In a Mother’s Arms Read Online Free

hungering for a mother’s love the same way she yearned for a daughter’s.
    Sometimes there were no ever afters. Sometimes lifefell far short of a storybook ending. She vowed to put the Frost twins and their family on her nightly prayer list. After all, they had a lot in common.
     
    “How much longer, doc?” Mrs. Gornecke shifted against her pillows, asked a silent question, one she was probably too afraid to put into words. Hers had been a bad case.
    Scarlet fever could be a dangerous illness, that was a sad fact. He’d seen the effects more times than he cared to remember. He snapped his medical bag closed. “I can’t honestly say, Mrs. Gornecke. Your fever has been high and persistent. This is of great concern. I’m not unduly worried, but I mean it when I say you must follow my instructions precisely.”
    “I try to, as much as I can. But my little ones—” She fell silent, her gaze trailing toward the open window to where her small children often could be seen playing in the lawn of the backyard. Not today. A mother’s love shone, transforming her. “Are you sure they are safe?”
    “Not a single symptom. As long as they stay away at your parents’ place.”
    “I can’t help worrying.”
    “Of course. If anything changes, I will make sure you know.” He left his shirt sleeves rolled up and snatched his jacket off the arm of the nearby chair. He respected Mrs. Gornecke. She was a devoted wife and mother, one who thought of others first, the kind of woman his wife had not been.
    And if a quiet voice at the back of his mind wanted to remind him that there were plenty of women in theworld with Mrs. Gornecke’s integrity and sense of devotion, he refused to listen to that voice. Or the fact that Molly McKaslin came to mind.
    “I’ll check on you tomorrow, Mrs. Gornecke.”
    “Thank you kindly for coming on Sunday. We were supposed to be at church this afternoon, me and my little girls.”
    For the May Day Tea, the Ladies’ Aid put on every year. Paula had been the president of the organization years ago. Samuel nodded, anxious to go before the old sorrow could catch up to him. He wanted to keep moving, for it was the best way to cope with long-standing loss and his personal shortcomings. So he grabbed his bag and gestured to the husband, huddling quietly in the corner. He waited until the door was closed and they were in the parlor of the small three-room house before he gave Mr. Gornecke more medicine and detailed instructions on his wife’s care.
    “I’ll do all you say to do, doc.” He held open the door. He looked haggard, torn between his work and the important care of his wife. “About the bill—”
    “We’ll discuss that when your wife is better. Right now, I want you to take care. Or you will likely be the next patient I visit.”
    Once outside, he rushed down the rickety front steps, hoping his daughters had followed orders and were right where they ought to be. They were in troubled water as it was.
    “Pa!” Penelope’s green sunbonnet poked out from between the brackets supporting the buggy top. “We’re right here. Just like you told us.”
    Prudence’s blue bonnet popped out next to the green. “We hardly moved a muscle. That’s what you said to do, and we done it!”
    His biggest shortcomings felt enormous when those two pairs of hazel eyes focused on him. He felt their need like the burn of sun on his back. He had failed on his promise to his wife. He could hear the desperate plea of Paula’s voice in memory, the guilt increasing with every step he took toward those little girls. Promise me you will marry again and soon. I know how you feel, but those girls need a mother, someone who is kind. They are so easy to love. Find a gentle lady who will love them as I do.
    Years had passed, and he had yet to keep that promise. He hadn’t even tried to make good on it. He could blame it on his work. He’d been overrun with the demands of his job and of the little ones in his