Forever in Love (Book One of the Armstrong Series)

by Rita Hestand

  "I have my son back, and soon to have the other…" George beamed.

  "Of course…"

  "Have you heard from your boys yet?"

  Minerva turned to look at him, admiring the way he carried himself, she smiled into George's face. "Seth wrote me. Said they were on their way home."

  "What kept them?" George asked curiously.

  "What usually keeps a man, a woman…" Minerva said. "Seth got married and the other two, have sweethearts."

  "Well, sounds like there will be more weddings before long." George took her arm and guided her outside.

  "Perhaps. But like you, I'll just be glad they are home again." Minerva nodded with a smile and got in her carriage to drive off.

  Joe and George waved from the distance.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  "Mother, honestly, that bacon must be rank…" Melanie protested as she sped through the kitchen then ran outside.

  Minerva followed her. "It isn't rank dear. Are you sick again this morning?"

  "Yes, probably just something I ate…"

  "No, I don't think it's that. I think you are pregnant dear."

  Melanie shook her heard. "I'm fine."

  "No doctor Pruitt has returned from San Antonio, and I want him to have a look at you."

  "Really mother, I'll be fine. I just can't abide the food…"

  "Yes I know dear. And there must be a reason." Minerva explained.

  She looked at her mother with a strange contorted glance. "I can't be pregnant….can I?"

  "You've no doubt slept with your husband, haven't you?" Minerva raised a brow and stared at her.

  "You know I have."

  "Then you can be pregnant."

  "Oh God…what am I to do?"

  "Go see the doctor first." Her mother encouraged.

  "Then what?" Melanie looked at her like a child looks at one's mother.

  "Then come back here and we'll talk about it." Minerva said, buttering her biscuit.

  Melanie shook her head. How could her mother sit there buttering a biscuit when this was happening? She wasn't the least upset. "I don't understand you mother. But I'll go, just to prove you wrong…"

  "Fine…I'll have Cyrus bring the carriage around." Her mother told her. "Are you sure you won't have something to eat first?"

  "Positive," Melanie stormed up the stairs and came back down with a blue shawl over her shoulders. "I'll be back, soon."

  An hour later, she was coming out of the doctor's office, her state of mind in a quandary. She whipped the horse and sent the carriage speeding toward her mother's home. A million things crowded her mind. But one thing stood out. She had told Sam she wanted to have more time with him. God, had she forgotten the way he made love to her. No,…she'd pushed it to the back of her mind. Now she relived some of those moments, and tears washed her face as the carriage sped toward her mother's house.

  As she entered, she yelled for her mother.

  "Mother! Where are you!" Melanie shouted.

  "I'm in the study, dear, no need to shout." Minerva explained.

  Melanie went to find her reading a book by the window.

  "Well?"

  "You were right. I hope you are happy…" Melanie threw her shawl on the back of the chair and pranced hotly around the room.

  "I'm delighted." Minerva's eyes twinkled.

  "How can you be so….so…"

  "Happy?"

  "Yes!" Melanie glared at her.

  "It means I will be a grandmother. How far along does he think you are?" Minerva asked putting the book away on the shelf and turning to her daughter.

  "I'm going into my fourth month…"

  "Wonderful, the baby will be born the first part of spring." Her mother came to stand in front of her taking her hands in hers.

  "But you've never wanted me to have children!" Melanie shouted. "You've warned me continually about it."

  "That was before I found out you married Sam. Now, I'm delighted." Her mother smiled warmly at her.

  "How can I possibly have a child by a man who lies to me like that? And how can you be so happy!"

  "Come sit down darling," Her mother encouraged.

  Melanie flopped into the leather chair and heard it creak like a saddle. She didn't want to sit. She didn't want to listen to reason. She wanted to stomp, claw, cry, and shout out her anger.

  Her mother gave her a minute to compose herself then took her hands in hers and smiled into her eyes. "Let's look at this from all directions my dear. Maybe we can make some sense of it."

  Melanie huffed, blowing a tendril of hair from her face, as it has dislodged from her pin and was disarray now.

  "Are you mad at him because he isn't your Joe, or because he didn't tell you he was Sam?" Her mother asked, seeing the sun was setting and pulling the shade down. The lamp was lit and it bathed the room in a soft yellow glow.

  "Both!" Melanie cried out.

  Her mother put her two fingers over her lips. "Let's be calm about this for a moment. Put aside your anger so you can think clearly."

  "I'm being as calm as I can be, mother. I'm going to have Sam's baby!"

  "This is true. You are. Put yourself in another place." Her mother directed.

  Melanie made no sense of her talk. "What?"

  "If Joe had truly come home, married you, and still been in love with this Carmen, how would you feel then?"

  Melanie's mouth hung open. She didn't have an answer. She stared at her mother and a tear ran down her cheek. "Oh…mother…he really didn't love me, did he?" Melanie cried.

  "I'm afraid not." Minerva sighed and squeezed Melanie's hands.

  Melanie stood up and walked toward the bookshelf. But the grief of losing Joe overwhelmed her. "He didn't love me…" Her voice cracked with unbidden emotion.

  "And if you'd married the real Joe, that baby might never see his father. That baby would suffer because you would suffer. Joe didn't love you Melanie." Her mother said softly. "That's the first thing you have to accept."

  Melanie's eyes opened with a start. "Dear God, at the time I've wasted."

  "Now that you can see it, face it. You must deal with the other half of the problem." Minerva encouraged her.

  "What other half?" Melanie cried out.

  "Sam, or the new Joe, whatever you may call him." Minerva smiled sweetly at her daughter.

  "I'm not over Joe yet, and you throw Sam in my face!" Melanie cried more tears.

  "Before anything can really be settled, you have to get over Joe. You can cry your eyes out for him. Mourn for him. Or you can straighten your back and understand like an adult has to do. Joe simply wasn't in love with you. Had he married you he would have made you miserable. That is what you have to face. And until you do, nothing will move forward for you but your pregnancy." Minerva said standing up and moving toward the door. "You think on it dear. Think on it real hard. Now that you realize your own folly, you have to decide what you think of Sam…your husband."

  "You're right mother…I'm going to bed now…"

  "Aren't you going to eat something?" Her mother asked softly.

  "I don't think I could eat a thing. I need to rest." Melanie cried.

  "Did the doctor say everything was alright?" Minerva asked with concern.

  "Yes, everything is fine, mother." Melanie glanced at her sadly and tried to smile.

  "Then get some rest. But remember, sooner or later, you've got to come to face the fact that Joe really didn't love you and that you are married to Sam." Her mother touched her arm and smiled demurely. "Goodnight dear!"

  "Goodnight mother. I'll try!"

  But Melanie couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned and sat up in the middle of her bed and cried. She wasn't even sure why she was crying, only that she felt like crying.

  Truth be known, she missed "her Joe". But which Joe?

  Her mind went to the day he came home again. She was so enraptured with him that day, she couldn't have seen the truth if he'd have told her then. She was living her dream, bein
g married to Joe.

  Deep down though, she knew her mother was right. Sam really loved her. And she had certainly loved him back. The way they had made love, and then he had said, "We are one, now."

  Dear God, it was true. Sam was her husband, and he'd done nothing but love her.

  When she thought of it, she realized that it made a lot of sense. Sam had been mistreated by his father for years. He deserved his chance. And Joe…if he really loved Carmen, then perhaps it was all for the best.

  Another thing dawned on her. Sam wasn't in love with Carmen. She had absolutely nothing to worry about, because the real Joe would have Carmen.

  How did she feel about that?

  She laid down and memories of making love with Sam flooded her. Her body reacted, ached, and suddenly she felt something…

  Tears sprung in her eyes again, and her hands went to her belly. The baby had moved! It was just a flutter, but she felt it.

  My God, I'm going to be a mother!

  ~*~

  "So how long are you going to let her stay with her mother?" George boomed one morning when Joe had stayed up late, drinking.

  Joe's head was bursting. "I don't know!" he boomed then grabbed his own head.

  "She's making a mess of you!" George stared at his son with pure disgust. "You've never even told me what set the two of you off?"

  "It was just a quarrel over something trivial. Melanie has been rather moody lately. I don't know what is wrong with her. But her mother seems to think everything will be fine, in time. So, I'm giving her time…" he boomed again, throwing his arms wildly in the air.

  "You should march over there this instant and insist she come home where she belongs." George frowned at him.

  "I'd rather she came home of her free will, father." Joe said lowly, wishing this conversation could be postponed.

  "Women don't know what they want, half the time." George insisted.

  Ole Jen heard him and came in, with a dust-rag in her hand and frowning at George. "They gotta settle their own problems." She mumbled.

  "Now see here!" George boomed.

  "No sir, you see here. I done raised these boys. They are good God-fearin' boys. Or they were. Now they are men, and you gots to give them their due. They is men now. You take heed."

  In all his misery, he'd never heard Ole Jen speak up like that and it had him rally her own. Joe smiled and hugged her. "Thank you!"

  "Miss Melanie loves you! I know that for a fact. But she got to have time to figure that out on her own. You is right. Don't go after her. Let her come back to you…then you'll know you really have her love…" Ole Jen smiled at him.

  "Have I told you how much I appreciate you, Ole Jen?" Joe chuckled.

  "You has…and I'm glad you did." Ole Jen chuckled.

  George seemed to mellow for a moment and a half smile lit his face. "Alright, just this once I'll concede that maybe she has a point. That maybe she is the only woman that ever got the chance to mother the two of you. That maybe she makes more sense than either of us, sometimes. But only this once. I just hated to see you hit the bottle so hard, son."

  "It was a lesson I learned quickly. I doubt I'll forget it. Women do make men do funny things, though, don't they father?" Joe smiled looking from Ole Jen to his father.

  For only a second in time, George glanced at Ole Jen with a spark of pride. "Yes…they do!"

  "It's raining out there today, why don't we pull up a game of chess, and have a cup of coffee." His father suggested.

  Ole Jen nodded. "I'll get the coffee now, want some crumb cake too?"

  "No, just coffee," George answered, "And thank you…"

  Ole Jen turned around to look at George and smiled, "You are very welcome…"

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  It had been another month and there was no word from Melanie. Joe was beside himself.

  "I've lost her…" Joe fretted one afternoon in front of Ole Jen.

  "Now you quit frettin'. She'll be back. I'm sure of it. That girl loves you. It might take her a while to realize it, but she loves you." Ole Jen told him.

  "No, she loved Joe. Not me. I see that now. I must have been out of my mind to play his part." Joe cried.

  "You know when I first realized what you were doin'. I thought it was all wrong. I did. However, after I thought about what you said, I realized, it was the only way for the two of you to be happy. But you are wrong about Melanie. She's in love with you. And she'll wake up to that fact soon. I just feel it in my bones." Ole Jen said as she churned the butter on the back porch.

  George had gone to visit some friends and Joe was just about to go out into the fields to check on some things.

  "I wish you were right, but I don't think so. But thanks for saying it." Joe smiled sadly at her.

  Ole Jen pulled his arm and made him turn around to face her. "That wasn't Joe that made her blush when she came down them stairs every day. It was you. You made that girl so happy, why, you spoiled her. But she'll wake up."

  "I hope you are right, but I'm beginning to think not…"

  Joe walked off the porch and Ole Jen mumbled to herself, "You jest wait and see…you jest wait and see!"

  ~*~

  "Mother….mother," Melanie called as she took two steps at a time down the stairs.

  Minerva came out of the kitchen. "What's all the noise about dear?"

  "You were right!" Melanie cried.

  "About what?" Minerva watched her daughter button the last button on her blouse.

  "I'm going home…" Melanie cried out.

  "Finally…" Minerva smiled. "What brought you to your senses?"

  "I think a lot of it was you, mother, and the things you said. You are right."

  "Well, whatever made you change your mind, I'm glad." Minerva said, looking at her daughter who was glowing with happiness.

  Melanie grabbed her mother and hugged her tightly. "Oh I love you mother!"

  "Well," Minerva seemed to be in a state of shock. "I love you too dear."

  "Thank you for putting up with me!"

  "Of course, what are mothers for?"

  Melanie saddled her own horse and rode slowly over to Golden Manor but before she got there, a huge tree that had fallen on the roadway stopped her.

  Feeling she could do anything, she decided to jump the tree. But she jumped too quickly and fell, her head hitting the tree.

  She lay there unconscious for hours before anyone found her.

  Golden Manor being the closest place to take her, two men who had the same problem as she found her and took her there.

  Joe came running out and saw it was Melanie. "Dear God, what has happened?"

  "A big tree split and landed across the road. No one could get over that, we have to travel around the thing, it was too big, but it looks like she tried to jump it on her horse. Her horse wasn't far off."

  "Please, one of you go for the doc, will you?" Joe asked taking Melanie in his arms and carrying her to the nearest bed.

  George and Ole Jen saw him and followed, fussing and fretting over Melanie.

  Ole Jen pulled the covers down from the bed and Joe placed her on it. She didn't move, except to breath. Joe stared at her in disbelief.

  "I wonder where she was going?"

  The other man that had helped followed them, "Looks to me like she was coming here."

  "Oh dear God…." Joe cried out.

  "Easy son, don't panic until the doctor has a look at her." George tried to console Joe.

  Joe sat beside her bed, and took her pale hand in his. He kissed it over and over. "Sweetheart, please don't leave me!"

  But Melanie wasn't responding to anyone.

  Ole Jen covered her and sat on the other side, taking her other hand. "Nothing is gonna happen to Miss Melanie."

  George heard the doctor when he arrived and went downstairs to direct him to the room where Melanie laid.

  The doctor came inside and saw Joe and Ole Jen fretting over her. "I just saw her a few weeks ago. What's happened
?"

  "She fell off her horse."

  The doctor's face turned grim. "All of you leave the room but Ole Jen. I need to check and see if the baby is alright first."

  "The baby?" The three of them repeated, their eyes widening.

  "The baby! She's nearly five months pregnant." The doctor announced.

  Joe grabbed his head, "My God!"

  Then he went to her side, kissed her on the forehead and whispered. "I'm forever in love with you…."

  Ushered out of the room, Joe, and George looked at each other in the hallway.

  "You didn't know about it, I presume." George asked in a whispered voice.

  "No…I knew she was moody, but I had no idea…"

  "This could be very serious son, you must prepare yourself for the worst of it." George seemed out of his head himself, not making any sense.

  Joe shook his head and tears ran down his cheeks. "How do you prepare for the death of your first child, father?"

  George frowned and shook his head. "I'm out of my head too, I guess."

  It was an hour before the doctor came out of the room. He saw them both looking pale and downtrodden.

  "The baby will be fine…" He told them.

  George let out a breath. "Thank God."

  "And Melanie?" Joe asked still looking doomed.

  "She is concussed, but the main thing is nothing is broken, or wrong otherwise."

  "Then she'll be alright?" Joe asked anxiously.

  "If she wakes up, she will."

  "And if not?" George asked in a panic.

  "We'll have to take the baby, of course." The doctor told them.

  "Can I see her?" Joe asked.

  "Of course. Let me know if she comes around."

  "How long…before we know?"

  "I don't know, could be hours, could be days, and might even be longer. But if it's much longer we'll need to try to take the baby."

  "But she's not that far along, is she?" Joe asked.

  "Let's just take it one day at a time for now." The doctor told them and put a hand on Joe's shoulder. "I'm sorry I don't have better news right now."

  "Thank you doctor."