The Cripple’s Bride

by Elliee Atkinson

  “I think…” he hesitated. “I think I already do love you, Rachel.”

  She smiled at him. “Oh Daryl. I love you. I truly do.”

  He reached out to take her in his arms, but could only wrap one around her because of his position on the bed. She hugged him gently. When she pulled away, he leaned his head down and pressed his lips against hers.

  Adrenaline shot through her when his lips touched hers. Her heart sped up to a crazy pace and she gripped the side of the bed. When he pulled away, she was left breathless, with her eyes closed. She opened them and gazed at him. She had never loved a man so much in her life.

  Suddenly, she thought of Esther. She scanned Daryl’s face, trying to see if he looked anything like a liar, a woman-beater, a scoundrel. He didn’t. She saw nothing but love on his face. “There’s someone here to see you.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “My family? I thought you would go get them. The doc wouldn’t tell me what you were up to, but I had to reckon that was it. I’d like to see them. I miss them. I’ve been worried.”

  “They are here,” Rachel nodded. “But that’s not who I’m talking about. It’s your woman.”

  He frowned in confusion, staring at her. “My woman is sitting in front of me.”

  She blushed, trying not to smile. “That was good. Very good. But I’m talking about your woman from Wickenburg. Esther.”

  The look of shock on Daryl’s face sent a wave of pain through Rachel. He definitely knew who Esther was. “Esther? She’s here? Is Johnny here, too?”

  Rachel wanted to burst out in tears. She wanted to demand to know who this woman was and what she meant to Daryl, but she couldn’t. Her pride stood in the way. She pushed herself to her feet. “I’ll get her for you so you can talk.”

  She opened the door and went out into the hallway before he could protest. “Esther, Daryl would like to talk to you.”

  Esther passed Allan, looking up at him. He gave her a look of distaste and she looked away.

  “Thank you, Rachel,” Esther said. She went inside. Rachel stood at the door to watch them greet each other. Both were looking at her.

  “If I could have a moment with Esther, please, Rachel,” Daryl said.

  Rachel nodded, her heart aching in her chest. “Of course. So sorry.” She reached in and pulled the door closed. She caught a glimpse of Esther, turning back to give Daryl a pleading look.

  “Esther,” she heard through the door. “What are you doing here?”

  “Rachel, give them some time to talk,” Rebecca said, appearing at her side, making her jump. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Let’s go out and enjoy the sunshine and have a talk, shall we?”

  “All right.” Rachel gave the door a look as she walked away.

  “You must be devastated by the arrival of Esther at this inconvenient time.”

  “Inconvenient time?”

  Rebecca gave her a sympathetic look. “Yes. You’ve already fallen in love with my brother. You don’t know what kind of relationship the two of them have. You are jealous. I can see it. And no, don’t protest, I would be, too. Although I don’t think you have anything to fear. She certainly isn’t you. You are a strong, beautiful woman. She is neither of those things. She has no traits that would attract my brother. I can tell you that with certainty.”

  “But how do you know?”

  Rebecca laughed. “I know my brother. He is a quiet man and he takes nothing and no one for granted. I haven’t seen him with you yet, but from what I’ve heard, you two have quite a connection.”

  “Who have you been talking to?”

  “Sam and the doctor. Both have told me you saved him. You saved his life. How can I ever thank you, Rachel? How can I ever repay you?”

  “You can give your blessing for our wedding,”

  Rebecca’s eyes opened wide and her eyebrows shot up. “For your wedding? Has he asked you to marry him?”

  “I expect him to eventually. After all, we are living in sin. We need to be married if we are to live together.”

  “Friends are allowed to live together. But I see where you are going with this. I would not stand in the way. I know you well. You and Sam are my friends. If it makes you happy and it makes him happy, I will be happy, too.”

  “You are a good sister.”

  “I don’t think you need to worry about this Esther woman. There must be some other way she knows him. It can’t be…”

  “She signed into the Inn as Mrs. Parker.”

  Rebecca shook her head. “Daryl would have told me if he had married. He would not have kept that from me. Even if he did it for odd reasons and not for love, he would have told me. And you know how easy it is to put any old name down on the hotel registry. It’s always that way. We’ve had the president visit at least three times a year for a decade!”

  Rachel had to laugh. She looked out over her land, picturing Daryl working on it, making a garden where there wasn’t one, adding his personal touches to the place. She wanted to know everything about him. What he liked and what he didn’t like. She wanted to bombard Rebecca with questions, but she held them all inside. She would find her answers the hard way. By living with Daryl and finding them herself.

  “I’ll help you keep an eye on her, Rachel. I doubt Daryl will want her to stay long. I just can’t see him being interested in being her husband. Especially not now that he has a woman like you.”

  Rachel glanced at her. “You do know him, Rebecca. You all lived together at one point, didn’t you?”

  Rebecca grinned. “We grew up together with our parents. There’s that. And then after that, yes, after I was married to Charles. We had some land in Louisville and he lived in our house with us. It was a very big house.”

  “So you do know him better than anyone.”

  “We are very close. That doesn’t mean I know everything he does from the time he wakes up till he goes to bed. It means I know the type of woman he is attracted to. And of the two of you,” she paused, shaking her head. “You don’t have to worry, dearie. You have it all over her.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  HERE TO STAY

  HERE TO STAY

  For a moment, Esther stood back, looking at him on the bed. She scanned the leg protruding from the blanket, wrapped in a bandage like a mummy, with two wooden splints keeping it stiff. Sam had brought him a shirt and the blanket covered him from the waist down. When Esther came in, he pulled the cover up higher so that it was over the waistband of his shorts.

  Daryl didn’t know how to feel about seeing her there. Rachel hadn’t been too happy either, it seemed. He wondered what Esther had been saying.

  “What are you doing here, Esther?” he repeated. “I told you I would send for you when I was settled in. Obviously I have not had time to do that.”

  “I… I was worried about you, Daryl. I truly was. I wasn’t trying to invade your privacy. What happened to you? Are you in pain?”

  “I have been in more pain over the last two weeks than I’ve ever been in my life, Esther,” Daryl said, relaxing back against the pillows. His right side was tired of holding all the weight, but when he shifted it to the left side, his leg and the wound in his back reminded him of their presence. He shifted back again and sighed.

  Esther came over to the bed and sat in the chair beside it. “Oh, Daryl, you look terrible. Let me take care of you. You know I want to.”

  Daryl looked at her. “You can’t take care of me, Esther. This is Rachel’s house. I can’t volunteer her house for you to stay in. And you have Johnny with you, don’t you?”

  “Yes, and Bethany.”

  “Where are the babies?”

  “I left them with Mrs. Patterson.”

  Daryl shook his head. “Is James looking for you? I’m in no condition to be defending your honor with your husband, Esther. I can barely defend myself from a fly right now.”

  “He’s not looking for us, Daryl.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She nodde
d. “I am.”

  He stared at her. “Esther? Tell me what happened to James.”

  He noticed when her eyes went hazy. She was remembering something that seemed to calm her almost into a stupor. “Esther?” Daryl sat up, cringing at the pain in his leg. “Tell me what happened.”

  She slid her eyes around the room. “I didn’t do anything wrong, Daryl. I really didn’t.”

  “Tell me, Esther. Talk to me.”

  “He’s dead.”

  Those were the words Daryl was expecting to hear. Yet when he heard them, his heart sank. He knew that Esther could very well have killed her brutal husband. “How did he die?” he asked.

  “He… he burned up in the fire that took the house.”

  Daryl got a sick feeling in his stomach. He leaned toward Esther. “Are the babies really with Mrs. Patterson?”

  When Esther turned her eyes to him, his heart sank. “They are with Mrs. Patterson. They are. I know they are.”

  “Is Mrs. Patterson the lady down the block from the church? The one who plays the organ so well every Sunday?”

  Esther nodded.

  Daryl wanted to cry. Mrs. Patterson had been dead for nearly two years. She was an elderly lady who had died of old age. He pictured the two sweet babies in his mind and tears came to his eyes.

  “Oh, Esther. Oh Esther.” He covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say you will take care of us, Daryl. We need you now. I need you.”

  Daryl felt helpless. He shook his head. “I can’t do anything for you, Esther. I really can’t.”

  “I can’t live without you, Daryl. You are the only thing that’s keeping me alive.”

  “No, it is Johnny and Bethany you should be living for. You have two children who love you and need you to be strong right now.”

  Esther said nothing.

  He scanned her drawn, thin face. His heart went out to her, but now that he had found Rachel, there was only one woman for him. He had never considered Esther in that regard anyway. She was not a strong woman. She was a mouse. He meant no disrespect when he thought that of her. It was the truth, and he was not attracted to mousy women. He was attracted to lions – like Rachel.

  “Where are Johnny and Bethany?”

  “They are sleeping at the Samuels’ house. They had a big breakfast here early this morning and now they have gone there to sleep. Elizabeth and Chris took them.”

  “My niece and nephew are watching after them?”

  “Yes.”

  Daryl nodded. “Good. They will take good care of them. They are safe with them.”

  “Did I do the wrong thing, Daryl? I’ll do whatever you think is best.”

  Daryl shook his head this time. “You don’t understand, Esther. There’s not really a lot I can do for you. I’ll tell you what. You can stay in my house, the one I left behind, until you are ready to go on your own.”

  “I have nowhere to go, Daryl. I need a husband. I… I thought if James was gone, you would be my husband instead.”

  Daryl knew he had to be gentle with Esther. It was obvious that she was not in her right mind. Losing her husband, even if he was a brutal monster, and her two sweet babies all at the same time would take a toll on the sanest of people. And Esther was already troubled. That was clear. “I can’t help you, Esther. I can’t be your husband. Someone else has my heart.”

  “That woman, Rachel.”

  He could hear the tone in Esther’s voice. He narrowed his eyes. “Yes. Rachel.”

  “I don’t think she’s going to be interested in you now.” Esther smiled at him. “But it’s okay, you still have me and the kids.”

  Daryl frowned. “Why do you say that?”

  “I told her I was your wife. That we’ve been together for fifteen years. She’s already called me your wife. It’s what she thinks. She’s not going to want a man who is already married.”

  Daryl shook his head. He felt too sorry for her to be angry. “Esther, Rachel knows I’m not married to you. And she knows that I intend to marry her. We love each other. And there’s nothing you can do to change that. I’m very sorry, Esther. I really am.”

  Esther didn’t seem to register what Daryl was saying.

  “The snowstorm was so terrible,” she said. “Will you tell me what happened to you? My poor man, you are so injured. I want to take care of you.”

  Daryl hesitated. He wished he could yell out for Rachel or anyone in the house who might be in hearing distance, but he was already humiliated enough in his current condition. Calling for help with a little crazy woman would make him feel like he might as well put on a dress and call himself a woman. He wanted to handle Esther himself.

  “You don’t need to take care of me, Esther,” he replied gently. “You need to take care of yourself. You need to take care of your children. They need you. They should be your number one priority right now. I already have people taking care of me.”

  “But you need someone around who loves you, Daryl. Who better to do that than your wife?”

  “Esther. You are not my wife.”

  Esther didn’t respond. She stood up and went to the dresser. She dipped a cloth in the water that swirled around in the basin and wrung it out.

  Daryl put up his hand as she drew near to him. “I don’t need that, Esther. I don’t have a fever now. I’m better. Rachel has a special medicine that helps fight infections. I am better now. My fever broke last night. I don’t need…”

  He had to push her hand away from his forehead physically. “Esther, stop. Put down the cloth and sit down.”

  She did as he told her to and was staring at him with a blank look moments later.

  “Esther?”

  “Yes?”

  Daryl looked in her eyes. They stared at him with such a look of emptiness it frightened him. “What are you thinking about right now?”

  “I will do whatever you want, Daryl. That’s what a wife does. A wife takes care of her husband. She dresses his wounds and cooks his dinner. She cleans the house and raises the kids. I’m a good wife. You know I am, Daryl. We will be so happy together when you are recovered.”

  Daryl reached up to his face with one hand, covering the entire lower half of his face with it. He stared at her. She was delusional. The trauma she’d been through had stripped her of her reality. “Will you do something for me, Esther?”

  “Of course, Daryl. Anything for you.”

  “I want you to go out in the living room and get my brother-in-law Charles. Do you know who he is?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Ask him to come in and talk to me.”

  “All right.”

  She stood up and went to the door. She looked back and smiled at him before leaving. She closed the door quietly behind her.

  “God, what in… what… what are You doing to me?” Daryl looked up at the ceiling. “I am but Your humble servant. And You are giving me crazy people to deal with. What do I do with her, Lord? How do I treat her with kindness and compassion when she is not in touch with reality at all? I’m gonna need some help with this one. I don’t know, Lord. You keep hitting me with these hardships. I’m gonna keep going, Lord, but keep those blessings coming. I need ‘em.”

  The door opened and Charles came through. He turned and shooed Esther away, saying they needed time to talk “as men talk to each other”.

  She reluctantly stepped away from the door, saying she wanted to know as soon as he was ready for her to come back.

  Charles turned to give Daryl a wide-eyed look. “Good Lord, Daryl, what did you pick up? That woman is not in her right mind.”

  Daryl shook his head. “No, she’s not. That’s why I need to talk to you. I think she’s going to need to be institutionalized. If that happens, she has those two children. I have nowhere to keep them. Would you be able to give them shelter until I find a home for us?”

  “You’re going to adopt them?”

  “I have to, Charles. I’m the only one they can
count on.”

  “That’s a big responsibility, Daryl. Not a decision you should make lightly.”

  “It wasn’t made lightly and I don’t need time to think about it. I know that Bethany and Johnny have no one else. I won’t let them fall to the streets as paupers and orphans. They need to be nurtured and cared for. They are loved and they need to know it.”

  Charles nodded. “That sounds like something you’d do, Daryl, so it’s not a big surprise. I’ll run it by Becky, but you know she will say yes. She loves children. She met them earlier today. It’s because of them that your Esther is here.”

  “I would ask that you not call her my Esther. She is not mine. I helped her in Louisville because she lived with an abusive man. He was very cruel to her on a daily basis. The children went without so that he could indulge himself in his pleasures. I didn’t like him. Now Esther tells me he’s dead. That he died in a fire at their home.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “That’s what I thought. But then she told me that her two babies, her two year old twins, they died in the fire, too. There’s no way she could have set it, knowing her babies were in the house. She would have waited until they were all gone or gotten them all out before she set the place on fire.”

  Charles nodded. “What is your plan? You know I will help in whatever way I can. I’m sure we can watch the children until you get on your feet. But how do you plan to get her to a necessary hospital?”

  “She thinks I’m her husband. She’s willing to do whatever I want. I’ll go along with that until I am well enough to go into town and have her diagnosed. Then it’s only a matter of finding an institution to take her. Put her on a wagon and tell her she’s going somewhere very nice for a holiday.”

  “That sounds like it’s going to take a little bit of time,” Charles said.

  “Yes, unfortunately, it will be at least another week before I’m walking around.”

  “Barring any further problems with your body. You and your surprise wounds. Rachel told us all about that scare. I can’t believe you had a walnut lodged in your back, Daryl.”