life. Commitment, purpose, and a love that would last forever.
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