Hearts in Hiding

by Patty Smith Hall

  “Ramona can spare you for a while,” Gertie whispered as she tucked the edges of the quilt around the little girl’s shoulders. Ramona immediately snuggled into the cover’s warmth. “I think you could use a little break.”

  Edie looked down at her small patient. Ramona only shivered slightly now, and breathed as if in a deep slumber. “I’m fine.”

  “Momma said you haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”

  It had been a while since she’d had a piece of dried toast and a cup of coffee. Her stomach growled. “Maybe I could eat a little something, just to tide me over.” She glanced up at her friend. “You’ll send someone to get me if Ramona worsens, won’t you?”

  “You know I will,” Gertie replied. “And Edie?”

  “Yes?”

  The brief smile was one of genuine appreciation. “You don’t know how much you being here means to me. To all of us.”

  Edie smiled back at Gertie from the door. “I could say the same thing about you taking me in like you did. But I figure friends do things like that for each other.”

  “Get out of here before you have me squalling like a baby,” Gertie grumbled, her voice breaking.

  Edie turned and headed down the cramped hallway. Within seconds, she stood out on the Waterses’ front porch, the hint of cool night air against her bare arms and legs refreshing. She stretched. Every joint in her body ached, and her stomach growled. Maybe Gertie was right. Maybe she did need a break.

  She stepped off the porch before she noticed the man standing in the front yard, a baseball bat clutched in his right hand. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as he slowly ambled toward her. “You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, now could you?”

  Edie’s heart jerked into a rapid beat. “Is there something I can do for you, sir?”

  From the side of the house, another man, tall and wiry, his pressed shirt crisp even in the dim light of evening, climbed the porch railing. “You are Edie Michaels, right?”

  Her stomach tightened into a painful knot. This couldn’t be good. “Why do you ask?”

  “Just interested.” The man in the yard stepped up on the first stair to the porch.

  Edie backed up. “Well, we have a polio epidemic going on here, so it might be best if you just go on home.”

  “But you’re here.” He flashed her a sickening grin that made her skin crawl. “A white woman exposing herself to these…diseases.”

  A spark of anger roared through her. “Black or white, polio is polio. And to think otherwise is just plain—” She broke off.

  He cut the distance between them until Edie could feel his vile breath on her cheeks. “Just plain what?”

  She gulped for air. She’d lived with fear, lived with the worry that came from running away from the evil her father had become, but never had she felt this jittery throb of terror coursing through her veins. Edie took another step back.

  A strong arm from behind her wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush against a sturdy wall of muscle. Edie dug her fingernails into the corded muscles. She opened her mouth to scream, but her voice failed.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”

  Beau! She relaxed against him, wrapping her arms over his.

  “I didn’t know you were here, Daniels.” The man on the stairway stepped back. “This doesn’t concern you.”

  “Anything having to do with Ms. Michaels or these folks concerns me.” His arm tightened around her waist. “So go ahead and say your piece.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Every instinct in Beau’s body clamored to slug the man. But he was determined to rein in his temper, to hear the man out, to listen to his pitiful excuses for confronting Edie when she’d only spent the last sixteen hours nursing sick kids.

  Then he’d slug him.

  “So.” Beau drew Edie closer to his side. Her fist clenched the front of his shirt, and her body trembled. “Did you hear about the outbreak and decide to help out?”

  The man’s thick brows fused into a straight line. “Why would I want to help…” He paused, his mouth drawn up into an ugly smirk. “These people?”

  At the man’s words, Edie flinched beneath his touch. A few of the men in the neighborhood had gathered in the yard, but the man didn’t seem to notice. Beau wouldn’t have to raise a hand to him. If he kept talking such hatred, these men wouldn’t think twice about beating him to a pulp. “Get out of here.”

  The man guffawed. “Well, you’re not your father’s son, that’s for sure.”

  Best compliment Beau had gotten in a while. “No, I’m not. I believe in helping all of my neighbors like the Bible says.”

  “Your daddy’s not going to be happy about this.”

  Probably not, but this was his life and he had to live it according to the conscience God had given him. “I think it’s time you left. We’ve got sick children to tend to.”

  The man pointed at Edie. “This ain’t over, kraut.”

  Fury roared through him like gasoline to the flame. He could could threaten Beau all day long, but not Edie, never Edie. Pushing her out of his arms, Beau took off down the stairs, fisting his hands in the front of the man’s shirt, glaring down at him. He didn’t have time to react before Beau had his cocked fist aimed for the man’s red nose.

  Beau was close enough to see his pupils darken in fear. “You’re going to pay a little visit to my friend, the sheriff. And if you ever so speak to Ms. Michaels again, I will track you down and make you wish you’d never been born. Is that clear?”

  The man gave a weak nod before Beau gave him over to two of the men gathered in the yard. “And just so you know, Sheriff Worthington knows about your friends, so if they so much as pass by this neighborhood again, they’ll be keeping you company in jail.”

  The man fell back, his lips pressed against his teeth, caught by two of the men. The men parted to allow the group through the small crowd.

  Beau glanced out over the crowd. “Go on home. We’ve got enough to worry about without standing out here, waiting for trouble to come back.” He turned to Gertie on the porch next door. “Are we about ready to take those kids to the hospital?”

  “Will be in just a few more minutes.” Gertie’s gaze slid from Beau to Edie and back again. “Enough time for a short break.” She disappeared inside the house and shut the door.

  Beau took the first stair, then looked up to find himself almost nose to nose with Edie. Even in the dim evening light, her eyes sparkled, the color of a late-afternoon summer sky. Soft and endless.

  And looking only at him.

  “You stood up for me. Again.”

  He nodded. Had she really expected him to throw her to the wolves? No, that’s what experience had taught her. With her parents, with her friends. Even with him at first. She’d never be bullied again, not that she’d ever let that stop her from doing what she felt was right. Well, he was here now, standing in front of her, loving her.

  She cupped his face in her hands. “Thank you.”

  Beau shook his head. “I’ll always be here for you.”

  “Thank you for being here, helping us. I know you were worried about the Stephenses’ safety, but you came anyway.”

  He covered her hands with his, bringing them to his chest. “I wouldn’t be much of a man if I turned my back on people in need.”

  She gave him a tiny smile. “I should have had faith in you.”

  “Why?” Beau asked. “When everyone you loved had let you down?”

  Edie leaned closer. “I can’t wait to come home. Which will be very soon. Mack caught me as I was leaving the hospital today. Told me that the government had cracked down on the Bund. Most have been put into prison camps, but a few escaped to Germany.”

  Her body flush agaist his, Edie rested her head on his shoulder. Then she remembered. “How’s Claire?”

  “It’s polio, but not as bad as we first thought. She’s got a little muscle weakness in her legs, but Dr. Lovinggood seems to th
ink that a little therapy will help her get her strength back.”

  Oh, thank You, Lord.

  Beau pressed her palms against his chest, enjoying her touch even through the layer of cotton. “I have so much I want to tell you. But right now…”

  “I know.” She pushed away from him, putting some distance between them.

  But even that was too much space for Beau. He clasped her chin between his fingers, lifting her head until his gaze met hers. “Soon, Edie.” He leaned down, and brushed his lips against hers before he stepped back.

  “Soon.”

  Now was not the time, not with all the sick kids who still needed tending. Beau forced himself to take a step back, but not before catching her hand in his. She nodded, the tender spark in her eyes giving him the confidence he needed. Yes, they would talk soon.

  * * *

  The next few days were a blur of alcohol sponge baths and stripped sheets. Beau made two more runs to the hospital, first to pick up supplies, then to retrieve the

  Waters baby. By the third day, the tide of illness seemed to have turned.

  With one last check on her sleeping patients, Edie settled into the rocking chair with a scratch piece of paper and the pencil she carried around in her pocket.

  She was lost in her sketching when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. “What are you doing? Making a list of all the things you want to do once we get home?”

  She glanced up at Beau. Even with three days of growth on his beard, she never tired of studying his handsome face. “I was thinking. The hospital was built when Marietta only had a few thousand residents, but with the bomber plant, there’s almost four times as many people living here.”

  Beau squatted down beside her, leaning on the armrest. “So?”

  “Marietta is going to need a bigger hospital.” Edie swiped the tip of the pencil into a straight line across the white surface of the paper. “One large enough for everyone.”

  He leaned over and studied her drawing. “You mean one that can cater to both whites and Negroes in the community.”

  Edie held her breath. What if he couldn’t see the value of this idea, the need to provide health care regardless of color?

  But the broad smile lighting up his face told her he agreed. “It’s brilliant.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yes.” Beau tugged on a loose curl, shifting it between his fingers before pushing it behind her ear. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this war, it’s that everyone willing to fight and die for this country deserves an equal chance.”

  Edie nodded, focusing on the drawing. Did that chance include her, or was she always going to be paying for the sin of being German?

  “I went to see my father before I came here.”

  Her design for the new hospital slid from her fingers onto her lap. Beau had been so determined not to visit James in jail. What had changed his mind? “How was he?”

  “As mean and stubborn as usual.” Beau stared off into space as if reliving those moments with his father. “I expected him to be that way. That’s who he is.”

  Her heart ached for him. “That’s too bad.”

  Beau nodded. “Yeah, it is. But that’s his choice.” He paused, a vague sadness in his eyes calling out for her comfort. “I told him I’d be back.”

  That surprised her. What did Beau hope to accomplish in visiting his father? “Why?”

  “Because that’s my choice, Edie.” His eyes met hers, his gaze staring down into the deepest depths of her being. “As much as I can’t stand most of the things he’s done, I can’t hate him, Edie. I just can’t.”

  The pencil fell with a soft clatter to the floor as Edie reached for him, curling her fingers around his forearm, hope flickering to life inside her heart for the first time in a very long time. “Of course not. He’s your dad.”

  “I have to forgive him, or I won’t be able to live with myself.” Beau covered her hand with his. “You taught me that.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you.” He chuckled softly, his thumb stroking the delicate skin of her wrist before settling over the notch where her pulse drummed out a wild beat. “You didn’t stop loving your parents even when they tried to force you into working for the Nazis. You left. You built a life for yourself.”

  She drew in a shaky breath. “You left home, too.”

  “I left out of anger, not beliefs.” He let go of her, only to cup her cheek in the palm of his hand. “And when your mother showed up on our doorstep, you chose to forgive her despite what she had done.” He looked at her with such incredible longing, Edie couldn’t breathe. “I want to love people like you do, even when I’m not crazy about some of the things they’re doing with their life.”

  Any doubts she might have had that Beau could love her despite who her parents were evaporated like the morning mist. She lifted her hand to his face, his beard stubble a pleasant rub against the sensitive skin of her palm. “I struggle with forgiving people too, you know. So I have to stay in constant prayer, asking God to let me love people the way He loves them. That’s all any of us can do.”

  He nodded. “Gertie needed you, and you were right here, not worrying about what everyone else would think, just sure you had to do the right thing by God.”

  Her cheeks went hot. “The phone lines still aren’t up.”

  “But they will be.” He laughed, stroked his thumb across the arch of her nose. “And it will make it easier on the phone company when I want a line installed in my dad’s place.”

  “Did you get a renter?”

  “I figured I might as well rent the place myself. I can live there while I save up to go to medical school then maybe buy Dad out and set up my office there.” Was it her imagination or was he suddenly closer? “Though it still needs a lot of work, particularly on that back bedroom.”

  “Back bedroom?” She leaned into his palm.

  “I figured you’d need the best light if you’re planning on drawing up plans for all the houses and new buildings Marietta’s going to need.”

  Her heart tripped over in her chest. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

  But the expression on Beau’s face was very serious. “I could spend a lifetime watching you.”

  Edie’s breath caught in her throat at the love shining in his eyes. “You don’t mean that.”

  “Oh, yes, I do. Every time I look at you, you know what I see?”

  She shook her head, not trusting her voice to speak.

  His face broke into the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen, one that burned a path all the way to her heart. “I see my future.”

  Any resistance she had left, melted at his words. Beau loved her. He wanted to make a future with her. And there was nothing standing in their way. “I want a future with you, too.”

  “I love you, Edie.”

  Her heart burst with joy. Beau loved her. As he closed the distance between them, she whispered against his lips. “I love you, too.”

  Epilogue

  Edie stepped out onto Merrilee’s front porch, drew in a deep breath of cool autumn air and smiled, joy running through her veins, infusing every part of her being.

  A pair of familiar arms wrapped around her waist as Beau pulled her gently back against his warm welcoming chest. “What are you smiling about this morning?”

  “How do you know I’m smiling?”

  Beau’s lips spread into a playful smile against her temple before brushing a kiss there. “You’re always smiling here lately. Just like me.”

  She chuckled. The man knew her far too well! True, he had spent the better part of the last three months courting her while she wore his ring, but really! What kind of surprises would be left for them to discover for the next fifty or sixty years? Edie couldn’t wait to find out.

  She wrapped her arms over his. “It really is a beautiful day for a wedding, isn’t it?”

  “Too bad it’s not ours,” he grumbled.

  Her stomach fluttered at the frustr
ation in his voice. “Maggie and Wesley offered to make it a double wedding.”

  Beau’s chest pressed against her back as he drew in a deep breath, then released her. He walked over to the porch banister before turning to face her. “I know and that was very nice of them. But I still think it’s best if we wait until after Dad’s moved to the federal penitentiary before we start our life together.” Beau leaned back against the railing. “I still can’t believe he confessed.”

  Yes, James’s confession had taken the whole town by surprise. But after the initial shock wore off, Edie wondered if it had been Beau’s visits that had changed James’s mind. Edie walked over to where Beau stood, marveling at the man she’d promised to marry. He’d kept his word to his father, visiting him week after week, sometimes spending the whole visit in silence. “Maybe your dad decided he didn’t want to put you and the rest of your family through a trial.”

  Beau opened his arms. In one fluid movement, she moved, pressed against his side, her hand against his chest, his heart steady and strong like her love for him.

  He looked down at her, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I was thinking it could be the answer to our prayers.”

  She lifted her face to him. “That’s my favorite answer.”

  Beau lowered his head, his face going out of focus as he drew nearer. Her eyes fluttered shut, her breath caught in her lungs as his lips touched hers.

  “Excuse me.”

  She jumped, but Beau held her flush to his side, the pulse at the base of his neck thundering at an erratic rate. She stifled a giggle when the tips of his ears turned fire-engine red.

  Beau recovered his voice first. “Dr. Lovinggood, you’re kind of early for the wedding.”

  “I thought I’d drop by on my way to a house call.” The older man glanced from one to the other.

  Beau shook his head. “Just spending some time with my fiancée before things go haywire this afternoon. What can I do for you?”

  “Do you remember me mentioning my friend, Dr. Phillips at Emory University?”