Laura's Second Chance (Widows of Virginia Book #2)
Christina Ward
Chapter One
Newport News, Virginia, August 1830
A grieving heart sees the skies grey,
The ocean brown with mud,
The trees dull and lifeless,
The shadows haunting.
A strong spirit lives,
It makes a cloud blue,
The water boundless,
And the trees swaying with the wind.
Rekindle your spirit with faith,
Strengthen it with prayer.
Laura smoothed the creases on the paper, its edges yellowed with age. She read it once more, just for good measure, before stowing it away in the farthest corner of the bureau drawer. She lifted her head up and came face to face with her late husband’s photograph. The morning sun seeped through the small window lighting up the picture. Laura looked away, a hot band tightening across her chest.
Every day, she would look over her shoulder, as if expecting Anton to weigh in on her decisions, to squeeze her hand, to caress her back. But he would never do that again. How could she live on without the one she’d vowed to spend the rest of her life with? The poem was her only source of strength, but she had to hide it away from prying eyes.
“Laura?” A familiar voice called out from behind the door.
Laura closed the drawer and wiped her hands in the apron she wore over her yellow dress. She didn’t want to dirty the clothes Anton had given her as gift a few years back. With a sigh she stood up and crossed the room to open the door. Her sister-in-law and best friend leaned in the door frame, a white envelope in her hand.
“A letter came in for you.” The plump girl paused. “It’s from Robert.” Although there was no bite in her voice Laura sensed Susan’s disapproval.
It was the fourth letter from Robert since... Even though it had been over a year, even in her thoughts Laura still struggled to mention what had happened to Anton.
At first, Laura thought nothing of the letters. Just another friend sending his condolences. She wrote back, like she did to the others, thinking that was it, but Robert kept up the correspondence. And Susan did not let her forget that he had been Laura’s former suitor.
“Oh…” Laura took the letter, and placed it in her pocket. “Thank you, Sue.”
Susan folded her arms over her ample bosom. “You’re not going to read it now?”
“Huh?” Laura looked up. “Oh, I’ll read it later. I still have to tend to the shop.”
Susan nodded, her sharp dark eyes scanning the room as if seeing things for the first time. Finally she looked back at Laura, it took her a moment to say out loud what she must have been ruminating on for a while.
“Not to pry, but...” Susan hesitated. “Is Robert courting you?”
Laura gasped.
“Sue!” Anton’s face flashed to the front of her mind. “I’m still grieving!”
Susan cast her eyes down.
“Sorry. I was just - I was just curious, with so many letters... You can’t blame me for wondering what he writes about.” She sighed and took Laura’s hands in hers. “People are talking. The couriers talk and... Well, you know how fast rumors travel.”
Laura did know. But while Robert had been sending letters, she hadn’t been responding save for the first time when she thanked him for his sympathies.
“Don’t listen to them. Those ol’ biddies don’t have anything better to do than gossip, you know that.”
“Of course, of course.” Susan nodded and released Laura’s hands. The wrinkles around her dark blue eyes reminded Laura of Anton. But if she were honest, everything in the house, town even, reminded her of Anton.
“I have to go,” Laura said. “Mrs. Dunne might come by for a fitting.”
Laura left her room, heart heavy with guilt. Why hadn’t she shared Robert’s letters with Susan? There was nothing indecent in them, but they were too personal. She hadn’t responded to Robert’s letters, although she had been tempted to do so many times. He was once her confidant. She wasn’t sure, though, if it would be right to rekindle that old friendship.
She shut the door to the house behind her leaving Susan busy in the kitchen. She walked through town and almost without looking or thinking she headed straight for the small mercantile shop she ran in an alley near the marketplace. Laura barely glanced at the mannequins in the window display, draped with the unsold dresses she had sown that month. She didn’t exactly dread going to work, but in her heart Laura knew it wasn’t the job for her. Laura thought back to the catering business she had to close after her husband died. She did her sowing as much to make money, as she did to keep herself busy. With her mind on the threads and sequins and fine materials at least she wasn’t thinking about Anton.
Laura turned the key and opened the door to a haze of dust floating in the sunlight that streamed through the windows. Situated just off the busy street, her little shop always looked dusty and stuffy. The humid August weather drew many of her rich customers away to more temperate destinations for the summer.
She stepped inside to retrieve a broom so she could do some cleaning while waiting for a client. But the mindless task meant she kept thinking about Robert’s letters. Should she tell Susan, after all? Although it might allay Susan’s fears - there was absolutely nothing in the letters to indicate his intentions of courting her - it would also betray Robert’s thoughts and feelings to an outside party. Laura didn’t want to do that to him.