Searching for Anna, Jenifer Carll-Tong [cheapest way to read ebooks TXT] 📗

Phoebe took Will's offered hand as she exited the train. As she did, she couldn't help but notice how different his face, and his demeanor, appeared. Where he had looked exhausted and defeated most of the trip south, he now looked determined and serious. And she thought she knew why.

Standing on the train station platform, next to Phoebe's father, surrounded by a group of Michigan State Troopers, stood a woman dressed in black. Wendell's mother.

Will walked straight to her and removed his hat.

"I'm so sorry — "

"Thank you so much for coming all this way to bring my son home to me, Constable…"

"Caffey, ma'am. Will Caffey."

Mrs. Jackson's face lit with a huge smile. "Will!" she nearly shouted, "I had hoped it would be you!"

Wendell's mother threw her arms around his neck, nearly toppling him with her embrace.

Phoebe thought she saw a tear slide down Will's face as shock turned to relief.

"Now, let me take a look at ya," Mrs. Jackson said as she released her grip on him and held him at arm's length. "I can see why my Wendell thought so much of ya – so strong and handsome – what every young boy wishes to become, eh?"

He blushed and Phoebe had to bite her lip to not laugh at the irony of him falling victim to teasing. Had it been any other circumstance, she would have laughed straight in his face.

"Officer Caffey, you will never know how grateful I am for all ya did for my boy. He loved ya like family, that he did."

Will's head dropped. "I loved him too, ma'am."

"You loved him enough to put your life on the line for him, from what I've been told."

Will shook his head. "I did love him that much, Mrs. Jackson, but he saved my life, not the other way around."

Tears poured down the woman's cheeks as she wrapped Will in another embrace. Phoebe couldn't hear what she was saying, her words lost in the puddle she was making on Will's shoulder, but Will nodded in response.

She pulled back once more and turned her puffy, tear-stained face to Phoebe.

"Now, you must be that Pastor. My, my, Miss Albright, you're even prettier than his letters said." She winked. "I could tell which letters dear Will here helped him write, because they were all about you, just like your letters were all about Will."

Phoebe blushed. "I just wrote what Wendell asked me to."

"Oh, I know it. I just meant that based on the letters, I knew he was well loved up there in the U.P."

"That he was, Mrs. Jackson. Very well loved."

The round woman's eyes misted again. "You know, Miss Albright, I've been askin' God as to why he had to move my Wendell so far away from me, then take him away – why I couldn't have him nearer in his last days. But then God showed me that if he hadn't left – hadn't gone north, well, he wouldn't have given his life to the Lord. And because of that, I get to see my boy again someday on the other side of eternity. And for that, I have you to thank, missy!"

Mrs. Jackson grabbed Phoebe in her chubby arms, crying unabashedly. And despite Phoebe's belief that she had cried herself out, she found herself joining the woman.

"It's time, Mrs. Jackson," Reverend Albright interrupted.

The party turned toward the train just in time to see the group of Michigan State Troopers, including Will, walking out of the last boxcar, carrying the casket. Phoebe stood near Wendell's mother, holding the dear woman's hand, as the men transferred Wendell to the waiting hearse.

Phoebe's father spoke quietly to Mrs. Jackson, making arrangements for the funeral, but Phoebe's thoughts were distracted by the officers. They stood talking to Will, who stood very tall, she thought, and very resolute. He reached inside his coat and pulled out the envelope that she had seen him holding on the train. He handed it to one of the officers.

"If that's agreeable with you, Pastor Albright."

The conversation halted and Phoebe turned to find that Mrs. Jackson was talking to her, not her father.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"Mrs. Jackson would like you to give the eulogy," her father said.

"Oh, but I'm not ordained. I couldn't possibly…

Rev. Albright held up his hand. "Just deliver the eulogy. I'll officiate the funeral."

Phoebe hadn't considered the possibility that this would be asked of her, and the thought petrified her. But she couldn't deny this request to honor her friend, so she silently nodded and forced a smile on her face.

"You'll be fine," Will whispered next to her. "It's what Wendell would have wanted."

Phoebe wasn't certain how long Will had been standing there, but she appreciated his encouraging words.

Phoebe's father extended his hand toward Will. "Are you still on duty?" Reverend Albright asked.

A sad smile curled the corner of his mouth. "No, sir. I thought I had to report to headquarters, but they said they'll contact me if they need me.”

"Good, because there's a mess of people at my house that will have my head on a platter if I don't bring you by, even if for just a moment."

And a mess it was. The car had no sooner pulled to a stop when Phoebe's mother, followed by her sisters and brother-in-law, poured out of the parsonage, and descended upon them.

Mrs. Albright yanked open the car door and pulled Phoebe into her arms. Before Phoebe had a chance to breathe, Sarah attached herself around her waist, then, whirling her around, Esther pulled her from both and crushed her in a hug.

"I have missed you so much!" Esther whispered in her ear.

Phoebe was trying hard not to cry, so overwhelmed by a feeling of homesickness like she had never known, that she just nodded in agreement against her sister's hair. As she hugged her tighter, she realized she was able to wrap her arms completely around Esther's midsection.

"The baby! Where's my nephew!"

"Over there," Esther pointed.

Phoebe turned to find John slapping Will on the shoulder. Will stood holding a precious little bundle – William James Ward. Will's face was alive again and Phoebe couldn't help but notice what a fine picture he was with an infant in his arms.

"How is it that you get to hold my nephew before I do?" Phoebe teased.

"Because he's my namesake, so naturally, I come first," he teased back, never taking his eyes from the baby.

"Enjoy it while you can, Officer Caffey, because when that boy is old enough to decide for himself, I'll be his favorite visitor from the north."

"We'll see about that, Miss Albright. I intend to spoil this boy until he is rotten to the core."

"Rotten to the core? That's fitting – since his name is William."

Will chuckled at that but appeared too preoccupied with the sleeping newborn to retaliate. "Perfect. He truly is – absolutely perfect," he said in a near whisper.

Phoebe stood next to him and looked down at her nephew. Will was right. Perfect was exactly the right word to describe him. His round, cherubic face, nestled softly against Will's chest, was topped with a full head of sand-colored hair – just like his father's. Long, thick eyelashes rested against his chubby cheeks and fluttered a bit as if he were about to wake. Phoebe held her breath, afraid the angelic sleep was about to be interrupted, but the little guy just took a deep breath and sighed, snuggling deeper into Will's arms. Phoebe reached out and placed her finger into his tiny grasp and her heart fluttered as baby William's chubby little fingers curled around hers.

"Never in my life have I felt such instantaneous love for another human being," she said in awe.

"I know," Will agreed. "I didn't realize I had a hole in my heart until now – now that he's here to fill it."

"Yes! That's what it feels like," she said, smiling at Will. He smiled back and their eyes locked for a moment. A hole – one she never felt before – was filling with a love she couldn't put into words.

Someone in the room cleared his throat and Phoebe realized everyone was watching the two of them.

"As much as I hate to let you go, little man, there's someone else here that would like a turn meeting you." He kissed the baby on the forehead then placed him in Phoebe's arms. "But remember," he whispered, "I'll always be your favorite."

"I know he's a boy," she said, "but he is the prettiest thing I have ever seen!"

John laughed. "Your sister is always saying that!"

"Because it's true!" Esther quipped. "Come, Phoebe. Let's sit in the parlor with him. You must be exhausted, coming all that way