He wrote a letter back to Molly telling her he was a changed man. He explained how he had given his life to Christ and how he had not drunk alcohol for three weeks. He asked her if he could come for a visit.
It was his hope to marry Molly and start their lives together. Jesse offered to help him find a place for them to live. Elmer was sure he would need to return home and face everyone in town. Molly would want to be close to her family. Jesse knew with a preacher for a father-in-law; Elmer was in good hands.
He heard from her quickly. Jesse went with Elmer when he went home. Just for support for a few days until he got settled. They attended church on that Sunday morning.
Jesse was pleased to meet Molly. He knew that God had answered his prayers about Elmer. He felt comfortable leaving him there and returning home the next day.
Elmer had a long talk with Molly’s pa the day before Jesse left town. He told him he would be praying for him to get rid of his feeling of not being good enough. He wanted what was best for Elmer. He told him he needed the Lord.
Her pa showed great concern about his drinking. Then he shared a little story with him about a young man that fell in love with the preacher’s daughter. He was a rogue, gambler and drank way too much.
He told Elmer about how God had changed him. He explained, he was willing to give up the hurt from his own past to make a future with the love of his life; Molly’s ma.
Elmer would have never guessed that Molly’s pa had ever stepped foot inside of a saloon. He thought he probably didn’t even know what alcohol tasted like or how to play poker. Apparently, he was quite good at cards at one time. God changed him. That gave Elmer hope.
Lilly received a letter from Emma. She read all about Elmer and his conversion. Emma told her she expected for him to be married before winter. Emma caught her up on all the news. She thanked her for the seashell and told her she would love to see the ocean for herself. She promised that they would visit someday.
Emma wrote about how well Cooper and Elise are doing. Their ranch is thriving and the children are all growing. She asked about Charles and Mary Ellen. She asked about Lilly’s store and how things were with the baby. She encouraged her to rest when she could.
Jesse took Emma’s letter to the general store to mail. Bo was running it temporarily until he could find someone to run it for him. He wanted to be more involved in his ranch. He wanted to get the store off to a good start before turning it over to him.
Jesse mentioned his brother to Bo. Bo was quiet for a moment, then Jesse explained how he was changed and God had made a big difference in Elmer’s life. Bo told Jesse to write him and ask him to come and talk to him if he wanted to work for him.
Jesse took a moment and dropped a note in the mail to Elmer. He was hoping he would return to Lawrence with his bride and settle down. Jesse had gotten used to having his brother around and missed him.
Emma sounded hopeful when Jesse told her about Bo wanting someone to run his store. She hoped Elmer and his soon to be wife would return to Lawrence to live.
Two weeks later they got a note that Elmer and Molly were married and were coming for a visit. While visiting, Elmer met with Bo. He agreed to stay in Lawrence and run the store for Bo. He allowed them to live upstairs as part of his wages. It looked like things were going his way.
Emma immediately clicked with Molly. She was surprised how quickly they became friends. She was thankful for God’s blessings on their lives. She thanked him for how he changed Elmer’s life.
With Lilly and Lucy gone, she thanked him for her new friend and family member; Molly. She knew they would spend a great deal of time together.
CHAPTER 29
Jake and Lucy got a knock on their door early one morning. It was the lady from the restaurant. She told Jake his ma didn’t show up, she was two hours late. Everyone knew that was not like Clorinda at all. She was always the first one there and the last one to leave at night.
Jake became immediately worried. He jumped on his horse and went to her house. He walked in to find her still in the bed. She was very weak and was not talking too clearly. It was obvious she had had a stroke.
He rushed to her bedside, “Ma are you ok?”
She shook her head. “I love you son!” she said with slurred speech. She pointed to a box on her dressing table. He went to it and she motioned for him to bring it to her.
He did as she wanted. She got out a piece of paper. It was her will. She also handed him a broach and said, “Lucy.”
“Ma, there will be plenty of time to figure this out later, let me go get the doc.”
“No!” she managed to say. Then she handed him a piece of paper. “Sadie and Lucy”.
He opened it; it was her great grandma’s apple pie recipe. She had not shared it with anyone all of her life.
“Momma, let me get the doc.”
She smiled at him, “Going…home...l-love all…of…y…you.” Then she was gone.
Jake couldn’t believe what had just happened. This amazing woman, who raised him and taught him about love, life, and God was gone. She was always so strong. A force to be reckoned with, he expected her to live forever.
“Momma…no...no” he hugged her and cried. His heart shattered into a million pieces. He knew his life would never be the same. He was thankful she got to meet Lucy and that he got to spend a little time with her.
Jake walked into the house; Lucy knew something bad had happened. He started crying into her hair and she held him for a long time. He finally whispered. “She’s gone.”
Lucy cried with him. He gave her the broach that his mother had placed in his hand. “This belonged to my great-great grandma. Mama wanted you to have it. She placed it in my hand and said your name.”
Lucy broke out in tears again. Then he told her that she wanted her and Sadie to have the recipe for apple pie that was her great-grandmother’s recipe.
The funeral was the next day. The whole town turned out for the service. Everyone loved Clorinda. Many shared stories of how she had helped them, encouraged them or gave them the kick in the butt they needed to do the right thing.
All of her family was there to share their memories. Jake and his brothers proudly carried their ma to her final resting place. Lucy cried as she watched each of Clorinda’s sons wipe tears as they buried her. She prayed for each of them to be comforted by God’s strong arms.
After they were finished, some of the women in the town had made dinner for everyone. They decided it was appropriate to serve it at Clorinda’s restaurant.
Lucy missed Jake; when she found him, he was sitting in his mother’s rocking chair on the back porch of the restaurant. “She thought we didn’t know that the secret ingredient was bourbon.”
“What?”
“The apple pie…she soaked the apples in bourbon overnight.”
Lucy started laughing. “Oh, my…”
“When I was about twelve my brothers and I slipped and took a sip from the bottle. We thought we were being big men.” He smiled and sort of laughed.
“Sweetheart…I didn’t know her long, but I feel like I lost my mother all over again. She was so loving and kind to me.” Lucy started crying again, softly.
Jake stood and wrapped her in his arms. “I know. Just tell me we will get through this…because it hurts…unlike any hurt, I have ever known.”
Lucy kissed his cheek. “Your ma would want us to take time to grieve and she would want us to go on and be happy.”
Over the next few weeks, Jake and his brother’s took care of all the business involved in losing someone you love. The restaurants were given to Lucy and Sadie. The house went to one of Jake’s brothers. They were all very generous with each other, unlike some families that would allow greed to rule their decisions.
Each of them picked up the pieces of their lives and continued as best they could without Clorinda. They would all miss her terribly and in their own way. Lucy realized that Elise had been right. Life sometimes throws things at us that
we don’t want to experience.
We all would like to get through life without pain. But without the sorrow, we really could not experience joy. Without death, we would not be able to appreciate each day we are given; because life is a gift.
Elise told her one time that bad things happen to good people. We may never understand why in this life, but rest assured, there is a purpose. As Christians, it is ultimately about our destination of heaven. But while we are here on this earth, it is about the journey. Each day is a gift to enjoy. A day to help someone else experience the good in life.
Lucy remembered thanking Elise and Cooper for taking her in and treating her so kindly. Elise told her that it is up to all of us to love one another and help when we can. We are all on a journey and it is up to us to help each other to get where we need to go.
Epilogue
Elise sat by the window looking outside, as the blurry landscape flew past. She was traveling across the country, by bus, to live with her granddaughter; Violet. She just turned ninety years old. Time had passed so quickly. She remembered her fears when she got on the train to find her Uncle Charles. She was a mere girl of eighteen.
She thought about her parents and her love for them. Her parents had a special kind of love. She remembered wondering if she would ever find that kind of love. Then God gave her Cooper.
Her mind wandered to Cooper again. She thought about the day they met. She smiled thinking about looking up into his brown eyes. How she missed him so. He was her whole world for over seventy years. He had passed away six months earlier. When she lost him, she lost a part of herself.
There was still a hole in her life that nothing could fill. They had such a happy life together. The time went so fast, she found herself wanting one more day with him.
Violet was glad Elise was moving to live with her family. Elise told Violet how fast the time goes. She told her how important it is to love those that you have in your life.
She thought about Charles and Mary Ellen. They settled in California and ended up with a big congregation. They were able to help many people near Oakland in a town called Turtle Creek. They had a happy life. She was glad they found their true calling.
Zain and Lilly went on to have one of the largest general stores in California. They raised five children and were happy together.
Then Elise allowed her mind to wander to Emma and her parents that loved her and Tom so much. They would have been proud of the adults their children became; Emma was a good mother. Jesse had a successful ranch. It now is run by Rose’s husband.
Sadness filled her heart as she thought about her son David that was killed in the World War in 1917. He was a fine young man with a bright future. He gave his life to protect his home and family. He was proud the day he put on that army uniform.
Her son Casey now ran the ranch that she and Cooper worked so hard to build up. He had a good wife and three grown children with children of their own.
Virginia and Derek’s furniture business grew to a large company that ships furniture all over the country. They are retired and enjoying their grandchildren. Mason is now running the company as good as his father.
Lucy and Jake had a successful business. Jake ended up being a competitor of Derek’s. Lucy and Virginia kept in touch by letters for years until the telephone became popular and then they talked weekly on the phone.
The friendship that started in a field the day Lucy was in tears over what Henry Daniel’s had done to her, lasted a lifetime. Lucy’s son Gene grew up to be an oil man. He lives in Texas and has a big ranch with cattle. She is proud of the man that he became. Her fears of him ending up like Henry were long forgotten.
Jake and Lucy went on to have six children; two girls and four boys. The first daughter they named after Clorinda. The family greatly missed their matriarch. Every year they had a celebration on her birthday. They always served her secret apple pie.
Lucy spent every day of her life loving the sweet man that stood by her when most men would have run away. They had a happy life in Turtle Creek, California.
Lucy and Lilly were inseparable; they helped each other all that they could and were lifelong friends.
Elise thought about her parents and how much they loved each other. She was thankful she was brave enough to get on that train in search of a new life. That life brought her much love and friendship with a lot of wonderful people.
She thought about the alternative; if she had stayed in Washington and married the senator. Her life would have been filled with superficial things. There would have been parties and fashion; fake smiles and fake people at those parties. She would have been expected to entertain and be proper. Smiling while inside she would have been miserable. She understood, even at eighteen that life is nothing without love.
She thanked God for her amazing life and all the people that she met on her incredible journey. She realized that many times in life we have to take chances. There had been many times she has had to pick up the pieces and start a new life. We often have to search for the right road; because life becomes about the journey and not the destination.
She rested her head against the window. She smiled as she drifted off to a peaceful sleep, knowing that God would lead her where she needed to go. For now, that was with Violet and her family.
Note from the author:
Thank you for taking this journey with me. I hope you have enjoyed it. Be looking for many more stories of love, hope, and compassion.
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Feel free to send me a note: [email protected]
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A New Life In California: Book 3--Search For Meaning Series Page 11