A Truth Revealed (The Heart of Cheyenne #3)

Chapter 15

15

March tenth was Laura’s twenty-third birthday. All day long she’d waited for her father to say something about it, but so far he’d barely even acknowledged her presence. He was obviously busy with his business matters. He was so preoccupied that at breakfast he had spooned salt into his coffee instead of sugar. Shortly after that he’d thrown down his newspaper in exasperation and locked himself in his office. An hour later, he left the house without a word to Laura.

Now as evening approached, Laura wondered whether to say something, but when her father came home, he stormed off into his office once again. If he planned to celebrate, she would need time to get ready. She decided to chance it and followed him. She waited until he was seated behind his desk to pose her question.

“I wonder ... well, that is ... do we have plans for this evening?”

He looked at her blankly for a moment, then glanced down at the calendar on his desk. “You think I’ve forgotten your birthday, don’t you?”

He smiled. “But I haven’t. It’s just been an extremely trying day with business issues and problems that have kept me going from one thing to another. Still, I know my daughter’s birthday, and we are going to celebrate. I have a gift for you and figured to take you out to dinner this evening. As a matter of fact, that’s why I’m home early. Run upstairs and change your clothes, and we’ll make our way to Belham’s.”

“You always remember.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for making me feel special.”

She hurried upstairs and found Etta. Together they managed to get her changed and ready to go in record time. When Laura once again reached her father’s office, she found him speaking in hushed tones to Curtis. The young man nodded enthusiastically, then pulled back in a surprised manner when Laura entered the room.

“I’ll get right to it, sir,” he said and dashed from the room, barely giving Laura a nod.

“He certainly seems in a hurry,” Laura said, pulling on her gloves.

“I promised him a bonus if he does what I asked in half the normal time. I have several businessmen who are waiting to hear from me on something; Curtis will deliver my decision.”

He pushed his papers aside and reached for the top drawer. “Now for your gift. I’m quite excited to see what you think. I had this specially made for you.”

He drew a little box from his desk and handed it to Laura. She opened it and found a gold heart-shaped locket inside.

“Oh, Father, it’s lovely.”

“Open it up.”

She set the box aside and took the locket into her gloved hand. She thought for a moment that she might have to remove her glove but finally managed to get the clasp to open. Inside she read the engraved words, Jesus is the way, the truth , the life.

“Oh, Father. I love it. It’s wonderful.” How unexpected that with her father’s negative feelings toward God, he had gone to the trouble of engraving Scripture. It touched her that he had put aside his resentment to honor her faith.

Laura came around the desk and kissed the top of her father’s head. “I will cherish it always.”

Her father stood and took the necklace from her. “Shall I secure it for you?”

She turned around. “Yes, please.”

The day had turned out so much better than she’d expected. If only Will had come to visit her, it might have been perfect. But it had been ten days since she’d seen him, and Laura was starting to think that perhaps he didn’t share her eagerness to continue their friendship.

By the evening of March sixteenth, Laura was done waiting for Will to act. Earlier in the day she had decided she would pay him a call and instructed Mrs. Murphy to make Will’s favorite gingersnaps. The older woman had been happy to comply when she learned they were for Will. She even cut them in the shape of shamrocks to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Laura was delighted at the woman’s creative gesture. She loaded a basket with the treats and made her way to Faith Cooper’s boardinghouse just after supper. With Father tied up in political meetings, Laura wasn’t about to spend another evening home alone.

She arranged for Curtis to drive the carriage, despite it being a lovely evening for a walk. It was rather forward for a single woman to go in search of a single man, and at least with Curtis driving her, it would seem a bit more formal than if she just arrived on foot. Especially when it required visiting a boardinghouse full of men.

Laura wondered how she would explain her unannounced appearance all the same. Faith wouldn’t mind, Laura felt certain of that, but Will might find it embarrassing for her to just show up to see him. She prayed that wouldn’t be the case.

They reached the Cooper place, and Curtis set the brake and helped her down before reaching back up to get her basket.

“I don’t know exactly how long I’ll be, so please wait here.”

Curtis gave a nod.

Laura made her way to the house and knocked on the door. The evening was still a bit chilly, and she was glad she’d chosen one of her heavier cloaks.

Faith opened the door and smiled in greeting. She stepped back and motioned Laura inside. “Come in, come in. What brings you here?”

“I know it’s the height of bad manners to show up this way, but I wanted to check on Will’s recovery and bring him—well, really all of you—some of Mrs. Murphy’s gingersnaps in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow.” She held up the basket.

“That was so kind. Will isn’t here. He’s been spending most every evening at the Vogels’, where he’s making baby cradles. He’s quite good at building furniture, you know.” She took the basket Laura held out. “These will be well received. They’re my husband’s favorites.”

“Will’s too,” Laura replied, not quite sure what to do. If she stayed and visited for a while, she wouldn’t have time to go to the Vogels and see Will. But to show up as she had and then not stay for at least a brief time was also rude.

“Come with me, Laura,” Faith commanded, and Laura did as she was told.

Faith paused at the opening to the front room. “Gentlemen, Miss Evans has brought us gingersnaps. I shall bring some for you with the evening coffee.”

“Thank you, Miss,” one man after another offered.

Laura smiled and gave them a nod. “You’re quite welcome.”

She went with Faith to the kitchen and waited for further instruction. Faith took the cookies from the basket and transferred them from Laura’s plate to one of her own.

“Now you’ll be able to return these things to Mrs. Murphy. I know she keeps a tight hold on her kitchen.”

Laura laughed. “She does indeed. I once baked cookies without speaking to her about it first. I thought she might pop a blood vessel. She was quite firm on telling me not to do that again.”

“I can well imagine.” Faith took down another plate and set several of the cookies aside. “I’ll keep these for Will. If I know these fellas, they’ll gobble these down without concern for anyone else. My own husband will be the worst of offenders.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that you would do that for him.”

Faith put the cookies under a cloth, then hid them away in the cupboard. “You like him a lot, don’t you?”

Laura was taken aback by the question. “Well ... I suppose I do. We got quite close when I was taking care of him after the accident.”

“He seems to esteem you as well. He often talks about you.”

“Me?” That was strangely pleasing to Laura. The thought of Will talking about her to others surely suggested he kept her in his thoughts.

“Don’t be so surprised. I think he cares a great deal about you, and how could he not? You probably saved his life. He might have died in the hospital without constant care. Many’s the man who has passed on due to blood poisoning or some other condition that might never have been an issue had he received decent care.” Faith held up her hand. “I’m sorry. That was overly critical of me toward the hospital. It’s just that I know they need more staff, and that alone makes it difficult to have any confidence in them.”

“It was my privilege to care for Will. He wasn’t a bad patient, and once he managed to get past the truly darkest days, he was quite agreeable. Of course, Edward Vogel and Charlie Decker are mostly to thank for that. They were good to visit him and help him deal with his anger.”

Faith nodded. “I’m glad he wasn’t able to come back here. These fellas would have kept him quite bleak, I fear. Most don’t have a faith in God, or if they do, it is nominal at best.”

“I was grateful for the company. Now that Will is gone, the house seems very quiet. I’m so glad to be hosting our sewing group tomorrow. It won’t seem so lonely.”

“Say, I have an idea.” Faith reached back into the cupboard and took down the smaller plate of cookies. She wrapped the three she’d saved for Will in the cloth that covered the plate. “Why don’t you make your way over to Marybeth’s house and take these to Will? It will give you the perfect excuse to see him.”

Laura felt her cheeks heat and lowered her gaze. “Am I that obvious?”

“Only to me. Maybe Marybeth. The menfolk won’t have a clue. They seldom do when it comes to matters like these.”

Laura took the cookies. “Thank you for not making me feel bad about ... well ... about ...”

“Caring for Will?” Faith laughed. “You would never receive condemnation from me for falling in love.”

Was that what she was doing? Was she falling in love with Will? For so long she’d ignored that question, and once more she pushed it to the farthest reaches of her mind. She would contemplate that later. Right now, she needed to get going before she lost the evening light.

“I didn’t figure to see you before tomorrow,” Marybeth said, opening the door for Laura. “Come in. I was just getting ready to give Carrie a bath.”

Carrie stood back away from the door, holding the kitten Laura had given them. Her attentiveness to the animal made Laura smile.

“I see you’ve become good friends with the kitty. And just look at how he’s grown,” Laura said, stepping to where Carrie stood. She knelt and gave Carrie a smile. “What do you call him?”

“Dis is Dandy,” Carrie told her.

“Ah, that’s a very nice name.”

Marybeth chuckled as Laura stood once again. “She would consider no other suggestion. Edward commented that he was a dandy, and that was the only name Carrie wanted after that.”

“I suppose when confident of a thing, one should move forward with it,” Laura said with a shrug.

“I should be more understanding of that,” Marybeth replied. “After all, Edward and I have been quite fixed on what to name our baby.”

“And what names did you choose?”

“We’re keeping it a secret for now,” Marybeth said, rubbing her hand over her abdomen. “But I never wanted any other names, especially for a boy.”

Laura glanced around the room. “I don’t want to be rude, but I’ve actually come to check on Will. Faith said he’d come here to work on something.”

“Yes, he’s in the woodshop out back. I’ll show you. Carrie, take Dandy to your room and get ready for your bath. I’ll be right there to help you.”

“Yes, Mama.” Carrie didn’t even wait for her mother’s reply but hurried down the hall. Dandy mewed with each bouncing step.

“She really is the most adorable child.”

“She can be a real handful, but I think she’s finally grown accustomed to this house and our new life here. The kitten helped a lot. I wish we’d thought of it sooner.”

“I’m so glad you could take him. My father has an aversion to animals, especially wild ones.”

“Well, Dandy is certainly not wild. He’s very alert and attentive. I do believe he’ll be a good mouser when he gets older. I’m hoping his instincts will take over when he’s big enough since he won’t have a mama to teach him.”

Marybeth led Laura to the back door. “You can see the shop just down the path there.”

“Oh yes, thank you. I won’t be long. I’ll just walk back around the house to the front when I’m finished. That way I won’t disturb you giving Carrie a bath.”

Marybeth gave her a quick hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’m so looking forward to it.”

They parted company, and Laura made her way to the shop. She didn’t know if Will was alone or not, so she kept the cookies tucked under her cloak in case she needed to give them to him in a more discreet fashion. She hadn’t even considered that she didn’t have cookies for Marybeth and her family.

She knocked on the door and waited a moment. Will opened it and looked at her with such an expression of surprise Laura couldn’t help but laugh.

“I can tell you weren’t expecting me.”

“Not at all. Please come in.”

Laura stepped inside and was immediately aware of the scent of cedar and pine. “It smells wonderful in here.”

“I agree. I’ve always loved the scent of wood.” He smiled. “It’s good to see you. I meant to stop by before now, but I’ve been so busy.”

“It’s all right. I wanted to bring you something.” She pushed back the cloak and drew out the wrapped cookies. “Mrs. Murphy baked your favorite gingersnaps, and I took some to the boardinghouse. Faith said you were most likely here, so I brought you some in case the others were eaten up before you got home.”

“Most likely they will be. Those fellas have big appetites.”

Laura extended the cookies. “I hope you’re doing well.”

Will reached for the cookies, then stopped. He stared at Laura for the longest moment, but not at her face. She glanced down, wondering what had captured his attention. The only thing she could see was the locket.

“Where did you get that?” His voice seemed almost strangled.

“My father. It was a birthday gift. He had it engraved for me. Let me show you.” She set the cookies aside on the countertop.

Will stepped back and finally looked her in the eye. “You don’t have to. I know what’s engraved there.”

“You do? Did Father tell you about it?”

Will shook his head very slowly. The color had drained from his face. Laura grew concerned. “What’s wrong? Are you ill?”

He pointed at the necklace. “‘Jesus is the way, the truth, the life.’”

Laura nodded. “Yes. How did you know?”

“I had ... It was made ... for my sister. I gave it to her for her birthday last summer.”

“Your sister?”

“That’s her necklace. I picked it out myself.”

“It can’t be.” Laura shook her head and reached up to take hold of the piece. “My father said he had it made for my birthday ... for me.”

“I ought to know. I spent days figuring out which locket to get her. Then I worked with the engraver. It was difficult to fit the Scripture in the locket. We had to cut it down, yet I was determined it wouldn’t lose the meaning.”

Will looked as if he’d seen a ghost. He stumbled back a step, then took a seat on a high stool. “Where did your father get it? It was stolen from her during the Indian attack.”

For a moment, Laura couldn’t draw breath. She felt as if he had hit her hard, knocking the wind from her. Having no explanation, she backed out of the open door. “I ... I ... don’t know.” She needed space to think. Unable to look at Will any longer, she turned and hurried across the yard.

How could this be? What in the world had possessed her father to give her the necklace of a dead woman and claim it to be something he’d had made just for Laura?

She reached the carriage and didn’t even wait for Curtis to help her climb up. “Get me home. Hurry.”

If this locket belonged to Will’s sister, how did it come into the possession of her father? Had someone wandered into his store to trade it for something? Had someone sold it to one of the local jewelers, and they in turn offered it for sale?

None of this made sense. Will had to be mistaken. He just had to be.