The Brides of Chance Collection Part 65

Daniel's brow furrowed. "She got married at sixteen."

Tempy didn't make him ask. "My sister's twenty-four. She put up with Vern Spencer for four long years."

Four years of a horrible marriage. The thought staggered him. Scrambling to rea.s.sure himself things had gotten better, Dan nodded. "So after he died, Lovejoy apprenticed herself to a midwife?"

Tempy clamped her lips together.

His heart wrenched. Lovejoy had endured so much, yet Daniel sensed there was more bad news.

"Lovejoy didn't wait that long. Once she buried her own babe, she went to Widow Hendricks and learned her healing ways in order to be there for other women so they wouldn't be alone in their times of need." After a pause, she added on quietly, "Even when those women were having babes Vern Spencer fathered."

What was a man to say in response to such a revelation? Dan wanted to bellow in anger that Lovejoy had endured so much.

Uneasily s.h.i.+fting in the saddle, Tempy wiped away tears. "I shouldn't have said anything. It was wrong of me."

"No, Tempy. I needed to know."

"Lovejoy never talks of it. Please don't say anything to her."

"Everything you've said was in confidence. You have my word."

"Don't even tell her you saw me." Tempy gulped in a noisy breath. "I'll just go visit another day." He no more than nodded, and she turned the mare and raced back toward the MacPherson spread.

Lovejoy. Daniel kneed Cooper toward town. What an incredible woman. Life battered her, but she'd come through with a sunny att.i.tude and an open heart. Admiration for her filled him.

The first time they met, she'd been singing. Since then she'd had a kind word for everyone.

And she wasn't one just to talk. The woman jumped in with both feet and helped in countless ways, always with a cheerful heart. Just last week Bryce remarked that if she was any busier, she'd have to be twins.

The thought of Lovejoy patiently tending Alisa took on a whole new significance. She alone knew the loss Alisa might face, yet she kept her own experience a secret so Alisa wouldn't have more cause to worry. Lovejoy bore the burden of that worry in complete silence. Her courage humbled Dan.

Suddenly, the words he'd said to Lovejoy as she did laundry weeks ago shot through his mind. If all it took to make your grief go away was a couple of prayers, then you must not have loved your husband the way I loved my wife.

He groaned aloud at the memory of those words. What kind of man would be uncaring and unfaithful to his bride? Instead of being cherished, she'd been treated like chattel. Her marriage was a nightmare, not a dream.

How could I have known? Lovejoy always finds the good in people and appreciates everything around her. She never acts as if she ever walked through the valley of the shadow of death. Every hope a woman held dear was taken from her-the babe she carried, the ability to ever bear another one, the love of a mate, the simple dignity of being treated with respect....

Beneath her practical, capable exterior, Dan knew Lovejoy had the tenderest of hearts. How could she deliver other women of her own husband's children? How did she stand seeing them day in and day out? Marriage brought her nothing but humiliation and heartbreak, yet she'd overcome it.

The truth hit him. I've been so caught up in my sorrow, I kept looking at my loss. I never stopped to thank G.o.d for the blessings I had.

"Lord, You gave Hannah and me three happy years of loving one another. The girls, Father-You gave me two daughters to cherish. I've been lost in grief, but it never occurred to me that the very depth of that sorrow showed how deeply You'd blessed me. Lovejoy talks about rainbows, and all I saw was the rain. Help me to look up."

Cooper whinnied and cantered by a clump of yellow flowers. Mustard, one of the many plants Lovejoy used to heal others. She was like those flowers-sunny and turning her face toward heaven all the day long. What was that verse? The one about mustard seed...faith just the size of a mustard seed was enough to move a mountain.

Dan determined then and there to exercise his faith. His mountain of grief had already been s.h.i.+fting and crumbling. Lovejoy told him days ago that she'd hold him up to Jesus. Well, I'm going to do that same thing. I'm going to hold her up to You, G.o.d. I'll have faith that You can heal the hurts in her heart.

The children and Miriam were perking along right fine. Now that Delilah was over her morning sickness, she'd bounced right back, too. If only Alisa were doing as well. Lovejoy was doing her best to keep Alisa and that wee babe fine.

Daniel went to town yesterday and came back without the things from Salt Lick. No one said a word about it. They all felt the tension, but yammering over it wouldn't change a thing. Today Daniel hitched up the buckboard and took Miriam, baby Caleb, and the girls to town with him. It would be a nice outing, even if the s.h.i.+pment hadn't come yet.

Please, Lord, let it come. Alisa's squeakin' by one day at a time. Each day is a gift, but we're all so worried. Keep her and that babe in the palm of Thy hand and rock 'em tenderlike.

"Lovejoy?"

"I'm right here, Alisa." Dipping the rag in the pan of water and wringing it out, Lovejoy made sure she wore a serene expression. "The heat sappin' you, honey?"

"You're just as hot as I am." Alisa pushed back a russet wisp of hair. "I'm worried about t.i.tus."

Instead of filling the cabin with chatter, Lovejoy quietly sponged off the pregnant woman. Experience had taught her folks would talk when they were good and ready.

"One of the things I love about him is how he always sings or whistles...or hums." Alisa's smile didn't reach her eyes. "He's stopped."

"A gal in this condition's supposed to lie in a hushed, dark room. Your man's probably trying to be quiet on account that he loves you and wants to do his part."

"I'm afraid that if the baby and I don't pull through, he'll end up brooding like Daniel."

"Then let's pray on that. I'm a sc.r.a.pper, and you gotta fair bit of fight in you. Betwixt us and the heavenly Healer, I'm a-plannin' to dandle your babe on my knee by the time you and me get Delilah through her birthing."

"You always say the right thing."

Lovejoy chuckled softly. "Wish I felt thataway. Listenin' to you Chance gals talk, I always think on how wondrous fine you sound. I'm a plainspoken hillbilly woman, and I niver heard genuine ladies' conversation till I got here. My words are like grains of sand on pasteboard, and every word trippin' off yore tongues is like diamonds and silk."

"In Matthew, Christ said, *Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.' You have an abundant heart, Lovejoy."

"See there? That's what I mean. Now here. Time for you to have another cup of this tea." After her patient emptied the cup, Lovejoy grinned. "Now afore we pray, I gotta tell you something wondrous fine since you mentioned Dan'l's brooding nature. You've been laid up and not seen it, but he's a-climbin' out of that dark sorrow. The man's got a smile, after all."

It wasn't long before Lovejoy saw Daniel's smile again. The buckboard pulled into the barnyard, and moments later she heard heavy footsteps. Though they left the door open for fresh air, she'd hung a midnight blue blanket inches from it to block out the light. In cases like this, light wasn't good for the mama. Sunlight flooded the cabin, then the blanket fell back in place, leaving Daniel standing there. His smile lit the whole place.

"This came for you." He set down a box and pulled the bowie knife from his belt. A flick of his thick wrist, and the twine fell away.

"Thankee, G.o.d!" She scurried over and knelt by the box. Lifting the lid, she added, "And thankee, Dan'l. 'Twas good of you to go fetch this."

"How is she?"

Lovejoy cast a look back to a.s.sure herself Alisa was sleeping again. The sedative in the tea seemed to be working well, but she'd used the very last of what she'd originally brought in her satchel. "With prayer and all these yarbs, we got a fightin' chance now. This here's lady slipper to keep her sleepy and calm. The honeysuckle'll draw off the swollin'. My, my. Widow Hendricks sent hawthorn for Alisa's headache, even though I didn't even ask for it."

Relief flooded her as she tucked the packets and vials into her ap.r.o.n pockets. "If 'n you send Delilah or Miriam here, I'll go to the kitchen and start brewin' up what all we need."

Three days later, even with all the medicinals she'd requested on hand, Lovejoy worried. She knew she needed a bit of time to collect her thoughts and calm her nerves. If Alisa lost the baby, it would be a terrible tragedy-one that Lovejoy related to all too keenly.

I need to take time to shed my own woes, or I'll only add to Alisa's anxiety. The Good Book says a cheerful heart doeth good like medicine. Believing that proverb, Lovejoy left t.i.tus at his wife's side, fetched her dulcimer, and went to sit on the bench at the bend in the creek.

Having tucked the girls into their bed, Daniel stepped outside. Soft music carried on the breeze. Lovejoy was playing her dulcimer, and it was a mighty pretty tune. It didn't take but a second to surmise she'd gone out to that bench he'd made for her by the creek.

Congratulating himself for having thought to make more than just one bench, Daniel started walking. He figured he'd go sit a spell and listen. If Lovejoy wanted privacy or an opportunity to think over a difficult matter, she'd not be making music.

Taking the nearest bench and dragging it closer, Dan motioned to her to keep playing and singing. Her brows rose in surprise, but she continued as he plopped down. The last lines of "He's Gone Away" faded into the night air.

"You out for a stroll after makin' sure yore la.s.sies are snug as bugs?"

He nodded. "It's nice to see you catching fresh air. Much as you like being outside, it must be making you chafe to be confining yourself to Alisa's side."

"She's the one who's plowing the rocky field." Absently, Lovejoy plucked a few strings. Soon the notes to "Lorena" hovered in the air.

Hannah had loved that song. She'd hummed it now and then as she straightened up their cottage. The memory made him smile-he'd forgotten how he'd teased Hannah about the fact that she followed the biblical injunction to make a joyful noise all too well. Then, too, she hummed because she couldn't ever keep the words straight if she kept on key as she sang them. The memory brought him pleasure instead of pain. Almighty Lord, thank You.

The last measure trembled in the air. "What are you going to play next?"

Lovejoy's right shoulder hitched. "Don't have anything particular callin' to me. You have a tune or a hymn on your mind?"

"Hmm." He thought a moment. "What about *Rock of Ages'?"

She nodded and found her fingering, then started singing. Dan noticed her voice quavered slightly on the second verse. "Let's sing that verse again."

"You'll be a-singin' with me?" Her eyes widened.

He started singing, and she joined in.

"Not the labor of my hands Can fulfill Thy law's demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone."

Lovejoy's hands stilled. "I ken the hymn's about salvation, but 'tis fitting for Alisa's situation. No matter what I do, Dan'l, 'twill be Jesus who decides whether to save or take her."

"I know." He leaned forward. Resting his forearms on his knees, he managed to be at eye level to her. In the dim evening light, he could see the glistening tears. "But we're thankful for all you're doing, and we're relying on the Rock of Ages."

Chapter 19.

Athin wail s.h.i.+vered in the air. Daniel held t.i.tus back. "Half an hour. You agreed to Lovejoy's rule."

"I'm not waiting. That's my wife and babe!"

"And you owe them both to G.o.d's grace and Lovejoy's skill. There are medical details she needs to tend to in there."

t.i.tus groaned. "I'll credit G.o.d for Alisa and the baby making it. I'm thankful for all Lovejoy's done, too. But that ax..."

Daniel folded his arms across his chest. "What's wrong with my ax? I like to think it helped."

"It's hillbilly nonsense. Putting your ax under the bed didn't cut Alisa's pain."

Though he secretly agreed, Dan goaded his brother to delay him from bursting into the cabin. "Of course it did. I just sharpened it."

Paul started chuckling. "It's one thing to be crazy about a woman; it's another thing to be plumb crazy."

"Fine." Dan smirked. "When Delilah's in labor, I'll take my ax and go chop wood."

Paul snorted. "You'll be lucky if she doesn't swipe it and keep it under our bed from now until our baby comes." He poked t.i.tus. "Notice Dan didn't deny that he's crazy about Lovejoy."

t.i.tus kept craning his neck so he could keep the door to the cabin in view. He grumbled, "She's dead set on going back to Salt Lick. If she doesn't let me in there in the next five minutes, I'll personally stick her on the next stage out!"

"You can't mean it." Paul glowered at t.i.tus. "Delilah's going to need a midwife."

Daniel rocked back on his heels and shot his brothers a smug smile. "I aim to coax her to stay forever, but Delilah's a good excuse in the interim."

t.i.tus jolted. "Forever? Dan, are you saying-"

Dan jerked t.i.tus around. "The door's open!" Whew. I hushed him up just in time.

"t.i.tus, yore family's a-waitin' to greet you." Lovejoy beamed as she stood there. Miriam slipped on out, and t.i.tus raced in. Lovejoy stepped out and closed the door to allow them a moment of privacy.

"Well?" Dan prompted.

"Mother's a tad weakly and the child's smallish, but I estimate they'll both be right as rain within a week."

"What is it?" Delilah rushed over, holding both Daniel's girls by their hands.

"It's a baby," Polly said with certainty.

Dan chuckled and looked to Lovejoy for the answer. "Boy or girl?"

"Cain't say. 'Tisn't my news."

"It's a girl, Daddy." Ginny Mae s.h.i.+mmied up his pant leg like a bear cub climbing a tree.

"How do you know that?" He wound his arm around her and planted a noisy peck on her sun-kissed cheek.

"Auntie 'Lisa sewed gowns, not pants," Polly explained.

He tweaked her nose. "Baby Caleb wears gowns, and he's a boy. All babies wear gowns."

The door opened once again. t.i.tus stepped out into the morning sun and beckoned them in. "Come meet Tobias!"

Lovejoy waited as everyone else hastened to see the baby. Dan wrapped his free arm about her shoulders and walked her to the door. "Tobias, huh?"

"It means *G.o.d is good,' " t.i.tus explained.

"And He is," Dan agreed.

Everyone admired the baby and said sweet things to Alisa. Dan didn't like how she looked at all, and he was more than glad Lovejoy planned to stay and attend her. After a handful of minutes and plenty of praise, Lovejoy shooed them all out and told Miriam, "I'd count it a favor if you'd fetch me them jars I made last night of the Virginia bugleweed and the black sampson teas. Alisa needs to drink them now."

Dan lagged behind. As she nudged him out the door, he whispered, "Yell if you need help."