The Preacher's Bride. Laurie Kingery

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СКАЧАТЬ Gil and Faith to the door.

      “I’ll see you later, Papa,” Gil whispered, and kissed the top of the old man’s head.

      Once in the hallway, Gil asked, “What...what do we do now?”

      “He’s been able to drink sips of water,” Dr. Walker said. “Later, I’ll see if he can swallow a little chicken broth. Assuming he can, I’ll want to keep him here another night, then you can take him home.”

      “I’ll take good care of him, Doctor,” Gil promised, still hardly believing he was going to get the chance to do so.

      “I’m sure you will,” Walker said. “And Faith will help you. She’s agreed to organize the Spinsters’ Club to nurse him. I told you what an excellent job they did during the influenza epidemic.”

      “Yes, but he’s my responsibility,” he said, reluctant to obligate Faith and the other young ladies to the care of a sick old man.

      “You’ll certainly get plenty of time to fulfill your responsibility to your father,” Walker said. “But it’s going to be too much for just one person. You’ll need help. Until he regains full movement—and there’s no guarantee he will—someone will have to feed him, do his laundry, exercise his limbs, help him learn to speak again—if he can, and that’s by no means certain—help him get out of bed when he’s stronger... And don’t forget, the needs of the congregation will continue. I’m sure the church board will be asking you formally, of course, but unless you’re unwilling, I expect you’ve just become the acting pastor of Simpson Creek Church.”

      Gil blinked, raking a hand through his hair distractedly. “I’ve been so worried Papa would die, I hadn’t given it a thought. I suppose you’re right.” He hoped he was equal to the task.

      “I’ll get started arranging his nursing care right now, Doctor,” Faith said, heading for the door that led out of the office.

      “You’ll do no such thing, Miss Faith,” Walker ordered. “You’ve been up all night, and you’re to go straight to bed, understood? Your organizing can wait till after you’ve slept at least.”

      “Yes, sir,” Faith shot back, her grin so sassy that it made both men grin, too. “I’ll see you both later.”

      “I can’t thank you enough, Miss Faith,” Gil told her.

      Her smile was all the reward he needed. It warmed his soul.

      “That’s a good woman,” Dr. Walker said, after the door had closed behind Faith. His gaze locked meaningfully with Gil’s.

      The doctor’s message was clear enough. “I believe you’re right, Doctor,” Gil said.

      * * *

      Before going to bed as Dr. Walker had directed, Faith took a few minutes to update her mother on the reverend’s condition and the need to revive the Spinsters’ Club Nursing Corps. Louisa, her cousin who lived with them now, was not present because she helped Caroline teach, and it was the last day of school.

      “Is there anything I can do to help, dear?” Lydia Bennett asked. “Your father and I are so proud of you, the way you’re taking the initiative to help the preacher. At least this time there’s no risk of contagion.”

      Faith wished she had her mother’s belief in her father’s pride in her. Unfortunately, she knew differently. But she’d never distress her mother with that truth.

      “Mama, you wouldn’t mind if the Spinsters’ Club met here after supper tonight to sign up for their nursing shifts, would you?” she asked, smothering a weary yawn. They would have to teach the new spinsters about their nursing duties, too, she supposed, by pairing those who had never nursed with the ones who’d been in Simpson Creek during the flu.

      “Of course you may, Faith. It’s the least we can do to help. I’ll call on the ladies while you’re sleeping and notify them of the meeting. Let’s see, there’s Louisa, Maude, Polly, Ella, Kate, Jane and Hannah. Have I forgotten anyone? There’s fewer of them available than when the epidemic struck...”

      “Yes, Sarah, Emily, Bess and Milly are all married now,” Faith mused aloud. “But we should have enough willing helpers among the others, I think. Gil will be able to help his father at night, and if all goes well, Reverend Chadwick will need us less and less...”

      If all goes well. There was so much that could happen, even now. In his weakened condition, the old preacher would still be easy prey to pneumonia and other infections. Not for the first time, she wished she believed in prayer. But she might as well aim her thoughts to the dirt, she thought, as believe there was Someone beyond the sky who would hear her.

      No one in the Heavens had listened when she had pled for her brother Eddy’s life when he was bitten by a snake. If there was a God, wouldn’t He have listened and spared a small boy? And when she had begged to feel her father’s love again?

      She had always wished for the courage to ask the question of Reverend Chadwick. But now he, too, had been struck down, and only time would tell if he survived.

      Chapter Three

      “Thank you, ladies, for coming together on such short notice,” Faith said, after all the members of the Spinsters’ Club had helped themselves to lemonade and cookies and sat down in the Bennett parlor. “Especially you, Caroline—we didn’t really expect you to have time, what with your wedding and all—goodness, I hadn’t realized!” she said, as a thought struck her. “I suppose Reverend Gil will have to be the one to conduct your wedding this Saturday?”

      “Yes, Jack and I spoke to him about it this afternoon. It’ll be the very first wedding he’s performed, imagine that,” she said with a smile. “Of course, it will depend on the state of his father’s health. Do you suppose we could all pray for our preacher right now?”

      Everyone bowed their heads while Caroline led them in prayer. Faith lowered her head, too, out of respect, but she always felt like such an outsider when others prayed.

      “All right,” Faith said when the prayer was over. “We’re here to organize shifts for nursing Reverend Chadwick. If all goes well, the plan is for him to go home from the doctor’s tomorrow morning. I’ll take the first shift, and see if the routine I have in mind works. We will be at the bedside in the daytime, ladies, while G—that is, Reverend Gil—” she corrected herself hastily as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks “—will see to his father at night.” She cleared her throat, hoping none of the others had seen her blush. It would not do to let them know how much she cared for the young preacher. “This should involve less intense nursing than during the epidemic because there shouldn’t be feverish crises, but our diligent care will still be vital to whatever recovery he makes.”

      Hannah raised her hand. “Your mother told me he was awake but unable to speak.”

      Faith nodded. “So far, he can’t speak,” she confirmed, “though he has tried. I’m sure it must be frustrating. He is also paralyzed on his right side. So he’ll need much effort from us. From what Dr. Walker has told me, he must be turned from side to side every few hours, bathed, fed nourishing broth and have his limbs exercised a few times a day. There’ll be laundry to do. We must work hard, ladies, or he’ll get pneumonia.”

      “It sounds like a tall order,” СКАЧАТЬ