Her patchwork family, p.20
Her Patchwork Family, page 20
Felicity squeezed Vista’s hand, glad Vista had trusted her, confided in her. “I don’t know what it feels like to be a slave. But I understand wanting to be free. I was fortunate to come from a family that didn’t deem girls as less than boys. I am one of seven sisters and we all have been blessed with a mission to live for. After I volunteered at an orphanage, I knew I wanted to devote my life to children.”
Vista gave her a small smile. “I didn’t have any mission for my life. I just wanted to be free. And I didn’t want to remember.”
“That’s understandable,” Felicity said.
Vista looked away. “But it made me a coward. I should have been brave and gone to see Charles.”
“None of us can be brave all the time.” Felicity touched Vista’s wrist.
“You’re brave all the time,” Vista said.
Felicity shook her head, smiling sadly. “I was afraid this morning. And I’m afraid now. I’m afraid Hogan will try to hurt the children in St. Louis or try to pay me back.”
Vista looked into Felicity’s eyes. “You ask me if I loved Charles. What about the judge? Do you love him?”
Hearing the words out loud stung Felicity. “I don’t plan to marry,” she said without even thinking about it.
“Planning is different than feeling, different than being,” Vista observed. “I think the judge wants to make up with you. I think he’s sweet on you.”
Felicity said nothing. Her mouth had betrayed her once and she wouldn’t let it do that again. Marry? No. That wasn’t the plan for her life. If she married, her first loyalty would have to be to her husband, children and their home. No time for orphans in that life.
Ty’s face lingered in her mind. But that should mean nothing. She closed her eyes and held back tears.
Felicity awoke with a start, lifting her head from her arms folded on the kitchen table. Someone was knocking hard on the door. She’d sat up waiting for Tucker’s return and she had fallen asleep sitting in the kitchen at the table. Stiff and groggy, she rose. Vista came out of her room off the kitchen. “Didn’t you go to bed last night? You said you were when I left you.”
Felicity stretched her spine and tried to wake completely. “I’m fine,” she muttered.
“Not if you slept at the table all night. I’ll go get it.” Vista seemed herself again as she bustled out of the kitchen.
Felicity went to the sink and from the bucket there, splashed some water onto her face. She heard loud exclamations coming from the foyer. She turned and hurried there.
Charles Scott had come. He’d lifted Vista off the floor and was holding her tightly. Then Vista kissed Charles. And though she knew she should, Felicity found she couldn’t look away, couldn’t hold back a wide smile.
Jack remained in the doorway, looking pleased with himself, too.
Felicity waited till Vista finally ordered Charles to put her down. Then Felicity went forward, beaming. “Charles Scott, I’m so glad to see thee.”
Charles bowed slightly. “Ma’am, I spent the night at Jack’s house. But before I left town, I wanted to try once more to see Vista.”
Felicity studied Vista’s face. She looked happy but shamed and uncertain, too. “Vista, why doesn’t thee take Charles to the parlor? Thee will have privacy there.”
Vista nodded. Not looking at Charles, she led him by the hand.
“I’ll be leaving now,” Jack said.
Felicity went forward, her hands out. “Thank thee for thy help yesterday. Thee showed great courage.”
Jack smiled and bowed himself out. Felicity had barely gotten halfway up the steps and the brass knocker sounded again.
She opened the door and there stood the police chief with a crowd of ragged children and a beaming Tucker.
“Miss Gabriel, Tucker and I did go over to St. Louis on the ferry late yesterday,” Kidwell said. “We found these children in that warehouse. Tucker explained everything to them and they came with me. The police chief in St. Louis has his men searching for Hogan, too. He said I could leave these children at the orphanage in St. Louis, but I figured they belonged with you. We got back so late that they spent the night in my house.”
Felicity looked at all the grimy, frightened faces lifted toward hers. Her heart expanded with love for these little ones. How could she have doubted her calling, even for a second? She opened her arms wide. “Welcome, children. Welcome to thy new home.”
The new children had been scrubbed mercilessly clean in the new bathing room off the kitchen with its indoor pump and stove for heating water. Felicity had sent Midge to town to buy more clothing. The number of children had doubled overnight. Twenty children now lived in the Barney house. The bedrooms were filling up and Felicity was grateful for the larger dining room. All day Camie and Katy had shown the newcomers how things were done here. Katy was quite the little leader.
Now sitting around the dining room table after supper, the new children clustered together and eyed her with uncertainty. Felicity wished she had slept more last night and thought longingly of bedtime.
The brass knocker sounded. The new children looked apprehensive. Felicity went to the door. She opened it to a huge evergreen tree filling the doorway. “Hello, Miss Felicity!” Jack called from somewhere on the other side of the tree. “The men in my church thought you could use a Christmas tree. We went out on a member’s farm and cut this one down for you.”
“Come in!” Sudden gaiety zipped through Felicity. A Christmas tree! The children were clapping and calling out in excitement.
After some consultation, it was decided that the tree should be set up in the grand foyer where it was visible from the dining room table and the parlor, but away from the warmth of the fireplaces in both rooms. Jack and Charles then set the tree in a bucket of water and braced it with rocks and blocks of wood to stand straight.
Soon the children and Felicity sat around the table, some stringing popcorn and others stringing cranberries. Vista and Charles were in the kitchen baking gingerbread cookies to hang with ribbons on the tree. The fragrance of nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon wafted through the house. A few snowflakes drifted by the windows. All was happy inside.
Outside, however, Hogan was still at large, so two men would be patrolling again tonight, a pebble in Felicity’s shoe. Over and over, she glanced at the window with a sense that she was watching, waiting for something, someone.
The brass knocker sounded. When Felicity made to rise, Tucker hopped up. “I’ll get it.”
Felicity had to smile. Tucker was a different boy. The burden of worry had been lifted from him. Willie and Butch showed the same new confidence. They encouraged the new children who were beginning to smile a little.
“It’s the judge!” Tucker announced. “And his mother, Mrs. Hawkins.”
The new children shrank visibly. Tucker reassured them, saying, “He’s okay. He’s the one who punched Hogan.”
“Thank you, Tucker,” Louise said as she took off her bonnet, smoothed her hair before the mirror on the hall tree and then entered the dining room. “Jack stopped to tell us that he had delivered your Christmas tree. We brought some red and white Christmas candles and candleholders. My, the tree is a magnificent one.”
“Hello, Grandma Louise,” Camie greeted her. “I’m stringing cranberries for the tree. Hi, Papa.”
Ty followed Louise in, carrying a wooden box. Camie hopped up, kissed Louise and hugged her father. Felicity couldn’t ignore Ty’s response to this spontaneous affection. She glanced away, not wishing to embarrass him. She realized she was disappointed that she couldn’t show him the same gratitude for rescuing her. But that would be most improper.
After exchanging greetings, Ty set the box on the table and lifted the lid. “I’ll go ahead and start clipping the holders onto the boughs.”
“Can I help?” Tucker asked.
“Sure.” Ty and the boy went to the tree and began clipping the small candleholders on the branches, fiddling with the candles so that they would stand straight and not burn nearby boughs.
Felicity couldn’t take her eyes from the two of them, working so well together, all antagonism gone. When the job was done, Tucker and Ty returned to the dining room.
“When is Camie going home?” Tucker asked out of the clear blue.
Felicity held her breath. This was something she had wondered about but had not had the courage to bring it up. Now taking her cue from Tucker, she turned to Camie. “When does thee want to return home?”
Silence. Camie stopped stringing cranberries and looked around the table. “Do I have to go home?”
“Well, yeah,” Tucker replied. “This is a home for kids who don’t got family. But you have a dad and a grandma right here.” He motioned toward them.
Felicity prayed silently for reconciliation.
Camie started kicking the rungs of her chair with her heels. “I didn’t think about that.”
“We’d like to have you come home,” Louise said, her voice strained. “I know it’s hard to leave Katy and Donnie, but you would still see them every day at school, and you could visit here, too. And they could visit you at our house.”
“I could come home,” Camie said, “but I would miss sleeping with Katy. I don’t like sleeping alone.”
“Maybe you could stay. You don’t got a mother,” Katy added. “You’re half orphan. Does that count?”
“I want Miss Felicity to be my mother,” Camie said.
Felicity shimmered with surprise.
“That makes sense,” Tucker said with a grin. “I think your pa should marry Miss Felicity. I think he’s sweet on her.”
Felicity’s face warmed. “Tucker, this is not—”
“Yes, I agree,” Louise said, grinning. “My son is sweet on Miss Felicity. And I think she would make a wonderful mother for Camie.”
Refusing to look at Louise or Ty, Felicity cleared her throat. “I am the mother here. This is my place to care for children.”
“But why couldn’t you take care of the children here in the daytime and then come home with me in the evening?” Camie asked, picking up the large needle and beginning to string cranberries again.
“That makes sense,” Katy agreed.
Felicity shook her head, blushing furiously. “No, children, no husband would want a wife who did that. If I were a married woman, I would have to devote myself to my own home. I would have no time to care for the children here.”
“I don’t know about that,” Vista said, coming in with a plate of gingerbread men, Charles following her. “Charles and I have decided to marry and I don’t know why we couldn’t live here and be house parents, do you? And Midge and her cousin who’s going to start after the New Year will be here, too. If your husband hired help at your place, you wouldn’t have much work to do at home.”
Felicity was completely flustered. Why didn’t Ty say something? “This is a most improper conversation. I made a decision long ago that my calling is to care for orphans and children who are being mistreated—”
“I think that’s an admirable goal,” Louise said. “But I don’t think that should prevent you from marrying my son.”
Ty spoke up at last, an amused look on his face. “I think that this is something Miss Felicity and I should discuss privately.” He rose. “Will you come with me into the den, please?”
Felicity stared at him as if she’d never seen him before. But courtesy dictated that she at least refuse the man in private.
Once inside the den, Ty closed the pocket door. Felicity felt his gaze upon her. Her nerves began to hop. “Ty, I’m so sorry—”
Pulling her close, Ty silenced her with a kiss.
She gasped for air. “Ty, please—”
He kissed her again, more insistently. This man had given her her first kiss here in this very room. But that tender touch was nothing like the kiss he was giving her now. His arms clasped her to him and his lips persuaded hers to part.
“Felicity,” he whispered.
She felt each syllable as his lips touched hers. She trembled against him, against her will. “Ty,” she murmured breathlessly, “thee mustn’t kiss me.”
He gazed down into her eyes, grinning. “Don’t you like my kisses?”
That put her in a quandary. In all honesty, she did like his kisses. She had often wondered why a woman would let a man kiss her—she was getting the full explanation for that here and now. But it wasn’t proper for her to encourage him. “Ty, I will not marry. I have a mission—”
He interrupted her again with a kiss, pulling her even closer to him. She tried to think but her mind was dancing, reeling.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured next to her ear. “When you said that Hogan was dishonest and lying, I should have believed you. Don’t hold that against me. Please.”
“Of course I won’t.” Felicity tried to step out of Ty’s embrace but found she was backed up against the desk and had nowhere to go.
“Felicity, until Camie spoke up tonight, I thought we could never be together. I’ve behaved so foolishly.”
Felicity tried to interrupt and was ignored again.
“Now I realize I can’t face that empty house without you. Camie loves you and needs you. I need you and I love you.”
“Thee loves me?”
Ty kissed her nose. “Yes, doesn’t thee love me?” he teased, using her plain speech.
“That’s beside the point.”
“I will hire a full-time housekeeper again and have a maid and laundress at our home.” He lifted and kissed one of her hands. “You will be free to spend your days here at the orphanage. I don’t see why you can’t do both.” He kissed her other hand. “We’ll work together to protect orphans and get the Illinois laws for juveniles changed. I’ll be a help to you. I promise.” He squeezed her hands. “Your mission will become ours.”
Felicity felt herself weakening. “Ty, thee is so persuasive. But I already refused to marry my childhood sweetheart, Gus, because I’d committed myself and my life to my mission. He went off to war and died. His mother blames me for her losing him and any possibility of a grandchild. How can I have turned down Gus, my best friend, only to accept thee? Can a sensible person change her whole life plan just because of love?”
Ty chuckled. “You have always talked sensibly, Miss Gabriel. But those are the silliest words I’ve ever heard from your lips. People change and grow. You will not dishonor Gus’s memory by pursuing your own happiness.” He reached up to touch a strand of her hair. “I never knew real love till I met you. Love changes everything. You of all people should know that. See what love has done for Tucker and Camie? See how Vista glows now that Charles has come back into her life? How can you say that love shouldn’t change anything? It changes everything—and for the good.”
She looked at him, openmouthed. Love. These three abide—faith, hope and love—but the greatest of these is love. How could I be so foolish?
She rested her cheek against his shirt. “Truly will we work together for the children?”
“Yes, a thousand times, yes. And we will make a home for the children here and for our children in my house. I will do everything in my power to help you.” Ty looked down and stroked her hair. “Do you love me, Felicity Gabriel?”
The past fell away and Felicity smiled. “I do, Ty. And I will marry thee.”
Epilogue
Hogan had not been seen since the day he was exposed for what he was. With Charles living on the premises, the Barney house was no longer guarded by the men of the neighborhood. They had a lovely Christmas, and today, the afternoon of the first day of 1868 in the parlor of the Barney house, Felicity in a new dark blue dress with white cuffs and collar faced Ty in his best suit and said, “I do.” Ty echoed her promise of lifelong devotion, and kissed her so sweetly, he brought grateful tears to her eyes.
Then Vista, wearing a lovely new red dress, faced Charles in a new black suit. The pastors from both Jack’s church and Ty’s officiated at the two weddings. After the wedding, neighbors and friends of Felicity and Ty’s and from Vista’s church sat around the large dining-room table and sipped punch and nibbled the beautiful white cake that Martha Partridge had baked and decorated herself. The shared friendship and shared joy of this day enfolded Felicity in a blissful cloud.
Surrounded by the general gaiety, Felicity looked around. A shy but beaming Vista came to her and whispered, “Is it time for us to toss our bouquets? The children keep asking.”
Felicity nodded. Both of them carried bouquets of pinecones and short pine boughs, and holly with red berries. They walked to the front porch. All the young women and even little girls gathered below them on the walk, calling for the bouquets, their breath floating white in the chill air.
Felicity watched Vista turn her back and toss the bouquet. When Midge caught Vista’s bouquet, everyone’s shrieks of excitement filled Felicity with a billowing, limitless elation. When Felicity did likewise, her eldest sister, Mercy, caught hers. Both of them had stared at each other in shock.
Mercy had worked as a nurse side by side with Clara Barton throughout the war and Felicity was very proud of her. Beside Mercy stood Indigo, the little orphaned slave whom Mercy had adopted and who was now near in age to Midge. And showing signs of becoming a lovely woman. Mercy and Indigo were on their way to begin Mercy’s life’s work far away in the West. Mercy had just graduated from the Female College of Medicine in Pennsylvania and was now a qualified physician.
As everyone hurried back inside, Felicity watched as Mercy handed Indigo the bouquet and slipped out of the limelight. Felicity didn’t believe in omens, but then she hadn’t believed that she would be a married woman on January 1, 1868, either.
When Ty came and put his arm around her, Felicity squeezed his hand. Camie stood beside her. Ty kissed the tender skin below Felicity’s ear and whispered, “I love you, my bride.” Her cup of joy overflowed. Ty’s words came again—love changes everything for the good. Maybe love was in Mercy’s future too. Lord, let it be so.
