Chapter Seventeen
The following day, Jeremiah heard a commotion at the front door, and he emerged from his office to see Nancy and Will being ushered into the house by Leigh. The look of elation on her face was evident, and his heart swelled at the sight of her happiness.
Since her arrival in Kaskade, he had seen her laugh, had seen her angry, confused, irritated, even amused, but he had not seen a warmth in her “robin’s-egg eyes” until she discovered Harry and ultimately his daughter and granddaughter. That she had craved the love of family was obvious. It was also clear that she had not realized how much she had missed being part of a family.
Jeremiah had not struggled overly much with such yearnings. He could not remember his mother, and although he missed his father’s company, he knew his father had enjoyed a fulfilling life. If he had to examine why he had not pined for family, while Leigh quite obviously had, he surmised that Mrs. Jackson had filled the void for him. She had been with the family since he was a child, and he had come to rely upon her as a member, a relative.
“Come in! Come in!” Leigh said enthusiastically. “Gran—”
Jeremiah froze in the hall.
“Nancy! Will! Come in,” Leigh corrected herself.
At that, Jeremiah moved forward to welcome them. “Yes, please come in. Would you like to see Harry right away, or do you have time for tea or coffee?”
“Can you stay for lunch?” Leigh asked. “Mrs. Jackson asked if you were staying for lunch today. I didn’t know if you could, so she went ahead and made enough food for all of us.”
Nancy smiled, though she had a wary look in her eyes. Jeremiah did not believe it was on Leigh’s account but was probably the anxiety of seeing her father after so many years.
“Sure, I could use a cup of coffee,” Nancy said. “I haven’t been down to Kaskade in years. I remembered it as being closer.”
Jeremiah ushered the group into the parlor. Mrs. Jackson appeared in the doorway, and introductions were made.
“Could you bring us some coffee, Mrs. Jackson?”
“Of course.” She looked at Leigh. “Did you ask your guests if—”
“I did. You are staying for lunch, aren’t you?”
Nancy looked at Will, who shrugged.
“Sure, that would be nice. Thank you.”
“Good,” Leigh and Jeremiah said at the same time. Mrs. Jackson nodded and left the parlor.
“This is a pretty grand house,” Nancy said. “I knew Kaskade had a few grand houses, but I never thought I’d be sitting in the parlor of one.”
Jeremiah smiled. “My father had it built. It is home.”
“And you are the only doctor in town?” Will asked.
Jeremiah had already noted that he was a quiet man, not necessarily cowed by Nancy, but accommodating of her. Perhaps out of love for his wife, or maybe he just loved his mother-in-law. It had been known to happen.
“Yes. My father was a doctor before me. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t the only doctor. I am often called out to the logging and fishing camps and little settlements that aren’t large enough to warrant a name.”
Will nodded.
“How is Harry today?” Nancy asked.
“Excited and nervous about seeing you,” Jeremiah responded. “Did he say anything particularly to you, Leigh?”
“The same. Like you said, he’s excited and nervous. I don’t want to speak for him or advocate for him. We asked you to come see him, and you did, and that’s all we can do. The rest is up to him, really.”
“And Nancy,” Will offered in a practical voice.
“I didn’t want to say that,” Leigh said with a crooked smile.
Mrs. Jackson returned quickly with a coffee service and set it on the table in front of the sofa. She poured out cups and handed them out before leaving the room again.
“So that is your housekeeper?” Nancy asked.
“Yes, Mrs. Jackson. She has been with the family since I was a young child. I was just thinking yesterday that I have been blessed with her presence in my life since my mother died. I was very young when she died, and Mrs. Jackson filled that void for me.”
Jeremiah caught Leigh staring at him, and he realized he had said quite a mouthful, revealing much.
“Family is important,” Nancy said. “All types of family—cousins, in-laws, even longtime servants.”
“I agree with you,” Jeremiah said. “With the exception of the word ‘servant.’ I have never really thought of Mrs. Jackson that way, and I realized yesterday that in a very real sense, she is family to me.”
“What a nice thing to say,” Leigh said.
“The doctor seems like a very nice man,” Nancy said. “So you’re working here for the doctor? In his office? Are you a nurse?”
Leigh shook her head. “I haven’t started yet, but I’m going to as soon as Harry is better.”
“She has started in that she is taking care of Harry, but no, Leigh is not a nurse.”
“No, most certainly not,” she murmured.
“I hear a story there,” Will offered.
Leigh gave her great-grandfather an unusually affectionate, trusting smile. Jeremiah was surprised to hear her disclose information about her mother, her husband, Sam, and what she termed her “phobia” about all things medical.
“Given all that worry, it’s surprising that you would take a job with the local doctor, especially a live-in job. Or are you two closer than you’re letting on?” Nancy asked.
“What? Jeremiah and I? No!” Leigh protested hastily. “No, Jeremiah has been great to me, but strictly professionally.”
Jeremiah knew that wasn’t true, and it seemed clear that Will and Nancy suspected his interest in her was not strictly professional. He dropped his eyes to his coffee to contemplate his growing adoration of Mrs. Leigh Peters. A silence ensued, broken by Leigh, and he looked up.
“If the good doctor were listening, he would agree with me. I came here without a job, and he offered me one.”
“But how did you end up taking care of my father?” Nancy asked. “He’s your cousin as well, isn’t he? Or is he an uncle? Forgive me. I still don’t know the exact connection, though there is no doubt that there is one.”
Leigh bit her lip. “Well...” she began.
“It was entirely by coincidence. Given that Leigh was a recent widow and a newcomer to Kaskade, I offered her room, board and a small salary in exchange for help with appointments and bookkeeping. She graciously accepted. I could not have cared for Harry without her help. Some time after meeting Harry, Leigh discovered that they are cousins. I do not think she mentioned it to Harry, given that he was so ill.”
“No, I didn’t tell him,” Leigh agreed. She met Jeremiah’s eyes with a look of gratitude.
“I forgot, or maybe I didn’t hear yesterday,” Nancy said. “Where did you say you came from, Leigh? What brought you to Kaskade, of all places?”
Leigh’s eyes blinked, and Jeremiah wondered if he should invent a story on her behalf. But she spoke quickly.
“Iowa,” Leigh offered. “I lived in Iowa. After my husband died, I wanted to leave Iowa and move west. Doesn’t everyone?” She raised her hands in a quaint gesture and grinned. “I decided to visit Kaskade because I’d heard we had relatives in the area, but I liked it so well, I decided to stay for a while.”
Jeremiah gave her an approving nod, and she lifted her chin and smiled at him. His heart rolled over.
“And you came up to see us! We’re so glad that you did,” Nancy said with a broad smile.
Leigh appeared to delight in Nancy’s welcome, and her eyes sparkled. She cast a blissful smile upon everyone in the parlor.
“We are glad to have Leigh in Kaskade,” Jeremiah said in a husky voice. “She is a most welcome addition.”
Leigh blushed and looked away. Jeremiah caught Nancy’s speculative expression as she regarded them.
“Yes, I can see that she is welcome here.”
Jeremiah could have sworn Nancy winked.
“I guess it’s time to go up and see my father,” she said, rising to her feet. “I have to be honest. I’m kind of dreading it.”
Leigh rose and crossed over to take one of Nancy’s hands.
“How can we help?”
Nancy cupped Leigh’s chin in one of her free hands.
“You already have, little girl. I’ll be fine. I just wanted to say what I was feeling. Better to speak it aloud than keep it bottled up, right?”
Will stood, as did Jeremiah.
“I’m just going to walk over to the hardware store. I’ll be back in an hour,” Will said.
“Oh! You don’t want to go up and see Harry?” Leigh asked.
“I don’t know him,” Will said. “He’s Rosanna’s grandfather, not mine. I’ll let Nancy and him get reacquainted.”
Jeremiah almost smiled at Leigh’s confused expression. It was true that Will was not biologically related to Harry. Leigh was, however. Keeping up with her relatives was going to prove a confusing chore, one that Jeremiah hoped he might help her with long into the future—if he could convince her to stay—and he had every intention of working on just that.
“Oh, that’s right,” Leigh said. “Come back for lunch!”
“I’ll be back,” he said again. He left the house, and Jeremiah turned to Nancy.
“I’ll escort you upstairs.”
“Do you want me to come with you, Nancy?” Leigh asked.
Nancy turned to her. “Yes, I do, dear, but this is something I have to do alone. He’s my father, and we have to clear the air.”
Jeremiah winced, and Nancy must have caught his expression.
“No, doctor, I’m not going to yell and scream at him. I’m not going to blame him or shame him. I’ll be kind and gentle, I promise.”
Jeremiah nodded. “Are you ready?”
She nodded, and he led her out of the room. He looked over his shoulder to see Leigh standing in the middle of the parlor, her hands tightly clasped in front of her. Her joyful expression had devolved into one of apprehension, and he gave her an encouraging nod.
Her lips curved into a smile, and she gave him a thumbs-up gesture with her right hand. Jeremiah didn’t know why, but that signal went straight to his heart, and he knew himself to be completely and utterly in love with Kaskade’s gift.