[Desert Roses 02] - Across the Years (36 page)

“I felt the same way,” Ashley assured him.

“I want us to remarry,” he said, surprising himself. “But only after we have time to get to know each other again and to help Natalie adjust. There’s no need to rush this time. There’s no war—no family working against us.”

“I’d like that very much,” Ashley said, leaning closer. She reached up and gently touched his bearded cheek. “I’ve dreamed of this moment for so many years. I’d cry for joy
because you had come back to me. Then I’d wake up and cry in sorrow because I saw the truth of it in the morning light.”

Ethan pressed her hand against his face and held it there. “You were all that kept me alive on the battlefield. I would think of you and know that I had to go on—that I had to come back. Then when I was wounded, I held on to your image and my faith that God would bring us back together.”

His chest tightened and he reached out and pulled Ashley into his arms. “I cannot tell you, nor do I need to, how much it hurt to think you dead.”

“I know. I know exactly.”

Their faces were only inches apart, and Ethan knew he would kiss her. He only hoped that she desired it as much as he did. He leaned closer.

“Ashley?” He spoke her name as a question. He wanted permission to kiss her.

She closed the distance between them and for the first time in eleven years, they shared a kiss. The longing in Ethan’s heart threatened to smother out all other thought. He pulled her closer, held her tighter.
I don’t want this to ever end,
he thought.

Ashley gave herself completely—deepening their kiss, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Ethan had never known such joy and peace. He finally pulled back just a bit and saw the tears that streamed down her face. The sight shocked him, and he let go of her rather abruptly.

“You’re crying.”

She opened her eyes and smiled. “For the joy of this moment. For the way I still feel when you touch me. For the promise of our new future together.”

He gently touched her wet cheek. “I’ve never known happiness until this moment. The past no longer seems important.”

“I was reading something in the Bible. It was in the forty-third chapter of Isaiah. It said, ‘Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.’ This is God’s ‘new thing,’ ” Ashley said softly. “I see that now. We don’t need to remember the former things. They’re gone. We can’t reclaim the years we’ve lost or make my mother take back her words that so damaged us both. But we can look to the new thing God is doing.”

Ethan murmured her words. “A river in the desert. How appropriate that seems.”

“I thought so too. Ethan, I’m not the same girl you married in 1918. Just as your appearance is altered, so is mine. And just as the nightmares and scars of the past have damaged and wounded your heart, so my heart has suffered as well.

“We aren’t children anymore. We can’t be wild and impetuous. We can’t run away from the world and hope it will never find us. I’m willing, however, to risk my heart with you. I want to move forward and trust God for His new creation in our lives. I will court you and I will remarry you, for I have no intention of ever letting anything come between us again. Not people or wars or time.”

Ethan hugged her close and knew she could probably hear the wild beating of his heart. It didn’t matter. They were together. They were home.

Ethan heard the back door open and close but remained where he was. Natalie came back into the room, pausing momentarily by the door. Ethan looked over Ashley’s shoulder at his daughter, wondering if he’d see resentment on her face.

“Do I get a hug too?” she asked, looking as though she felt left out.

Ethan grinned. “You can have as many hugs as you want.” He opened his arms to her and Natalie rushed to join them. She giggled as Ethan pulled her tight, smashing her between him and her mother.

Ethan knew the time had come to press his question. “Natalie, will you let me be your new daddy?”

She pulled back and shook her head. “No.”

Ethan felt stricken, her stern expression forever frozen
in his memory. He looked at Ashley, who appeared just as surprised as he was.

“I don’t need a new daddy,” Natalie said. “I’ve already got a real good one.” She smiled and added, “I just want you for my forever daddy.”

Ethan felt the tears come to his eyes, but he didn’t try to hide them. “I’d like that too, Natalie.” He buried his face against her neck and let the tears come. He felt Ashley and Natalie both tighten their hold on him. They were his again. As they had always been.

God had made rivers in the desert—streams of joy running through his dry and weary heart.

EPILOGUE

M
AY
15, 1930

Ashley allowed Ethan to conduct her on a private tour of the newest of Fred Harvey’s resort hotels. La Posada—the resting place—was a marvel of Spanish and Mediterranean flavoring. Surrounded by orchards and gardens, it rose up to look as though it truly had been there for years and years. Ashley almost expected to see some grand Spanish don stroll across the stone walkway to introduce himself and welcome them to his home.

“This wishing well,” Ethan explained, taking her to an ornate wrought-iron creation, “was brought from Mexico.”

“It’s lovely,” she said, completely impressed with the well and the expanse of lawn that surrounded it.

Ethan handed her a penny. “Make a wish.”

She fingered the coin for a moment, then pressed it back into his hand. “I don’t need to. They’ve all come true.”

He held her gaze for a moment, then nodded and slipped the penny back into his pocket. “Guess we won’t make too many walks back here.”

She laughed. “Well, at least not for a while.”

They pressed on, strolling the grounds as though this were their own private hacienda.

“Miss Colter tells me she received an amusing telegram this morning,” Ethan said as they moved at a leisurely pace toward the doors. “It came from one of the railway officials. It offered congratulations, then stated that they hoped the income exceeds the estimates as much as the building costs did.”

Ashley laughed. “They certainly went lavish and lovely
for this resort. I can just imagine the people who will come here and the happiness they’ll find in such a setting. It’s truly more than I could have ever imagined.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Ethan replied. “I’m just glad it’s completed. I’ve never been involved in such an ambitious affair, but I wouldn’t have traded the experience for all the world. Miss Colter does remarkable work. Her visions are most incredible. When she first brought me here and showed me this sunken piece of land, I couldn’t begin to imagine her dream. Then she started hauling in dirt and the construction company came in to work, and before I knew it the walls were up and the stucco was spread and all the rooms were finished.”

He led her inside and they toured the lobby before going upstairs to the ballroom. “It’s over two thousand square feet,” Ethan told her.

The blend of Spanish and colonial furnishings impressed Ashley. “I can just imagine the grand dances that will be given here.” She turned and grinned. “The movie stars will come and bring their rich friends and throw elaborate parties. At least that’s what Glenda told me. I only hope that it’s successful, for the sake of the Harvey Company.”

“I pray it is as well,” Ethan replied. “Over a million dollars has gone into this creation. They need to find a way to make back that money.” He frowned. “But given fears for the economy, I’m not entirely sure it’s sensible to believe they’ll ever see a profit.”

“Is it really that bad, Ethan? You aren’t worried, are you?” She looked into his eyes. “We still have the money Grandpa left me—and the house, of course.”

“There’s really no way to determine at this point how bad things will get. I know just in talking with the railroad officials there are a good many railroads that will probably die out because of the crash. Some officials say they were anticipating something like this, although I don’t know how a person could ever predict a situation where certain stocks
plunge from over a thousand dollars a share to less than ten dollars a share.”

“All those dreams and hopes,” Ashley said, shaking her head. “I think of people like my mother, who have lived in luxury all their lives and now face poverty.”

“The very wealthy probably aren’t facing poverty,” Ethan said. “It’s probably more a matter of degree. The degree of wealth they enjoy is less. But I would be willing to believe they’re still enjoying wealth, nevertheless.”

“And the poor get poorer,” Ashley murmured.

“Exactly.”

“Mama!” Natalie came running at breakneck speed. “Grandma—I mean Grandmother Murphy—is here.”

Ashley looked at Ethan and felt her entire body tense. Swallowing hard, she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Ethan stepped in for her. “Tell your grandmother we’re on our way.”

Natalie whirled around, the skirt of her lilac-colored dress ballooning out as always. “I’ll tell her.” She hurried from the ballroom and down the stairs—her shiny black shoes clattering all the way.

Ashley looked at the floor. She’d been expecting her mother’s arrival, but now that the time had come, she felt like running in the opposite direction. “I hope she’s changed. Her letters sound as though she’s sincere in trying to be a better person. She still pries about my financial situation and about the sensibility of remaining in Winslow, but she doesn’t badger and demean me.”

“Then we must give her the benefit of the doubt, no?”

Ashley knew Ethan was right. Still, she had worked so hard to move away from the resentments of the past. Seeing her mother again might just force all those emotions to the foreground. “I don’t want to become the woman I used to be,” Ashley murmured. All around them people in various stages of animated conversation drifted past. “I didn’t care
about the hardness of my heart. It suited me well and kept me safe.”

Ethan nodded. “I know. I used to feel the same way. But we aren’t those people anymore. Just like we’re not the kids we were when we first married. God’s helped to bring healing to our family, and healing started with forgiveness. You forgave your mother for the past. You can’t go taking it back now.”

She smiled. “No, I don’t suppose that would be right.”

“Well, we certainly wouldn’t want to have God doing the same to us.” He grinned and put his arm around her waist. “Now, come on. We’ll go greet Mother Murphy and see what news there is of your brothers.”

Ashley knew he was right and walked along in silence, praying for the strength to deal in kindness and love. She thought of the few letters she’d shared with her mother over the last months. Her mother’s financial state had been weakened by the crash, but there had remained enough money to begin laying new foundations. No one knew what the future would bring. There were both threats of depression and promises of prosperity. Only God knew the truth, and that suited Ashley just fine.

Ethan led her to the main lobby, where solid walnut swing-back benches set a regal stage with their embroidered Moorish cushions. It was here that Ashley found her mother. Sitting in a rather queenly pose, with Natalie standing before her, Leticia looked for all the world like a ruling monarch. Natalie chattered away and surprisingly enough, it appeared that Leticia was actually listening.

When her mother glanced up, Ashley managed a smile.
Help me not to be afraid, Lord. Help me not to say the wrong thing.
Their new relationship was so fragile—like one of the beautiful blue-and-white Chinese Chippendale jars that stood just to her right. One wrong move could send everything crashing to the ground.

Her mother stood as they approached. Ashley grasped Natalie’s shoulders, more to steady herself than to keep
Natalie from going elsewhere. “Hello, Mother. Did you have a nice trip?”

“Indeed, I did. It was far more pleasant than the last trip I made to Arizona. I was able to secure a private car. It seems one of your father’s acquaintances holds a high position with the Santa Fe. Once he learned I was to make this trip, he offered his car to me.”

“Grandmother said the room had velvet on the walls and that there were brocade chairs and very comfortable sofas,” Natalie declared. “And she had all her meals right there at a beautiful oak table with candles and everything.” It was clear to Ashley that Natalie was quite enthralled.

“Oh, and I met the most marvelous gentleman, and he tells me he knows you both,” Leticia stated.

Ashley looked at Ethan then back at her mother. “Who is this man?”

“Marcus Greeley. Apparently his new book is well in the works. He’s come here to interview Ethan at length. He was quite enthusiastic about it. Apparently your Ethan is quite the celebrity—a true hero of the Great War. Mr. Greeley said his story and your subsequent separation will make a . . . let’s see, how did he put it? ‘A feast of words.’ ”

“Truly?” Ashley looked at her husband. “Did you know about this?”

Ethan’s face reddened. “I’d . . . ah . . . hoped he’d just forget about me.” He gave a short, nervous laugh. “I’d just as soon be left to my own devices.”

“But, Daddy, you’re a hero and Mr. Greeley just wants to let everybody know.” Natalie reached out and took hold of her father’s hand. “I want everybody to know too.”

Natalie’s words meant a great deal to Ashley. Over the months since Natalie had first learned the truth about Ethan, she had grown closer to him and more trusting of their relationship. Now they were back to being the good friends they’d been when Ethan had first come to Winslow.

“I do hope you won’t have to give this man all the details
of your . . . ah . . . separation,” Leticia Murphy said, looking to Ashley as if to convey her thoughts with a glance.

Ashley knew her mother was worried about her involvement—the lies she’d told Ethan about Ashley’s death during the influenza epidemic. “I’m certain Ethan can think of a delicate way in which to relate the story.”