Leave a Candle Burning (15 page)

Weary as he was, Dannan had seen his chance after tea. Troy and Conner were playing a game with Corina, who was laughing in delight at the faces they made and the little ball that kept rolling from the parlor table.

Telling Corina he would return shortly, he slipped outside and walked past his own house toward a house he’d never actually seen. Sticking to the path that navigated a small group of trees, Dannan came upon a cottage not 60 yards from his back door. If he’d understood his uncle, it was the home of Iris Stafford. She was the woman he’d suggested Dannan talk to about Corina’s care.

With every step his heart prayed and worked at trusting. He felt almost desperate to have this plan work so life could settle in as soon as possible. He had patients to see to and a living to make. He could not do that without distraction until he’d secured a place for Corina while he worked.

“Mrs. Stafford?” Dannan asked politely, hat in hand, when the door opened to his knock.

“It’s Miss. You must be Dannan.”

“Yes. You must have received my uncle’s letter.”

“I certainly did,” she answered in her matter-of-fact way. “Come in and sit down.”

Dannan entered a small but neatly kept house with low ceilings and doors. He hadn’t ducked to enter, but nearly so. The front door put him directly into a small parlor that held too much furniture but was clean in every direction.

“I heard about your loss even before the letter came. I’m sorry,” Iris said as soon as they’d taken seats, Dannan in a chair and Iris on the sofa.

“Thank you,” Dannan said.

“How old is the little girl, and what’s her name?” Iris asked.

“Corina. And she’s three, not four until December.”

“Talkative or quiet?”

“A little of both. Some of her pronunciations can be a challenge, and she can be quiet around strangers.”

“We’ll get along fine,” Iris assured him, having decided the moment the letter arrived that she would take care of this little girl. She added, “I work for the Petersons.”

Dannan hesitated. This woman had just agreed to look after Corina during the day but now told him she would not be there.

“Will that be a problem?” Dannan asked, hoping he hadn’t missed something and be forced to look for someone who had not been recommended by his uncle.

“Not at all.” She dismissed his question with a slight wave of her hand. “Mr. Peterson will love it, and so will the missus.”

“So will I bring Corina here or there?”

“I go each day around seven o’clock, so that depends on when you want to leave her. If she’s not here by seven, I’ll assume you’re dropping her there.”

“And the end of the day?”

“I’ll probably still be at the Petersons’ when you’re done working, but you mustn’t wait all day to see her,” Iris told him kindly but plainly. “Come and visit, have dinner, or whatever works for your schedule. There’s no reason you shouldn’t stop in.”

“And if there’s an emergency in the night?”

“You just bring her here to my kitchen door. My bedroom is right above, and I’m a light sleeper. I’ll just come down and take her back to bed with me.”

They talked about several more details, the fact that she had Sundays off and preferred it that way, and the way she wanted to handle payment. They agreed that weekly was best, and Dannan knew the amount she charged was fair.

These details out of the way, Dannan’s relief was indescribable. He knew this was not the ideal situation for Corina, but he would not let her or his cousin down. He found that his heart couldn’t take thinking about his cousin right now, so he thanked Iris, making the mistake of calling her Miss Stafford.

“Iris,” she corrected. “I go by Iris.” A bit of a gleam lit her eye. “No woman at my age wants to be reminded that she never married.”

“Iris it is,” Dannan agreed, putting his hand out to shake hers.

He was on his way back to the big house in the next few seconds, his heart unbelievably light with relief and thanks. He suspected that Corina might have fallen asleep, and that would diminish some of the joy of putting her in her new bed this first night, but Dannan was swift to remember they had a lifetime ahead of them to experience that small act.

Her little nightgown was in place, her shoes and stockings off, and the covers were pulled back ready to take her. Dannan had not readied her for bed in her sleep before, but the job was almost done. He couldn’t help but laugh when she woke up the moment her head hit the pillow.

“Danna?” she called.

“I’m right here. Go back to sleep.”

She reached for him, and Dannan took her into his arms. He sat on the little bed, thinking she would be gone again in a moment, but the eyes looking up at him were wide open.

“What verse are we going to say tonight?” Dannan gave up and asked.

Corina’s small brow furrowed before her eyes opened wide, and she said, “ ‘In the beginning God created heaven and earth.’ ”

“Beginning” had come out
big-a-ning,
and “created” sounded more like
grated,
but Dannan still praised her in complete sincerity. It had been their nightly ritual since he arrived in Willows Crossing. Dannan would request a verse, and Corina would have one. Her pronunciations never failed to make him smile, but in the two weeks they’d been together, she had yet to repeat a verse.

“Can you sleep now?”

The small head that bobbed against him felt weighted. Dannan tucked her in and stayed close until her eyes slid shut. When the little hand that held his went limp, Dannan reached for the candle and sought his own bed.

Not until he was settled in for the night, both bedroom doors open so he could hear Corina, did his emotions take over. For the second time since finding out that Grant and Annie were gone, he cried, wondering when anything had ever hurt so much.

“We’re having a girl,” Conner announced when he and Reese had settled into bed.

“Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m sure it’s God’s will.”

Reese laughed in the dark, not about to let this pass. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with meeting Miss Corina MacKay, would it?”

“Not at all,” Conner lied, still smiling over how precious she was.

Reese also smiled. She had been so sweet and cute.

“Well, we’d better get started,” Conner spoke out of the dark.

“On what?”

“Names. We’ve got to have lots of girls’ names to choose from.”

“You work on names.” Reese rolled to get comfortable. “I’m going to sleep.”

“I like Valentina.”

“No, Conner,” Reese said, knowing she was being teased about her middle name; it had never been her favorite.

“Valenti
m
a?” he teased again, putting an emphasis on the changed letter.

Reese told herself not to encourage him, but that was difficult. She was sure that Conner felt the bed moving with her suppressed laughter, but he still took pity on her and let her go to sleep.

“I had a visitor last night,” Iris told Eli as soon as she arrived.

“Dannan?”

“Yes.”

“Did he like the house?”

“I wasn’t sure if he knew who was involved, so I didn’t ask.”

“And the little girl? Did you meet her?”

“No, but that’s what he came about. I’m glad Doc wrote to me, so I could say yes right away.”

“And did Dannan understand how welcome they both are?”

“I told him. We’ll have to see if he believes it.”

“Will she come today?” Eli wished to know.

“Not until Monday.”

“Well, if he doesn’t come for dinner at least once next week, I want to know about it.”

“What will you do?”

“Invite him up here and repeat what you said to make sure he understands. Maybe he doesn’t think you have the right to make such an offer.”

Iris knew it would work. Eli was charming and could usually talk his way around anyone in his acquaintance.

“I heard you loaned him a book,” Iris teased a little before announcing she had work to do and heading to the kitchen.

Eli only smiled, having been caught out, but not minding in the least. He did like Dannan MacKay; he liked him very much. On the heels of this thought came thoughts of his wife, and Eli began to wonder how she was. Even though she had not felt well in the night, her husband couldn’t wait to tell her Iris’ news.

Seven

Dannan woke to the sound of tears. He had been sleeping hard and couldn’t at first figure out what was going on. Wanting to move fast but feeling sluggish and disoriented, he scrambled from the bed as best he could.

Corina was standing by her bed, crying into her hands and calling for her mother. Dannan went down on his knees to take her in his arms, whispering soft words of comfort.

“Papa, Papa!”

The sound of a male voice changed her cry to one for Grant, and then Corina said several words Dannan couldn’t make out. Feeling helpless, Dannan only held her until the cries turned to long, shuddery breaths and then to chest-jarring hiccups.

“What happened, Corina? Did you have a bad dream?”

“I want Papa,” she stuttered out, and Dannan sat on the floor so he would have a lap for her. She climbed up and lay her head against his chest. Dannan stroked her soft hair, running his fingers through the short waves until her eyes began to droop. When she fell back to sleep, he put her back into bed and then went to look at the clock. It wasn’t even 5:30, at least an hour before she normally woke.