There's Always Tomorrow

by Darlene Mindrup

  He pulled a roll of bills from his pocket and handed them to her. “I want you to go and have some fun.”

  She didn’t reach for the money. “Me? What about you?”

  “I thought I would go back and give a hand at the hospital.”

  His comment spoken in such a light way caught her off guard. She stared at him in stunned amazement, and no wonder. He was a bit amazed at himself. There was a part of him deep inside that had never felt right leaving the profession he had chosen. He had struggled with it over the years until he had finally wrangled it into submission. Now here he was about to do the very thing he swore he would never do again. Was he ready for it? He wasn’t sure, but he knew he needed to try.

  He knew that he had the power to help so many of those people who had huddled near the hospital. He might be a bit rusty, but young Henry had shown him that he hadn’t lost the touch.

  He was unprepared for the tears in Adrella’s eyes. He racked his brain trying to figure out what he could have done to cause her pain.

  “I’m so glad, Dathan,” she whispered, tears lacing her voice. “I have been praying for you, that you would remember your calling.”

  He slid a forefinger along her cheek, watching the expressions on her face. Taking her hand, he placed the roll of bills in it, closing her fingers around it.

  “Go have some fun,” he told her huskily. “I don’t know how long I will be. If I don’t make it back in time for supper, you can either eat in the dining room or have it served to you here.”

  She nodded and he placed a quick kiss on her lips. Her startled look made him grin. Whistling, he left her staring after him.

  * * *

  Adrella awoke to sunlight streaming into the room. She sat up sleepily, noting the empty bed beside her. So Dathan hadn’t made it back last night after all. Had that been deliberate? She had waited until long past midnight before she’d finally fallen asleep.

  She heard the key in the lock and quickly pulled the covers up around her neck. She had used some of the money Dathan had given her to purchase some nightwear, not wanting to wrinkle her dress by sleeping in it. The nightgown was an impulse buy, more lovely than anything she had ever seen in Apalach and she hadn’t been able to resist it. Now she regretted her hasty decision.

  He looked tired when he came in.

  “Have you been up all night?” she asked him, worried when she saw the dark circles under his eyes.

  He nodded, going to the basin in the room, pouring some water from the pitcher and briskly rubbing his face with it. “I take it you haven’t had breakfast yet?”

  She shook her head, embarrassed to be caught sleeping so late.

  “If you hurry and get dressed, we’ll have time to eat before we head back to Apalach.”

  He seemed to note her huddling under the covers. One eyebrow winged upward, a wry smile tilting his lips. “I’ll meet you in the dining room,” he told her in amusement.

  “How is Henry?”

  He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “Still alive.” He glanced back at her. “I’ll tell you more over breakfast. We have to hurry to make the morning train.”

  He left the room and Adrella scrambled to get ready.

  * * *

  The train whistle sounded, steam whooshing around the platform as they got ready to depart.

  Dathan helped Adrella aboard with one hand while hanging on to her bags with the other. He had taken one look at all the things she had bought and grinned.

  “It looks like you had fun.”

  She smiled back. “I did. I bought something for each one of the men.”

  He frowned. “I meant that money for you.”

  She shrugged. “I know, but I wanted to do something for the men. They were so good to give up so much of their pay for Henry.”

  He shook his head, the smile on his lips reaching all the way to his eyes. ”Leave it to you. Did you buy anything for yourself?”

  The color rushed into her face and his eyebrows flew upward. Before she could answer, she was thankfully halted by the conductor’s cry.

  “All aboard.”

  They settled into their seats as the train began inching its way forward. Dathan stowed the packages on the seats across from them and sat down beside Adrella. She had just opened her mouth to say something when Dathan interrupted her.

  “Adrella, there’s something I need to say to you.”

  The clipped sound of his voice sent Adrella’s heart plummeting to her toes. Uncertain of what was coming, she nodded her head, her wary look resting on Dathan’s inscrutable face.

  His eyes met hers, dark and intense. “Adrella, I’m in love with you.”

  Of all the things she had expected, that was certainly not it. She opened and closed her mouth several times.

  “Well, of all the... You can’t...” She glared at him, nonplussed. “What a thing to tell a girl in the middle of a crowded train!”

  Lips twitching, eyes sparkling merrily, Dathan settled back against the seat, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “I thought it might be safer.”

  Bristling, Adrella retaliated. “Safer? Safer for whom? Of all the...”

  Dathan moved quickly, bringing his face close to hers. “Did you know that you’re beautiful when you’re angry?”

  Adrella felt the starch leave her as quickly as it had surfaced. She searched his eyes for the truth, and found it.

  “Well then, I’ll just have to make certain sure that I stay angry, won’t I?”

  He grinned, wrapping one large hand behind her neck. “And I’ll just have to make for certain sure that you’re not.”

  When his eyes fastened on her lips, Adrella curled her toes into her shoes.

  “Dathan, don’t you dare!”

  “I never have been able to resist a dare,” he told her softly. Pulling her close, Adrella resisted only slightly. She had been longing for his kisses for some time now and they had been few and far between.

  The intensity of the kiss left her breathless. There was a promise of more to come in Dathan’s dark gray eyes.

  “How long have you known?” Adrella asked him breathlessly, her eyes going to his lips still so close to hers.

  “I don’t know. I think I figured it out about the same time that I figured out that God had a plan for my life, and I let Him down.”

  Surprised, Adrella lifted her eyes to his. “You mean...?”

  Dathan pulled her into the crook of his arm, settling back against the corner of the seat. She nestled her back against his chest.

  “Yes, Adrella. I’ve decided to go back to being a doctor.”

  Turning her head upward where she could see his face, she said quietly, “You never really stopped, Dathan. Da, me, Henry, you’ve been there for all of us.”

  His voice was seductively low when he answered her. “And you, Drell? Will you be happy leaving the island?”

  She turned full into his arms. “Whither thou goest, I will go. I love you, too, Dathan.”

  He traced a finger gently across her lips. “And your God will be my God.”

  Adrella willed the train to hurry, longing for Dathan to fulfill the promise she could see in his eyes. Not able to resist, she lifted herself up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Their eyes met once again, and they were oblivious of the stares of those around them, some outraged, others envious.

  Something Adrella’s father had said came back to her now.

  “One day, Drell, you will wake up and find the place God made for you in this world, and you’ll say, ‘That’s good.’”

  Snuggling into Dathan’s arms, she couldn’t help but smile. Her place was with Dathan. That’s good, she thought to herself. That’s so very good!r />
  Epilogue

  Adrella carefully packed her father’s green mug, placing it in the crate of dishes she was filling. She glanced around the small kitchen and a feeling of nostalgia overcame her.

  For the past year this had been her home. Her home with Dathan.

  The first day they had moved into their new house was indelibly etched into Adrella’s memory. Dathan had carried her over the threshold to the laughing taunts of the men who had helped build it, those men who had seemed more like family than just workers. Even now, almost a year later, she missed that camaraderie. Most of them still kept in contact with her and Dathan.

  She and Dathan had taken the new building and made it into more than a dwelling. This was the place where she and Dathan had become one.

  Now that Dathan’s contract with the Lighthouse Board was fulfilled, he had decided to go back to his home in New York and become a doctor once again. He had relinquished the past and begun to look forward to a future. Without conceit, he had agreed that he did, indeed, have a gift, and he knew where that gift had come from.

  They had talked it over for some time and, although Adrella would miss Apalachicola, it was really nothing without her father. She had meant it when she’d told Dathan that wherever he was, was home.

  She went to the kitchen door and stared out for some time at the shimmering waters of the gulf, her thoughts wandering through time. Her father’s body had never been found, but then, neither had some of the people in the vicinity.

  “I miss you, Da,” she whispered.

  Her grief had faded, but not the memories. If she closed her eyes, she could still see her father’s laughing green eyes, the lopsided grin that was so endearing.

  Often when the wind soughed through the trees she could almost imagine hearing her father’s voice. It was almost as clear to her as the voice of her other Father which she heard within herself. She knew without a doubt that they were both happy for her. She could feel it in the warm love that swelled through her whenever she thought of either one of them. The sense that things were right, as they were destined to be.

  Her Da had somehow known that she and Dathan were meant to be together, but it took her Father in heaven to make it happen. It made her smile to think of her father standing in the presence of the Almighty, both of them happy with the way things had turned out.

  She had been married to Dathan for a year, and yet she still thrilled at the thought that he loved her. In her wildest imaginings she could never had foreseen such happiness as she felt at this moment.

  She went back to packing the few items they would be taking with them and the happiness dwindled at the shiver of anxiety that coursed through her. She would be meeting Dathan’s family soon. What would they think of her? If they were expecting a lovely debutante, they were going to be sorely disappointed. It still worried her that she might do something to embarrass her husband.

  Something bumping against her leg brought her thoughts back to the moment at hand. Glancing down, she smiled.

  “Hello, Grace.”

  Reaching down, she lifted the cat into her arms, cuddling her close. Rubbing her nose against Grace’s soft fur, Adrella had to smile at the resulting purr. She held the cat up, looking into her eyes. The black patch surrounding her one eye gave her the appearance of a pirate. It always made Adrella smile.

  “Are you ready for your new home?” she asked.

  A soft meow was the only answer she received.

  “At least I’ll have you, won’t I?”

  Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, startling her. She gave a slight yelp.

  “You have me, too. Don’t I count?”

  Adrella smiled, turning into the circle of his arms. Grace gave a slight meow of protest at being so confined.

  Dathan released Adrella and, taking the cat from her arms, put her out the back door.

  “If you don’t mind,” he told the cat, “this is a personal conversation.”

  Adrella chuckled at his teasing statement, but when he turned back to her, his face was solemn. He wrapped her closely in his arms again, his eyes studying her carefully. Adrella hated it when he did that because it was as though he truly could read her mind. Not that she wanted to keep anything from him, but at times it was decidedly uncomfortable.

  “Drell, my parents will love you. They would love you anyway just because I do, but no one could help but love you just for you.”

  From past experience she rather doubted that. Still, her husband was tense enough at this meeting without having to worry about her as well. Wrinkling her nose, she sighed. “I’m just being silly, I suppose.”

  He continued to search her features and Adrella sighed again more loudly.

  “Would you please stop doing that!” she said.

  One corner of his mouth tilted up. “Doing what? Staring at my beautiful wife?”

  Adrella gave him an eloquent look at this obvious falsehood, but her cheeks warmed nonetheless at his compliment. “You know exactly what I mean.”

  He laughed outright at that. Capturing her face between his palms he proceeded to give her a kiss that would have erased anything from her mind, much less niggling doubts about her future.

  He smiled, staring hard into her eyes. “I love you, Drell. You know that, don’t you?”

  She returned his smile, her heart melting at the love she saw shining in his eyes. “I know. I love you, too.”

  A sound at the back door caught Dathan’s attention.

  “Mr. Adams, I’m ready for that tour.”

  Dathan released Adrella, nodding his head at the replacement keeper. “I’ll be right with you.” He touched a finger to Adrella’s nose. “I’ll leave you to your packing.”

  Adrella watched him leave, her heart overflowing with emotion.

  “You have a lovely wife.”

  Dathan smiled at the new keeper. “Thanks, Ed. I think so.”

  It was true. Adrella grew more beautiful to him every day. Whenever he told her so, she always told him that if it was true, it was only because of his love. That made perfect sense to him, since his love for her grew more every day as well. At times he thought his heart would burst from his chest with the strength of his feelings.

  For so many years he had thought he was happy to be alone. Now he didn’t envy this man who was replacing him. There would be no Mangus Murphy to befriend him, to bring him supplies, although it was possible that there was an Adrella waiting in the wings. He paused. No, that wasn’t possible, either, because there was only one Adrella and she belonged to him.

  He glanced at the other man. “Are you married, Ed?”

  Ed shook his head. “Never had the time.”

  Dathan wondered what had taken so much of the man’s time but didn’t think it his place to ask. In the end, he didn’t need to.

  “I worked on a sailing ship before the war. I remember the safe feeling whenever we got close to harbor and saw the lights from the lighthouses wherever we went. I decided that I wanted to give that same feeling to others. I was told how hard it was to get people to man the lights.”

  Dathan silently agreed. They drew up in front of the newly built oil house. “The loneliness gets to most people.”

  He opened the door and they went inside. After explaining the layout and the times of refueling from the Lighthouse Board, they headed over to the light tower.

  Ed stopped for a moment and stared out over the gulf. The waves were calm today. Gulls circled overhead in a never-ending search for sustenance.

  “It sure looks peaceful,” he remarked.

  Remembering last year’s hurricane and subsequent storms, Dathan had to smile.

  “Looks can be deceiving.”

  Hadn’t he learned that even from his own wife? What he had at one time considered plain
and unappealing had turned out to hide a true treasure. The Bible spoke of God looking for what was on the inside of a man. What others saw as worthless, God saw differently. If only people would do the same. He had certainly learned his lesson well. First Adrella, then Henry.

  As they toured the light, Dathan’s mind went back to that fateful day of the worst hurricane this part of the country had ever seen. Even now he could see Adrella sitting on that iron step working her fingers through her hair. He had been happy here. He was going to miss it.

  “I understand there’s a problem with the lens,” Ed stated, interrupting Dathan’s introspection. He reluctantly pulled himself back to the present.

  “Yes, it was damaged in the war.”

  A darkness settled over the other man’s features. “A lot of things were damaged in the war.”

  It was a statement that needed no qualifying. Hoping to turn his thinking from obviously morose thoughts, Dathan placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder.

  “My wife made lunch. We’d like it if you would share it with us.”

  In an instant Ed’s face cleared. “I’d like that.”

  They finished the tour and returned to the cottage.

  * * *

  Adrella stood with Dathan on the pier watching, with her heart in her throat, the boat being rowed to shore from the ship sitting placidly farther out in the gulf. She was about to meet her father-in-law for the first time.

  Dathan’s father had come in his own private clipper ship to pick them up and bring them back to New York. The ship was impressive in size, the long masts rising high against the blue of the afternoon sky, the sails bound tightly to the masts awaiting the word to set sail again. She was only now beginning to understand the true extent of the wealth she had by marriage inherited.

  As if sensing her trepidation, Dathan took her hand and gently squeezed it. She glanced up at him, her nerves settling somewhat at the love she saw shining from his eyes.

  The rowboat neared shore and it was clear which man was Dathan’s father among its seven occupants. He sat in the center of the boat, his dress and manner so obviously above those who were manning the oars. The shadow of his hat hid most of his face from view but he was, nonetheless, a commanding presence. Adrella could picture him stepping from the boat into a boardroom of supplicants.