And yet, when he leaned closer to the mirror and stared into his own dark gray eyes, he knew, deep down in his soul where his heart lived, he was different.
He finally understood what his brother had tried to make him see time and time again, that loving someone and sharing your life with someone who loved you back—it wasn’t a burden. It was a blessing.
Chance laughed at his reflection and shook his head in amazement. He thought about how much of his life he had wasted running from the very thing he now knew he couldn’t live without. His family.
Joy filled his chest. He had to tell Olivia right away. He wanted her to know that he had fallen in love with his little spinster school teacher and he was never going to let go of her and their new family.
Chance dressed, combed his hair, and headed down the stairs to find his copies of the telegrams he sent last—the ones that would show Olivia he had changed his mind.
He grabbed them from the desk drawer, pulled his hat and coat from the hall tree by the front door and was reaching for the doorknob when a knock interrupted him.
He opened the door to see Liam and John standing on his front porch.
“Sorry, gentlemen. I don’t have time to visit this morning. I must find Olivia and the children to tell them something I should have told them weeks ago, so if you will excuse me—”
John stopped Chance in mid-sentence with his big hand on Chance’s shoulder.
“I’m afraid we have some bad news.”
He watched his giant of a friend cut a sad look toward Liam who sent him a sympathetic look in return.
A sense of dread replaced Chance’s joy and his stomach roiled in panic. “What is it?” He looked from Liam’s face to John’s face and back again.
“Has something happened to Olivia? The children? Damn it, just tell me what it is,” he demanded, grabbing Liam by the front of his coat.
Liam grabbed him by the arms to hold him in place. “Olivia and the children were at the new school’s construction site, and something happened. We think it was the rope that held the main beam—it broke or came loose while Olivia and the children were inside one of the schoolrooms—”
“Where are they now?” Chance pushed his arms through his coat sleeves and jabbed his hat on his head. “Tell me where they are!”
John spoke. “They are at Doc Howard’s office being looked at. Sheriff Grayson is there now to determine if negligence was to blame or if this was just a tragic accident—”
Chance stopped short and could barely get his words out, fear punching his chest, nearly doubling him over with pain.
“Tragic accident?” The word tragic could only mean one thing. Olivia or one of the children had been killed.
He left the front door of his home standing wide open and ran the few blocks from his house to Doc Howard’s office. He knew John and Liam were close behind him for he could hear their labored breaths as they tried to keep up with his pace.
He turned at the corner and ran the half block to the alleyway that led to Doc Howard’s office. The sight that greeted him nearly brought him to his knees.
A crowd of about forty people were blocking the entrance to the doctor’s office, but when he arrived they parted to let him through, much like the story in the bible of Moses when he parted the water.
Chance watched the sympathetic faces of the people gathered around. His footsteps slowed and he felt as if he were walking through quicksand. Finally, he reached the front door and it opened for him. Standing just inside was Sheriff Grayson and Liam and John’s wives, Faith and Grace.
“Chance.” Grace reached out and touched his arm in sympathy.
“Where is my family?” Chance could barely get the words out but he had to know.
The sheriff stepped up and spoke. “Mr. Garrison, your wife and children were visiting—”
“The school, I know that. And the main beam fell. What I don’t know is where they are or how they are? Can anybody tell me that!” he demanded.
Before the sheriff could tell him, a man in a white coat stepped out from behind a curtain. “Are you Mr. Garrison?”
Chance’s heart pounded in his chest. “Yes.”
“I’m Doctor Howard. Why don’t you step in here and I’ll give you all the information I can.” The man pulled the curtain back and stepped aside to let Chance pass. He wasn’t certain he was ready for what lay behind that curtain, and yet he had to know.
He took a deep breath and walked through the doorway. There was a hallway and a door off to the right.
“Follow me.” The doctor let the curtain fall behind them and led the way down the short hallway turning in to the doorway. There sat four terrified little children, a bit battered and bruised, but living and breathing.
Chance’s relief gushed out with the breath he had been holding. He squatted on the floor and all four children crushed him with their hugs. Amanda cried. Charlie’s arm was in a sling. Evan had a giant goose egg on his forehead and Tara seemed uninjured but she shivered uncontrollably in his arms.
He wanted to ask about Olivia but fear of the possibilities kept him quiet for the moment. Instead, he hugged these frightened children close until he himself could gain some control over his emotions.
He leaned back and inspected each one of them until he was certain they would be alright.
“Doctor, is it alright if the children go now? I’d like to see to it they get home and in bed as soon as possible.”
“Yes, yes, that’s perfectly fine. They are lucky. They have bumps and bruises. Charlie here has a bad sprain but he’ll be right as rain in a week or so.”
“Good.” He still wasn’t ready to hear what must be really bad news regarding Olivia if the doctor wasn’t mentioning her in front of the children. “Charlie, take your brother and sisters out front and tell Mrs. Malone and Mrs. O’Brien to take you home and get you settled in. Tell them I’ll be there...when I can.”
“Uncle Chance, what about Ollie?” Little Tara asked. He had no idea what to tell them so he ushered them out the door, but he did his best to reassure them. “She’s going to be just fine. Now, run along. I’ll be home soon. Everything is going to be just fine. I promise.” He repeated his words because he couldn’t bear to think Olivia could be anything but fine. “Now go on. And don’t give the ladies any trouble.” He prayed he could keep his promise to these children who had already lost so much.
The somber look on their faces spoke volumes. “Go on.” He smiled as his voice broke when he urged them down the hall. This couldn’t be happening. These kids had already been through hell, and now the person they depended on, the person they trusted, the woman they considered their best friend, could be seriously injured—or worse.
He watched them disappear on the other side of the curtain, then he turned to the doctor and said the words he dreaded. “Is she...dead?” He braced himself for the worst.
The doctor shook his head. “No, she isn’t dead, but she is going to need surgery as soon as possible. The workmen that were present when the accident happened told the sheriff the rope holding the beam broke and it fell. Your wife must have seen what was happening and pushed the children out of the way. She took the brunt of the beam’s impact, but lucky for her, she didn’t take a direct hit or she wouldn’t have survived at all.
Chance’s hands shook. He stuffed them in his coat pocket. “I want to see her. Is she conscious?”
“No, she isn’t conscious, but you can see her. This way.”
The doctor led Chance through another doorway on the other side of the room. His legs nearly buckled beneath him when he saw her pale figure lying on the bed under a white blanket.
“You can have a few moments, Mr. Garrison, but I need to operate as soon as possible. I’m afraid she has some internal bleeding and if it isn’t stopped—”
Doctor Howard didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. Chance knew what he meant.
He pulled up a chair next to the bed and took Olivia’s hand in hi
s. It felt cold and lifeless. Like him. A month ago, he hadn’t been able to imagine his life with a wife and a family. Now, just a few short weeks later, he couldn’t imagine his life without them. Tears stung his eyes and he didn’t bother to hide them.
Chance lay his cheek against this remarkable woman’s hand and let his tears fall into her palm.
“Olivia. Olivia. Please come back to me. Don’t leave me here alone. I can’t do this without you,” he pleaded, even though he knew she couldn’t hear him.
A hand on his shoulder let him know his time was up. He nodded in understanding and kissed his wife’s hand again. “Please, God. Don’t let this be the last time,” he prayed.
“If you want to go home to be with your children, Mr. Garrison, I’ll send word when the surgery is over.”
“I’m not leaving my wife. I’ll be right outside.”
Chance stood and kissed Olivia’s mouth. “This isn’t goodbye, my love.” He lingered, relishing the feel of her mouth against his. “Please, God. Have mercy on me and those children. We can’t—do this without our little school teacher by our side.” He repeated his prayer hoping the Good Lord would have mercy on him. It was too cruel to think he had waited this late in his life to find love only to lose it a short time later.
The nurse escorted him through the curtain and closed it behind him. The crowd had dispersed and only Liam and John remained. Sheriff Grayson stood guard outside to keep any curious bystanders from entering.
His friends didn’t say anything. They just took their seats beside him and all three of them stared at the wall across the room. Voices outside preceded Hiram Hanover’s appearance. “I just heard. I came as soon as I could.”
“Thank you.” It was all Chance could manage without breaking down and he was afraid if he lost control, he couldn’t pull back from the brink of insanity—and the children were counting on him.
An hour went by. Then two. Then three. He remembered Grace’s other sister, Hope, came by and brought them cold ham and fresh baked bread sandwiches. But he couldn’t make himself eat. It tasted like sawdust to him.
Another hour had passed when Doctor Howard finally pulled the curtain back and stepped inside the waiting area. Chance’s heart stopped in expectation.
“The surgery went as well as could be expected. She has five fractured ribs on her right side, one punctured her lung. We had to aspirate the pneumothorax and her breathing seems to have returned to normal, but we will continue to watch her to make certain there are no secondary problems in that area.
“I was able to stop her internal bleeding. She has a broken right arm and multiple cuts, some were severe enough to need stitches, but she should be good as new in a couple of months.”
John and Liam slapped him on the back “Congratulations, Chance.”
He grinned from ear to ear. “I need to get home and tell my children their mother is going to be just fine.”
Chapter 17
Olivia sensed something was terribly wrong, but her mind was so befuddled she couldn’t make sense of anything. She lay still and let her ears take the lead since her eyelids refused to cooperate.
She listened for any sounds that would explain where she was, but all she could pick out was the occasional muted rattle of a wagon or clip clop of horse hooves somewhere off in the distance.
“Olivia? Can you hear me? You have to wake up. Please, sweetheart. Please come back to me.”
She recognized the voice. It was Chance. He called her sweetheart. But why?
Memories of this morning came flooding back to her. She had answered the door and accepted the telegraph messages left by the clerk. She had meant to leave them on the table by the front door for her sleeping husband, but when the words boarding school and train tickets caught her attention, she couldn’t curb her curiosity. When she finished with the last one, she realized she had been played and he was leaving her just like she knew he would. And with the children. Her children.
She took a deep sigh and tried to push away the pain of betrayal. Instead, her body felt pain—everywhere. Her mind still confused and her body refusing to obey her commands, she felt the sting of tears pool behind her eyelids and slip down the side of her face.
“Olivia! Talk to me. Doctor, I think she’s waking up. Doctor Howard, can you hear me?” Chance’s voice sounded desperate. And very loud.
“Could you please not scream. It seems I have a roaring headache.” She managed to get her words out in a whisper between parched lips.
She felt cool hands clutching her fingers and she heard the sounds of rapid footsteps growing closer.
Soon, more hands were touching her forehead. Her throat. Her wrist. She wasn’t one to curse normally, but she really did want to know what the hell was going on.
“Olivia? Can you open your eyes for me?” Another voice spoke. She didn’t recognize it. “Olivia. Open your eyes.” The voice demanded.
She wanted to tell it she was trying to open her eyes, but they wouldn’t cooperate when finally they did. She found herself staring up at a white ceiling and two faces peering down at her. One belonged to a man dressed in a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck. The other belonged to her traitorous, devastatingly handsome, unkempt, haggard looking husband. He was quite frightful to look at. “You look like you’ve been run over by John Malone’s freight wagon.”
A sudden thought hit her confusion giving her immediate clarity. “Where are the children? The beam fell and—” She tried to sit up but the sharp jabs of pain hit her from everywhere.
“Please, be still, Olivia. Don’t move. Let the doctor have a look at you. The children are fine. Thanks to you, they are perfectly fine.” She heard the emotion in Chance’s voice, and for the first time since she awoke, she really looked at him.
Dark shadows pooled under his eyes. His hair was unkempt. And his beard, it was thick and full—wait a moment. She had just seen him this morning in her bed and he barely had any growth at all.
“How—how long have I been unconscious? I took the children to the school this morning and—”
Chance pulled his chair closer pushing the doctor out of the way. “Olivia. You’ve been unconscious nearly two weeks.”
Olivia could hardly believe her ears. “Two weeks?”
“Doctor Howard here had to do surgery. And set your arm and fix your broken ribs. It seems you pushed the children out of the way when the beam came crashing toward you.”
“Yes, Mrs. Garrison. You had several very serious injuries. I’ve kept you sedated to help alleviate your pain and keep you still until your body had a chance to begin healing.”
“I see.” Olivia’s memories of that morning came rushing back.
“I thought you had left me, sweetheart.” She heard Chance say.
“I did leave you, Chance.” Tears burned again. “I know all about your scheme to take the children back to Boston. Don’t bother to deny it. I read the telegrams from your attorney, and the boarding school headmaster, and I know about the renovations of your home.”
“Olivia, I’ll admit that was true in the beginning. I did send those messages, but I sent them weeks ago. I was so sure you were up to something, I had to have an alternative plan knowing that my brother’s will had given you custody of his children.”
“Please don’t think me a fool, Chance. It’s plain to see what you think of me. I’m not surprised. Madame Wigg always told us girls—”
“I’m not that man, Olivia. I swear, I’m not that man.”
Olivia saw the raw emotion on his crumpled face. This wasn’t something she had expected to see from him.
He let go of her hand and dug into his wrinkled shirt pocket. “See, here are the copies of the most recent telegrams I sent. See? I asked them to postpone the renovations. And this one to my attorney. And the headmaster. I even turned in the train tickets.”
She took in a shallow breath, trying to find her courage. This wasn’t going to be easy to say, but it was the right thing to do.<
br />
“Chance, perhaps you are a good man. An honorable man, but just because this accident happened at a most unfortunate time in our relationship, does not mean I am going to change my expectations now and tie you to my side.”
“What are you saying, Olivia?” His handsome face creased in worry.
She took another cautious breath to keep her ribs from hurting. “I’m saying that we made no promises to each other, and just because I’m injured, doesn’t mean you have to stay with me. I told you I was made of strong stock and I don’t want you to stay out of a sense of obligation. I couldn’t bear it if—”
“But I do owe you, Olivia. Don’t you see?”
Another kind of pain punched her heart as if to say, “I told you so.” As much as she hoped he would stay because he cared for her, he had just admitted to her he would stay out of a sense of obligation, and she refused to allow it. Before she could send him away, he continued.
“I owe you for making me see the possibilities my life could be if I stopped running from love. I had already fallen in love with you before we made love, Olivia. Days. Weeks. I don’t remember the exact hour or minute, but I do know I can no longer live my life without you in it.
“Yes, I do feel obligated. But in the most magnificent way. I owe you a life full of happiness and love.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You mean...you love me?”
“Yes, I love you with all my heart and soul and I prayed to a merciful God not to take you from me.” He kissed her hand and stroked it against the side of his bearded face. Let me take you home,” he begged. “Let me spend the rest of my life making you feel my love, my wife.”
Olivia smiled through her tears. “I’d be honored, my husband.”
Epilogue
The cool, crisp night air of early September seeped into Olivia’s bones forcing her to snuggle closer to her husband’s warmth in the bed they shared as husband and wife.
She stared out the stained-glass window at the heavenly stars and picked out the brightest one in the sky. Her thoughts drifted to the man responsible for her happiness. She sighed as her thoughts took her back over the last summer.
Olivia’s Obligation: The Alphabet Mail Order Brides Page 14