Lightning Only Strikes Twice (22 page)

Annie did her best, but it was hard. Without Elizabeth’s companionship, the days seemed endless.

After the graveside service, Paul held his coat over both their heads as they walked back to the house.

Once inside, he shook off the rain and hung his coat and hat on the peg by the door. For a long moment, he stood in the main room as if he expected to see Elizabeth waiting him.

Annie wished she had words of comfort. He’d lost so much and she knew there was more trouble ahead. As she opened her mouth to speak, he heaved a great sigh and headed for his room.

Maybe it was best that he handled his losses in his own way.

“Would you like some lunch?” Annie called as she set the baby down to shake her damp shawl.

“Yes. Thank you,” Paul said from the bedroom. “Put it in a pail. I’ve left the mill for too long and I need to get back.”

Paul was a hard worker and the town thrived on the success of his business. Annie wanted to argue that he needed to rest, but knew he wouldn’t listen.

She hung up her shawl, gathered the baby, and headed for the kitchen. After fixing Paul’s lunch, she prepared a bottle and sat at the table to feed Richard.

A moment later, Paul came in, already in his work clothes.

“Can I hold him for a bit before I go?” he asked.

“Of course.” She stood for Paul to take her seat. She laid the infant in his arms and handed him the bottle.

Worn, calloused hands cradled the boy with surprising gentleness. Paul smiled as he looked at his drowsy son. “He has Elizabeth’s nose.”

Breath strangled in her lungs. Annie couldn’t speak, but Paul didn’t seem to expect an answer. He started to hum an off-key lullaby—the one her grandfather used to sing when she was scared and longing for her parents.

Tears, long spent, spilled over her cheeks and she quickly turned away. Paul’s strength was unending. She wouldn’t let him see her cry.

She busied herself packing his lunch in the pail.

As she turned to place it on the table, he lifted the sleeping baby to his shoulder and tenderly patted his back.

Paul’s somber brown eyes gazed at her. “You’ve been a big help these past few days,” he said quietly as not to wake the baby. “I don’t know what I would have done, had you not been here.”

She tried to smile. “Mavis has been the miracle woman. I’m simply following her instructions.”

“I thank you just the same,” Paul said. He stood and handed the baby to her. “I’d best be getting to work.”

“Don’t forget your lunch,” she reminded him.

He grabbed the pail and paused at the back door. “I won’t be too late tonight. I’ll be back early to take care of Richard and give you a break.”

Annie opened her mouth to argue, but Paul cut her off. “See if you can find out where Luke went.” He closed the door and was gone.

Hope rose in her chest. Paul didn’t believe Luke was dead either.

Find out where Luke went.

The words echoed as she laid Richard down for a nap.

Annie dragged a chair next to the cradle and absently stroked his fine hair as he slept. She found comfort in touching Elizabeth’s son, holding him eased the unbearable emptiness Elizabeth left behind.

Much greater was the hole in her heart left by Luke’s absence. She missed him. Missed his laugh. Missed the fire he sent singing through her veins when he touched her. Nothing made her feel as alive as when they were together. Without his daily visits and companionship, she was completely alone.

What she couldn’t understand was why he hadn’t returned? She initially thought he might have been trapped somewhere by the storm. It had rained non-stop since the night Elizabeth died.

The storm hampered the clean-up after the mine had collapsed and stranded the help trying to reach White Rock from Boise. Luke could have been cut off too.

Once the rain had eased, and he still hadn’t returned, doubts crept in. Annie worried he
had
been buried. Except Paul believed Luke was alive, too. That thought gave her hope.

The baby suckled in his sleep, bringing a sad smile to her lips. This little guy had nothing but hardship ahead.

The mine was operational again. Although the collapsed shaft was permanently closed, daily life in White Rock started to return to normal.

Except, nothing had been normal for Annie since she’d arrived.

She recalled her first conversation with Luke and had to admit he’d been right all along. Living in White Rock was hard. Broken hearts and lost loves were a part of life. People died.

She thought of Paul and Elizabeth. Tragedy had struck a devastating blow when their daughter died, yet they’d recovered and tried again, only to lose more.

Even now, Annie suspected Paul acknowledged his loss much quicker than she ever could. She would never accept that life could be snuffed out in an instant.

How could she have ever believed the past was better than the present? True, there was simplicity in everyone’s days, but there was sorrow…too much of it. If living in a simpler time meant tolerating death so matter-of-factly, then she’d rather not be here.

The baby sighed and squirmed slightly before his breathing evened.

There was joy, too. Reasons to celebrate and revere life. Baby Richard’s birth proved that life continued on.

A realization hit her. Without Luke, she didn’t want to stay here any longer. Now, she had no choice. Baby Richard, her great-grandfather, needed her.

She leaned into the cradle and pressed a soft kiss against his cheek. He didn’t stir and it looked as if he might sleep for more than the hour he’d given her and Mavis between feedings last night. That would be time enough to work in the kitchen.

She’d fixed the evening meal early. Then she could leave to search for Luke as soon as Paul settled with the baby.

It was almost dusk when Paul returned. Although the rain had stopped, mud still clung to his boots. He placed them on the back steps and entered the kitchen.

Annie finished changing the baby and was giving him a bottle as Paul hung up his coat.

He smiled at them. “I swear he grows an inch every time I see him.” He crossed to the kitchen sink. “He’s big enough to swing a hammer.”

Annie smiled back as she put the bottle down to burp the baby. “Well, let’s wait at least until tomorrow. He needs a good night’s rest before you put him to work at the mill.”

Paul finished washing his hands and dried them on a towel. “It’s good to see you smile, Miss Annie.” He took the baby out of her arms and held him close. “Except for this little fella, there ain’t been much to smile ’bout lately.”

She bit her lip and kept busy laying out a clean nightshirt and diapers. Paul should have everything he’d need until she got back. “It’s been hard the last few days,” she agreed. “Maybe the rain stopping is a sign of better things to come.”

“Maybe,” Paul said. “But most like, it’s a sign that summer’s gonna get hot before the robins fly south and the season’s gonna end sooner than we’re ready.”

Annie paused in her task and stared at Paul. Time shimmered to a standstill. The words he’d spoken were ordinary enough, but it was the way he’d said them that shook her to the core.

Her grandfather used to say something similar when she’d dally and daydream. He hadn’t discouraged her dreams, but had taken great care to ground her in the pragmatic present instead of allowing her to wish her life away.

As she pulled on her sweater, she pondered the realization that her life had come full circle.

She was where she didn’t belong because she’d wished her life away. After all this time, she finally understood what her grandfather had tried to teach her. Now that she did, she had no way of returning and making things right again.

More than ever, she wanted to find Luke and share her revelation with him. He was the only person who would understand.

She buttoned her old sweater over the same clothes she’d worn when she arrived. If she was going to traipse around outside, she didn’t want to muddy her dress.

“I won’t be gone long,” she told Paul. “Mavis will be by later to feed the baby again.”

He held his son while eating the meal she’d prepared. “Take your time.” He took another bite of stew. “But be careful.”

Annie smiled. “I will.” She closed the door, shutting out the images of her heritage and turned her eyes toward the mountains.

It was time to seek out her future. A future that held Luke Maxwell and his promise of a shared life. She was certain he was alive. Soon, they’d marry. Help Paul raise baby Richard. Have their own children.

Tonight she was determined to find him or at least learn where he went. Her first stop was the doctor’s house.

She knocked.

Inside, footsteps thundered across the floor. “Luke Maxwell, it’s about time—” The door flung open.

“Hello, Dr. Smyth,” Annie said.

“Miss Crawford.” Dr. Smyth opened the door wider. “My apologies. I thought…Luke’s the only who knocks.” He cleared his throat. “What can I do for you?”

“Luke is why I’m here. I was hoping you’d seen him the day the mine collapsed.” She fingered a button on her sweater to hide her trembling.

“Come on in, now,” he said. “You best get out of the damp air.”

“I can’t,” she replied. “I don’t have a lot of time before I need to get back to the baby. Please, tell me. Did you see him that day?”

The doctor regarded her as he stroked a thumb and finger along his mustache. “You don’t believe he’s buried in the mine, do you?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“I wish I could be as certain. I never saw him at the mine, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t join the rescue. Everyone believes he got trapped with those other poor fellas.”

Hearing the doctor’s doubts was difficult, but she wasn’t ready to give up. “But you did see him earlier, didn’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am. I did. He passed by my office that afternoon.”

“Did you talk to him?” Annie pressed. “Did he say anything?”

“He was in a big hurry. All he told me was that he thought he’d be back soon.”

“Oh.” Her chest tightened. Nothing the doctor said proved Luke was still alive. If he was, why hadn’t he returned? Did she want to believe so badly, that she couldn’t accept he was gone? Is that why she couldn’t shake the feeling he was alive?

“Wish I could offer better news, Miss Annie.”

“That’s okay. Thank you for the information anyway.”

She gave the doctor a half-hearted smile and walked down the steps. She headed along the muddy street, intending to knock on every door in town. Someone must have seen him.

Twenty
no
s later, she gave up. No one had seen Luke after he’d left the schoolhouse. Only one person had known he’d been to see Annie that day. Everyone else thought he was buried in the mine.

Annie and the doctor were the last people to see him.

The clouds had finally broken. Between the slate thunderheads, a rosy sunset glowed. It offered the promise of a brighter tomorrow, but with all she’d lost, only heaviness filled her.

She picked her way through the muddy street and headed toward the forest beyond the mill.

The grove was their special place and she couldn’t help but feel drawn to it.

As she walked, the damp forest ground was squishy in places from the soaking rain, while other spots covered by the thick canopy of aspen, remained dryer.

The path had become so familiar she could’ve walked it blindfolded. Night hadn’t descended just yet and there was still plenty of light to find her way to the young pine tree.

She crossed to the stump she’d sat on the first time Luke had brought her here. Fire curled in her belly as she looked longingly at the spot where they’d first made love.

She didn’t know how, but in her heart, she knew he was alive. He would return. He
had
to. She’d be patient. She had nothing but time. Soon they’d be together, building a life—a family right here in White Rock.

Time passed slowly as she sat there. As the last daylight streamed low along the branches, she looked up at the pine. Their initials were carved there. Just opposite of Paul’s and Elizabeth’s. Symbolic of a love that never died.

She stood and crossed to the tree. Hope fluttered inside her chest as she traced Luke’s initials, then hers. Someday, she and Luke would carve their children’s initials in the bark. Just as Paul had.

Annie wandered around the other side of the tree. To her surprise, there was a new set of initials carved just below the others.

“R.C.” Richard Crawford.

She wondered when Paul had taken the time to come to the grove. When she touched the raw bark, it was sticky with sap.

He’d been here today.

Annie traced the letters. Paul must have thought that carving his new son’s initials was a way to bring his family together. His daughter, Elizabeth, and now Richard, all joined to their father in a gesture that would endure for generations.

Paul’s had obviously passed on his strength of character through his bloodline. She finally understood why her grandfather took in a seven-year-old child and raised her as his own, without once thinking about the hardship.

A breeze ruffled through the grove, bringing the rain cooled air. She pushed her hands in her pockets to keep warm. Her fingers touched the cold metal of the medallion she’d found under the clothesline.

She curled her palm around it, remembering the day her grandfather had given her the medallion on a pendant. Her eighteenth birthday. He’d told her how she’d grown into a lovely young woman.

All those years passed with just the two of them. She was certain Grandpa knew of her love for him. Until now, she hadn’t appreciated his sacrifice. If she had, she would never have sold this land.

Whatever fate had in store for her, the least she could do was repay the debt she owed her grandfather by helping Paul raise his son. She would care for the child and love him as her grandfather had loved her.

Resolve, mixed with a strange sense of contentment, filled her chest. Holding tightly to the golden medallion, she closed her eyes and leaned against the tree.