Otto's Offer (Lockets And Lace Book 3)

by Zina Abbott

  In spite of Otto being forthcoming with his answers to her questions, she gave him nothing in return. She spent several minutes explaining the mission of the sisters as they cared for women and children in the charity hospital. They also ran an orphanage to help with those children whose parents had died or abandoned them. Otto recognized that the work the nuns performed was worthwhile, and the woman before seemed to be a competent administrator. However, he found it difficult to concentrate and appear interested in her explanation. All he wanted to do was find Libby. He worried she had joined the convent and the mother superior was attempting to convince him of the importance of the work in which Libby would be engaging. Was she trying to convince him Libby was now beyond his reach?

  Finally, the woman smiled wide and folded her hands at her waist. “I see the hand of God in this. You might find it to be helpful if you visit the church and pray for guidance. Our cathedral is just around the corner on this same block.”

  Otto recognized her suggestion for the dismissal it was. Suppressing his annoyance, he said his farewell and left.

  The nun saw the hand of God in his being in St. Louis without any idea of where he might find Libby? Otto shook his head with frustration at the thought. The only guidance he wished for was one that would help him find the woman he loved.

  Once outside, Otto looked around. It wasn’t like he had never seen a big city before. He’d been to St. Joseph, and a few others, during his time in the 16th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. Still, St. Louis appeared so different from what he was used to back in Salina and Abilene.

  Otto heaved a sigh of resignation. Perhaps, he would never find Libby. Perhaps, she had taken steps not to be found. If that was the case, he should at least wander around the city for an hour or two, so he could remember where she chose to be rather than with him.

  Otto walked around the block and recognized a building that must be the cathedral. He was not Catholic, but the mother superior suggested he go inside to pray for guidance. Surely one did not need to be Catholic to enter.

  The movement of someone walking along the side of the cathedral caught his eye. Dressed in a black gown and with a dark cloth on her head, he might have mistaken the woman as one of the nuns if he hadn’t recognized the dress as the one Libby wore when she arrived in Junction City. The woman turned her head slightly, just enough so Otto caught sight of her profile.

  It was Libby. If she was preparing to become a nun, she had not joined yet. Maybe there was still hope.

  Otto waited until several seconds after she disappeared behind the doors to the church before he followed. He found the space just inside the door different from what he was used to when he entered the local church at home. He took a few minutes to study everything, unsure what he should do. Then, deciding that since he was not Catholic, probably anything that would be done by others who were would not apply to him.

  Out of respect, Otto did remove his hat from his head as he entered. He looked around at the interior for several seconds before he began to search for Libby. He spotted her kneeling behind the front pew, her forehead pressed against her hands clutching the top of the wooden backrest. The dark cloth on her head almost blended in with the rest of the wood.

  Otto slowly walked up the aisle until he stood next to where Libby prayed. He looked around at the detail of workmanship and imagery so different from what he was accustomed to.

  As if suddenly aware of his presence, Libby jerked her head towards him. She quickly rose to her feet. “Otto.” Libby stepped towards him, her voice a whisper. “Why are you here?”

  Like Libby, Otto kept his voice quiet. “I came for you, Libby. When you’re finished praying, may we step outside and talk?”

  “Is something wrong?”

  Otto smiled and shook his head. “No.”

  Only everything after you left me.

  “I’ll wait outside.” Otto turned towards the exit. Would Libby eventually follow him out so he could tell her what was in his heart? Or, did she know a different way out of the building which she could use to escape from him again?

  As Otto opened the door to step outside, he turned his head enough to see Libby directly behind him. He held the door for her to leave first, and then he followed her. Afraid she might escape him even though he was so close to her, he gently took her elbow and guided her around the side of the building the way he had seen her come. Finding a cluster of shrubs that served to block the view from anyone who might pass by on the street, he pulled her behind them, never releasing her elbow.

  “Libby, what about you? I know you came here for a reason. Did you find what you were looking for?”

  Libby stared at the ground, unable to look into his eyes. “In a way.”

  “Then, is everything all right?”

  Libby’s face took on a vacant stare. Next, her eyes squeezed tight as her face crumpled and a cry escaped her lips. “No!” She covered her face with her hands and buried both against Otto’s chest.

  Otto wrapped his arms around her. He rocked her side to side as sobs convulsed her, and her shoulders shook. Finally, he leaned over and spoke softly in her ear. “Tell me what’s wrong, Libby. Tell me why everything isn’t all right.”

  With a shudder, Libby suppressed her tears and leaned away. “They won’t let me see her.”

  “Who, Libby? Who won’t they let you see?”

  “My daughter.”

  Otto’s mind whirled as he searched his memory for every scrap of information he had learned about Libby. The realization of who she must be referring to chilled his inner being. Warren Murray had repeatedly forced himself on Libby, and a second child had been the result. She told Murray the baby girl had not lived. But, perhaps…

  “Libby, are you speaking of the child you told Warren had died?”

  Libby covered her mouth with her hand and hunched forward. She nodded. “Yes. This baby lived. But, I couldn’t let him know. Being the sort of man he is, I couldn’t be sure once she grew older that he wouldn’t…” Libby choked off her words with another sob.

  “Hush, Libby, you don’t have to say it. I know why you hid her from him. But, you told the mother superior he’s dead and no longer a threat, didn’t you? Did she not believe you?”

  Libby nodded. “She believed me. But, she reminded me that when I gave my daughter to the orphanage to be adopted, I signed a paper saying I could have no more claim on her. She admits my daughter is still here, but she refuses to give her to me or let me see her. She won’t let me adopt my own daughter. Only a married couple may adopt a child from the orphanage.”

  Otto stared at Libby as he absorbed her words. He saw the solution but wondered why she did not. Maybe she rejected the solution if it involved him. He didn’t know how many more times he could take having her refuse his offer, but he had to try once more.

  “Libby, I love you. Do you believe me?”

  Libby lowered her gaze and shook her head. “No. How can you love me, Otto? How can anyone who knows where I came from and how I have lived wish to have anything to do with me?”

  “Look at me, Libby. I know you can be loved because I love you. I have something for you.” Otto reached into his pocket for the leather pouch given to him years before by the Bavarian jeweler. He opened it and pulled out the locket inside. Turning it so the inscription showed, he held it out for Libby to see.

  “It’s beautiful. Who is it for?”

  “It’s for you, Libby. I bought it years ago from a very wise man who said to give it to a woman I could love with all my heart. It was before I fought against General Price, and before I went out west to fight the hostile tribes. I know now I bought the locket for you. Can you read what the back says, Libby?”

  Libby squinted as she sounded out the words. “All my love. The last word, is that your name? Does Otto start with an ‘O’ instead of an ‘A’?”

  Otto answered as he fastened the locket around Libby’s neck. “Yes, but it is the first three words that are important. You do have all my
love, Libby. You’ve owned it for a long time now.”

  “Otto, you have no idea how much I want to believe that.”

  “Then, believe it, because it’s true. Libby, listen to me. If the orphanage will only allow a married couple to adopt a child, why can’t we be that married couple to adopt your daughter?”

  “I see the hand of God in this.”

  Her forehead creased with worry, Libby stared at him. “You can do this, Otto? You are willing to adopt and raise a child when you know what sort of man fathered her?”

  “Yes, I can, because I know the woman who mothered her. I want you for my wife, Libby. I want you for the mother of all our children, not just this daughter we’ll adopt. Do you think you can care for me enough to agree to that? Even if you don’t love me now, do you think it’s possible you can one day love me?”

  Libby looked away. “I have shut my heart away all these years trying not to feel. I want to love, but I’m not sure I know how.”

  “You love your sister. You also love your daughter. That I know for certain, Libby.”

  “It is a different kind of love than that between a man and a woman. But I do believe I can love you as a wife should, Otto. I know you are the only man I’ve met I wish to marry.”

  “Then, marry me today, Libby. Let’s find the courthouse and a judge who can marry us. I don’t have a ring with me, so the locket will have to do until I can get you one. We’ll take proof we’re married to the mother superior and ask her to help us with the papers to adopt your daughter.”

  Libby reached her hands to either side of his face and tipped it so they looked into each other’s eyes. “Be certain, Otto. I don’t want you to be disappointed later because you chose me. Even though I am mostly white, if we have children between us, people will be able to see the Ojibwa in their faces. Are you sure you can live with that?”

  Otto laughed and hugged her. “Our children’s faces will have a little bit of your face and a little bit of my face. They will all be beautiful. Dry your eyes and come with me, Libby. Let’s get married.”

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  SALINA, KANSAS – AUGUST 1868

  EPILOGUE

  ~o0o~

  As the Kansas Pacific slowed for its approach to Salina, Otto stood and leaned over until his head almost touched the glass of the passenger coach window. He’d sent a telegram before he left St. Louis to tell his parents he had Libby with him and when he expected their train to arrive at the Salina station. He had not spent the money to go into detail. He hoped the telegraph operator had found someone willing to deliver it across the Smoky Hill River to his family’s farm. He would know shortly if he had transportation home, or if he would need to rent a buggy.

  Once the train came to a complete stop, he was already standing and helped Libby stand. They both had so little with them, they kept their bags at their feet the entire trip rather than check some of them in as baggage. The biggest sack was the one that became necessary while they were in St. Louis. He waited while others in a bigger hurry pressed towards the exit. Soon, he walked ahead of Libby down the aisle while he carried most of their belongings.

  Otto felt his heart swell within him as he looked out the exit of the rail car and saw his family—his parents, Carl and his sisters, his Uncle Sidney’s family and the Palmers—clustered on the side of the platform. Smiles and expressions of anticipation filled their faces. He felt satisfaction at the realization Henry was missing because he was caring for Otto’s farm, and would pepper him with questions once he drove up to the house. He knew he was welcome home, and so was Libby.

  Otto stepped down and turned to assist Libby. He sensed more than saw his family surge towards them, eager to hug and offer their greetings, including their expressions of joy that Otto had found Libby and brought her home.

  He picked up on his mother’s intake of breath and guessed it was because she caught sight of the baby in Libby’s arms. Otto turned, and he reached his arm around Libby to guide her through the crowd.

  “Here, son, let me help you carry those bags. Then I guess you better explain about the little one.”

  Relieved of his burden, which ended up being disbursed among the male family members, Otto guided the group away from the rest of the crowd on the platform. His sisters and Meredith, his young cousin, were vocal about expressing how beautiful they thought the baby was. From the set of clothes he and Libby had bought her, there was no doubt she was a girl. His mother’s intense stare focused first on the baby and then on him.

  Finally, he turned to them and cleared his throat. “I have a few announcements to make. First, Libby finally accepted my offer of marriage. I would like to present to you my wife, Genevieve Marie Liberty Atwell, but she wishes to continue to be known by Libby.”

  Exclamations of congratulations broke out as the women reached to hug Libby and then grab each other—all except his mother, who continued to study the baby who twisted from side to side, as if trying to comprehend all the excitement revolving around her.

  Otto raised his hand until the din subsided. “Libby and I were married before a probate judge in St. Louis. He’s the one who made the legal name change, adding Liberty.”

  Jefferson cleared his throat. “Libby, I’m happy you’re now officially part of the family. But, Otto, I’m warning you, one of you better tell us where you came by that beautiful baby before your ma bursts wide open.”

  Otto glanced at Libby, who looked down, signaling she wished him to share the news. A wide smile on his face, Otto turned to his mother. “The baby is ours, Mutti. Her name is Christelle, after Libby’s sister. We adopted her right after we married.”

  Carlotte shook her head in bewilderment. “This I don’t understand, Otto. You and Libby, young you are. Your own children you will make.”

  “True, Mutti. But you remember the man who came and tried to force Libby to go back with him?” Otto paused at the looks of dismay or disgust on the faces of the adults at him bringing up the topic of Warren Murray. Magpie and his young cousin listened with rapt attention, so he knew he needed to choose his words carefully. “He asked about a baby and Libby told him she died.” Otto shook his head. “The baby didn’t die. Libby left her behind in an orphanage in St. Louis and came here so he wouldn’t find the child. Now that child is our daughter.”

  Mary stepped forward and gently cupped Libby’s face with her palm. “I’m so happy you found her, Libby, and brought her home to the family. I see I need to get busy and make a quilt for this little one.”

  Carlotte shook her head in confusion. “But, babies grow—babies change so much when they are so little. After so long, how could Libby know Christelle was her baby?”

  Libby looked first at Christelle and then at her new mother-in-law. “I kept her with me her first week of life. I knew her mark.”

  Otto cleared his throat. “The baby has a little port wine birthmark on the back of her neck. That’s what discouraged other families from adopting Christelle all these months. The nuns said some were worried it would grow bigger as years passed. They didn’t want to risk adopting a child with a mark. That was why she was still in the orphanage when Libby came for her.”

  Carlotte stepped forward and reached to pull down the back of the baby’s gown long enough to see the birthmark peeking out from beneath the curly fringe of dark brown hair. Christelle chortled at her neck being tickled. She squirmed away from the touch.

  Carlotte waved her hand in dismissal. “Pah! That is nothing. She wears her gowns high on her neck, no one sees. Maybe as she grows, it fades, ya? A beautiful baby she is—too pretty to worry about a little beauty mark. Fortunate for you, it kept Christelle safe in orphanage for Libby to come for her.” Carlotte held out her hands towards Christelle and wiggled her fingers. “My new granddaughter. Oma—grandmother—can hold you, ya?”

  Libby turned the baby around so she faced Otto’s mother. She whispered in Christelle’s ear and pointed her finger to dir
ect the baby’s eyes—eyes that reminded Libby of those belonging to her mother—towards Carlotte.

  “Christelle, come to Oma Carlotte?”

  The baby broke into a wide grin and wriggled with excitement. She reached out her chubby arms and allowed her new grandmother to claim her.

  Joy filled Otto’s heart at the acceptance his family gave to both Libby and her birth-daughter, the daughter that now belonged to him, as well. He leaned over and whispered in Libby’s ear. “You have all my love, Libby, just like your locket says. Now you know you also have all the love of our family. You don’t have to run away or keep secrets anymore to protect the ones you love.”

  ~o0o0o~

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  Otto’s Offer!

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