From This Day Forward (35 page)

Near the well, Maddy had built the fire and set the vat of water on it to boil. The sun beat down on Rachel as she sought some shade to place Faith. She spread a blanket for her to lie on. After settling Faith, she moved toward Maddy.

A lone rider coming from the road claimed her attention. She was not expecting anyone. Nathan was out in the far field. After all that had happened the past couple of months, she grew rigid, gripping the paddle she used to stir the clothes in the hot water.

Then the features of the man came into view. “Richard!”

Maddy paused in putting the linens in the vat. “Richard?” She peered at the rider. “Who is that?”

Rachel dropped the paddle and raced toward the man. “My brother.” Excitement erased the months of separation between her and her eldest brother.

He stopped and hopped to the ground, sweeping her up into his embrace and swinging her around. “You are all right. I was afraid of what I would find when I was told in town where you were.”

She hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. “Why are you here? How did you get here? When did you come?”

His robust laughter echoed through the clearing. “One question at a time. Let me get a good look at you.” He stepped back, clasping her upper arms. “You have changed since I last saw you.” His survey took in her face slowly. “You’ve been out in the sun.” He picked up her hands. “They are rough.”

“It is called manual labor. It takes a lot to run a farm.” She removed her hands from his grasp, realizing she had changed in more than physical ways since she left England. “How did you know where I was? Mama could not have gotten my letter yet. I only posted it recently.”

“Not your letter, but she got one from a Mr. Nathan Stuart.”

“Nathan wrote Mama?” Nathan never told her that. He must have really wanted her to go home to England, and when she refused, he took matters into his own hands. For the past two days he had ignored her, and now this. It made her realize how much of a burden she had really been for Nathan—an obligation he had to fulfill because he felt responsible for her and Faith.

“Papa too. I am here because Papa sent me.”

“He did?” How many times had she dreamed her father would want her to return home, all forgiven? “When did you arrive?”

“Yesterday. I asked around town and found out that Mr. Stuart’s family owned Pinecrest. I went there this morning. I thought an older gentleman was going to shoot me until his grandson intervened and told me where you were.”

“That’s Patrick, Nathan’s younger brother. His grandfather hates anyone who is English. That includes me.”

Richard glanced toward Maddy, who stood at the vat stirring the clothes and listening to every word. “May we talk inside?”

“Yes.” Rachel strolled to the blanket and hoisted Faith into her arms. “This is my daughter. Faith, this is your uncle, Richard.”

“It is true Tom died at sea?”

“Yes. Fell overboard, drunk.”

Her brother frowned. “That does not surprise me after the stories I have heard concerning Tom Gordon.”

“Stories?”

Richard strode toward the house, removing the propped barrier and entering. “Papa had me come looking for you in London, probably right after you left for America. No one knew for sure where you and your husband went. One man told me he won some land in America, but he didn’t know where.”

“Won?” So her husband’s story about buying the property had been a lie too.

“Yes, he had gambling debts, still unpaid in several establishments in London. I’m sure that is why he fled the country right ahead of the debt collectors.”

Something else she hadn’t known about her husband. How blind she had been to his shortcomings. “When we received Mr. Stuart’s letter, we finally knew where to find you.”

“Papa sent you looking for me? I thought he was so angry with me he never wanted to see me again.”

“That did not last long. You have always been the apple of his eye. His arthritis has been acting up, or he would have come himself. We can leave on a ship day after tomorrow bound for England.”

“Day after tomorrow? What do I do about the farm?” Everything was happening too fast. She needed time to think.

“I cannot be gone long. What’s keeping you here?”

She started to say “nothing,” but the word lodged in her throat. She swallowed over and over but still could not say it aloud.

“What is going on here? Who is this Mr. Stuart to you?”

“I’m her hired hand,” Nathan said from the doorway.

“Well, not exactly,” Rachel interjected when her brother’s frown evolved into a deep scowl. “He has a stake in the farm too. He gets fifty percent of the crops we have.”

“We?” Richard looked from Rachel to Nathan then settled his blazing gaze on her.

“I could not have made it without Nathan’s help. We are partners in the farm.”

Richard rotated toward Nathan. “Will you buy her part? I’m taking my sister back to England.”

“Wait! Richard, it has not been decided yet.” She loved her big brother, but he was being highhanded as usual—much like her father.

Her brother shook his head. “What has not been decided? You cannot stay here. Your husband is dead. You have an infant to take care of.”

Ben and Emma poked their heads through the doorway but stayed outside.

“I have more than Faith. I have Ben and Emma too.”

“Ben and Emma? Who are they?”

Rachel gestured to the children to come inside. Heads down, steps labored, they moved into the main room.

Rachel walked to them and put her hand on Ben’s shoulder. “This is Ben and his sister, Emma. I have been taking care of them. Their parents are dead, and they don’t have any relatives. I am not going anywhere without them.”

Richard opened and closed his mouth twice before he pressed it shut. A nerve jerked in his cheek.

He was not happy. Rachel sighed. “Emma, will you watch Faith outside with Maddy?”

The little girl nodded and took the baby from Rachel.

“Ben and Nathan, I need to be alone with my brother to explain to him what has happened the past four months.”

Nathan returned to the far field and resumed picking the ears of corn with Ben. But his mind was not on his job. He peered back in the direction of the house, although he could not see it through the pine forest blocking his view.

Rachel needed to go home. He was glad her brother had come to get her. After all, he was the one who had written the family to tell them of her circumstances and the baby she had. So why was he practically yanking whole stalks out of the ground instead of just removing the ears of corn?

The harvest was going to be good. He should concentrate on that. Not the fact Rachel was making arrangements with her brother at this moment to leave. Nathan did not even know who he really was anymore. Having been bombarded with disturbing revelations lately, he was still trying to figure out who he was now. A recluse? A doctor? A planter?

Lord, I need help. What do I do? Rachel doesn’t belong here at the farm
. She had made an effort with the farm, but it was not for her. He could purchase the farm. It was small by Liberty Hall and Pinecrest’s standards, but he did not need much. He could live here by himself, occasionally seeing his sister and brother. If he offered to buy Rachel’s land, she could leave as soon as possible. The faster she left, the easier it would be for him. He had to let her go. He had seen the look of joy on her face because her brother was here. She had a way out now. He would not stand in her way.

Later, as suppertime neared, Nathan came into the house a few steps behind Ben.

Ben plopped down at the table. “I’m hungry. We worked all day and got all the corn picked in that field. There’s a lot of it.”

Rachel took a look at Ben’s dirty hands. “Go wash up and get your sister.”

Nathan held up his hands. “I washed up before coming in.”

“It is a good thing one of you heard what I have been saying.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Nathan sniffed the air. “What are we having tonight?”

“Rabbit stew.”

“I thought your brother would be staying for supper.”

“No, he wanted to get back to Charleston and make arrangements for the return trip to England.” Rachel grinned. “He looked out the window as I told him about the swamp and the alligator attack. I think that was when he decided he would leave well before dark.”

“When is the ship leaving?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

“I have decided I want to buy the farm from you. I will pay you top dollar. That way you will have some money when you return to England.”

“What if I’m not returning to England?”

He sat in the chair at the head of the table. “Are you not?”

Rachel studied his neutral expression, trying to get a glimpse of what he was thinking. But even his eyes remained blank. “That’s what my family wants.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I would love to see my family.” She paused, taking in a deep inhalation to proceed.

“Then it is settled. I will buy the farm,” he said, before she could continue. “What are you going to do about Ben and Emma?”

“They will come with me.”

“How does your brother feel about that?”

She had not asked Richard because she thought she needed more time to decide. She shook her head. Obviously now she did not need more time. Nathan had sent for her family and wanted her gone. “He does not know.”

“If you decide to leave them here, I will take them in. They are used to the farm as their home.”

Rachel tossed down the dishtowel she held to take the kettle off the fire. “You will not take them from me.” She whirled around and ran to her bedchamber, slamming the door and collapsing back against it.

Sliding down to the floor, she buried her face in her hands and cried. She should be happy she was returning to England, to her family, forgiven and welcomed, but she was not. She wanted more. She knew that if she insisted on taking Ben and Emma, her brother would agree. That was not what was bothering her.

Nathan stared at the closed door and shook his head. What did the woman want? He was going to pay her a good price for the farm. She was returning home—the favored daughter again. No doubt her brother would agree to take the two other children. Although Nathan would hate not seeing them every day, they would probably be better off in the midst of a family rather than with just him. Rachel was a good mother, and they looked to her to fulfill that role.

He stood and crossed to the cradle, watching Faith sleeping. He would miss her too. Her smile. The twinkle in her eyes. She was going to turn men’s heads when she got older. Like her mother.

Maddy leaned against the doorframe with her arms folded over her chest. “Me and the children will remain outside until you fix this.”

“Fix what?”

“You and Rachel. Do you have to be hit over your thick skull to realize you are in love with her and should ask her to marry you? If George can get the courage to ask me, you can ask Rachel.”

“No, you are wrong.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “I am? Be honest with yourself. Do you want to end up like your grandfather—embittered and alone in your old age?”

“She told her brother she was leaving.”