Leave a Candle Burning (2 page)

        
Maddie Randall
— recently had a baby

        
Jace Randall
— her husband

        
Valerie
— their daughter

        
Clara
— works for Jace and Maddie

        
Doyle Shephard
— Maddie’s uncle, owns the general store

        
Cathy Shephard
— Maddie’s aunt

        
Conner Kingsley
— owns and operates the bank

        
Reese Kingsley
— Conner’s wife, expecting a baby in the fall

        
Troy Thaden
— Conner’s business partner

        
Eli Peterson
— bedridden man, owns rental properties in Tucker Mills

        
Scottie Peterson
— his wife

        
Iris Stafford
— the Peterson’s cook

        
Finn
— Eli’s man

        
Pastor Douglas Muldoon
— pastor at one of the meetinghouses in town

        
Alison Muldoon
— Douglas’ wife

        
Hillary, Joshua, Peter, Martin, and Jeffrey
— Douglas and Alison’s children

        
Dannan MacKay
— nephew to old Doc MacKay and new town doctor

        
Grant MacKay
— Dannan’s cousin

        
Annie MacKay
— Grant’s wife

        
Corina MacKay
— Grant and Annie’s daughter

Some of the townsfolk:

        
Mrs. Greenlowe
— Reese Kingsley’s former landlady

        
Mr. Leffler
— the bank teller

        
The Webers
— part of the church family

        
The Peternells
—part of the church family

        
The Reverend Mr. Sullins
— pastor at Commons Meetinghouse

Prologue

“I have your mother’s things in order,” the young woman reported to the bedridden man.

“Was it hard?” he asked kindly, his eyes not missing a detail about her. “Did it make you miss her more?”

“At times. And then at other times, I felt as though she were still here.”

“What are your plans now?” he asked next.

“I’m not sure. I’ve found a house where I can board, but I don’t know about income.”

“May I make a suggestion?”

“Certainly.”

“Would you consider marrying me?”

The woman’s face betrayed all the astonishment she felt inside.

“How long have you worked here?” the man asked, changing topics.

“Since I was 12,” she answered, her voice reflecting her confusion even as she wondered what the last six years had to do with his proposal.

“You know you’ve always done more than just assist my mother,” the man began, stating his case. “She so depended on you in the latter years that she would say she couldn’t have managed without you. Well, it’s no different for me. Who will be here to take care of the small details and see to the shopping and the meals? Mother wasn’t the only one to depend on you for those things.”

The woman’s heart crowded with sudden compassion.

“This is not what you really want,” she told him gently. “You’re upset about your mother.”

To her surprise, the man smiled into her eyes.

“I am upset about losing my mother; I’ll miss her more than I can say, but I can’t lose you too. If you stay as my wife, then life can go on as it has, and I’ll have the peace of mind knowing that when I’m gone, you’ll be taken care of.”

The woman looked confused by this as well.

“As my wife,” the man explained, “this house and the properties will all be yours.”

The woman began to object, but the man stopped her.

“Please just think about it. A marriage of convenience is in both our best interests. Take as much time as you need to decide and let me know.”

Feeling a great deal of shock, the woman exited the room. She walked slowly down the open staircase, her eyes taking in the house that had been her home for a long time, a home she could only have dreamt about at one time in her life.

At the bottom, she looked back up, even though there was nothing new to see. She suddenly realized his suggestion held great merit. She didn’t want to leave, and she did care for him, just as she had his mother.

“I’ll marry you,” the woman said when she arrived back by his side just minutes later. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m very sure,” he told her, smiling again. “We’ll do it soon.”

Like the old friends they were, the two talked about the details for a few minutes more before the woman exited, leaving the man alone.

During the day he was propped up against the headboard of his bed, slightly bent to the side because of his spine, but comfortable nonetheless. At the moment, he was more than comfortable. He was delighted.

It would be a marriage of convenience, but there was another truth involved, one that he would never let her know. For the time he had left, he would know that she would be by his side, but that wasn’t what caused him to sigh with a deep contentment. That came from another fact: He was going to marry the woman he’d loved for years.

One

Tucker Mills, Massachusetts, 1840

Reese Kingsley stood in her bedroom and studied her shape in the tall mirror. Since she didn’t carry extra weight, her protruding abdomen had been obvious in her second month. Now in her fourth month, she was beginning to look as though she might be carrying twins.

She wasn’t. She was sure of that. But the fact that her spouse was the size of a small mountain could explain the additional inches around her middle. As though thinking of him might make him appear, Conner Kingsley came to the door, looking for her.

“Back in front of the mirror?” he teased quietly, which was his way.

“What do you mean
back?
” Reese turned her back on her reflection, working to look innocent.

“I saw you in this same spot a few mornings ago,” Conner answered, slipping his arms around her.

“I’m sure you mistook me for someone else,” she said.

“I can see how that might happen,” Conner went along as soon as he’d kissed her nose. “There are so many expectant women moving around this house.”

Reese smiled into his eyes, her own voice whispering that she loved him just before she slipped her arms around his neck. For a time the two were in a world of their own, up to the moment when Conner’s stomach rumbled.

“Oh, my,” Reese laughed. “I think I’d better get to the kitchen.”

“Troy started the coffee,” Conner volunteered, referring to his business partner, who also lived with them.

“If I wait long enough, will he start breakfast too?”

With a soft laugh and an arm around his wife, Conner moved them to the door. It was time to head downstairs to start the day.

Maddie Randall held her small daughter lengthwise in her lap, bending slightly to speak into her small face. Three-month-old Valerie Randall smiled into her mother’s eyes, not even remembering she was hungry.

“You slept almost all night,” Maddie congratulated her. “Didn’t that feel nice? So much better than waking up before morning.”

Valerie smiled as though she’d helped out on purpose, and Maddie laughed in delight, scooping her close to kiss her tiny cheek. This was the way Jace Randall, proud husband and father, found them.

“Well, good morning,” he greeted, having just come downstairs. “You two are up early.”

“Yes, but not in the night, so we feel very rested.”

Jace bent and kissed Maddie, and then spoke to his daughter.

“Val, tell your mother that you sleep through every night,” he teased. “I never hear you, so you must not be waking up.”

Valerie gave another smile that assured her parents she was brilliantly taking in every word, and Jace, unable to keep his distance, took her in his arms.

“Very soon now she’ll figure out she’s hungry,” Maddie said, moving toward the stairs. “But I’m going to get dressed anyway.”

“We’ll be just fine,” Jace assured her, eyes still on the small bundle in his arms.

Valerie was beginning to be quite distressed by the time Maddie came back down, but Jace only spoke softly into his daughter’s crumpled face before handing her off when his wife made her appearance.

Pastor Douglas Muldoon was sitting at the desk in his study, head bent over his Bible, when he heard the door. He looked up to see what looked like his wife’s hand, but she didn’t enter. Instead it opened just enough to admit 15-month-old Jeffrey, who giggled and ran when he spotted his father and found himself scooped up into Douglas’ arms.

“How’s my Jeff?” Douglas asked, pressing a kiss to his soft, round cheek.

The little boy hunched his shoulders with delight, smiling into his father’s face. Douglas turned with the little boy to speak to Alison, his wife.

“He was missing you,” she informed him.

“How could you tell?”

“He goes to your chair at the dining table and tries to talk to you.”

Douglas laughed, and Jeffrey put his head on his father’s shoulder. Douglas knew he wouldn’t get any work done this way, but at the moment it didn’t matter.