As she made her way into the kitchen, she entered a hum of activity. Mama, Callie’s mother-in-law Dorothy and Flossie prepared food, along with two unwed mothers Elise had grown to love at Refuge of Redeeming Love.
Grace, back from Boston for the wedding, tirelessly cut cabbage for slaw. Joanna peeled and diced potatoes. A gauze pad on her forehead, Flossie prepared dressings for the coleslaw and potato salad and a fragrant sauce for the ham.
Across the way, Katie banged a wooden block on the tray of her high chair. Poor baby. How long had she sat there watching proceedings?
Donned in an apron spotted with cabbage, Grace looked up and smiled. Gone was the harsh, remote woman who’d arrived at Callie’s, hauling a haunting history and an unborn baby. “Your mother asked me to tell you that she’ll bring seven quarts of green beans tomorrow to add to what we already have. If that’s not enough, Dorothy will open the store.”
“Dorothy and Commodore have generously provided the ham.”
Lenora walked in, elegantly dressed, perfectly coiffed, carrying a large basket. “I made sugar cookies for the children.”
Elise thanked her. “Thanks, everyone.”
A chorus of “See you tomorrow” rang out as Grace and Joanna headed to Callie’s and Flossie headed home, vowing to soak her aching feet.
“Ma-ma, ma-ma,” Katie called, her face crumbling.
Elise whipped off her apron, raised the high chair tray over Katie’s head and picked up her daughter. “How’s mama’s little darling?”
With Lenora at her side, Elise carried Katie into the main room. Legs kicking, squirming to be released, Katie reached for the floor. The floor had been scrubbed clean. Nothing to harm her here.
With a pat on her behind, Elise sat her down then piled blocks around her. “Be a good girl.”
The picture of contentment, Katie grabbed two blocks and banged them together.
“Lenora, I want to thank you for turning a barren room into a bride’s dream. God has given you a tremendous talent. You ought to think how to use that creativity to bless others.”
“I already have. I’ve spoken to Pastor Steele to offer my help with weddings and receptions.” She grinned. “I’ll see where that leads.”
“That’s a great idea!”
“You’ve taught me to appreciate who I am.”
“You’ve taught me the same. We’re all different with different talents. How boring would this world be if we were all alike?”
Lenora’s gaze dropped to her hands. “I’m finally feeling like I’m more than a trophy on a shelf.”
Elise gasped. “Why would you feel like that?”
“My affluent parents raised me to be a debutante, a showpiece. The summers I spent on my grandparents’ farm were the happiest of my life. With them, I could just be…me.”
“That’s why you wanted to live in Peaceful.”
“Yes. I thought maybe here, I could find who I am. I’ve struggled to believe Jeremiah saw me as more than someone to display on his arm.” She sighed. “I want to be a helpmate, but…”
“His work wasn’t for you.”
“Now I feel like I have a purpose, something of my own.” She laid a hand on her abdomen. “I haven’t told anyone but Jeremiah, but I’ll have a bigger purpose in six months or so.”
Elise gave Lenora a hug. “Congratulations!”
A thudding sound then Katie’s screams shot terror through Elise’s limbs. Grabbing her skirts, she ran toward the entrance.
At the stairway leading to the meeting rooms above, Katie sprawled at the bottom. “Oh, Katie!”
Elise dropped to her knees, hovering over her baby just as David stepped inside. Their gazes met then turned on the small form on the floor.
David knelt beside her. “What happened?”
“She must’ve climbed the steps,” Elise said, her voice shaky. “And fell.” She moaned. “I don’t know how far.”
“It’s my fault. I distracted you,” Lenora said, wringing her hands.
David ran his hand over the lump forming on Katie’s head. “Lenora, run for Jeremiah.” He lurched to his feet. “Never mind, I’ll be faster. Get a cold cloth and put it on the lump.”
“Don’t leave!” Elise pleaded. “Katie needs you.”
“I—I can’t.”
He slammed the door behind him.
Tears welling in her eyes, Elise cradled her screaming daughter in her arms, eying the terrible lump that had risen on her forehead. Within seconds, Lenora returned with a cold compress, looking as terrified as Elise felt.
“Poor baby, my poor baby,” Elise crooned, holding the compress to the lump. But Katie was inconsolable, stiffening every muscle as she thrashed in Elise’s arms.
Lord, please help my child.
How could David abandon them when they needed him most?
The door opened. David. He’d been gone only a couple minutes. Not long enough to get Doc Lucas. He’d come back to help Katie.
In his eyes, Elise saw regret but also determination. He knelt beside her, felt the pulse in Katie’s neck, lifted her eyelids and checked both eyes, and then ran gentle hands over her arms and legs. “Her pulse is strong. I see no sign of a concussion. Nothing’s broken. No contusions.” He glanced at Elise. “We’ll keep an eye on her, but I think she’s more scared than anything.”
“Really?”
He pulled out his pocket watch, dangled it from the fob. Tears glistening on her cheeks, spiking her lashes, Katie quieted, watching the timepiece swing back and forth. With a click of a button, David sprang the case and laid the watch against Katie’s ear.
Her hiccups the only indication she’d been crying, she turned her head, trying to see where the ticking originated.
David brought the watch in front of her. This time Katie grabbed the fob, shoving it toward her open mouth.
Elise grabbed it. “Watch fobs aren’t for eating, precious.”
Once again David checked the lump. Lenora returned with another cold compress and David exchanged the cloths. “She looks good, Elise.”
Elise released a gust of air. “Thank God.”
With Elise’s thanks, Lenora headed home, leaving Elise and David alone with Katie. She handed her daughter a rattle, then returned the timepiece to David. A question burned inside her yet she couldn’t bring herself to ask, not with the misery and guilt in David’s eyes.
“I’m sorry I ran,” he said.
“Why did you? You’re an excellent doctor.”
* * *
David shoved to his feet and walked to the window facing the street, unable to look at Elise when he explained the unexplainable. “My sister…Jillian and her baby…” He swallowed. “…died.”
Elise gasped. “What?”
The swish of skirts, then the gentle pressure of her hand at his back. Her touch brought a knot to his throat as he willed away tears. He wouldn’t cry.
Then with Katie tucked between them, he was in Elise’s arms, the place where he felt at peace, whole.
“Oh, David, not Jillian. From what you’ve told me, she was a wonderful person.”
Those warm cocoa eyes brimming with sorrow, with sympathy, would be his undoing. He pulled away. “She was.”
Elise cupped David’s jaw with her palms. “What happened?”
No matter how often he thought about each detail of that nightmarish night, he couldn’t accept his sister and her baby were gone. He’d failed them, the truth too horrible to share.
With tears sliding down her face, Elise gazed up at him, raised a palm to cup his cheek. “I’m sorry,” she said, offering him comfort, an anchor in the storm.
“Yeah. Me too.”
“Jillian was your favorite si
bling.”
“She and I took care of the younger ones.” His shoulders sagged. “Now her children will grow up without her.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I should’ve sent a telegram. I thought I would after the funeral, but I couldn’t find the words. That was unfair to you. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me since you’ve been back.”
“It’s…hard to talk about it.”
A blush bloomed in her cheeks. Every emotion displayed itself in her fair skin, on her expressive face. “I understand.”
No doubt she did. An unwed mother had surely struggled to utter the words that would expose her pregnancy.
Elise took his hand in hers. Katie splayed her hand over theirs. Tiny trusting fingers. David couldn’t bear to have Elise or Katie need his care. He couldn’t bear to have someone depending on him.
“Did you get there in time to speak with her?”
His throat closed. Unable to answer, he nodded.
“I’m glad. That has to be a comfort.”
He shivered. That was his nightmare.
“Your grief is the reason you haven’t practiced medicine. David, your sister would want you to go on. Want you to return to your practice.”
How could he? “Maybe…later.”
All he knew with certainty—nothing felt better than being in Elise’s arms. No matter what happened, he’d always cherish these few moments. He tugged her close and she lifted her face to his. His gaze dropped to her lips, soft, parted. Oh how he’d missed her.
“May I kiss you?”
A wistful expression, fleeting but undeniable, turned guarded. She shook her head and took a step back as if she’d sensed that he was hiding something.
What he’d told her was a lie, a lie of omission, but still a lie. If she knew, the look of horror he would see in her eyes would destroy him. The truth would ruin her happiness for Callie and Jake’s wedding. She’d worked tirelessly to give them a party. He’d keep silent. For now.
Once Elise knew the truth, she’d never trust him with her child. Katie’s fall hadn’t been serious, but next time it could be. Next time that panic he’d experienced could impede his judgment.
After the wedding he’d tell Elise the truth.
And destroy the last remnant of her respect.
Chapter Ten
Grief was a path David strode. Yet, for the first time since losing Jillian and her baby, he’d slept for hours and awakened Thursday morning refreshed. Perhaps his decision to tell Elise the truth after the wedding had eased the guilty burden of his deceit.
As he approached Twite Hall, he spotted Elise on the bench outside. She was talking to someone. The man held Katie on his lap, cuddling her close. Swarthy and muscled, as if accustomed to working outdoors, he gazed at Katie with a possessiveness that slammed into David’s gut, putting him on his guard, ready to do battle if necessary to protect Katie, protect Elise from this stranger.
Every muscle in David’s body went rigid.
Could it be? Gaston Leroy. Here?
Katie’s father. The man Elise had told him about. The man who’d fled the day she’d revealed her pregnancy. What kind of a man would shirk responsibility to the mother of his child?
David exhaled. What kind of a man failed those he loved?
Of all people, David had no right to judge Gaston. If Elise loved him and wanted to unite Katie with her father, how could David blame her? Far better off with Gaston than with him, a man who couldn’t promise her anything.
As he watched, Gaston lifted Katie above his head. Ribbons on her bonnet dangling, little arms and legs fluttering like a bird in flight, Katie squealed with delight.
Gazing up at her baby, Elise’s face glowed with pride. And something else. Something David hadn’t seen since his return.
Joy.
The three of them looked like a…family.
The family David had once pictured for himself. Pain stabbed like a knife in his chest, spreading fingers of envy that pressed against his lungs until he could barely breathe.
He wanted to shove between them, tug Elise close, but he hadn’t earned the right. Gaston was God’s answer for Elise and Katie. He could offer them everything Elise wanted and David could not give. Only a selfish man would want to tie them to him.
With the look of a happy man, Gaston lowered Katie into the crook of his arm, leaned close and kissed Elise’s cheek.
And then David knew. He was too late. Elise gave up on him when he gave up on himself.
With the picture of that family burned into his brain, he turned and retraced his steps, working his way to the back door of Twite Hall, where he wouldn’t be observed by Elise. As he’d planned, he’d check on the final arrangements for the reception.
He tramped through the kitchen and into the main room where Grace lined up forks and plates on the cake table.
David had once feared for Grace’s sanity, even her very life, but she’d not only survived, she’d thrown off the chains of her past.
She smiled. “Hi, Dr. Wellman.”
“You look wonderful, Grace. Like life is good.”
“It is. I thought I’d failed my son by giving him away. But since I’ve been back, seen Tommy with the Thompsons, I know they’re giving my, ah…their son love and a good home.” Tears flooded her eyes. “And I realized I wasn’t a failure. I gave my son and his adoptive parents a happy ending.”
“I’m proud of the woman you are.”
“Thanks, I guess I’m proof people can change,” she said softly. “I’m still finding my way, but in the bleakest moments, I’m learning to shift my perspective from the ugliness of the past to hope for the future.”
With time, could he, too, let go of the past? Let go of his failure and face tomorrow?
How could he go on without Elise and Katie?
* * *
Elise always believed people could change, but if she hadn’t seen proof, hadn’t seen the raw pain in his eyes, she wouldn’t have believed Gaston Leroy capable of this transformation. He’d fooled her once, but the wounded man at her side was nothing like the man who’d wooed her the summer she turned seventeen.
“You were a naive girl visiting her cousin,” he said.
“You were a lonely railroader away from home.”
“A lonely railroader married with three kids. I’m sorry, Elise.” He exhaled, the sound laden with remorse. “From the moment I saw you, I wanted you. I lured you in with sweet talk and kisses.”
“You said I was pretty, that you loved me,” she said softly, her mind replaying every declaration. Why had she believed him? Her eyes found her lap.
With gentle fingertips, he tilted her face to his. “You are pretty. That much was true.” His eyes found his feet. “I didn’t care that I wronged you. Wronged my wife. Wronged God. I gave no thought to the consequences. When you told me you were expecting…” He kissed Katie’s dimpled hand. “I ran.”
“That’s when I knew you didn’t love me.”
“I was a user, a coward, the worst kind of man.” Tears filled his eyes. “I believed in God. Or so I told myself. Yet I cheated on my wife. I lied to you. I was headed straight to eternal torment.”
“What happened to change you?”
“A few months ago, I found myself lying in a ditch that had caved in around me, certain I would die. I didn’t want to meet my Maker. Not with all I’d done. I told God every bad thing I’d ever done. I pleaded for forgiveness. I promised God, if I lived, I’d be a new man.”
Tears welled in Elise’s eyes. Katie could’ve been an orphan before she’d ever known a father. “God saved you.”
“He did. I felt the strangest peace. I kn
ew God had heard and forgiven me. Thanks to my crew, who dug me out, and God, I was given a second chance.” Gaston hugged Katie to him. “To find my child. To make amends.” He looked at Elise, a question in his eyes. “If I can.”
Hadn’t Elise been given the same? “God is the God of second chances.”
A smile lit his eyes. “The day I got out of the hospital, I told my wife everything. I hated to hurt her but I wanted no lies between us. In time, she forgave me and supported my decision to find you and my child.”
She believed he’d changed but did he want more than her forgiveness? “Why are you here?”
He looked at her with such hope in his eyes. “Will you forgive me, Elise? Allow me to be part of Katie’s life?”
“I forgive you.” Her throat clogged. She cleared it before she could go on. “I need to forgive myself. You may have lied to make me trust you, but I…I knew what we did was wrong.”
Elise thought of the life ahead for Katie. And knew she’d forgive her daughter anything, no matter what she did. She loved Katie the way God loved her. God loved Gaston. God loved their child.
Her gaze roamed the streets of Peaceful, the small town where Katie would grow up, would learn life’s lessons. Please, God, less painfully than I did.
An amazing sense of peace settled over her, like a blanket warmed by the sun. She not only forgave Gaston, she released the resentment she’d harbored, even nurtured. “I’m thankful Katie will know her father. A father she can be proud of.”
Gaston closed his eyes, hugging Katie close, tears sliding down his face. Elise laid a hand on his arm, a hand meant to comfort and she knew the only feelings she had for Gaston were platonic, that of a friend. She didn’t love him. Probably never had. Caught up in the attention Gaston had heaped on her, she’d fallen for romance without substance, romance without God at the center.
“I want to be part of Katie’s life, if you’ll let me.” He removed Katie’s bonnet and ran a palm along the dark silky strands of her hair. Katie grabbed his hand, giving him a drooly grin. “She’s perfect, Elise. Beautiful.” Gaston sucked in a gulp of air. “When I left you to deal with our baby alone, I never considered how that would impact this child.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “We live fifty miles west of here, but I’d like to visit when I can.” He handed her an envelope, his address on the front. “I’ll send money every month to help with Katie’s expenses. If you need anything, you can reach me here.”
Brides of the West: Josie's Wedding DressLast Minute BrideHer Ideal Husband Page 15
