Fortunately, Luke didn’t argue and did as she’d asked, and by the sounds coming from the other room, he’d been just in time. Though Nellie had never had children of her own, she’d seen illness run through families in her church and had helped nurse enough sick people that she felt confident in what she was doing. But what if the children were truly ill and in need of a doctor?
Nellie shook her head as she glanced back at Maeve, whose peaceful slumber was that of a child in recovery. She’d probably be running around by the afternoon like nothing had happened.
As Nellie shifted her weight off the bed, Maeve whimpered again, reaching for her.
“Ruby, for the third time, please go get yourself some biscuits so you aren’t late for school. Maeve seems to want me, so I think I should stay with her so she can rest.”
Nellie sank back into the comfort of the blankets and put her arm around the little girl, who snuggled back into her, a contented look filling her face.
“Maeve really got sick on you?”
“She did. Wash day is not going to be fun, that’s for sure.”
“You’re not upset?”
“Why would I be? She’s a child, and I’m sure she didn’t know she was going to be sick until it was too late. It wasn’t as though she did it on purpose.”
Ruby looked at Nellie warily. “What if she did do it on purpose?”
The question wasn’t really about whether or not Maeve had gotten sick on Nellie on purpose, that much Nellie could tell. Instead, Ruby was more likely asking about her own bad behavior, and how Nellie felt about that. Could there be a way to bridge the gap between them?
“I suppose,” Nellie said slowly, “it depends on why Maeve did it. I think sometimes we do bad things, not because we are bad people, but because we’re hurting, and it seems like the only way to make that hurt stop is if someone else is hurting more. At least then we aren’t alone in our pain.”
Ruby nodded like she understood. “So if Maeve got sick all over you on purpose, it was because she wanted someone to be sick with her so she wasn’t so lonely?”
“Exactly.” Nellie looked down at the sleeping child. “But I don’t think Maeve would do that, because I think she knows that she is loved, and even if she is sick and makes a big mess all over my favorite dress, I’m not going to love her any less.”
“But she’s still sick,” Ruby said. “So she still must feel pretty awful.”
This was definitely about Ruby’s grief. And yet, this child seemed to understand a need to sort through those feelings with Nellie. Even if it meant all three children getting sick all over Nellie, if she could make Ruby understand her own emotions surrounding her mother’s death and Nellie’s arrival, she’d do it in a heartbeat.
“I imagine she does feel awful. But making me feel awful isn’t going to get her well any sooner. In fact, it might delay her recovery because then I will be too sick to take care of her, and with no one to take care of her, she’ll just stay sick.”
Ruby let out a long sigh, like she hadn’t considered the idea that perhaps making someone hurt just because you were hurting didn’t solve anything, and only created more pain.
“Now, you’re really going to be late if you don’t hurry.”
“Do you think I could stay home today?”
Nellie couldn’t read the expression on Ruby’s face, but she seemed lost, somehow. Maybe it was the conversation, or maybe Ruby was beginning to come down with the same bug the other two children had.
“I could help you,” Ruby said. “Papa said I was supposed to help you, and with both Maeve and Amos sick, you could probably use it.”
Not only was that the most Ruby had ever said to Nellie, it was also the kindest and most genuinely helpful.
“Thank you, Ruby. That’s very thoughtful. I know your father doesn’t approve of you missing school to help with your siblings, but I think with the illness in the family, it might be best for you to stay home today, as well.”
Ruby gave Nellie the first genuine smile Nellie had seen from the girl—at least, one directed at her.
“I’m hungry. I should get a biscuit. Would you like one?”
Nellie had always been told not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but she’d never understood it until now.
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
As Ruby left, Luke walked in, a smile on his face. “Wow. That was...”
Nellie nodded. “Apparently the fact that her sister ruined my best dress and I’m not mad had some effect on her.”
“Good.” Luke came in and sat on the edge of the bed. “Amos is resting, and I think it’s a wise decision to have Ruby stay home.”
Then he looked at her, the weariness in his eyes somewhat lightened. “I think you’re right that they don’t need a doctor. I’m sorry if I sounded like I doubted you. This is the first time they’ve been sick without Diana here, and I panicked.”
“It’s all right.” Nellie leaned forward and squeezed Luke’s hand. “You’ve already lost so much, I can’t imagine how it must feel to be worried about losing someone else.”
Ruby returned, carrying a plate that held two biscuits. “I also put some tea on,” she said. “It shouldn’t take long for the water to boil.”
Nellie accepted the plate and gave the girl a smile. “Thank you. I appreciate your help.”
A shy expression darted across Ruby’s face. “I can get tea and biscuits.”
Luke leaned forward and gave his daughter a squeeze. “You can do a number of good things, and I appreciate your effort in helping Nellie today.”
Then he started to let out a long sigh but stopped midbreath. His face paled as he jumped up. “I think I’m ill, as well.”
As Luke dashed out of the room, Nellie looked over at Ruby. “Well, I guess it’s even better that you’re staying home today. Hopefully you and I don’t end up with the bug, but in the meantime, we’ll take care of the others. Why don’t you go upstairs and get all the remaining blankets? We’ll make up beds for everyone down here.”
For the first time since Nellie had come to their home, Ruby didn’t give her a nasty look or make a rude comment in response. She merely nodded, then went to do as Nellie asked.
Progress.
* * *
Two days later, Luke was finally feeling more like himself. Nellie had been correct in that it was just a bug. Both Maeve and Amos were also feeling better. However, Luke had just tucked a rather pale-looking Nellie into bed, where she promptly fell asleep.
“Is Nellie going to be all right?” Ruby asked as he exited the room.
“I think so.” Luke ruffled her hair. “The rest of us got through it well enough.”
A knock sounded at the back door, and Luke opened it to find Seamus and Myrna standing there. “How is everyone feeling?”
“Better, but I think Nellie might have come down with it,” Luke said, moving aside to let them pass.
Myrna held up a large pot. “Just as I suspected. She looked a little peaked when she came by to ask if I would mind fixing breakfast this morning. I started working on this soup as soon as she left. It’ll keep you all fed, and it’ll also help everyone regain their strength. Lots of folks are coming down with this bug, but it seems to be passing quickly enough.”
“Several of our men are out sick,” Seamus said, nodding gravely. “I hate to ask, but we’ve got so much work backed up, I’m hoping you feel up to coming in for a while today.”
Luke looked over at the door to Nellie’s room, then at Ruby. He’d agreed to let her stay home one more day, but he hated having her miss school again to take care of everyone.
“It’s all right, Papa. I’ve been helping Nellie care for you and the others. I can do the same for Nellie.”
“And I will help,” Myrna said, setting the pot
on the stove. The large pot dwarfed the tiny stove, and once again, Luke thought about the stove he’d mentioned to Nellie before illness struck their family. Though she’d been noncommittal about the purchase, he hoped it hadn’t already been sold. After all the sacrifices she’d made, she deserved to have something to make her life easier. Even if she continued her arrangement with the Fitzgeralds, it would make him feel better to provide an extra measure of comfort for her.
Myrna hadn’t waited for his response before busying herself in their tiny kitchen. She looked over at Ruby. “Go get all the soiled laundry, then bring it over to Ellen. Then you and I are going to give this place a good scrubbing.” The older woman paused as she saw a stack of dishes sitting on the table. “It looks like Nellie was already getting organized to do that very thing. I tell you, that girl has so much sense in her. You couldn’t have found a finer wife for yourself.”
As Myrna jabbered on and on about what a treasure Nellie was, Luke gathered his work things. “I guess that means I’ll be working today, Seamus. Give me a few minutes to get ready, and I’ll be in.”
He passed Ruby on the way to the loft. Her arms were full of dirty laundry. The change in her over the past couple of days was almost hard to believe.
“Papa?” Ruby stopped in front of him. “Is there any way you could stop by the post office to pick up a letter I asked them to mail? I changed my mind. I don’t want to mail it anymore.”
He stared at her. They didn’t know anyone far enough away to correspond with. Or at least Ruby didn’t.
“Who did you write to?”
Ruby shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have, and I want to take it back. Could you please go ask them to get it for me?”
Her brow was creased with worry. But what could a child have possibly mailed that would be so terrible?
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way. Once you mail a letter, it’s gone.”
“Please, Papa.” She looked almost frantic. “It wasn’t so long ago, just before everyone took ill. Surely there’s still time.”
“Mail goes out the same day you send it. There’s nothing that can be done.”
Ruby let out a long sigh as she shifted the laundry in her arms.
“What did you mail? Surely it can’t be that bad.”
Tears fell down Ruby’s cheeks as she shook her head. “I found Nellie’s sister’s address when I took Nellie’s journal, and I wrote to her, asking her to take Nellie away.”
Though he wanted to chastise Ruby for trying to cause trouble, they’d already talked about how wrong it was for her to take Nellie’s journal. And clearly, she’d learned her lesson about interfering. So what was a father to do?
Luke wrapped his arms around Ruby, causing her to drop her bundle. “There now, I’m sure it’s going to be fine. Nellie’s sister will probably have a good chuckle over your letter and write to Nellie in response, and it will all be sorted out.”
The big blue eyes Luke loved so much looked up at him. “Do you think so? You were right about us needing her. I couldn’t have taken care of everyone the way she did. I’d have been mad if Maeve got sick all over my favorite dress.”
He couldn’t help but smile at his daughter’s admission. Who would have thought that it would take a nasty illness to get his daughter to finally accept Nellie?
“I do. Nellie has spoken very fondly of her sister, and I’m sure it won’t be an issue. Perhaps it will encourage her sister to come for a visit, and I know that would please Nellie greatly.”
Though the words sounded positive as they came out, Luke had the niggling of a doubt in the back of his mind. Nellie had been hesitant about involving her sister in their wedding, and though he’d suggested visits at a later date, she’d brushed him off in a way that made him wonder if there wasn’t more to the story.
“I hope so,” Ruby said. “I’ve always wanted an aunt.”
Diana had been an only child, and Luke had lost touch with his brothers years ago, too many wars and conflicts separating them. His brothers had been soldiers, going wherever the fight was, and they’d never been good at writing. Hopefully they were well, wherever they were.
A clatter in the kitchen brought Luke back to the task at hand. “I’ll speak with Nellie about it later. You gather those things and go help Myrna. I need to get ready for work.”
Luke changed into his work clothes quickly, and when he came down, he noticed that Myrna had given each of the children a job. Maeve looked more like she was making a mess than helping, playing in the bubbles of the washbasin, but at least she was occupied, and Myrna obviously knew what she was doing.
“Before you leave,” Myrna said, “I’ve prepared a tray for Nellie. I heard her stir in the bedroom, and while I’m sure she doesn’t feel like much, it would be good for her to at least attempt to get something in her.”
“Of course.” Luke took the tray. “Thanks for taking such good care of my family. I’d hate for yours to take ill, as well.”
Myrna sighed. “Truth be told, I think our family gave it to yours. A couple of days before your family took ill, I was feeling poorly myself, and Nellie spent the entire day while you and Seamus were at work taking care of me, and then Ellen, who came home from a ladies’ meeting at the church feeling quite ill herself. If it hadn’t been for Nellie, I don’t know what we’d have done. I know you tell Nellie all the time that you don’t like imposing, but you have to realize that neighbors and friends watch out for one another. It’s no imposition because we’re all each other has.”
Something in Myrna’s expression made Luke’s heart soften. He’d like to think, wherever his brothers were, that if they were in need, someone would be there to help them. Diana used to say that if they had each other, that was all they needed, but even she had a large group of friends she spent time with. Maybe Luke had been too hasty in refusing help.
“Thank you for being there for us,” he said, then turned to go into Nellie’s room.
Nellie was standing beside her bed, struggling to put an apron on over her dress.
“Get back in bed,” Luke said, setting the tray on the dresser.
“I hear all kinds of commotion out there.” Her voice was weak, and Luke remembered feeling exactly the same way. Wanting to be useful to his family, but lacking the strength to do much more than sit up in bed.
“Myrna is here, and she’s got the children helping her set things in the house to rights. You need to stay in bed and get some rest.”
“But there’s so much to do,” Nellie said, her voice sounding even more pitiful than it had a few moments ago.
Luke pulled back the covers and patted the bed. “You wouldn’t let any of us get out of bed before we were better, and I insist that you follow your own advice. You’re not well enough to be up, and you know it.”
“But they need me.” Tears filled Nellie’s eyes. “Ruby will use this as an excuse to hate me again.”
She looked defeated as she lay down. When she swung her feet onto the bed, Luke saw that she’d attempted to put her shoes on but had faltered with the fastenings.
“Let me help you,” he said. Without waiting for an answer, he reached over and took off her shoes. Nellie let out an exhausted sigh, like that brief exertion had been too much.
When he pulled off the boots she always wore, he noticed that her feet were much smaller than the shoes. He set them on the ground, but not before feeling the inside and realizing that she’d stuffed some material in the toes to make them fit.
He glanced over at the now-sleeping woman. She’d insisted on his children getting new shoes, all the while wearing improper footwear herself. She’d promised to love them like her own, and clearly Nellie had done more than that. How many sacrifices had this woman made for him, for his children, for his neighbors?
The depth of compassion in
her shamed him. True, he’d tried reaching out to her the night they all came down sick. But all this time, in her own way, Nellie had been loving his family, expecting—and receiving—nothing in return.
Luke looked harder at Nellie and realized that he’d spent so much time avoiding this very thing because he knew what he found would be remarkable. Even now, pale with illness, she had a beauty to her that he couldn’t describe.
Though she’d tried putting her long black hair up, most of it was already falling down around her face and shoulders. Diana had been as blonde as he and the children, so there was no comparison here. Both women were equally beautiful in their own right. Admiring Nellie took nothing from Diana. But it meant admitting in his heart that perhaps Seamus had been right. Was Luke being foolish for not letting their marriage be everything it could be?
More foolish thinking. He had no idea what Nellie wanted, or even if Nellie would be comfortable with more than what they had. After all, she’d been just as eager for their arrangement as he’d been.
Still, as he tucked the blankets around her, Luke couldn’t help but press a kiss to the top of her head. It was not a grand romantic declaration. But it was a start. Of what, he didn’t know, but when he looked upon her sleeping face, Luke knew he owed it to her, to himself and to the children to figure it out.
Chapter Ten
When the family, including Nellie, was finally well again, Nellie became painfully aware that Christmas was approaching more quickly than she would have liked. She still had too many unanswered questions. Amos was more than happy to give her a list of how the family must celebrate, but Luke and Ruby hadn’t given her enough of a sense of what was appropriate to come up with a plan.
As Nellie walked down the street to pick up Amos and Ruby from school, she couldn’t help but notice all the bright displays in the storefront windows.
She’d already made some new dresses for Maeve’s dolls out of fabric scraps, and both Amos and Ruby would be getting new clothes they weren’t expecting, so she felt she’d done a good job of preparing gifts for the children. But as she looked in each cheerful shop window, Nellie couldn’t help but think they were ill-prepared for the coming holiday.
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