Page 33 of The Heart’s Charge

“By the time I made it to Westfield, Massachusetts,” Eliza continued, “I had nearly given up hope of finding the financial support I needed. My project was too small to attract large congregations and too controversial to attract personal donors protective of their reputations.

“Then Katherine showed up. She was so young, barely twenty-one at the time. I doubted she could be of any real help, but I gave her my pitch anyway, hoping she had a rich daddy who might be influenced by her recommendation. We talked that afternoon, then met again the following day. I appreciated her compassionate nature, yet I needed money, not sympathy. So I decided my time would be better spent courting the favor of others.” Eliza made a scoffing sound. “Here I was, a single woman determined to run a foundling home on my own, and I was discounting a possible donor because of her gender, youth, and inexperience. How the Lord must have laughed at the irony.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“She did.” A tiny chuckle escaped, and Jonah silently cheered. She had all but forgotten she was on a horse. “Katherine might seem soft and dainty on the outside, but she’s got a backbone of steel. She showed up at my boardinghouse the morning I planned to depart, traveling bag in hand. Said she was prepared to donate a sum large enough to purchase the property I had told her about, while leaving enough funds in reserve to supply basic furnishings and teaching materials. She offered to use her connections to drum up monthly support for the continued sustainability of Harmony House as well. But she had one condition—partnership in the ministry.

“It’s not unusual for donors to want to see how their money is being spent. I told her I would be glad to send her monthly accounting reports and host her any time she wished to travel to Texas for a visit. She turned that offer down flat. Said the Lord was calling her to give not just her money, but herself to this mission.”

Eliza huffed out a self-deprecating breath. “That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Harmony House was my mission. My dream. The Lord hadn’t laid the need for a partner on my heart. I made it abundantly clear to her that purchasing property did not constitute ownership of this mission. I would run Harmony House as I saw fit with no interference, and if she couldn’t agree to those conditions, she could keep her money.”

It was a good thing Eliza couldn’t see his grin. She’d probably find it insulting. In truth, he rather liked her straight-shooting mentality. “Not exactly the diplomatic type, are you?”

“Not when it comes to issues of freedom.”

That statement sobered him in a flash.

Her arm shifted at his waist, her fingers stretching out of their fisted state to flatten against his ribs. Suddenly he was the one with the racing heart and shallow breaths. Symptoms that had nothing to do with being on a horse’s back and everything to do with having a compelling woman’s arms around him in a way that felt less like a death grip and more like companionship.

“I needed her money,” she continued as Jonah struggled to pay more attention to her words than to the feel of her fingertips splaying across his midsection, “but I wasn’t about to compromise my vision in the process. I also wanted to set the ground rules up front. Both for her sake and for mine. The rules didn’t matter to Katherine, though. She agreed on the spot. So fast that I became suspicious. But I agreed to take her to Texas with me and show her the property.

“She purchased the place after being in Texas for two days. With money I later learned had been set aside as her dowry. She insisted both our names be recorded on the deed, and when she signed the document, she told me she considered the agreement as sacred and binding as any marriage. She committed herself to Harmony House, to me, and to whatever children God brought through our doors.

“I still expected her to lose interest in a month or two, grow homesick, and run back to Massachusetts. Then I saw her fight for Abner, take him under her wing, and love the fear right out of him. That’s when it became clear that I had misjudged her. This wasn’t a silly, impetuous girl who would quickly grow bored. This was a woman with a deep spiritual calling. The partner God knew I needed even when I stubbornly insisted on carrying the burden alone.

“By the time we officially opened the doors of Harmony House in the spring of 1890, I had a dear friend and partner whose opinions I respected. I might have thought I wanted unilateral control, but what Harmony House needed was the strength of two differing perspectives working in balance. Harmony was in the name the Lord had supplied, after all.” Eliza fell silent for a moment, then spoke again in a soft tone he barely recognized. “To this day, Katherine insists that Harmony House is my brainchild and gives me full credit for its work, since I am the one with the teaching degree. However, while it might be true that I am the head and hands of the foundling home, Katherine is most definitely its heart.”

“Sounds like a healthy partnership.” Though he’d argue her last point. Miss Palmer might possess the more affectionate nature of the two, but he didn’t doubt for a second that Miss Eliza loved those kids. Fiercely. Her love simply manifested through meeting practical needs instead of through hugs and games. After all, that love was what got her on this horse. And for a child who might or might not actually be in peril.

Jonah spotted the turnoff that led to Miss Georgia’s homestead and lifted an arm to point. “Do we turn there?”

The question startled her out of her reverie. The reality of where she was and what she was doing crashed over them both. Her arms tightened about his middle, and her posture resumed the pliability of a brick.

“No. Stay on the road another half mile. The school will be on the left.”

A few minutes later, they came upon a group of five Negro children of varying ages on the road, books and lunch buckets in hand. Jonah scanned their faces, looking for Sam, but didn’t see him. No doubt there was a more direct path to his grandmother’s house than the road.

Jonah nodded and tugged the brim of his hat as he drew near the kids. Conversations quieted, and their eyes widened. He wasn’t sure if their reaction was due to timidity at having a stranger in their midst, awe at the fine specimen of horseflesh Augustus presented, or disbelief at seeing Miss Southerland in the company of both a strange man and an overlarge horse. The group came to a halt in the middle of the road and craned their necks as Jonah passed.

“Does Miss Eliza have a beau?” The not-quite-whispered question and the groan it elicited from the woman behind him brought a smile to Jonah’s lips.

Not yet. But she definitely had a fella intrigued, and intrigue could lead to all sorts of interesting possibilities.

Possibilities that would have to wait, because they’d reached the schoolhouse.

Jonah reined Augustus to a halt in front of the small one-room building, then carefully assisted Eliza to the ground.

“Fit your foot in the stirrup,” he instructed quietly, not wanting to cause her any further embarrassment. “Then hold my arm. I’ll lower you slowly to the ground.”

He expected her to need a moment to gather her gumption, but she surprised him. She followed his instructions without hesitation or reservation. Her grip on his arm was tight enough to cut off circulation, but that only proved her courage. Eliza Southerland’s fear of horses might be massive, but she had grit to match.

She hastened away from the horse, cleverly disguising her desperation to separate herself from Augustus with a cheery greeting for the young black woman standing by the schoolhouse door, her arms filled with books.

“Candace! So good to see you. How’s the teaching going?”

Jonah hid a grin and started to dismount. As he shifted his weight into the left stirrup, however, a movement behind the schoolhouse caught his eye. He froze. Swept the area with his gaze, then zeroed in on the kid running head-down toward the school.

Wrong way. School was over. Kids were headed home. Not back.