LITMIR.BIZ

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      The terrible unrest and sometimes-violent street fighting that occurred almost daily now over the war between North and South was enough to worry about. How could Chad disappear at such a dangerous time, with Federal troops swarming the streets and guarding the St. Louis Arsenal, and with Missouri Confederate militia still hiding in the southern part of the state and attacking northern sympathizers at every opportunity? St. Louis was filling up with families who’d fled battlegrounds or who’d been routed out by rebel raiders. And the hospital was becoming crowded with wounded men, from both North and South. She wished sometimes that she could help them out with her nursing experience, but Chad wanted her to stay home with Sophie.

      A lot that helps now, she thought. She tied string around Mrs. Shelby’s wrapped items, yanking on them with secret anger. With Chad gone and this store their only means of income, she had to handle things alone until she found out what had happened to her husband.

      She handed her customer the package. “Thank you, Mrs. Shelby.”

      “And where is that precious little girl of yours?” the woman asked. “Chad is usually the one who waits on me, you know.” She put a hand to her chest. “My, what a handsome man you married! It’s a good thing you are so exceptionally beautiful, young lady, or half the women in this town would be trying to steal that man from you,” she teased. The aging woman chuckled. “If I’d been younger, I certainly would have tried for him myself before he up and married you.”

      Her heart aching inside, Clarissa managed a smile. “Thank you. Chad is on a business trip,” she lied.

      “Well, you shouldn’t have to watch this store. That young man should have found someone else to do it. You’re a mother now. Little Sophie needs you more than this store does. And with those Home Guardsmen prancing around out there, threatening any person who dares to talk of secession, who knows what will happen next in this city. It’s no longer safe for woman or child.”

      “We’re fine, Mrs. Shelby. Sophie is with the Harveys. Carolyn Harvey agreed to watch her so I could work today. Sophie likes to play with their little girl, Lena. And I’m not about to let this senseless war force me to close down and lose business, especially now that it belongs to me and my husband.”

      “Oh, of course, dear, but it just doesn’t seem right for a mother to work. I hope Chad will be home soon.”

      Clarissa turned away. “So do I.”

      “What’s that, Clare?”

      “Oh.” Clarissa turned. “I just meant Chad wasn’t sure how long he’d be. He took a train to Chicago to see about getting more stock for cheaper prices.”

      “Well, wouldn’t you know? I was in here just two days ago, and that man never said a word about taking a trip.”

      He never said a word to me either, Clarissa thought.

      Mrs. Shelby smiled. “I’ll see you in church tomorrow?”

      Clarissa nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

      Mrs. Shelby left, and Clarissa breathed a sigh of relief, glad she wouldn’t have to come up with any more explanations. The ominous sight of Chad’s empty wardrobe hit her again like a knife in her heart. For months he’d not shown as great an interest in her as when they’d first married. She’d blamed it on the time she needed for Sophie after she was born, and the weight she’d gained. Still, she’d soon lost all that weight. When she looked in the mirror she saw the same slender woman Chad Graham had married. There was no premature gray in her deep red hair. Nothing about her had changed, and she’d given Chad such a beautiful, charming, red-haired little girl of whom he could be so proud.

      But something was wrong…something she’d refused to face in spite of the warning a few months ago from old Rachael Grimes, a founding member of the Light of Christ Church, where Clarissa had attended since she’d been a young girl. She’d even met Chad there, when he was new in town and began attending in order to meet people.

      Rachael Grimes was also one of the town’s biggest gossips. Your husband has been unfaithful, dear. You must be doing something wrong that has driven him from you. Don’t you let that man get away and don’t let him wrong you. You talk to him and find out what you need to do to keep him in your own bed.

      The words still stung. She’d loved Chad with her whole being, falling head over heels when he began teaching the young-adult Sunday school class. Chad was strikingly handsome, with his sandy hair and green eyes, solid build and sparkling smile. He was smart, had a good job at the bank, dressed impeccably and was a social hit with everyone. Half the young women in church had vied for his attention, but it was Clarissa who’d won it.

      Chad had been so attentive and sympathetic when her father suddenly died of a heart attack. It was a dark time for her. Her mother died years earlier, and Henry Seaforth had been Clarissa’s whole world. Chad stepped in and comforted her, reading scripture to her, consoling her—attention that led to something much more. He’d sworn his love for her, asked her to marry him. She’d barely had time to recover from her father’s death before she was walking down the aisle of the Light of Christ Church as Chad Graham’s bride, in spite of her father’s distrust of the man.

      Her wedding night with Chad, and many nights thereafter, had been blushingly passionate, and her whole world became Chad Graham. Within just ten months she’d added little Sophie to that world. Chad had taken over running the store, and because of his friendly, social nature and his knowledge of accounting, he ran it well.

      Everyone liked Chad, but her father had thought Chad’s background was too obscure. So did her good friend Carolyn Harvey. But Carolyn and her husband, Michael, were wonderful Christian people who were willing to give Chad the benefit of the doubt, since Clarissa was so much in love and Chad had become so active in the church. Chad claimed to be an orphan from Chicago, who’d struggled and worked to make something of himself and whose faith in Christ had helped him through the bad times. He’d seemed so sincere and dedicated.

      Now her father’s and Carolyn’s warnings haunted Clarissa, as did old Mrs. Grimes’s hurtful words. If the woman was right, why did she think that whatever Chad might have done was Clarissa’s fault? The thought of somehow being responsible hurt deeply and made her feel painfully inadequate as a woman. She’d married Chad blindly, her heart so full of love and passion that nothing else mattered. In her mind she’d been the best wife and mother she could be. Why on earth would Chad ever want to leave her?

      The bell above the front door jingled as someone came inside then, and Clarissa turned to see Margaret Baker, one of the founders of the Light of Christ Church. The woman’s dark eyes drilled into Clarissa as though she’d done something terrible.

      “Hello, Margaret.” Clarissa greeted the woman with a smile. She and Margaret’s daughter, Susan, had attended school together and were often involved in the same activities at school and church. “What can I help you with today?”

      Margaret came closer, looking so angry that it changed her whole countenance into a stern, stiff, almost witchy air. She raised her chin as she spoke.

      “You can bring back my Susan!”

      Clarissa frowned. “What do you mean?”

      “I mean that you can straighten up and be a proper wife so that you don’t drive your husband into another woman’s arms and drive my daughter to sin in the eyes of God!”

      A horrible picture began to take form in Clarissa’s thoughts. She felt as though her blood was draining from her brain down and out through her feet. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she answered.

      “Don’t you? Where is Chad, Clare? Do you know where he’s gone?”

      “He’s…on a business trip.”

      Margaret sniffed back tears and handed her a folded piece of paper. “Wake up!” she seethed. “This is from Susan.”

      With now-shaking hands Clarissa took the paper and opened it.

      Dear

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