It was Taylor’s pleasure to bring news of William Bein’s arrest for embezzlement. He found Sara Beth in the kitchen garden, digging onions.
“Hello there.”
Grinning, she whirled and dusted off her hands. “Taylor! I’m so glad to see you. If I had known you were coming I would have washed up and put on a pretty frock.”
“You look beautiful to me,” he said, ignoring the dirt and taking her hands. “I brought news.”
“What?”
“Your nemesis has been arrested for robbing the U.S. Mint. The investigators watched him till they caught him red-handed. He even admitted the theft.”
“Really? Oh, my. What about Papa Robert? Did Bein’s confession clear him?”
“It looks like it may. According to Tom King, the United States Grand Jury is planning to indict their boss, Augustin Harazthy. Once that happens, the whole truth should come out.”
The look of relief on her face was so immeasurable he didn’t know what else to say. Instead of more words, he decided to let his actions speak for him.
Tilting her chin up with one finger, he placed a gentle kiss on the lips he had yearned to kiss again for literally months. When she melted against him, he was astounded by how perfect she was. How lovely. How dear.
He stepped back, staggered by the effect of that one simple kiss.
Sara Beth’s eyes held a dreamy look and her lips began to lift in the whisper of a smile. She sighed before she said, “I thought you would never get around to doing that again.” The smile spread to include her eyes, her rosy cheeks. “It was even better than the first time.”
“Perhaps you’re learning,” Taylor teased.
“Or you are,” she countered, laughing. “Let’s just promise to keep practicing till we’re sure it’s perfect.”
“You are already so perfect it takes my breath away,” he confessed. “I don’t know how much longer I can continue to be the kind of gentleman you deserve.”
“Then I suggest you stop stalling and marry me,” Sara Beth said boldly. She took him by the hand. “Come. I have something special to show you.”
Although he knew he wasn’t financially ready to take a bride, he also knew it was not fair to Sara Beth to keep delaying. She was a good woman. She deserved a proper wedding and a suitable home. He had saved some money but not nearly enough to set up housekeeping. What could he do? What should he do?
She led him into the kitchen and pointed to the table. “Sit there.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, much to Clara’s—and Sara Beth’s—obvious amusement.
“I had not heard about William Bein’s arrest, but I did receive an official document from the court this morning.” She reached into her apron pocket and unfolded a piece of paper. “It says that the title to the family house and property is mine.”
Taylor started to rise, intending to give her a congratulatory hug. She stopped him with an upraised hand. “Wait. There’s more.”
“More? What else was there?”
“Just this,” she said as she reached into a cupboard beneath the sink and pulled out a slab of wood. “I had it made from the mahogany that was salvaged from the upstairs hall after the fire. I couldn’t think of a better source, and I wanted it as a memento, too.”
Flipping the board around, she proudly displayed it.
Taylor was afraid he was going to disgrace himself by weeping. He blinked as he struggled to control his emotions. It was a new shingle. A sign that declared, “Doctor Taylor Hayward” in gilt letters. Below that was the address on Pike Street.
It took him several seconds to see what she was getting at. “How could you have known to do that?”
“I didn’t,” Sara Beth said. “It was just a dream I had and I figured it was best to act as if I were positive it would come true.” Grinning, she handed him the sign. “We’ll not only have a place to live, you’ll be able to stop paying rent on a separate office and we’ll have plenty of extra money.”
Laughing, he laid aside the sign and stood to embrace her. “When you get your mind set on something you don’t give up, do you?”
“No, I don’t. You should be delighted because that means I’m never going to stop loving you.”
“And I will always be totally yours,” Taylor vowed. “Set a date. We’re getting married just as soon as we can.”
Epilogue
Sara Beth had not asked her brothers to call her “Mama” it had simply happened naturally after she and Taylor had had a son of their own.
Luke was currently apprenticed to a saddle maker in Benecia while Mathias continued his schooling back east. Josiah, now nearly ten, had no recollection of Isabella or Robert Reese, so the transition had been easiest on him.
“Mama, there’s a man here who says you’re needed,” Josiah called from the front of the house.
Quickly removing her apron, Sara Beth hurried to the parlor and found a harried husband, pacing, hat in hand. “Is it time?” she asked him.
“Yes’m. She says so.”
“Well, it’s her fourth baby, so we have to assume she knows,” Sara Beth said. She turned to Josiah. “Watch your brother for me till your papa gets home, will you? He was making the circuit to Mission Dolores today, so he shouldn’t be very late getting back. Supper’s on the stove and there are cookies you can share if you get hungry before then.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And tell your father that he won’t be needed unless I send for him.” The look on the boy’s face made her smile.
“I have been a midwife for longer than he had been a doctor when we met,” she said. “My patients and I will be fine.”
Swinging a shawl over her shoulders, she picked up a black bag that was identical in size and shape to the one Taylor carried. He never seemed to tire of telling her how much he admired her and her work. That, and having a chance to help other women, was enough for Sara Beth.
She smiled as she turned to the expectant father. “Let’s be going. Babies don’t wait for anything and I can hardly wait to greet your newest family member.”
Dear Reader,
As I was researching this book I found an amazing number of disturbing facts about life in San Francisco in 1856–57. For the sake of carrying the story along I have compressed the outcome slightly. The results remain accurate. Naturally, the Reese family and Dr. Hayward are fictitious, but the background is all too real. If I had not read this history for myself I would not have believed it.
Sara Beth has the spirit of a pioneer and the heart of a loving Christian, yet she faces many hardships and dangers during the course of this book. That kind of difficulty is not unusual, as I have learned during my years as a believer. We may be saved for eternity, yes, but we still have to do the best we can with what we are given. I firmly believe that it is by finding God’s peace amidst trials that we truly blossom and grow.
I love to hear from my readers. The easiest way to reach me is by e-mail, [email protected] or send a letter to P.O. Box 13, Glencoe, AR 72539. You can also see my other work at valeriehansen.com.
Blessings,
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Did it seem unusual to you that Sara Beth would venture out at night? Why? Is she acting irresponsibly by taking her younger siblings along? What else could she have done?
Have you ever known and accepted someone as different from the mainstream as old Abe Warner is? How did you manage to get past first impressions?
Do you think that being a Christian helps people accept others, or can it be an additional reason to be overly critical? What did Jesus do?
Once her parents were deceased, Sara Beth sought out the orphanage for help for her family. Was there something else she could have done?
Dr. Taylor Hayward actually studied at a medical school. Had most doctors in that era done so? Why not?
When Sara Beth says she wants to become a doctor, too, Abe and others laugh at her. Why was this dream so laughable back then? Did a young woman have a
ny other options? Why or why not?
Politics in nineteenth-century San Francisco were in turmoil. Now that we have become more aware of what is going on in the world, would it still be possible for the authorities to be so corrupt without being caught at it? Why or why not?
Were you surprised that there were so many newspapers in the city and that they were also very politically oriented?
When the Vigilance Committee took the law into its own hands, was it right or wrong, given the unfairness of the legal system? What would you have done?
Earthquakes were very common in San Francisco in the 1800s and still are today. Would you be afraid to live there, or would you just accept the shaking because it happened so often?
Sara Beth is worried that Taylor will not want to marry her because of her stepfather’s tarnished reputation. Is that a fair assessment, or should she have given him the benefit of the doubt?
Why do you think she failed to ask him to be specific about his intentions? Was she afraid of what he might say?
When Taylor takes on Sara Beth’s whole family, is he exceptional, or was that the norm in those days? What would you have done?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5703-4
THE DOCTOR’S NEWFOUND FAMILY
Copyright © 2010 by Valerie Whisenand
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
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