Chapter 5
The Rees residence was made of logs but about three times larger and set on the opposite side of the dirt road, instead of between the road and the water, although commanding a similar lake view. My new home.
Ivy took a deep breath and followed Cora up the stone walkway to the porch running across the width of the house. Two rockers with a small, round table between them were spaced on either side of the door.
Before Cora could knock, the door opened.
Suddenly shy, Ivy glanced down, pretending to be paying attention to the step up into the house.
As she moved inside, the first thing she noticed was the welcome warmth.
Her father’s home might be larger and more elegant, but she’d take comfort over beauty any day.
She nerved herself to look up at the man standing to the side in the shadows.
After a long pause, her employer moved into the light of the window.
His appearance rendered Ivy dumbstruck, for she’d never seen a more handsome man.
If Torin Rees swapped his ill-fitting suit for ancient raiment, he’d look as though he stepped from the pages of a fairytale—the charming prince or the king of the elves or the romantic white knight.
The quick glance he gave her before looking away showed his eyes—a stormy dark-blue fringed with thick, black lashes—held intelligence and wariness in equal measure.
His mink-brown hair was pulled back in a tail, exposing his finely etched features and the sensual shape of his lips.
But a grim expression remained on his face.
A tragic hero, perhaps. Ivy was unprepared for the slow curling of heat in her belly, a tight flutter in her chest, and made herself turn her attention to the child, all the while thinking, Oh, no. No! He’s my employer.
Why didn’t Cora warn me?
Her legs trembled. She sank to the ground in front of Jewel, her knees resting on the faded Persian runner of the entryway.
The girl was dressed in pink, her hair in a braid and tied with a big lopsided bow. She had the slanted eyes, flatter nose, and slightly protruding tongue characteristic of a Mongoloid child. But those features were soon forgotten with the appeal of her squint-eyed, sunny smile.
Even as she introduced herself and Brave to Jewel, an unwelcome part of her awareness remained on Torin Rees.
Brian saved her by practically dragging Mr. Rees from the house.
Once the door closed behind them, Ivy’s body sagged, and she let out a sigh of relief.
Carefully holding Brave, Jewel plopped down in a cross-legged position on the carpet and bent to press a kiss on the cat’s head.
Cora, who’d been watching Jewel, transferred her gaze to Ivy. Her brow furrowed.
Brave curled up in Jewel’s lap and began to purr.
Jewel looked up at Ivy, her blue eyes—the color of her father’s—widening. She appeared not to know what to make of the strange sound.
Ivy reached to scratch Brave’s head. “Brave’s purring. That means she likes you. You can gently scratch or rub her head.”
“Purr-ing.” With one finger, she gave Brave’s head a tenuous touch.
“That’s right.”
The kitten moved her head back and forth, obviously wanting more.
“Brave is happy.” Cora rested a light hand on Ivy’s shoulder. “Jewel, do you want to show Miss Ivy her room? Or stay here with Brave?”
“Bave.”
After exchanging a smiling glance with her friend, Ivy gathered her skirts together and cumbersomely got to her feet, moving to the hall tree to remove her hat and shed her outerwear, hanging everything up.
Cora did likewise. “I’ll let Torin give you a complete tour, showing all the details of his home.
But your room is all the way at the end, and we’ll go straight there.
” Cora linked arms with Ivy and pulled her down the hall.
She gestured to the right with her free hand.
“Dining room, kitchen, Jewel’s bedroom.” Waving to the left, she said, “Parlor, Torin’s room, and then yours.
The back door opens to the garden, the privy, and the stables. ”
The cozy space was smaller than her room at home by two-thirds, with a Jenny Lind bed covered by snowy linen and a puffy down comforter.
A colorful quilt in a green, pink, and pale-blue pattern was spread across the foot.
Next to the bed hung a gold mirror over a narrow chest of drawers.
A washbasin and pitcher on an oval doily rested on the top.
Pegs along the top of one wall would hold clothes because there was no wardrobe, and a shelf for books extended above them.
Above the small writing desk, green curtains dotted with small pink flowers framed the single window.
“Elsie made these.” Cora moved to finger the edge.
“To show she’s eager to welcome you and become friends.
” She sidestepped to place a hand on the quilt.
“This is my gift. One of my patients made it for me in payment for my services. She said it’s an eight-point star on point pattern.
” She took a seat on the bed, picked up the quilt, and opened the folds to expose the stars inside diamond-shaped boxes.
Ivy sat next to her and ran a hand over the quilt. “It’s lovely. But don’t you want to keep it?”
Cora chuckled. “I suspect it’s only the first of many I’ll receive. Sometimes, people can afford money in payment for my services. But I’ve gotten jars of jam. Eggs. Even a chicken. Luckily, that patient lived in town, so I didn’t have a long drive with a chicken.”
Ivy could only imagine. “Oh, my.”
“I gave the food to Brian. The chicken is living quite happily in the Bellaire-Norton henhouse.”
“And your next job? Will you return with a goat?”
“A pig.” Cora laughed. “Not a suckling, but still small. Uncle Andre will have a pen built for it a decent distance from the house.”
Ivy wrinkled her nose. “You certainly couldn’t bring a pig here. Jewel would fall in love with it, and there goes your good eating. It would be a spoiled pig for the rest of its life.”
“Yep. Hog heaven.”
They both giggled.
Cora’s smile fell away. “I didn’t want to talk much about my next job last night and ruin our good spirits.
If I’d known you’d be moving here, I wouldn’t have accepted this laying in.
I’ll be staying with a couple out on the prairie.
Isolated. A first baby. The husband’s so afraid about leaving her to get help from a neighbor woman.
Driving her to town would be too far. He insisted on me staying for three weeks and promised I’d have my own room.
They must have some money because Dr. Cameron says they have a real house and not a dugout or soddy. ”
Ivy shivered. “I can’t imagine living in either.”
“Those three days in a dugout that I wrote you about were three too many. Dark and crowded and depressing.”
“But you delivered your first baby by yourself.”
“I was so nervous the whole time. Had to pretend otherwise, of course.”
“You have plenty of practice at pretending,” Ivy teased.
Cora gave her a light elbow jab. “As do you.”
Ivy leaned against her friend. “You are not to worry. I know you’re not abandoning me.” She strove to sound more reassuring than she felt. “I’ll be fine,” she lied.
Brows lifting, Cora shot her a skeptical look.
“No, really.” Ivy reached to squeeze Cora’s hand. “I’m not saying it won’t be challenging and awkward. It’s a different life, after all, from what I’m used to. But I’m excited to be here. Nervous, of course. But that’s natural, of course.”
“Of course,” Cora echoed, the third time in a teasing tone. “I was nervous, too, about traveling here. But I didn’t dare allow myself to show any fear. Aunt Rose was wary enough for both of us. If she’d caught a hint of my feelings, she’d have made us turn back.”
“Sweetwater Springs was a good place for you two to find husbands,” Ivy teased. “In less than a year, you’ll both be married. How good and right sharing feels. I’ll never again take our time together for granted.
Cora shook her head, causing a tendril of loose hair to bounce against her cheek.
“I’m not sure I’ll wed within that year.
I’m finding my way with my nursing. I’ve wanted this career for so long.
Even though Brian agrees with me that I’ll continue after our marriage, still, things are bound to change.
I’d rather wait. Not like Elsie, who wants to wait several years to wed. ”
“Autumn? That would squeak you in at a year.”
“We’ll see, oh matchmaker.”
“I’m glad your fiancé supports your career.”
“While I’m gone on this nursing case, Brian has promised to visit me. Mr. Bellaire will let him take the sleigh if the snow is too deep. So you and I can exchange letters. I want to know everything about how you are settling in.”
“But how will I get the letter to Brian? He’ll be working at the newspaper office doing those edits on his book.”
“If weather permits, Inga Swensen will take it when she goes to school. Just leave the letter on the little table outside on the porch.”
“Who is Inga Swensen?”
“The oldest daughter of a lovely family up the mountain. The nearest neighbors. As poor as church mice. Subsistence living. Very proud, so to help them requires some scheming. When she and her sisters are able to get down the mountain to attend school, she brings back mail. All she knows about Torin is that he’s a shy hermit and to avoid him. ”
“I can survive three weeks without you. But I do feel relieved that we’ll be able to write.”
“Three weeks if the baby comes on time. Longer if the birth is late,” Cora warned.
“I’ll pray for safe and early.”
“You and Uncle Andre. He wants me back in town as soon as possible so I can be present for Delia’s laying in. He’s more nervous than Reverend Joshua. Of course, Reverend Joshua has been through this with Micah’s birth.”
“Remember,” Ivy touched Cora’s arm, “Mr. Bellaire didn’t know Delia’s mother was pregnant. His daughter just emerged into his life as a fully formed adult.” She secretly thought the story of how father and daughter discovered each other was as fascinating as any fairytale.
Cora chuckled. “So you’re saying Uncle Andre’s doing double duty with Delia’s baby.”
“Double generational duty,” Ivy corrected. She sniffed. “I smell roses.”
“Delia dried petals from the roses in Mr. Bellaire’s conservatory. Aunt Rose made them into sachets. I knew she’d want you to have some. One is under your pillow and one in each drawer.”
For the first time, Ivy felt qualms, well, new qualms, about the secretive life she’d be living.
In their conversations last night, Cora’s frequent mentions of Aunt Rose and her new husband, Andre Bellaire, and all of his family members sounded wonderful.
She knew Rose and had met Mr. Bellaire several times at Mr. Collier’s house before the man moved away from New York.
With a stab of sadness, Ivy realized she wouldn’t have a chance to meet the rest of the family—to become friends.
Right now, Cora was too caught up with the giddiness of Ivy’s arrival. Perhaps, up until recently, the two of them in the same town didn’t seem real. But soon, her friend would be withholding the truth about Ivy’s presence from her family or, even worse, lying.
Ivy knew that would not sit well with Cora. Or with me.
We certainly are in a pickle.
Cora glanced at her, and her brow wrinkled again. “What?”
“It’s going to be hard not to see your Aunt Rose. She was always so kind to me. And to meet your Uncle Andre again. Become introduced to dear Micah, Reverend Joshua, and Delia. Hold their baby when she’s born, if she’s a girl like you all believe. The elder Nortons…”
Consternation flitted across Cora’s expressive face. “I didn’t want to bring this up yet. But I have a plan.”
“Of course, you do,” Ivy said wryly. One thing she knew about Cora; she always had plans upon plans.
Cora pretended not to hear her. “I don’t know if Torin realizes how much he’s changed in these past eight or nine months.
After ten or so years of isolation, Elsie, Dr. Angus, and Constance barged into his life.
Then I came along. Oh, and Brian brought Sassy home from the Harvest Festival.
Can you believe in all their years of living here, none of the three men had a dog? ”
Ivy rolled her eyes. “You and I never had dogs, either.”
“I think you’ll be the one to change Torin’s mindset,” Cora plunged on. “To help him open up to the idea of including other people. But first, he’ll need to trust you. Until he does, he won’t be able to move on to the next step.”
“Which is…?”
“I don’t know for sure. But I know the final step is him bringing Jewel to town. Maybe you all will come to the Bellaire-Norton mansion for a visit.”
Ivy thought of the shadows in Torin’s eyes, how adamant he’d been about remaining a recluse, and let out a long breath. “That would be wonderful…and take a miracle.”
Cora leaned over to hug Ivy. “And I’ll pray that God will help you bring about that very miracle.”