September, Two years later

Chloe smiled, her heart brimming with love as she watched Nathaniel run through the meadow laughing as he glanced over his shoulder while Eliza chased after him, her giggle floating on the air. Never in her life before she’d arrived in Cedar Bluff would she have imagined it to be so fulfilled and happy.

“He laughs more now.”

Chloe glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Lillian, watching the two chasing one another. “Yes, he does, doesn’t he?” After two years of marriage, she and Nathaniel were happy. She sometimes felt as if she needed to pinch herself just to make sure it was all real.

Just this past spring they’d moved into the new house he had had built on a hundred acres of property just outside of town.

“Can I?”

Chloe turned her gaze away from Nathaniel and glanced at Lillian. She smiled. “Of course you can.” Carefully, she handed three-month-old Clyde into his aunt’s arms. She and Nathaniel had agreed to name the child after Nathaniel’s father. Lillian’s eyes shone with amazement as she held the baby in her arms, then glanced up at Chloe with a shy smile.

“I’ll have a little one of my own by Christmas,” she grinned. “I need the practice.”

Chloe laughed softly. “And I’ll be there for you just as you’ve been there for me, and have been since the moment I arrived here.”

Lillian and Thomas had married not quite a year ago and now lived in the cabin behind the boarding house. They had added on an extra room and made the kitchen area a little bigger. Thomas was now officially Nathaniel’s deputy. Dalia couldn’t be happier that her two children were now married and starting families of their own. She loved being a grandmother not only to Eliza, but to Clyde and soon, to Lillian’s child.

Another shout of laughter prompted her to turn toward Nathaniel and her daughter as Eliza finally ‘captured’ her husband, whom Chloe now only called Papa. Tears filled her eyes and she sent a prayer of thanks and gratitude to the Good Lord for all the blessings she had received in the past couple of years. Never would she have imagined that her journey would end here like this.

“You’ve made my brother very happy, Chloe,” Lillian said softly. “I’m so happy for him, for both of you. And Eliza, well, she’s thriving and basking in all this love.”

 Chloe nodded. “Yes.” She sobered for a moment as she turned to Lillian. “Sometimes I wonder if I deserve it, after all that I did, but I would be amiss if I didn’t agree that I’m basking in her love for me as well.”

“I don’t know what it’s like to be a mother, not yet, Chloe, but I can tell you one thing. I would do anything to keep my baby safe from harm.” She paused, her gaze serious. “You did what you felt you had to do. You had to make a very difficult decision and you did it for Eliza’s sake. Yet you never gave up looking for her. You’re a good mother.  You always have been.”

Warm tears filled Chloe’s eyes. Everyone in town now knew about her history and no one seemed to blame her for what she had done. She was the only one that continued to blame herself on occasion, sorry for all the years that Eliza had missed out on having a family, but those times came much less often now. Nathaniel was a wonderful father; patient, caring, not hesitant to show love to those around him. The first time she had seen Nathaniel hold their son with tears in his eyes, the love she felt for him had blossomed even larger even though she didn’t think that was possible.

Now, watching Eliza and Nathaniel heading toward the boarding house, her child’s hand in his, she realized that all the troubles, all the travails, the worries, the fears, all of it, had been worthwhile. God had always been with her even when she didn’t think so. And He had brought her here, to Cedar Bluff, where she’d found more than she’d ever imagined.

“Mama!” Eliza squealed as she tugged her hand from Nathaniel’s and ran toward them. “Can I hold Clyde?”

Chloe smiled at her daughter and held out her arm. “Only if you settle yourself a little. He’s sleeping.” Eliza immediately quieted and looked up at Lillian as she nibbled at her lower lip, arms held out in expectation. Lillian glanced at Chloe, received a nod, and carefully settled the babe in Eliza’s arms.

“You’re such a good big sister,” Lillian murmured. “I sure hope you’re going to be available to help me when I have my baby.”

Eliza beamed. “I will,” she promised. She glanced at Chloe. “I can, Mama, can’t I? Help Aunt Lillian when her baby comes?”

“Of course you can,” she said. Nathaniel approached and she turned toward him, as always a smile forming on her lips as he reached for her hand. 

“Let’s go inside,” Chloe suggested, gesturing toward the house with her chin. “Dalia could probably use some help in the kitchen.”

“Actually, I’d like a moment or two alone with you,” Nathaniel said softly. He glanced at his sister and then at Eliza. “Lilly, would you mind?”

“Not at all,” Lillian said, placing a hand on Eliza’s shoulder as they headed for the boarding house, cautioning Eliza to watch her step while holding the baby. “Don’t be too long though, because Mama said that the roasting chicken was almost done.”

“We won’t be,” Nathaniel replied.

Nathaniel reached for her hand and Chloe placed hers in his, never tiring of his glances, his gentle touch, and the way he looked at her sometimes as if he couldn’t quite believe she was real. She often felt the same. He started walking toward town and she followed. “Where are we going?”

“To the office,” he said. “I got another letter today.”

She nodded. She knew what he meant. Another letter from Silas. After his trial and sentencing, Silas had been sent down to the Rusk Penitentiary, located in Cherokee County in East Texas. A year ago, a letter had arrived at the sheriff’s office from the penitentiary, from Silas. Nathaniel had showed it to her but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what it said. She told him he could read them if he wanted. He didn’t press but kept them in a drawer in his desk. He hadn’t read any of them either, until this one.

Since then, a letter came about every six months or so, and this one would be the third or fourth, she couldn’t recall. “You opened this one?” He nodded. “What’s it say?”

“I didn’t get past the first line. It’s for you, Chloe. I think you should read it.”

She stopped walking, heaved a sigh and looked up at him. “I’m not sure I want to.”

“He’ll be in jail for the rest of his life. He’s trying, which is more than I can say for a lot of them in his situation.”

That was true, and while Nathaniel seemed to have been able to move on following the death of Everett and the capture of Silas, she wasn’t quite sure how she felt. “I don’t see the point,” she admitted.

“He’s trying to make amends,” Nathaniel said softly.

They strode down Main Street, receiving a number of greetings from the townspeople as they went, but her thoughts were consumed with those last moments she had spent with Silas. So filled with anger and then, after his capture, with regret. Of course everyone regretted what they did wrong when they were getting punished for it, didn’t they? Yet how long could she hold onto her anger and disappointment without it damaging her own soul?

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll read it, but I can’t promise that I’m going to reply. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

Nathaniel squeezed her hand. “You do what feels right for you when it feels right,” he replied. “It’s completely up to you.”

By the time they got to the sheriff’s office, the late afternoon sun was quickly heading toward the western horizon. The interior of Nathaniel’s office was a bit dark but not enough to need a lantern. Another letter stood in a wrinkled, dirt-smudged envelope in the middle of his desk. She glanced up at him with a lifted eyebrow. “You haven’t read it?”

He wordlessly shook his head. “Not past the first line.”

“Then how do you know he wants to make amends?”

“He’s written you a few letters now that you haven’t read, but I think it’s time, don’t you?”

She shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t know what purpose it will serve.”

“Does it have to serve a purpose?”

She sighed. Over the past couple of years, she had confirmed without a doubt that beneath that tough exterior of his, her husband had a compassionate heart. They stood together in front of his desk, she eyeing the envelope silently, he simply waiting.

“Fine,” she mumbled once more. She sank down into one of the chairs in front of his desk, reached for the envelope, and tore it open. She pulled out a small, single sheet of paper. Before she read it, she glanced up at Nathaniel, who nodded. She heaved a sigh and began to read out loud:

Chloe, I hope this letter finds you well. I’m not sure you’ll read this one, and I’m not sure that you read the others before it, but I always hold out hope. I want you to know that I regret everything. Well, not everything – I don’t regret meeting you and being your friend at the orphanage, but what happened after Everett. I changed. He changed me, not for the better. I’m working on that. I work in the prison hospital now, helping the doctor with his patients. Oh, I don’t do any doctoring, but I help change bandages and write letters for them – can’t you see my reading and writing have improved since I left the orphanage? I just wanted you to know that I’m trying to do some good in here. I know I will never balance out all the bad I’ve done, but I’ll do what I can. I won’t write again, but I just wanted you to know that I don’t blame you for anything you’ve done. Take care of yourself and be happy. Silas

She looked up at Nathaniel and handed him the letter. He gave her a small smile. “Are you all right?”

She stood as Nathaniel placed the letter down on the desk and wrapped his arms around her waist. She placed her hands on the front of his shirt and leaned her head against his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating beneath her ear.

“I’m all right, Nathaniel, and I know I will be from now on. I put the past away, and it seems that Silas has done the same.”

“It’s not … I’m not sure how to say this. After all the years I spent seeking vengeance, hating, not realizing what I had, I realize now how much time I wasted.” He placed his palm on the back of her head, encouraging her to look up at him. “I don’t want that for you, Chloe.”

“I don’t want it either.” She glanced at the short letter and nodded. “I’m glad he’s trying, and that’s what’s important. It’s not for me to judge. That’s up to God.” She reached for his hand. “Now let’s go see how badly your mother is spoiling Eliza and our baby boy, and after supper we’ll go home and I’ll read to you while you sit by the fire …”

“Sounds good to me,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they left the sheriff’s office, the letter still sitting atop his desk. 

She knew he would put it with the others, but for herself, she would look forward. She had been doing that more and more often lately, rather than looking into the past, which she couldn’t change. She could change her future though, and the way she thought about it. She had everything she’d ever wanted; a husband, children, a home, and a family. She would never take any of them for granted.

As they walked back to town, holding hands, she looked up at him. “I love you, Nathaniel.”

“Well that’s good,” he replied. “Because I love you too and that’s never going to change.”

THE END