The Christmas Secret (7 page)

“Are you saying you don’t love him anymore?”

She shook her head. “We’re not meant for each other, and I’m glad I found out before it was too late.”

Grandpa’s bushy gray eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not sure why you think that, but if you’re in love with the young man, that’s all that counts. Your grandma and I don’t see eye to eye on everything, but our love for each other is what’s kept us together all these years.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “If you and David had a disagreement, then you ought to resolve it.”

She swallowed a couple of times, trying to push down the lump in her throat. “The problem between David and me is not one that can be resolved.”

“If you want my advice, the best thing you can do is pray, and ask God to give you some answers.”

“I have been praying, but there are no answers for my problem.” Unable to talk about it any longer, Elizabeth stood. “I’m tired. I think I’ll go upstairs and take a nap.” She hurried from the room. There was no way she could explain the situation to Grandpa. It was too humiliating to talk about.

David paced from one end of his shop to the other. In the two weeks since he’d learned why Elizabeth had left town, he hadn’t been able to think of much else. He was consumed with the need to speak to Elizabeth’s aunt, but no one seemed to know where she was.

His thoughts took him to the day Elizabeth’s father had returned from his business trip in New York. David had gone to the Cannings’ house, asking if Charles knew where Elizabeth had gone. Charles said he’d received word from her via a telegram, but that she’d asked him not to tell anyone where she was. Feeling more frustrated than ever, David had then asked Charles if he knew where Elizabeth’s aunt, Lovina Hess, lived. Charles had looked at him strangely and asked why he would need to know that. Without revealing what Helen had told him about Lovina’s journal, David said he had a question he wanted to ask Lovina about something Elizabeth had found in the cabin. To that, Charles said Lovina had once owned a boarding home in Easton, but after she’d sold it and moved, none of the family had heard from her since.

“I wish Father were still alive so I could ask him about this,” David murmured as his mind snapped back to the present. Someone had to know if what Lovina wrote was the truth. Had David’s father been aware that Elizabeth’s mother had been carrying his child? David knew from what Elizabeth told him when they’d begun courting that her maternal grandparents were dead, so he couldn’t ask them. He also knew that Lovina was Cassandra’s only sibling, so Elizabeth had no other aunts or uncles on her mother’s side.

“How come you’ve been pacin’ back and forth liked a caged animal for the last fifteen minutes?” Gus asked, stepping up to David with a curious expression.

David stopped pacing. “I’m pondering a problem.”

“What kind of problem? Are you havin’ trouble with one of the carriages you’ve been workin’ on?”

“No. I’ve been wondering where Elizabeth’s aunt lives.”

Gus’s forehead wrinkled. “Why would ya be lookin’ for Elizabeth’s aunt?”

“I need to talk to her about something she wrote in her journal—a journal Elizabeth found in the log cabin that was supposed to be our home after we got married.” David frowned. “The problem is, no one seems to know where Lovina Hess lives.”

Gus tipped his head. “Lovina Hess, you say?”

“That’s right.”

“I know of a woman by that name.”

David’s eyebrows shot up. “You do?”

Gus gave a nod. “Sure thing. My cousin Rosie’s a nurse, and she works for a woman named Lovina Hess who has the palsy and a weak heart. Since Miss Hess can’t manage on her own anymore, Rosie’s been carin’ for her these past five years.”

For the first time, hope welled in David’s soul. “Where does your cousin live?”

“In Philadelphia. ’Course, the woman she works for might not be Elizabeth’s aunt.”

“Maybe not. It could just be a coincidence that they have the same name, but I need to find out. Do you have the woman’s address?”

“Sure do. Got it off the envelope when Rosie wrote to me some time ago.” Gus shrugged. “Don’t have it with me, though. It’s at home in my dresser drawer.”

“Would you get it for me?” David asked.

“I’ll bring it to work tomorrow mornin’.”

“I can’t wait that long. I need it right away.” David pointed to the door. “I’d like you to go home now and get that address for me.”

Gus made a sweeping gesture of the carriage shop. “We’ve got work to do here. Can’t the address wait till mornin’?”

David shook his head. “The work can wait awhile, and I’ll pay you for the time it takes to get to and from your house.”

Gus pulled his fingers down the side of his bearded face. “If it’s that important to ya, then I’ll head over there right now.” He grabbed his jacket and hurried out the door.

David lifted a silent prayer.
Thank You, Lord.
Now all he had to do was secure a train ticket to Philadelphia. Hopefully, the woman Gus’s cousin worked for was indeed Elizabeth’s aunt and he’d have the opportunity to speak with her about the journal.

A
s David ascended the steps of the two-story wooden-framed house at the address Gus had given him, his heart started to pound. What if the woman who lived here wasn’t Elizabeth’s aunt? What if she was but wasn’t willing to speak with him? If this was the right Lovina Hess, then he couldn’t return home without some answers. He simply had to know if what had been written in the journal was true.

Seeing no bellpull, he rapped on the door a few times and waited. Several minutes later the door opened, and a middle-aged woman with mousy brown hair worn in a tight bun greeted him.

“May I help you, sir?”

“Yes. Well, I hope so. I’m told that Lovina Hess lives here.”

The woman gave a nod. “That’s correct. I’m her housekeeper, Mrs. Cook.”

David shuffled his feet a few times. “Uh … if it’s all right, I’d like to speak with Lovina.”

“Please state your name and the nature of your business.”

“I’m sorry. I should have told you that right away.” David cleared his throat and loosened his shirt collar, which suddenly felt too tight around his neck. “I’m David Stinner. I make and repair carriages in Allentown.”

Mrs. Cook’s brown eyes narrowed as she shook her head. “Miss Lovina has no interest in having a carriage made. She’s ill and hasn’t been able to leave the house in some time.”

“I’m not here to sell her a carriage. I’ve come to speak with Lovina about Elizabeth Canning, whom I believe is her niece.”

Mrs. Cook tipped her head and studied David intently. “Miss Lovina has never mentioned a niece, and as I said before, she’s ill and isn’t up to receiving company right now.”

“Please, this is very important, and I promise I won’t take up much of her time,” he pleaded, in a desperate attempt to make the woman understand.

Mrs. Cook hesitated then finally said, “Very well. I’ll see if she’s willing to talk to you.” She closed the door, leaving David standing on the porch in the cold.

“ ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding,’ ” David recited. If ever he needed to trust God, it was now.

Dear Lord,
he silently prayed as he paced from one end of the porch to the other,
I hope I haven’t come all this way for nothing. I pray that Lovina will speak to me. Help me remember to trust You in all things.

The front door opened, and David whirled around.

“Lovina will see you, but please don’t stay too long. She tires easily these days.”

Mrs. Cook held the door open and motioned for David to enter the house. Then she led him up a winding staircase and down a long, dark corridor illuminated by only the small oil lamp she carried. With each step he took, David heard his footsteps echoing on the polished hardwood floor.

As he entered a dimly lit bedroom, a sense of hope welled in his chest. For the first time since this nightmare had begun, he felt closer to finding an answer to the question he sought.

David halted inside the door. A feeling of pity tugged at his heart as he stared at the frail-looking woman lying in the canopied bed across the room. He stood like that for several minutes and then moved slowly toward the foot of the bed. A young woman dressed in a nurse’s cap, a long, white skirt, and a striped blouse stood off to one side.

“Is your name Rosie?” he asked.

The nurse nodded. “How’d you know?”

“My employee, Gus Smith, said he was your cousin.”

She smiled. “That’s right. I wrote to him not long ago.”

“May I speak with Lovina alone?” David asked.

Rosie shook her head. “You may say whatever you want, but I shall remain here in the room.”

David relented and moved to the right side of the bed, realizing that no matter who else was present, the important thing was having his questions answered.

Lovina, so pale and thin, with straw-colored hair and lifeless brown eyes, looked up at him with a curious expression. “My housekeeper said you know my niece, Elizabeth.”

David nodded as excitement coursed through his veins. So this was the right Lovina. “Elizabeth and I were engaged—until she read something in your journal.”

Lovina lifted a shaky hand and motioned for him to come near. “I can’t hear well and don’t know what you said.”

David leaned closer; so close he could feel Lovina’s warm breath on his face, and repeated what he’d said.

“Journal? What journal?” she rasped.

“Elizabeth found it in an old desk in the cabin where she was born.”

Lovina closed her eyes, and for a minute David thought she might have fallen asleep. Slowly she opened them again. “I—I did have a journal once. It was a birthday present from my parents.”

“Did you write something in the journal about Elizabeth’s mother and my father?”

Lovina blinked. “I don’t think I know your father. What’s his name?”

“Raymond Stinner.”

Lovina’s whole body trembled as she gasped and tried to sit up.

Rosie stepped forward and took her hand. “Relax, Miss Lovina. Rest easy against your pillow.” She turned to David with a scowl and said, “If she doesn’t calm down, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“I’m not trying to upset her,” he said. “I just need to know the truth about what she wrote in the journal.”

Rosie glanced at the clock on the dresser across the room. “I’ll give you five minutes, but that’s all.”

David leaned a bit closer to Lovina. “I’m Raymond Stinner’s son, David. In your journal you wrote that my father and Elizabeth’s mother … Well, you said that Cassandra was pregnant with Raymond’s child when she married Charles Canning. Is it true?”

Lovina’s pale cheeks flushed slightly, and she averted his gaze.

“Is my father Elizabeth’s real father?” he persisted.

Tears welled in Lovina’s eyes as she stared at the canopy above her head, seeming to let her memories take her back in time.

David bit his lip while waiting to hear the answer he sought.

After several minutes had passed, Lovina whispered something.

“What was that?”

“I made it all up. I never should have written that in my journal.”

A sense of relief swept over David, quickly replaced with a wave of anger. “But, why? What made you write such a horrible thing if it wasn’t true?” he shouted, straightening to his full height.

Lovina whimpered and trembled again.

“Lower your voice,” Rosie said, looking sternly at David. “Can’t you see how upset she’s become?”

“I–I’m sorry.” He drew in a deep breath and leaned close to Lovina again. “Please, tell me why you wrote what you did.”

Lovina’s tears spilled over and trickled onto her cheeks. “I wrote it out of spite and frustration.” She sniffed deeply. “I was jealous that my sister had married the only man I’d ever loved.”

Stunned by this confession, David drew in a sharp breath. “You … you were in love with Charles Canning?”

“Yes, but he only had eyes for Cassandra. My heart was broken when he married her. I—I was angry because they loved each other and I was left out in the cold … forever to be an old maid.”

“I’m sorry about that, but what does it have to do with Raymond—my father? Why would you have said that he was the father of Cassandra’s baby if he wasn’t?”