Rumors and Promises (44 page)

“Yes, what became of her was quite a tragedy.” Mr. Gloucester cleared his throat. “Because of an alarming situation …well … let’s say there’s a child involved.”

“Oh, Herman, really. How could you speak of such a thing publicly? I feel positively faint.” Mrs. Gloucester snapped open her fan and began waving it violently in front of her face.

“Well, since she’s gone missing her parents are terribly worried. I think she needs to know this.”

Sophie chose her words carefully. “Perhaps the daughter they once knew no longer exists.” She lifted her chin.

“Soffie! ’Cowmick!” Caira’s stubby legs carried her closer with Esther, Gloria, Asa, and Elise not far behind.

The Wringer woman gave her a hawkish stare. “Well, isn’t all of this fascinating?” She licked her lips like a cat going in for the kill.
“Wasn’t there something about that in a Detroit paper recently? Perhaps your friend, James Cooper, could tell us more.”

Caira grabbed onto her mother’s skirt. Rooted to the floor by her fear, Sophie swept the child up and held her close. Her heart’s cadence grew faster like the rhythm of a train upon a track, but she couldn’t stop it, as though the train was headed for a wreck and she was in the middle of it. Where could she go? What could she do?

Herman and Phyllis Gloucester looked on as Caira grasped onto Sophie’s lace collar. The chestnut ringlets and almost identical facial features no doubt gave the child’s true identity away in their eyes. Sophie held her breath and pressed her daughter closer. Time seemed to stop for Sophie as she awaited the Wringer woman’s accusations.

“I knew it! I knew you were a fallen woman, and the child was yours all along!” Gertrude Wringer stood with hands on her hips, gleeful in her triumph. “The truth always comes out in the end!”

The congregants chatting in the foyer grew silent. Eyes turned toward Sophie and Caira. Their questioning looks darted toward Ian. Many church members stared with mouths agape. Sophie noticed James several feet away. He fussed over the brim of his hat, studying it and stealing a look toward those involved in the confrontation.

“So … our saintly little piano player isn’t so holy after all.” Gertrude continued to stand with hands on her hips and nose in the air. Her eyes brightened with her exultation over Sophie.

“I believe you’ve said enough, Gertrude.” Ian’s quiet, yet angry tone spoke volumes. His face flushed. He pulled Sophie closer and squeezed her shoulder.

“Gertrude, you have a lot of nerve accusing my employee like that!” Esther stood face to face with the nasty woman. “Whatever happened in Sophie’s past doesn’t matter. Her behavior in my home has been above reproach. You should have seen her caring
for Ezekiel Graemer. And she has been an excellent caretaker to that precious little one.”

“Well, prostitutes came to Solomon to argue over a baby. One of them was a good mother, too, but it didn’t stop her from being an immoral woman. I think the elders need to see to this case.” Her cold glare pierced through Sophie.

“Now wait just a minute.” The large Elisha Whitworth pointed a finger at Gertrude. “You have no right to make accusations when you don’t know the whole story.”

“That’s right.” Asa Myles, half of Elisha’s stature, nervously adjusted his tie.

Etta Stout joined the fray. “Our pastor has been taken in by a fallen woman.”

Several people spoke at once. Sophie’s throat dried. She looked into Ian’s eyes. “I have to go.”

Feeling numb, she pulled away from the man she loved more than her own life. She moved out the door, into the heat of the day, and toward the boardinghouse as though mesmerized. Sophie supposed she was in shock. Resignation claimed her. Grief would come later. She would leave behind those whose kindness and concern she’d come to depend on, but she couldn’t think about that at the moment.

Sophie held Caira as close as possible. Her first job was to protect her daughter. Ian was right about how precious her little girl was.
Ian.
She could not look back. It was better she didn’t.

With her damp dress sticking to her back, Sophie lowered Caira to the ground. “It’s too hot to carry you right now, little one.”

Caira let out a whine and stood still.

“You will walk with me.” Sophie gave her a warning look. “Now.”

Her daughter stuck out her lower lip, but she nodded and followed. Caira’s plump little hand was tucked into Sophie’s. The toddler’s short legs pumped fast to keep up.

“Sophie!” James called to her, “Please wait!”

Sophie set her face forward. She refused to look back, but taking great strides, he caught up with her.

“I need to speak with you, urgently.” He took a deep breath.

“What do you want?” She slid a glance in his direction, determined to brace up her jelly-like insides against the fear of the next few moments.

“I went to Detroit recently to see my aunt. She raised me, you see—”

“I’m well aware of that. Get on with what you have to say.” Sophie kept walking, grasping onto the hand of her whining daughter.

James removed his derby, combing his fingers through his hair before returning the hat to its proper place. “I know Paul Bidershem. It seems we went to preparatory school together.”

Sophie stood still, her march toward the boardinghouse abandoned for the moment.

“I ran into him. He mentioned how heartbroken his parents had been these last two years since his sister went missing.”

Sophie closed her eyes tightly against the news. She was sure that a criminal being caught and returned for punishment would have the same feeling that their world was collapsing. An urge to run and hide flooded her.

“He was also concerned that a man by the name of Charles Warner had been looking for her.” James paused and then spoke with emphasis. “Paul asked me that if I found Sophia, to tell her their mother and father wanted her home more than ever and she has their protection.”

Sophie’s eyes popped back open, and she began to make her way again toward Fairgrave’s. Like the waves and the treacherous currents of the Detroit River during a violent storm, her stomach churned with the conflicting emotions she felt.

“There’s something else.” James pulled the derby from his head again and fussed with the brim. “I suspected you might be Sophia, so I sought Nora out to ask her a few questions. I knew she was your friend … I thought you might have confided in her. Gertrude must have heard me talk about my suspicions. I’m sorry, Sophie, I never meant to hurt you.”

Sophie blinked against the river of tears that threatened to spill over. “It seems the damage has been done.” She bit her bottom lip.

“Such an account would have made a great story to say you’d been found, but it’s not worth hurting friends … any more than I already have.” He shrugged. “You don’t have to worry about that anyway.”

“Thank you. I’m sure Sophia would appreciate that.” She looked James directly in the eye.

Ian knew that he had left the church in a pickle, but Elders Elisha and Asa would continue to defend him to the likes of Gertrude Wringer and her cronies.

He strode quickly, carrying his suit coat over his arm. The sun’s unrelenting rays pounded down. Ian didn’t look back. He cared deeply for his flock, but he had pledged his heart to Sophie.

When Ian reached the boardinghouse, he flung open the front door. “Sophie!” He scanned the parlor and dining room. Fear shot through him. Where had they gone?

He darted toward the clamor of footsteps on the stairs.

“Sh,” Sophie told the whining Caira.

He met Sophie coming down the stairs with the little one in tow, carrying an overstuffed carpetbag.

The little one’s eyes lit up when she saw him. “’Cowmick!” She propelled herself forward and ran to hug his legs.

Ian scooped Caira into his arms and buried his face in the chestnut curls so like her mother’s. Her giggle soothed his fearful heart. “Sophie—”

“Ian, what are you doing here? What will your congregation do if they find us here?”

“Yoo hoo!” Nearly breathless, Esther tromped through the open front door. “Sophie?” She blinked. “Reverend, what are you doing here?”

“I got here just in time to talk her out of leaving.”

“What?” Leaning against the wall, Esther fanned herself. “Without even saying ‘good-bye’?”

Sophie stared at the floor for a moment. “I’m sorry, Esther. You deserve better.”

“Would you please take Caira into the kitchen? I need to talk some sense into Sophie.”

Ian placed a protesting Caira into Esther’s arms though she grabbed onto his shirt. He peeled her fingers from the fabric and kissed the top of her head before he released her. Taking Sophie’s bag, he grasped her elbow and bade her sit down in the parlor.

“Ian, you of all people should know that I must leave Stone Creek now. Of a certainty, Gertrude Wringer has already convinced them that I am no better than a prostitute.”

“But most people know the truth.”

“The whole truth, Ian? You and I are the only ones that know the complete truth. Though James seems to know a good deal of it.” Sophie perched on the edge of the chaise with arms crossed.

“They know the truth about the kind of person you are inside.” Ian sat next to her wanting to pull her toward him. “We’ll work through this together. We’ll explain to the elders what truly happened to you. I should have done this before, but I thought it would be best if we waited until … well …”

He moved from the sofa to the floor, getting down on one knee. He reached for the hand nearest him. “Sophie, will you marry me?”

Sophie shook her head. “Oh, no. You can’t marry me now. I will not allow you to give up your calling for me. They’ll run you out of town on a rail and then what will you do? I can’t let that happen to you. Caira and I will survive. God has gotten us this far.” His beloved pulled her hand from his and pushed a sweaty lock from her forehead. “If I leave now, they’ll just assume you never knew the truth.”

“Gertrude will see to it that I am gotten rid of for being seduced because of my naiveté. And then I will not have you
or
a church. God will see to it that my calling is fulfilled.” Ian had run from facing the truth once before. As fragile as a sterling reputation might be, he could not allow his pride to get in the way this time.

Ian slipped his fingers under her chin, bringing Sophie’s face toward his own. “Please, Sophie, let’s give this a chance. You were an innocent victim—”

“Who deceived people.”

“And who didn’t want to but felt it was necessary to protect her daughter.”

“And myself.” Anger flickered in Sophie’s moist eyes, her look indignant.

Ian sighed. She was right. Whether it had been Annie, seeking shelter from her uncle’s harm or the innocent victim, God’s people often feared what was different. It frightened them as they viewed these situations from their comfortable lives.

Sophie sank into his embrace as he pulled her to himself, her soft hair brushing against his chin. With all his might, he wanted to protect her, keep her from all harm, even the specter of Caira’s father finding them, which had seemed to hang over Sophie. Yet he knew that God was truly their only hope in this situation. Wasn’t
there room for forgiveness in God’s family? When it came down to it, they were all repentant sinners.

“What will happen if you keep running? You need some place to settle.”