A Love For Keeps (Truly Yours Digital Editions)

by Janet Lee Barton

  Meagan knew she would never forget the look on Nate’s face when he gently picked up his limp daughter and carried her upstairs. It was only then, as she stayed behind for a few minutes to pray, that she let the tears flow.

  She sent Sarah to tell Abigail’s parents and their mother. “Let Mama know I might be here awhile. I think Abigail is in shock and I … I just can’t leave right now.”

  Sarah gave her a hug. “I will. We’ll be back to check on you all.”

  Meagan nodded and hugged her back. Then she gave her a little push. She rushed up the stairs. This wasn’t her family and maybe it wasn’t her place to stay, but she had to find out how Natalie was and see if Nate or Abigail needed anything.

  When Meagan stopped just inside the bedroom door, she saw the doctor bent over Natalie. Nate and Abigail stood at the foot of the bed. Meagan waited to hear what the doctor had to say.

  He turned to Nate. “Her left arm is broken, and I’ll need to set it. But I’m more concerned that she’s not responsive. Most likely, she is suffering from a concussion. We’ll have to watch her closely. I’d prefer to have her in my office, but I don’t want to move her right now.” He looked at Abigail and then over at Meagan. “Would you get Nate’s housekeeper? I’m going to need her help setting the bone.”

  Meagan nodded and turned to find the housekeeper right behind her. “The doctor needs your help.”

  Mrs. Baker nodded and hurried to the doctor’s side. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Get some water for the plaster and help me set her arm. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Of course. I’ll be right back with the water.” She took one look at Natalie, shook her head, and hurried out of the room.

  Meagan was right behind her. “Can I help?”

  Nate’s housekeeper was on her way to gather a pail of warm water from the stove’s reservoir, along with several rags. She shook her head. “Just pray. Poor baby. I just hope she won’t be feeling the pain of having that arm set.”

  A shiver shot right through Meagan at the very thought that Natalie was suffering, and she sent up a silent prayer that the child would be all right.

  Meagan followed the housekeeper out of the kitchen, and when the door knocker sounded, Mrs. Baker turned to her. “I’m sure that’s Mr. and Mrs. Connors. Will you show them upstairs?”

  “Of course I will.” Meagan hurried to answer the door, and it was Mr. and Mrs. Connors. Sarah had filled them in on the accident, and Meagan led them up even though they knew the way. They looked so worried, she didn’t want to send them up by themselves. She could see that Nate was standing at the end of his daughter’s bed and Abigail was just staring into space when her parents arrived. Meagan’s heart went out to her. She knew it had been an accident, but she had a feeling Abigail would be blaming herself.

  The housekeeper was bustling around getting things ready for the doctor when he turned and said, “All right, everyone. It’s time to leave the room until we get this arm set. Then you can come back in.”

  “Doc, I don’t want to leave. I can help.”

  “I know you don’t want to leave, Nate. But it would be hard on you to stay, and it will make my job quicker and much easier if you go. I’ll let you back in as soon as I’m done.”

  Abigail’s mother took her arm and led her into the hallway. Her father put a hand to Nate’s shoulder. Nate simply nodded and turned to leave the room. Meagan stood slightly away from them all but couldn’t bring herself to go downstairs.

  Nate moved to the staircase and looked down. What must be going through his mind? Meagan couldn’t keep herself from going to him. “You know that we’re all praying she comes through this.”

  He looked down at her. “I know you are. I … thank you for being here and for sending for me.”

  “You are welcome. I—” Meagan broke off, unable to continue. Just the look in Nate’s eyes had tears welling in hers. He’s lost a wife, dear Lord. Please don’t let him lose his daughter, too. She didn’t know what else to say or do.

  “Is there any tea made, do you know?” Mrs. Connors asked.

  Relieved to have something to do, Meagan said, “I’ll go make some tea and bring it up, if that is all right?”

  Nate didn’t seem to hear her, and Abigail only stared at her. Mrs. Connors nodded and said, “That would be very helpful. Thank you, Miss Snow.”

  Meagan hurried back to the kitchen and put water on for the tea. While it was heating, she readied a tea tray with cream and sugar, cups, and saucers. She prayed while the tea was steeping. “Dear Lord, please let Natalie be all right. I don’t know what it would do to this family if they lost her. And I—my whole family has come to love her, too, Lord. And You know how I feel about Nate. Please keep him from any more heartache. Please let Natalie heal and come back to us. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

  She turned and gave a start to see Nate standing there looking at her.

  “Meagan … I … thank you for that prayer. I—” He stopped and sighed. “I couldn’t stand there just waiting for Doc to let me back in. Let me carry the tray up for you.”

  “All right.” She handed it to him. She didn’t know whether to go or stay until he looked back.

  “You’re coming, too, aren’t you?”

  “Of course.” There was no way she could let this family go through this alone. She followed Nate up the staircase.

  The doctor was just coming out of the room when Nate and Meagan got to the landing. Nate quickly set the tray on a table outside Natalie’s door. “How is she?”

  “She’s still unconscious. But her arm is set, and she’s breathing normally. I believe she will come out of this, Nate. I’ve seen cases similar to this too many times not to believe she’ll be all right. I’ll check in later.”

  Nate knew there was no guarantee, but suddenly he felt hope. “Thank you. I pray you are right. I’ll see you out.”

  “No. I can see myself out. You stay with your daughter.”

  For the first time since Nate got there, Abigail spoke. “Miss Snow can go with you. She’s not needed anymore.”

  “Abigail!” Mrs. Connors protested. “Miss Snow’s presence has been comforting. And she’s made some tea which will taste mighty good to me right now.” She turned and looked at Meagan. “I’m sorry about my daughter’s rudeness. She’s just upset about Natalie.”

  “That’s understandable,” Meagan said. “I can go home. My mother and I will check and see if you all need anything a little later.”

  “No.” Nate put out a hand to stop her. He wanted her here beside him … just in case. “I don’t want you to go. Natalie will want to see you when she wakes up.”

  Abigail shrugged before following him back into the room. Nate pulled a chair close to Natalie’s bed and took hold of her hand. She looked so small and defenseless lying there. He heard Meagan say, “I’ll get Mrs. Connors some tea. Would you like a cup, Miss Connors?”

  Abigail was silent.

  “Nate?”

  “Not just yet, thank you.” It gave him comfort to hear her voice in the room.

  “I’ll take a cup,” Abigail’s father said.

  Nate glanced over at his in-laws and could see the pain in their eyes. They’d lost their youngest daughter and now there was the possibility—no! He couldn’t think that way, wouldn’t think that way.

  His glance slid to Abigail. She was just staring into space. She seemed near collapse. Anyone could look at her and see that.

  Meagan took the tea to Mr. and Mrs. Connors, and Nate heard them whisper their thanks. The wait was grueling. Nate bowed his head and whispered, “Dear Lord, please be with my Natalie. I can’t lose her, Lord. Please heal her and bring her back to me. You said You won’t give us more than we can handle, and Lord, I don’t think I could stand it if—please, Lord, I beg You to let my baby be all right.”

  Suddenly he heard the crash of a teacup, and then Georgette exclaimed, “Nate! Natalie’s eyes are blinking!”

  His
head came up, and he looked closely at his daughter. Everyone else in the room gathered around the bed, looking at Natalie … even Meagan. There was a flutter, and then another. The little girl’s eyes slowly opened and then shut. Opened and shut again … and then opened. “Papa?”

  “I’m—” Nate’s voice broke. “I’m here, my precious girl.”

  “My arm hurts, Papa.”

  “I know. You fell—”

  “Down the stairs. I was running away from Aunt Abby and I fell … just like Mama did.”

  Nate caught his breath. This was the first time Natalie had ever mentioned her mother or the fall. “But you are going to be all right, Natalie, dear. You have a broken arm, and once it heals, you’ll be fine.”

  Natalie didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, she was looking at Abigail. “I fell, Aunt Abby. Just like Mama did. And it was all your fault!”

  “No!” Abigail screamed. “It was not my fault. I was trying to keep Rose from going back upstairs for her precious mementos!” She began to cry deep, wrenching sobs. “I was trying to get us all out of there. But … but …” She sobbed again. “When I grabbed her, she tried to pull away from me and lost her balance. Then she … I …” Her voice trickled away.

  “Abigail, dear, we know you didn’t mean to ….” Her mother put an arm around her, but Abigail pulled away.

  “I don’t want you to marry Aunt Abigail, Papa!” Natalie was crying now. “I want you to marry Miss Meg!”

  “Oh, Natalie. I’m so sorry. I’m an awful person. I’ve made Nate feel guilty for not being there to save her. All the time I resented that he loved Rose and not me! And then … I made Miss Snow think that he was … in love with me so that she wouldn’t give him the time of day—so that he would finally realize it was me he needed to marry. But he loves her! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” She yanked the engagement ring Nate had given her off her finger and forced it into his hand, tears flowing down her face. Then she turned and ran out of the room.

  Holding the ring he’d given Abigail, Nate felt an overwhelming sense of relief that she’d broken the engagement, but he was speechless as he watched her run out of the room. He knew that Abigail could be manipulative, but to go to such lengths to get her way? And to purposefully add to the guilt he’d felt that he couldn’t save Rose? It was hard to take it all in. But what pained him most was that she’d set out to ruin his relationship with Meagan so that he would ask her to marry him. Anger deep and hot rose up, and all he could do was look at Meagan. The color was high on her cheeks, and she looked as shocked as he felt.

  “Abigail!” Mrs. Connors looked totally taken aback at her daughter’s words. She didn’t seem to know what to do.

  “I’ll go after her. She’s in no shape to be by herself,” Jacob Connors said. He crossed the room to kiss Natalie. “I love you, and I’ll be back in a little while, all right?”

  Natalie nodded. “Yes, Grandfather.”

  Georgette hurried over to the bed and gave her granddaughter a kiss on the cheek. “Natalie, dear, God has answered our prayers that you will be all right. We love you so very much. And your aunt Abigail loves you with all her heart.” Georgette wiped the tears streaming from her eyes. “She never meant to harm anyone. I—Nate, I must go with Jacob and Abigail. We need to get her home. She’s not—”

  He nodded. Abigail was in no condition to be alone, but he wasn’t the one who could help her. He needed to stay with his daughter and Meagan. “She needs you. Go to her. Natalie knows you’ll be back soon.”

  It was quiet in the room once the Connors family left. Nate wasn’t sure what to say, and Meagan didn’t seem to know what to do as she stood beside Natalie’s bed, wiping tears from her own eyes. But when she finally looked at him, Nate began to hope.

  twenty

  Meagan’s heart was thumping so hard she could barely breathe, seeing the look in Nate’s eyes. He approached her slowly, his lips turning up in a slight smile. She couldn’t take her gaze from his.

  “Was Abigail right? Did she make you think I was in love with her?”

  Meagan bit her bottom lip and nodded but couldn’t find her voice.

  “It all makes sense now. You must have thought me quite the cad when I kept asking you to have dinner and then lunch with me.” He lifted her face to his. “I’m sorry. I certainly helped her cause when I asked her to marry me, didn’t I?”

  “I didn’t know what to think. I … didn’t think you were the kind of person who would act that way, yet everything Abigail was saying to me when she came into the shop told me something completely different from what I thought was happening between us.”

  Nate shook his head and looked deep into her eyes. “I can see how you would be confused and not want to have anything to do with me. But when you kept refusing to see me, I thought you didn’t care.”

  “Oh, Nate.” Meagan shook her head. “I’m sorry, I—”

  “It isn’t your fault, Meagan. But I knew I would never find anyone like you again. And if you didn’t want me, as I thought, well, I hoped I could one day come to love Abigail. Natalie needs a mother, and … I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t treat her right, either. I was just so … heartbroken. I had no hope that you would ever return my feelings, and—”

  “Oh, Nate, I don’t know what to say. I did—I do care about you very much. I just didn’t know what to think, and then once you were engaged, there was nothing more to do.”

  Nate bent his head and whispered in her ear, “You are the woman I want to marry. I love you, Meagan Snow. I’ve loved you for quite a while now, and I wish I’d told you long ago. I love you with all my heart. Do you think you can give me another chance to win yours?”

  Meagan pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. “My heart is already yours. You won it a long time ago. I love you, too, Nate.”

  His lips claimed hers softly at first until Meagan returned the pressure, and then he deepened the kiss. Meagan’s eyes filled with tears. Nate loved her. Not Abigail—but her. Her world righted itself for the first time in weeks.

  She broke the kiss and looked into Nate’s eyes. She could see the joy she felt reflected in his eyes.

  “Will you marry me, Meagan? Will you take my heart as your own and be my wife and Natalie’s mother?”

  “I love you, Nate. I will be honored to become your wife and the mother of your daughter, whom I love, also.”

  His lips found hers once more in a kiss meant to assure her of just how much he loved her. Time forgotten, they were broken apart by the child they both loved yelling, “Yippee! We’re going to marry Miss Meg!”

  Nate chuckled and looked a little embarrassed. Apparently Meagan wasn’t the only one who’d forgotten that Natalie was in the same room and overheard everything they said.

  When they hurried over to Natalie and included her in a hug, Meagan was more than a little aware that if Natalie hadn’t taken that fall, she and Nate might never have known how the other felt. She thanked the Lord once again that Natalie was going to be all right. How doubly blessed they were this evening.

  The doctor arrived at the same time Meagan’s mother and sisters did. They were all in the room while the doctor looked into Natalie’s eyes and checked her cast before pronouncing her on the mend. He recommended a light supper if she was hungry but told Nate not to worry if her appetite wasn’t up to par. He gave her some medicine that would ease her pain and help her sleep during the night, should she need it.

  “It does my heart good to see you awake, child,” he said to Natalie. “You look quite chipper for someone who broke an arm and had a concussion to go along with it.”

  Natalie’s smile was huge when she nodded. “I’m very happy!”

  “I’m sure you are no happier than your papa and these good folk here with him.”

  “Can I tell them, Papa?” Natalie giggled excitedly.

  Nate grinned and pulled Meagan into the crook of his arm. “Go right ahead.”

  Meagan’s mother and sisters lo
oked at her curiously. She just smiled back.

  “Tell us what, Natalie, dear?” Mrs. Snow asked.

  “Papa and Miss Meg are going to get married! She’s going to be my new mama! And I will be part of your family!”

  “You are? How wonderful for us!” Meagan’s mother seemed truly confused when she looked at Natalie. “But what? How?”

  “It all happened ‘cause of my fall,” Natalie said. “Aunt Abby gave Papa his ring back, and then after she left, Papa and Miss Meg said they love each other, and I saw them kissing!”