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Chapter One
Lily looked back at the town where she’d grown up, loved, laughed, and enjoyed so much. Leaving it behind was painful and difficult, but necessary.
“Do we have to go?” Sophia asked. Her little face looked at Lily, full of uncertainty.
“I’m afraid we do.” Lily pasted a smile on her face that she didn’t quite feel. She was determined to make the best of moving to Farrow, Colorado. She pulled Sophia close as she leaned against the window of the train while Chicago disappeared completely from view.
“Why?”
“There are people there who need our help.” Dr. Leonel told her about the waves of flu moving through little towns out west. The reverend of Farrow, Colorado, asked for help, and Dr. Leonel couldn’t turn a blind eye. He wasn’t able to go himself, so the next best solution was to send Lily. She was looking for a new opportunity, a way to start over after she lost everything.
She knew it was the right decision to go to Colorado, but that didn’t make it any easier. She had always wanted to serve other people in some important way, but leaving everything she knew behind was hard.
Empty fields and tumbleweeds filled the landscape outside. She was trying to trust God that she was going to the right place, where she was truly needed. For the past three years, she had worked under Dr. Leonel as a nurse. Now she would have the chance to put all of those skills to use out West.
“What will Colorado be like?” Sophia asked, leaning her blonde head against Lily’s shoulder. Sophia was her niece and recently, Lily’s ward.
Lily loved her more than anything. However, she never expected to be responsible for Sophia. There was a time when she dreamed of love, of having a family, a husband, all of that. There was even a time she thought she was in love. His name was Dan. She thought she’d marry him, but he’d betrayed her. It still stung when she thought about it.
“It will be good. Just wait and see.”
Her sister Meredith had been so excited to be a mother. Lily smiled as she remembered the many times they talked about everything they would do together to welcome the new baby. The past six years had been full of happiness and joy as Sophia brightened everyone’s world. Meredith struggled with having children after Sophia, or she would have had a little sibling.
The thought of Meredith sent an ache through Lily. She missed her sister. She missed her parents. She missed the sense of family that she had a short time ago.
“Try to get some sleep. It is going to be a while till we get to the next town.” Lily had never left Chicago before. She had heard about the other cities and the Wild West, but she never thought she would be traveling there.
“Dear Lord, please protect us on our journey and give me guidance and strength to take care of Sophia.” She whispered the prayer, heartfelt and full of love. She was afraid that she would not be strong enough to take care of Sophia with what they were going to face. As a doctor’s helper in Colorado, the Reverend promised to find her and Sophia somewhere to stay while they were there. At first, she wouldn’t have to worry about covering expenses for a place to live, but eventually, the money she made from being a nurse was going to have to pay for all of their needs.
She’d seen how much Meredith and her husband had struggled with their little family of three. Now, she didn’t have anyone in her life to help her; it was just her and Sophia against the world.
The dreams she might have had at one time to have a family of her own had vanished. They were replaced with wanting to give Sophia every advantage she could. She’d already been certain that finding love, exposing her heart in such a way, was not worth the risk. Now that she was responsible for Sophia, the idea of love was almost laughable. Her commitment to Sophia came first.
Her hands tightened around her satchel, where her mother’s Bible sat wrapped in her favorite shawl. It was a comfort to have it with her, and in a way, it felt as if she had a piece of her parents with her, too. Both of them had taught her the importance of following God and trusting in Him when things seemed difficult to handle. This was one of those situations that felt out of her control. She decided to follow her own advice, leaned her head against the window, and closed her eyes. Hopefully, when she awoke, it would be time to take a break from the train, and they would be ever closer to their destination.
—*—
Lily tugged Sophia forward. They had stopped for half a day in Denver to rest before continuing to Colorado. She was lucky that the trains had advanced in the last several years. It made a trip that would have taken several weeks in the past, only take a few days. Despite this, it was tiring to travel, and she could tell that it was difficult for Sophia as well.
She didn’t know how much access she would have to things when she got to Farrow, Colorado. She wanted to go to a couple of shops and see what she could get Sophia for Christmas. After all, it was only weeks away, and it was Sophia’s favorite time of year. After she lost so many things, the least Lily could do was make sure that Sophia had a wonderful Christmas.
As she wandered from shop to shop, she noticed the difference that there was between Chicago and Denver. They were similar, though Denver was much smaller. She missed the anonymity of the big city, and the familiar buildings and streets. Back in Chicago, she knew where to find everything. She would have already finished her shopping with plenty of time to spare.
Either way, she got by asking people passing where to find each item. She tried to ask her questions and do her shopping outside of Sophia’s view. Half of the fun of Christmas was keeping the gifts a secret. She was worried about getting back to the train in time, and after visiting three different shops, she found a couple of the things she was looking for, which she had wrapped in brown paper and tucked into her satchel.
“Hurry, Sophia!”
“I’m coming,” Sophia said, struggling to keep up.
“The train will leave without us.” Even as she said it, Lily certainly hoped that wasn’t the case. She quickened her pace, practically running as the train let out a loud whistle. They managed to make it to the train station just as the other passengers started to board. Lily was still breathing hard when they found their seats.
“That was exciting, wasn’t it?”
“I suppose.” Sophia didn’t look so convinced. “I want to go home.”
“I know.” Lily knew better than she expressed. She found herself wishing that they could go home, that she could go back to a time full of laughter and people that she loved. Instead, they were heading to a strange town in the middle of nowhere where she knew no one.
“What if we can’t do Christmas at our new home?”
“Why wouldn’t we be able to do Christmas at our new home?” Warmth filled her at the idea of the end of the year. No matter what they had been through or what they would face, she knew that it would be a special time for her and her niece.
Every single year since Sophia was born, she had worked with Meredith to make Christmas a special occasion for the whole family. It was a time of laughter, giving, and miracles.
The train lurched, and Lily put her arm out to stop Sophia from falling forward. Her niece was fragile, and she noticed how much she missed her parents and how difficult all of the changes were for her.
“Don’t worry, Sophia. No matter what happens, I’m going to make sure that we have the best Christmas ever.”
Sophia’s eyes lit up like candles.
“Thank you,” she said. “I can’t wait.”
The idea of Christmas was pulling her through, like a light in the dark promising a perfect time at the end of the current turmoil she was going through. One day at a time, one moment at a time. Things didn’t have to be perfect, or make sense. She didn’t have to have all of the answers. She would keep going, and keep moving forward, trusting in God. Somehow, things would start to make sense again soon.
Chapter Two
Jacob pressed his knife into the wood below him. He loved how the satisfying curls of the material fell to the floor in a golden pile. He was working on a set of cabinets. Mr. Smith was purchasing them for his wife’s kitchen.
Besides being the town carpenter, he was also a bit of a handyman. He always managed to find jobs around town, whether that was fixing someone’s door, their roof, or fence, or even being a cattle rancher for the day. It all depended on how much he needed a job and how much people needed a worker.
He preferred to keep busy, as opposed to having his day free. When he had nothing to do, it gave him too much time to think. When he started thinking, it dredged up all sorts of memories from the past that he would rather stay buried.
The door to his shop burst open, and Jonah stepped inside. His curly blond hair was a mess, so out of order that one would assume he never ran a comb or a brush through it. For all Jacob knew, he didn’t. His green eyes settled on Jacob’s latest project.
“You’re still not finished with that frame? I have to say it feels like your projects take forever.” Jonah chuckled and sat down on a half-done chair that was sitting across the room. He sat on the chair backward, resting his arms on the back as he watched Jacob work.
“Well, when I moved here, I imagined I’d be doing wagon wheels and maybe even building wagons. I never imagined I’d mainly be building cabinets and tables. But I don’t mind. It keeps me busy, for sure.”
Jonah was the one consistent friend Jacob had in town. They met shortly after Jacob moved there with his wife, Analise. His heart ached at the thought of her. She passed away almost four years before, and yet he still thought of her often. Farrow felt empty without her. Her bright smile, her laughing eyes, she was his life. He would go home feeling like a king when he knew she was waiting for him.
His stomach flipped. He tried to keep from thinking about Analise. It was painful and just made him feel helpless.
“Yes, I’m still not done with it. Not everyone can finish a project in a single afternoon.”
Jonah chuckled at his words. Jonah worked with his father, the only blacksmith in town. Most of their projects were short ones, like shoeing a horse or other simple things that could be finished in a matter of hours. It was not the same as the woodwork he so meticulously did.
“It looks like it’s coming along nicely. Are you going to have it finished for Christmas?” Jonah’s eyes twinkled with mischief. He liked to poke fun at everything and everyone. Perhaps it was the only reason they had stayed friends so long—he wasn’t offended when Jacob was honest with him. He also wasn’t offended when Jacob kept his distance. He was determined to be his friend no matter what, which Jacob had often thought of as an annoying trait, but now he realized it was the only reason he still had others who were consistently in his life.
“I plan to finish it long before Christmas. During that week, I intend to lock myself up in the house and come out once it is all over.” He loathed the end-of-year holidays. The trees, the gifts, the big meals, and the festivities all reminded him of Analise. She’d adored all of it, and since she was no longer there to enjoy any of it, neither could he with a clean conscience.
“I see your views haven’t changed in the last year. I’m not going to let you just lock yourself up for an entire week, you know. I wouldn’t be able to survive that long at my house without a short respite from it all. Visiting you is the perfect excuse.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Jacob said with a chuckle. Jonah lived in a house with six younger siblings, and all of them were quite rambunctious. As the eldest, he was often put in the position of caring for the younger ones, and they sought him out constantly.
“I suppose we’ll see,” Jonah smiled, indicating that he most certainly would be seeking Jacob out during the holidays. “For now, I better get back before my father realizes I am gone. Make sure and show me the bed frame before you sell it; I want to see how it turns out.”
Jacob nodded silently as Jonah left the shop, plunging it back into a peaceful, quiet atmosphere. The only sound was his knife scraping against the wood. He liked it that way; working alone was perfect in his opinion.
—*—
As Jacob approached the house, he could see that they had company. Sitting outside the cabin that he shared with his sister was a familiar black carriage. The Reverend was visiting. For a moment, worry surged through Jacob. The Reverend often delivered bad news.
The only person he had in his life was Selah. If anything happened to her… He quickened his pace.
He let out a silent sigh of relief when he spotted his sister, Selah, sitting at the dining room table with the Reverend. They were deep in conversation, and both of their faces lit up when they spotted Jacob.
“Reverend Michael, I didn’t expect to see you here this evening.”
Reverend Michael stood from the table and shook his hand. “It’s always a pleasure, Jacob. I came to talk to you and Selah about something very important. I’m sure you have heard about all of the cases of the flu going around town. Some of them have gotten quite serious.”
“Of course. We’re very sad to hear about the lives it has already claimed. Is there anything we can do to help?”
“Actually, there is. It’s precisely why I’ve come to visit you this evening. I am looking for someone who can do me an immense favor and who can help everyone, I would suspect.”
The Reverend had a smile on his face as he looked between Selah and Jacob. “He says that a new nurse is coming to town to help the patients. To help more people get well from the flu with more attention.” Selah’s face lit up with excitement. She was present in church every single week and loved helping people. As the town school teacher, she knew a lot about everything that happened in town and about the different children who came from various families.
It made him worry often that she would fall ill with this strange new flu going around town. After all, she had contact with children from all the families. So far, Selah had been safe, but that didn’t mean it would continue that way.
“Do you need someone to pick up the nurse at the train station?”
The train station was halfway across town, and a good 20-minute trip in the wagon. If she had a lot of things with her, she would need someone to deliver her to her new home.
“Yes, that would be a huge help, but more than that, I was hoping that she would be able to stay with you.”
“Stay here?” Jacob couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice. He was not a fan of visitors, especially someone who would be living with them.
“I wouldn’t ask if there was anyone else I could think of. A lot of the other families who live in town already have a lot of family members living with them. I figured this would be the perfect situation since Selah lives here as well; it would be proper, and since it is only the two of you, you have extra room.”
“How long would she stay?”
“She and her 6-year-old charge would stay here for a couple of months or until I could find more permanent housing. Hopefully, a place would open up in town where they could rent.”
“Her daughter?” Jacob asked.
“No, actually, it’s her niece, Sofia. It seems that Lily Edwards became responsible for her recently. I’m sure that she would be agreeable to helping around the place, and it would be very little trouble. Her niece is old enough to attend school with Selah, and Miss Edwards would be spending most of her time with the doctor tending to patients. I’m sure they wouldn’t even be here much save for at night.”
“I’m not sure…” Jacob started to imagine everything that would happen with someone living with him and Selah. Everything he was used to—the solitude and the quiet—would all be disrupted. It wasn’t something he was excited about.
“Don’t say that, Jacob. Just think of it; we would be helping a good cause. Think of all the people that she’s going to help by being there for the doctor. You’ve heard how difficult it has been for him to keep up with his patients.”
Selah had clearly already gotten excited about the prospect of having a young woman and her niece living with them. Selah had always been more sociable and enjoyed her friendships in town and her own efforts to help others.
“Your sister is right; you would be doing a great service to this entire town. People are really suffering right now, and having another helping hand who is knowledgeable and could help put a stop to the spread of the sickness would change things around here for the better.”
“How can you say no?” Selah pleaded with her eyes. It was almost impossible to say no to her. Even though she’s a schoolteacher and an adult, she is still my little sister.
“I suppose I can’t.” He finally conceded grumpily. It seemed that everyone was determined for his home to become open to the nurse and her niece. He was just going to have to spend more time at the wood shop. Perhaps the Reverend was right and he would hardly see the two of them, considering how much they would be gone. A bit of guilt wound itself around his heart. He was being unnecessarily cold.
“Wonderful. I have to say that I very much appreciate it. This is going to change things for everyone here, and you will see that it won’t be too much trouble. I’m going to do everything I can to find another situation for both of them, but in the meantime, I know that they will be safe here.”
“Of course. I’m glad we could help.” Jacob was happy that they were making a difference for the town; he only wished that it didn’t come at the cost of his own privacy and home.
“I should go. I still have a couple more rounds to make. She will arrive tomorrow evening on the train. If you wouldn’t mind picking her up as you offered, it would be appreciated.” The Reverend smiled before stepping out of the house and going back to his carriage. Jacob watched him go, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.
Selah followed him out of the house to the porch and watched along with him as the Reverend drove away.
“Can you believe it? We are going to have a nurse here from Chicago. She must have so many interesting things to talk about. It’s been so long since I saw anyone from the city.”
“She’s not from New York.” Jacob felt a bit cruel pointing out that fact, but he couldn’t help it. New York was where he grew up and where he met his wife. It was also where their parents lived.
“I know that. I think that she is going to be wonderful, and it’s going to be nice to have another woman around here. I can’t wait to meet her. You’ll have to pick her up at the train station because I’m going to prepare something special for dinner tomorrow. Thank you for saying yes.”
She beamed at him, and he couldn’t bring himself to be angry at her for pushing him into it. He was glad that she was happy about the change; he was just going to have to adjust his life around it. It seemed that whether he liked it or not, the new nurse would be there the next day.
He made his way out to the little barn he built for their animals. Their piece of land was in town, but it was one of the last houses on the street, giving them plenty of room behind their house for a couple of things. They had two cows, which provided them with milk and butter all year round. He made sure to rotate when they had the calves so that they would never run out. It seemed like there were so many chores to be done.
He sighed, thinking about the furniture waiting back at the carpentry shop. Now, with the added complication of having to worry about a nurse and her niece, he would have even less time to keep up with his work. He didn’t really need more complications in his life.
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