A Love Transformed

by Tracie Peterson

  Clara nodded. “The children have always loved puzzles.”

  “So when are you going to talk to the children, Curtis?” Madeline asked.

  Curtis rubbed his leg. The rain and chill made his leg feel stiff. “I’ll go talk to them about all of this in a minute, but first I was wondering something. Do you suppose the preacher would marry us after services this Sunday?”

  “That’s just a few days from now,” Madeline said, looking rather concerned. “It would be hard to make a wedding dress and arrange—”

  “We don’t want to arrange much of anything,” Clara interrupted. “And I don’t need a special dress. I’ve had all of that. My stepfather spent more money on my wedding to Adolph than I care to remember. Curtis and I just want to get married and be done with it. We already feel married in our hearts, so the pomp and circumstance is unnecessary.”

  Madeline smiled. “Of course. I don’t know why I thought you’d want it any other way.”

  “I have to go into town tomorrow anyway. I could stop and talk to Pastor Cosgrove,” Paul offered. “I’m sure Doc has let him know that Curtis is pretty much all healed up, so I know Pastor will be expecting you back in church.”

  Curtis nodded. “Thank you. That would be very helpful.” He looked over at Clara. She had pinned her hair up in waves of curls much as she had for the portrait that hung in the hall. Her happiness in being here—in their love—had taken years of sorrow from her features, and Curtis could almost convince himself that the years had never separated them. Almost.

  He still had a great deal of anger toward her mother for the way she’d separated them to begin with, but even more so for the way she continued to try to run her daughter’s life.

  “So what are your plans after you two get hitched?” Paul asked.

  Clara spoke up before Curtis could. “There’s something else you need to know before we get to that.” She glanced toward the hall and lowered her voice. “There’s been a development of something rather distasteful.”

  Madeline exchanged a look with her husband, then settled back in her chair and gave a nod. “Go on.”

  “Before I came here I went to the bank where Adolph had set up an account for my personal use. I had hoped there would be enough money for me to buy tickets and bring the children west. What I learned was that there was a bank box with a great deal of money and four books that appeared to be journals. I assumed these to be diaries Adolph had kept, so I brought them along with the money thinking the children might one day want to read them and know more about their father.”

  “Diaries?” Paul asked. “What kind of man has time to keep diaries?”

  “The kind that wants to make a record of his underhanded dealings,” Curtis interjected. He looked at Clara and saw her nod of encouragement. “It seems the Vesper brothers were involved in more than the production of jewelry. They were knee-deep in espionage as well.”

  “They were working for the Germans?” Paul asked.

  Curtis nodded. “Clara let me read the journals, and that’s what I learned. It seems Adolph was less happy with the arrangement than his brother, Otto, but that both had signed on to lend aid to Germany prior to America getting into the war. From what I was able to read, they even played a role in the Lusitania’s tragic end.”

  “Oh my!” Madeline’s hand went to her mouth. “All those lost souls.”

  “Exactly. And from what I gathered that was only the beginning of many other ships being sunk, both civilian and military.” Curtis shook his head. “It seemed that the Lusitania haunted Adolph. He wanted out, but no one wanted to let him out. He feared for his life . . . even believing that his brother would arrange his death.”

  “How terrible,” Madeline said, looking at Clara. “That must have come as quite a shock. I know you said that Otto had been quite kind to you and the children.”

  “Yes. He said a great many things that I no longer trust,” Clara admitted. “Knowing this, I’ve written a letter to the lawyer who handled Adolph’s private affairs. I hadn’t thought to confer with him after Otto told me Adolph was penniless. Now I want to know the truth about Adolph’s financial situation and whether he truly had signed everything over to Otto.”

  “The fact is, now that we know what Otto and Adolph were involved in, and have proof of their activities,” Curtis continued, “we need to get that proof into the hands of the authorities.”

  “What will you do?” Madeline asked. “Surely you don’t mean to go back to New York City, do you, Clara?”

  “No. I most assuredly do not. Curtis feels that we can talk to the sheriff and get his advice. He can most likely arrange for the journals to get placed in the right hands.”

  “That makes sense,” Paul said, nodding.

  Curtis leaned forward. “Maybe when you go in to talk to the pastor, you could also encourage the sheriff to join him in coming to meet with us.”

  “We’ll invite them for supper tomorrow,” Madeline declared. “I’ve never known either man to turn down a good meal.”

  Paul chuckled. “That’s the truth.”

  “I appreciate all that you’re doing for me . . . for us,” Clara said, letting go a heavy sigh. “This has really weighed on my heart.”

  “What about your mother?” Madeline asked with a frown. “Do you think she knows anything about all of this treason business?”

  Clara shook her head. “I seriously doubt it. It’s never been Mother’s style to interest herself in the affairs of government. She’s easily bored with anything that doesn’t pertain to her social circle. Frankly, I’m amazed she came here herself instead of hiring someone else. She hates Montana.”

  “Good.” Paul stood and stretched. “I’m just as happy for her to go on hating it. Maybe that way she’ll leave us be.”

  “I hope so, Uncle Paul. With all the threats she’s made toward me and the children, I would be just as happy to never see her again.” Clara lowered her head. “I know that sounds horrible, but I can’t help it.”

  “You aren’t the only one who finds her attitude appalling.” Madeline reached over and patted Clara’s hand. “Now, don’t give it a second thought. Besides, she may have already caught the train for home. We might be fussing over nothing.”

  Paul gave Clara a reassuring smile. “Once you and Curtis are married, she won’t have anything to say about it anyway. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work. Work doesn’t wait even when it’s raining.”

  “Are you sure there isn’t something I could do to help?” Curtis asked, wishing he could be of more use than he’d been these past months.

  “No. You know the doctor said you needed to take it easy for the next few weeks and see how your leg does. I promised him we’d keep you idle except for having you do those exercises.” Paul glanced toward the hall. “Besides, you already have a job to do.”

  Curtis got to his feet. “Yes. Yes, I do. I’m going to go speak with the children right now. I have a feeling they’re going to have all sorts of ideas about our future.”

  Laughing, Clara rose too. “I’m sure they will. I’ll be helping Aunt Madeline with the dishes. Once you finish your talk, would you have them come in? They still need to finish cleaning their rooms and get a bath before bed.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Curtis left the ladies and made his way down the hall. He paused for a moment at Clara’s portrait. This time, however, the picture made him smile. She had been thinking of him then, even as she did now.

  Out on the porch Curtis found Hunter and Maddy quite absorbed in their puzzle. Their puppy slept at Maddy’s feet, obviously worn out from play. The rain had stopped, but none of them seemed to notice.

  “So how’s it going?”

  Maddy looked up with a frown. “Unca Paul said it’s a picture of two people riding a horse, but so far we can’t find the right pieces to make horses or people.” The puppy perked up at the sound of her voice.

  Curtis squatted down and gave the pup a few stro
kes. “So did you two settle on a name for this fella?”

  “Yup,” Hunter said, looking over the table. “We’re going to call him Blessing.”

  “Blessing?” Curtis found the name to be a surprise. The last time he’d heard them bandying names about they were more along the line of Spot, King, and Beau.

  “Mama said that he was a blessing, so I told Hunter we should call him that,” Maddy said, leaning back. “I think it’s a good name.”

  Curtis chuckled and straightened up. “I do too. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you both about something else. It shouldn’t take long, but I’d like you to come and sit with me so we can discuss this matter thoroughly. It’s really important.”

  “Are you going to marry Mama?” Maddy asked, fixing him with an expression that demanded an answer.

  Curtis was surprised by her blunt question. “Well, I just might. But it depends on you two.”

  The children got up and followed Curtis to where they could all sit together on the porch. Blessing looked up, yawned, then lowered his head again. It was obvious that the discussion was of no interest to him.

  Hunter was the first to speak. “Why does it depend on us?”

  “Because I want to know if it’s all right with you that I marry your mother.”

  “It’s all right with me,” Hunter replied with a shrug. “So long as we don’t have to go back to the city. I don’t ever want to leave here.”

  Maddy nodded. “Can we stay?”

  “We would definitely stay in Montana. I don’t know if we’d remain here at the ranch. I know Paul and Madeline would probably like that, but we might want to start a ranch of our own.”

  “Or mine for sapphires,” Hunter threw out. “I’d like that.”

  “Well, we will have to see about that. I’ve still got a long way to go before the doctor will let me go back to doing any kind of hard work. But we can worry about that later.”

  “But you will get well, won’t you?” Maddy asked.

  “Of course I will. But the doctor might have to operate on my leg and put me back in a cast. It wouldn’t be for long, though.” Curtis could see she was mulling this over, while Hunter already looked bored.

  “I have something else to ask you. This is pretty important to me, and I hope it is to you as well.” Curtis leaned forward. “I want to know if it’s all right for me not just to marry your mother but to be your new father as well.”

  For a minute neither child spoke. Instead they looked at each other as if communicating mentally. Maddy gave a nod and looked most seriously back at Curtis.

  “Can we call you Daddy?”

  Curtis grinned. “I’d like that a lot.”

  She got up off her chair and came to Curtis. She held out her arms to be picked up, so he obliged. Settling her on his good leg, Curtis waited for her to speak. Instead, Hunter was the one to pose his question.

  “And will you still play with us, or will you go away like our other father?”

  “I will play with you whenever possible. It’s my hope that I can teach you how to do a lot of things like hunt and work with your hands. And if we ranch, I’d like to have you help me with the sheep. After all, it’s a big job to run a sheep ranch, and if we move to have our own place, I’ll need your help.”

  “I like helping,” Hunter declared.

  Maddy placed her head against Curtis’s chest. “I’m glad you’re going to be our daddy, ’cause I like you a whole lot.”

  Curtis wrapped his arm around her. “And I like you, Miss Maddy. In fact, I love you. I love you too, Hunter. I think we were always meant to be a family.”

  Sunday morning was even more chaotic than usual. Pastor Cosgrove had agreed to marry them after the services and to keep it a secret until that time. Clara had spent most of the night tossing and turning, hoping and praying her mother wouldn’t cause a scene. Clara had specifically decided against telling her mother about the wedding in hopes that everything would be said and done by the time she found out.

  After a hurried breakfast, Clara helped the children into their Sunday clothes. She hadn’t seen Curtis or her uncle since the night before. Madeline told her it was to keep with the tradition that the bride and groom shouldn’t see each other before the wedding.

  “We aren’t superstitious,” she had said earlier, “but sometimes traditions should be observed.”

  Clara didn’t mind the traditions. In fact, she rather liked them. However, she would have felt more confident had she been able to see and speak with Curtis. He always seemed to know just how to calm her worried mind. Now as she worked out the tangles in Maddy’s hair, she could only pray they were making the right decision in their rush to marry.

  “Ow, Mama. That’s too hard.”

  Clara looked down to find Maddy rubbing her head. “I’m so sorry. My mind wasn’t on my work. I’ll be gentler, I promise.” She ran the brush through her daughter’s long blond hair. “Better?”

  Maddy nodded but said nothing more. Clara had just managed to finish dressing Maddy’s hair with a bow when Madeline showed up.

  “Do you need any help?”

  “No, I think we’re doing all right. Is everyone ready to go?” Clara asked. She hurried over to Hunter and gave his hair a quick brushing. “I keep thinking I’m forgetting something.”

  “Perhaps your shoes?” Madeline asked with a grin.

  Clara stopped in her tracks and looked down at her stockinged feet. She nodded. “I suppose that would be sensible.” She hurried back to her bedroom to retrieve her shoes.

  Madeline ushered the children out to the wagon with Clara bringing up the rear. She tried not to show how nervous she felt. She had wanted to marry Curtis Billingham all of her life, and now that it was about to happen, Clara couldn’t help feeling anxious.

  “I don’t know what I’ll do if Mother interferes.”

  “What was that?” Madeline asked, helping Maddy and Hunter into the back of the wagon.

  Clara shook her head. “I’m just worried that Mother will do something to stop us from getting married.”

  Madeline climbed into the wagon and took up the reins. “She wouldn’t dare. Besides, I’ve never known Harriet to go willingly into a church except for being seen by all the right people. None of whom will be here for your wedding.” Madeline threw Clara a smile. “Now, climb up here and let’s get going.” Once Clara was seated, Madeline snapped the lines and the horses put the wagon in motion.

  When they finally arrived at the church, Clara thought she might very well embarrass herself by losing her breakfast. She tried to pray to settle her nerves, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something would once again come between her and Curtis getting married.

  “Now stop fretting,” Madeline said as they helped the children from the wagon.

  Once Hunter’s and Maddy’s feet hit the ground they were off and running to find Curtis and Uncle Paul. Clara was just as glad to have them go. She didn’t want them to see her in such an uneasy state. She drew in several deep breaths, all the while glancing toward the main part of town, where the tiny hotel housed her mother. At least Clara presumed she was still there. It wouldn’t be like her mother to give up the fight without at least one final salvo.

  With Madeline at her side, Clara walked into the church. She could see their regular pew and almost immediately sensed Curtis’s gaze. She looked past a rather burly man to find Curtis was indeed watching for her. She smiled, feeling her nerves settle a bit. He had a way of giving her strength just by being there.

  Hunter was already seated beside him, and Clara took her place between her children. Madeline sat on the other side of Maddy, and Paul appeared at her side to take his place. He gave Clara a wink and a smile, making her feel much better. She leaned over to thank him, but just then Judge Walker took to the pulpit and instructed the congregation to open their hymnals.

  As they started to sing “Blest Be the Tie That Binds,” Clara began to relax. In a very short time she would
be married. Her children would finally have a father who loved them. They would be a real family. She couldn’t let the threat of her mother’s gloom ruin the day she’d waited fourteen years to fulfill.

  After another hymn and then Scripture read by Pastor Cosgrove, the congregation took their seats. Curtis reached across Hunter and gave her hand a squeeze. Clara took hold of his hand for a moment and held it tight. She needed to feel his nearness.

  Pastor Cosgrove began to speak, but Clara found it impossible to pay attention. Once Curtis pulled his hand away to open his Bible, she found her mind wandering. She thought back to her husband’s journals and espionage. The sheriff hadn’t been able to meet with them the day before, but he sent word that he’d meet with them soon.

  She wondered what would happen when Otto learned the truth. She imagined the police, or perhaps soldiers, showing up to take him from his New York office to jail. He would be outraged, no doubt. The thought that he could have arranged Adolph’s death haunted her even more. Was it possible he had done such a horrendous thing to his own twin brother?

  The sermon concluded with the congregation rising to sing once again. Mrs. Cosgrove, the pastor’s wife, boomed out the notes to “Take the Name of Jesus with You.” Clara tried to sing, but the words stuck in her throat. In a few short minutes she would step forward and take her wedding vows.

  Dear Lord, don’t let me faint.

  The final notes faded. Everyone was waiting to be dismissed, but instead Pastor Cosgrove smiled and asked them to retake their seats.

  “Today we have a very special service to add on. A wedding.”

  Excited murmurs passed through the crowd. Clara bit her lip and forced her lungs to keep taking in air. She hadn’t been this nervous when she’d married Adolph. Of course, she’d been so consumed with sadness that it overpowered any other emotion.

  “I’m happy to announce that I will be joining Curtis Billingham and Clara Vesper in marriage. Clara and Curtis, will you step forward with your witnesses?”

  Clara heard a muffled shriek. It had to be her mother. She wanted to turn around and look, but Curtis reached out to take hold of her. She let him pull her to her feet. There was a disruption at the back of the room, leaving Clara more certain than ever that her mother was about to make a scene.