Chapter 32
32
T he doorknocker sounded.
“I’ll get it.” Katie stepped through the foyer and opened the door wide, then took a step back. A woman stared back at her—with startling blue eyes and black hair that made Katie feel like she was looking in the mirror.
“May I?” The stranger didn’t wait for an answer, but swept in like the flow of the Shenandoah on a spring day. With determination in her eyes, and the bustle of fine silk, she carried a look of well-bred confidence.
“My, you were not easy to find and my parents were no help at all. You must be Katherine, for you’re as beautiful as I was at your age. I’m dreadfully sorry to barge in on you like this after all these years,” the woman said, “but I just had to see for myself if my daughter is healthy and well.”
This couldn’t be happening. Could it? “Are you?—?”
“I’m your mother.”
Katie’s chest tightened. Not after abandoning her. Giving her away. “I know my mother. She lives across the orchard. I was going to ask if you’re Emmaline.”
The stranger’s face fell, and she looked down. “I more than deserve that. I never mothered you, but I was hoping to get to know you as an adult, and hopefully reconcile with my dear sister.”
Katie’s heart panged. How could she turn this woman away and call herself a Christian? And what would Ma say? She and Katie were just getting to the point they were friends, and this would hit her hard.
She inhaled a breath for strength and forced a smile. “This is a bit of a shock, to say the least, but do come in.” She led Emmaline into the parlor on wobbly legs. “Would you like an afternoon tea?” She lowered her body to the edge of a chair and extended her hand for the woman to sit.
“I was thinking more of a bed. I’m exhausted from hours of traveling. I swear I shall not surface until at least tomorrow morning.”
“You…you want to stay here?”
“If that’s all right with you. I was hoping to spend some time and get to know you.” Her hands swept around the room. “But only if you have space for one wee guest.” She smiled, but the look didn’t reach her eyes.
Katie sighed. She didn’t need this right now. Why would God allow more drama when she was already stretched to the limit?
“I’ll have to discuss a longer stay with my husband,” Katie said, “but I’ll get a room made up for you for a night or two. That should give you more than enough time to surmise that I am fine.” Although she was anything but fine. A ripple of unease came over her. Why did she distrust this woman? Was it merely the coloring of her past? Was it fair to judge her without knowing her?
Emmaline’s brows rose as if she were carefully choosing her words. “I will be ever so grateful for whatever time you share with me, dear daughter.”
“I’m not your daughter, nor your dear.” Katherine purposely projected a firmness in her voice. “You made quite sure of that when you gave me away at birth and never looked back. So, please don’t call me that.”
Emmaline’s gaze dropped to the floor.
“Follow me.” Katie climbed the stairs. When she reached the upper landing and should’ve offered the guest room beside Josiah’s room, she turned to the opposite wing of the house and chose a chamber as far from their personal space as she could. At the very least, this would pacify Ma. Emmaline would not be treated as an honored guest.
The door to the dust ridden room creaked open at their entrance, and Katherine waved Emmaline inside the cold bedroom. “Excuse the dust.”
Emmaline’s eyes swept the room with a look of surprise.
“We don’t typically get uninvited guests.” Katie hated that her words sounded curt, but was she supposed to feel something for this stranger who had the nerve to show up unannounced?
“Annie will be in with some water so you can freshen up.” Katie stayed in the doorway. “She’ll light the fire and freshen the room, but don’t expect to be waited on. We all do our part around here. This is a working ranch.”
Josiah had not even had time to hang his hat when Katherine rounded the corner. There she stood with her long hair flowing, the rosy glow that pregnant women carry, and her haunting eyes. He longed for the day when he would harden enough to no longer pick up on every nuance, every detail, every worry line etched on her face.
She was definitely worried now.
“Can we please talk privately?” She approached him with uncertainty swimming in her eyes.
Something must have happened. Or maybe she had something to confess. The thought churned bile in his belly, but he pushed it back. “Meet me upstairs in my room.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“Supper is on, and I have to freshen up. You know how Delilah gets when my tardiness spoils her hard work.” He took the steps two at a time. Maybe he shouldn’t have invited her into his personal space.
As he splashed water on his face and picked up the towel to dry his torso, hands, and neck, the door opened and closed. He didn’t turn.
“Go ahead, talk. I’m listening.” He pulled a fresh shirt from his armoire and slipped his long arms into the sleeves. When she still hadn’t said a word, he turned toward her. This must be bad.
But the sight of tears pooling in her eyes as she looked around the room wasn’t what he expected. “I’m sorry.” She swiped at her eyes. “I’m so emotional these days. Ma says it’s to do with the baby.” She motioned around. “But I haven’t been in this room for so long. All the wonderful memories…the moments of… Goodness me I’m blubbering.” She walked toward the window and stared into the darkening sky.
“Katherine, what is it?” The urge to curl his arms around her nearly overwhelmed him. He needed her to say her piece and leave him alone.
“Emmaline, my birth mother, showed up today. I don’t know what to do.”
Her words were so unexpected, he could barely make sense of them. “She’s here?”
“Yes.” Her voice broke as she still stared out the window.
No surprise she was shaken and confused. What in the world did that woman want with her now? He threw better judgement to the wind and closed in behind her.
As he closed his hands around her arms, the warmth of her skin, even through her dress, burned his palms. He eased her back against him as they had often done many moons ago, and the feel of her leaning into his chest was as close to heaven as he’d been in a long time. She didn’t resist but relaxed into his embrace. He inhaled the sweet fragrance of rose water, and they stood that way for a long moment.
She didn’t deserve more trouble. He’d given her a mountain, and yet she hadn’t retaliated. This new Katherine had remained strong and loving, despite his accusations and prickly behavior. A shudder of remorse slipped through him, stealing away his good sense and leaving behind only the need to comfort her.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged her stiff neck. She used to like that, and apparently she still did, as she melted into his hands. At last, he turned her around to face him. He needed to see her face. Needed to hold her.
She looked up at him with those luminous eyes drowning in questions. “What am I supposed to do? I feel nothing, and she… I don’t know what she wants.”
“It’ll be all right, Katherine.” He pulled her close. “Hush now, I’ll help you.”
She sank into his arms, and little sobs shook her shoulders as she clutched his waist. He smoothed his hands through her hair, inhaling her scent. Remembering… “We’ll figure this out.” He pulled away, patting her arm as one would a sister. He had to put some space between them.
She looked up with her soulful eyes burning into his. “Thank you.” A step forward and a lift on her tippy toes, and her mouth touched his.
Fire swept through him. With a hunger so deep, so wide, so high, he allowed himself the enjoyment of a real kiss, a kiss where flame met fire, and her lips crushed against his, then opened to the sweetness within. Soul connected to soul. Bodies melted. Hands played in the dance. He moaned at the depth of his need.
He dragged his lips from hers. “Supper is waiting. We have to go.” He could barely breathe, much less speak.
She smoothed a hand over her disheveled hair and tugged her dress back into place. Had his wandering hands done all that?
“I know we must.” Her smile looked so vulnerable. “But I’d much rather not.”
It took every bit of strength he had to open the door with one hand and place his other on the small of her back as he lead her out of his bedroom…instead of to his bed.
Early the next morning, before Emmaline had even surfaced, someone was hammering on their front door. Katie set her coffee on the kitchen table and hurried down the hall.
When she opened the door, Ma swept in like a hornet disturbed from its nest. “Where is that despicable woman? The nerve of her to show up unannounced after all these years.”
“Ma—”
“That’s just like her, to think the world revolves around her and her agenda. Mark my words, this will not go well. She’s up to something.”
“Ma, please. Take a deep breath. People have been known to change?—”
“Good morning. Is that my sister’s voice I hear?” Emmaline flowed down the staircase like a princess to a ball. “Doris, is that you?”
Ma pointed a hard finger at her older sister. “Don’t say a word, not one word, until I’m done speaking.”
Katie had never witnessed her ma so outrageously rude.
“Let’s go into the parlor.” Katie waved her hand down the hall and lowered her voice. “Out of earshot of the entire household.”
The two women followed, although Ma sent at least one glare at Emmaline along the way. As soon as the door closed, Ma let loose. “You have no right to be here meddling in my family. You forfeited that right years ago. I want you to leave immediately. After all I’ve done for you, you owe me at least that much.”
Emmaline opened her mouth and closed it again.
“Well, that’s got to be a first.” Doris braced her hands on her hips. “My sister at a loss for words.”
Huge tears slid down Emmaline’s cheeks as she dropped onto the settee and draped a hand over her forehead.
“Goodness, yes,” Doris said. “It’s all coming back to me now. The drama. The performance. You were a master at using tears at will, weren’t you? I see nothing has changed. Don’t even bother. We’re all just a tad too old and too wise for that sort of nonsense.”
The coldness in Ma’s voice seemed to make Emmaline cry all the harder. Oh God, help us. Could there be any hope for reconciliation?
“Ma, can we not even try to settle the past?”
Emmaline stood with a practiced grace. A look of hesitant vulnerability streamed from her beautiful teary eyes. “All I wanted was a chance to visit my sister again, to meet my nieces and my daughter…” She choked out the last word as if overcome by emotion.
“Katherine is not your daughter,” Doris spat. “And you will not be meeting my family.”
“How can you be so cruel, Doris? What happened to you? I came to say I was sorry.”
“That would be a first.”
“I don’t want to take your place as Katherine’s mother. All I want is a chance to get to know the fine woman you raised. Is that asking too much?” Emmaline stared at Ma with the same set of iridescent blue eyes Katie had always wondered how she possessed.
Ma eyed her sister. “I want nothing more than to believe you, Emmaline. But truthfully, I can’t.”
Ma turned toward Katie with a plea in her gaze. “I’m sorry you’re caught in the middle of this, but Emmaline is not welcome in my home. After hearing more of her trail of destruction over the years when I visited my mother and father, I don’t trust her. I don’t believe she’s changed one bit. I hope you’ll send her packing.” She turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
Katie looked at the stranger across from her, not at all sure how to navigate the day. Should she throw her out? Could she?
Josiah hurried in from the barn after seeing Doris stomp across the yard. Had there already been an altercation before he could even get the animals fed? He took the portico steps two at a time and slipped into the house.
Katherine’s eyes spoke a thousand words as she met him at the door. “There you are.” Her stiff shoulders dropped, and she placed her arm on his. “Ma insists we should send her away.”
“I figured.”
The woman, who could only be Katherine’s mother, stepped from the parlor.
Help . Katherine mouthed the plea.
“I’m here now.” He murmured the words just loud enough for her to hear. Just one look at Emmaline told him he didn’t like her.
Behind her daughter’s back, her eyebrows rose at the sight of him, and a coy, inviting smile pursed her lips. The minute Katherine turned to introduce them, her eyes demurely glanced to the floor.
Had he imagined it? As the day wore on and he stayed close to Katherine, the scene played and replayed. She showed utmost interest in all Katherine said, but when Katherine turned away, the older woman kept staring at him as if he were a fresh piece of apple pie.
It wasn’t hard to see what kind of woman she was. He’d met her type many times in the past. The gold-digger, the marriage wrecker, a woman who used her beauty to get anything and anyone she desired.
Well, he didn’t want her, but neither did he want to squelch his wife’s effort to get to know her mother. Maybe there was an outside chance he was wrong.
Josiah was about to round the corner into the parlor when he stopped short at the sound of Katherine’s name on Emmaline’s lips. That woman had worked her stay into a full week with no end in sight.
“Katherine was wondering why you haven’t changed the sheets in her bedroom.” He couldn’t see her from where he stood, nor could he see who she spoke to.
“But, I did just yesterday, ma’am.” That was Annie’s voice. “My lady likes them done every week, and I never miss.”
“My mistake.” Emmaline’s laughter filled the room. “At my age, the hearing must be going. Maybe Katherine said pick the beets, not clean the sheets. Never you mind. I’ll get it sorted.”
Josiah ground his teeth. She was digging for information about whether they slept together. He stepped forward and rounded the corner.
“Josiah. How lovely to see you this morning.”
He ignored Emmaline’s flirtatious smile. “Annie, can you go find Katherine? Ask her to please come to the parlor straightaway.”
Annie wasn’t a second out of the room before Emmaline turned her attention his way with a look that made his skin crawl.
“Sit, Emmaline.” He pointed to the nearest chair. It wasn’t hard to make his voice stern.
Instead, she moved closer, her voice dropping to a seductive tone. “You poor man. You work way too hard. Why don’t you let your slaves manage this little farm?” She flicked her hand towards the window as if shooing off a pesky fly. “A man of your prominence shouldn’t have to do the menial work.”
“I don’t own slaves.”
“I understand. With the war and all…” She opened her fan and waved it in front of her face, coyly batting her lashes at him. “I guess we now have to say they’re free, but you know what I mean.”
“I do not. I’ve never owned slaves.”
“Your help then. The point I was trying to make?—”
“Why are you here, Emmaline?”
Her eyes popped wide and she gasped with a practiced look of shock. “You know why. I wanted to check on my dear Katherine. What a shock to hear from your maid that she entered into an arranged marriage. Money aside, I must say she married very well indeed.” She lifted her eyebrows.
Her flirting burned his insides, and he couldn’t help a jab. “I married well too. Would you not agree?”
“Yes, but she’s a rather boring child with all the Jesus talk. A man of your stature and sophistication must grow weary.”
How dare she speak ill of her own child? “I’m not about to discuss my marriage?—”
“I’m sorry to hear things haven’t worked out, but it’s hardly surprising.” Her eyelashes fluttered up at him.
He stepped away from her. “What gives you that impression?”
“Come now, you two aren’t exactly cozy, and though Katherine won’t say much, she’s an easy book to read.”
He clenched his jaw, working to contain his anger.
“So sorry.” Katherine swept in. “Annie caught me in the middle of cleaning out the fire grate in my room.” Katherine brushed the soot from her hands. “Can I take a moment to freshen up before I join you two?”
Josiah moved toward her. “You know you don’t have to do that kind of work, but I love it that you don’t mind.”
She smiled up at him.
“You have soot on your nose, my dear.” He thumbed it free and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Come, it looks like you could use a little help.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and walked her out of the room. He didn’t look back as he escorted his wife up the stairs and into her room, although he could feel the burn of Emmaline’s stare.
Inside her door, Katherine turned toward him. “What was all that about?” She flashed him an inviting smile. “Not that I mind.”
“Emmaline seems to think we’re not cozy and was asking Annie about changing your sheets. She’s picking up on the fact things are less than perfect. I don’t want her catching on?—”
“Why does it matter?” Katherine pursed her mouth in a look of wounded curiosity.
“I don’t trust her, nor do I like the way she looks at me.” Coming out of his mouth, the words sounded a bit conceited, but he hadn’t imagined Emmaline’s behavior.
Katherine’s eyebrows hiked up. “At you?”
“When you’re not around, or not looking, she?—”
Katherine laughed and slapped his arm. “What, another one who finds Mr. Richardson irresistible?”
He stiffened his shoulders. “I’m not joking. A man knows the look.”
The teasing left Katherine’s face, and her expression grew earnest. “Has she done or said anything inappropriate?”
“Not exactly. I know you want to believe that a meaningful connection is possible, but there’s something wrong.”
Katherine’s eyes filled with compassion. “Give me one more week. I can’t just throw her out. She told me she has no place to go, and I wouldn’t feel Christian sending her away without giving her time to work out a reasonable solution. Plus, she needs Jesus and is asking questions and showing interest.”
“Ah.” He stepped closer and lowered his voice as he brushed the back of his hand down the side of Katherine’s face. “You’re too kind.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her Emmaline had mocked her faith.
“Just one more week. I agree that we don’t want her here this winter. Plus, there’s an easy way to remedy her misconceptions.” A smile tickled her lips.
“What?”
“We’ll have to get cozy.”
The thought of slipping under Katherine’s spell made his heart buck against the walls of his chest. There was nothing easy about it.