Chapter 16
“Greta! I wasn’t expecting to see you today.” Carrie ushered her younger sister into the sitting room. “It’s been such a busy week, and tonight Spencer and I are supposed to have dinner at Dr. Compton’s house.”
“I’m sorry if this is a bad time. Mama says you’ve been very busy with your work, but I wanted to see how you were doing.”
Greta was already untying her bonnet. With her blond hair and blue eyes, she looked a great deal like their mother. Carrie had never really noticed it before.
“I’ve missed you so much, Carrie. It’s been hard not having you around these last years.”
Carrie was surprised by her sister’s words.
Greta had always been such a self-sufficient soul.
She had numerous friends and was the center of attention at home.
Carrie had always seen Greta as her parents’ favorite child.
Well, of course Robert was their first son and special in a way that only he could be, and Daniel was the baby, so he, too, was favored.
Carrie supposed she saw all of her siblings as holding special regard in the household.
“Would you like something hot to drink? I can make coffee or tea.”
“No, I’d much rather just have a chance to talk.” Greta looked so completely delighted to be with Carrie. She patted the sofa. “Please just sit with me.”
Carrie nodded and took the place beside her sister. “I suppose you’re busy planning your wedding.”
“It’s all been pretty much figured out. My gown has been made for months now. It’s quite lovely. You should stop by to see it. It has large puffed sleeves and a high neckline with lots of lace.”
Carrie could well imagine how lovely her sister would look. “And where will the wedding be held?”
“We’ll marry at the church, and there will be a reception afterward in the large hall at the opera house. There will be food and drink and dance.”
“And have you picked out a house where you’ll live afterward?”
“Oh yes. Michael purchased one a few months ago. We’ve been working on repapering some of the walls and painting. It was the old Cooper boardinghouse. You remember it, don’t you?”
“I do. That’s a very large house to have starting out.”
“Michael wants a big family like he grew up with.” Greta giggled. “I’m not sure about having ten children, but I told him I loved the idea of a lot of children.”
Carrie nodded. “I’m sure you’ll be a good mother.”
“So long as they all feel special and loved. I always knew I was loved, but I never felt I held any special place in the family. Not like you.”
Her words so surprised Carrie that she couldn’t even speak. Finally, after a lengthy bit of silence, Carrie asked her sister, “What do you mean by that?”
Greta shrugged and laughed it off. “You know. You were always the favorite of the family. The fair-haired girl who could do no wrong. Always the smartest and the most driven. Always the perfectionist. I wanted so much to be like you, but I’m afraid that just was never meant to be.”
“Greta, you are mistaken. You were the favorite. Mama and Papa, especially Papa, doted on you. I’m the one who didn’t fit into the family. I was the one who had no real understanding of my place. Was I a sister or a daughter? Were we sisters, or was I just an aunt?”
“Carrie, I never saw you as anything but my sister. You were the one I esteemed. I wanted to grow up to be just like you. How can you say that I was the favorite? I never felt that I was anyone’s favorite.
At times, I even wondered if I was adopted.
Or maybe that the entire family would have been better off had I never been born. ”
Carrie shook her head. “I don’t know how you could feel that way. I was the adopted one. I was the one who didn’t belong. You and Robert and Daniel all had the same mother and father by blood. I was from entirely different parents.”
It was Greta’s turn to shake her head. “No, you were the reason for everything. For all of us being a family. You were the linchpin, our keystone. You were the very person upon which the entire family had been built. I always admired your position, even before I understood about the past and how Mama was also your sister.”
“Admired my position? I disdained it. I always felt I could never fit.” Her sister’s words were causing her to look at the entire situation with new eyes.
“Oh, Carrie, I don’t know how you could ever feel that way. Robert adored you and followed you everywhere, and when I was born, I followed right behind.”
“I figured he was bored and thought I would help him to find something exciting to do. As for you, I always thought you were following Robert. He was, after all, your brother by blood.”
“That never mattered to me. You were my sister. You were Carrie, the smart one, the one everybody loved. Oh, how I wanted to be you.”
Carrie didn’t know what to say. All of her life she had been certain that she didn’t belong.
At first it was just a niggling doubt in the back of her mind, but as she grew older and could reason the situation for herself, that doubt grew.
Now her sister was telling her that she’d been the keystone. That certainly couldn’t be true.
“But then you went away. I was devastated when you left. I cried for days, even weeks. Mama did her best to encourage me, but she was just as lost.”
Carrie frowned. “She said that?”
“She didn’t have to. The whole house went into mourning when you left. We none of us were the same. Even Daniel moped and cried. Oh, Carrie, you have no idea how much you were missed. I remember Mama closed the door to your room. She might as well have hung black crepe.”
“I really had no idea of that being the case.”
“You were the one who told us interesting stories at the table, inevitably coming up with fascinating tidbits about a wide variety of subjects. I remember when you read in the newspaper about a cowboy who rode ahead of a flash flood and saved a whole valley of settlers. You told us he was like a modern-day Paul Revere, but we didn’t know who that was so you explained that as well. Oh, how I loved your stories.”
Carrie barely remembered telling tales to her siblings, much less the story of the cowboy and a flash flood.
“And anytime one of us got hurt, you were always so good to help us. I suppose that need to be a doctor was in your heart even when you were little.”
“I suppose so.” Carrie had always loved helping when her siblings were sick or hurt.
“When Robert broke his arm after jumping off the roof at the Decker School for Boys, Daniel came and got you because he couldn’t find Mama.
You went and secured his arm and brought him home.
You weren’t even the least bit afraid, while I bawled like a baby and so did Daniel.
We were so afraid, but you told us that Rob would be just fine. You told us to pray for him.”
“I do remember that. I was almost fifteen years old. I knew that I wanted to become a doctor, and tending to Rob made me feel like I was on my way. The doctor even told me later that I’d done everything right.
Of course, he didn’t think girls should be doctors, but he thought I might make a good midwife and mother. ”
“I can’t believe you didn’t feel like you fit in our family.
I thought I was the only one who felt that way.
I couldn’t do the things you did, and I wasn’t at all talented in sewing.
Mama tried so hard to teach me. I can mend a torn seam and repair a hem, but making clothes always turns out badly. I feared no man would ever love me.”
“I suppose we can all be in error as to what we think and feel.”
“Mama has always maintained that the devil is looking to separate us out, like wolves getting a calf to leave the herd and especially its mother. If he can get us alone, convince us that no one cares about us, that we don’t belong, then he can cause us no end of trouble.”
Carrie nodded. It was all true, so why had it been so hard for her to see?
Why had she been so willing to buy in to the lie that she was somehow not as good as the rest of her siblings?
That she somehow didn’t belong because she’d been adopted by her sister?
Greta had given her a great deal to think about, but especially to pray on.
“And this is my husband, Spencer Duval,” Carrie said, introducing Spencer to Dr. Bruce Compton and his lovely wife, Rachel, later that night.
“We’re so pleased to meet you, Mr. Duval,” Dr. Compton replied.
“I’d just as soon get rid of titles, if that’s all right with you. Call me Spencer.”
Dr. Compton nodded. “And you both should call us by our given names.”
“Please come in. Dinner is nearly ready,” Rachel instructed. She led them to a beautiful music room. “These are our daughters, Mineola and Francesca.”
“What beautiful names.” Carrie bent to greet each child. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”
“They call me Mini,” the youngest explained. She had brown hair and braided pigtails and offered up the sweetest smile. “I’m six years old, and I go to school.”
“And I’m Frannie,” the taller child declared. In every other way she was the spitting image of her sister. They were even dressed alike. “I’m eight, and I want to be a doctor like my papa. He says you’re a doctor.”
“I am. I think it’s wonderful that you want to take after your father and be a doctor. It’s a wonderful job to have.”
“I don’t want to be a doctor,” Mini felt the need to throw in.
“And what is it that you would like to do, Mini?” Carrie couldn’t help but wonder what kind of answer she might get. It didn’t take long.
“I want to have about a hundred horses and ride them all.”
The child’s honest answer made Carrie smile. “I think that would be a great deal of fun. I hope you both get your way.”
She straightened and smiled as Spencer put his arm around her waist. She met his gaze and saw the love he held for her reflected there. They still hadn’t really talked about the other night. It was almost as if they were both afraid to broach the subject.
“I’ll go check on our supper.” Rachel left, and Bruce directed them to sit and relax.
Carrie and Spencer sat close on the high-backed sofa, while Frannie went to her father and pulled on his coat. Bruce bent over to allow Frannie to whisper in his ear.
He smiled and straightened. “Frannie would like to play you something on the pianoforte. Would that be acceptable?”
“Oh, please do,” Carrie said, looking to Spencer.
“Absolutely. I love good music.”
Frannie skipped over to the piano and pulled out the seat.
She climbed up and adjusted her skirt and then carefully aligned her fingers on the keys.
She began to play and, much to Carrie’s surprise, was quite talented.
An old hymn was immediately recognizable.
By the time she finished, her sister was ready and waiting to pick up where Frannie left off.
Her abilities weren’t as polished as her sister’s, but the effort given was admirable.
“What a rare treat,” Spencer said, clapping after the girls had finished. “I haven’t heard anyone play the piano in a very long time.”
Rachel appeared in the archway to announce dinner. “Everything is ready for us. Please come this way.”
Spencer helped Carrie to her feet and held on to her hand longer than he needed to.
A delightful shiver went up Carrie’s spine.
She was no longer trying to hide her feelings.
She hoped that Spencer sensed her pleasure at his touch.
She tried to push down any thoughts of him and of what would happen after he caught Astor.
For now, she would simply enjoy being Mrs. Spencer Duval.
Supper was a pleasant time. Bruce and Rachel were more than happy to share stories about their life, while Carrie talked about Cheyenne in the early days.
Spencer joined in from time to time with tales about his own youth.
Mini was particularly delighted when he shared about the time he’d had to climb a very tall tree to rescue a kitten only to get stuck himself.
“My father had to climb up and get us both. The other children thought it quite funny.”
“Do you have children?” Frannie asked without warning.
Carrie glanced at Spencer, who was grinning. “Not yet,” he told Frannie. “We’ve only been married a very short time.”
“Do you want a lot of children?”
“Frannie, you are imposing on Mr. and Dr. Duval.”
She sobered and looked at her mother. “I’m not imposing. I just wanted to know if they were going to have a lot of children. Papa said that Dr. Duval might work with him. If they have a lot of babies, then I could help take care of them.”
Spencer chuckled. “I would very much enjoy having a lot of children, Miss Frannie. Furthermore, I believe you would make an excellent helper in taking care of them.”
The little girl straightened and beamed a smile. His answer had obviously delighted her. Spencer wondered what Carrie thought of his comment, but he said nothing and didn’t even look at her.
Mini, who sat on Spencer’s right, reached over to pat his arm. “May I help too?”
He gave her hand a squeeze. “Of course you may. And you can teach them to ride horses.”
She looked most serious as she nodded. “I have to learn how first.”
The adults appeared to fight off outright laughter. No one wanted to cause the little girl distress at her shortcomings.
The rest of the evening passed quickly, and on the walk home Spencer brought up the topic of children.
“We’ve never really talked about our thoughts on children. Do you want a family of your own?”
She didn’t answer right away, and Spencer worried that perhaps Carrie was upset by the conversation.
“You don’t have to answer. I didn’t think about how Frannie’s questions might have made you feel.”
“I’m all right. Her questions were those of an innocent child.”
“Whereas mine are more intimidating?”
“I suppose you could say that. But we’ve always been able to talk about anything, so, yes, I want children.”
They walked another block or so, passing one house and then another. Neither one saying a word. Finally, when they were standing in front of their own house, Spencer stopped Carrie and pulled her close. “Do you think you’d like to have my children?”
Carrie’s face was aglow beneath the light of the streetlamp.
Her eyes searched his face as if trying to find answers to unspoken questions.
She gave the slightest nod, and it was all the encouragement Spencer needed.
He pressed his lips to hers. He’d only just started to kiss her when he heard someone approach.
“Unhand that woman!”