The telephone rang, and he pretended to be sleeping.
She slipped out of bed, her light footsteps racing downstairs, surely to avoid waking him and the children. He listened as quiet as a church mouse, wondering if that call was why she’d not come to bed sooner. Had she been waiting for Dr. Tom to call her so they could set up a secret meeting?
His stomach ached with the grief of it all. How could she do it to him again?
Her voice was muffled. Was she trying to hide her words, keep her betrayal a hideous secret?
He stood up, prepared to fight for his wife, even if she didn’t want him. She wasn’t going to leave him with six kids for the fancy doctor.
He ran right into her at the top of the stairs.
“Reese, I was just coming to get you.” Her face was a picture of worry. “There’s a man on the phone for you.”
“For me?” Relief struck him like a lightning bolt. “What does he want?”
“Just come and talk to him.” She took his hand and led him back down the stairs to the kitchen. “He refused to speak to me.”
“This is Reese Lloyd.” He spoke into the phone that she’d left hanging from the wall.
“This is Jimmy Calabrese, calling from Chicago.”
“Chicago?” Reese looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. “Sir, do you know what time it is?”
“I don’t really give a damn what time it is,” he told Reese. “I’ll make this short and sweet, so you can back to bed for your beauty sleep. Them children yous got down there are mine. I didn’t know my Minnie had up and died until them state people took ’em away.”
“How did you get this number?” Reese worried they’d soon have a whole gang of the Chicago underworld on their doorstep.
“Let’s just say I have my ways.”
“You coming to get them?” Reese couldn’t imagine what he would do if Calabrese said yes. The children were part of Reese and Chloe, the only thing keeping her here, with him.
“Hell, no! What would I want with six children?”
“Five,” Reese dared to correct him.
“Five, what?”
“We have only five of your children. The authorities couldn’t find your oldest girl.”
“Is that right?” A pregnant pause hung on the line. “I’ll have to look into that, Mr. Lloyd. You need money, or anything else, you call this number.” He rattled off a long phone number that Reese jotted on the back of an envelope. “Whoever answers will know where to find me. Tell ’em it’s about the brats. You tell them kids that I’m dead. They’re better off thinking that than knowing the truth.”
The line went dead. Reese pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it before looking at Chloe.
“What did he say to you?” Chloe demanded the minute he hung the phone on the receiver.
“I had trouble understanding him,” Reese told her, still trying to understand the turn of events. “His speech was slurred.”
“Well, what did you understand?” she pressed.
“He told me he’s the father of the children and his name, I think, matches the one on all the birth certificates.”
Her eyes widened, and she held her stomach. “He’s coming for them?”
“No.” Reese shook his head and then ran a shaky hand through his disheveled hair. “He has no use for them, he said. Told me if we needed anything, we could call this number”—he held up the slip of paper—“and he’d help out.”
“Thank goodness!” Chloe moved into his arms and gave him a hard hug. “I was scared he was coming to get them—that he would take our children away, just when we are finally turning into a family.”
Reese hugged her back. What an emotional ride. How could he let himself keep believing the worst of her?
“We best be heading back to bed. Since the rain quit, I’ll have lots of rows to pick tomorrow.”
“All right.”
Was it just his imagination, or did she seem disappointed?
He flipped off the gas jets and followed her back upstairs. They settled into the dark, quiet room, neither one saying goodnight. Tension sizzled between them as they both waited for the other to speak. Reese understood all it would take would be a few choice words to change their whole marriage for the better.
Stubborn and scared, he refused to say them.
~*~
“I’m going to fetch my pay today. Dr. Babcock said he’d have it ready. And then your mother invited me to her quilting group, and I plan to go to that as well,” Chloe told Reese. “I figured it was a good way to get involved in the community again. Reacquaint myself with women my age.”
When he stared at her without comment, she whizzed by him and down the stairs into the kitchen. She heard him following her but didn’t turn around as she kept talking.
“I’ll be gone all morning. There’s a sandwich in the icebox if you get hungry before I get home. Boys, get your coats on; there’s a chill in the air. You too, Rosie.”
The children bolted out the door, racing for the front seat of the Model T. She slipped a coat on Bobby and then wrapped a blanket around Charlie. She grabbed her handbag and sewing bag.
“I love you, Reese. Try to get over the mood you’re in. We’ll all be happier when you do.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I am happy here, with you. I am not going anywhere, ever.” She leaned forward and kissed him.
“Take your paycheck and buy yourself something pretty,” he told her.
“I have a better idea for it.” She kissed him again, thrilled when he kissed her back, finally showing some of the intimacy he’d hidden behind the wall he’d kept between them the past few days.
“Now that is more like it, Mr. Lloyd.” She smiled. “I’ll see you later this afternoon.” She kissed him one last time and headed out the door, leaving him an empty house.
Let him stew on it. She was tired of walking on eggshells. He had to work things out for himself.
Chloe dropped the children off at school and then stopped at the mercantile to pick up the clothing and supplies she’d ordered for the children and Reese weeks earlier.
“Hello Linnea, I was hoping to see you sometime soon.”
“Well, Chloe Lloyd!” Linnea Barker came around the counter and embraced her. “I am happy to see you. You’ve been back for months, and this is the first time we’ve run into each other! How are you?”
“Fine, fine.” Chloe laughed. “Settled in, I think.”
“Six children! I couldn’t even believe it when I heard! Daisy was the one who always took in strays, not you!” Linnea handed Bobby a piece of candy and then touched Charlie’s head and got a slurpy smile for her efforts.
“Well, I didn’t really have a choice.”
“Oh! I have your order.” Linnea rushed behind the counter and into a small back storage room, returning a quick minute later. “So, is being married to Reese as wonderful as you always thought it would be?”
Chloe took her packages from Linnea. “Even better.” She smiled.
“You’re so lucky.” Linnea stuck out her tongue. “Great husband, a bunch of children, a new job. You’ve got it all.”
“Oh Linnea, you will too someday.”
“Well, I found the right man. I just need to convince him of it.” She winked. “I’ll put this on your account, if you’d like?”
“There’s one more thing I would like to order,” Chloe told her.
Linnea handed her a catalog and went off to help another customer. Chloe wrote out the order and told Linnea she’d left it on top of the book.
She stashed the packages in the car and then headed to the clinic. Bobby chattered on as they walked, while Charlie just sucked on his fist. Dottie thought the boy was teething and Chloe didn’t doubt it. Charlie already had two small teeth and it looked like two more were poking their way through.
She walked into the clinic, surprised to see Dr. Babcock with his feet up on the front desk, reading a magazine.
“Chloe! Hello.” He stood up
and handed her a paper that he retrieved from the top drawer of the desk. “Your paycheck, Nurse Lloyd.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope you’re enjoying it here. I know it’s quiet now, but I’m hoping it will pick up with time. You’re doing a fine job, Chloe. Thank you for agreeing to work with me. It’s really nice to have company.”
She realized then that she was doing him a favor by working there. If she was bored the few hours she was there, surely his days were incredibly long.
“Maybe we could have an open house or a welcome party. That way, you could introduce yourself to the community, and they could look at the terrific setup you have here.”
“That’s a great idea.” He sat on the edge of his desk. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” She nodded.
“Since you grew up here, I figured you would know Ivy Beattie. Do you?”
“Ivy?” She nodded again. “I do, why?”
“A friend of mine has a romantic interest in her.” Dr. Babcock smiled.
“Really? Well…” Chloe paused. “She’s brilliant. All the Beattie girls are.”
“How many of them are there?”
“Three,” Chloe said. “And their mother.”
He lowered his voice, “Are they as batty as people claim?”
“Not at all. They’re on the eccentric side, true, but they’re very good people.” She studied him, wondering how much she should ask. “So, is Moorely Manor really haunted, then? I’d heard Mitch bought it. I imagine he’s asked Ivy or the other girls for help?”
“You’re too smart, Chloe. Either that, or I am just transparent.” He laughed. “Keep it between us, though, would you? Mitch believes his house is haunted, and he hired or asked Ivy to help him get rid of the spirits.”
“She does have that ability, or so they say she does. But otherwise, she’s about as normal as I am.”
“Good to know.” He nodded. “I’ll pass on the word.”
“Do that. I’ll see you on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend.” She waved and took Bobby’s hand as they went out the door and onto the street.
“We’re going to go meet your grandma, Bobby. There will be some nice boys for you to play with.”
She hoped there would be some nice women for her to play with, too. She hoped she’d be accepted and welcomed. She needed to become part of the community. She’d joined the Christian Mother’s group at church, too, and had offered to help at the school, if needed. Surely if Reese saw her involved in town, he’d begin to relax.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I love you.
Reese felt like an idiot, practicing how was he going to tell Chloe what he felt for her. He’d said it probably a thousand times in his mind since they were kids but not since she’d come back into his life, even though he’d known the whole time she’d been back that his heart still belonged to her.
A lot had changed in the years she’d been away. But her beauty, her spunk, her humor and intelligence had all remained the same, if not improved, over time. If anything, he was coming to love her more.
Chloe, I’m sorry I’ve been so difficult. I’ve been… He slapped his thigh. “Damn, that sounds so pathetic.”
The cows weren’t paying him any attention. He’d let Rosie and the boys sleep in this morning. It was Saturday, after all. All of them had had a few stressful weeks, with harvest now in full swing, school starting, Chloe beginning her job, the visit from her old beau and the call from the Chicago father. Everyone in the Lloyd family was having troubles adjusting to the changes.
As head of the household, it was Reese’s job to smooth everything out and bring peace to their home. At least he thought it was his job. He’d do his best and the first step he’d take would be to apologize to his wife. Apparently, if Chloe wasn’t happy, no one was happy. The house would be so much more content if she was satisfied with him.
“Good morning, Pa!” Rosie skipped into the barn and gave him a big hug around his legs. “Ma said to tell ya she’s got breakfast on the table.”
“Thank you for telling me.” He tugged her pigtail. “You look happy today.”
“No school! I get to stay home and be with all of you all day long!”
“Ah, right.” He laughed. “It’s Saturday!”
“Two whole days without school.”
“So, does that mean you’ll help your ma with the laundry and cleaning today?”
“Aww, can’t I come and pick corn with you?”
“Nope.” He squeezed her shoulder. “You and Bobby and Lucas can stay with Ma. The older boys can come and help me and Grandpa out.”
“Allllll right…” She skipped back out of the barn.
Reese grabbed two pails of milk and set them at the door. When would he have a chance to tell Chloe what he was feeling? He closed the door behind him and carried the pails up to the house. Since he decided today was the day, he figured he just as well get it out as soon as possible.
He rubbed sweaty palms against his dusty jeans as he entered the back door. No reason to be nervous, he reminded himself. This was Chloe, not some strange woman he’d just met. She loved him. And she’d never laugh at him for confessing his feelings. Hell, if he had it right in his head, his confession would make her ecstatic.
Everyone was eating breakfast when he walked in the door. Chloe gave him a big smile and took one of the milk pails from him. She emptied the bucket into a large pitcher and immediately started filling the children’s glasses.
She handed him a plate filled with food and kissed him on the cheek before adding eggs and pancakes to the boys’ plates. They were growing, gaining weight, even getting taller since moving here. They loved Chloe. You could see it in the way they wanted her attention, gave her hugs and kisses. They liked him, too, but just didn’t display affection toward him as much. Except Rosie. She was a Papa’s girl.
“Today,” he started, after swallowing a sip of warm milk, “Michael and Mark, we’ll go to Pa’s place and get his corn done. There isn’t much left to do, so we should be done by lunch.”
“What about Lucas, Pa?” Michael asked between bites of food.
“He can stay and help your ma with Charlie and Bobby.”
“Rosie can do that,” Mark argued.
“Listen to your father, boys. What he says, goes.” She gave him a wink and poured the rest of the milk into the pitcher and set it in the icebox for lunch.
It took some willpower for him to not stand up and grab her for a long, lingering kiss. Only the thought of the children’s curious stares kept him in his seat. He watched her clean up the dishes as the boys finished their meals. Rosie kept playing with her food, daydreaming her way through the meal. Lucas, silent as always, kept to himself but occasionally smiled when one of his brothers said something funny.
Bobby kept standing up and sitting down, like a bouncing ball. Charlie sat peacefully in the highchair Reese had used when he was a baby. He was starting to eat solid foods, loved the scrambled eggs he was playing with on the plate.
Mark just blended in. He reminded Reese of himself as a young boy. Quiet, reserved, he followed his older brother around, tried to keep up with Michael, occasionally competed with him to get try to get ahead. He and Ronnie were just the same, way back when.
“Ready, men?”
Mark and Michael exchanged glances. Reese hadn’t taken them out in the field at all yet. He’d wanted a whole day to be able to teach them how to behave around machinery. Farm accidents took a lot of lives every year, and he didn’t want his boys to be casualties.
“Wear your boots,” he told them. “And you’ll be needin’ hats, too. I reckon some of my old ones are at Pa’s house.”
Reese stood up and stretched, arms extended toward the ceiling. To his surprise, all of the boys, even Bobby, stood up, mimicking his actions, stretching their backs, even though they were too young to have any idea what a kink might feel like. Reese choked back his laughter, not wanting to offend these children wh
o so obviously wanted to be like him.
Their actions also served as a good reminder they were always watching what he did. He’d have to take extra care with how he behaved, how he spoke, when they were near. Maybe he should quit smoking now, too. He’d picked up the nasty habit when Chloe left. It’d helped ease his nerves. But Chloe was back now, and after tonight, he expected there’d be peace between them once again.
“Let’s get a move on.” He kissed Chloe and his face grew warm when the children chuckled at them.
He didn’t care though, not really. His folks had shown affection, and Ronnie and he had simply gotten used to it. Parents who loved each other set a good example for their children.
He walked out the back door, glancing behind to make sure the boys were following him. They were good children. The teacher had already told Chloe that they were ahead of the others in their mathematics. Even Lucas, who didn’t speak yet, was doing fine with everything. He might not be reading out loud, but he understood what he read, was able to answer questions in writing.
He and Chloe had the power to change their lives, help them become the best they could be. That was an enormous task but one they would succeed at, come hell or high water. First, though, he and Chloe needed to reach peace in their marriage, and Ma had come up with a wonderful way to achieve that this evening.
Ma and Pa were coming over to watch the children, letting Reese and Chloe use their house for the long confession Reese had planned. Ma agreed to make a special dinner, with all the fixings, so he and his new bride could have an evening just to themselves.
“Let’s take the wagon, boys. Grandpa will need the extra space.”
He showed each of them how to hook up the harness and reins. They were fast learners and soon the three of them were on their way.
He and Chloe didn’t get much time together. In fact, he realized they’d only had three nights alone as a married couple. Two of which were on the train, traveling to Chicago. Ma’s offer couldn’t have come at a better time, either. Tonight, Reese would truly set aside all the pain he went through when Chloe left and focus on their future.
Choices of the Heart Page 22