When the song ended and she flipped to the next hymn, Philip continued singing from across the room, “Alleluia! Alleluia!” His tone was as measured as his elegant voice was full. Even though he hadn’t led his own congregation before coming to Falls Creek, it was clear he was made for this job.
He hummed the melody while moving a rudimentary lectern to the center of the room. “After that hymn, Miss Sybil, I will read from the book of Romans. Then, I’d like for you to play God Moves in Mysterious Ways. Do you have that one in your hymnal?”
“I do.”
While she thumbed through the pages, the chapel door opened and a swirl of cold air blew in. She glanced at the door, and when she saw who was walking in, she sucked in a quick breath. The piano bench screeched as she pushed away and rushed to the door. “Revel!”
He barely had time to open his arms before she embraced him, burying her face against his wool coat. It smelled like a campfire.
She drew her head back only enough to look up at him. “When did you arrive? How long can you stay? Are you here till spring?”
He kissed the top of her head and pulled away. “Slow down, sis.”
“Sorry, I’m just so happy to see you.”
“I don’t hear that very often.” He took off his felt hat and ran his fingers through his hair. It was a darker brown than during the summer. “It’s good to see you too.”
She folded her hands so she wouldn’t annoy him by clinging to him. “So, when did you arrive?”
“Last night.” He turned to the rows of silver hooks along the wall by the door and hung his coat and hat. His crisp blue church shirt and suspenders proved he knew he would attend a Sunday service no matter where he was traveling to.
“I didn’t know you had arrived.”
“It was late. Connor and I stayed in the bunkhouse after we brought the piano in here.”
She tried to memorize the new lines at the corners of his eyes. Every few months when she saw him, he was a little older. He wasn’t yet twenty-nine, but it showed. “How long can you stay?”
He rubbed his chin and cast his gaze across the room. “Do you like the new piano? Mandy took all day packing hay around that thing so carefully after Levi, Connor, and I loaded it onto the wagon.” He grinned in the way only he could. “Every time Connor hit a bump on the road, I told him Mandy would skin him alive if he broke it.”
She accepted his quick change of subject for what it was—a confirmation he wouldn’t stay long. She hadn’t expected him to come at all, so she would do her best to simply enjoy the time she had with him. “It is truly a breathtaking instrument. Would you like to hear me play it?”
“Indeed, I would.”
She found the song Philip had requested and began to play it for her brother. He was here, really here. Every time he visited Falls Creek, she felt like it was a dream. And just like a dream, she would wake and he would be gone.
The door opened again while she was playing, and Eddie backed in carrying one end of a long plank. It must have been heavy because his shoulders were bowed and his face red. She glanced at the music to keep playing then looked up again to see who was carrying the other end. Isaac stepped inside, holding the thick plank with his fingertips as if he could have carried double the weight without breaking a sweat.
He didn’t look at her. She missed her place between bars of music and had to focus on the hymnal to regain her confidence. Why hadn’t he looked at her? He heard her play the piano every Sunday. Surely he knew she was the one sitting there.
She tried not to look at him too and practiced a third song while Isaac and Eddie set up three long benches where Philip instructed them to. Between the chorus and the final verse, she glanced across the room and her eyes met Isaac’s. He straightened his spine, seeming to tower over Eddie and Philip, and locked her gaze with his.
When she didn’t look away, she could tell Revel took notice, as did Philip. She didn’t care. Her fingers played the chorus from memory, but her focus was fixed on Isaac.
While the final chorus rang through the chapel, Isaac mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” she replied aloud even though he wouldn’t hear her soft words over the robust music of the gray leaf instrument.
A hint of a smile curved his lips and warmed his gray-blue eyes. Finally, he gave her a wink then followed Eddie back outside.
When she finished the song, Revel was staring down at her with a playful grin. “What was that about?”
Even though she knew he wouldn’t fall for it, she gave him her sweetest smile. “I will tell you all about it if you stay.”
Chapter Eleven
By mid-August, the Antarctic winds made their way far enough up the South Atlantic Ocean to blanket the Land with icy snow. Sybil watched bare limbs sway in the breeze outside her kitchen window. The afternoon sky was the sort of gray that made it hard to tell what time of day it was. If she hadn’t shared a piece of sugar cream pie with Isaac for dessert after lunch, the dreariness of winter would have sent her to the cookie jar.
Every day was beginning to look the same. Knowing he would come inside for a meal kept her happily cooking, then after he would eat and leave, she’d miss him until it was time to prepare the next meal. She used to enjoy being alone in the kitchen all day. Now that she was in love, she didn’t want to be alone at all. It was probably best she didn’t have a view of the chapel and parsonage from the kitchen windows or she would have spent the past few weeks watching Isaac build instead of doing her work.
As it was, while he worked inside the parsonage, she couldn’t pull her gaze away from the cold gray sky. Maybe this distaste for being alone had nothing to do with being in love. Maybe it was just the weather. Who could stay cheery when there were so few hours of daylight? And in the rare moments the sun broke through the thick cloud cover, she didn’t want to go out into the frigid air to let the sunlight touch her skin.
Or perhaps it wasn’t the weather that bothered her so much as the lack of travelers to the inn. Normally, she didn’t mind the quiet of the winter, but after Revel’s surprise visit to deliver the piano, she kept hoping he would show up unannounced again.
It hadn’t yet been a month since he and Connor had joined them for a chapel service and Sunday lunch, then left for Good Springs. She should have known better than to expect Revel again so soon. And they knew better than to travel this time of the year if they didn’t have to. The road was long and hazardous when the path was obscured by snow.
Whatever business Revel and Connor had back in Good Springs that was so urgent was also their secret. Eva didn’t know why they hadn’t stayed at the inn longer, and neither did Solo. Sybil hadn’t thought about it much since they left, but whatever their work was in Good Springs it must have been important.
A booming cough came from upstairs where Frederick was resting in his room. Her father hadn’t come downstairs in days. She held still and listened in case he needed her, but he began to snore again. The familiar rumble was the only sound in the otherwise quiet inn, and she immediately forgot it was there.
The big house felt too empty. Eva was out in the laundry house with Claudia. Leonard was cleaning a deer in the slaughterhouse, and Isaac and Eddie were helping Philip finish the parsonage. Even Zeke was out in the stable block, doing chores with Solo.
It felt like everyone had someone to talk to but her.
She leaned across the countertop to look out the window toward the snow-dusted greenhouse. A slender figure moved about on the other side of the foggy panes. It must be cold in the greenhouse with no fireplace. How could Bailey stand to work out there all day in the cold? She’d insisted that it was warm enough. She’d also insisted it didn’t smell bad, but Sybil didn’t agree with that either.
The greenhouse door opened and Bailey stepped out, wearing trousers as she always did. Wind whipped her scarf away from her face. She snatched it back with fast reflexes and tucked it into the collar of her burgundy wool coat. Her lips moved as if she�
�d told the wind exactly what she thought of it.
Knowing Bailey, she probably had.
Sybil watched to see where Bailey was headed. Glee bubbled up in her heart as Bailey walked toward the inn. At last, someone to talk to!
When Bailey climbed the steps, Sybil hurried to the side door and opened it. “Quickly now! Come into the kitchen where it’s warm. I’ll put on the kettle for coffee.”
Bailey made that face where she furrowed her brow and chuckled at the same time as if Sybil was being ridiculous. She peeled off her scarf then hung it and her coat on the rack in the hallway. “It isn’t that bad out. I’ll take you up on that coffee though.”
Sybil glanced back at the hallway to make sure Bailey was coming into the kitchen. The inner quiver of loneliness didn’t settle until she saw Bailey round the kitchen doorway and sit at the dinette table. The joy of having company made her smile. “I’m ready for spring to come. How about you?”
When Bailey pulled off her knit cap, her cropped sable hair rose with static until she smoothed it with both hands. “I guess so. The saplings are only six weeks old and they’re already two feet tall. They’ll definitely be ready to plant when the ground thaws. I want to take them to the southern villages as soon as it’s warm enough to plant.”
Just the opening Sybil was waiting for. She measured coffee leaves into the strainer, hoping not to seem eager for information. “Maybe Revel could help you take the saplings to the other villages.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
She waited for Bailey to elaborate, but she didn’t.
It was possible Bailey and Revel were only friends. But something about the way Bailey had stayed near him and Connor when they were here made Sybil think it was worth another try. While the coffee brewed, she set the cookie jar on the table and opened the lid. “Don’t you think it would be nice if Revel came back to Falls Creek more often?”
Bailey took an oatmeal cookie and bit a perfect half circle out of its edge. “If that’s what he wants.”
No matter how relaxed Bailey was about Revel, Sybil couldn’t let it go. “Since Revel will be here for Eva and Solo’s wedding in the spring, maybe he could help you take the gray leaf saplings to the southern villages and then stay to help throughout the summer too.”
“Maybe.”
“He knows how important it is to plant more gray leaf trees in the western part of the Land, right?”
“He knows better than most.”
Sybil hadn’t understood most of what Connor said about the Land’s atmosphere when they were here, but she wanted to keep Bailey talking. “Unless they discovered something with their research in Good Springs and no longer believe the Land is at risk.”
Bailey popped the rest of the cookie into her mouth. “Oh, it’s always at risk of being found by the outside world. No doubt about that.”
Sybil still wasn’t sure why Connor and Revel and Bailey made such a fuss about protecting the Land when they also said it wasn’t visible to the outside world. But that didn’t bother her as much as not knowing Revel’s plans. “Well, I hope Revel comes back to Falls Creek more often. It’s so nice when he’s here, isn’t it?”
Bailey shrugged in response and pulled another cookie out of the jar. The kettle whistled, so Sybil returned to the stove and poured the hot water over the coffee leaves, allowing it to brew to a perfect translucent black. She set the steaming porcelain cups on the table and sat across from Bailey. Her tongue itched to speak what was on her mind. “I know you talked a lot with Revel when he was here. Did he talk about moving home?”
“Nope.” She stirred milk into her coffee. “Do you have any sugar?”
Sybil left the table to get the sugar bowl and sprinkled a spoonful into Bailey’s coffee. “I don’t mean to be annoying. It’s just that I wonder about my brother—if he’s happy in Good Springs. If you know anything… that is… I understand if you’re not supposed to talk about their security plans after that whole ordeal with the elders not wanting them to continue in their efforts, but it would be such a relief for me to know Revel is happy.”
Bailey set down her coffee mug and covered Sybil’s hand with hers. “Revel is fine. Trust me, Sybil. He’s better than fine. He and Connor are doing what they have to do to keep us all safe. If Revel said he’d be here for Eva’s wedding, he will. We’ll just have to wait to see him then.”
“I’m not very good at waiting.”
“Me either.” Bailey traced the rim of her cup over and over with a fingertip. “At least, I didn’t use to be.”
“What changed?”
“Coming here. This place is so peaceful, so exactly what I needed. Not just the Land, but Falls Creek, the inn.” She opened a hand to the room. “This kitchen.”
Sybil sipped her hot coffee and wished she hadn’t. She never liked coffee, but the cup’s warmth was too lovely to set it down. She glanced around the room where she spent most of her waking hours. “I usually enjoy being in here all day, cooking. Lately, I’m restless.”
Bailey lowered her chin and repeated Sybil’s question. “So what’s changed?”
“I’m in love.”
“Shouldn’t that make you happier?”
Sybil almost laughed. “One would think.”
“Why does it make you restless?”
She hadn’t really thought it through. It was just a feeling, a longing that seemed to deepen with each winter day. “I want my family back together, especially if Isaac and I have a future here.” She lowered her voice even though no one was in the house except her sleeping father. “If we marry and have a family—and there are a lot of ifs right now—but if we do, I want my mother to live here. And since she was miserable after Revel left, I think she would only come back if he moved home. And I think James would come back if Revel did.”
Bailey angled her head. “You know you’re totally capable of raising a family without your mother, right?”
She’d never imagined it and didn’t want to. She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out.
Bailey nodded slightly, sadly. “That’s what’s eating your lunch, huh?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You miss your family all living under one roof, but being in love usually makes a grown woman think less about her family of origin and more about her future. So Revel moving back isn’t what’s bothering you. It’s not having your mom here to teach you how to be a mother that’s freaking you out.”
The pretty outsider used more odd phrases than Sybil could keep up with, but there was some truth to her assessment. “That might be over-simplifying things.”
Bailey finished her coffee then grinned. “That’s what I do.”
Sybil had to chuckle. Talking to Bailey was fun. Maybe not as rich as talking to Philip or as enthralling as talking with Isaac, but refreshing nonetheless. And much needed. She didn’t want Bailey to leave the kitchen just yet. “Would you like a refill?”
“No, thanks.”
She slid the cookie jar closer. “Another cookie?”
“Nah. I’m good.” Bailey stood and pushed the chair back into place under the little table. “Thanks for the pick-me-up. I’d better get back to work.”
“You’re welcome.” She carried the cups to the sink, Bailey’s empty, hers untouched. “You’re always welcome in my kitchen.”
* * *
Sweat ran down Isaac’s forehead as he hammered the wallboard in what would soon be the overseer’s bedroom. He loosened his scarf as he walked to the doorway, then tossed it across the house. It landed on his coat which was draped over a chair near the fireplace. The warmth of one gray leaf log would be plenty in a house this size, but Philip had two burning on the grate. He was probably used to the uninsulated chapel losing heat. Since Isaac had managed the carpentry work on the parsonage, the overseer would soon have a comfortable home that held its heat even on the coldest of nights.
After securing the last of the wallboard in place, Isaac glanced out the window, look
ing for Eddie. He had left for the outhouse an hour ago, complaining about the plumbing in the house not being finished yet. Isaac had a clear view of the outhouse from the bedroom window and the door was wide open. Eddie was nowhere to be seen.
Since winter had set in, Isaac saw less and less of Eddie during the workday. Hopefully, Leonard had noticed Eddie’s fickle ethics. No good farm manager crawled under the covers just because it was cold out.
Isaac stepped into the parsonage’s only other room—a half-parlor half-kitchen with a humming fireplace. He paused a few feet from Philip. “Have you seen Eddie?”
Philip held a handsaw over a piece of wall trim. “Not since lunch.”
Isaac didn’t appreciate how Philip was always the last to leave the dining hall after meals. He knew the overseer stayed there to help Eva straighten up the room ever since their misunderstanding, but it made him wonder if it also had something to do with the overseer’s growing friendship with Sybil. She sure seemed to enjoy talking with Philip, and they already spent Sunday mornings alone together in the chapel while she rehearsed for the service. Did the overseer have to stay in the inn after meals now too?
The pit in Isaac’s stomach reminded him of how he felt when his father favored his brother. He had left Southpoint and tried to ignore those old ways of thinking, yet here he was in a new place still competing for someone’s affection. At least that’s how it felt.
Jealousy served no fruitful purpose. He had to put these petty feelings aside. Philip Roberts was the church leader and a good man. He’d done nothing to offend Isaac and was a hard worker. He might even become an ally in Isaac’s competition with Eddie.
Isaac smoothed the trim Philip had installed around the bedroom doorway. “Good work.”
“Thank you. I’m just following your lead. I’m not much of a carpenter.” He pushed his spectacles higher on his nose just like Isaac’s grandfather used to do when his slipped.
Uncharted Promises (The Uncharted Series Book 8) Page 14