Anna hung her head in shame. This woman had forgiven a terrible loss, while she had held a grudge over the most insignificant slights. This woman acted with grace and dignity, while Anna had behaved like a spoiled child.
“I’m so sorry, so sorry.” This time the apology came from the heart.
To her surprise, Mrs. Neidecker squeezed her hand. “What’s done is done.”
That sounded so much like Ma that tears rose to Anna’s eyes. She brushed them away and mustered a smile. “Would you be willing to tell Brandon what you told me?”
“Will he listen?”
“I hope so.” But she didn’t know. He’d built so many walls around his heart. “He has to. His life, his future, even his store, depends on it.”
Mrs. Neidecker nodded. “Ralph told me about the loan.”
“What loan?”
“At the bank.”
Anna knew Mr. Neidecker was on the bank board, but she had no idea Brandon had borrowed money. “If only I could have found the lost Landers fortune.”
“It wouldn’t have done you any good if you had.”
“Why?” Her words startled Anna. “Did someone already find it?”
“Not that I’ve heard.” Mrs. Neidecker smiled softly. “If I’m right, the fortune isn’t anything you can spend.”
Anna stared. “Then what is it?”
* * *
Brandon struggled toward the light. His cane had got so caked with snow and ice that it hindered more than helped. His hip burned and every few steps he gasped with pain.
None of that mattered. Anna was out in this without mittens or scarf. If he didn’t get help, she’d die...the way his men had died.
Please, Lord, help me.
The light seemed so far away, and the need was so great. If the Bible was right, God looked after the least of his creatures.
Then keep Anna safe.
Why couldn’t he find her? Why didn’t God show him the way? Was He ignoring Brandon because Brandon had ignored Him?
“Please,” he cried into the stormy night. “Take me, condemn me, but save Anna.”
His legs ached. The icy air had frozen his face and fingers. The cane slipped from his hand, and he left it. Only the light remained, dim but growing stronger.
Hope rekindled. Perhaps he could make it there. Perhaps God had heard him this time. Maybe He was leading Brandon to help, to people who could find Anna.
Hope pushed him onward, up the long drive. Hope dulled the pain. Anna could be found. She would be saved. Thank God. He’d nearly made it to the house. Despite snow to his knees and an injured leg, he would be able to get help.
A rush of emotion overwhelmed him, and he halted, stricken. He loved Anna. He couldn’t imagine living without her. Yet he’d hurt her terribly.
“Anna!”
He stumbled again but caught his balance.
What he felt didn’t matter. After the way he’d treated her earlier, she would hate him. As she should. She would leave Pearlman, never to return. Her laugh would never lighten his day. Her smile would never again wipe away his fears.
Anna. He gasped for air like a fish on the riverbank.
Lord, I ruined everything.
What could he say? What could he do to right the wrong?
Again his lame foot caught on something, and he pitched forward. Yet somehow he didn’t fall.
She could never love a man like him. Not now. Not after what he’d done.
He squeezed his eyes tight against the bitter cold that numbed his fingers and made his lungs hurt with each breath. And he knew. The truth stared him in the face.
It didn’t matter if she ever cared for him again. He loved her, and that meant giving all he had even if she never returned his love. He would summon a search party and bring her safely home to her mother. He would ensure she lived her dream. Even if it meant selling the house and his books, he’d send her to college to be an archaeologist.
This time when he drew a breath, it didn’t hurt. His stomach had unclenched. He had a plan, one that would bring great joy to the only woman he would ever love.
The light was now quite near. Steps loomed before him. A warm glow from the front windows illuminated the door. He cautiously navigated the steps, crossed the wide porch and raised a hand to knock.
This door looked familiar. He’d seen that ornate brass knocker before. When? Now he remembered. The night of the Valentine’s Ball.
God must have a wry sense of humor. Brandon had arrived at the one place least likely to help.
But he hadn’t the strength to go farther. Somehow he had to convince them to help.
He lifted the knocker and let it fall.
* * *
A knock sounded on the front door just as Mrs. Neidecker finished explaining to Anna what she thought the lost fortune was.
“Who could that be?”
The heavy metallic clunk startled Anna from deep concentration. Everything Mrs. Neidecker had said fit with what she’d found. They’d pieced together the clues and come to the same conclusion.
“This isn’t going to help Brandon’s store.” Anna sighed.
“Maybe it will.” Mrs. Neidecker patted her hand before rising to greet the visitor. “And the loan certainly won’t hurt.”
Graves hurried to answer the door, which would be unusual for the slow-footed butler, but then Anna saw Mr. Neidecker on his heels.
Ralph Neidecker poked his head into the parlor. “Seems we’re mighty popular tonight. And in thick weather, no less. Good evening, Anna. Any trouble?”
“Not now.” Indeed her jitters had vanished. “I should be getting home, though. Ma’s probably worried.” She also needed to talk to Brandon. Though all hope of finding a treasure was gone, the Neideckers’ forgiveness had to erase the guilt he’d been carrying for so long.
She stood, and Mrs. Neidecker held out the article. “Do you want this back?”
“It belongs to Brandon.”
Mrs. Neidecker nodded. “Perhaps it would be better if I gave it to him.”
“Would you?” Anna’s eyes dampened again. She couldn’t believe the woman’s compassion and understanding. How badly Anna had misjudged her.
Anna heard the front door open, followed by muffled voices.
Ralph Neidecker swiveled with surprise. “Mr. Landers.”
“Brandon?” she whispered. “Or Reggie?”
Mrs. Neidecker shook her head. “Reggie came here earlier.”
Of course he had. This must be where he retreated when he and Brandon had their quarrels.
“He and Sally went next door to spend time with friends.” Mrs. Neidecker lowered her voice. “The two of them have grown close. I expect an announcement any day.”
If Anna hadn’t been so emotionally overwrought, that news might have distressed her. Just a few hours ago, she’d imagined a life with Brandon. If Reggie and Sally married, Sally would become Brandon’s sister-in-law. Marrying Brandon would make Anna sisters with Sally. That would have sent her into conniptions, but she’d been wrong about the Neideckers. So wrong.
And about Brandon. He’d turned on her over the most insignificant thing. Tears stung her eyes. He didn’t love her.
“You look like you’ve been through a war,” Ralph Neidecker exclaimed from the front entry hall. “Come in out of the weather.”
“I need your help.” Brandon’s ragged plea ripped through Anna.
Something was wrong, terribly wrong. Part of her wanted to rush to his side, but then she remembered how he’d dismissed her. The contempt. The finality. She froze, unsure what to do.
“Let me take your coat,” Mr. Neidecker said as the door closed with a click. “We’ll sit in the parlor.”
Anna’s mouth went dry. Brandon cou
ldn’t come in here. What would she say to him? He’d know at once that she’d shown the article to the Neideckers. She looked around frantically for an escape and found none.
“There. Isn’t. Time.” Brandon gasped for breath between each word.
Time for what? Brandon didn’t sound angry. He sounded desperate, panicked.
“Help me please,” Brandon cried. “S-she might perish.”
Who? Anna’s eyes widened as she realized she’d left him with Ma.
“Ma! What happened to Ma?” She rushed into the entry and saw Brandon in a shockingly disheveled and desperate state.
His eyes burned feverishly. His face was as white as the snow covering his coat and melting off his hat. His bluish hands shook. He’d lost his cane.
He stared at her as if she was a mirage. “Anna? You’re here?”
“Ma,” she squeaked out, her panic matching his.
“Fine.” He swallowed, never blinking. “She’s fine, but you’re here.” Emotion shook his shoulders. “You’re here.”
“I’m here.” Now that she knew Ma wasn’t hurt, her terror subsided into puzzlement.
He reached out as if to confirm she was real but then dropped his hands. “I prayed.” His voice came out clotted. “I asked Him, and then I saw the light.”
“Poor man. He’s half-mad from the elements,” Mrs. Neidecker murmured, pulling aside her butler. “Fetch a blanket.”
The butler vanished, and Mrs. Neidecker urged Brandon toward the parlor by wrapping her hand around his soaking wet arm. “We’ll have a nice chat, and you can tell us everything.”
He didn’t move, didn’t stop staring at Anna. His Adam’s apple bobbed once, twice, until at last the raw words came out. “Can you ever forgive me?”
The sob rose to Anna’s lips, and she had to stifle it with her hand. “Of course.”
“I—I—I was wrong, so wrong.”
He looked like as though he would fall, and she took a step toward him, but he held up his hand to stop her.
“I don’t want you to leave.” He swiped his mouth and turned his feverish eyes away. “Ever.”
“I don’t want to leave,” she whispered, wondering if he meant the carriage house or Pearlman or even this house.
“But you must know.” His gaze locked on hers. “I am not the man you think I am.”
What did he mean? Her thoughts tumbled wildly. He must be crazed from the cold. “You’re good and kind and honorable.”
“I’m none of those things. Look at me. I’m a failure.”
“No, you’re not,” she said, but he didn’t listen.
“I should have died. Me. I’m the one who led them to their deaths, but they were innocent. I wasn’t. I knew. I knew it was a trap.” His voice rasped with pain. “I deserved to die. They didn’t.”
“That’s not quite true,” Mr. Neidecker interjected.
Anna whirled around. She’d forgotten he was still there.
“Yes, it is.” Brandon faced Mr. Neidecker and in doing so somehow found strength. His voice rang clearer, the pain replaced by determination. “I was their commanding officer. I knew there was something peculiar about the orders. I knew we shouldn’t go to that town, but I didn’t have the courage to speak up, and they died. They all died.”
“You obeyed orders,” Mr. Neidecker stated, “even though the man who gave them was drunk that day. He was, wasn’t he?”
Anna held her breath. Then Brandon wasn’t at fault at all.
Brandon, however, didn’t let go so easily. His jaw clenched. “I don’t speak ill of my commanding officers.”
“I respect that, but the fault doesn’t lie with you. You see, I know something about obeying orders, Lt. Landers. I’m a military man myself. Captain. Spanish-American War. I also happen to know how to cut through the static to get to the truth. Would you be surprised to learn your commanding officer was discharged after that incident?”
Brandon’s lips formed one word. “Dishonorable?”
Ralph Neidecker shook his head. “Justice isn’t always complete.” He extended a hand. “I want you to know, Lt. Landers, that all the families know the truth, and no one blames you.”
“How is that possible?”
“That’s not to say we weren’t angry. We all grieved, but it’s been over four years. Time dulls the pain.”
“It does.” Anna hoped with all her heart that Brandon would accept this olive branch. “I cried for years after Papa died, but I held on to the guilt. It would have been easier if I’d asked for and accepted forgiveness.”
He turned red-rimmed eyes to her.
“I blamed myself for Papa’s death,” she explained, “because I saw the accident and didn’t go to him or tell anyone. I thought I could have done something to save him, but I know now I couldn’t have any more than you could have changed what happened in France. The hurt’s still there, but by accepting forgiveness, we move on.”
Brandon absorbed her words silently and then looked back at the Neideckers. “Why would you go to all this trouble for me?”
“It was for us,” Mr. Neidecker said, “for Evelyn and me. We felt the official reports weren’t telling us everything, and we had to know the truth. You see, our nephew was in your platoon.”
“I’m so sorry.” He struggled for composure. “How can I ever repay you for your loss?”
“By making a go of that bookstore of yours. Evelyn says we’ve needed a place like that for years.”
Brandon stared at them as if they were insane.
His wife nodded. “Edward loved to read.”
“Edward? Edward Naughton?” Brandon paled and swayed. “Good man.” His voice came out ragged with emotion. “The best.”
Mrs. Neidecker wiped away a tear. “I know.”
“He knew,” Brandon whispered, “but I didn’t listen. I didn’t listen.” He hid his eyes with his hand. “He should have been in command.”
“If he had been, he would have obeyed orders also,” Mr. Neidecker said. “I knew my nephew well. He respected authority. He would have done the same.”
Mrs. Neidecker nodded. “Please stop blaming yourself. It won’t change the past.”
Brandon swayed, and this time Anna went to him. Let him brush her aside or refuse help. She couldn’t bear to watch him suffer.
“Let’s sit,” she urged softly, wrapping her arm around his. The coat was still wet, but she didn’t care. She tugged gently. “I’m exhausted.”
That shook him from his stupor if not his agony. He blindly came with her into the parlor while Mr. and Mrs. Neidecker tactfully drifted to another room. Graves had left the blanket on the sofa, and after Anna got Brandon seated, she shook it out and draped it over his lap.
He shoved it aside and took her hands. This time when his eyes met hers, the stormy gray had calmed. He still looked haggard, but at last she could see again the man she loved.
“I regret what I said to you,” he said again. “I was...wrong.”
“Don’t,” she said softly, taking the hat from his head. His damp hair gleamed in the electric lights. “We’ve both been wrong in so many ways.” She squeezed his hands, which had warmed. “I should never have looked for that so-called lost fortune without asking.”
“So-called?” he lifted an eyebrow, his old self becoming more and more evident with every passing minute.
“I learned from Mrs. Neidecker that this fortune of yours isn’t money or gold or even anything tangible.”
“Then it’s exactly what I thought.” He rose and crossed to the window, where he pulled aside the sheer drape. Blackness stared back at them. “Gone. As dead as the man who buried it. Jeb Landers. The most despicable man alive. The rest were no better.”
This time Anna blinked. “What do you mean? Your ancestors were
noble.”
He laughed bitterly. “I’m descended from the most miserable of men, the kind that would sell their souls for money.”
She had no idea what he was talking about. “Do you mean your father?”
“He wasn’t the first, only the latest in a long line. It goes back to the founding of the house. Do you know where my family got its money? From hunting down fugitive slaves.” His lip curled bitterly. “That’s right. Slave hunters. When Jeb Landers found a fugitive, he brought the man or woman back to their master in exchange for money. Just like Judas’s thirty pieces of silver. That grand house was built on blood money. Any fortune he might have hidden away is not worth finding.”
The entire time he talked, Anna shook her head, but he would not pause to let her speak until he’d pounded the final nail in his rickety coffin. “So you see, my blood is tainted.”
“Why would you say such a thing? You’re good and honest. I’d trust you with my life.”
His red-rimmed eyes barely blinked. “You’d be a fool.”
“No, I wouldn’t.” She faced off against him. “Moreover, I don’t like being called a fool. I know you, and you’re nothing like this Jeb Landers.”
“Haven’t you heard of the sins of the fathers being visited on the sons?”
“And they’re all washed away by the blood of Christ. All you need to do—all any of them needed to do—is ask Him for forgiveness and let Him into your heart. Trust Him completely.”
“The light,” he muttered.
“What light?” She looked around. “All the lights are on.”
“Not these lights. Well, actually these were the lights, but I’m talking about a more important kind of light. I prayed, and He answered. He showed me the light, His light. I was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see,” he quoted from the hymn “Amazing Grace.”
Anna’s throat narrowed when she saw the expression on his face. Brandon truly had seen God’s light, somehow, in some way that she could never understand. She closed her eyes and thanked God with all her heart.
“He brought me to you, just like I asked.” Looking dazed, he leaned against the window.
Legacy of Love Page 24
