In a Mother’s Arms (19 page)

Cassie went up to the apartment and saw Luke sitting on the divan, waiting for her with a question in his eyes.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked.

Cassie sat next to him. “No, Luke, I’m not. You were helping Margaret.”

She wished someone had helped
her
. Gabe had, but the town had turned against him, too. Sitting with Luke in the shadows, she imagined the brush of wings on her face and the peck of beaks. Maude had eaten her alive tonight. Cassie had wanted to fight, but Maude’s first words had wounded her so fiercely she’d lost the will. If she stayed in Guthrie Corners, she’d face that scorn every day. So would Luke. So would Gabe. She couldn’t bear the thought. She simply didn’t have the courage. Nor could she stand being dependent on anyone, even Gabe. At least in Chicago she’d have her pride.

“We need to talk,” she said to her son.

“About what?”

Cassie resisted the urge to smooth his hair. “What do you think about going back to Chicago?”

“I don’t want to.”

“I don’t either, Luke. But I have to be able to support us.”

His voice rose to a little boy whine. “What about Gabe? You like him, don’t you?”

“I do, but I’m worried about money.”

Luke had heard about money trouble all his life. He took the news with a quiet dignity he’d never before possessed. When had her boy started thinking like a man? Since he’d known Gabe, that’s when. Was she wrong to leave? Cassie called out to God in the dark of her soul.
I need help, Lord. What should I do? I can’t stand the mockery, but neither can I bear the thought of leaving.

“I have to send a payment to Mr. Russell,” she said quietly. “If nothing sells tomorrow, I can’t do it.”

“It’s because of Mrs. Drake, isn’t it?”

“She’s been angry with me for years.”

“I don’t want to go, Ma.” He stood up. “I want to stay and fight.”

Gabe’s influence…again. Cassie felt both proud and scared. “We need to pick our battles, Luke. I don’t think I can win this one. And I have to take care of us. I have to buy food and clothes—”

“I’ll work.”

What a change in her little boy…She didn’t want to discourage him, but who in Guthrie Corners would hire him? What did a mother do? Cassie needed to chase the buzzards away from her son, but he was becoming a man who needed to stand on his own. She’d learned from Gabe that she needed to respect Luke’s pride, but she found it hard. She found it harder still to think of Gabe. She wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, but if she had to leave town to protect her son, she’d do it. She didn’t doubt that Gabe would provide for their basic needs, but she couldn’t bear the thought of public
scorn. Gabe could lose his position, a job he loved. He’d blame her like Ryan did…

Cassie turned to Luke. “It’s best that we leave.”

He looked at her with wide, vulnerable eyes. “What about Gabe?”

Cassie didn’t say a word.

“You like him, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

She watched Luke’s expression, a mix of confusion and daring. Twelve-year-old boys didn’t go down the road marked love, but they knew it existed. Luke raised his head higher. “Gabe wouldn’t care about the store. I know it.”

“No,” she answered. “But I do.”

“Gabe wouldn’t run,” Luke said forcefully. “Neither will I. Billy’s a bully. I’m not sorry I hit him. He was being awful to Margaret.”

“I know, sweetie.”

Luke scowled. He didn’t like being called “sweetie” but it had slipped out and he took it. Cassie forced herself to sound stronger, more respectful of him. “We’ll have to see what tomorrow holds, okay?”

“All right,” he mumbled. “I’m going to bed.”

He walked down the hall, leaving Cassie to bow her head and pray for God to chase away the buzzards from her store, Gabe and especially her son.

T
he next day, early in the afternoon, Cassie lost all hope. She locked the door to Higgins Mercantile for the last time, then surveyed the merchandise she’d been looking at for a month. Not a soul had come to the sale, not even the Halls, though Thelma had sent a note saying they were under the weather. For a moment Cassie wondered if they’d heard about the ugliness at the social, but she decided they hadn’t. If Thelma had gotten word, she’d have dragged herself to the store to show support.

Gabe hadn’t shown up, either. She’d half expected him to pressure her by being that one customer she’d mentioned. Instead he’d kept his distance. The gesture made her love him all the more, but it didn’t change the facts. She hadn’t sold a thing and she owed Mr. Russell a payment. The buzzards had won.

Awash in despair, she headed for the back room to fetch a shipping crate. As she passed the dishes she
loved, she heard a timid knock on the front door, turned and saw Margaret peering through the window. The girl probably wanted Luke, but Cassie hadn’t seen him all morning. At breakfast he’d asked if he could visit Gabe and she’d said yes. The silence in the store had driven her crazy, but she’d been glad to spare Luke the humiliation of no customers.

Sighing, Cassie went to the door and opened it. Margaret always looked a little pale, but today her freckles stood out like strawberries on her ashen face. “Are you all right, sweetie?”

“I’m okay.”

“Are you looking for Luke?”

The girl glanced down the street as if she was worried she’d been followed. Seeing no one, she looked back at Cassie. “I came to buy something.”

Cassie wrinkled her brow. “You did?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As she motioned for Margaret to come inside, Cassie pondered the peculiar nature of her visit. Had her father sent her? But why wouldn’t Ian Glebe come himself if he’d decided to show his support?

Margaret headed for the counter and the jars holding penny candy. She looked at the peppermint and licorice, the butterscotch and the gumdrops that would be dry by now, then she reached into her pocket and set two pennies on the counter. “I’d like candy for my brothers and sister.”

“Sure,” Cassie answered. “You’ll need some, too.”

“I only have two cents.”

“That’s more than enough.” Cassie filled four brown
bags with as much candy as they’d hold. When she finished, she slid the purchase across the counter.

“There you go,” she said brightly. She wouldn’t let her gloom show to a child.

“Thank you.” Margaret started to leave, then turned back with a solemn expression. “My father told me to stay away today, but I heard him talking to Deputy Wyatt and Luke. They said you needed people to buy things or you’d have to leave town. That’s why I came.”

Cassie stood speechless.

Margaret looked even more ashen. “I know two cents isn’t enough, but it’s all I have.”

Her one customer…a child with two pennies who’d mustered her courage to help someone else. Cassie felt a sudden, humbling rush of shame. Last night Luke had chased a buzzard away from this girl. Today she’d risked everything to repay his kindness. She’d brought the best gift she had—as little as it was—to honor him. Luke was her hero, because Gabe had taught him how. Looking at the pennies, Cassie saw the biggest buzzard of all coming straight at her. Black and ugly, the vulture had a name and its name was Pride.
Her
pride. Never leaning…Never trusting anyone…Not even Gabe when he’d waited fourteen years out of the purest love she’d ever known. She hadn’t trusted God, either.

Especially God, she admitted to herself. Today, in spite of her lack of faith, He’d sent that one customer. Two cents wouldn’t pay Cassie’s bills, but it was enough to keep her in Guthrie Corners. If Gabe would still have her, she’d stay forever.

As soon as Margaret left the store, Cassie hurried out
the door. She had to get to Gabe. Three steps down the street, she recalled something Margaret had said about her father.
I heard him talking to Deputy Wyatt.
While she’d been hiding in the store, Gabe had been fighting for her. So had Luke. She sped to the sheriff’s office and went inside. Blinking, she flashed on the day she’d found her son in jail. Gabe had set the boy free to be a man. He’d set her free, too. Free to love…Free to trust.

Instead of seeing him behind the desk, she saw another deputy. “I need Gabe,” she said.

“He’s not here.”

“Where is he?”

The man shrugged. “Dunno. He’s off today.”

She sped out the door and ran to the house that would soon be theirs…if Gabe would have her. She banged on the door but no one answered. She considered running through the streets of Guthrie Corners in search of him, but he could have been anywhere. He could be eating lemon cake at Thelma’s or fishing at the stream. He could be at Millie’s or…the list went on and on. Desperate to spill her feelings, Cassie went back to the store, selected the finest stationery she stocked and penned a letter to Gabe…A love letter that told her deepest feelings. She sealed it with white wax, then took it to his house and slipped it under his door, just as she’d done fourteen years ago. This time, instead of pain and rejection, the letter held the sweetest of invitations.

“That was awful!” Luke whined to Gabe.

Gabe had to agree. They’d spent the day calling on
anyone in Guthrie Corners who might have supported Cassie. People had been friendly until he’d stated the purpose of the visit. When he’d suggested Millie could use new table linens and that Cassie had them on sale, the café owner had given a firm shake of her head.

“It’s not about Cassie,” Millie had said. “I admire the woman for trying. But if I tick off the Drakes, I’ll be hurting for business, too.”

Next he and Luke had visited Dale and Jenny Archer. Mrs. Archer had looked sympathetic, even irked, but Mr. Archer had given a firm shake of his head and insisted on staying out of the tangle with the Drakes.

Betty Lou’s dress shop had been locked up tight.

Pete Doyle didn’t have time for fancy things.

They’d visited Ian Glebe, Margaret’s father, last of all. Gabe had told the man what had happened and how Luke had come to his daughter’s defense. Mr. Glebe acknowledged Luke with a curt “Thank you,” then he’d been blunt regarding Cassie. “I can’t help her, Deputy. You know the Drakes. I’ll be next on their list. With four children to feed—and no wife—I can’t risk it.”

Gabe had no right to judge the man, but the decision struck him as gutless.

Last of all, they went to the bank to speak with William Drake. “Wait here,” he said to Luke.

As the boy lingered on the boardwalk, Gabe walked into the building. No tellers were at the counter, so Drake himself came out of his glassed-in office.

“Good morning, Deputy,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m here about Billy.”

Drake looked bored. “What about him?”

Gabe deliberately kept his hands relaxed and his tone low. “Last night wasn’t as simple as you might have heard. Your son was bullying Margaret Glebe. Luke stopped him.”

The banker huffed. “I hardly think you’re objective.”

“Then speak to Margaret.”

“Is there anything else, Deputy?” His tone reeked of sarcasm.

“I’ve done my duty,” Gabe countered. “The rest is up to you and Mrs. Drake. But be warned, sir. Your son is headed for trouble.”

Drake’s hair, slick with pomade, shone in the light. “Boys will be boys. It’s not a problem.”

“It is if no one teaches them right from wrong.” Gabe didn’t have time for the man’s nonsense. He’d said his piece and he wanted to get to Cassie. He wished the attorney well and left. Outside he found Luke and they headed for Cassie’s shop. The moment of truth had come. The mercantile would be humming with customers, or it would be dead quiet.

When they reached the front of the store, Luke tried the knob. “It’s locked.”

Gabe peered through the window. Not a spoon had moved. The bolts of cloth sat untouched and uncut. He didn’t see Cassie anywhere.

“Go on up,” he said to Luke. “I need to do something before I speak with your ma.” Later today he’d hand her the train tickets with the opal ring.

After Luke slipped inside, Gabe headed for the depot. He bought the tickets for two weeks’ time, long
enough for Cassie to close up the shop and for Gabe to give notice that he’d be leaving his job. If he couldn’t sell his house, he’d rent it out. With the tickets in his shirt pocket, he headed home.

As he opened the door, he saw an envelope on the rug, face up bearing his name in Cassie’s curly writing. Fourteen years turned into a mist and burned away with the heat of anger. Another goodbye…Another rejection. He relived the humiliation of standing alone in church. He felt the burning in his gut. Once again, she’d lacked the courage to face him.

Gabe stared at Cassie’s handwriting for a long time. Did he really want to marry this woman? Looking at the curls of his name, large and bold and in Cassie’s hand, he thought of her stubborn pride, her irritating ways…and he knew. He could stand anything except another “Dear Gabe” letter. What she had to say, she could say to his face.

He set the letter on the side table without reading it. Tomorrow after church, he’d call on her and speak his mind.

Cassie waited all afternoon and long into the evening for Gabe to come to her. She’d poured her deepest feelings into the letter and he’d chosen to ignore it. She didn’t blame him. From Luke she’d learned that they’d made calls and been rejected by everyone except Margaret. Gabe had come face-to-face with the scorn Cassie had predicted, and he’d changed his mind about marrying her. She didn’t blame him a bit.

By morning, she’d lost all hope that he’d come to her.
She wanted to go to church, but she also wanted their next encounter to be in private. Later today she’d go to his house, but right now she had work to do. The unsold merchandise had to be shipped back to Chicago, so after breakfast she and Luke went downstairs. Together they hauled the crates from the storeroom and began clearing the shelves.

Feeling bereft, she looked at the dishes she treasured. Fragile and pretty, she’d pack them last with extra care. She and Luke worked in companionable silence, each lost in thought until someone pounded on the door. She opened it and saw Gabe. He’d worn his dark suit to church and had pulled his hat low to shield his eyes, either from the sun or from her, she didn’t know.

“Hello, Gabe.”

“Cassie.”

She couldn’t stop staring at his jaw. Clean shaven and hard-set, it reminded her of oak and marble.

“May I come in?” He’d issued an order.

“Of course.”

She opened the door just enough for him to slip inside, then closed it. Luke saw him and stood straight, but he didn’t speak a greeting. Instead the men—Luke had that air today—traded a look of silent understanding.

Her son headed for the door. “I’m going upstairs.”

Cassie knew what the next minutes held. Gabe would tell her that he’d changed his mind about marrying her. She’d force a smile and say she understood. They’d part with a handshake and a promise to stay in touch for
Luke’s sake. She’d do all those things with her head high.

As Gabe took off his hat, she looked into his eyes. “You must have gotten my letter.”

“I sure did.” He spat the words.

Cassie didn’t understand. She’d expected a hard goodbye, but it wasn’t like Gabe to be cruel. “I’m sorry.”

“Why, Cassie?”

He’d asked her that question in Reverend Hall’s office and she’d confessed the truth. This time she didn’t understand it. She’d said everything in the letter. She wrinkled her brows. “Why what?”

Gabe reached between the pages of his Bible, took out the envelope and held it out with disgust. “You could have at least told me in person.”

Looking down, she studied the crisp folds of the paper and the unsmudged ink. With her fingers trembling, she took the envelope and felt the wax seal, still unbroken, against her thumb. The fool man hadn’t read the letter! He’d taken it for another rejection. Her heart soared with hope, but she didn’t let it show.

“You’re right,” she said.

His eyes stayed hard, challenging. “Read it out loud. We can both hear the foolishness.”

Cassie popped the wax with her fingernail, removed the two pages and began to read.

My Dearest Gabe,

For fourteen years I’ve wandered this earth without you, yet you’ve lived in my dreams and
dwelled in my heart. In those secret places where a woman keeps her truest treasure—her love, her family—I’ve kept those memories of you. Today they’re more alive than ever. I love you. I always have and always will.

“Cassie—” his voice broke and he reached for her.

She stepped back. “Let me finish.” He’d waited a long time for this moment and so had she.

“Last night you told me again that you loved me. In a moment of selfish pride, I said I didn’t trust you to take care of Luke and me. This morning, with the help of a child, I came to my senses. Your love is more than enough. It’s everything a woman could want. If you’ll still have me, I’d be honored to be your wife. Nothing would give me greater joy. I know that Luke loves you, too.”

She heard his breathing, heavy and unsteady. Her own matched it with a ragged cadence. She wanted nothing more than to go into his arms, but she had to finish reading.

“I’ll be waiting for you, my love. Tonight and always.

Love, Cassie.”

With her heart pounding, she looked into Gabe’s eyes. They had a sheen of love and a spark of posses
sion. Knowing that she’d treasure this moment as much as he would, he kissed her with a tender vengeance. “You scared me to death!” he whispered between breaths. “I thought you were leaving again.”

“Never.”

With their cheeks touching, she felt him smile as he murmured into her ear. “I have a surprise for you, too.”

“What?”