Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,56
it was the same, except Addie hadn’t screamed. She’d just woken one morning to find her words had disappeared, erased from her brain.
“Changed my name to Crump to discourage questions. Now I’m trying to find my way back, but most everyone steers clear of me like I have something they might catch.”
Addie hugged her and scribbled on her paper. “Not everyone. You’re a dear friend, and I feel fortunate to have met you. How did you get your voice back?”
“I didn’t do anything special. I think I had to heal on the inside first. And then one day, I found myself whispering the Lord’s prayer.”
“I try to speak but the words won’t come.”
“Just give them time, my dear. Time heals everything.”
“Maybe you’re right. I’m sorry for what happened to you. How horrible.”
Eleanor looked out the small window. “I couldn’t understand why God let me live.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “In minutes, I lost all my family.” She lifted her face and whispered, “Silence makes the most eerie sound.”
Addie nodded in agreement, understanding completely. She lifted her pencil. “You have friends in Hope’s Crossing who won’t judge. Open your heart, and you’ll find them, and me, inside. Maybe it’s time to step back into life.”
“I know, honey. Last Christmas I started trying to make my way back and actually took part in the Advent that involved the whole town. Rebel Lassiter was such a dear to me.” Eleanor got a faraway look in her eyes. “She came near to dying that Christmas. Told me to start with baby steps, and that’s pretty much what I’ve done.” Eleanor poured them another cup of tea. “Addie dear, I don’t know what happened to you, and I don’t need to, but that man of yours does. He deserves to know what you’re hiding.”
Addie pondered her words. She did owe Ridge the truth.
“I’ve lived a lot of years and seen more trouble than two lifetimes. But one thing I’ve learned is that secrets don’t do anyone any good. It’s time to let them out before they destroy you.”
She was right. Right about all of it.
“I loved my Charley and lost him. You still have Ridge; if the law has anything to do with it, you may not have him for long. Don’t waste time.”
Her pleading words hung in the air. Finally, Addie wrote: “I’ll tell him soon.”
Eleanor grabbed a woven basket and went out to the garden. She came back with squash, green beans, and onions, and handed the lot to Addie. “Fresh vegetables for your supper.”
She accepted the gift, hugged her dear friend, and left, all the horror, heartbreak, and despair of Eleanor’s story replaying in her head. Her blood stilled. Eleanor was right. Men could ride in at any time and kill Ridge, leaving her so lost and alone. A widow.
Would she have Eleanor’s strength, enough to keep living? Her heart pounded. Or would she take a Colt one night and hold it to her head?
Whatever the future had in store, she had to grab every bit of happiness with Ridge before time ran out—make lasting memories to carry inside for dark and frightening days, remembrances that would never fade. And she had to start now.
* * *
The late afternoon sun hung in the sky, the rays shining through the branches of a large cottonwood tree, creating silver filigree designs on the dirt path outside of Eleanor’s tiny home. Addie’s thoughts had moved to planning supper with the vegetables Eleanor had given her, when two men burst through the tangle of brush.
She screamed as they grabbed her with their rough hands, dropping the woven basket. The vegetables spilled to the ground.
One man clapped a hand over her mouth. “Shut up, Adeline.”
The other assailant snarled and jerked her around. “We don’t want to have to get mean, but we’re tired of chasing you. Shoulda known you’d take up with a bunch of rotten, thieving outlaws.”
Addie trembled and stared into their faces, recognizing them both from New Zion. Her father’s men. The one she knew only as Tiny was anything but, towering over her, his muscles bulging. The other was Pickens. This man had mean eyes and a hard face. She’d long suspected her father of keeping the pair around simply to do his dirty work.
She jerked and kicked, trying to loosen their grips, to no avail.
Eleanor appeared in her door. “What are you doing there? Turn Addie loose!”
“Get back inside, old woman.” Pickens pulled a pistol from his holster and pointed it at