To Mend a Dream by Tamera Alexander Read Free Book Online

than patient with her. But to inquire about it to Andrew? The boy already had enough burdens to deal with.
    â€œNot to worry.” Savannah pasted on a smile. “As soon as I finish the job I’m working on now, I’ll drop by and say hello to Mr. Mulholland and his family.”
    Andrew held her stare then discreetly reached down and touched the braces on his legs. “These are fine,” he said softly. “I really don’t need any new—”
    Savannah silenced her younger brother with a look, her throat straining with emotion. “We’re going to be fine,” she mouthed, then swallowed hard.
    As though sensing something, Carolyne peered up at her. Savannah smoothed a hand over her sister’s golden-blond hair and checked the girl’s writing on the slate. “Très bon,” Savannah whispered. “You’re almost finished. Continue, please.”
    With Carolyne’s attention refocused, Savannah looked back at Andrew. “I’ll visit the mercantile again very soon. I promise . And yes”—she looked pointedly at the braces on his legs, loving her brother with a fierceness that sometimes surprised her—“you do.”
    Reading uncertainty in his eyes, she smiled to let him know everything would be fine, and remembered her mother doing the very same thing with her, even when Savannah knew otherwise.
    Later, once both siblings were in bed asleep, her gaze went to the drawer of the bedside table, and her heart to the letter within. She retrieved the missive, wanting to hold the stationery in her hand again and see her father’s handwriting. Her gaze moved down the page to the paragraph she’d thought of earlier in the evening.

    You will remember what we spoke of when last we were together, after the children were abed. I ask you again to forgive me for keeping what I did from you. It was most lovingly done. However, I understand how hurtful a revelation it was for you. It was never my intention to add to that past wound, my dearest.
    She turned the page. A heavy watermark marred the ink on the time-crinkled stationery, but the words were still legible. Besides, she knew them already.

    Your father was a most persuasive man, and even now I can see the determination in his eyes. Though I know the relationship between the two of you was never the same, I do believe your father entered eternity with overwhelming love for you and with a desire that you forgive him for the decision he made all those years ago. And I hope, my love, that you will. The longer I fight this war, and the more men I see taken so swiftly from this world to the next, the more I am convinced that harboring unforgiveness is a costly debt. One that is paid over and over not so much by the one needing forgiveness as by the one withholding it.
    The ink blotched the page as though her father had hesitated overlong in lifting the pen, and she wondered what her mother had felt when first reading his next words.

    What your father gave me—gave you—he did in a spirit of reconciliation, and I hope that in time you will receive his gift as such. Before I left, I placed it with the rest of our valuables for safekeeping.
    Andrew stirred, and she looked up to see if he’d awakened. Sometimes the pain in his legs kept sleep at a distance. But his eyes remained closed, so she continued reading.

    I’ll adhere to your wishes and will wait to share the story with our entire family once the boys and I return home. But know that this was far more than a simple gesture on your father’s part. It was an olive branch intended to heal, and I pray its roots spread deep and wide through our family. I left additional monies in the box as well. Save it if you can. Spend it if necessary. Even if the house is commandeered, it will be safe.
    Oh, Papa. Where did you put it? And what is in it? Money still, perhaps?
    Her mother had never said anything about it and had died so quickly