Unending Devotion (Michigan Brides #1)(43)
“I’ll do no such thing.” He crossed to the side of the double bed. “Vera’s the best nurse in all of Clare County. In fact, she could open a pharmacy with all the medicine she has.”
Vera chuckled.
“Too bad she wasn’t here when we had the diphtheria epidemic. . . .” A gray cloud settled over his countenance.
“I’m not a miracle worker.” Vera wedged the cork back into the bottle. “Besides, sometimes there’s nothing we can do, even with our best efforts. As much as we’d like to think we can control everything that happens, we’re not that powerful.”
Sadness flickered in Stuart’s eyes.
Lily wanted to reach out and comfort him, but she held herself back. He’d never told her about the wife and child he’d lost, but she’d heard enough to know the epidemic had hit him hard.
Vera patted the man’s arm and then walked to her desk. She’d arranged quilt squares across the top of the desk over an assortment of combs, hairpins, scraps of material, and half-written letters. Each evening by the light of the oil lamp, she worked on piecing the quilt, sewing the colorful squares together with long but even stitches.
Lily could see a pattern emerging from the various diamonds and triangles, but it was still too soon to see the big picture of what it would become.
Vera pushed aside the edge of the quilt, opened one of the drawers, and stowed the medicine bottle inside.
“When things don’t turn out the way we want,” the dear woman said softly, “about the only thing we can do is know God is still there piecing together all the scraps of the events in our lives the way He has planned.” Her chapped fingers lingered on an intricate pattern. “He sees the big picture even when we don’t.”
The wistfulness in Vera’s voice tugged at Lily’s heart. What regrets could a strong woman like Vera have? Was she thinking about her husband’s accident? She hadn’t had to bury a husband, but surely she’d had to bury her dreams of a real marriage and family.
Maybe Vera was content to sit back and let God piece together her life in whatever way He saw fit, but Lily wasn’t planning on waiting too long—if at all—for God to put the scatterings of her life together. She didn’t figure God would mind too much if she helped Him get everything into a pattern they both liked.
For a long moment Stuart stared at his hat clutched in his hands. Then he cleared his throat. “Well, you might not be a miracle worker, Vera. But your medicine has worked wonders for Lily.”
Lily shook her head. “My recuperation has nothing to do with the medicine—”
“Oh, yes it does.” Vera wheeled around, her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing. “You wouldn’t be doing nearly as well if it weren’t for all my medicine. And you’re going to take every last drop I give you.”
“And I’ll be right here to make sure she does,” Stuart added.
“I thought you both liked me,” Lily said with half a smile. “But now I can see you’re just plain determined to kill me.”
Neither of them laughed at her weak attempt at a joke. And she couldn’t help wishing Connell were there. He would have peeked at her, and his eyes would have brimmed with laughter.
Her gaze stole to the open door and the kitchen beyond. Where was he? Was he sitting in his usual spot in the dining room? Wasn’t he the least bit curious about how she was doing?
Vera lowered herself into the battered rocking chair next to the desk. It squeaked under her weight. “I won’t hear any talk of you moving from this bed until you’re completely better.”
“I can’t let you sleep in that old chair another night,” Lily said, looking pointedly at the wicker back that was breaking away from the frame. “Or making Mr. Heller sleep in the stables. Besides, it’s past time for me to go to Merryville.”
“You can’t go!” Stuart and Vera exclaimed at the same time.
“I most certainly can.” At their protest, she sat up straighter. All the worry and frustration of the past days pooled in her stomach. “Frankie is trapped at the Devil’s Ranch against her will. And someone’s got to do something about it.”
“You’re not capable of making that kind of trip,” Stuart said in a calmer voice. “Not now. Not with the sub-zero temperatures and winds that have rolled in this week.”
Every time she thought of the sweet innocence of Frankie’s young face, of her na?veté, of the purity of the girl’s youth, Lily wanted to weep over the cruel twist of fate that had swept the girl into a depraved life. Lily had no doubt by the time she got to Merryville and rescued Frankie, the girl wouldn’t be innocent anymore. She’d likely have been degraded in all the worst possible ways.
But that couldn’t stop Lily from helping. If she didn’t, who would?
“We can’t sit back and do nothing for the girl, can we? Not when we know she’s been forced to do only God knows what—against her will.”
Stuart’s face flashed with a burst of indignation. “You’re right. We can’t sit back and do nothing.”
“Then you’ll help?” She sat forward and grabbed his hand. “You’ll go to Merryville tomorrow and bring her back?”
“Of course I’ll help.” He glanced at her hand on his, and his eyes widened. When he looked up at her, there was a gentle starry light in his expression that made her pull her hand away and tuck it under the quilt.