A Hope Remembered (9 page)

“I hope it helped.”

“Very much,” she said without lifting her head. She wouldn’t allow herself to be swayed by his handsome face and charming manners.

“I suppose we’re off then.” He and Perseus returned outdoors. Nora reached out to shut the door, but she stopped when she saw Colin turn around. Her heart beat faster as she met his gaze.

“If you should require anything else, please let me know.” He tucked his hands into his pockets, a habitual gesture she already identified as his. “I’d like to be friends, Nora.”

Gratitude for his honest admission lifted her mouth into a smile, though the tiniest sliver of disappointment cut through her at what might have been. Nora ignored it. She could offer him friendship, nothing more.

“I’d like that, too.”

A
loud knock at the back door the next afternoon startled Nora awake. She studied the clock on the bureau through blurry eyes. It was already five minutes after five. After a busy day cleaning and weeding the overgrown garden, she’d stretched out on her bed, intent on a short nap. Instead she’d slept for two hours. It didn’t help that sleep hadn’t come easily the night before; she missed having a dog beside the bed.

She took a moment to rearrange her hair, then she hurried downstairs to answer the door. Jack stood on the stoop, his weight bouncing from one foot to the other.

“Ready for our walk?”

“Yes.” Nora eyed the gray sky. “Let me grab my coat.” She pulled it from the peg by the door and joined him outside. Pushing her arms through the sleeves, she drew the material around her as she shivered.

“We’ll head up through the inbye to the fell.”

“The inbye?” Another word she didn’t know or recognize.

He motioned to the field ahead of them. “The fields by the farms are the inbye. And the fells are the mountains.”

“Colin told me what fell meant.”

Jack pulled his cap lower. “You sweet on him?”

“Hardly,” she managed to get out past her startled laugh.

A smile appeared on Jack’s face, though he made no comment. They entered the field through the gate and Jack shut it behind them. Nora studied the stone fence bordering the field. How many hours had it taken her ancestors to build the fence, stone by stone?

“The sheep,” she asked, “what kind are they?”

“Herdwick. The Vikings are said to have introduced them to the Lake District.” His pride was unmistakable.

Nora glanced at the mountain ahead of them. Its grassy skirt gave way to craggy rock and stubs of green higher up where the gray clouds hugged the mountain peak. Moving gray specks, which she suspected were the sheep, dotted its side.

She and Jack came to a set of small, wooden steps straddling the fence at the foot of the mountain. Before Nora could move or speak, Jack seized her hand and helped her up and over the fence. She quickly pulled her hand from his grip once her shoes were back on the ground. While she appreciated his attempt at being a gentleman, she preferred Colin’s more subtle approach.

There I go
, she thought with a frown.
Thinking of Colin again.

She didn’t want to think of the puzzling but kind baronet’s son. Or the way he made her laugh with his jokes. Or the way his dark eyes glowed with interest when he looked at her. These were things she’d loved about Tom, too. She was simply missing him, in this place so far from their memories. Loving someone new wasn’t an option. The potential for pain if she opened her heart all over again…Nora shuddered and drew her coat closer. Inhaling a deep breath of the damp air, she pushed aside the reminders of fear and heartache.

Her lungs and legs soon burned from the sharp ascent up the mountain, but Nora welcomed the exercise and the chance to stretch her limbs. Despite all the cleaning and weeding she’d done, she still felt a bit idle. She missed pushing herself through long, hard tasks as she’d done nearly every day on the farm back home.

After a time, Jack stopped. “Take a look. Prettiest sight in the world, if you ask me.”

Nora turned from the mountain to face the valley below. Emotion stirred deep inside her at the sight. The deep blue lake, the imposing turrets of Elmthwaite Hall, the farms and partitioned fields—all of it spread out before them like a living, breathing canvas painted by the hand of God.

She could think of no proper descriptions save one. “It’s stunning.”

Jack grinned with triumph, as if he were part creator of the grandeur, and waved her forward again. Nora hiked after him toward a sprinkling of sheep. As they drew closer, she spied the lambs among the ewes. The animals began to stir and flee at their approach, but Jack moved swiftly and caught one of the lambs before it could escape. He brought the bleating creature to Nora. “This is one of yours.”

Nora stroked the soft ears and ran her hand over the lamb’s wooly black fleece. “I never thought I’d be like Mary in the nursery rhyme.”

Jack didn’t laugh as Colin would have. “You’ve got a good group of lambs this year. The few of your ewes with twins are in our field.”

“You said the sheep will be sheared next month?” Thankfully she’d remembered something from their conversation yesterday.

Jack nodded. “End of July.”

“Do the fleeces bring in a good profit?”

He set the lamb free, and the creature bounded away to its mother. “We sheep farmers do pretty well. It’s not a rich life, but we make a decent living.” His eyes narrowed as he stared in the direction of Elmthwaite Hall. Nora recalled the opulence of the entryway and grand staircase, to say nothing of the rest of the house she hadn’t seen during her brief time inside. While lovely, she herself was living proof of how little one needed to uproot and make a new life.

Jack turned back to her, his tone boastful as he added, “I mean to get lots more sheep and have the biggest sheep farm in the Lake District.”

Nora felt a twinge of regret at hearing his dream. Bess had mentioned Jack’s hope of receiving the sheep farm from Henry. But it hadn’t been Nora’s decision, and she was grateful to her great-uncle for remembering her.

They started walking again, Jack in front. He led her along a narrow trail running across the mountain ridge, in the direction of Larksbeck. Sheep scattered ahead of them. He continued to share his plans for the future, which included a bigger farm with more cattle and pigs and a larger house.

Nora tried to focus on the one-sided conversation, but her attention kept straying to the beautiful landscape around her. Could she picture herself living here for the rest of her life? She glanced back over her shoulder for a moment at the Lewis cottage in the distance. She liked the new place, even if there was still work to be done with it, and the few people she’d met in the village yesterday had been more than kind.

Her greatest concern at present lay in the constant comparisons to her great-uncle’s daughter, Eleanor. Being alone in the world, she wanted to be her own person, not live in someone else’s shadow.
I’ve been living with shadows for a year and a half now
, Nora thought, folding her arms against the sudden ache in her chest. Had she traded one set for another? Only this time they were the shadows of strangers instead of those she loved dearly.

She also couldn’t shake the eerie feeling there was more to this business about Eleanor, something she alone had yet to figure out. Perhaps she could get Bess to impart some answers today.

The practical mentality Nora had cultivated since her parents’ deaths didn’t fail her now, despite her troubled thoughts. While she might have to endure being compared to Eleanor, the result wasn’t entirely bad. Because of it, she’d been accepted into the village, at least by the two shopkeepers she’d met. She’d also received an invitation to join the church choir, which meant she wouldn’t have to give up music altogether, even in the absence of her piano. Then there were the friends she’d made so far—Colin, Bess, Jack.

God was watching out for her. The realization brought a semblance of peace. It hadn’t been easy selling her childhood home to strangers or leaving her tangible connections to Tom and her parents. But she’d done it. Surely that meant she could carve out a life for herself in this valley.

A full and vibrant life?
Like the one you had before losing Tom, and Mother and Father?
The question pricked her heart.

“A contented one, at least,” she firmly told herself. It wasn’t safe or realistic to expect more than that.

Jack stopped to point at a cottage similar in structure to Nora’s. “We live there.” She spied sheep and cattle grazing in separate fields and flowers at the cottage windows.

Leaving the trail behind, Jack began climbing down the mountain. Nora struck out after him. They reached the field and climbed the ladder over the wall. Nora paused to catch her breath, while Jack removed his cap and wiped at his forehead with his sleeve.

“Can you teach me how to shear the sheep?” she asked, studying the thick gray coat of one of the nearby ewes.

“No need to worry about that. I’ll see to your sheep, same as ours.”

A flash of irritation tightened her lips. “I wouldn’t feel right about that. I need to learn. It’s my livelihood now.”

Jack’s frown mirrored her own. “Don’t know what the other chaps will think of you being in the way, but we’ll see.” With that, he stalked toward the field gate.

Nora forced a steadying breath through her nose. She wouldn’t push the point with him anymore this evening, but she was an independent woman who had to rely on her own two hands for her support. And she wouldn’t let anyone, including Jack, bully her out of her rightful place here.

She picked up her pace and trailed him out the gate and into the cottage. They entered through the back door onto a scene of complete chaos. Bess stood at the stove, stirring something, and calling out commands in a loud voice. Twin girls worked to set the long farm table as they talked. Their older sister brushed the coppery hair of the smallest girl, who sobbed in protest. A teenage boy, also with reddish hair, added wood to the fire, and another boy rode a wooden horse around the room, whooping.

Nora shrank back against the door. Her recollections of visiting the Campbell home, even with Tom and his six siblings, hadn’t felt quite so frenzied.

Bess glanced up as Jack approached her at the stove. “Oh, you’re both here,” she exclaimed.

The noise and movement stopped as if on signal. Eight pairs of eyes stared at Nora. She swallowed the sudden dryness in her throat, almost wishing for the loud madness instead. She didn’t like feeling like a specimen to be examined.

Bess came over and looped her arm through Nora’s. “Welcome, love.” The older woman gently tugged her toward the center of the room, oblivious to her reticence. “You’ve already met our Jack here. So we just need to be introducing you to the rest of the Tuttles.” She motioned with her free hand to the oldest daughter. “That there’s Mary. She’s the one what works up at Elmthwaite. Jon is next. Then there’s the twins, Margaret and Martha. Joseph comes after them, and finally our little Ellie.”

What if she couldn’t remember all their names? “It’s nice to meet you,” Nora said with a tentative smile.

“Come sit down.” Bess shooed her toward one of the benches drawn up next to the table.

Nora took a seat. The children crowded across from and beside her. Bess sat long enough to offer a blessing on the food, then lumbered to her feet again to ladle stew into bowls the twins passed around.

Before Nora could spoon some of the savory-smelling broth into her mouth, Mary asked, “What it’s like living in America, with all them automobiles and big houses?”

Nora gave a self-conscious shrug. “A lot like living here, I suppose. My family had a good-sized farm, but we didn’t own a car.”

Mary’s eyes clouded with momentary disappointment. “What about American fashion?” She leaned forward as she added, “I want to cut my hair and wear shorter skirts, but Mum won’t let me.”

“I heard that,” Bess scolded. She brought a bowl of stew for herself to the table and sat down again.

“What about film stars?” Margaret or Martha asked. “Have you met any?”

Nora chuckled and shook her head before tasting her stew. It was every bit as delicious as Bess’s cottage pie had been.

Everyone but Jack and Bess plied her with questions through the meal. A good portion of them she didn’t have answers for, much to the obvious displeasure of her young crowd.

“Maybe she’s not really American,” Nora heard one of the twins whisper to her identical sister.

“I did go to New York on my way here.” Maybe that would appease their curiosity.

“What’s that like?” Mary’s green gaze reflected her excitement.

Nora described the tall buildings and the crowds of people. Ellie wanted to know what it was like traveling on a boat across the ocean. By the time their inquiries ceased, the remaining stew in Nora’s bowl had grown cold. She didn’t mind, though. Her uneasiness had faded and she rather liked the lively conversation—so different from her normal silent meals, with only her thoughts and memories for company.

“I have a question for
you
,” she said, smiling down at Ellie seated next to her on the bench. “All your brothers’ names start with
J
and your sisters’ names start with
M
. Where does your name came from?”

“She’s named after Mum’s favorite cousin, Eleanor,” one of the twins answered. “I thought you would have known that, her being your—” Her words ended in a sudden
squeal
of pain. Rubbing her arm, she glared at Mary, who scowled right back. “Why’d you have to go and pinch me?”

Bess, looking very red in the face, jumped to her feet and began gathering dishes. “Time to clean up, girls,” she ordered over the clatter she was making. “Boys, see to the chores. Jack, you can walk Nora home.”

No one would meet Nora’s eyes now and the twin who’d spoken sat pouting as though in trouble. Nora scooted off the bench, uncertain what to do or say to restore the congeniality of moments ago. She wanted answers about Eleanor, but she didn’t want to upset or cause trouble for anyone. “Can I help with cleaning up?”

Bess shook her head. “No, no. You’re the guest. Jack will walk you back.”

“If you’re sure.” The chilled feeling had returned. “I am perfectly fine to walk back, though—”

“Jack doesn’t mind, do you, Jack?” Bess added dishes to the sink. Mary, Ellie, and the other twin started in on washing them.

Jack put his cap back on and grinned at Nora. “Not at all.”

Though she longed for solitude after the noisy dinner, Nora decided not to insist on walking home alone. “Thank you for the supper, Bess. It was delicious. The best I’ve had in a long time.”

Bess’s round cheeks turned pink as she waved away Nora’s compliment. “Never mind that. Glad you could come. We expect to see you regularly now, you hear? I still plan to fatten you up, you know. You’re as skinny as…” Her blush deepened and her mouth quickly closed over whatever she meant to add. “Well, go on now, love. And don’t be a stranger.”