Читать книгу Redemption - Carolyn Davidson - Страница 9

Green Rapids, Kansas—Summer 1877

THE GRAVE GAPED, an obscene rectangle wherein lay a simple coffin. Lorena McPherson, wife of Jacob, mother of Jason, lay beneath the scattering of flowers the mourning family and townsfolk had dropped into the grave.

Whether to relieve the stark presence of death, or to send a final assurance of love to Lorena, the effect was the same. But since the flowers would soon be covered by six feet of dirt, they failed to offer any comfort to the man who watched.

Jake McPherson sat in his rolling chair, his only form of transportation since he had lost parts of both legs, courtesy of the war. A familiar figure in Green Rapids, Kansas, he was pitied beyond measure today. Beside him, his son, a boy of six—who would grow up motherless from this day forward—stood dry-eyed, with shoulders straight. The boy’s gaze was focused intently on the open grave.

Across the grave site, Jake’s brother, Cord McPherson and his wife and children watched, Rachel shedding tears but standing erect and strong beside her husband.

The sun shone brightly, and Jake thought with macabre humor that it should have, at the very least, been raining the proverbial cats and dogs. But the heavens had not even had the decency to lend their tears to the event.

He’d shared almost nine wonderful years with his Rena, had discovered a life worth living with her at his side. Now it was all for naught. Life would never be the same.

Two men picked up shovels and began the slow, methodical rhythm that would fill the grave, leaving it mounded and barren of grass. Rachel carried a basket of flowers to strew over the surface once the men were finished, an attempt to conceal the scars of a fresh grave site.

Jake hoped it would bring Rachel comfort, this final act of love for her dearest friend. He would not deny her any solace she might gain, but knew that nothing could ease the stark despair that gripped him. He was alone, again. It seemed he’d been a solitary man for most of his life.

Until Lorena…