Caroline's Quilt (Brides 0f Pelican Rapids Book 2)

by Rachel Skatvold

  Ma Riley shook her head. “No, dear. I wish I could say I have. It’s such a lovely place to live. I’m originally from a small town in Kansas, called Brimsfield. My husband, Don and I, were neighbors. His entire family lived there, but he wanted to travel. We moved all over when we were young, but when we passed through here, we just knew it was home. We bought this homestead and he started his carpentry business. When our only son was old enough, he became his father’s apprentice. After Don passed away, the responsibility fell to Emmett.”

  Caroline smiled. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I’m glad Don’s dream will live on through Emmett.”

  The older woman placed some eggs, ham and toast in front of her before she sat at the table and put her hand over Caroline’s. “Don’t forget, you are a part of that dream as well. I never thought Emmett would marry. He’s always kept to himself, spending more time in the woods than interacting with people, but I see being with you has changed him for the better, my dear. I know you two will be very happy here.”

  Caroline wiped away happy tears and thanked her. In a short amount of time she had made her feel very welcome. She took a few bites of food before looking up at Ma Riley again, who busied herself washing dishes. “Where is Emmett this morning? I do hope he’s not trying to work in the shop one-handed. I might have to go out and scold him.”

  Ma Riley turned with an amused grin, wiping her wet hands on her apron. “I would have beat you to it. Don’t fret, my dear. He’s gone to the barn to have a chat with Thomas.”

  Caroline frowned, remembering his reaction the day before. “Did he stay out there all night?”

  The older woman nodded, matching her worried expression. “I’m afraid so. Thomas is a good boy—wise beyond his years and good with the animals—but he’s been through a lot. He lost his pa in the war and then his ma shortly after. When we received the telegram saying Emmett had been shot, it brought back too many memories for the young boy. Even if he’s not ready to call Emmett Pa yet, he thinks of him as such.”

  “I can see that.” Caroline took a sip from her coffee mug, deep in thought. “I wish there was some way I could help. Emmett was pretty torn up about his reaction last night, too.”

  Ma Riley placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “He’ll come around in time. The best thing we can do is pray, provide encouragement when he needs it and try not to push too hard, even when we want to. I know God will heal his heart in time. The same goes for Felicia. She grieves in a different way than her brother, but is hurting just the same.”

  Caroline nodded, praying silently for guidance. She knew God had placed the children in her life for a reason. Perhaps she could work from her past experiences with grief to help them.

  Emmett walked out of the barn with a heavy heart, but the mere sight of Caroline approaching, lifted his mood. “Well, aren’t you a pretty sight to behold in the morning light.”

  After reaching him, she stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, but I believe it’s almost afternoon. I assume you woke up with the sunrise?”

  He nodded and ran his fingers over her curls. “Can’t help that. It was the way I was raised.”

  “Me too, with the exception of this morning.”

  He paused and studied her face for any signs of fatigue. “Did you sleep well? I apologize for not waking you before I left. You looked so peaceful and I know the last leg of our journey was stressful.”

  She gave him a reassuring smile. “Yes, a bit too well. Tomorrow I’ll rise early and make breakfast for everyone. It will give your mother a break. I hope you’re all right with flap jacks. Its about all I know how to make.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  She looked toward the first barn and her smile faded. “How did your talk with Thomas go?”

  “Not as well as I’d hoped. However, he did finish all his chores and eat the breakfast Ma made for him. He just refuses to talk. I guess I can’t blame him after all he’s been through.” He let out a deep sigh and his gaze dropped to the ground. “I’m sorry our marriage has to start out with such difficulties, Caroline. I know this is quite a burden for any young woman to bear.”

  “Emmett, I don’t think of your family as a burden at all.” She reached for his hand. “The day we married—your family became mine. I knew this wouldn’t be easy, but I’ve never been afraid of a challenge.”

  He looked into her eyes in amazement. “Thank you, Caroline. You have lifted a huge burden off me.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  They shared a sweet kiss and then Emmett linked his arm through hers. “Would you like a tour of my shop and then pick out your new vanity and wardrobe?”

  She nodded with a smile. “I’d love to.”

  When they entered the shop, Caroline’s eyes lit up, taking in all the projects and tools used to make various types of furniture and carvings. His two assistants were near the back, working on carving details into the double doors of a wardrobe.

  “Good morning,” Emmett greeted when they looked up from working.

  They both put down their tools and approached. “Welcome home, boss,” the large African American man greeted first, shaking his hand in a robust manner. Her husband winced, but recovered quickly. “Praise the Lord! He was watchin’ over you. Esther and I was prayin’ so hard for you to recover and here you stand.”

  “Thank you, Solomon. I appreciate it.”

  A tall, thin young man with raven hair and blue eyes stepped forward next, shaking his hand with more care regarding his injury than the large beefy man beside him. “Glad to have you home. We’ve managed, but it hasn’t been the same without you here.”

  He nodded to his soft-spoken friend before looking around the shop. “Thank you. I can see you’ve both done a fine job keeping up with everything while I was away in Minnesota.”

  Solomon’s kind brown eyes twinkled when he noticed her standing beside Emmett. “And I see you brought a pretty wife home with you, boss.”

  He smiled and wrapped his good arm around Caroline. “Yes, I did. I would like you both to meet Mrs. Caroline Riley.”

  Both men welcomed her in their own way—Solomon with a robust handshake and Micah with a simple tip of his hat.

  After saying bye to his assistants, they made their way across the breezeway to the storage area. Once inside, they walked around the perimeter of the barn while Caroline admired the fine craftmanship of the furniture. “This is bully, Emmett. You do such fine work. I imagine you must have a lot of business around the area.”

  He shrugged with one shoulder. “We make enough to live on. We could probably make more if we could expand our delivery services to Springfield or Lebanon, but since the war and the loss of my friend, Peter and caring for his children, I haven’t had the means to do that.”

  “Did Peter grow up here in Niangua, too?”

  Emmett nodded. “We grew up together. So did Micah. They both helped with the business and we all fought in the Union Army, but only two of us returned.” His expression turned gloomy.

  Caroline leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m sure you did everything you could to save him. You can’t blame yourself.”

  He nodded. “I know. I keep telling myself that, but the fact his children have to grow up without both parents is hard to accept.” He paused and shook his head. “Anyway, now we have Solomon to help with the business. His family were all slaves, but they escaped north using the Underground Railroad. We gave Solomon a job here when he arrived, although many of our neighbors disagreed with our decision. As you know, Missouri was split Union and Confederate.”

  Caroline looked up at him in amazement. “My parents helped with the Underground Railroad. They had slaves before the war, but always treated them well. However, after hearing of the mistreatment of slaves, they started helping some of them escape. We kept it secret for a long time and eventually it divided our family. My parents helped slaves hide in a cellar beneath the church. There were suspicions and one night someo
ne burned the church to the ground. Thankfully the people hiding made it out alive, although some were recaptured.”

  Emmett turned to face her, taking hold of her hands. “That was a noble thing your family did.”

  She nodded. “Thank you. It was a difficult time and my brother, Hugh, disagreed with what my parents did. He eventually joined the Confederate Army.” She sniffled and wiped a tear with the back of her sleeve. “He never returned.”

  He hugged her close and tucked her head under his chin. “I’m sorry for all you’ve had to endure. Even though the war stopped slavery, I still hated every minute of it. So much hatred, turmoil and death. I thank God it’s over every day.”

  She sighed and relaxed in his embrace. “Me too. I also thank Him for bringing you into my life. I pray this is the start of the peaceful life we’ve both been longing for.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”

  Matthew 4:19

  The next morning, Caroline woke up before Emmett and sat at her new dresser and vanity to brush her hair. She smiled while running her hand over the smooth oak surface of the furniture, knowing her husband crafted it by hand. She admired his talent for working with wood. Perhaps one day he would be making a cradle for a new little one. The thought filled her stomach with butterflies.

  “Someone is in a mighty fine mood this morning. I love seeing your beautiful smile.”

  She blushed while moving all her hair to one side and beginning to work the tangles out of her hair. She saw Emmett’s reflection in the mirror as he stood up from the bed and came up behind her. “Good morning, Mr. Early Riser. I was hoping to have a head start making the flap jacks before you woke up.”

  He chuckled while leaning over and kissing her cheek. “Sorry. Tomorrow morning I’ll pretend to still be asleep so you can make breakfast alone.”

  “Oh, nonsense,” she said, giggling as his sweet kisses tickled one side of her neck. She swatted him away playfully and continued brushing her hair. Then she craned her neck to look at him. “How about we make breakfast together? Preparing it faster might be a good idea anyway. Felicia and I had talked about going fishing this morning.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I’m sorry for distracting you. I’ll let you finish preparing for the day.”

  “I don’t mind the distraction in the least, Mr. Riley.” She kissed him on the cheek before pinning her hair into a neat bun with a few curls framing her face.

  A few minutes later, they came out of their room together hand in hand and headed down the hallway to the kitchen. However, she was surprised to smell brewed coffee and a hint of bacon in the air.

  “Morning,” Ma Riley said cheerfully while looking up from the stove. “I hope you’re both hungry. I’m fixing biscuits, eggs and bacon.”

  Emmett looked at Caroline with a guilty expression before turning back to his mother. “Thank you. It smells delicious.”

  Ma Riley smiled and dusted off her apron. “Well, Emmett has been kind enough to allow me to stay here. I have to make myself useful somehow.”

  As they sat down to eat, Caroline tried to hide her disappointment. She’d been looking forward to cooking breakfast with Emmett, but didn’t want to make Ma Riley feel bad. She was so sweet pitching in with chores around the house.

  Soon after they sat down at the table and prayed over the food, Felicia came in, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “Is it morning already?”

  Emmett chuckled and tousled her brown hair. “Sure is, sleepy head. You better eat. I heard you and Caroline have something special planned.”

  Felicia’s eyes lit up. “Fishing? Oh, I almost forgot! I’ll go fetch my pole.”

  Emmett gripped her elbow. “No, you don’t, young lady. You need to eat breakfast first.”

  “Oh, all right,” Felicia mourned, plopping back into her chair and crossing her arms.

  After Emmett finished with his breakfast, he grabbed his Bible and turned to a page he had marked. Then he read the verse from Ephesians 2:10 out loud. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” He looked up from his Bible with a thoughtful gleam in his eye. “I woke up this morning with this verse on my mind. It’s so easy to forget during the hard times, God has a good plan for our lives, especially during times of war and turmoil…however, recently He has been showing me how these events brought me a family. I’m so thankful for everyone at this table…and out at the barn.” He paused and looked out the window toward the brown building in the distance where Thomas had spent a second evening alone. “I know God has something very special in mind for our new family. With time and patience, I know He will reveal it.”

  Caroline squeezed Emmett’s hand, overcome by her husband’s faith and wisdom. She loved their devotional time in the morning and now it meant even more with most of their family at the table. Still, she could sense Thomas’ refusal to come out of the barn pained her husband immensely. She prayed the missing seat at their family table would be filled soon.

  After Caroline departed with Felicia to the river with the two hound dogs trailing close behind, Emmett headed up a dirt path through the woods for about thirty minutes until reaching a small clearing with a breathtaking view of the valley. There was a small cemetery where several family members and friends had been buried. Walking toward it, he realized he wasn’t alone. Thomas sat between two of the graves. Emmett approached with caution, not wanting to frighten him.

  At the sound of leaves crunching under his boots, the boy looked up startled and then relaxed. “Good morning.”

  “Morning,” he said, kneeling by the graves with a light groan. He moved gingerly to avoid irritating his injury and swept a few brown leaves from one of the headstones. He sighed while reading the name, Peter Ingram. “I was thinking of your Pa this morning. He was so talented when tending to the animals. When we were young, there was a half-wild horse in town. The owner talked of doing away with him, but Peter wouldn’t have it. He saved up his own money and bought the horse. In about a month’s time, he had that horse eating out of his hand. He rode it all over town soon after, much to the aggravation of the previous owner who said he was untrainable.”

  The boy nodded with a half grin. “Pa was always like that. He could train any animal it seemed. He had a gift with them.”

  “I see that same gift in you.”

  “You really think so?”

  Emmett patted the boy’s shoulder. “Yes, I do. Who else could train that silly goat to climb onto the roof?”

  Thomas stifled a laugh. “Pa told you about that?”

  “Yeah, he sure did. Said he was fixing the cabin roof and heard that old billy goat bleating beside him, trying to eat his nails. The next day your ma screamed when she caught that silly goat on top of the chicken coop.” They shared a hearty laugh together, but soon the boy’s laughter faded into sobs. Emmett patted his back. “It’s all right. Let it out.” Thomas wiped his wet face with the back of his sleeve, but the tears kept coming. “Don’t forget you have family here who love you very much, Son.”

  The boy whipped around to face him, brown eyes flashing through his tears. “Don’t call me that! You’re not my new pa and your wife won’t be my ma—ever.”

  Emmett paused to regain his composure. “I’m sorry, Thomas. We’re not trying to replace your parents. No one ever could. But if you let us in, we can create a new beginning together. It won’t be like it was before the war, but we can become a new family for you and Felicia if you let us.”

  Thomas shook his head and turned away from him. “I can’t do that. It would be like forgetting them.”

  “Your ma and pa would have wanted their children to be happy. That’s what your pa fought for, Thomas. He said he wanted a better world for you and your sister and ma. You were all he thought and talked about.” He waited for a response, but when there was none, he stood up and paused before leaving
. “Come back to the cabin tonight and eat dinner with us, please.”

  Thomas wiped his tears again and mumbled through them. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Good, we’ll save you a seat at the table.”

  Emmett left Thomas on the hill, wiping his own tears. Witnessing the boy’s grief and anger broke his heart, but at least he was speaking to him again. It was an encouraging sign.

  After finding the road leading back home, his eyes lifted toward the sky as a few more tears escaped. “Oh, God, Thomas is hurting. I don’t know how to help him, but I know you do. Show him your love and help him to accept us as his family. I’ve come to love him as a son. Please help Caroline and I become the parents Thomas and Felicia need.”

  Caroline followed Felicia down the meandering path through the woods to the river, thankful she had worn a simple blue cotton blouse, matching skirt and boots for the trip. A shawl also kept her warm in the cool autumn weather. When they reached the river, she gazed at the scene before them. The sun glimmered off the ripples of the water like a thousand tiny jewels with the leaves of brown, burnt orange and crimson scattered on the shoreline. When she looked above, an eagle passed overhead and then dove toward the water, scooping up a fish with ease.

  “You’ll catch flies with your mouth open like that.”

  Caroline looked down at Felicia, coming out of her daze, uncertain if she’d heard her right. “What’d you say about flies?”

  The girl giggled and then tilted her head in the direction they wanted to go. “I said mayflies make good bait. We might find some closer to my fishing hole. Are you coming?”

  “Oh, yes. Sorry, I’m right behind you.” Caroline lifted the hem of her skirt to better navigate the rocky shore. Then she followed Felicia for several minutes until coming to a calmer spot on the river by a beaver dam.