Love in Independence (Holiday Mail Order Brides) (14 page)

“Well you heard wrong!” Maude said. “He’s at my house right now, talking with Jonathan, and told him he …” she peeked past Mercy and watched as Horace sat at the desk, and rifled through a stack of papers. She then whispered, “He told Jonathan it would have been easier if she had been a mail-order bride!”

Mercy’s mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ as her eyes opened wide. “We were right!” she whispered back.

Betsy shook her head at the remark. “Thank Heaven for small miracles.”

Mercy narrowed
her eyes, and then smiled. “You hate having to admit when we’re right.”

  Betsy smirked back. “Yeah, but you and your friends ain’t right that often.”

“Why do you put up with her, again?” Maude asked.

Mercy waved Betsy away. “Never mind about that
; what else?” she asked Maude.

“He’s gonna head out there tomorrow morning, and talk with her!”

“Wonderful! And Horace and I were planning to pay a visit; we have a financial contribution for the children. I’m sure it will help the family out until Mrs. Edmonson is well enough to decide what to do.”

“Oh, you’re such a dear, Mercy.” Maude said with a smile. She sipped her tea, and sighed. “Looks like everything’s going to turn out just as we planned.”

“Yes, isn’t it wonderful? I can’t wait to tell Martha.”

“Me
neither. They always sit down to supper about this time, so I didn’t intrude. I came here straight away, to tell you.”

Mercy sighed with contentment. “Another job well done. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!”

Betsy watched them sip their tea. “Thank the Lord miracles
do
happen.”

Fourteen

  “Pa!” Gabe cried as he came running down the stairs! “Winnie! It’s Pa! I just saw him from my window! He’s crossing the field! He’s back!”

Winnie stared after the boy as he ran out the kitchen’s back door to greet his father. She gripped the worktable where she’d been kneading dough, and swallowed hard. Amos Edmonson had come home.

Within moments, Gabe burst through the door, his father right behind, and went straight to the staircase in the front hall. “Ma!” he yelled, and then ran up the stairs.

Mr. Edmonson looked terrible. He had almost a week’s worth of whiskers on his face, his hair hadn’t been combed in at least that long, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in
days. “I done an awful thing. A mighty awful thing …” he rasped. “You the same woman took care of my family with Pastor Luke?”

Winnie nodded. “Yes
; I’ve been here all week looking after them while they waited … for you to come home.”

He bit his lower lip and shook his head, tears in his eyes. “She … she might not want me back. My wife … she’
s got every right to send me away.”

“
No, Mr. Edmonson; she’s not going to send you away, I promise.”

His chest heaved, and he began to sob. Gabe came running down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Pa! Ma wants …” He took in his father’s weeping, and the boy’s eyes welled up with tears. “
Ma wants you to come upstairs,” he whispered.

Mr. Edmonson did his best to calm himself, wiped his eyes with the back of one hand, and started for the hall. Winnie not
iced that he limped, and wondered whether he’d been injured or if it was something he’d always had. She watched as he left, Gabe right behind him and, once upstairs, heard him close the bedroom door.

She wrapped her arms around herself and sat at the table, relief flooding her. But it was short-lived as she realized she had nothing more to keep her here. It was time to leave.

Winnie gazed at the hallway and wondered if Gabe was in the room with his parents, or waiting on the stair landing. No matter, the Edmonsons would have their talk, and she prayed all would be well between them. In the meantime, she needed to figure out her next move and make a plan.

A knock sounded at the door, pulling Winnie from her thoughts. She went to get up from her chair, and realized she hadn’t as much strength as she expected. Her stay at the farm had wo
rn her out. Using the table, she pushed herself up, and went to answer the door. It was probably Martha.

“Hello, Winnie.”

  She froze. It was not Martha, or Mercy, or Maude standing on the porch. It was Luke.

“May I come in?”

She made to speak, but all that came out was a shaky breath. She moved aside, and let him enter. He stepped over the threshold slowly, and looked up the stairwell. “He… he… he’s back,” she managed to say.

“Back? You mean Mr. Edmonson?”

“You … y,y,y, you …” she pressed her lips together.
Not now!
She took a deep breath. “You know?”

“Yes
; Mr. Smythe told me. I wanted to come last night, but it was late.” He looked at her, his eyes full of emotion, but with a look she did not recognize.

“He
ju… ju…” She closed her eyes and stomped a foot in anger. Giving up, she turned, and retreated into the kitchen.

“Winnie!” Luke said and grabb
ed her before she passed him. “What’s wrong?”

She looked up at him, her head swimming. She was exhausted, worn-out from her week of taking care of everyone but herself. Weary of thinking about what could have been between them
, she shook her head. “I, I … I …” she tried to pull away but he held her fast.

“Winnie,” he began as he put his arms around her. “Come with me
; you need to sit down.”

  He was right, of course, but to sit with him meant talking, and she was incapable of doing so right now. She’d make a fool of herself. But then, what did it matter? He was courting
someone else, anyway.

He led her into the parlor, and urged her onto the settee. She flinched when he sat beside her. “Are you all right? Do I need to take you back t
o town?”
She stared at him, licked her dry lips, and shook her head no.

He studied her. “Winnie … I didn’t just come here to check on things
; I wanted to talk to you.”

She felt her bo
dy go cold. So, here it comes …

He took a deep breath. “I know we’ve had a few misunderstandings since we met. Most of them
were my fault, at least I think so.” He smiled, as if trying to make light of it, then became somber. “What I’m trying to say is … well, Eva told me I should …”

She held up a hand, shook her head, and took a deep breath. “You don’t have to explain anything.” The breath she took came o
ut in a rush. She was so tired she couldn’t even hold it properly.

“Winnie?”

“I … I … Ohhhhh!” She balled her hands into fists.

He studied h
er anew, and then leaned toward her with interest. His eyes suddenly widened. “Winnie? Do … do you have a stutter?”

S
he turned her face away. So, he’d guessed her secret.

Now it was his turn to take a deep breath. “Well, this explains a lot.”

She spun to face him. What did he mean by that? She wanted to ask him, but didn’t dare open her mouth. It was bad enough he’d figured it out without her telling him.

As if reading her thoughts he said, “Don’t be ashamed
; it’s all right. I know lots of people who stutter. My father had a stutter.

Winnie’s brows went up.

“Yes; all his life, in fact. I don’t mind if you have one. It doesn’t change who you are.”

She swallowed hard as tears formed in her eyes. Of course,
why would he mind? He wasn’t intending to marry her. She sighed, and got up from the settee.

“Wait
; don’t go,” he said. “I still want to talk.”

She shook her head and took a deep breath. “Too tired.”

He gave her a quizzical look. “So, if you hold your
breath
, you don’t stutter?”

She shrugged and nodded.

“Wow; I wonder if that would have worked for my father.”

Winnie mouthed the words, “I don’t know,” and headed for the kitchen.

“Wait!” Luke jumped off the settee. “About Eva; I don’t know if you’ve heard what Mrs. Brock has been saying.”

Winnie spun on him, and put a hand over his mouth. She shook her head, relaying a definite message of
,
no
.

“But, don’t you even want to hear what I have to say?”

“No.”

“Pastor Luke!” Gabe called as he came out of his mother’s bedroom. “Come quick!”

Luke glanced at Winnie, and then leapt for the stairs, taking them two at a time to the top. “What is it?”

“Ma wants to
ask ya somethin’.”

Luke stepped into the bedroom. Mr. and Mrs. Edmonson were sitting on the bed, the baby in Mr. Edmonson’s arms. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Edmonson said, tears in her eyes. “We wanted to know if you’d marry us.”

“Marry
you?” Luke said, his brows rising in shock. “I though you already were!”

“We are, but, we
’ve been talkin’ and think it would be a good idea to do it again, all things considered.”

“Ohhhh,” Luke said as comprehension dawned. “You want to recommit to each other.”

Mr. Edmonson nodded. “Yes, sir, preacher. I’ve done a terrible thing, and need to let my wife know it will never happen again. It’s the only think I can think of to show her I mean it.”

Luke smiled. “It’s a definite start, and a beautiful one. I’ll help you any
way I can.”

“Can we do it on the Fourth of July?” Mr. Edmonson asked. “I’m not stupid enough to think nobody knows what I done. So, I want to make sure they all know I’m recommitting myself to my wife.”

“Actually, very few people know. We’ve respected your wife, and kept this to ourselves, the few of us who knew what happened.”

“Well, that
’s mighty kind of all of ya. Most folks would take somethin’ like this and spread it like wild fire.”

“I don’t want that sort of thing happening in this town. Not if I can help it. The
re’s enough of that that goes on already.”

Mr. Edmonson nodded his agreement,
and then gazed at his baby daughter. “What a fool I’ve been. I’m so sorry I put you through this.”

Mrs. Edmonson leaned her head on his shoulder. “You’ve come back to us
;
that’s all that matters.”

Gabe took Luke’s hand and squeezed it. “You gonna stay?”

  “I can for a little while,
and then I have to be getting back to town. Why don’t we let your mother and father be alone. I’m sure they have lots to talk about.”

Gabe ran to the bed and kissed his father. “I’m glad you’re home, Pa.”

Mr. Edmonson choked up, fresh tears in his eyes, and kissed the top of his son’s head. “So am I.”

Luke smiled as he backed out of the bedroom and
, once on the landing, let out a sigh of relief. Thank the Lord the Edmonson family was back together again, and with a little work and prayer, would stay that way. Gabe came out, closing the door behind him, and together, they went downstairs, smiles on both their faces.

* * *

Winnie never thought of herself as a coward, but today she didn’t have the strength to be a hero either. So, she left without saying a word to Luke or Mrs. Edmonson. She gathered her things while Luke was upstairs, wrote a quick note, placed it on the kitchen table, and went out the back door. That was over half an hour ago. 

She cut through the
Edmonsons’ back fields, knowing that by doing so, she’d make it to town in half the time it took if she used the road. She didn’t know why she was running; maybe it was because she didn’t want any more disappointment. But she also realized that she’d been a blessing to Mrs. Edmonson and her children, and perhaps that was the reason she’d wound up in Independence; brought to town by the oddest of circumstances, and now would move on and perhaps find another family to help in their time of need.

And she
would
move on. She’d made up her mind. She didn’t want to be a burden to the Smythes or the Tindles, even though they offered her a job. She might have to work long enough to earn stage fare, but she could do it, and then she’d head north to Salem. It wasn’t far, and she’d have a better chance of procuring a more permanent position there than in a small town like Independence.

“Land sakes!” Maude said when Winnie made it b
ack to the house. “You look like you haven’t slept for a week!”

“I feel like it
, too.”

“You poor dear
; what you need is a hot bath. How’s Mrs. Edmonson?”

Winnie gave her a weak smile. She was more tired now than ever, but happy
about her next words. “Mr. Edmonson came back.”

Maude sucked in a breath and put her hands to her mouth, before clasping them in front of her. “That’s the best news I’ve heard in days! You must be s
o relieved. And what a help you’ve been to that woman!”

Winnie sat at the kitchen table, and set her small bundle
of things down. “It was hard work, but I enjoyed it
and
the children. The poor things had no idea what was going on.”

“Do they need anything?”

“Pastor Luke is with them; he came out a couple of hours ago. I’m sure he’ll see they get by today. Besides, as Mrs. Edmonson was doing much better, I was thinking I could come back to you today, anyway.”

Maude studied her. “What’s wrong, other than you’re plumb tuckered out?”

“Luke and Eva …”

“Oh, that whole nonsense. Don’t pay it any mind. You just rest for now, and don’t worry about anything else the rest of the day.”

Winnie nodded, got up, and went to her room. Once there, she fell onto the bed, closed her eyes, and didn’t wake up until morning.

* * *

 
Winnie woke up to a constant pounding on the front door. She sat up, giving her vision a moment to clear, and glanced around the room. Once again, she’d been so tired that she didn’t remember putting on her nightclothes or getting all the way into bed. She got up as she heard voices downstairs, and wondered what the fuss was about. 

Within moments
, Maude came up to her room, and poked her head in. “You’d best come downstairs, that Mrs. Brock is raising a ruckus. Something about gathering flowers for the parade and picnic?”