And the greatest of these is Love
Chapter 24
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Dee was in the kitchen helping Emily when Nathan and Allie came home.
"What smells so good?" Allie asked as she lifted her face to catch the aroma of German Sauerbraten with potato dumplings.
"Your mother offered to help me cook a nice dinner and I put her to work. Wash up and set the table please," Oma asked.
Nathan sat down to take off his boots and caught Dee's eye and winked. He ran upstairs to change and joined his father who was playing with Christopher. "How are you doing my little man?"
Archie laughed, "I'm just fine."
"Whoever is hungry, please come to the table. Dinner's ready!" Allie announced.
Christopher was banging his feet on his high chair seated next to his grandfather. Their relationship was such a joy to watch. Archie was so good with his grandson that when no one else could handle him, Archie stepped in and everything settled down.
Nathan sat on the other side of Christopher joined by Dee and Allie, with Emily. Nathan held his son's little, chubby hand and his wife's then began with grace.
No one hesitated to pass the food it smelled and tasted so good and were settling in to eat. Nathan gave Christopher some small pieces of carrots and dumplings and then looked at Dee with a questioning look.
Dee nodded yes. "Dee, would you pass me the buns?"
Dee reached over and handed Nathan the basket. "Oh honey, I don't want to take the last one, you won't have any then," Nathan said right on cue.
Dee cleared her throat, "Don't worry sweetheart," she smiled as she walked over to the oven, "I've got a bun in the oven."
Emily and Allie caught on this time and stopped chewing, followed by laughter, "Are you expecting another little one?" Emily grinned.
"Oh my, a little baby is on the way!" Allie said excitedly.
"What's that?" Archie asked. "Baby? Christopher is right here."
"No grandpa, not baby Christopher, mom going to have a new baby!" she explained as she gave her mom a kiss and hugged her dad. "When is the baby due?"
"Next spring," Dee answered.
Emily patted Dee's hand, "I wondered why you were insisting on a special dinner and helped with baking buns. I should've known. This is great news!" then kissed Dee's cheek.
Christopher saw everyone so happy that he began to clap. "Yeah," he giggled.
Emily asked who wanted a slice of apple strudel and not one person turned it down.
Then Dee and Nathan made the telephone call to Dee's folks to tell them about Dee's pregnancy. More congratulations and laughter were shared. Dee was overjoyed to find out that her parents were moving into their new home this coming weekend. Nathan promised help from either Andy or Gunther if need be.
After dinner, Allie asked her dad to play his guitar with her. It had been awhile since they had a fun daddy-daughter music time and the rest of the family was glad to hear them play together again. Dee had such a lovely voice that little Christopher just sat on her lap mesmerized watching his mommy, and when his daddy and sister strummed their guitars, he clapped along while sitting on Archie's lap.
When everyone settled into bed, Nathan and Dee finally had some quiet time together by themselves. Both of them were waiting to speak about something to each other that they didn't want to say in front of the rest of the family.
"You go first," Nathan told Dee, "my news can wait."
"Nathan, I'm concerned about your mother. She seemed more stressed than she has in quite awhile. She told me how she misses seeing the ladies at Minnie's and when I took the time to look at her I noticed that her wrinkles seemed to be deeper than when I last paid attention."
"Is she complaining?" Nathan asked.
"No, that's it she just brushed my concern off," Dee said, "we've been so concerned with your dad, your mother has been put on the back burner."
"She should have a check-up with her heart condition," Nathan nodded, "so did you make an appointment for her?"
"No, she didn't want me to, but I told her I'd check with you."
"She can be stubborn," Nathan chuckled, "I'll make the appointment. But now, I have something to tell you."
Nathan proceeded to tell Dee the news about another victim of the brothers they were looking for, "It's so horrible that they're out there somewhere and doing who knows what. What is good though is that this woman did go see a doctor and was examined, so there's medical proof to back up her story."
"Nathan, are you going to tell Violet and Jake?" Dee asked.
"Yes, it's going to help their case, but it's going to be difficult telling them that there's another victim suffering with this trauma," Nathan answered. "I hope Pastor Campbell will go with me."
Dee thought for a moment, "Honey, Minnie might go with for Violet and Ruth's sake. It can be much easier for a woman to speak to another woman about these things."
Nathan hugged Dee and told her it was a good idea. "Let's get to bed Mrs. Grant, there's a little Grant inside you that needs some rest too."
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It was a very difficult time for Ruth and Jake when Sargent Grant, Pastor Joseph, and Minnie came to their house the next day. Lee had given Joseph time off in the morning to take care of this situation as he understood how important this was.
Violet hadn't left for the Infirmary yet, so all three of them were there when they arrived, and she showed them to the kitchen table and brought cups of coffee. It wasn't easy, but they, especially Ruth, needed to know that another woman was a victim of these scoundrels. Nathan explained that she was a recent casualty who had seen the posters and had reported the rape to her doctor who confirmed the rape with her exam. Although no one wanted to hear about this, it was a good thing that her rape was on the record.
"Now that we have her testimony confirmed by a physician, she is bringing charges against these men, so this proof will help your case, Ruth," Nathan verified.
Ruth was filled with sorrow that this woman had endured the pain she had. "Sargent Grant, it's been ten years, she might not be the only one," Ruth barely spoke.
Jake put his arm around his sister, "Ruth, there's nothing you could do. They put the intense fear in you that made you run. You had no choice because you wanted to protect our family."
Pastor Joseph spoke up, "No one blames you in the least Ruth. Not at all. You were young and were running scared. None of us would have done any different."
Nathan added, "With this report, hopefully now, the special task force will find more clues. This happened in the Edmonton area, so chances are those men have left that area knowing they'd be hunted down, so there will more area searches."
Minnie sat next to Ruth, "Ruth dear, I'm more than willing to help listen to you bare your soul. You have years of fear and anger bottled up inside and it's time you release it. Even if it takes a long time, I want you to know I'm here for you. Maybe today, you can begin."
"Mrs. Canfield, I'm only here this week. I have a job as a housekeeper for Mr. Riemann, so I'm not sure what to do," Ruth confessed.
Jake told his sister, "I'm sure Vi won't mind if you want to stay here longer or for good, if you'd like. Right Vi?"
"Of course, I love having you here, please stay, as long as you like," Violet assured Ruth.
"Oh, I don't know. Mr. Riemann has been so good to me. I can't leave him without giving him notice, even if I wanted to," Ruth said.
"Let's not worry about that right now," Minnie said calmly, "right now, it's just one day at a time."
"Do you have questions for me?" Sargent Grant asked.
Ruth shook her head no and Jake shrugged, "Not now."
"Then, I'll leave you in good hands with the Canfields. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions later. Of course, I'll be back with any news," Nathan said as Jake walked with him to the door.
"Thank you Sargent, we appreciate your help."
Then Ruth walked into the living room with Minnie and Violet. Ruth asked Minnie about not being interested in dating. The thought about even being alone with a man sent shudders through her.
"I always wanted to be a mother. I loved watching my mother around the house and I enjoyed learning to cook and sew. Now that I'm damaged goods, I don't think any man would want me, even if I could ever date anyways," Ruth sniffed.
Minnie knew Ruth's self-worth was shattered, but tried to encourage her, "Ruth you have worked for that couple in the coffee shop, so I'm sure your cooking skills are very good, and I bet being a housekeeper has made your domestic skills very good too. Any man who recognizes those domestic talents in you, knows he has a good woman he could count on. Besides it's not just about keeping house, you're more than that. You're a good, kind, and pretty woman too!"
"I want to be more than a cook or housekeeper. I haven't decided what I would like to do otherwise. I never did finish school, so I do know I'd like to complete my studies," Violet added, "but I have no idea how to go about that."
"If you stayed here with Jake and I, you could probably ask for some tutoring from Elizabeth Thornton or Sargent Grant's wife, Dee, don't you think Mrs. Canfield?" Violet offered.
"That's a likely probability. Is Mrs. Thornton helping Jake learn to read now?" Minnie asked.
"Yes, she just started. When she saw how well Brook was learning English, she dropped one day off of her three day schedule with her and is coming to teach Jake on that day, so Ruth will be able to meet her. It'll have to be Saturday, as Jake will be returning to work next week," Violet updated Minnie.
"Work? Oh that's wonderful," Minnie looked over at Jake talking to Pastor Joseph. "How's he doing with his anger now?"
"Much better, ever since Ruth was found. It's like his whole world has taken on a new meaning. He's actually happy again," Violet laughed.
"Me too! Finding my brother after all these years, thinking I'd never see him again and then realizing I have a sister too, has been just so wonderful!" Ruth chipped in while looking fondly at Violet.
"I'm glad to hear that," Minnie remarked.
Violet stood up and said her goodbyes, "I have to report to the Infirmary now, you two have a good talk, and thanks for coming Mrs. Canfield."
As she walked past Joseph and Jake, she gave Jake a kiss goodbye and thanked Joseph too for visiting with Jake. As she walked into town, she let out a sigh of relief. Minnie was right, one day at a time.
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Fiona and James were sitting in Fiona's backyard garden talking about their upcoming engagement party. It wouldn't be for another month with Fiona being mayor of Hope Valley and the big plans of the Family Festival and parade consuming all her time outside of Nichols and Dimes. But, now they took some spare minutes to talk about the party.
"It's going to be hard for me not to invite practically the whole town being Mayor. I don't know where to draw the line with us all being not only citizens of Hope Valley, but also friends. James, I just don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."
"I understand you feel beholden being Mayor, but I'm sure most folks understand that you can't possibly host a party for the whole town," James said.
Fiona poured more wine into both of their glasses and sat back down. "So, you think we could just invite our closer friends and the others won't be upset?"
"This is our party so we just invite who we want. Besides, there isn't enough room at Benson Hills Clubhouse for the whole town of Hope Valley!" James laughed.
"You're right, of course," Fiona agreed, "so lets just plan our dinner menu."
"By the way, I asked Diana Starr to sing. She said she was thrilled to be asked. I'm sure Landis will be the pianist, so we have the entertainment taken care of," James shared.
After going through menu options, they relaxed a bit. James was happy that his parents were coming, "I've made reservations for my parents to stay at Billees. I don't know if my brother will make it here, but I intend to ask him to be my best man."
"That's perfect James. I just hope he does come, I'd like to meet him before the wedding," Fiona was thinking of who to ask to be her maid of honor. "I was thinking I should ask Christy to be my matron of honor. When she was discovered in the cabin soon after having baby Timi Anne, she couldn't go home, so I offered my place here to stay with me. She became like a younger sister to me."
"You are such a good woman," James smiled admiring his fiance, "I think you should ask her. You also trained her to work with hair, so now she works with you too and I know you are very close, it just seems right."
Fiona and James were enjoying the precious little time they finally had together and when Fiona put a record on her Victrola, James asked her to dance to the song, Make Believe. The two of them were such a striking couple that especially when they danced they looked like they were always meant to be together.
"Darling, I can't wait long to have you as my wife, so when do you want to get married?" James asked.
When the music stopped, Fiona stood and thought. She folded her arms and thought out loud. "After the Family Festival, there's the opening of St. James this fall, the town Thanksgiving Potluck, followed by the Christkindlmarkt, Nativity Pageant, and the Tree and Caroling..."
"All right my darling, we can't wait for all the town events to be completed before we get married, or we'll never celebrate our nuptials. I can't put off our wedding for the town activities!" James pleaded.
Fiona softly laughed, "That's what happens when you fall in love with me being the Mayor, but you're right James. I want to get married as soon as we can. I still need at least six months to prepare for our wedding anyways."
James brushed his hand through his hair, then offered a suggestion, "I do want to have a beautiful wedding too, so although I don't want to wait, would you think a January wedding will give us enough time to plan?"
Fiona smiled and reached up to kiss James, "Of course, we will make it work!"
Trevor was meeting with Fr. Ricardo after work. He had been putting off for some time, but with Lana's encouragement he promised her he would as soon as he could. Closing up Buddy's automobile repair shop and pumping station for his appointment, he went out to Fr. Ricardo's cabin for counseling.
Fr. Ricardo had been very busy with the construction of St. James, but always made time for his parishioners. Without them, there was no need for a church.
He had been patient waiting on Trevor to come back on his time. He knew that having to deal with shell shock from being in the war could possibly last all his life, but if he faced his feelings now, the sooner he would be able to get on with his future.
"Come on in," Fr. Opened his door.
"Thanks for having me," Trevor said as he sat down on the chair that Fr. Pointed to for him.
"How's your automobile business going?"
"Great, there's more work than I can handle, so I just might have to hire an assistant," Trevor nodded.
"Good, glad to hear it," not wanting to waste any more time Fr. Continued, "have you given any more thought about why you were spared in the war?"
"Yea, I can't stop thinking about it. I still don't know why Buddy died, but I do know that I want to honor him, so my first way was to name my shop after him. It helps me to feel like I'm keeping his memory alive, ya know?"
Fr. nodded, "That's a kind first step Trevor. If you were to pretend he didn't exist, I think it would be even harder to forget the tragedy. It would always be in the back of your mind eating at you."
Trevor agreed. "I mean, recognizing my feelings like you suggested, well, it helps. I am still mad. Sometimes when I think about it, I just can't help wonder why Buddy is gone. Then, I think about the war in general and realize that Buddy was just one of too many men who were victims of war."
Fr. nodded silently for awhile, then spoke, "There's nothing good about war. Nothing at all. It's pure evil. Yet, we can't let the enemy, which is really the devil, the source of evil, win. In the end, there is no winning just look at the cost."
Trevor asked, "How do I let go of this anger Father? I can't keep living like this."
"That's a great question Trevor, it shows you're ready to accept there is no good answer about war and death. Now that's a good first step. Are you ready for the next step?" Fr. studied Trevor's eyes looking for a glimmer of hope. When he saw it, he said, "Pray, turn it over to God and then learn to trust Him."
