Courting Miss Adelaide
Page 26
Addie’s gaze traveled the assemblage, a puzzled expression on her face. He hurried closer, until he stood at the bottom of the steps. He held his breath, waiting…and then her lips curved in a smile, filling him with a sense of rightness.
Oh, how he loved this woman. Her goodness, the hope she’d steadfastly clung to, her strength. He would spend his life trying to live up to her faith in him.
“Miss Adelaide Crum!” Charles called up to her, quieting the crowd. “I’d like the honor of attending church with you and Emma and William.”
She extended a hand toward him but he held up his palm. “Before we go in, I have something to say.”
Adelaide took in Charles’s battered, smiling face and her insides went liquid with hope. Around her, puffy white clouds drifted across the sky, and a flash of red disappeared into a nearby evergreen. A gentle breeze tickled her nape as the cardinal added his song to the song in her heart.
Charles laid a palm on his chest. “I’m in love with you!” he shouted up at her.
Adelaide’s heart leapt at the words she’d been waiting for all her life, the words she needed to hear from Charles.
“I want to share our dreams, bring up these children and grow old together.” He released a shaking breath. “I’ve been able to forgive. I’ve asked God to forgive me. And though I have no idea why, He has! I’ll be thanking Him this morning—in church—for His love and for yours, that is, if it’s still available.”
Tears sprang in Adelaide’s eyes. At last, Charles realized God loved him. He wanted to worship in church. He loved her.
She wished for the words that would change her life, yet waited to see if the editor in him could string together words strong enough to rope her in. Not that it would take much, she decided with an inward grin.
“Oh, and one more thing.” He paused. Her heart beat a hundred times in that moment. “Will you marry me?”
She folded her arms across her middle, a tease on her lips. “Not unless you ask me proper.”
Charles took the steps two at a time. At her feet, he went down on one knee, raising an arm in a beseeching manner, triggering a few chuckles from the men and dreamy sighs from the ladies.
Adelaide had to hold herself tight to keep from throwing her arms around his neck. Waiting, every moment slowed to a crawl.
“Adelaide Crum, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes!” she cried, the word bursting from her lips. “Yes, Charles, I’ll marry you!”
A cheer rose up from the congregation and Emma danced around Adelaide’s skirts as the reality sank in—she and Charles would spend the rest of their lives together. After years of loneliness, God had given her the desires of her heart.
When the hubbub subsided, Charles’s gaze sought the children’s. “Emma, William, is it all right with you?”
At Adelaide’s side, William’s face lit up like a Roman candle. Emma threw her arms around Charles’s neck and hugged him with all her might, until she squeaked.
Over the little girl’s head, Charles gaze sought Adelaide’s with an intensity that promised he’d be there today, tomorrow and always, that they’d be a family, a real family. Slowly, he rose, scooping up Emma, never taking his eyes off Adelaide.
He pulled William close, then took her hand, his grip firm, and faced the minister. “I’ve been away a long time, Pastor. Do you suppose God will remember my name?”
Pastor Foley smiled, his hazel eyes crinkling. “Not only your name, but the exact number of hairs on your head.”
Charles nodded. “He’s probably been tempted plenty of times to pull out a hank.”
The pastor chuckled. “Good thing God doesn’t work that way or we’d all be bald.”
Smiling, Charles tugged Addie close. “It looks like we’re going to need your services.”
Pastor Foley gave an approving nod. “Whenever you say.”
“I hear July twenty-fifth is a special woman’s birthday.”
“How did you know?” Adelaide asked.
“I told him!” Laura threw her arms around Adelaide and then lowered her voice. “Thank God you’re both all right! My knees ache from praying!”
Pastor Foley pulled out his pocket watch, and flipped it open. “Well, I’d better get this service underway.” He smiled. “See you inside.”
Parishioners flowed past, heading into the church, stopping long enough to give them congratulations. The men slapped Charles on the back and the women hugged Adelaide, some with tears welling in their eyes.
Mr. Paul came up beside them, the tufts of hair on his head swaying in the breeze. “With a strong woman like Miss Crum, you’re going to have your hands full, Graves.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“A woman like that keeps a man from making some serious mistakes.” His gaze met Adelaide’s. “Like the ones I’ve made. I’m sorry, Miss Crum.”
This whole town needed a lesson in forgiveness, starting here. Adelaide laid a hand on his arm. “You’re forgiven,” she said then watched him enter the building.
Everyone in town, well, at least, the membership of the First Christian Church, appeared happy for them.
Roscoe Sullivan climbed the steps last, slowly, as if he didn’t have the strength to go on. He stopped before Adelaide, his gaze downcast. “I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you.”
Mr. Sullivan had tried to turn the town against her, but if she couldn’t forgive him, would she be any different than her mother? He had been taken in by his nephew, as had most of the town. Adelaide gave him a smile. “I accept your apology and hope you’ll visit William and Emma. They could use a grandfather.”
For a moment Roscoe stood speechless. “I—I’m grateful for your clemency.”
“It took me a while to learn to forgive, Mr. Sullivan,” Adelaide admitted, glancing in the direction of the cemetery. “But forgiving feels awfully good.”
As the bell tolled, announcing the start of the service, everyone had entered the church. “Alone at last,” Charles said, bending down and giving her a tender kiss. “Despite the bird in your hat, I love you, Adelaide Crum.”
Adelaide gave him a playful punch on the arm. “Despite the mess on your desk, I love you, Charles Graves.”
The first hymn drowned out their laughter.
Charles’s expression grew serious and he hauled her to him. “I love you,” he said, his voice husky with emotion.
She’d never tire of hearing those words from his lips.
She would hear his voice today, tomorrow and all the tomorrows after that, confident she had found the person God intended for her, for them both.
“You know, Charles, it’s like my heart was an orphan…and it’s found a home. In you.”
“Oh, Addie, I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you how wonderful home can be.”
His words were a promise for all the days to come.
Dear Reader,
After coming across a newspaper article about trains that took orphaned and half-orphaned children from New York City to homes in the Midwest and beyond, I knew I had to put this fascinating slice of history in a book. Between the years 1853 and 1929, approximately 250,000 children rode to new homes. But that phenomenon didn’t find its way into our history books for years. Although I’ve taken creative liberties with the facts, I set the story in Noblesville, Indiana, where an orphan train stopped in 1859.
Than you for choosing Courting Miss Adelaide, my debut novel. I hope you enjoyed Adelaide and Charles’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I hope that their struggle to overcome painful pasts and to forgive others touched your heart. If you’re dealing with similar issues, I hope God will enable you to find the peace that comes from forgiving someone who wounded you.
I love to hear from readers. Visit me at www.JanetDean.net or JanetDean.blogspot.com. Write to me at Janet@JanetDean.net.
God bless you,
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Charles an
d Adelaide had difficult childhoods. How did their pasts impact their behavior? Their outlook? Can you identify with their struggles?
How did Charles’s father affect Charles’s relationship with God? Have you had relationships that impacted your faith, either positively or negatively?
How does Emma help Adelaide grow and change?
Charles’s father leaves half the newspaper to Charles and half to Adelaide. How does his will affect Charles and Adelaide’s relationship, both short-term and in the long run?
Writing the columns on suffrage helps Adelaide find her voice as a woman, something few women had in the 1890s. How do the consequences of her stand shape her as a woman and as a Christian?
Why can’t Charles see the possibility of William’s abuse at first?
How does Charles’s talk with William help to heal the pain of Charles’s past and lead him to God?
What secret is Charles hiding? How does that affect his relationship with Adelaide? With God? What finally puts Charles’s fear to rest?
Neither Charles’s mother nor Frances Drummond leave their abusive husbands. Is this difficult for you to understand? Why or why not?
How does the town influence the decisions of Adelaide and Charles? And how do Adelaide’s and Charles’s decisions impact the town? What can we learn from this?
Do you have any sympathy for Ed Drummond? Why or why not?
How do you think the orphaned children felt when they were traveling across the country to unknown families?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2235-3
COURTING MISS ADELAIDE
Copyright © 2008 by Janet Dean
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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