Chapter 34 - One Last Spring

When Mair answered the door the next morning, the dark smudges under her eyes and the strain in her smile spoke louder than words. Gwen had had to force all thoughts of Lewis out of her mind in order to sleep the night before, but one look at Mair brought her anxiety for him surging back.

“How is he?” Gwen asked.

Mair shook her head. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” she said. “He didn’t even cough that much last night, but when he woke up in the early evening to find you gone, nothing Rhys could do would make him settle back down again. He tossed and turned all night long. I could hear him moaning from my bedroom upstairs.”

“Was he feverish?”

“Rhys kept the wet towels on him, but he didn’t think there was much change in Lewis’s temperature,” she said. “Rhys left a little earlier, poor man. I don’t think he got any sleep at all.”

Gwen didn’t wait to hear more. She ran into the front room, slowing down only when she approached the sofa. Overnight, the small dots covering Lewis’s skin had multiplied and spread into one great red whole. His face looked raw. Gwen dropped to her knees and reached out to gently brush the dark hair back from his forehead. At her touch, his eyelids fluttered, and suddenly she was staring into his blue eyes.

“You came back,” he said croakily.

“Of course I did,” she replied.

He swallowed and winced as if it hurt.

“Do you need a drink?” Gwen asked.

He nodded and slowly pulled himself up on one elbow while she reached for the cup of water on the table. Gwen handed him the cup, glad to see that his hand was not as shaky as it had been. After taking a long drink, he handed the cup back to her.

“Thank you,” he said, lowering himself to the pillow.

“Do you think you could manage some oatmeal?” Gwen asked. “You might feel a little stronger if you had some food.”

“Perhaps,” he said.

Mair, who’d been hovering at the doorway, needed no second bidding. “I’ll get it right away,” she said and immediately disappeared down the hall.

“I heard you had a bad night,” Gwen said.

He reached out and ran his fingers down the side of her face before taking her hand. “That’s what happens when you believe the most important person in your world has just walked out of your life,” he said. “I’m horribly familiar with it because it’s occurred before: first when you left for school in Llanfyllin and then when you were with Thomas. But yesterday . . . yesterday was the worst of all because I had nothing to blame but my own failings.” He took a steadying breath. “I got no rest last night because I wasn’t sure you could ever truly forgive me for hurting you so badly, and that meant that I’d lost you without ever telling you how much I love you.”

“You . . . you love me?”

“More than I can express,” he said softly. “And as impossible as it sounds, I’m going to try to explain why I can say that even though I didn’t write to you while we were apart.”

Gwen stared at him, her mind racing almost as fast as her heart. Had Lewis really just told her he loved her? Despite all Gwen’s doubts, had Rowland been right about his brother’s feelings? She desperately wanted to believe it, but there was so much she didn’t understand. “Tell me,” she said.

Lewis gripped her hand more tightly. “When I received your first letter from Llanfyllin, I wrote back right away and took the letter to the post office. Your aunt was there, and when she noticed that my letter was addressed to you, she gave me a talking to. She told me I would do well to remember that you were a sixteen-year-old school girl who needed to focus on your studies, that leaving Llanwddyn was going be hard enough for you without receiving letters that would bring on unnecessary homesickness, and that she expected better of me.”

Gwen could not hide her shock. “Aunty Jane told you that?”

He gave a faint smile. “Yes, but the worst of it was that deep down, I knew she was right. I realized that if I put my desire to have regular contact with you above your need to make new friends, have new experiences, and discover new strengths, I was the most selfish brute alive. And so I stopped writing.”

He looked down at her hand in his. “But I never, ever stopped thinking of you,” he said. “Sometimes I’d go up to the clearing, sit on the boulder, and look out at the view we used to share, but it wasn’t the same without you there. Then I started making the rose.” He gave a wry smile. “It’s amazing how much better you feel after you’ve hit or twisted hot metal for a while.”

“I think it may be the most beautiful gift I’ve ever received,” she said.

“I’d planned to give it to you when you came home for Christmas, but then the snow came.” He gave an exasperated sigh. “I was lucky to catch Ed the Post when I did. I don’t think I could have sent it to you through the post office.”

Gwen hung her head. “Aunty Jane never should have spoken to you like that. She may have thought she was being protective, but she was unkind. I missed you so much, and I couldn’t understand why . . .”

“I had to wait for you, Gwennie.” Lewis’s blue eyes pled with her to understand. “You were so young.”

“You saw me as Robert’s little sister,” she said sadly.

He shook his head. “No. You were much more than that.” His thumb started to move in gentle circles on the back of her hand. “I think I started falling in love with you that day in the smithy when you gave me an earful for treating you so badly. I knew then that I never wanted to be the cause of that much hurt in your beautiful green eyes again.” He sighed heavily. “I haven’t done so well, have I?”

“You . . . you fell in love with me that long ago?” Gwen’s heartbeat was making it hard to think.

“Yes.” Lewis’s smile was a little crooked. “You had me completely by age sixteen.”

“And now that I’m almost eighteen?” Gwen was suddenly breathless.

“I’m pretty sure that means I don’t have to wait for you to grow up anymore,” he said. And then looking unexpectedly vulnerable, he added, “but I do need to wait to hear whether or not you’d be willing to let me officially court you.”

“Yes,” Gwen whispered. “Please don’t wait any longer, Lewis. I don’t think my heart can stand it.”

Pure joy filled his eyes, and he pulled on her hand, forcing her to bend nearer. “I love you so much, Gwen Humphreys,” he said, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “And when I’m no longer covered in spots or coughing or feverish, I’m going to kiss you again, and it won’t be like that.”

“Can you start getting better faster?” Gwen said, and for the first time since Lewis had arrived home with the measles, he laughed.

From then on, Lewis improved rapidly, and each family member credited his remarkable turnaround to something different.

“I just knew he’d sleep better and that awful cough would go away once he started eating again,” Mair told Gwen as she handed her a large bowl of vegetable soup for Lewis’s dinner. “Good home cooking works wonders.”

“It’s that strong Morgan constitution,” Owen announced proudly when he arrived home from the smithy to find Lewis walking laps around the front room. “It fights back every time.”

Rowland waited until his parents were out of earshot before he shared his opinion. “Amazing what winning the heart of the woman you’re in love with will do for a man’s health, isn’t it?” he said, and as color flooded Gwen’s cheeks, Rowland didn’t bother to hide his grin.

All Gwen knew for sure was that Lewis’s recovery was a direct answer to many prayers, and for that she was truly grateful.

She spent every day at the Morgan’s home, conveying meals to and from the front room doorway, helping with any chores that needed to be done in the front room, and simply spending time with Lewis. They started reading Robert’s book, Treasure Island, together, and Gwen brought over her sketchbook so Lewis could see the drawings she’d done at the dam site. When Gwen told him about meeting Mabel and her new beau, the look of utter relief on Lewis’s face was all the reassurance Gwen needed that Mabel’s feelings for Lewis had not been reciprocated.

Most of the time, however, they shared the experiences they’d had while they’d been apart. Gwen told him about her time in Llanfyllin and Liverpool, and he, in turn, told her about life in Pen-y-Bont Fawr. He described some of the people he’d met, the river that ran through the village, and the walks he’d taken on the nearby hills. Then he told her of his uncle and aunt.

“My Uncle Griff is ten years older than Dad,” he said. “And even though his arm’s a lot better, I think he still appreciates the help at the smithy. His daughters are all married and on their own, and he doesn’t have any boys, so he’s asked if I’d be willing stay on and eventually take over for him.”

Gwen was sitting beside him on the sofa and turned so she could see his face. “So you plan to go back?”

“I’d like to know how you feel about it,” he said, lacing his fingers between hers. “I hate the thought of being away from you again, but it’s my best opportunity to save enough money to get married, and I’d have a secure job when the smithy in Llanwddyn is underwater.”

This was the first time Gwen had heard Lewis talk of marriage, but she could tell by his earnest expression that it was far from the first time he’d thought about it. For a few seconds, she allowed herself to ponder on the possibility of being married to the man at her side. A feeling of warmth and happiness filled her, and she found that she didn’t have to think about his question at all. “It sounds like it’s my turn to wait,” she said. Then she gave him a playful glance. “Will you write to me?”

Lewis groaned and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. “Every day, or every other?” he asked.

“It all depends on how long we’ll be separated,” she said.

“Remember when I told you I’m not a patient patient?” he asked, resting his cheek on her head.

“Yes,” she said, loving the feel of his arms around her.

“I can guarantee I’m not going to be patient with a long-distance courtship either.” He kissed the top of her head. “I promise I won’t make you wait too long, Gwennie.”