A Quilt for Christmas (27 page)

God help me now.

Your Loving Husband

William T. Spooner

Davy folded the letter so that it was as an envelope again and held it out to Eliza, who took a step away from the haymow door and reached for it, holding it in her cold fingers. “I should have read it before,” she said. “What made you open it?”

Davy shifted, rubbing the toe of his foot on the floor and scattering hay. Then without looking at Eliza, he said, “I thought Papa had written something that would make you glad Mr. Judd left.”

“But he didn't.”

Davy shrugged. “It's my fault he's gone.” He said in a raw voice, “I think Papa would have wanted him to stay.”

“It's a pity we didn't read his letter before. Things might have turned out differently.” She touched the letter to her cheek.

“They still can.”

“What do you mean?” Eliza asked.

“I was wrong.” Davy glanced at Eliza, then stared past her to the barnyard. He seemed to struggle with himself. “Papa told you to be happy. He said not to hate.”

“But you still do?”

“I don't know. I don't want to now.” Davy turned away from his mother and slammed the fist of his good arm against a support. “Damn!” he said, hitting the post again. Then he shook out his arm to get rid of the sting. “Do you love him, Mama, Mr. Judd?”

She nodded.

“As much as Papa?”

Eliza shrugged. “I'll never know. But I believe he is as good a man as Papa.”

Davy stared at her for a long time. Then he hurried down the ladder.

“What are you doing?” Eliza called.

“He can't have got so far, walking that way. I'll fetch him. Me and the mule will make good time, better than with the buggy.” Davy picked up a saddle blanket and fitted it on the mule's back, doubling over the back of it so the saddle would rest higher, just as Daniel had told him that first day on the farm. Using his good arm, he swung the saddle over the mule, and in a moment, he led the animal out of the barn. “I'll be back,” he called. “Me and Mr. Judd will be back.”

 

EPILOGUE

December 24, 1865

Eliza and Daniel were married on Christmas Eve, Davy and Luzena standing up with them. The weather had been good and the roads dry that day, so the members of Eliza's quilting group and their families had come for the ceremony, bringing a cake the size of a washbasin. The three women had made it together, each contributing to the ingredients. Mercy brought the flower-basket quilt as a present from all of them.

The gold ring Daniel slid onto Eliza's finger did not have a ruby in it but a blue stone, a sapphire “the color of your eyes,” Daniel told her. They looked at each other as they said their vows, Eliza wearing the new paisley shawl Daniel had given her, then turned to John Hamlin, who officiated, as he asked a final blessing.

Just before she bowed her head Eliza glanced at the quilt hanging on the wall in front of them, the Stars and Stripes quilt she had made just a year before. The white stripes were dingy and the red ones faded, but the blue was still bright, and the white stars stood out as if they were hung in the sky. Eliza gave thanks that it had kept Will safe for a time and had saved Daniel's life. And now, she knew, the ragged quilt would warm their lives for all the Christmases to come.

 

Also by Sandra Dallas

Fallen Women

True Sisters

The Bride's House

Whiter Than Snow

Prayers for Sale

Tallgrass

New Mercies

The Chili Queen

Alice's Tulips

The Diary of Mattie Spenser

The Persian Pickle Club

Buster Midnight's Café

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SANDRA DALLAS is the author of thirteen novels, including
Fallen Women, True Sisters, The Bride's House, Whiter Than Snow, Prayers for Sale, Tallgrass,
and
New Mercies.
She is a former Denver bureau chief for
BusinessWeek
magazine and lives in Denver, Colorado. Visit her at
www.sandradallas.com
.

 

 

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

A QUILT FOR CHRISTMAS.
Copyright © 2014 by Sandra Dallas. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by Elsie Lyons

Cover photographs: woman © Susan Fox / Trevillion Images; flag quilt © National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution; cabin © Antonio Jorge Nunes /
Shutterstock.com
; snow © Nemeziya /
Shutterstock.com

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-1-250-04594-2 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4668-4608-1 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781466846081

First Edition: October 2014