Page 21 of A Star in the West

Stella smiled as she brushed the back of one finger along the baby’s face. Like most women, she’d experienced a desire to have children of her own, but she’d forced herself to forfeit that particular dream years ago when she realized marriage wasn’t in her future. Frank had changed all that, however, and dreams she’d set aside as impossible were resurrecting with surprising speed.

A quiet knock on the front door brought Stella’s head up and Alma’s husband out of the kitchen, where he’d been raiding the cupboards for a snack after putting his girls to bed. He shoved the remains of what looked to be a piece of jam-slathered bread into his mouth as he crossed the room, taking a moment to swallow before opening the door.

“Professor. Glad you could make it.”

Stella’s heart pounded as Norman opened the door and stepped aside so the newcomers could enter. The moment she spied Frank, she thanked God for bringing him through the night unscathed.

Well, perhaps not precisely unscathed. When he pulled off his hat, she noted his thick red hair standing up in ruffled disarray. Not only that, but his bow tie was askew, and the bottom button of his vest was undone. If she wasn’t so sure of his trustworthiness, she might be a tad concerned over the significance of his rumpled appearance, considering where he’d been for the last hour and a half. But the way his gaze eagerly sought hers and radiated with a desire to please silenced the insecurities stirring in her breast.

“We found her, Stella.” He smiled and stepped deeper into the room to admit Mr. Muir and a young lady with red-rimmed eyes and a thin carpetbag. “This is Gladys.”

The girl looked as comfortable as a mouse being invited into a room full of cats. Her gaze darted to and fro as she nibbled her bottom lip. Until she caught sight of the small bundle in Stella’s arms.

“Curtis?” Her voice cracked as she dropped her bag and moved toward the sofa where Stella sat.

Tears misted Stella’s eyes as she rose to her feet and met Gladys halfway. “He’s been fed and changed,” she said, “but I’m sure he’s missed his mama.”

Careful to support the baby’s head, Stella opened her arms, surprised at the pang that ricocheted through her heart when she transferred him over.

“Oh, my sweet boy.” Gladys sobbed quietly as she curled her son close and dropped kisses on his head. “I’ll never leave you again. I swear it.” She glanced up, looking first to Stella, then to Alma. “Thank you for looking after him. I . . . I know you must think me a terrible person, but I didn’t know what to do.”

“No one thinks you are a terrible person.” Stella circled an arm around Gladys’s shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. “Anyone can see how much you love him. You were in an impossible position and did the best you could to protect your child. Thankfully, God led these modern wise men to your babe just as he led the magi of the past to his own Son. Things will be better now. You’ll see.”

Gladys peeked over her shoulder to where Mr. Muir spoke in quiet tones to Norman. “He says I can have a fresh start. That no one back east will know about Sherod’s. That he and his wife will help me find honorable work and provide for Curtis.” She looked back to Stella, her voice barely a whisper. “I want it to be true—I need it to be true—but miracles don’t happen to girls like me.”

Stella leaned close. “God doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to handing out miracles.” She smiled down at Curtis and rubbed the bottom of the blanket where his sweet little feet were cocooned. “As much as you love your son, that’s how much God loves you, Gladys. More than you could ever imagine. None of us deserves to be his children. We all fall short of his standard. Yet he offers to adopt us anyway. Just like the Muirs are doing for you. You can trust them, but more than that, you can trust the God who brought them to you.”

Alma came alongside, a small bag in her hands, which she held out to Gladys. “I put a couple of extra baby gowns and diapers inside. They should see you through the train ride to Cambridge.”

“Thank you.” Gladys took the bag in one hand, her chin trembling. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you and the professors for your kindness.”

Alma pressed a hand to Gladys’s back. “You’ll repay us by using this opportunity to turn your life around and raise Curtis to be a man of honor.”

Stella gave the babe’s toes a final wiggle. “Maybe one day you’ll even be in a position to extend a similar kindness to someone else in need.”

Catching movement in her peripheral vision, she turned her head and spied Frank standing off by himself, trying to get his unruly hair to lay flat as he regarded his reflection in the front window. She bit back a grin.

“I’ll fetch the men so we can be on our way,” she volunteered before meeting Gladys’s gaze again. “You’ll be staying in my home tonight.”

Gladys nodded. “All right.”

Stella moved to join Frank. “Let me help.”

He pivoted, a sheepish expression on his face. “Pearl said I had to look mussed if we didn’t want Opal to get suspicious.”

Stella ran her fingers through the front of Frank’s hair, enjoying the feel of his wavy locks. “Pearl?”

“She . . . ah, helped us find Gladys.” He cleared his throat and fidgeted as she began to straighten his bow tie. “Nothing improper occurred between us, Stella. I swear it.”

“I know.” She leaned close and pressed a kiss to his flaming cheek. “I trust you, Frank. Completely. Besides, you were only at that place because I insisted. It would be the height of hypocrisy for me to disparage you for doing what needed to be done to rescue Gladys.”

Appreciation and a humbling bit of wonder glowed in the depths of his blue eyes. “I love you, Stella.”

A smile stretched across her face to match the stretch she felt in her heart as it expanded to accept him fully into her life. “I love you, too.”

She could have enjoyed that moment for hours, but their privacy shrank quickly as people gathered by the front door.

Professor Muir gazed over the heads of the others, seeking her out. “Where’s Goldstein?”