The Redemption of Micah

by Beth Williamson

  Eppie couldn’t help the smile that escaped. His charm was a surprise. “I’ll be in, well, in my room I suppose.” She ducked away and escaped before he could call her back.

  She leaned against the door and pressed a hand to her chest, trying to will her heart to slow down the blood as it raced through her. Since she didn’t even feel comfortable being in the house with him, it made no sense that she tingled just being next to Micah.

  Winded and exhausted from too much so fast, she climbed into bed and pulled up the quilt. Within minutes, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  “You fell down the stairs?” Candice stared at Micah with wide eyes. “Do you need the doctor?”

  “No, no, I’m fine.” Micah felt the twinges from the fall all over his body, particularly in his knee where he’d been injured during the war. Fortunately nothing had been broken, just bruised, including his pride.

  She set the basket on the counter and turned to him, hands on her ample hips. “Now we need to talk about what’s happening upstairs. I saw her awake and talking. Have you wired Madeline and the doctor in Denver?”

  Micah eased himself onto a kitchen chair and picked up the mug of coffee she’d set down for him. The bitter brew felt wonderful sliding down his throat.

  “No, I haven’t wired the doctor and I especially haven’t told Madeline. So please do not tell her what’s going on.” He let out a sigh of frustration, longing and pain. Being close to Eppie, feeling her body against his, had stolen his breath. She felt wonderful. More than that, she felt perfect—as if she belonged there.

  Too bad she didn’t remember him from the next man she saw.

  “What is going on?” Candice glanced at Miracle outside playing with her puppy in the sunshine.

  “She doesn’t remember.”

  “The accident? I don’t blame her. No one wants to remember being shot.” Candice visibly shuddered. “I still can’t believe she survived losing all that blood.”

  “No, not just the accident. She doesn’t remember anything…or anybody.” He took another swallow of coffee, the burn taking the sting away from his words.

  “What do you mean? She doesn’t remember you?” Candice’s expression would have been comical if he’d have been in the least ready to laugh. Her mouth formed a perfect “O” and her eyes were like blue saucers.

  “She doesn’t remember me, this house, Madeline, or anything other than how to talk, walk and do all the normal things people do. Jesus, Candice, she doesn’t even remember who she is.” He ran a hand through his hair as his friend gasped. “I wanted to give her a couple of days to see if perhaps she remembered something, anything, but so far it hasn’t happened.”

  “What are you going to do?” She put her hand on his, giving him a lifeline he desperately needed.

  “I don’t know. Funny thing is, she sounds like me.” He barked a laugh without a smidge of humor. “No more Eppie sass, just my stupid southern drawl with a mixture of highfalutin’ vocabulary words.”

  “I never heard of such a thing. It’s like she isn’t herself anymore.” Candice seemed to realize what she said and she squeezed his hand in apology. “I’m sorry, Micah. I’m not helping at all, am I?”

  “It’s okay, I know what you mean. I felt like I’ve been in a hurricane the last twenty-four hours.” He ran a hand through his hair. “She’s proper, soft-spoken and a complete stranger to me, but I still love her. Eppie’s still in there somewhere.”

  “I know you still love her. You’re the most devoted man I’ve ever met.” Candice tsked. “It’s a shame what one group of men did to this town, to Eppie, and all for revenge and greed.”

  “If that bastard Jackson Webster wasn’t in jail, I’d have already killed him.” Even Micah was surprised by the venom in his voice.

  The ex-sheriff and his partner, the former judge Earl Martin, were serving prison time for embezzling funds for years from Madeline and the bank in town. They’d done their best to destroy her, but hadn’t succeeded. Instead she’d turned the tables on them and Eppie got caught in the crossfire, literally. Jackson had been attempting to arrest Madeline and found Micah instead. During the struggle, Eppie’d been shot in the shoulder, taking a bullet meant for him.

  That fact alone haunted his dreams, each time reliving the nightmare of her lying in a pool of blood, unresponsive and dying. Now he wondered what was worse—her near-death years earlier or her rebirth as a different woman who didn’t know him or love him.

  His heart was breaking all over again and there was nothing he could do about it.

  “Micah, you need to fetch the doctor in Denver. He knows all about what happened to her and perhaps he could help. Please, we can ask him not to tell Madeline what’s happened, but we need to get him here as soon as possible.” Candice made sense, but that didn’t mean Micah was happy about it.

  “What if he says it’s permanent? That she’ll never remember?” His voice cracked on the last word, unwilling to accept that the woman he loved didn’t exist anymore.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We need to make sure she’s not suffering any other ill effects from waking up after so long.” Candice stood. “I’ll get pen and paper and we can write the wire. After dinner I’ll take it to the store and get it sent off.”

  Candice owned the general store in Plum Creek. She’d inherited it when her brother died and with Madeline’s help had become a successful, savvy businesswoman. She also owned the only telegraph station in town.

  Micah nodded, knowing she was right. Eppie was so thin and weak. Although she did help him up the steps, he’d been using the banister for support. Truth was, he helped her up the stairs more than she helped him. When she disappeared into her room, her face had been pale and her eyes a bit glassy. No doubt she was exhausted from everything that had happened. Going up and down the stairs would have exhausted her, much less taking care of an idiot that fell down them.

  He sipped the coffee and watched his daughter play. She was truly a miracle and perhaps he ought to follow her example and simply introduce himself to Eppie. They obviously had to start over since the accident had erased what they’d had, and the best way was to start at the beginning.

  In another hour, he’d check on Eppie and vowed to be a perfect gentleman, just as his Mama had taught him. Maybe if he stopped acting like a lovesick calf and more like a man, she’d see who he was, even if she didn’t know him.

  Eppie slept for a while after getting back to her room. The walk up the stairs had sapped her energy completely. The truth was, she was getting more frightened by the minute. She obviously couldn’t remember anything and the world was not so forgiving to a memoryless nobody. After she woke, she rolled over and stared out the window.

  Despair was a hard emotion to push aside and it settled over her like a scratchy blanket. She pressed her fists into her temples, willing her brain to remember something.

  “Please don’t hurt yourself.”

  Eppie whirled around to find Micah in the doorway with a steaming mug in his hand. He moved so silently she hadn’t heard him even open the door. Or perhaps her own self-misery had prevented her from hearing anything but her own inner wails of pain and frustration.

  “I don’t plan on hurting myself.” She sounded petulant even to her own ears.

  “Good.” He smiled gently and held up the mug. “I brought you some tea with honey. You used to like it sweet, so I thought it was a start to try and remember.”

  Eppie appreciated his thoughtfulness, truly she did, but being told how she used to like things just drove the nails of frustration in harder. She tried not to unleash it on Micah. “Thank you. Please put it on the table there.”

  He came in and set it on the small table next to the bed. When he glanced at the chair, then back at her, she knew he was asking permission to stay. She was tired, but wide awake, and her own company was obviously not working well.

  “You can stay for a few minutes.” She sat up slowly, while he stood
beside the bed, obviously waiting to help. It shouldn’t annoy her, it should make her feel better. “I really wish you wouldn’t do that.”

  He froze and his eyes widened. “Do what?”

  “Hover over me like I’m an invalid. I know I’m ailing, but I’m trying to get better. It makes me feel, well, like an old woman who can’t get by without a man when you hover.” She hoped she hadn’t hurt his feelings, but she had to be honest with him. At this point in her short existence, he was the only person she knew she could count on, strange as that was.

  “I’m sorry, it’s an old habit. I’ll try to stop.” He backed away to the chair at the foot of the bed and sat down. “I don’t like people to fuss over me, either. My nanny used to—” He stopped himself and glanced down at the floor.

  Eppie, however, had her interest piqued. “You had a nanny?”

  His lips tightened into a white line. “Yes, I did.”

  “If you think I’m going to let you stay in here and keep quiet, you’ve got another thing coming. I am tired of the silence and my own company. Tell me something about yourself I don’t know.” Her attempt at humor made the corners of his lips twitch. “What was your nanny’s name?”

  He let out a rather frustrated sounding sigh. “Eleanor.”

  “Am I going to get this information one word at a time?”

  His gaze met hers and those silver orbs were completely unreadable. “Perhaps.”

  Eppie chuckled, which made him smile. “I’m waiting for the next word then.”

  “I was a baby when Eleanor was brought in to be my nanny. She was barely sixteen at the time, but had experience with five younger brothers.” He glanced out the window, back into another time. “I think it was because she was still a girl that we had such fun. She would play games with me, not just watch over me. But if I got sick or hurt, she would hover just like I was doing. As a young boy with a head bigger than the house I lived in, I hated having my nanny fuss over me. It wasn’t manly.”

  “And you were very manly?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised. I was a prince in my past, given the best of everything and the substance of nothing.” An ancient pain echoed in his words and she felt it reverberate in the room.

  She’d meant to pass the time with Micah and get to know him better, not to make him step into darkness.

  “The tea smells heavenly.” She picked up the tin mug, surprised by how much her hand shook just holding it.

  “It’s a tea blend Candice ordered for Madeline all the way from China. I don’t drink the stuff, so it’s been waiting for you.” He met her gaze and a shiver flew down Eppie’s skin at the emotion in those silver eyes.

  She took a few sips of the tea and stared at the pattern on the quilt. Micah was a very intense man, and he made her jumpy. She wasn’t sure yet if that was a good thing or not. The warmth of the liquid seeped into her bones and her eyelids began to droop.

  Micah had obviously been watching because he took the cup from her hands and helped her slide back under the covers. She wanted to protest, to say something, but instead she closed her eyes and felt a peace steal over her. The last thing she remembered was a kiss on her forehead and then sleep claimed her.

  The next week passed by with Eppie sleeping quite a lot. Each day she recited the date because she didn’t intend on missing another day in her life. She’d developed a routine of sorts and when she woke, she practiced walking and stretching, under the watchful eye of Micah. He simply told her to let him know if she needed help, although he hovered outside the room almost all day. It was as if without Eppie to take care of, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

  She felt as if she’d been asleep one hundred years instead of three. Each time she rose from bed, it was an effort simply to stand upright. However, even as her body screamed for mercy, she pushed herself harder and longer each day. Eppie was determined to be strong for herself, as the only thing she did have control of was her body. She could regain some of her life by regaining her strength.

  It was Monday again and raining so hard the drops sounded like rocks on the window outside her room. Although she wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, she pulled the quilt back and swung her legs over to the side of the bed. The door opened just an inch and a little eye peeked through the opening.

  Eppie inwardly sighed. She’d done her best to leave the girl alone and allowed Micah to keep her away. However, the girl had called her Mama and hovered around in the hall many times during the day. The rain would keep her inside, which meant she’d be looking for things to do. No doubt, Eppie would be on the top of her list.

  “Good morning, Miracle.” Eppie stretched her arms over her head as her muscles groaned in protest.

  “Come in?” came the little voice through the door.

  “Yes, you can come in.”

  The door squeaked open slowly and Miracle shuffled into the room. She wore a white and pink nightdress with pretty lace on the collar. In her arms she clutched the rag doll with red yarn hair. Her beautiful curly brown hair was sticking out every which way as if she’d just rolled out of bed, too. She rubbed her eye with her fist as she got closer to the bed.

  Eppie stood up and tried to touch her toes. Miracle’s tiny face appeared upside down next to her.

  “Whatcha doin’?”

  “I’m trying to get stronger.”

  Miracle dropped the doll on the floor and bent over just like Eppie. “I be strong too.”

  Eppie smiled at the little girl’s imitation of her. “It’s important to be strong, but I think you’re already strong. Your daddy takes good care of you.”

  She didn’t know how much Micah had told her and didn’t want to give her any information she might regret later.

  “Love Daddy.” Miracle plopped onto the floor with her legs splayed out in front of her.

  “I’m sure your daddy loves you.”

  The girl cocked her head as Eppie rose to her feet and started stretching her arms out to the side. “Mama love me?”

  Eppie’s stomach dropped to her knees. This is what she was afraid of. She didn’t know how to answer the question, and she had hoped Miracle wouldn’t ask it, yet she had.

  “Did your daddy talk to you about my, um, sleep?” She felt so uncomfortable, as if Miracle’s gaze could see through her silence and find the scared woman hiding.

  “Mama had owie and sleeped a lot.” Miracle brushed her hair away from her face.

  “My head was hurt, too, and I’m trying to remember things.” She felt like an idiot trying to explain to a little girl that she couldn’t remember her name, much less a child who hadn’t been born yet when she lost her memory.

  “Uh huh. It’s okay.” Miracle stood and patted Eppie on the cheek. “You be okay.” With that, she picked up her doll and headed for the door. “Love you Mama.”

  Eppie sat back on the bed in disbelief, her heart beating hard and her mind completely bewildered. With one tiny gesture of acceptance Miracle showed her what it meant to simply allow things to be as they were. The child didn’t care that Eppie didn’t remember her or that she spent time in her room avoiding her. To the girl, Eppie was her mother and she loved her. Simple as anything could be.

  She wasn’t ready to be a mother yet, but when she was Miracle would let her slide into her life without a hiccup. Eppie didn’t know what she’d had prior to her accident, but apparently God had seen fit to give her a ready-made family, complete with a devoted husband and loving child. Too bad she wasn’t married and she didn’t remember being pregnant. It was a cruel twist of fate.

  Micah stood outside the room with a tray for Eppie. He listened to their conversation and realized again how much he loved both of them. Eppie was so strong and Miracle, well, she was just amazing. The child looked at life with her simple view of the world and reminded the adults of it. He’d twisted himself into knots over the last week trying to please Eppie and make her feel comfortable and welcome.

  He’d been doing it all wrong.r />
  The best thing for him to do was give Eppie time to get used to him, the house and everything it entailed. He’d been pushing her to heal, to remember, and to shake off whatever ghost had stolen her memory. Perhaps he should have realized sooner he was making a mistake.

  Without Miracle, he might have gone on for weeks going the wrong way. He could have smacked himself. Instead, he knocked on the door and took a deep breath when she answered.

  “Who is it?”

  “I brought you a breakfast tray. I’ll leave it by the door in case you’re hungry.” He swallowed the urge to enter the room as he set the tray on the floor. “I’ll be working outside if you need me.”

  After two beats, she answered. “Thank you, Micah.”

  That was it, but in her voice he heard relief and knew he’d done the right thing. With his pride, if not his heart, intact he walked back down the stairs alone.

  His hands were smooth and cool as they slid up her legs. The small hairs on her body stood up as tingles raced through her. She knew the hands as well as she knew her own. They’d been on her body before, giving her pleasure. She reached up and pinched her nipples, prolonging the tingles and turning them into waves.

  “My love, my life, my heart,” he whispered. “You are exquisite.”

  She arched her back as his thumbs reached her nether lips, spreading them. He blew onto her heated flesh before his mouth descended.

  Eppie woke with sweat coating her body, her heart pounding and her pussy moist with arousal. The dream had been so real, it felt more like a memory. She tried to grab hold of it, but it slipped away so fast she couldn’t. Frustrated, she punched the bed, making her dress slide up against her nipples. She realized they were still hard and so sensitive it was as if he really had been there with her. Had it been Micah?

  She didn’t know, but her body’s reaction the week before to being close to him gave her a clue to the answer. However, it scared her since she didn’t seem to have control over it. She rubbed her eyes, grainy from sleeping too long and thinking too hard about why she was dreaming about a man’s touch.