He ran down the hallway, finding no one in either of the doctors’ rooms. Downstairs, the house was empty as well. Where were Teague and Madeline? They weren’t at the sheriff’s office, which meant they were probably with Candice.
Micah was torn between wanting to stay with Eppie and finding the doctor. He wasn’t blessed with any medical skills and both Daniel and Eppie needed more than he could give them. With a determined grimace, he left the house.
Homer sat beside Eloise’s body, holding her hand. Micah had forgotten all about him until that moment. Then a fresh wave of fear hit him. Although he’d warned the man of his intent to kill Eloise, Homer could still exact revenge if he was so inclined.
“Homer.” Micah waited, fists clenched, pistol tucked into his waistband. He would do what he needed to.
“She used to be such a fine woman. Folks always commented about how nice she looked on Sunday in her church clothes. The children, too. Little Betsy was the spitting image of her mama. While Ephraim wasn’t smart like his sister, he was a good boy.” Homer’s gaze was in the past, ten years or so, as he saw his family when they’d all been alive. Micah felt his pain, his agony over losing them.
“I’m sorry.”
“Ain’t nothing for you to be sorry for. It was a blessing what you did. I was too much a coward to do it. She ain’t been right since they raped and killed Betsy. Left her on our bed they did, while we was out in the fields.” He shook his head. “Ephraim had tried to save his sister, and they took an axe to that boy.”
The horror of what he’d endured humbled Micah. He didn’t know if he would be as calm if his children had been murdered so brutally. He hadn’t realized the Prentisses had been through such an excruciating, violent loss.
“She was going to kill my woman.”
Homer met his gaze. “I figured she would try. Your woman and that little girl of yours are beautiful. Keep them safe.” He picked up his wife’s body and walked through the gate, leaving Micah to stare at the bright red pool of blood on the green grass.
His stomach bubbled at the sight. Even after all the atrocities he’d committed during the war, this had been so personal, such a struggle for life and death. It affected him more than he thought possible.
He had to shake himself free of the mesmerizing sight of Eloise’s blood. The doctor needed to be found as soon as possible. Micah ran back toward town until he reached the jail. He skidded inside, heart pumping, and found Doctor Carmichael tending Daniel.
“Micah, there you are.” Madeline straightened from a crouch beside the sheriff. “Is Eppie all right? What happened?”
Micah sucked in a much needed breath before speaking. “I’ll tell you the whole story later. Is he going to be okay?”
“He should be fine.” Dr. Carmichael answered. “The bullet just grazed him, but when he fell, he slammed his head into the floor. That knocked him unconscious.”
Daniel looked up with pain-filled blue eyes. “Did you get her?”
Micah nodded tightly. “She’s not getting back up this time.” He turned to Dr. Carmichael. “Where the hell were you? And where is Doctor Lawson?”
“Unfortunately, Dr. Lawson is gone. And I was at the store with Candice,” Carmichael snapped. “She had a fit of the vapors after you left and I had to give her something to calm her down.”
Madeline raised one brow. “Eppie and Dr. Lawson had words and apparently he decided to leave Plum Creek. I’ll let you ask her about it.”
“Well, I didn’t like the man, but dammit, I need a doctor for her.” He glanced at Doctor Carmichael, and took a deep calming breath. “When you’re done here, I need you to come to the house. Eppie was almost strangled.”
Madeline gasped. “What?”
Ignoring his friend, Micah continued. “She’s unconscious, but her heartbeat is strong and steady. I’ve got her lying in bed with Miracle putting cold rags on her to cool the skin down. She was probably a minute away from dying.”
After he said it out loud, his heart clenched so hard, he actually saw stars. She’d been almost dead, literally dead this time. The life within her was strong enough to fight back until he could save her. Eloise had left him no choice, yet he still regretted killing her. Grief could be such a powerful force; it pushed Eloise over the edge to insanity.
“Jesus Christ. Was it the Prentiss woman?” Teague appeared from behind them, startling Micah. A man that big shouldn’t be so damn stealthy.
“Of all days, you picked a hell of a time to sneak up on me,” Micah snapped.
Teague held up his hands. “I was sitting in Daniel’s chair when you came in like a storm.”
Micah threw up his hands. “I’m trying to find a fucking doctor for Eppie.”
“Easy, Reb, easy.” Teague patted his shoulder. “Maddie and I will go over now and help little Miracle until the doctor is done here.”
Dr. Carmichael looked up at Teague. “Try to elevate her feet and keep the cool compresses on her. We want to try to minimize the swelling. If there’s a springhouse with cool water, use that instead of well water. Ice would be the best thing, but I don’t think we have that luxury here.”
“No, there’s no ice, but there is a springhouse.” Madeline snapped out of her shock and took charge. “Teague, go on ahead. I’ll meet you at the house in a few minutes.”
She approached Micah and gave him a back-cracking hug. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded but couldn’t respond. His throat had tightened up again. If the day didn’t level out and get back to normal, he might have to jump over the edge of sane reason, too. Micah watched Teague leave and waited not so patiently for the doctor to finish with the injured sheriff.
“You want to tell me what happened?” Daniel winced as the doctor started stitching the furrow in his scalp.
“She came after Eppie and Miracle. Ran faster than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life, and that’s saying something. During the war, retreating troops had wings on their feet, I swear. But her,” Micah shook his head and squatted on the floor next to the sheriff. “She seemed to have the speed of hell behind her and a gun in her hand. Took a shot at Eppie and at me while she was running. By the time I got to her, she nearly had the gun in Eppie’s mouth.”
The image of that scene would haunt his dreams, his nightmares, for the rest of his life. He probably would have lost control completely if Eloise had succeeded in pulling the trigger. His berserk behavior in the sheriff’s office in the morning would have been nothing.
“How did Eppie get wounded, then?” Daniel’s voice brought Micah back.
“After I got the gun away from Mrs. Prentiss, she strangled Eppie. Her fingers were like damn steel bars and she was killing her. I didn’t want to kill her, I swear I didn’t.” Before he knew it, he was sobbing, tears streaming from his eyes as his own grief poured from him.
Madeline took him in her arms and held him while he cried like a newborn babe. He wept for Eppie and Miracle, for his sister Sarah, for every boy he’d killed in the war, for Eloise, and lastly, for himself. He had spent so much time causing hurt, this time he finally came to the point where he couldn’t deny the pain anymore. It surrounded him, filled him, left him a shell of a man.
Micah didn’t know how much time had passed since he lost control of his emotions. When he was able to form a complete thought again, Madeline was rocking him and holding on tight.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Let it go, Micah.” She crooned to him. “Let it go.”
For a rich boy turned assassin turned hermit, Micah was likely the luckiest man on Earth. He deserved to be strung up from the big oak tree at the end of the main street. Instead he’d been given gifts of friends, of a wife he loved, and a daughter who was more precious than life.
When he met Madeline’s gaze, she handed him a handkerchief and he gratefully wiped his eyes and nose. He was a bit embarrassed but didn’t have time for such petty things.
“Thank you,” he whispered, his voice hoarse with emotions.
Madeline smiled. “That’s what friends are for. You know I’d do anything for you, Micah. Love is what life is all about.”
He nodded, moved by the depth of love he had for his friend. She was an amazing woman.
“Let’s go make sure Eppie is okay.” She rose and held out his hand.
Micah was surprised to find the sheriff and the doctor gone. He hadn’t even heard them leave the room. Likely they were polite enough to leave him some dignity, and he truly appreciated it.
He rose to his feet a bit unsteadily, then ran his hands down his face. “I’m ready.”
Life had given him gifts and he intended on treasuring them. He put his arm in Madeline’s and allowed her to steady him. The last twelve hours had sapped his strength, and the emotional storm had taken its toll. His legs were unsteady and his head was swimming.
Madeline steadied him, her strong grip keeping him upright. “Do you need a drink of water?”
He nodded and wiped one shaking hand across his brow. Madeline fetched a glass from the pitcher behind the sheriff’s desk. The water wasn’t cool, but it was wet, and it helped him get his bearings back.
Micah smiled sheepishly at Madeline. “I guess I’m not invincible, am I?”
“No, but you are amazing. Come on, let’s get you back to your family.”
As she helped him out the door, into the fading sunlight, he smiled. Yes, his family was waiting and Micah was nearly there with them. Thank God they’d all survived. The future awaited them, together.
Chapter Sixteen
She had come into awareness slowly over a period of time. The smells and sounds around her familiar enough to tantalize her into consciousness. A small hand held hers, and Eppie realized Miracle was at her side.
Her eyes seemed to weigh a hundred pounds and her throat felt as if it was on fire. She tried to swallow but couldn’t.
Eppie must have made a sound, because a little voice whispered in her ear. “Mama?”
She groaned and squeezed the little hand.
“Mama’s wake!” Miracle went screaming out of the room.
Eppie wanted to smile, to laugh, but she could barely move. A cool hand touched her forehead.
“Hey there, Eppie.”
Micah.
She forced her eyes open and looked up at him. His face was drawn, cheeks sunken, with bags under his eyes. His red-rimmed eyes were smiling along with his whisker-covered mouth.
“Don’t try to talk. You were almost strangled. The doctor says you’re going to be okay, no bones broken. You have a lot of bruising, though.”
She managed to nod and looked at the glass on the table.
“Oh, I’m an idiot. Of course you’re thirsty.” He poured a glass with shaking hands. With an apologetic smile, he cupped the back of her neck then brought the glass to her lips. Cool water coated her mouth and tongue, sliding down her throat and helping to dull the fire within.
Eppie mouthed “thank you” and sank back into the pillow.
He caressed her cheek. “I almost lost you again. It seems there are plenty of things that want to keep us apart. I’m sorry I didn’t get to you in time.”
She shook her head. “You did.” Those two words felt like sandpaper in her throat.
“If I had, you wouldn’t be lying there recovering from almost being strangled.” Micah was always hardest on himself, finding fault with everything he did or didn’t do. “I’m just glad she wasn’t able to finish it.”
“Me, too.” Whispering was better than trying to speak. It at least allowed her to continue with Micah, and it seemed extremely important to finish the conversation.
“It was the second worst day of my life, and yet it was one of the best days of my life.” He gave her a bit more water.
“Survived.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Love you.”
Micah closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were bright with unshed tears. “I love you, too, Elizabeth Archer.”
She smiled. “Eppie.”
“Eppie.” He tried to smile, but he couldn’t quite do it. “I am so sorry for everything. I expect you to light into me as soon as you get your voice back.”
“No.” She shook her head, unwilling to accept any more of his self-flagellation. “No more. Forgive.”
“You forgive me? Thank God.” He blew out a breath and sat back, wiping his brow.
“Forgive yourself.” Her whispered command made him jump off the bed.
“What do you mean?” He paced back and forth to the door. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She struggled to a sitting position, even as her head swam. Eppie looked around and spotted a pencil and paper on the bureau. She pointed at it.
“You want to write something?” He fetched the pencil and paper and handed it to her.
Eppie thought for a moment about what she wanted to say to him, and decided the straight truth was required. Micah was a grown man and he needed to find a way to put the past where it belonged. She put pencil to paper and wrote a love letter to him.
Micah watched her write and wanted to snatch it from her hands. He had a feeling he didn’t want to read what she wrote. What if she told him to leave? That she didn’t want to be with him anymore?
His cabin was at least clean and ready for him to return to. Although if she left him, he would probably lie there and do nothing until the critters came to gnaw on his bones.
What a pitiful shell of a person he was. Why the hell couldn’t he just be a normal person?
After ten minutes, she finished writing, wiped her eyes and handed him the paper. He took it with shaking hands and read, his heart lodged somewhere near his throat.
Dearest Micah,
The world is a harsh place and you have been through so many terrible things. Life wasn’t kind to you and you have not been kind to yourself.
We all do things we regret, things that we never dreamed we would do. You were a boy forced to become a man, to commit acts of survival.
God has forgiven you.
Please, forgive yourself. Life is waiting for you to shed the sins you carry on your back.
Please, forgive yourself and begin the rest of your life with me and Miracle.
All my love,
Eppie
He tried to swallow but couldn’t. The truth was laid out in front of him in Eppie’s neat handwriting. He had a choice to make and if he made the wrong one, she and Miracle were lost to him.
Micah fell to his knees, pressing the letter to his chest, feeling the love coming from each word as he absorbed all she had given him. Before he realized what she’d done, Eppie was beside him on the floor, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
“I love you so much,” she whispered.
He nodded and carefully set the letter on the floor. “I love you right back.”
This time when she came into his arms, it was the purest moment he could imagine, full of love and life and the promise of the future.
Miracle was as chatty as ever the next morning. Micah had made her eggs with a biscuit and she sat at the table, legs swinging, and spoke of nothing and everything.
Eppie had insisted on coming downstairs to take the meal with them. She sipped tea and watched both of them with her chocolate-brown eyes.
“Mama ’kay now?”
Eppie smiled. “Almost,” she whispered, then pointed to her throat, liberally decorated with bruises. “Ow.”
Miracle nodded. “Bad lady hurt you. Daddy hurt her.”
Micah’s stomach cramped when he realized his daughter had seen everything. The choking, the fighting, the killing, everything. She wasn’t even three years old and she’d seen people at the basest level.
God knows what that would do to her and how she saw the world.
He squatted down beside her and tried to think of a way to explain to the little girl what she’d seen. “Mrs. Prentiss had an owie in her head and her heart. She lost her little girl and boy a long time ago. She was going to hurt
Mama because she hurt so much on the inside.” He put a fist to his chest. “Now she’s in heaven with her son and daughter and we’re safe. Do you understand?”
Miracle, who constantly surprised him, didn’t fail him this time. “Daddy saved Mama. Daddy saved bad lady.”
He didn’t think of what he’d done as saving Eloise, but perhaps he had. The fact was, she had been stuck in hell on earth, unable to continue living normally after what she’d been through. Maybe the eyes of a three-year-old saw what he couldn’t.
“You’re right, honey. Now it’s all over, and we can live here like a family.”
Miracle nodded and pointed at the half-eaten breakfast. “Can I play with Daisy?”
“Yes, you can play with Daisy. Go ahead.”
She scrambled from the chair and hugged him so hard, his bones nearly bent. “Love you, Daddy.”
When she got to Eppie, she gave her mother a gentle hug, mindful of all the wounds peppering her body. “Love you, Mama.”
With that, the girl who was aptly named skipped out of the kitchen and left her parents alone. Micah met Eppie’s gaze and the love he saw shining from their depths humbled him.
“Upstairs?” She pointed at the ceiling and waggled her eyebrows.
“Are you sure? I mean, you were almost strangled and, well are you sure?” He wanted nothing more than to make love to her, but not at the expense of her health.
She nodded and stood. Micah wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass by. He scooped her up and she let out a little squeak, grabbing onto his neck.
“Hold on. We’re going on a ride.”
This time Eppie laughed and kissed his ear. “Ready.”
Micah could hardly contain his excitement and his cock certainly knew it. The damn thing had already grown too large for his pants by the time he made it to the top of the stairs. He headed straight for his bedroom.
The Redemption of Micah Page 24