Page 62 of A Forgotten Heart
It was a loaded question. All those expectations, waiting for her under the Westons’ roof. “My sister is all grown up”—Elsie gave the girl the easier answer—“with a husband of her own. Christmas isn’t the same without her.”
It grew quiet around the table. Elsie kept her focus on the next cornhusk, those old feelings pressing in.
“Sometimes you need new traditions, Tillie.” Nick’s voice brought Elsie’s head up. She hadn’t noticed that he and David had joined them at the table, both trying to make a star.
Tillie nudged Elsie for the next step, but Elsie couldn’t look away from Nick. His eyes were warm and compassionate, and she remembered what she’d told him in the doctor’s clinic. Those broken pieces she’d always kept to herself. He knew now.
Here, in a crowded room, he saw the real her.
And the way he was looking at her—as if he were proud of her—rekindled all those old feelings.
She forced her eyes to the cornhusk when Tillie nudged her again.
“The loss that brought us pain, That loss but made us love thee more.” His voice was low as the kids chattered around them.
Tennyson.
Their game.
“Ever gentle, and so gracious with all his learning.”
Their eyes caught and held. A tiny, chagrined smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He only looked away when Eli asked a question.
Elsie was left holding her breath.
She didn’t know what to do with this Nick. He seemed to be extending an olive branch, offering his friendship. But every interaction reminded her of what they’d once had.
The room was suddenly stuffy, and she dropped the cornhusk and hurried into the kitchen. She needed space.
The aroma of freshly baked cookies washed over her as she leaned against the doorframe.
Rebekah glanced over from where she was rolling dough for more cookies. “Oh, good! Elsie, do you mind pulling out the tray in the oven?”
“Of course.”
Happy for the distraction, Elsie picked up potholders.
“I can’t help but observe, Nick seems more settled when he’s with you,” Rebekah said.
Elsie slid the pan from the oven, trying to hide her shaking hands. She didn’t respond.
Rebekah placed the freshly cut cookies onto another pan. “Ed and I had a misunderstanding once. Before we were married. Back then, I’d just as soon snap at him than look at him. Now I realize we were meant to be together from the beginning.”
Elsie’s heart pinched. Why was Rebekah telling her this?
Rebekah picked up the pan with the fresh dough and held it out for Elsie to put in the oven. As Elsie took the tray, Rebekah held on as well, her expression adamant.
“Sometimes, if given a chance, beauty can come from ashes.”
Elsie didn’t move, even as Rebekah released the tray.
Beauty from ashes?
Nick’s words in the marshal’s office resounded in her head.After this, we are nothing to each other.
No, it was too late for them.
His poem had been an olive branch, but their future held nothing more than friendship.
