A Daughter’s Return

“It will this time,” Mrs. Heaton said. “You aren’t going back out into the cold tonight.”

“How was Jenny, Mama? Did she give you any trouble?”

“None at all. I read her a story and listened to her prayers just a little while ago. I think she was asleep before I left the room.”

“She usually is.” Rebecca turned to warm her hands at the same time Ben did. Both of them were still shaking.

“She played charades with us before Mrs. Heaton put her to bed,” Julia said. “She’s very smart, Rebecca.”

Rebecca turned back around with a smile. “Thank you. I think so, too.”

“She takes after you,” Ben whispered to her.

“Do you think so?” Rebecca felt heat rise in her face, but was it because she was standing at the fireplace or because of Ben’s compliment?

“I do.”

Maida, Gretchen’s sister, came in with a loaded tray of steaming hot chocolate and they all took a cup. Rebecca sipped hers and let it slide down her throat. “Finally, I’m beginning to feel warm again.”

Ben smiled at her over the brim of his cup. “Me, too.”

“So how did your first class go, Rebecca?” Millicent asked.

“It went very well. Ben is a very good teacher. He managed to hold everyone’s attention through math. And I think he has a few admirers in his class.”

Ben shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

He seemed flushed and she wondered if she’d embarrassed him. She hoped not. But she was afraid to say more in case she made it worse.

“Well, I’m going to go check on Jenny. And I have homework to do, thanks to my teacher.” She grinned at Ben before crossing the room to kiss her mother on the cheek. “Thank you for watching over my girl, Mama.”

Her mother leaned close and whispered, “You know Ben has been added to her prayer list, don’t you?”

Rebecca glanced over at the man and then back to her mother. “I do. He’s kind of become her hero since he caught her that day.”

“I figured as much. And that’s good. Every girl needs one.”

And every woman needed a hero, too. But Rebecca couldn’t allow herself to start thinking of Ben that way. “I’m going up now.”

“Good night, dear.”

“Night, Mama.” Rebecca turned back to the others in the room. “See you all tomorrow.”

She left the room with a chorus of “Good night” behind her and headed up the stairs.

Rebecca quietly entered Jenny’s room and looked down on her daughter. One arm was flung over her head, and her even breathing told Rebecca she was sleeping peacefully. She leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead and almost wished Jenny would wake up so she could tell her she loved her. But Jenny slept on and Rebecca didn’t disturb her dreams.

She tiptoed to the bathroom separating their rooms and pulled the door shut most of the way, but left it open enough to hear Jenny should she awake in the night. Not that she would, but Rebecca had shared a room with her for so long that she couldn’t bring herself to shut the doors between them at night, except while she readied herself for bed.

Still a little chilled, she made quick work of it and opened the door once more. She went to her bedside and knelt to say her prayers, thanking the Lord for her daughter, for being reunited with her family and for forgiving her for bringing them pain.

And then she whispered, “Dear Lord, please comfort Ben tonight. I know it couldn’t have been easy for him to open up to me and tell me about his mother. The memories must be terribly painful for him. Please give him peace. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.”

Rebecca slid beneath the covers and pulled them up high. Then she closed her eyes and listened...yes, in the quiet of the night she could hear Jenny’s light breathing. She smiled and turned over. What would she do without her?

People around her in the tenements had urged Rebecca to give her up when she began showing—put her in an orphanage like Ben’s mother had done. And she had given it some thought. But much as she knew she’d done wrong by trusting Jenny’s father, she couldn’t add to her sins by deserting her child.

She wondered what it had been like for Ben when he was Jenny’s age...to know that he’d been left on the doorstep of an orphanage and that his own mother had deserted him. Her heart squeezed tight just thinking of it. Still, he’d grown up to be a wonderful man—but without the love of his mother. Suddenly, the tears Rebecca had fought when Ben told her about what his mother had done flooded her eyes and she buried her head in her pillow and wept for him.

* * *

Ben didn’t tarry in the parlor long after Rebecca left. He went down to his room thinking back over her remark at the café about some of the women being sweet on him. The thought had him a bit unsettled. He sincerely hoped not. He tried to be very careful not to give the impression that he might be attracted to any of them, because he truly didn’t return any interest like that. He wasn’t there to find romance—he wanted to help those women better their lives. He cared about them to that extent only.

However...Rebecca was different. Something about her touched him in a way no one else ever had; otherwise, he’d never have been so open with her tonight. He couldn’t put a name to what drew him to her, but the pull was strong and tonight he’d had to remind himself that he’d vowed never to fall in love again.

But the way Rebecca had reached out to him after he’d told her about his mother abandoning him, and her effort to comfort him with her assurance that his mother must have thought she had no choice had him on the verge of rethinking the vow he’d made.

Only for a moment, though, because Rebecca seemed to draw away and whatever dreams he’d thought to weave had disappeared before they ever formed. Which was probably for the best—he couldn’t let himself begin to care too much for her.

Ben had a feeling Rebecca was as determined as he was not to trust her heart to another. Besides, she had Jenny to think of and that would most likely add to her resolve.

Still, he had enjoyed the evening in her company a great deal and he looked forward to class on Thursday, too. Surely they could be good friends. He didn’t realize until tonight how much he needed to have someone he could confide in. Oh, the people at Heaton House were his friends. He even considered them his family, and he probably could have told any of them what he’d told Rebecca and they would have cared. But he’d never felt the need or desire to tell them.

If Rebecca hadn’t asked such a straightforward question tonight, he probably never would have told her. But he was glad he had. Hard as it was to tell her he’d been dumped at the orphanage by his mother, Ben felt as if a load of baggage had been lifted from his shoulders. He didn’t feel the need to tell others, but he also no longer felt the dread of telling anyone and seeing the pity in their eyes.

He’d never liked to think about it at all, and up until tonight, he’d always assumed his mother just didn’t want him. Rebecca’s insistence that his mother must have felt she had no other choice gave him something more to think about now. He wasn’t sure he agreed with her, but he found he very much wanted to.

He was glad Rebecca had agreed to help some of the ladies in his class however she could, especially after tonight. If she could make him feel better, he was certain she’d be able to encourage those women.

All he had to do now was keep his attraction to her from growing. Ben had a feeling that was going to be much easier said than done.

* * *

The next morning, Ben came up from downstairs just as Rebecca and Jenny entered the foyer. Jenny’s smile was contagious and he answered it with one of his own. “Good morning, Miss Jenny.”

“Good morning, Mr. Ben,” Jenny said. “How did Mama do in class last night?”

“She did very well.”

“I knew she would. Granma and I prayed she would last night.”

“I’m sure those prayers helped.” Rebecca smiled down at her daughter as they entered the dining room. “Keep them up, okay?”

“I will, Mama.”

“Good morning, everyone,” Mrs. Heaton said from the end of the table.

“Morning, Granma!” Jenny held her plate while Rebecca filled it from the sideboard. Her grandmother helped Jenny get settled at the table while Rebecca filled her own plate.