Grace for a Drifter Read online

  Not that they’d ever lived as a couple. He’d had to leave and used that to convince her into a hurried ceremony in front of a judge. Then they’d spent one night together before he left. That night had been the last time she’d seen him before the upcoming fundraiser and dance.

  Her aunt had vowed he wouldn’t come back for her and she had been right. Now, to believe Errol, Aunt Milly had convinced him she’d died. It explained why he never wrote or tried to find her during the last three years.

  Errol handed a box first to Liza and then her. He sat across from them and smiled. “Let me pray before we open our treasure boxes.” His daughter grinned at the idea that the box contained a mysterious treasure. Grace liked that he offered to pray. Their mutual faith in Christ gave them something in common to build from as they got to know each other again.

  She smiled at him before opening her box. His face betrayed shock at her smile before he returned it. Suddenly shy, she looked down at the box on her lap. Opening the lid she saw a crusty sandwich, a peach, and two peanut butter cookies. Lifting the sandwich, she took a bite. “Umm. Beef and mustard. Delicious.”

  Liza chattered as the three ate, chanting about how much she loved cookies. Grace promised silently to start the girl with a piano teacher, if at all possible. It appeared that soon she would be Liza’s mother, after all.

  She needed to begin thinking of herself as Bethany again. While she’d been sure that identity lay in her past, a trip to Evergreen brought Bethany Winkler back to life. This trip also meant she would reclaim that most precious part of her past.

  What would Errol think when he saw Robbie for the first time? The thought caused panic to grip her. She could no longer cherish the anger as a wronged woman and cling to it to justify her decision regarding Robbie.

  A hand touched hers. For the first time, she realized she’d stopped eating and had instead wrung her hands. Hesitantly, she looked up into his worried eyes so close to her own since he’d leaned forward in his seat. “Are you ill?” His tone of caring concern caused tears to clog her throat and she blinked them back rapidly. It reminded her strongly of the man she’d married, confusing her with the idea that maybe they hadn’t changed as much in the years apart as she’d thought.

  “I’m fine. Simply confused and worried about my aunt.”

  At the mention of her aunt, his jaw tightened. Anger flared in those silver eyes. “What did the telegram tell you about the woman?” While he might want to know, his tone hinted that he expected the news to be bad.

  “She’s gone. I need to collect her son, Robbie.” She stumbled over the word son and paused after the boy’s name. “His father can’t care for him.” Grace wondered if he heard the tightness in her voice when she’d said father. He’d know why as soon as he saw the boy.

  Thoughts of Robbie had her wriggling in her seat. She hoped her uncle had trusted him to someone’s care until she got there. The train couldn’t get to the Ozarks fast enough to please her.

  Chapter 5

  She came awake suddenly, disconcerted by the feeling of being watched. Bethany—she refused to think of herself as Grace now—met silver eyes and relaxed. Errol watched her and Liza, protecting them. That had caused her unsettled feeling.

  She smiled sleepily. “Good morning.” She whispered quietly over top of Liza’s head which rested in her lap.

  During the night, Errol offered to move her to his seat so the girl could stretch out. Bethany had worried something might happen to Liza if both adults fell asleep and insisted on keeping her next to her. “I’ll feel her that way if she rolls or moves at all.”

  He’d nodded and gave her a serious stare. “Your nurturing was one thing that attracted me. Thank you for caring about Liza. She needs a mother.”

  Bethany had ducked her head for a moment to gather her thoughts before once again meeting his eyes in the dark. “I believe what you told me about your father and my aunt.” He released a sigh and grinned.

  She held up a hand to stop him from interrupting when he had been about to say something. “We are very different people now. Even married, I want to get to know you again before living as your wife.”

  “We’ll make sure that happens.”

  In the weak light of dawn, she looked at him and remembered his response from last night. He hadn’t said how they’d managed to become reacquainted or if they’d lived together. She hadn’t suggested anything either and both had become lost in their thoughts.

  This morning she needed to tell him about Robbie. They’d be in Evergreen soon. She wanted time alone with Robbie and her uncle but didn’t know if Errol would allow that.

  “What do you plan to do once we arrive at Evergreen?” Her soft question brought a twitch to his lips that failed to bloom into a smile. He seemed troubled by her question.

  “I plan to follow you. Unless you’d care to visit the cemetery with me and see my wife’s empty grave?” He challenged her with that question, as if he tried to feel out whether she still believed him today.

  “I need to go to my uncle’s farm right away. You can settle into the boarding house and wait for my return.” She employed her best “teacher” tone as she shared her plan.

  He flashed a mischievous smile. “Why, thank you. I’d be happy to escort you to your uncle’s farm. We need to stay together to get to know one another better as you mentioned last night.”

  He’d outmaneuvered her nicely. She couldn’t say no when he used her request to sidestep what she’d planned. Grimacing, she met his gaze. “Be prepared to be displeased with me by what you see.”

  This had been the moment to explain Robbie and she’d turned coward. What was the saying she’d once heard? It’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. Well, whether she told him now or later, she knew she would be begging forgiveness from him.

  Cowley’s Boarding House sat at the edge of town, a brisk walk from the depot but both she and Errol agreed that stretching their legs felt good after the hours on the train. Liza skipped along, happy to be free to move about again. She raced ahead of them, picking flowers or spying interesting rocks. Each time, she’d run back to them and share her find.

  Except for times when she was exhausted, the child seemed to be filled with joy and Bethany wondered if her mother had passed that trait down to her. “Was your sister as cheerful as Liza?”

  Errol’s mouth thinned. “Not at all. That is a trait that came directly from her father. He used it well to fool and seduce people. At least she will be raised not to take advantage of others.”

  The bitterness of his tone convinced her to drop the subject. The white fence surrounding the boarding house gleamed in the distance and she hurried toward it. Liza had skipped past it, forcing Bethany to call her back to them.

  A granite-faced woman answered Errol’s knock. Her features turned from impersonal to condescending when she recognized Bethany, contradicting the words when she said, “May I help you?”

  Using the confidence born into him by a privileged upbringing, Errol explained what he expected. “We need two rooms if you have them available. If only one is vacant, my daughter will be able to share with my wife and me.”

  Mrs. Cowley’s eyebrows rose. “Wife? Bethany Winkler, did you marry? Thought you’d been duped and abandoned.” The woman reveled in the possibility of new gossip to share, not even caring that her comment revealed her poor manners.

  Rather than waiting for Bethany to answer the woman, Errol refocused the conversation. “Ma’am, do you have a room for us?”

  The woman sniffed with indignation at not learning any details. Nodding curtly, she moved out of the doorway and motioned for them to come inside.

  Liza had plopped onto the porch swing, pushing it back and forth with her foot. Errol had already entered, carrying their bags, but Bethany moved to stand by the girl and held out her hand.

  Taking the offered hand, Liza rose and spoke softly. “I don’t like the lady. Do we gotta stay here?”

  “Not ‘go
tta,’ dear. Say ‘have to’ instead. And, yes, this is the only place for us to stay. I don’t think we’d be welcomed at my uncle’s.” They walked while Bethany spoke to the girl. Her last comment, about her uncle, had been heard by Mrs. Cowley.

  “He certainly wouldn’t. Sent you off with a flea in your ear three years ago. Not likely to welcome you back now, is he?” The woman huffed as she finished her little speech.

  Errol had finished signing the register and the woman read his name. “Marsden? I had a Marsden stay here about four days ago. What a coincidence!”

  Startled, Errol pushed for more information from the gossipy woman. “It’s not a common name. A traveling salesman perhaps?”

  She shook her head and twisted her mouth at the memory. “Not likely with the quality of that man’s clothes. Wanted a fancy hotel and seemed put out to stay in my fine house.”

  Bethany wanted to blurt out the name she knew must also be in Errol’s mind. She bit her lip and let him steer the conversation. The less she said to Mrs. Cowley would be all the better for them, she believed.

  Obviously, she’d been right when she thought that the name must be on her husband’s mind also. Errol spoke it in an off-hand way, as if the name didn’t have importance for both of them.

  “I know Robert Marsden from St. Louis. Don’t suppose he was the man?” He smiled that disarming grin as he spoke and Mrs. Cowley nodded her head.

  “My but I don’t know how you guessed that. It certainly was Robert Marsden. Your relative?” She sensed news like a cat sniffed out a mouse and wanted to pounce on whatever the man in front of her had to share about their connection.

  “Yes, a relation,” he conceded. “However, our connection is a distant one.”

  No matter how distant he wanted his connection to be, Bethany knew very well that Robert Marsden was Errol’s father. She supposed it hadn’t been a lie since he’d grown distant from his father since the man had thrown his pregnant daughter out of his home.

  Hearing her name, she focused on Errol again. He waited for her near the maple banister. “Let’s drop off these bags. You wanted to get to your uncle’s, right?”

  Though he’d insisted, Errol still felt surprised at how easily Bethany allowed him to take control of the situation. She’d gone along meekly when he arranged for a buggy and simply allowed him to help her in with nothing but a weak, “Thank you.” He had expected her to insist once more that she needed to go to her uncle’s farm alone. The look on her face now showed that she was resigned to whatever she expected to happen.

  What did she expect to happen and what was the mystery about her aunt? Errol still hadn’t learned whether the woman was dead, ill, or had simply disappeared. Maybe Bethany didn’t know either.

  Deciding to avoid any mention of the aunt, he brought up the uncle. “Bethany, what did Mrs. Cowley mean about your uncle sending you away three years ago?”

  Before his wife could answer, Liza interrupted. She sat between them and swiveled her head from one to the other as she chirped, “Her name’s Grace, Daddy, not Bethany.”

  With gentle censure in his voice, he ignored his daughter’s comment and focused instead on her manners. “Liza, don’t interrupt adults when they’re talking.”

  The girl nodded as she looked up at him with sad eyes. “Sorry, Daddy. I’ll remember.”

  He gazed again at Bethany. He watched her struggle with what to say and hated that she measured her words so carefully with him. Once they’d been able to say anything to each other, sharing whatever thought entered their minds.

  “Uncle Ralph believed Aunt Milly’s story that you’d abandoned me. He told me not to come back since I’d shamed them.” She compressed her lips tightly after speaking, as if she worked to keep from saying more. That action told him she kept something from him. When she looked pointedly at Liza, he wondered if she might have shared her secrets if the girl wasn’t with them.

  The drive to the farm went quickly. Not a sulky child, Liza forgot quickly about his reprimand and chattered about flowers, trees, animals—anything she saw that delighted her. He let her talk as it relaxed Bethany. She laughed along with the girl as they watched two squirrels chase each other across the road.

  As he drove the buggy through the gateway of the farm, Bethany squared her shoulders as if preparing for a fight. He wondered again what she’d endured years ago to cause this reaction to the place.

  A dog barked at their arrival and soon a stoop-shoulder man stepped out of the barn. Loping toward them, he stopped a few feet from the buggy and crossed his arms. “See that you got here, Bethany. He’s in town at Widow Perkin’s place. Not my place to care for him.”

  Deciding the man didn’t plan to invite them in, Errol stayed in the buggy. Bethany didn’t seem to want to leave it either. She leaned across him to speak with her uncle.

  “What happened to Aunt Milly? You only said ‘gone’ in your telegram. Does that mean she died or left?” Bethany’s meek and respectful tone let Errol know that this man intimidated her. Again, he regretted whatever she’d suffered because of the man.

  “Up and left three days ago. Left a note telling me she’d gone off with a traveling man. Some type of salesman.” He spoke easily. Errol noted a total lack of sadness in the man’s words and it baffled him.

  “Please, may I see the note, Uncle? I can’t believe that Aunt Milly would do—”

  A roar from her uncle cut her off. “You saying I’m a liar! I burned that note anyhow. Not gonna keep such a thing!” The man spat as he rapidly spoke, his face red with rage. His hand raised as if he would slap her. Errol was glad they hadn’t left the buggy.

  Bethany pulled her head back into the buggy, cringing even though her uncle couldn’t reach her. “Sorry, Uncle. I’m confused. That’s all. Did she take her things?”

  Her uncle studied her for a moment before answering. “Not much. ‘Spect she planned on the man buying her fancy dresses. You come on out tomorrow and pack up whatever belonged to her and the boy.” With those words, he turned away from them and headed back to the barn.

  Errol picked up the leathers and started the buggy back to town. He stayed silent, allowing Bethany time to think. Liza, too, was unusually quiet.

  Before they arrived back at the boarding house, she spoke with hesitation and doubt clouding her voice. “I can’t believe my aunt would willingly leave. Is it just a coincidence that your father stayed in Evergreen a day prior to my aunt’s disappearance?”

  He hadn’t made that connection and looked at her stupidly. His father? He couldn’t imagine the man willingly speaking with the aunt. Still, they’d colluded almost four years ago when Bethany had been fooled into believing he’d abandoned her and actually had another wife.

  “Anything is possible. Guess I’ll need to head to St. Louis and see him if you want answers.” He hoped she could hear the dread in his voice. He wrestled almost daily with the commandment to honor one’s father and mother. How could he honor a deceitful and autocratic person even if he did happen to be his father?

  Bethany didn’t say anything about his proposed trip to St. Louis. When they reached the boarding house, she put a hand on his arm. “We need to go a few streets over and see Mrs. Perkins. I must collect someone who’s staying with her.”

  The name reminded him of what the uncle had said. “Your uncle said, ‘he’s at the Widow Perkin’s place.’ Who did he mean?” As he spoke, he followed her directions and had arrived in front of a small clapboard house.

  She ducked her head and looked at her hands as she spoke. “We have to pick up Robbie. My aunt adopted him as her son.” When he looked into her eyes he read fear. Her eyes pleaded with him before she turned away.

  He quickly set the brake and jumped from his side of the buggy. Helping Bethany out of it, he moved an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “We’re together again. Whatever it is that you’re dreading, we’ll handle it. I promise.”

  She nodded even while her face wore a doubtful expression.
He turned back to lift Liza out, but his daughter had already used the wheel to climb out on her own, like one of the squirrels they’d watched that day. He smiled at her and cautioned, “Stay with us. No exploring right now.”

  Disappointed, the girl stopped and came back to stand by her father. He took her hand and walked behind Bethany up a path created by large stones pressed into the ground. Really, he was the one who walked. Liza hopped from one interesting stone to the other like they’d been placed to create a hopscotch game.

  Telling her to stand still, he waited silently and wondered at the fear and anxiousness that radiated from his wife. How he loved those two words—his wife. He’d give her the time she needed to get to know him again, as long as she didn’t make them live apart.

  The door was answered by a bent and wrinkled woman. She squinted at Bethany before a smile lit her face. “Oh good, Bethany, you’ve come. It’s not in me anymore to take care of little ones.”

  The widow looked beyond Bethany to him. “You the one that ran off on her. Something ‘bout you seems familiar.”

  Stiffening, Errol struggled to summon a greeting for the woman. In the end, he decided to simply answer her. “I’m Bethany’s husband, though I never ran off. There was a terrible misunderstanding.”

  The woman ignored his comments and stared. Suddenly she nodded her head. “It’s the eyes and hair. That’s why you’re so familiar.” She turned and called for someone.

  Her words about eyes and hair confused him until he saw the little boy. The child moved from the shadows of the room and stood beside the woman in the doorway. He looked up at them with curiosity and a great deal of shyness in his silver eyes.

  Silver eyes! They ran in his family.

  Errol looked at Bethany with accusation. Then he focused his eyes on the son he never suspected existed.

  Chapter 6

  Bethany wanted to grab the boy and hug him. She could claim her son! Over the last three years, her arms had ached to hold him. She’d yearned as much for him as she had for the man she’d believed had tricked and betrayed her. Now they could be a family if Errol could get past the anger she read on his face.