The Love That Saved Him

by Sophie Barnes

  “Yes. It does appear so.” Shaking off his bizarre ponderings, he went in search of glasses. “I’m hoping Frank and Thomas will be able to make peace with each other.” He set everything on a tray.

  “I think the biggest hurdle was getting them to be in the same room with each other. From this point forward, it ought to be fairly simple.”

  “You think so?” He found her comment interesting but also a bit surprising. “We’re talking about two stubborn old men discussing their feelings.”

  Her genuine laughter immediately tightened his stomach. “I think they might just let bygones be bygones without doing any such thing.”

  “Hmm. Perhaps you’re right,” he conceded, following her back to where the others were chatting away as though they’d always been the best of friends. It was most peculiar but also rather comforting, in a strange sort of way.

  “Do you ever have an opportunity to travel?” Jenny asked Sarah later when they were seated at the table and dinner had been served.

  “Not really,” Sarah told her. “The opportunity to do so never presented itself. But I would love to go to Europe one day, experience the different cultures, architecture, and cuisine.”

  “Then I suggest you go to Rome,” Jenny said. “Frank and I took our daughter, Caroline, once. It was our graduation gift to her when she finished college.”

  A momentary hush fell over the table. Pierce felt the flood of memories approaching and the melancholy that always came with them beginning to encroach. If someone would only say something to break the awkwardness, but he could think of nothing appropriate himself. And the longer the silence lasted, the more Jenny seemed to slump in her seat. He looked to Frank in the hope that he might know what to do. But his head remained silently bowed over his plate while he proceeded to cut his meat into tiny little pieces.

  And then Sarah did the unexpected. She reached out her hand, placed it over Jenny’s, and quietly said, “That was a thoughtful gift to give her. I’m sure she treasured it very much.”

  Jenny slowly nodded. “Yes. I believe she did.”

  And in that moment, Pierce felt the pain that always hugged him begin to ease. He felt the hollowness inside him fill. Considering what Sarah had been through herself, it was truly remarkable to find her so compassionate toward a virtual stranger. Or perhaps it was because of what she’d been through.

  Either way, he felt his heart expand in a way it hadn’t been able to do in a very long time, while allowing himself to embrace the light and goodness she had to offer. Because although he’d felt the attraction between them gradually growing, he hadn’t been sure if there had been potential for a deeper connection. Until now. It struck him like a flash of lightning straight to the gut that he’d grown to care for Sarah in a way he’d never expected to care for anyone ever again.

  Realizing this, he quietly followed the next conversations without comment while settling into this new frame of mind. And when he cleared the table later, he insisted that everyone remain seated while he fetched the coffee and dessert.

  “But I’d love to help,” Sarah told him as she started stacking the dirty dishes.

  “I know.” He met her gaze and smiled, at peace with the idea of having her in his life. If she agreed. “But I think you should keep Jenny company while I see to this.”

  “Sure.” She gave him a quizzical look. “I’d be happy to do so.”

  “Thank you, Pierce,” Jenny said with an underlying meaningfulness that made Pierce glance her way. Her eyes, he saw, were filled with appreciation and unspoken words of approval that made Pierce’s heart slightly soar.

  It also made him pause in the doorway later when he returned with the coffee and cheesecake. Seeing Frank and Jenny looking happier than they’d been in a long time was immensely satisfying. Nobody deserved to endure what they’d been through, but they did deserve the chance to carry on with joy in their lives.

  “You know, there’s something I need to tell you,” Frank was saying to Thomas when Pierce reached the table and began setting down clean cups and plates. He offered the cheesecake for Jenny to cut.

  “And what’s that?” Thomas asked.

  “Well, the fact of the matter is that you and I have never really gotten along.” He thanked Pierce for pouring his coffee before continuing. “At least not since you and my mother fell in love with each other, and she decided to leave my dad.”

  Silence fell upon the room like a ton of bricks.

  “Frank…” Jenny eventually said with caution.

  “No. He needs to know this.” A moment passed, during which Pierce dreaded the words that would be spoken next. “The truth is my father was a wonderful man, but a terrible husband. If that makes any sense at all. He showered me with affection, taught me how to shoot a gun—you name it, he was there, ready to help. But he always felt that a woman’s place was in the kitchen and that Mom had no reason to participate in ‘boy’ stuff.

  “He excluded her. I see that now. To him she was the person who cooked and cleaned and gave him the son he wanted. Not that he wasn’t grateful for those things, he just didn’t feel as deeply for her as you did, Thomas.”

  “She was a very giving and loving person,” Thomas murmured while stirring his tea, “which unfortunately made her marriage difficult for her to bear. Murphy stifled those qualities, I’m sorry to say, and she eventually started looking for a way out.”

  Nodding, Frank took a sip of his coffee. “So she eloped with you.”

  Thomas paused for a second before saying, “Not until she felt as though she’d honored her responsibilities toward you.”

  Frank stilled. “What are you saying?”

  “Your mother and I fell in love several years earlier, Frank, but she knew leaving Murphy would cause a rift, and she didn’t want to put you through that until you’d left home.”

  “She must have been so unhappy,” Frank said, as though thinking out loud.

  “Let’s just say that her life didn’t turn out quite as she’d expected. But she took the courage to change her path, and just so you know, she and I loved each other very much. If we hadn’t, she never would have left your father – a choice she always referred to as the most difficult decision she ever made.”

  Nodding, Frank took another sip of his coffee. “Thank you.” He set the cup on its matching saucer. “I’m sorry we’ve been at odds all these years, but siding with my father seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

  “I know,” Thomas agreed. “And as you’ve said, your father was a good man. But he was the wrong man for Mary.”

  Admiration settled deep in Pierce’s bones. Considering how angry Frank had been when he’d found out about Thomas’s rights to the ridge, he never would have expected them to settle their differences this easily. But yesterday’s incident had been a sobering one for Frank – one that seemed to have made him contemplate the more important things in life. And apparently, continuing to hold a grudge that essentially belonged to his father wasn’t one of them.

  “Would any of you care for an after dinner drink?” He asked while enjoying the obvious pleasure with which Sarah was eating her cheesecake. Small spoonsful at a time as though she meant to savor every bite. “I can offer brandy, port, or sherry.”

  “I’ll have a brandy, please,” Frank said.

  “Me too,” Thomas told him.

  “How about you, Sarah?” Jenny asked. “What will you have?”

  “A glass of port sounds good.” She licked the last of her dessert from her spoon, forcing Pierce to take a sharp breath. “Will you join me, Jenny?”

  “Absolutely,” Jenny said, eyeing Pierce with a glint in her eyes and a secretive smile that prompted him to turn away.

  She was Caroline’s mother for crying out loud, and here he was, making eyes at another woman. Worse than that, he hadn’t thought about Caroline at all this evening except for when Jenny had mentioned her.

  Heading for the drinks cabinet, he could feel the guilt snaking it
s way through his veins again like poison. Shoulders tense, he selected some bottles and headed back to the table with heavy feet. “Frank. If you don’t mind pouring, I think I need to check on something out back.” And then he fled, his lungs tight against his broken heart as he hurried through the kitchen and out into the chill night air.

  Sarah frowned. Pierce had seemed so carefree and a great deal happier this evening than ever before. Until right now when he’d unexpectedly changed. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what had happened, but something was different. He had been different as he’d set those bottles down and asked Frank to pour.

  “Do you think he needs help with whatever it is he’s checking on?” she asked. “Perhaps I should—”

  “No,” Jenny told her in little more than a whisper. “He needs a moment. And we must allow him that.”

  Unsure of how this had come about, Sarah took the glass of port Frank handed her and set it between her hands. She stared into the dark liquid. “I hope I didn’t do something to upset him.” She’d been concentrating on her delicious desert when he’d asked about the drinks. She wracked her brain for answers but could come up with nothing.

  “It wasn’t you, dear,” Jenny told her gently. “If anything, it was me. I thought he was further along than he is with his grieving process.”

  “But you didn’t say anything that could possibly have changed his mood so suddenly.” Sarah shook her head. She really didn’t understand this at all.

  “No,” Frank agreed. “But there’s a delicate balance that can easily be disturbed by the slightest reminder.”

  It was a notion Sarah knew all too well, and it was what had prompted her to pack away all the things she’d bought in preparation for her daughter’s birth as quickly as possible. So she wouldn’t have to look at it all the time and feel the pain and the guilt that came with it. How long had she avoided going out in the months that followed, unable to see the smiling faces of other people’s children without bursting into tears. And later, when she’d thought herself fully recovered, the sound of the name she and Billy had selected would pop up on TV, forcing her to face the fact that she would never recover completely.

  “I understand,” she said, her hope of being more than just a friend to Pierce dwindling. She couldn’t say if it was the mention of port, the way in which she’d eaten her cake, or something else entirely that had caused Pierce to think of Caroline. But she knew it had caught him by surprise, and he’d gone outside to try and deal with it. Except this process was long and hard. It wasn’t something that would be resolved within a few minutes. In fact, it would always linger somewhere beneath the surface, occasionally stirred to life by the senses.

  “You know, it’s been almost a year and a half since Caroline’s passing,” Frank said. “We wanted to give Pierce the chance he asked for, to get himself settled up here and start a new chapter. We’ve been quite worried, truth is, with him leaving everything behind – his work, his friends, and his family—all of which might have been helpful distractions.”

  “What Frank is trying to say,” Jenny added, “is that we’re pleased, knowing he’s made friends. That there are good people for him to talk to, if he chooses to do so.”

  “He hasn’t said much about what happened,” Sarah told them, “but he’s told me enough for me to know that life blindsided him in a tragic way.”

  “He’s talked to you?” Shifting slightly, Jenny looked at Sarah more closely. “About Caroline?”

  “Yes. I…err…I had a terrible experience myself once, and when I chose to share that with him, he opened up a lot more.”

  “Well.” Jenny gazed at Sarah as though she wasn’t entirely certain what to make of her. And then she said the most astounding thing of all. “Caroline was my daughter, and I will always love her, but I would hate to see Pierce die with her. He deserves to be happy again, to find someone to share his life with.” Reaching out, she placed her hand over Sarah’s. “If that woman happens to be you, then I think I would be very pleased.”

  “As would I,” Frank said.

  Sarah stared at them both, unable to speak.

  “I must admit I agree,” Thomas added, “though I’m surprised to hear you say it. After all, she is a Palmer.”

  “Never mind that,” Jenny said. “The important thing is that she’s just as kind and generous as she is beautiful.”

  Chuckling, Frank raised his glass to Thomas’s with a clink before repeating the gesture with Jenny and Sarah, who mechanically followed suit. Had she really just been given a stamp of approval to date Pierce? By Caroline’s parents, no less? It seemed so strange and matchmakerish. Which she really wasn’t comfortable with at all. And how on earth would they know how kind and generous she was? Because she’d helped find Frank in the woods? Anyone else would have done the same. Surely.

  “So I was thinking,” Pierce said, returning a moment later. “There has to be a way for us to heat the ground so we can extend the season.”

  Everyone stared at him for a second as though it took a bit for them all to rearrange their thoughts in order to understand what he was saying. Thomas spoke first. “It’s a bit soon to be talking about that,” he said. “I mean, the idea’s good and there are ways to do it, or at least one I can think of, but we’ve only just gotten started. Why don’t we see where we’re at in September?”

  “You’re the expert,” Pierce said, reclaiming his seat.

  “We’ll start making faster progress now that we have a proper road for the diggers and the new trommel all set up,” Sarah assured him. “We’ll be able to process each load pretty quickly.”

  “Which reminds me,” Pierce said. “I forgot to ask how much gold you managed to collect yesterday and today.”

  “It came to about one ounce, which is worth about thirteen hundred dollars,” Thomas told him.

  Pierce slowly nodded. “You think there’ll be a lot more if we dig deeper?”

  “Sure I do,” Thomas told him emphatically. “That’s the whole point with picking the ridge.”

  Biting her lip, Sarah glanced at Pierce. He didn’t look too convinced, but then again, he’d never mined before. “We’re not looking for the small pickings near the surface this time, and if Grandpa says the ridge is rich with gold, then I’m pretty sure he’s right.”

  “Either way,” Pierce said, “it’s a lot more fun than I expected it to be. There really is something to be said for working outdoors, surrounded by pristine wilderness, and seeing your progress on a daily basis. At this point I think I’d have a tough time going back to an office in the city.”

  His comment both pleased and worried her. “Are you thinking of doing that?” she asked. Holding her breath, she met his gaze, her heart tapping a little harder against her chest as she sank into the sea of blue that his eyes represented.

  “No,” he quietly murmured. Clearing his throat as if catching himself in a daydream he had to wake from, he took a quick sip of coffee, effectively breaking their eye contact. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a warm spot expand inside her belly when she heard him add, “Not any more.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  As the weeks wore on, Sarah watched Pierce work as hard as the rest of the crew and was continuously impressed by his determination to help as best as he could, no matter what was required of him. They’d spoken amicably with each other since Frank and Jenny’s departure and had even enjoyed a few more movie nights with Jack and Thomas, but neither had attempted to explore the attraction that remained between them.

  She felt it whenever he was near, an awareness that buzzed along her limbs, tightening her nerves and making her heart tremble. But rather than push, she drew back, and gave him the time and space he needed to figure out what he wanted, and whether or not those wants might one day include her.

  “Here. I brought you some hot tea,” he said, arriving in the shelter one day and setting down a thermal carafe. “Would you like a cup?”

  Thomas, who’d just finished his
lunch, reached for his mug and pushed it in Pierce’s direction. “I’d sure appreciate one.” He grinned, then stiffened slightly, his smile faltering in a way that made Sarah’s stomach pitch.

  “What is it?” She asked. “Are you all right?”

  He shoved her hand away with marked irritation. “It’s just indigestion, Sarah. I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure?” He’d looked a bit too stunned just now for it to have only been indigestion. Perhaps he was working too hard and not getting the rest he needed at his age. “Absolutely.” Grabbing the cup Pierce had just filled, he said, “Why don’t you coddle him instead?”

  Heat rushed to Sarah’s cheeks in an instant. She looked away, embarrassed that her grandfather had chosen to address the feelings he knew she had for Pierce by airing them in such an underhanded way. “He doesn’t need coddling, Grandpa,” she somehow managed to say.

  “Neither do I,” her grandfather grumbled as he raised his cup to his lips.

  Sarah sighed. “I’m going back to work.” She rose. “Jack and Peter will need me to be there when they plant those explosives.”

  Her grandfather blew out an aggravated breath. “Sarah…”

  She didn’t wait to listen. Was it such a terrible thing that she was concerned for her grandfather’s health? He was old, after all, and mining was tough work, even if he was mostly observing the process rather than participating.

  “Hey. Wait up.” Pierce’s voice followed her while she walked away.

  She considered quickening her stride. The last person she wanted to face right now was him, except she could already hear him running up behind her, his hand landing heavily on her shoulder the moment he caught her. She stopped and turned toward him while trying her hardest not to think about the impact his touch had on her senses.

  “What is it?” she almost snapped, her irritability with her grandfather guiding her tone.