Page 2 of Into the Starlight (Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing #3)

Chapter Two

Burke shook his head. He shouldn’t have been surprised, because folks back home told him he resembled his uncle, but he hadn’t expected anyone in Sweetwater Crossing to have such vivid memories of Clive that they would mistake him for his long-dead relative.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m not Clive,” he told the gray-haired woman. Though she was too old to be the minister’s wife, she acted as if she lived here. “I’m his nephew Burke, and this is Miss Della Samuels, the lady my uncle planned to marry. We came from Alabama hoping Pastor Vaughn could tell us more about my uncle’s final days. And, of course, Della wanted to see this house.”

The woman who’d opened the door stared at them, her expression reflecting sorrow rather than the shock and curiosity the older woman had displayed. Perhaps the sorrow had nothing to do with Burke and Della but was the result of a recent bereavement, because there was no mistaking her mourning garments. Taller than the woman he’d once planned to marry by four or five inches, she was a brown-eyed brunette rather than a blue-eyed blond like Edna, and unlike many women whose complexions appeared sallow when they were in mourning, she wore the unrelieved black well.

“Come in, come in,” she said, ushering them into a wide hallway with twin staircases that mirrored the ones leading to the front porch. While Della gasped at the magnificence of what should have been her home, the younger woman turned toward the child. “Noah, please ask your mama to join us in the parlor.”

When the four of them were seated in a room whose elegance rivaled any he’d seen in Alabama, with elaborate crown molding, delicately patterned wallpaper, an intricately carved mantel, and a rosewood piano, the brunette’s expression changed to chagrin. “Pardon me. I seem to have forgotten my manners. I’m Joanna Vaughn—that is, Joanna Richter—and this is Mrs. Carmichael.”

Her correction of her surname caused Burke to glance at her left hand. As he’d surmised, she wore a gold band that appeared new, confirming his assumption that her marriage was recent.

Della remained silent, as if overwhelmed by the house, but the gray-haired woman did not. “You gave me quite a shock, young man. I thought you were Clive come back from the grave.” Mrs. Carmichael’s smile was rueful. “Silly me. I should have realized that he would have aged. You can’t be much older than Clive was when he lived here.”

Before Burke could respond, a petite blond entered the room, trailed by the boy Mrs. Richter had called Noah. Had she not been introduced as Mrs. Richter’s sister Emily Ferguson, he would not have believed them to be related, for there was no physical resemblance between the two women.

“I’m so happy to meet you both.” Mrs. Ferguson turned to address Della when the introductions were complete. “My father considered Clive his closest friend and often said he wished he could have met the woman who inspired this house.”

Apparently not noticing the past tense the woman used, Della raised a questioning eyebrow. “I want to thank you for allowing Burke and me to come inside. Finley House is even more beautiful than Clive said in his letters.” She paused for a second. “Where might I find Pastor Vaughn? There are so many things I want to ask him.”

The sisters exchanged a glance, Mrs. Richter’s frown confirming Burke’s supposition that the man was deceased. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to do that. Our father died last year.”

Della made no effort to hide her distress. Tears filled her eyes, and she clasped her hands. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

She was more than sorry. She was devastated. Burke knew that Della had been counting on Clive’s friend to provide the answers she sought. While one of her goals had been to see the house, that paled compared to her desire to learn more about her fiancé’s life in this small town.

Almost as if she understood, Mrs. Richter gave Della a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry you’ve made such a long trip for naught.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned to her sister. Burke’s assumption that they were engaged in silent communication was confirmed when Mrs. Ferguson said, “If you don’t have any other plans, I hope you’ll stay here until you’re ready to return to Alabama.”

“Stay. Nice horse stay.” The boy who’d been staring out the front window appeared to have paid more attention to the adults’ conversation than Burke would have expected from one so young. Noah couldn’t be more than three or four.

A faint smile crossed Della’s face. “Thank you, but we couldn’t impose.” The look she gave Burke said she wanted nothing more than to spend a few days in what would have been her home if Clive had lived, but years of putting others’ interests ahead of her own kept her from admitting it.

Once again, Mrs. Richter seemed to have read Della’s thoughts. “It’s no imposition,” she assured Della. “There’s no hotel in Sweetwater Crossing, so my family is used to having guests.”

No hotel. When she’d asked Burke to accompany her, Della had indicated that they’d take rooms in a hotel. Now she shrugged, her somewhat sheepish expression confirming that she hadn’t realized the town lacked one.

Mrs. Ferguson nodded her agreement with her sister. “After our parents died, I turned Finley House into a boardinghouse. Right now it’s mostly family, but there’s plenty of room for both of you.”

The sheepish expression vanished, and Della’s eyes lit with pleasure. “We had planned to be here for two weeks. If that’s too long for you ...”

“Nonsense. You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you wish.” Mrs. Ferguson’s tone was firm.

When Mrs. Richter tried but failed to suppress a cough, Burke gave her a professional appraisal. She was thinner than most women, and the flush that colored her cheeks was not a blush, nor was the cough a casual clearing of the throat. Try though she might to hide it, Mrs. Richter was recovering from a serious illness, probably lung-related. Now, however, was not the time to discuss that.

Burke turned to her sister. “We will, of course, pay for our room and board.” It was the least they could do.

“Nonsense.” Mrs. Ferguson’s reply was immediate. “My family wouldn’t have had a home like this if it weren’t for you.”

Mrs. Richter seemed to agree. “The least we can do is give you a place to stay.”

“Thank you. You’re both kind and generous.” Della appeared almost overwhelmed by the prospect of spending two weeks in this house.

“I’d best get back to the kitchen, because the others will be here soon,” Mrs. Ferguson said as she looked at the clock on the mantel. “Joanna, would you show our guests to their rooms? Miss Samuels can have our parents’ room and Mr. Finley the blue one. The linens are all fresh.”

“Perhaps we could have a tour later,” Burke said when Mrs. Ferguson left the room. “I know Aunt Della has been looking forward to seeing all of Finley House.”

Della nodded. “I wondered whether it was as beautiful as Clive claimed, but what I’ve seen so far is even grander than I expected.” She smiled as she looked at the crown molding and the stained woodwork that framed the four generously sized windows.

“Father said this house was Clive’s wedding gift to you. I’ll show you the rest later, but before we go upstairs, there’s something down here that I want you to see.” Mrs. Richter rose and walked to the pocket doors at the south end of the parlor. Though it was only a short distance, Burke noticed that she stopped midway across the room to catch her breath before she said, “According to my father, this room was meant to be a surprise.”

When Mrs. Richter slid the doors open, Della gasped. “A library!” Her eyes filled with tears that might have been from happiness or regret that she would not share her delight with the man she’d lost. “Clive knew how much I love reading, but I had no idea he’d done this.” Della entered the room and walked to the floor-to-ceiling shelves on the opposite side, gazing at the books, caressing some of the spines. “I told him once that I was a librarian at heart.”

Burke hadn’t known that. “And so he gave you your own library.”

A magnificent library. What Burke guessed to be several hundred books filled the shelves, beckoning an avid reader to choose one. Though he would have furnished the room with at least two comfortable chairs, someone—probably Pastor Vaughn—had turned it into an office with a desk, desk chair, and two plain wooden chairs for visitors. This, Burke guessed, was where the minister had written sermons and met with parishioners.

Her breathing once more normal, Mrs. Richter moved to Della’s side. “I hope you don’t mind, but until a couple years ago, this was Sweetwater Crossing’s unofficial library. My father lent books to anyone who wanted to read.”

Far from being annoyed or angry, Della beamed with pleasure. “Books are meant to be shared.”

Burke agreed, but one part of Mrs. Richter’s explanation puzzled him. “What changed?” he asked. “You said ‘until a couple years ago.’”

“It’s simple. The town opened a separate library. It’s not as extensive as this, but what she was paid as the librarian helped a young widow support herself and her daughter.”

“Perhaps we can visit it. As you can tell,” Della said with a smile as she pulled a volume from a shelf and opened it to the first page, “I love being surrounded by books.”

“Me like books too.” Noah, who’d been playing quietly in the parlor, skidded to a stop next to Della. “Read to me.”

“You know better than that, Noah.” Mrs. Carmichael put a restraining hand on the boy’s shoulder. “What do you say?”

He looked perplexed for a second before saying, “ Please read to me.”

Della nodded. “Perhaps later. We could choose a book from the other library.”

Mrs. Carmichael shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s closed now. Alice was the librarian, but she married our interim pastor, and they moved back to his home in Louisiana.”

Mrs. Richter appeared startled by the explanation, raising new questions in Burke’s mind. Della, however, was focused on the library itself.

“That’s a shame. Every town needs a library.”

“But we didn’t have one in Samuels,” Burke reminded his honorary aunt. “I’m surprised you didn’t establish one.”

“I wanted to, especially after Clive died, but my father wouldn’t allow it.”

Burke tried to control his anger at the man who’d attempted to control every aspect of his daughter’s life. Anger solved nothing, and the man could no longer be held accountable.

Obviously shocked by the revelation, Mrs. Richter gestured toward the shelves. “Consider this yours for as long as you’re here. I know that’s what both Clive and my father would have said. Now, let me show you your rooms. I imagine you want to rest after your journey.”

What Burke wanted to know was why she had trouble breathing. Was it pneumonia or something else? What treatments had she received? And if it was pneumonia, how had she contracted the disease that killed so many?

You’re not her physician , he reminded himself. You’re a guest in her home, nothing more. But the questions refused to be dismissed.

“Emily, what’s going on?”

Joanna’s heart began to pound at the realization that for the first time in far too long, the three Vaughn sisters were together. This was the moment she’d dreamed of so often on the journey across the ocean, the true homecoming she’d longed for.

Her younger sister rushed into the kitchen, the possessive grip she had on a black medical bag telling Joanna how precious it was to Louisa. “I saw two unfamiliar buggies in front of the house.”

In the second before Louisa registered her presence, Joanna noted that Louisa’s blue eyes, so like Emily’s, sparkled more than she’d remembered and that her face had a new softness, perhaps because she, like Emily, was happily married. Oh, Kurt, I wish you were here to meet my family.

Brushing aside the sorrow that threatened to overwhelm her every time she thought of how his life had been cut short, Joanna rose from the chair Emily had insisted she take when she’d returned from escorting their guests to their rooms. “I’m responsible for the first.”

“Joanna!” Her eyes widening in surprise, Louisa dropped the bag and covered the distance between them in two quick strides. “I wish I’d known you were here.” She shot an accusatory look at Emily, who was peeling potatoes, her expression reminding Joanna of their childhood when Louisa had been quick to find fault with their older sister. “You should have told me the instant she arrived.” Turning to Joanna, she grinned, then gave her a quick hug before stepping back. “It’s wonderful to see you, but you’re too thin.”

Emily had always been the slender one, but now Joanna claimed that distinction, albeit not by choice.

“That’s the result of scarlet fever and pneumonia.” Though she tried not to, Joanna coughed and leaned against the table. How she hated feeling like an invalid. “I’m better now, but the doctors warned me that I’ll always be weak.”

Louisa gave her the same appraising look that Mr. Finley had when she’d coughed. “I’m not going to accept that, because they could be wrong, but we’ll talk about that later. Right now all that matters is that the three of us are together again. It’s almost like old times.” She glanced at the shiny gold ring on her left hand. “Of course there’ve been some changes. Emily and I are married ladies now with the best husbands in the world.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting your husbands.” Even though her heart ached for Kurt, Joanna did not begrudge her sisters their happiness. She extended her left hand. “I was married too, but he and Grandmother died. That’s why I’m in mourning.” She was surprised Louisa hadn’t commented on her black dress.

“Oh, Joanna, how awful!” Louisa gave her another hug, then practically pushed her back into the chair. “You should sit down and take a sip of water. That’ll help your cough. Then I want to hear all about your time in Europe and your marriage. You can start by telling me why you brought two carriages.”

This was vintage Louisa, expecting everyone to answer her questions merely because she was the youngest. Joanna smiled at how quickly they’d resumed their childhood roles.

Before she could reply, Emily spoke. “Joanna didn’t bring two. A woman named Miss Della Samuels and a very handsome young man who Mrs. Carmichael claims looks exactly like Clive Finley came in the other one.”

Louisa’s eyes widened. “Our Clive Finley?”

“One and the same. Miss Samuels was Clive’s fiancée.” Joanna continued the explanation. “She came here to see if Finley House was as beautiful as he claimed.”

“Is it?”

“According to her, even better.” That acknowledgment and the woman’s pleasure at the library had warmed Joanna’s heart, almost mitigating the pang she’d felt when strangers had arrived the very day she’d returned. Though she’d known that Emily had turned Finley House into a boardinghouse, Joanna’s heart hadn’t been ready for the reality of sharing her home with others or that someone would be staying in the room her parents had once occupied. Emily and Louisa had had more than a year to adjust to their parents’ absence, but seeing Finley House without them revived the sorrow that had diminished over the months.

“Miss Samuels and Mr. Finley are staying here for two weeks.” Once again, Emily offered an explanation. “I think she wants to learn everything she can about the town that might have been her home. It would be easier if Mama and especially Father were here. They could tell her so much.”

Louisa nodded but kept her gaze fixed on Joanna. “Our guests sound interesting, but I’m more interested in you. Tell me everything that happened in Europe.”

“We only have half an hour before supper,” Joanna protested, knowing that Louisa would ask a hundred questions, each of which would demand a lengthy answer.

“Then you’ll have to talk fast.”

The room looked the same. The wainscoting was as highly polished as she remembered, the pale brocade wallpaper that stretched from the wainscoting to the crown molding as pretty as her memory. The table and chairs hadn’t changed. What had changed was that there were nine people seated here tonight rather than five and that Emily and Craig occupied the places that had been Mama and Father’s.

It was right that they had assumed those seats. After all, this was their house now. And that, Joanna realized, was the biggest change of all. Her memories were of being a child here, part of a small family. Now the anchors of that family, her parents, were gone, and that changed everything.

She took a sip of water, trying to calm her thoughts, and forced herself to listen to the conversation going on around her.

“What do you do for a living, Burke?” Louisa’s husband Josh asked as he passed a bowl of mashed potatoes to their guest.

When the group had assembled in the dining room and Emily had begun the introductions, Miss Samuels—Della, that is—had suggested they dispense with formality and address each other by their given names. “You’re treating us like family, and that’s what family does.” Everyone had agreed.

Even before they’d begun to eat, Joanna realized that the decision helped them relax, making them seem like if not family at least old friends rather than people who’d just met.

She smiled as she thought of the two men who were family: her new brothers-in-law. Craig was a taller and more mature version of his son, with hair and eyes as dark brown as hers, while Josh was blond and blue-eyed, both his hair and eyes a deeper hue than Kurt’s. Though she’d spent only a few minutes with her sisters’ husbands, that had been enough to show Joanna how deeply both of them loved their wives, and she’d said a prayer of thanksgiving that her sisters were so happy in their marriages.

Burke took a spoonful of the potatoes Josh had passed to him and responded to his question about his profession. “I’m a physician.”

A doctor! Joanna tried not to frown. No wonder he’d given her those appraising looks when she coughed or stopped to catch her breath. She’d been too ill to retain many memories of the doctor who’d treated her in Munich, but the ones in Switzerland had studied her as if she were a specimen, not a woman whose dreams they’d shattered. She had no need for more of that.

Oblivious to Joanna’s dismay, Josh smiled at their guest. “So is my wife.”

Louisa was quick to contradict him. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’ve had training as a doctor and a midwife, but I’m not a full-fledged physician.”

Della paused from buttering a roll. “If I know Burke, and I do, he’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have. If he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll find it.”

The man whose auburn hair would make him stand out in a crowd nodded. “I’ll certainly try. My partner and I used to take turns challenging each other with questions about obscure ailments. It was a friendly competition, and we both learned from it.”

Was it only Joanna’s imagination that Burke’s expression had seemed strained when he’d mentioned his partner?

Craig didn’t appear to have noticed anything unusual, because he nodded in approval. “That’s an interesting technique. It might be a way to motivate some of my pupils. I don’t know whether Emily mentioned it, but I’m Sweetwater Crossing’s schoolmaster.”

“Pa teaches,” Noah announced. “Uncle Josh sells things.”

Louisa gave Noah a fond glance. “That’s one way to describe it. Josh opened a tearoom and specialty shop a few months ago, and he now owns the mercantile.”

“A tearoom?” Della appeared intrigued. “I wouldn’t have expected one here.”

“It’s been remarkably successful.” Louisa’s pride in her husband’s venture was apparent. “We’ll have to have tea at Porter’s next week.”

This time it was Burke whose interest seemed piqued. “Porter’s? Any relation to Porter and Sons in New York?”

It was Josh’s turn to nod. “I used to be part of P&S. Now I’m just a small-town proprietor.” He paused for a second before adding, “That was the best move I’ve ever made.”

“How did you manage to come to Sweetwater Crossing?” Burke asked.

With a quick smile for his wife, Josh answered, “It’s a long story. I’ll save it for another night, because I think Craig wants to know more about the way you and your partner challenged each other.”

“There’s not much more to tell you. We called it Stump the Doctor—not a particularly imaginative name, but it made us both better physicians.”

“I think you’re right, Craig. It could benefit your pupils. Instead of asking all the questions yourself, you could have the students challenge each other about whatever they’re studying. You might even turn it into a game with prizes for the winners,” Joanna suggested. Miss Albright, the woman who’d taught her and her sisters, had been effective in imparting knowledge, but she had done nothing as innovative as making learning a game.

Feigning indignation, Craig turned to Emily. “Why didn’t you tell me your sister had such good ideas? All I heard was that she was an accomplished pianist.”

“And she is,” Louisa assured her brother-in-law. “That’s why she was in Europe studying with some maestros.”

Joanna wished her sister hadn’t said that. It wasn’t that she planned to keep her time abroad a secret, but today had been so eventful and exhausting that she wanted nothing more than to retire to her room.

“Europe.” Della’s eyes lit with interest. “That sounds fascinating. I want to hear about it.”

Before Joanna could offer an excuse, Emily spoke. “Another night, perhaps. Joanna had an even longer journey than you and Burke did.” For once, Joanna was grateful that Emily was being a protective older sister.

“Of course. We all need to rest,” Burke was quick to agree.

“Now that that’s all settled, let’s have some dessert.” Emily rose to begin clearing dishes.

While they were enjoying their chocolate pudding, Louisa turned to Burke. “If you’re willing, I’d like to learn everything you know about lung diseases.”

“Certainly.” He looked at Joanna, but this time his gaze seemed less clinical, instead reminding her of the way Kurt had looked the day they’d met. Perhaps Burke didn’t regard her as a specimen after all.