The clanging of the horses’ tug straps and buckles made a welcome sound in the special silence only a snow day provided.
“I had a son.”
His declaration pulled her attention from the view to focus back on his profile.A son?
“A little over a year ago, my wife died giving birth to our son. Born a little early.” He worked his jaw, his words coming in halts and stops. “He … he was already gone. She died soon after.”
Kizzie stared at him, a deep ache carving out space inside her chest.
A double-knotted loss. Wife and child. Her palm instinctively tightened on Charlie's back.
Mama birthed one stillborn child. A girl. Born between Isom and Suzie. The irony of such a scene in one's life wounded like nothing else. It carried a strange sort of silent grief. Too silent when the sound of a life should have rung the air.
Seeing her daddy at that moment, his strong, larger-than-life frame bent beneath the loss, his strength and protection insufficient to change the outcome, created a memory that burned into her mind. She'd never seen him cry, except then, and it had been a quiet cry. Two big tears rolling down his careworn face. Eyes wide and lost, he was as helpless as the rest of the people in the room.
“I'm so sorry,” she whispered, watching as Charlie continued holding Noah's hand. A bittersweet picture. “What was your wife's name?”
His Adam's apple bobbed just above his scarf with his hard swallow. “Elinor.”
Elinor.Beautiful. “Sounds like an angel's name.”
His attention flitted to hers for a second before he twisted his hand free from Charlie and tapped the baby's nose. “She liked the snow too.”
He replaced his glove and turned back to the horses.
What sort of man was Noah Lewis? More like her brother, Jeb, she reckoned, than her daddy or Charles. She didn't know a great many men very well, but when pairing the four together, Noah's gentle but sturdy character matched Jeb's the most.
A hard worker and thinker, like Daddy, but with a sweet spirit binding all his strength and compassion together. And he had to be strong to keep his smile after bearing such sorrow.
She couldn't have fully appreciated it until she held a child of her own.
Losing one's reputation was one thing.
Losing one's child was another.
“There's The Hollows.” Noah gestured with his chin, and Kizzie followed his gaze as they crested a hill to reveal a long collection of buildings clustered in the valley below.
The town grew from a large flat land poised between mountains. Three steeples vaulted into the blue sky at various points along some large street. Brick, white-paneled wood, and a few stone buildings of various sizes and shapes created the collection of shops, businesses, and homes large enough to house a few hundred people.
If not a thousand.
She'd never been in a place so big.
Her shoulders relaxed a little. Maybe a bigger place meant an easier spot to start over, to disappear among the crowd.
Yes. Nella had known what she needed.
“Looks like they've tried to clear the snow from Main Street, so we'll have to go around the back way to Mrs. Carter's, since we're in the sleigh.”
“Is her shop on Main Street?”
He nodded. “One of the oldest shops too. A great location, as she's sure to tell you.” Noah offered a grin, a twinkle deepening his hazel eyes. “Mrs. Carter and her late husband bought the shop about twenty years ago. She has a good mind for the people, and he had a good head for business, so they made a fine pair for shopkeeping.”
“Late husband? He passed away?”
“About six months ago.” His frown deepened. “And from what I hear, it's been a difficult transition for her, since she doesn't have as solid a business mind as he did. A few months ago, a woman from church stepped in to help her and then ran off with some of Mrs. Carter's money.”
“How awful.” Why couldn't people just be decent to each other? “Does the boardinghouse do well?”
