The Brides of Chance Collection Part 64

Chapter 17.

Lovejoy stepped outside and took in the situation in a single glance. The doctor's bleak silence, t.i.tus's shocked pallor, and Dan's face lined with determination and grime as he braced his brother's arm.

"t.i.tus, Alisa sent me out here. She knows the baby won't survive if the doctor operates tonight. She won't allow that."

"Doc," t.i.tus said, "there's got to be another choice."

When the doc gave his head a single, decisive shake, Dan rasped, "He loves his wife. They can have other kids."

"Not necessarily."

Lovejoy wrapped her arms around herself and noticed how Daniel bristled at the doctor's curt response. Clearly, he shared her horror at the man's complete lack of compa.s.sion. She tried to fish for vital information. "Doc, I know each day makes a powerful difference. How much longer would Alisa have to carry the babe afore it'll have a fighting chance?"

He shrugged. "May as well be two years as two weeks. You don't just need time; you need a miracle."

"We believe in the G.o.d of miracles." Dan spoke the words with a certainty that took Lovejoy by complete surprise. "t.i.tus, this is your call. I'll support you in whatever you decide, but if I had things to do over again, I would have done a lot more praying."

t.i.tus heaved a sigh. "How soon do you need an answer, Doc?"

"Morning's as long as we can wait."

"Dan'l, the doc's gotta be hungry as a three-legged wolf. Think we could take him on over for supper? I'll come along for the prayer and bring back a plate for t.i.tus. That way he and his missus cain have a few minutes alone."

They went to the main house where Miriam and Delilah had a meal waiting. Gideon said a heartfelt prayer.

The doctor piled food onto his plate and groused, "I don't see any use in this woman using any of her herbal remedies. They haven't cured the malady."

Lovejoy didn't argue with the sour-faced stranger. To her surprise, Daniel did.

"Alisa's hanging on. That says plenty to me about how well Lovejoy's treatment works."

"I can't pull a miracle out of my medical bag. I don't know why you bothered to come get me if you believe she can." The doctor shoveled another bite into his mouth. "Then again, nothing's going to make her condition any worse than it already is."

"Paul, there's hawthorn by the mercantile. Cain I send you to town to fetch me some?" The uncertain look on his face forced a smile from Lovejoy. "I'll show you a picture in that book you bought me. I cain tell you 'zactly where it is, so you don't have to fret on whether you picked the right thing."

"Doc, you look like you could use some rest," Logan said. Bryce nodded. "You can bunk down in our place."

Lovejoy couldn't decide whether the Chance brothers truly believed she'd pull Alisa through this crisis or if they were just so angry at the doctor's heartless att.i.tude that they were banding together to keep him at bay.

She brewed black haw bark that she had traded for back home to make a tea and handed the cup to Delilah. "You go pour this down her. I'm out to fetch dandelion leaves and valerian."

"Miriam, will you watch my girls?" Daniel stood up. "I'll carry the lantern for Lovejoy."

"Oh, Lord, please holp us."

Daniel stood by Lovejoy and wondered what happened to the calm she had displayed until now. She'd knelt to dig up some dandelion and suddenly burst out with those words. She didn't stop there, either. An intercessory prayer poured out of her.

Daniel knelt, cupped her close, and sheltered her from the cold of night. He set down the lantern and reached to hold her hand. When her prayer ended, he haltingly added his own plea. "G.o.d, it's been so long since I came to You. I'm asking a lot of You-to forgive me for being so headstrong and stubborn. And please heal Alisa. Lord, spare my brother the grief I've known. Protect their baby. Give Lovejoy the wisdom and stuff she needs to do Your work. In Jesus' name, amen."

Lovejoy looked at him with tears glistening in her big eyes. "Guess since we asked the Almighty to do His part, we best get busy and do our share."

The next morning the doctor rea.s.sessed Alisa. "I don't know what you gave her, but the herbs have helped Mrs. Chance to some degree. Her swelling's gone down, but she's still in poor condition. I can't stay here while you dither. Either I operate or I leave."

t.i.tus wavered about what to do. He spent a few moments in privacy with Alisa then came out. "Doc, Alisa won't let you operate. I can't betray her wishes any more than I can give up on either my wife or my child. Sacrificing one for the sake of the other-I can't do that."

Doc left, muttering about how he didn't know why they bothered him in the first place.

Daniel wound his arm around t.i.tus's shoulders. "You've made the only decision you could. We have faith in the Lord, and Lovejoy's been blessed with a healing touch. We'll take it one day at a time."

Dabbing the pencil tip on her tongue, Lovejoy frowned at the paper. She struck out yet another line with the moistened pencil lead. Many of the herbs she needed didn't grow here, or if they did, it was the wrong time to harvest them. White's Mercantile didn't carry a supply of compressed dried herbal cakes, so she was sending a telegram back home.

At three dollars for ten words, she struggled to compose the briefest message possible. No matter how she tried, what she needed couldn't be phrased in ten words. I never noticed how many herbs have two-word names. Red raspberry, black sampson, and lady slipper alone took up a total of six precious words. Was Virginia bugle-weed two words or three? She tapped the pencil on the page and sighed. Up to nine words at that point. Then came bethroot, false unicorn, peach bark, and yellow dock. Delilah has fennel growing in her garden. Blessed thistle, too. But I'll need marshmallow. Cain't use rye ergot on Alisa, but I might need it for Delilah....

"Lovejoy?"

She jumped and turned around. "Dan'l! Does Alisa need me?"

"No, t.i.tus is with her. I've never seen you scowl. What's wrong?"

"Miriam tole me to write up a telegram so's I cain have Widow Hendricks send essentials. I'm parin' it down best as I cain. White oak bark's available here. So's butcher's broom, dandelion, and rose hips."

"Hold on." He took the paper from her and joined her on the bench. Their arms brushed.

Lovejoy didn't want to scoot away. Since the day he'd found her crying and lent her his warmth and strength, she'd sensed a profound s.h.i.+ft in him. He wasn't so caught up in his sorrows that he was oblivious to anyone else. Papa never was one to pay any mind to a female's feelings, and Vern-well, Vern never cared one bit how she was. Plenty of times she'd seen other men support their womenfolk; she wasn't Daniel's, but he'd cupped her head to his st.u.r.dy chest, and suddenly the burdens she'd been carrying didn't feel half so heavy.

And here he was again.

He studied the paper, took the pencil, and circled all the things she'd struck out. "Stop fussing and order everything you need. Ask for plenty. With Delilah also in the family way, you ought to have a generous supply."

"This is already nineteen words!"

He shrugged. "Make it forty-even sixty. I don't care about the cost; I want my brothers' wives well. Money in the bank's no good without loved ones to share it with." With that, he handed back the paper and smiled at her-smiled!

He walked off, and Lovejoy was glad he did. She didn't think she could hide her amazement. Why, Dan smilin' is nigh unto bein' a genuine miracle!

In the end her telegram ended up being thirty words-a nine-dollar, thirty-word telegram. No one in Salt Lick would believe such extravagance. "Lord, if Thou art of a mind to bestow miracles, Dan's perkin' outta his sorrow is right fine. Might be Ye did that jist to keep from listenin' to me yammer on 'bout him, but I been burdened for him. Whilst Thou art at that miracle business, if 'n Thou wouldst protect Alisa and her babe, that'd be wondrous fine."

G.o.d listened. They took things one day at a time. Things remained touch and go, but Alisa didn't worsen. Casting a quick look back at Alisa as she napped, Lovejoy prayed the herbs would arrive the next day. Widow Hendricks'll either figure Alisa's in grave condition or that I've gone 'round the bend, but either way, I hope it makes her shake a leg and send the stuff.

Delilah quietly tacked Polly and Ginny Mae's latest drawings up on the wall for Alisa to appreciate. "How much longer before the medicines come?"

"Best I cain guess, the packet ought to arrive next day or so," Lovejoy said in a low tone. "Train from back home to San Francisco took five days. Stage to here took another day."

"Paul sent the telegram the day you wrote it, so I guess it just depends on how long it takes your Widow Hendricks to gather up what's needed."

Lovejoy nodded. She still couldn't believe the telegram she'd sent. She drew closer to take a gander at the girls' colorful pictures. "You got them having a right fine time with those fancy Farber colored pencils. Drawin' alongside you is a dreadful treat for them."

"They miss you." Delilah gave her shoulder a nudge. "I'll stay here. You can go on outside for a while. You can play with them or go have a little time to yourself."

Stepping outside Alisa's cabin, Lovejoy heard children's laughter. Miriam was hanging clothes on the line, and the girls were chasing chickens about the yard. The instant they spied Lovejoy, they cried her name and ran to her.

Nothing ever felt half as precious as the way Daniel's daughters flung themselves into her arms as she knelt down.

"Howdy, Daniel Chance."

"Mrs. MacPherson." He nodded at Tempy. In hopes that the things Lovejoy ordered might have arrived, he'd mounted Cooper and was heading toward town.

Her eyes lit at him calling her by her married name. Atop the sorrel mare he'd seen Lovejoy use, Tempy tilted her chin up the road toward Chance Ranch. "I aim to go pay a call on my sister."

"She went off on a walk with my girls."

Tempy smiled. "You sure are nice to share your la.s.sies with her. Fills in some of the ache in her heart."

"Because she misses her husband?"

Tempy let out a mirthless laugh. "Vern Spencer wasn't worth the cost of the copper pipe he paid Pa for her."

"Your father sold her?"

Tempy folded her arms across the pommel as pain flickered across her features. "Yes, he did."

Daniel frowned as Lovejoy's words echoed in his mind. Them girls don't know how lucky they are to have a daddy who holds 'em close in his arms and in his heart. He couldn't fathom what Tempy had just admitted. "What was your father thinking?"

Tempy paled and got a stricken look on her face. "Forget I said anything."

Daniel regretted his outburst. "I didn't mean to alarm you. Whatever happened wasn't your fault."

Her jaw lifted. "It's over and done with, and it's none of your business."

If he hadn't seen the tears sparkling in her eyes, he would have mistaken her resolve for stubbornness. Daniel couldn't let it go. "I'm making it my business."

"Nothing but hurt will come from you digging into my sister's past, Daniel Chance. Best you leave things alone. She's built herself a life again, and I won't let anyone hurt her."

He sat there and weighed his words carefully. "Your sister matters to me. I wouldn't hurt her-ever. It tears me apart to think your father treated her that way."

"What do you mean, Lovejoy matters to you?"

"I care for her." He paused. "A lot." The admission didn't come easily, but he knew from the guarded look on her face that he had to be more forthcoming. "I care enough that I've discussed it privately with one of my brothers."

Tempy's eyes widened. "Really?"

Daniel smiled wryly. "I'm not sure who's more surprised-you at the news or me for confessing it."

"Are you declaring your love and intentions, Daniel Chance?"

"It's not like when I fell in love with my Hannah, so I can't say it's true love." He let out a long, slow breath. "Time will tell, but I can tell you this much: I hold a deep tenderness and respect for her."

"Better you're honest about that and taking time to be sure than that she gets her heart broke." She studied him at length. "Lovejoy hasn't told you a thing about her husband, has she?"

"No."

"I'm going to trust you, Daniel. I'm not sure why."

"It's because you want your sister to have the same happiness you've found." He relaxed his grip on his reins.

She nodded. "That would be a grand miracle."

"So tell me." He fought to keep an angry edge from his voice as he bade, "Start with why your father sold her."

Chapter 18.

Pa needed the copper and sugar. Lovejoy was sixteen, so he reckoned he could get a bride price and not have to feed her anymore."

Aghast, Dan stared at Lovejoy's sister.

"Pa ran-runs-a bootleg still. It broke down, and he needed the copper tubing to make it work again. That and four pounds of sugar. He traded his firstborn daughter for them."

Daniel dreaded asking, but he had to. "Did her husband treat her any better?"

"Worse. After she lost the babe-"

His mind reeled. Daniel held up a hand and blurted out, "Lovejoy had a child? She's never said-"

"No." Tempy stayed silent for a moment then sighed. "Almost seven moons into the carrying, Lovejoy came down sick, and Vern was off somewhere. He'd take off for weeks at a time. She was all by herself when she lost the babe." Tears choked her voice. "It was an awful time."

Daniel wiped his hand down his face as if it would clear the horror from his mind. Lovejoy loved babies. She'd been alone and lost her very own.

"When Widow Hendricks said Lovejoy couldn't have more children, Vern tried to sell her back to Pa."

"He didn't deserve Lovejoy or any of her children."

"I agree. Might be wicked of me to say, but I thought about dancing on that man's grave for what he did."

His grave. Lovejoy was a widow, and that fact took on a whole new significance. Daniel felt a small spurt of satisfaction and relief. "He died. When?"

"Four years back."