Faithful Heart (27 page)

It was almost suppertime when Will Reeves entered the house to find James and Molly Kate helping Maudie set the table. The kitchen was filled with the scent of food cooking.

Will breathed deeply through his nose and said, “Smells like fried chicken to me!”

“You’re right, Grandpa!” Molly Kate laughed.

Will winked at Maudie, who was standing by the stove, and said, “James … Molly Kate … I have a surprise for each of you.”

The little girl clapped her hands. “What is it, Grandpa?”

James grinned from ear to ear, expectantly.

“Well, I have them out here on the back porch, but before you see them, I want to say something. C’mere.”

He put an arm around each child and said, “Grandma and I love you both very much. You know that, don’t you?”

Both nodded, sending smiles to Maudie, who stood looking on with tears in her eyes.

“Well, because we love you so much, Grandpa’s been in his workshop making something very special. You’ve both had … a lot of sorrow in your little lives lately, and Grandma and I want to give you something to be happy about.”

The children looked at each other and smiled.

“All right,” said Will, heading for the back door. “Ladies first. We’ll give Molly Kate her present first.”

“Give James his present first, Grandpa. He’s the oldest.”

“You sure?” Will said with a chuckle.

“Uh-huh. I want James to get his first.”

The old man looked at James. “What ya say, boy?”

James shrugged and said, “Who am I to argue with a woman?”

Maudie laughed.

“Okay!” said Will, opening the door. “Oldest first!”

The children waited with anticipation dancing in their eyes while Will went out on the back porch, closing the door behind him. Seconds later he came back in, pulling a bright-red wagon by the tongue. White lettering on the side said:
James Harper Express
.

The boy’s eyes lit up and bulged from their sockets. “Wow!” he exclaimed, running to the old man and throwing his arms around him. “Thank you, Grandpa! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Molly Kate looked on with joy to see her brother so happy. James ran his hands over the smooth wood of the wagon, then ran to Maudie and embraced her, expressing his thanks all over again.

He returned to his new toy and looked at Molly Kate. “I’ll pull you around in it,” he said with a grin.

“Thank you,” she said, then looked at Will, who was back at the door.

He smiled at her and said, “Molly Kate, I know you love dolls. You must have a dozen or more at home. You always have at least two with you when you come to stay with us. You
do
love dolls, right?”

“Oh, yes, Grandpa,” she said, trying to imagine what he had for her out there on the porch.

Will looked at Maudie, winked again, then set his eyes on
Molly Kate and said, “Well, sweetheart, I’ve got something for you like you’ve never even seen before. Are you ready?”

“Yes!” she said, nodding rapidly. Her little heart was racing.

Will slipped through the door and closed it behind him. Maudie was about to burst, knowing what was coming.

When the door came open, there was nothing but darkness on the back porch. Then suddenly Will came around the edge of the door carrying the biggest doll Molly Kate Harper had ever seen. The sight of it stole her breath and made her eyes pop.

The doll was the same size as Molly Kate and had hair the same length, style, and color. The dress she wore was exactly like one Grandma Maudie had made for Molly Kate on her last birthday.

What captivated the child the most, however, was the doll’s face. Will had carved the head from the wood of a balsam fir and had captured the features of the little girl. The doll was a near-perfect replica of Molly Kate.

Molly Kate stood in breathless wonder. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her little hands were pressed against her cheeks.

Maudie moved up behind her, put an arm around her, and said, “What do you think of her, honey?”

“Oh, she’s wonderful, Grandma! Grandpa’s an artist!”

Both grandparents received hugs and kisses and excited words of thanks.

Will then went to the porch and returned with a stand he had made for the doll so Molly Kate could stand her up anywhere she wanted. James sat in his wagon, toying with the tongue, and Molly Kate held her doll.

“What are you going to name her, honey?” Maudie asked.

The child looked up sweetly and said, “Well, since she’s my size and looks just like me, there’s only one name that would fit. I’ll call her
Molly Kate!”

Grandpa, Grandma, and big brother all had a good laugh.

I
T WAS MIDMORNING
the next day when Breanna Baylor drove out of San Francisco with a rented horse and buggy and headed for San Bruno. She was filled with mixed emotions. More than anything, she missed the man she loved and thought of him riding southward toward Arizona.

The good-byes to her friends in the wagon train and to her namesake, baby Breanna, had been extremely difficult, and she was still feeling the pain of parting from them. On the other hand, excitement ran through her with the anticipation of seeing her sister once again and meeting Dottie’s family.

Since Breanna did not know the location of the Harper farm, she decided to drive to San Bruno and ask around until she found someone who knew the Harpers and could tell her how to find them.

It was almost eleven o’clock when she turned onto San Bruno’s main street and guided the horse to the hitch rail in front of the San Bruno Bank. Two elderly men sitting on a bench stopped their chatter to watch the young woman as she stepped out of the buggy and approached them.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Breanna said. “I wonder if—”

“Why, Dottie Harper!” said a woman emerging from the bank. “How are you, dear? It’s good to see you.”

“Myrtle,” her husband said, “that’s not Dottie.”

Myrtle studied Breanna’s features. “Well, it has to be.”

“No,” Breanna said smiling. “I’m not Dottie Harper. I’m her sister, Breanna. I arrived in San Francisco this morning in a wagon train and rented this horse and buggy. Dottie doesn’t know I’m coming. I was going to ask these two gentlemen if they could direct me to the Harper farm.”

“Well, we can do that, ma’am,” said Myrtle’s husband. “By the way, we’re Clarence and Myrtle Nolan, friends of Dottie and Jerrod. Our farm is about three miles south of theirs.”

Clarence and Myrtle shook hands with Breanna, then Clarence said, “We’ve got more business to take care of here in town, Miss—are you a miss or a missus, ma’am?”

“I’m a miss, sir. Breanna Baylor.”

“Oh, yes,” Myrtle said. “Dottie did tell me her maiden name was Baylor.”

“Anyway, as I was sayin’,” proceeded Clarence, “we’d lead you to Jerrod and Dottie’s place if we were goin’ back right now, but we’ve still got business to tend to here in town.”

“That’s all right,” Breanna said. “If you can tell me how to get there …”

“Oh, sure.”

Clarence Nolan drew Breanna a map on a slip of paper Myrtle had in her purse. Breanna thanked him, bid them goodbye, and headed out of town. She followed the map, passing fields and orchards, and was soon guiding the horse down the road that led to her sister’s farm. She finally caught sight of the big three-story house she recognized from photographs Dottie
had sent her. She had admired the turret with the cone-shaped roof and the wide, sweeping porch in the pictures, and now actually seeing them was a thrill.

Breanna liked the big trees that towered over the house at the back and both front corners. It looked like a pleasant and comfortable place to live. She longed for the day when she and John could have a house and a family of their own.

Breanna was a bit surprised when she pulled into the yard. There was no one in the fields or anywhere around the house. Perhaps they were all inside. She climbed down from the buggy with her heart in her mouth, mounted the porch steps, and knocked on the door. When there was no answer after a time, she knocked again.

Still no response.

Breanna left the porch and walked around to the back of the house. There were no animals in the corral. She knew from Dottie’s letters that they had a cow, a couple of riding horses, and a team of work horses. When she looked in the barn and found no trace of the animals, an uneasy feeling came over her.

She stepped onto the back porch and tried the door. It was unlocked. She opened it slowly, peered into the kitchen, and called out, “Hello! Anybody home?”

Silence.

It wasn’t in Breanna to enter someone’s home without an invitation, not even her own sister’s. She closed the door and walked back to the front of the house. The horse bobbed its head and nickered at her.

Before climbing back into the buggy, she looked around and saw the nearest neighbor’s house. She could see part of the road that led to it and could tell that the road she had come in on
would have to connect with it on the other side of the peach orchard she had passed.

She put the horse to a trot and headed that direction.

In Molly Kate’s room at the Reeves house, Grandpa Will was attaching the big doll to her stand so the little girl could place her at the window. Molly Kate wanted the doll to be able to look outside.

Maudie was in the kitchen baking pies, and James was in the front yard playing with his wagon. With one leg inside the wagon and the other on the ground to propel it, James was having a grand time running it in a wide circle, guiding it by the tongue.

Movement caught his eye. He stopped and scrutinized the horse and buggy coming his way at a good trot. He could tell there was only one person in the buggy, and as it drew closer, it was obvious that it was a woman. A few seconds passed, and James’s eyes widened.

“Mommy! It’s Mommy!” he shouted.

He dashed to the house and into the kitchen. “Grandma! It’s Mommy! She’s coming up the road in a buggy!”

Maudie looked up from the pies she had laid out on the cupboard and said, “Honey, it can’t be your mother. She’s still in the hospital and will be for some time.”

“But it
is!”
he insisted. “I saw her! Come and see for yourself!”

Will and Molly Kate entered the kitchen.

“What’s all the excitement about?” Will asked.

“It’s Mommy!” the boy said. “She’s coming up the road, driving a buggy!”

“Let’s go see about this,” said Will. “You sure it’s her?”

“Yes!”

Molly Kate was wide-eyed. “Really, James? Is Mommy really coming?”

“Yes. C’mon, I’ll show you!”

Will and Maudie followed the excited children out the front door and reached the porch just as the wagon was pulling into the yard.

“See there!” James cried. “I told you it’s—” Suddenly he realized it was not his mother, but the lady was almost his mother made over. Then it struck him.

“Molly Kate,” he said, “you know who that is? It’s Aunt Breanna! It has to be her! It’s Aunt Breanna!”

Molly Kate stood in a mild state of shock, gawking at the pretty lady. Maudie and Will watched James dash off the porch and run up to the buggy, shouting, “Hi! I’m James! You’re my Aunt Breanna, aren’t you?”

Breanna stepped down, opened her arms, and said, “I sure am, James!”

While hugging the boy, Breanna looked at the little girl and smiled. “Hello, Molly Kate. Do
you
have a hug for your Aunt Breanna?”

Suddenly Molly Kate bounded off the porch. Breanna let go of James and took her into her arms. After she had hugged her for a moment, Breanna put an arm around both children and looked at the older couple. “I think I can name you two. You’re Grandma and Grandpa Reeves, right?”

“Right,” Will and Maudie said together, smiling broadly.

“Dottie had told me about you in her letters. I just didn’t
realize you lived so close to them.”

As the elderly couple stepped off the porch, Maudie said, “Dottie has told us so much about you, my dear. My, don’t you two look alike? You could almost pass as identical twins!”

Will shook hands with Breanna, and Maudie embraced her. Then Breanna said, “Dottie has no idea I was coming to California, so this is going to be a real surprise. I went to their place and couldn’t find anyone home, or even any animals in the corral. Where are Dottie and Jerrod?”

James and Molly Kate looked to the old couple, who exchanged glances.

“What’s wrong?” Breanna said. “I know something’s wrong! What is it?”

Maudie took Breanna’s hand. “Come on inside and sit down, dear. What we have to tell you isn’t good.”

“Has … has something happened to my sister? Tell me!”

“She’s in San Francisco’s City Hospital,” Will said. “It’s serious, but she’ll be all right.”

“Please,” Maudie urged, “come in and sit down. We’ll explain it to you.”

James and Molly Kate stayed close to Breanna as she sat down in the parlor. Both children were amazed at how much their aunt resembled their mother, not only in appearance but also in her mannerisms.

Interrupting each other at times, Will and Maudie told Breanna the whole sordid story that started nearly six months earlier when Jerrod’s disorder surfaced and began to grow worse. They brought her up to the minute, explaining that they were keeping the children until Dottie could come home.