Chardy felt her cheeks go warm. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t sit still anymore.”
“That’s all right. I’m just glad you felt up to it. Any problems since the last time I saw you?”
None that the doctor could solve. “No, I feel fine.”
“Good.” He took the hand of her injured arm and examined her fingers. “Any more numbness or tingling?”
“A little, but not as much as before.”
The doctor completed his examination then sat back. “I believe you’re well enough to take part in the auditions this afternoon.”
Chardy recovered her arm with her shawl. “That’s nice.”
“You don’t sound very enthusiastic about the prospect.”
No sense lying about her feelings. “I’m not excited about it at all.”
He nodded toward her arm. “You’re not afraid of reinjuring it, are you? Because I can make arrangements with Mayor Melton if you want to participate.”
“That’s not it.” She hesitated then figured she had nothing to lose by asking the doctor some questions. “Some folks aren’t very kind when it comes to those with physical impairments.”
Doc Carter’s expression cleared. “You’re talking about Luke.”
She nodded.
“Well yes,” he started. “There are people out there who aren’t kind at all when it comes to someone being different than them. Some act on those prejudices.”
Her heart trembled. “You mean by not hiring him.”
“Or worse, by treating him like he’s not quite a person anymore. When I witness such, I wish I had a medicine that could heal a person’s soul.” The doc gave her a soft smile. “Then I have to remind myself that that’s the Lord’s job, not mine.”
“I just worry about Luke.” She played with her cuff. “He seems to be struggling since he got back from the war.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“But what can I do to help … him?” Her voice broke.
Doctor Carter’s expression softened as he took her free hand in his. “Dear, you have to understand. It’s hard for a man like Luke, someone who’s been active all of his life, to have restrictions placed on him. But he seems to be adjusting well. I heard he’s taking care of your papa’s place.”
Chardy nodded. “He’d been teaching my brothers how to farm.”
“That’s just what he needs, work that gives his life purpose. It makes it less likely that he’ll fall into a depression that’s common among soldiers after a traumatic injury. He’s not drinking, is he?”
“No! He’d never drink around me or my brothers.”
“That’s a good sign. Some men find comfort in a bottle, anything to ease their pain.”
Her stomach twisted into a knot. “Is Luke in pain?”
He patted her hand. “It’s not a physical pain. Remember, he’s having to mourn the loss of all the things he can’t do anymore while discovering just what his place is in the world again. But Luke’s a strong man. He’ll figure this out. Until then, just be there for him.”
Chardy nodded, still trying to take in everything the doctor had said. “Thank you for answering some questions for me.”
Doc Carter stood. “So I guess this means you’re not going to be my sister-in-law.”
She wasn’t sure how to respond but decided the truth would be best. “Your brother is a good friend, but I’ve loved Luke since I was barely out of the schoolhouse. I can’t give up on him now.”
“You’re going to make him a fine wife, once he realizes what he has.” He grabbed his bag off the table and headed toward the door. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
“Thank you.” But Chardy’s thoughts were on everything the doctor had told her. She never considered all that Luke had lost when they’d taken his leg, only been thankful that he’d survived and come home to her.
Doc Carter was right. Luke was a strong man, one of the strongest she’d ever known. Losing a part of himself must have been a horrific blow to him, both physical and mentally. She needed to be strong for him, and patient. Give him a chance to work through this new part of his life. Let him find his place in the world again. And he wouldn’t have to face this alone.
Chardy bowed her head and prayed.
Chapter 13
Are you sure you’re okay with peeling potatoes?” Mrs. Reed asked as she followed Luke to the alley outside the inn’s kitchen. “It don’t seem right to have a guest fixing his own dinner when I could get Virginia to do this.”
Luke set the full bucket of potatoes down then lowered himself onto the bench. “I don’t mind at all, Mrs. Reed. Besides, I like to have something to work on while I’m sitting out here. As my papa use to say, a person can’t get into any trouble when his hands are full.”
She chuckled. “Like you’d be any trouble. You’re one of the nicest men I’ve ever met. And I’ve met quite a few.”
Her compliment felt good to his battered self-esteem. “You’re just saying that because I’m peeling these potatoes for you.”
“Possibly.” She handed him a clean bowl and a knife. “Can I asked you a question?”
Questions seemed to cause him trouble these days, but Mrs. Reed had been so kind to him, he couldn’t deny her. He picked up a potato and started peeling it.
She sat down beside him. “Why aren’t you in the dining room looking for a wife?”
As questions went, he hadn’t expected that one. “I’m not ready to get married yet.”
“Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense.” She hopped up from the bench quickly for an older woman. “Maybe Mayor Melton will run another ad when you are.”
“Maybe.” He finished one last swipe at the potato then tossed it in the bowl. Better to be vague than to open the door to more questions.
“I’ll be back in a little while to check on you.”
“I’ll be here,” he called out as she bustled through the kitchen door.
Finally, he was alone, a rarity these days with the town bursting at the seams with newcomers. Men from every corner of the country had invaded Turtle Springs hoping for the chance to win a bride. But here in the alley near the center of town, the constant noise of people and livestock drifted away, and Luke could think.
And his thoughts always turned to Chardy.
He dropped another bare potato into the bowl and retrieved one from the bucket. What was he going to do about her? He’d tried to stay away, but every day he always ended up at the mercantile, listening for her movements overhead, anxious for any news about her. George and Thomas had invited him to visit the family rooms upstairs, but he’d begged off. He wouldn’t raise his hopes or hers until he knew what he would do.
Luke glanced up at the sky. “What am I supposed to do, Lord?”
But there was no answer, just this feeling that she might already be lost to him for good.
“I see Mrs. Reed’s got you working.”
Luke lowered his gaze to find Doc Carter strolling toward him. “She’s got enough on her hands with the groom auditions this afternoon.”
“There’s a mighty big crowd out front,” he said, taking the woman’s place beside him. “I suppose they’ll be getting started soon.”
“I guess.” Luke jabbed a small potato so hard, it broke in half. He’d seen the cozy little table for two Chardy had been assigned. She was probably sitting there right now, watching as the men queued up to have a moment of her time. Will Carter would probably be at the head of the line, pawing all over her. The thought made Luke sick.
“Chardy will have a good view of all the action.”
Luke glared at the man. Was he trying to rub salt in his wounded heart? “I don’t know. Her table is off in the corner a bit.” That was his doing. The men would have to work a little harder to find her.
“No, I’m talking about the view from her bedroom window.”
Chardy wasn’t coming? Luke stopped peeling. “There’s nothing wrong, is there? She’s not running a fever or anything, is
she?”
Doc put his hand on Luke’s shoulder. “No, son, nothing like that. I just got the feeling the groom interviews weren’t her top priority this afternoon.”
Luke didn’t understand. “But she needs a husband. Someone who can take care of her and the boys.”
The doctor leaned his head back and stared up at the sky. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“A brother, Matthew.”
“I have a younger sister, Clara. I don’t talk about her much because she’s quite a bit younger than myself.” He took a deep breath. “When she was around five or six, she had a bad fall from the top of the staircase. It was touch and go for a few days, and the doctors were all certain that she would never be the girl she once was. My parents were told it would be best to place her in an institution.”
Luke had seen some men so badly scarred by battle, they were admitted to an institution. But a little girl? “What happened?”
Doc smiled slightly. “My parents happened. They felt like the doctors wrote off Clara, but they refused to have her admitted until they had used all of their resources.” He stole a glance at Luke. “Papa worked with her every day to build her muscles so that she could walk, and Mama read to Clara every chance she got.”
“Your parents sound like pretty remarkable people,” Luke said. “Where is your sister now?”
“She lives a few miles away from my parents with her husband and children, and if my last letter from her is any indication, she’s blissfully happy.”
Luke sat up a little straighter. “So the doctors were wrong about her?”
“I don’t know if it was that the doctors were wrong as much as my parents refused to give up on her.” Doc leaned back again. “Kind of like how Chardy will never give up on you.”
Luke went back to peeling. “I didn’t ask your opinion, Doc.”
“Maybe not, but when I see people suffering, I try to help when I can.” He gave Luke a brief grin. “It’s part of the job.”
“It’s just that …” Luke hesitated. He’d already lost his independence, his self-esteem. What would this man say when he learned Luke couldn’t even take care of the woman he loved? “What if something happens to her or the boys? What if they get hurt, and I can’t even carry them to your office?”
“I’d imagine you’d do what you did with Chardy. You take care of them by getting someone to help you.”
“You mean like your brother?” He snorted. “He’s the one who took care of Chardy.”
“That’s not how Will tells it.” Doc leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “He said you were the one who stabilized her arm and kept her calm. That you made the decision for him to get her to my office. You put aside your own feelings to see to her care.”
His knife slowed. Luke desperately wanted to believe him, but after everything he’d been through, he wasn’t certain he could. “They told me at the hospital that no one would want me like this.”
“There are those who call themselves physicians who do more harm than good.” Doc looked Luke straight in the eye. “Let me ask you something. Do you believe that God has a plan for your life?”
The same question he’d asked Chardy concerning her brothers just a few weeks ago. He nodded. “Jeremiah 29:11.”
“Do you remember the rest of that verse?”
Luke stilled as he recalled the scripture. For I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and to not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. “Hope and a future,” he whispered.
The doctor’s hand rested comfortingly on Luke’s shoulder. “What happened to you in the war was evil, son. Don’t let it rob you of the future God has promised you.”
Doc was right. Losing his leg wasn’t a part of the life he’d planned for himself. But God hadn’t given up on him; He simply had a different dream for Luke’s life, a better plan that he would have never followed if he’d come back from the war whole. Luke had let his pride stand in the way of making a new life.
A life with Chardy and the boys.
Luke tossed the knife and the half-peeled potato into the bowl and reached for his cane.
“Where are you going?” the doctor asked.
He stood up, rolled his sleeves down, then turned to the man. “Could you button these for me?”
“Certainly.” A few seconds later, the task was done.
Luke scrubbed his free hand across his face. If he had any sense, he’d go upstairs, change his shirt, and run a comb through his hair, but he was in too much of a hurry to get to Chardy and start the future God had promised.
But first, he needed to ask the doctor a question. “Why did your parents decide not to listen to the doctors and just put your sister in an institution?”
The man smiled. “Because they believed that God’s plan for Clara was so much bigger than any diagnosis. They were right. She’s now a testimony to what a great God we serve.”
Luke nodded. Joy he hadn’t known was possible flowed through him. The dingy world around him felt lighter, and for the first time in months, he saw things clearly. “Thank you.”
Doc Carter stood. “You’re welcome. If you ever need to talk, drop by my office. My wife has always got plenty of her homemade cookies on hand.”
“I might just do that.”
Doc pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it. “I’d better get going. I have one more appointment before I need to get home for dinner. My wife will be upset if I’m late again.” He winked as he passed Luke. “I’ll be praying for you.”
“Thank you.” Luke turned and hurried down the alley toward Main Street. Doc hadn’t been kidding when he said there was a crowd. Hordes of men blocked the sidewalk, pushing and pressing their way toward the inn’s entrance. Mayor Melton would be pleased by the turnout, but all Luke felt at the moment was irritation. Well, he wasn’t going to let a bunch of bride-hungry men keep him from Chardy one more second.
Luke backtracked down the alley and went in through the inn’s kitchen door, then up the back stairway. At the top of the stairs, he took a deep breath, doubts darting through his thoughts. He closed his eyes. I know You have a good plan for my life, Lord. If Chardy is a part of that, please let me know. A peace he couldn’t explain settled over him.
As he reached the lower step, he glanced out over the dining room. For all the chaos outside the front doors, the atmosphere seemed no different than Sunday lunch after church, though instead of families, couples sat talking quietly. The new sheriff guarded the front door, much like a sentinel at the gate. Luke shifted his gaze to where Chardy’s table was, then stopped.
Chardy.
She’d promised to meet him so that they could meet the groom candidates together, but after talking to Dr. Carter he’d wondered if she’d remembered. She looked so pretty in a calico dress that was the same pale blue of her eyes, the tiny pink roses on the material a perfect match for the bloom in her cheeks. Her thick blond hair was barely held back by a dainty ribbon at the nape of her neck.
She laughed, and he could hear the sweet melody of it deep down in his heart.
He loved Chardy, more with each passing second. He was stubborn and prideful, yet God had given him such a precious woman. If it took the rest of his days, he’d try to prove himself worthy of her faith in him.
The man with Chardy turned slightly, and the room turned a misty shade of scarlet. Luke balled his free hand into a fist and plowed across the room.
The man was none other than Will Carter.
Chapter 14
Thanks, Will, for coming and keeping me company, but you didn’t have to,” Chardy said, fixing the sash of the sling Millie had sewn to match her dress. She’d only come because Luke had said he would help her in the interviews, but now she was tired and just wanted to go home.
“Simply following my brother’s orders to keep a close eye on you.” He smiled, but there was some difference in his expression as he glanced around the room and saw Millie. “You were right about her.
Millie is something special.”
“So I take it the interview went well.”
“I think so.” He almost seemed bashful when he glanced up at her. Not like Will Carter at all. “She’s agreed to have dinner with me after the auditions are over.”
“That’s wonderful, Will. I’m so happy for you!”
“Thank you.” He sat back in his chair and studied her. “What about you? Meet anyone who tickled your fancy?”
“I’d like to hear about that myself.”
Chardy’s heart fluttered as she looked up to find Luke staring down at them. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed him until he was standing there, inches away from her, and looking so tall and handsome, it took her breath away. “I was hoping you would come.”
He glanced at Will. “You were?”
“Of course, I was.”
“Well, I’d better go claim my date for this evening.” Will stood and offered Luke his chair. “I was only keeping the seat warm until you showed up anyway.”
“What did he mean by that?” Luke stared after the man then took his seat.
“Will probably thought he was being funny, but I don’t want to talk about him.” She leaned across the table as far as her cast would allow. “How are you?”
His face relaxed slightly. “I’ve been better.”
She nodded. “Me, too.”
They sat quietly for a moment. Some of the men had worn suits and cravats for the interviews, but she much preferred Luke in his blue cotton work shirt that matched the flecks of midnight in his eyes, or the blue jeans that molded to muscle made strong by hard work.
“Chardy,” he started, his hands clinched together in front of his chest.
She’d never seen Luke so nervous. Reaching out, she covered his big hand with hers. He looked up then, and what she saw in his face made her heart sing. “I’d like to audition for the role of your husband.”
She could barely breathe from the joy of it. But she couldn’t be hurt again. She needed to know exactly where she stood. “I thought you didn’t want to marry me.”
“Oh no, honey.” Luke threaded his fingers through hers. “I wasn’t sure that you should want to marry me. I’m still not.”
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