Secrets of the Heart (35 page)

Her eyebrows arched. “Bought some land?”

“Mm-hmm. Twenty acres. Choice land. It’s on a country lane outside of Virginia City to the southeast, about four miles…with a brook running through it.”

Kathleen’s heart picked up its pace. “A brook running through it?”

“Yes.”

An impish grin curled her lips. “And the brook is how deep and how wide?”

“About ten feet wide. The ‘deep’ depends on what time of year it is. In the spring and summer it’s about three feet deep. In the winter it gets down to about eighteen inches. And there’s lots of trees, brush, and grass.”

“Lots of trees, brush, and grass, you say. Twenty acres of trees, brush, and grass?”

“Right. And a brook. Ten feet wide. Thirty-six inches deep in the summer, and—”

“Eighteen inches deep in the winter.” Kathleen started to giggle. “Is that it? Brook, trees, brush, and grass?”

“There is one more item. Well, actually two.”

“And they are?”

“A barn. Well, there isn’t one yet, but there will be.”

“Oh, I see. And what’s the other item?”

“A two-story house. Well, it’s not finished yet, but it’s there!”

Kathleen blinked in disbelief. “A two-story house…”

“Mm-hmm. And it’ll knock your eyes out. I hired the best architect and the best building contractor in Reno. Remember our conversations about what we’d like in a house whenever the time comes that we could build one…and you brought up things about the house that you wanted?”

“Yes, but I—”

“Well, I’m having all those things done in this house. The wrap-around front porch. The extra-large kitchen with lots and lots of cupboard space, and an extra-large pantry. And wait’ll you see the tapestries…and our huge bedroom…and a sewing room for you that’s on the south, so you’ll have lots of sunshine when you work in there…and four more bedrooms for our children, in case we have more. There’ll be fireplaces in each bedroom, and in the parlor, dining room, sewing room, and library. And remember you said you like big windows, and lots of them?”

“Yes.”

“Well, wait’ll you see all the windows, and how big they are! You’re going to love them!”

“Tom, I don’t know what to say. I had no idea—”

“Would you like to see it tomorrow?”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, yes!”

“All right. I’ll take the day off. We’ll go out and see the house in the morning, then we’ll drive to Reno and buy the train tickets for our Chicago trip.”

Kathleen flung her arms around Tom and said, “Oh, darling, thank you, thank you, thank you! The land and the house…what a wonderful surprise!”

“You’re not angry that I’ve been keeping a secret, too?”

“You wonderful man, how could I be angry?”

Tom kissed her tenderly.

Kathleen’s face took on a sheepish look and she stepped backwards. “Tom?”

“What, honey?”

“The house must be costing us a bundle. Will we have the money to hire expensive attorneys?”

Tom gave her his lopsided grin again. “Sweetheart, I assure you we can handle it. I… ah… I’ve been holding out on you about our profits. I knew you needed at least thirty thousand, and you could have had it at any time in the last several months. But I was waiting for you to ask. I had no idea about Meggie. I didn’t know how desperately you needed it.”

“Its my fault, Tom. I should have told you.”

“That’s water under the bridge. But you do have the right to know that we are now millionaires, Mrs. Harned.”

Kathleen’s face went sheet white. “We’ve done that well?”

“Mm-hmm. And with the new, richer vein on the back side of the mountain, we’ll do better yet.”

Kathleen put the tips of her fingers to her forehead. “I had no idea!”

“I know. You’re not angry with me for keeping it a secret, are you?”

“After what I kept from
you? How
could I be?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him, and said, “What a wonderful husband you are, Tom Harned! Thank you for being so kind and understanding about Meggie.”

“Honey, I might have reacted differently in all of this if I hadn’t come to the Lord. Jesus has made such a difference in my life.”

“I’m glad about that,” she said sincerely. “Tom…will we take Caleb with us to Chicago?”

“I don’t know. Do you think it would be wise? The battle could get ugly before it’s won.”

She pondered it a moment. “You’re right. I don’t think Caleb should have to go through it.”

“Tell you what. We can ask Donna to keep him while we’re gone, since she isn’t working outside the home anymore.”

“All right. She loves Caleb. I’m sure she’ll do it.”

“I’ll go on over there right now,” he said. “I have to let Hank know that I won’t be in tomorrow. I’ll ask Donna while I’m there.”

Moments later, Kathleen stood at the front door and watched her husband fade into the darkness as he headed down the street on foot. The Mitchells only lived a couple of blocks away.

She closed the door and leaned her back against it, smiling to herself. “Tom, what a marvelous and wonderful man you are!” she whispered. The smile faded, and her eyes sharpened into dark pin-points as she said, “And
you
, John and Maria Stallworth, when we take Meggie away from you, I hope it tears your hearts out! You deserve to suffer for what you’ve done to Meggie and me!”

C
ALEB AWAKENED TO THE SOUND
of his parents’ happy chatter down the hall. He yawned, stretched his arms wide, then threw back the covers and got out of bed. He went to the window where the shoe box rested on the sill, bathed in sunshine.

“Good morning, Mr. Robin. Mommy will feed you breakfast pretty soon. You feeling better today?”

Caleb turned his head when he heard the door open.

“Good morning, son,” Tom said. “Sorry I didn’t get to read the Bible and pray with you at bedtime last night. I was over at the Mitchells’ house.”

“That’s what Mommy told me. Dad…how come Mommy doesn’t want to pray with me and read the Bible to me? I asked her, and she said she had other things to do.”

“Well, your mommy’s got a lot on her mind these days, Caleb. I believe the time’s coming when she will, but not just yet.”

“I hope so.”

Tom leaned over to look into Caleb’s eyes. “Listen, son. Mommy and I have a surprise for you. You’ll have to be a little late for school today in order to see it. Would that be all right?”

“Sure! What is it, Dad?”

“You have to wait till we get there. It’s a little ways outside of town. Actually, Mommy hasn’t seen it either. I didn’t tell her about it until last night, so it’s really a surprise for both of you. I told her about it when we had our private talk last night.”

“Oh.”

“And when I came home, she told me she hadn’t mentioned it to
you. She wanted
me
to tell you about it.”

“Are we going to see it right now?”

“As soon as we eat breakfast and Mommy feeds Mr. Robin.”

The Harned family buggy bounced along the road, heading east out of town. A flood of golden sunlight streamed across the rugged land. A fragrant breeze carried the scent of pine from off the surrounding hills. There was a fluttering of leaves in the nearby trees, the happy twitter of birds, and the gurgle of the very brook that eventually bisected the tract of land Tom had purchased for their new home.

Sunlight danced on Caleb’s hair as he sat between his parents. Kathleen ruffled it and said, “You’re Mommy’s big angel boy.”

Caleb grinned up at her. “Mommy, do you know what the surprise is?”

“I sure do.”

“What?”

“Dad doesn’t want you to know till we get there.”

Soon they left the main road and turned south onto a narrower road that wound its way through heavy brush and tall trees, never straying too far from the general course of the brook. They passed several places where houses and barns dotted the land, many of them surrounded by cattle and horses in the fields.

A few more minutes brought them to a curve in the road, where Kathleen’s line of sight focused on a large two-story house under construction about two hundred yards from the road. Tom turned onto the lane that led down to the house.

“Oh, Tom! Is this it? Look at this! It’s beautiful! Trees, brush, grass in abundance, just like you told me! And look over there—the brook! It runs right by the house!”

He grinned. “I assume you like it.”

“I
love it!”

“Wow!” Caleb said. “Is this the surprise?”

“It sure is,” Tom said.

“This is our place? That’s our new house?”

“Yes!”

“Hey, look! The house has an
upstairs!
Will I get to sleep upstairs, Dad?”

“You sure will. I’ll show you where the bedrooms are up there, and which one I think you’ll like best.”

“Oh, boy!”

The large house was about three-quarters finished. The roof was on, the windows were in, and the walls were ready for paper, paint, or tapestries. Tom led Kathleen and Caleb on a tour of every room while carpenters banged away with hammers and the sound of saws ripping into wood filled the air.

Kathleen was thrilled with the space she would have in her kitchen and amazed at the size of the master bedroom, which offered a view of the distant Sierra Nevada Range. She could see that with so many windows the entire house would be bright and cheery.

Caleb was overjoyed when Tom showed him the room that would be his. It was at the opposite end of the second floor from the master bedroom. This made him feel grown-up. Kathleen mentally chose a bedroom for Meggie and one adjacent to the master bedroom for a nursery, should a baby come along.

Tom took them outside to the site where the barn and corral would stand, and while Caleb ran across the open fields, Tom told Kathleen they would go to Reno and buy all new furniture for the house when they returned from Chicago with Meggie. She could pick out her wallpaper and tapestries, as well as curtains and drapes and carpets.

As Kathleen looked around at the beautiful country surroundings and the choice location of their property, she slid her hand into the crook of Tom’s arm and said, “I don’t know when I’ve been so happy. Thank you for all of this, and for being willing to stand by me as I fight for the custody of my daughter.”

“Our
daughter,” he said, smiling. “Like Caleb is
our
son.”

Tears filled Kathleen’s eyes. “Yes. Oh, Tom, it sounds so wonderful!” Standing there, holding on to Tom, she silently marveled at the tremendous change that had come into her life. Once a scrub woman living in a Chicago slum…now, according to Tom, a millionaire.

As the Harneds drove back toward town, Tom said, “We’ll take you to school now, son. And Mrs. Mitchell will come there to walk you to their house when schools out this afternoon. Mommy and I have to go to Reno today.”

“How come?”

“We have to buy some railroad tickets. You see, we have to go back east to Chicago, where Mommy came from. We’ll be going in a day or two, and we’ll be gone several days. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are going to keep you at their house.”

“Why can’t I go to Chicago with you and Mommy?”

“You can’t miss that much school. It would be too hard for you to catch up when we got back.”

“Oh, all right.”

Kathleen ran her fingers through Caleb’s mop of blond hair. “You’re such a good boy, honey.”

“You’ll only be gone a little while, right?”

“Mm-hmm. Probably not more than a couple of weeks or so.”

“Can I take Mr. Robin to the Mitchells’ house?”

“You can,” said Tom. “I asked them about that. They’re expecting Mr. Robin to stay with them, too.”

Caleb smiled. “That’s good.” The boy was quiet for a few minutes, then said, “Dad, how come you and Mommy have to go back to where she used to live?”

Tom looked at Kathleen questioningly, and she made a slight shrug of her shoulders.

“Should we go ahead and tell him?” Tom asked.

“He has to know sooner or later. I think sooner is better.”

“I agree,” said Tom. “Be best if you tell him.”

Caleb’s small face was alive with curiosity. “Tell me what?”

The buggy rounded a curve, pressing Kathleen close to the boy. She took hold of his hand and said, “Caleb, you noticed that our new house has five bedrooms.”

“Uh-huh. I sure like mine!”

“That’s good. When your dad and I come back from Chicago, we’re going to have someone with us who will be living in our house and will occupy one of those other bedrooms.”

Caleb’s eyes widened. “Are you gonna have a baby, Mommy?”

A grin spread across Tom’s face. “That’d be good news!” he said under his breath.

Kathleen glanced at him and grinned, then turned back to Caleb. “Would you be happy if you had a little sister?”

“I had a little sister, but she…she died when she was born.”

“I know, honey, and I’m sorry. You’d have been happy with a little sister, though, wouldn’t you? I mean…it wouldn’t have to be a brother, would it?”

“I’d like to have a brother who could play cowboys and Indians with me, but a sister would be all right. I like girls.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you like girls, since I’m a girl.”

Caleb laughed. “Mommy, you’re not a girl. You’re a lady!”