The Thorn Healer

by Pepper D. Basham

  “I, for one, am a grateful recipient of both.”

  Jess failed to hold back her tears at the sight of her brother holding his two-year old daughter, Addie, in his arms. Her fashion rivaled her mother’s, with a dark lavender travel suit and matching hat to top her dark curls. Jess basked in her brother’s grin, their shared blond hair and green eyes a proud trait.

  Every time she saw him, a vision of holding his bleeding head in her lap flashed through her mind and crushed air from her lungs. The fact that he lived and recovered most of his memories proved a miracle all on its own. The war cost her so much, but at least God had given her this one miracle. Her brother, alive, whole, and from the smile in his eyes, happy.

  Catherine swept David a look that left Jess in no doubt of their mutual affection.

  “It’s quite annoying to be surrounded by such overwhelming romantic contentment, my dear.” Her father offered his arm, not looking one bit annoyed. He leaned close, his voice soft. “She takes splendid care of our boy.”

  “And I’ve no doubt the adoration is mutual.”

  “I’ve heard rumors from your grandfather that a young man holds a similar adoration for my daughter?”

  Jess pulled back and examined her father’s face. Saints alive, Grandpa was dabbling in matchmaking now too?

  “Actually, I do have a particular fellow who’s won my heart.” She announced it loud enough to garner Catherine’s undivided attention.

  “And you failed to mention him in your last letter?” Her red lips slit into a smirk. “Scandalous and very unsisterly, Jessica.”

  David slid his arm around Jess and stole an embrace. “Father and I must approve, you know.”

  “Well, there’s very little not to approve. He’s extremely handsome, smart, witty, a great judge of character.”

  “And his occupation?” this from Father.

  Jess paused, sifting through a proper descriptive. “At present, he’s part student, part apprentice.”

  David and Catherine exchanged a look of pure confusion. Oh, the delights of a secret.

  “Walk with me to the car and I shall explain everything on the drive.” Jess tossed a grin over her shoulder. “But I can assure you, you’ll meet my prince at supper and he’ll win your hearts too.”

  ***

  He’d never seen her like this.

  August stood by the barn, collecting some additional tools for his work on the chapel, when the Carter automobile pulled up to the house, crowded with people. The Carters had told August of their family’s arrival from England, so he’d expected a change in his ability to visit as unexpectedly as usual, but no one had prepared him for Jessica Ross dressed in her finest.

  She stepped from the car, laughing, fitted in a deep rose day suit and her hair pinned back underneath an ivory hat crowded with some simple rosebuds. Her laughter drifted across the morning breeze and squeezed his heart with its lilt. The sound brought a smile.

  In fact, he’d grown to like more and more about her since she’d shown up to help him with the chapel a few days earlier. She’d join him in the late afternoon, after working with her grandpa at the clinic or taking care of the children. Most of the time, Jude came as a welcome tagalong.

  August stayed in the shadow of the barn door, watching for a glimpse of these new arrivals. From the passenger door stepped a distinguished looking man, streaks of grey at his temples glistening within his blond hair. The man matched a photo the Carters had. Dr. Alexander Ross.

  August stood a little taller, wondering how the good doctor might respond if he knew August’s intentions toward his daughter. He grimaced and moved deeper into the shadow. No, perhaps it wasn’t the best time to make himself known on the first day.

  A younger version of Dr. Ross came around the car with a dark-haired child in his arms and opened the back door. David Ross, no doubt. David and Jessica shared a remarkable family resemblance. Unlike August and Anna. Thankfully, she took after their mother’s softened beauty with her round face and small nose. They shared the same pale blue eyes, and, he hoped, the same compassionate heart, but August had taken after their father with his sharp, angled features and lighter hair.

  August’s grin angled wider as another lady emerged from the car. Jessica had told him, ‘Oh, you’ll know Catherine when you see her. And you will see her. No man can really help but notice her because she is one of those rare beauties that cause people to stop and stare.’

  She wore a coral suit, her straw hat tilted fashionably and laden with flowers and lace. Jessica had been right. Catherine Ross was a striking beauty, with thick, dark hair and slim, elegant features. Her laughter trickled across the breeze and she held her stomach from the force of the exercise.

  “It really isn’t that funny, Catherine,” he heard Jessica say, attempting to rein in her own grin.

  Catherine nodded. “Yes, it is. It’s hilarious. You, a mother of two?” Her chuckles broke through again as she reached to touch the cheek of the little girl in her husband’s arms. “If that isn’t irony, I don’t know what is.”

  “Your faith in me is underwhelming.”

  Her gloved hand came up in defense, her voice carrying across the lawn with another laugh. “By all means, I have a great appreciation for irony and God’s sense of humor. Who else would pair the village flirt with the upstanding and quite remarkable village doctor?”

  David Ross took his wife’s fingers and raised them to his lips. “Only remarkable because of the company I keep.”

  August remembered David and Catherine’s story from Jessica’s letters. The fury with which Jessica had denounced her brother’s relationship with a woman expecting a child from another man. Her impassioned plea at her brother’s obvious lunacy came back to August and encouraged a grin. Clearly, from the overt affection between the pair, lunacy worked well for them.

  His gaze pulled back toward Jessica as she linked her arm through her father’s. Did she long for the same endearing relationship as her brother? Did she even wonder about such things or was he caught in a one-sided daydream?

  He leaned against the door frame, enjoying this uninterrupted observation. He liked her directness and sincerity. No coy displays of indifference. No game-playing with a man’s affections. And completely beautiful from the tip of her head down every curve of her body.

  What was he thinking? He was leaving Hot Springs and should distance his heart from the magnetizing draw. If not for his own ache, then for the one she would have if her feelings ever turned toward him, and then... he left.

  “You might as well come out of hiding and meet everybody.”

  August jumped from the shadows and turned to face Dr. Carter, who looked very much like a boy hiding his own secrets. He stepped around August and peered toward the house and the small crowd disappearing inside.

  “I see you found a good vantage point to keep an eye on my granddaughter.”

  August bent his head but couldn’t tame his smile. Dr. Carter’s gentle teasing came as a welcome comparison to years of abrasive criticism. He looked back at the feisty blonde, taking in the view with renewed appreciation.

  “Yes. In fact, I kept both eyes on her.”

  Dr. Carter patted his shoulder. “Smart man. You’ll need both of them for the likes of her.” He nodded toward the crowd. “Granny’s planned a massive supper. Come on and join us in about an hour or so?”

  “I would not interfere with your family.”

  “Boy, you are family.” He squeezed his hold on August’s shoulder, giving it a little shake. “In all the ways that matter. Besides, you’ll be needing to meet Alexander Ross sooner or later if your sights are still set on a certain feisty blond.”

  August swallowed through his tightening throat, sending the group one last look before they disappeared into the house. “I will think about it, Doctor.” August smiled. “And thank you for your invitation.”

  Dr. Carter’s gaze turned intense. “August, you are always welcome. Remember that, boy.”

&
nbsp; ***

  “She’s so beautiful.” Catherine pulled Faith up into her arms and examined the little face. Faith’s bright eyes fastened on Catherine’s, most likely trying to sort out who this new woman was. She looked up at Jessica, her quizzical expression from the afternoon returning, and then she chuckled. “I still can’t believe it.”

  Jess shook her head and rubbed a palm over Faith’s soft head. “It’s...”

  “Life changing.”

  Jess sighed and moved to sit on the bed. “Completely.”

  “Well, it seems as though you’re succeeding at it.” Catherine cooed down into Faith’s face. “The children are still alive and you appear as mentally fit as you ever were.”

  Jess rolled her eyes with her growing smile. “Which isn’t saying a great deal.”

  “I find a healthy mind always dances on the edge of uncertainty.” One dark eyebrow jutted north with a glimmer in her sapphire gaze. “It seems to be one of the requirements of motherhood. Sleepless nights. Aching body. Doting on someone who will leave more of a mess behind than sweet-smelling fragrances.”

  Jessica laughed, each description poignantly true. She looked down at Faith’s face and her eyes, round and wondering. “And yet... somehow, they’ve moved right into my heart as if they’d always belonged. Like... like my spirit had a hollowed out space waiting for them to fill it.” She shook her head. “Does that sound ridiculous?”

  “Not at all. I felt that way with Addie, but even more so, I felt it with David.”

  “David?”

  Catherine nodded, slipping Faith into the crook of her arm. “I’d sought acceptance and affection in the wrong people and things. It wasn’t until I understood God’s love and then saw how his love worked through David’s gentle regard for me that I recognized what my heart sought all along.”

  “I came to terms months ago, when I was wounded, that marriage wasn’t in my future.” She tilted her chin high, accepting her life as it was. “I don’t need a man—a romance—to fulfill my life.”

  “Of course not. God is enough.” Catherine ran a finger down Faith’s round cheek, inciting the smile she’d only begun to share with world.

  Jess heart fluttered each time, a beautiful connection of the soul within shining out to the world.

  “I certainly could have raised Addie on my own, and thought that was to be my lot when I became pregnant by that idiot Drew Cavanaugh.” Catherine looked over at Jessica, her gaze piercing. “I could have raised her and found happiness in doing so. And no, you do not need a man to find happiness, but with the right man, you’ll want him. God designed him to touch your life and fill that hollowed-out anticipation like no one else can do, but you have to be willing to risk your heart, just as you’re doing with these children.”

  “I don’t know if I’m willing.” Almost losing her brother? Losing her mother? The pain surged through her with an unending ache and lingering loneliness.

  Catherine stared at her, those curious eyes taking in the silence and Jessica’s reluctance without condemnation—or worse, pity. “The best things in life come with a choice, and a terrible risk. I almost lost David too, and I realized in those weeks of trying to help him remember me, that even if he never remembered who I was, I would never wish away having been loved by him.” She slid down on the bed beside of Jessica. “The right love is worth the risk.”

  ***

  Laughter reached beyond the walls of the Carter house and teased August a step closer. Dr. Carter’s invitation nudged reconsideration of his plans to join Anna and Sylvie for supper instead of facing a room of strangers with possibly the same distaste for Germans as Jessica.

  No, he needn’t disturb their reunion.

  He returned the tools to the barn and made his way past the porch, meeting the edge of before a voice stopped him.

  “I didn’t suspect you as a coward, August.”

  Mrs. Carter didn’t look up as she scraped a few leftovers into a bowl at the bottom of the steps with Lightning and Scraps gladly waiting for their turn to enjoy the feast.

  He sighed and turned on his heels. “I didn’t wish to intrude.”

  “Oh, you won’t be intruding.” She gestured toward the door with her head. “You’ve been the topic of conversation for a good half hour.”

  August took a step back, feeling the sudden urge to become the coward she accused him to be.

  “Don’t you worry none. Dr. Carter’s talked down the menfolk from causing any permanent harm to you.” Her gray eyes twinkled. “Now, they’re mostly curious, is all.”

  August met her at the bottom of the porch steps. “And you wouldn’t have encouraged this particularly topic of conversation, would you now, Mrs. Carter?”

  She gave him a pointed look and waved her spoon at him. “August Reinhold. I’m plumb shocked you’d suggest such a thing.” She nudged him with the spoon toward the door. “Now, come on. I found enough berries to make a good cobbler and you don’t want to miss it.”

  He looked down at his work clothes. “I’m not fit for your table.”

  “Hogwash.” The weapon-spoon pushed against his shoulder again. For such a small woman, she was certainly persistent. “Go on in and wash up, then join us.”

  He opened his mouth to add another protest, but her look sealed his lips. He’d surrounded himself with bossy, headstrong women. His grin perched. And he liked it.

  “I will not have you dressin’ up as a coward. Now git to washing off in the sink or I’ll send Grandpa out after you.”

  August did as he was told, making himself as presentable as sawdust and hard work allowed. He ran a damp hand through his hair and stood back in front of the door.

  God, I know this seems like a small prayer in your grand universe, but would you bring favor and direction? Favor from Jessica’s family and direction for my heart.

  ***

  Jessica’s will contorted like a pretzel as she fought her growing interest. August slid into the family dinner conversation as if he’d always been there, even joining in to tease Catherine about going without a children’s nurse for the two-week-long visit.

  “If I cannot take care of my own child for a few days without the assistance of a nursemaid, then I should reconsider my fortitude.” She shook her head and fed Addie another bite of potatoes. “Servants and nursemaids are not as commonplace among the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I wouldn’t care to cause a scene.”

  “You cause a scene wherever you go, my dear.” David assisted with keeping Addie entertained during the meal, his tenderness for his little family evident in the permanent glow of his smile.

  The sight and its sweetness pierced a chink in Jessica’s self-induced emotional cage with yet another hit of possibility. Even as she searched for more reasons to dislike August, more excuses to keep him at arm’s length, the curiosity swelled into an intolerable need. The fact that he looked even more handsome than usual added salt to the wound.

  “Well, I’ve not always been the product of high society. Jessica knew our family when we lived in our Grandmama’s home and employed only two servants.”

  Jessica caught her laugh in her hand. And she’d grown up in a home with no servants or indoor plumbing. She’d never gotten used to the servants in David’s new home at Beacon House, but the indoor plumbing made life much easier and more sanitary.

  Thankfully, her grandparents had modified since her last visit, though the water only ran cold.

  She examined August’s profile as he spoke with her brother. In fact, her attention kept pulling back toward him the entire meal, watching for his response, waiting for his laughter... almost wishing for him to look her way. What a miserable, soft-hearted reaction!

  What could the Almighty be thinking? One day, she trusts Him with her future again, and the next, He awakens her heart to this infuriating interest?

  August’s gaze met hers across the table and the playful glint spiked her internal temperature into a fever. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. And yet she couldn�
��t look away. That smile, those eyes, pried her fingers loose from her stranglehold on her heart. What would letting go feel like? Falling into such a love, such a terrifying unknown?

  Her breath held.

  Over the past week, as she’d spent more time with him, he’d proven to be as authentic as her grandparents believed. His lively wit tempered by subtlety, his fond glances—they served to unravel her pent-up suspicions with a thread of hope.

  So many memories imprisoned her against releasing her past, her pain. So many wounds pounded like enemy fire in her brain, urging her to wall up her heart from this whirlpool tug of attraction.

  Love was worth the risk.

  Was it really? The risk of being betrayed again? The risk of feeling life-altering wounds again? She balanced the choice. No one would force her to step over that ledge into an abyss of uncertainty. And she hated uncertainty. The war had only served to harden her suspicions, taught her to shy away from the unknown, from loss. Because beyond all the warm feelings and tender glances, the truth still remained.

  August was leaving.

  Why should she leap into a relationship with him when he would only disappear from her life as so many others had done? How could love be worth a risk like that?

  “You’ve never been in military service?” This from her brother, David, who remained amiable, which was no surprise. David always remained amiable.

  “No. My father would have preferred me choose the military instead of the profession I chose.”

  “And what was that?” Catherine asked, drawing Addie into her lap. “You weren’t born to be a sailor, Mr. Reinhold?”

  He smiled. “Sailor was more a forced occupation than a calling.” He opened his palms. “I find great pleasure in creating things with my hands. Restoring things that need care.”

  “Like the chapel.” Grandfather added. “I can’t wait for you to see it, Alexander.”

  Father nodded. “I’ve heard great things of your work.” Her father looked her way. “And you’ve been helping him, Jessica. What do you think of Mr. Reinhold’s craftsmanship?”