Page 58 of Montana Lawman Rescuer
“Yes, Gram.” He grinned at her. It was a message she gave him often. And he needed to hear it often.
“I’m off to bed,” she said and climbed the stairs, leaving Jesse and Emily alone.
“What have you been doing?” He wanted to hear about every moment of every day, just as he’d thought of her every moment of the days he looked for the criminals. Not only did he want to do his job and bring them to justice, he knew Emily would never be totally safe as long as they were at large.
“I’m still working on the wedding dress.” A troubled look crossed her face, though he guessed she tried to hide it. “I’ve helped Gram weed the garden, and I had a nice visit with Annie.” She told him of taking the boys to the schoolyard to play.
Emily’s eyes clouded, but before he could ask for an explanation, she reached for her Bible on the nearby shelf. “I’ve been reading, searching, really, hoping to find something about myself.” She opened the Bible and slowly turned the pages. Her hands grew still, and she seemed not to breathe.
“Emily, what is it?”
Tears glistened, and she pointed to the page before her.
He turned the Bible so he could read the words. She had underlined a verse in Isaiah chapter forty-three. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. In the margin, she had written Even in this. And a date. February 1, 1887. Four years ago. What had happened on that date?
She pressed her hand to her chest and made little rubbing movements as if trying to ease a pain.
He watched her warily, prepared to rush her to the doctor if she showed any sign of fainting.
“I remember,” she whispered.
He waited, not moving or making a sound, afraid that doing so would stop the recovery of her past.
“I don’t know what happened, but it almost destroyed me. I felt like I was drowning, like my life was consumed by flames.” She rocked back and forth. “I was so hurt. I think I must have done something and paid a heavy price. But I only remember the pain, nothing else.” She bent over her knees as if in agony.
He longed to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but she seemed too fragile to even touch. He knew the chapter she’d marked and ran his gaze down to the verses he sought.Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing.He read the verse to her.
She nodded but did not seem to get any comfort from the words.
He wanted her to know that she could start over without ever recovering her memory, but he didn’t wish that for her, knowing she could not be whole, could not be free until she knew who she was. What could she have done that frightened her so much?
She straightened and wiped her eyes. “What can I do but trust God to bring me the answers I need?”
He watched her, wishing he could ease her worries. Instead, he sat beside her without moving. His ultimate goal was to help her regain her memory and remember her past, in order to see the possibilities of her future. He would not acknowledge that he wondered if there might exist some anticipation of her seeing him in the picture.
No, he reminded himself he’d decided to guard his heart against destruction, and that meant not pinning any hope of a young woman seeing him as enough. But his job meant helping her remember, and the doctor had said her memorymight return when she least expected it...perhaps when she was happily doing something else. “Would you like to visit the falls?” He hadn’t planned to say that, but it would fulfill the doctor’s orders to do something besides think about regaining her memory.
Her eyes lit. “Falls? Really?”
“Libby Falls. They’re very spectacular.”
She smiled. “I can hardly say no to that, can I?”
“We’ll go tomorrow, then.”
“Okay.”
His heart captured Emily’s laugh. It would forever hold a special place in his memories. “What about Mikey?” Emily asked.
“The trail isn’t suitable for someone his age. Maybe Annie will keep him. I’ll ask her.”
Emily could not denyher excitement at the prospect of visiting the falls. Jesse had taken Mikey to stay with Annie, saying he’d be back in half an hour to get her. She needed to conceal her anticipation from Gram, so she filled the time with tidying a kitchen cupboard.
“The falls are a lovely place, though I’ve not been in years,” Gram said.
“Would you like to come with us?”
Gram laughed merrily. “Oh, no. I have no intention of interfering with your outing. Besides, it’s not the sort of outing an old lady like me could enjoy.” She chuckled again. “But it was sweet of you to ask.”
