Heaven Sent (46 page)

Alone at last, Callie shuffled through
the several letters the nurse had set on her lap. She smiled at one
that was addressed to her in Becky’s distinctive, childish
hand.

But that wasn’t the one she wanted to
read first. Dr. Marshall had mentioned a letter from Aubrey. She
found it at last and picked it up, her heart pounding in a cadence
with her head.

Aubrey had sealed it with wax, and
Callie broke the seal with trembling fingers. She was surprised by
how long a missive it was.

“
Blast!” She was so weak, in
body and heart, that the tears started flowing again. She wiped
them away impatiently, “How can you read if your eyes are full of
water, you idiot?” she asked herself.

Before an answer had occurred to her,
she’d spread the sheet and lifted it so that she could read it
without bending her head, which hurt abominably. She could hardly
believe her watery eyes when she read the salutation.

My Darling
Callie

“
Oh, my,” Callie whispered.
She read on.

Please forgive me for
hurting you, darling. I love you very much, Callie. I was a fool
for not recognizing how special you are before now.

“
Good heavens.” With growing
wonder, Callie wiped more tears away and continued
reading.

If you can ever forgive
me, I pray that you will consent to marry me, darling Callie. I
need you. Becky needs you. We both love you and, I think, you might
learn to love me. I know you love Becky.

“
If I could
learn
to love him?”
Callie stared at the words, wondering if her tears were getting in
the way of coherent reading. But, no, that’s what he’d written, all
right. Rereading the prior couple of sentences, she noted that he’d
said he loved her, too. Good heavens.

Please get better, Callie.
Get better and conic. back to us. I will love and cherish you
forever, my darling.

He’d cherish her? Aubrey Lockhart
would cherish Callie Prophet? “Oh, my,” she whispered, reading
on.

We can be married as soon
as may be, love, and we can celebrate Christmas with your family in
the home we share. Please, please, Callie, come back to me. I love
you.

Aubrey

Callie had to turn her head into her
pillow before her flowing tears could make the ink on Aubrey’s
letter run. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to this letter.
Ever.

*****

When Aubrey silently pushed open the
door to Callie’s sickroom, he expected to find her sleeping. When
he saw her sitting up in her bed, weeping, his heart flipped over
and turned to slush. “Callie!”

Her face streaming with tears, she
lifted her face and looked at him. “Aubrey.”

“
Oh, God, Callie! What’s
wrong?” He ran to her bedside.

Nurses had been scolding him for days
now about his disruptive ways, but Aubrey didn’t care about what
the nurses thought of him. He cared about Callie. Sliding to a
noisy stop beside her, he took up her hands. They were full of
paper. He looked more closely and saw his letter.

Had his letter made her cry? What had
he said in it? Hadn’t he declared his love? Had he said something
oafish and crude? Lord, Lord, why couldn’t he do anything right
anymore?

“
Oh, Aubrey.” The words came
out thick and watery.

He sat very carefully on the edge of
her bed and kissed her hands. The paper tried to poke him in the
eye, but he wouldn’t let it. “What’s the matter, Callie? Did I
write something awful? I didn’t mean to.”

“
No, Aubrey. Your letter is
beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.” Her voice broke and a new flood
of tears washed her face.

As tenderly as he could, Aubrey wiped
her cheeks with his handkerchief. “I love you, Callie. I love you
beyond anything, I love you as much as I’ve ever loved
anyone.”

“
Oh, Aubrey!” In spite of
how much it must have hurt her poor battered body, she threw her
arms around his neck. “I didn’t think you’d ever love any woman but
Anne.”

Good God, he was going to cry, too.
How humiliating. Swallowing hard, he managed to say, “I was an ass,
Callie. I loved Anne, sure. I love Becky. And I love you—madly and
passionately. I didn’t realize how much love I had locked away
inside me until you found the key to my heart.”

Aubrey thought she said, “That’s the
most beautiful thing anybody’s ever said to me,” but wasn’t sure,
because her words were muffled by tears.

“
Marry me, Callie. Please
marry me. As soon as may be.”

“
I will, Aubrey. I love you
so much!”

“
Thank God.” Aubrey thought
he might just live through the day after that.

*****

As soon as may be was the day before
Christmas Eve. A fully recovered Miss Callida Prophet was united in
holy matrimony with Mr. Aubrey Lockhart in the tiny Santa Angelica
Methodist Church, with the Reverend Mr. Pinker reading the sermon.
Everyone in the village attended the wedding, which meant there
weren’t enough seats in the church. Folks didn’t seem to mind
standing.

All of Aubrey’s San Francisco
relations attended the nuptials, too, including Anne’s relatives.
Only Mrs. Bridgewater, who claimed to be suffering from a nasty
cold, didn’t make the trek to Santa Angelica. Aubrey, Callie, and
Becky, not to mention Mrs. Granger, Figgins, and Delilah, were
surprised by the old cow’s unexpected consideration.

Becky Lockhart served as Callie’s maid
of honor, thus preventing Callie having to make a decision between
Alta and Florence, who served as brides’ matrons. Mark Henderson,
who stared rather wistfully at Callie during the ceremony, served
as Aubrey’s best man. George Prophet escorted Callie down the aisle
and gave her away, acting as a suitable replacement for the
Prophets’ deceased father.

Monster watched from the choir loft,
Becky and Callie having decided he deserved to attend the wedding
ceremony.

A gala reception was held after the
service at the Lockhart mansion, which was decked out in royal
style for a Christmas wedding. Mrs. Granger hired several girls
from the village to help her cook and decorate. Florence, who had a
knack for such things, made and decorated the cake, which Mrs.
Granger didn’t resent too much, since she had plenty of other work
to do.

Callie made a radiant bride in her
ivory poplin wedding gown with pearls worked into an orange blossom
design with scalloped sleeve caps. She’d had the gown made of ivory
poplin since she didn’t think she could honorably wear
white.

No one seemed to notice her choice of
colors, especially since her attendants wore red velvet, in honor
of the season.

Aubrey was more handsome than Callie
had ever seen him, in his black cutaway coat and black trousers.
She’d never in her life seen George arrayed so elegantly and was
hard-pressed not to giggle as she walked down the aisle on his
arm.

At the reception, Callie and Aubrey
led the dancing with a waltz. Mark Henderson danced most often with
Becky, but he managed to sneak in a few dances with Callie,
too.

Callie and Aubrey exchanged
letters that night, before they went to bed. Callie’s read,
I love you, Aubrey
.
Aubrey’s read,
I love you,
Callie
.

And they did.

About the Author

Award-winning author Alice
Duncan moved from her home town in Pasadena, California, and now
lives with a herd of wild dachshunds (enriched from time to time
with fosterees from New Mexico Dachshund Rescue) in Roswell, New
Mexico. She’s not a UFO enthusiast; she’s in Roswell because her
mother’s family settled there fifty years before the aliens
crashed. Alice would love to hear from you at
[email protected]
. And
be sure to visit her website at
http://www.aliceduncan.net

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