Cora’s head was bowed and she was busy drawing. Ada’s students had taken to her books like ducks to water and already their parents were demanding for more reading material from Cora. She had been side tracked by the near tragedy of the past few days but now that the danger to her beloved Louis and Henry was over, she once again settled down to her passion.
Her parents had reluctantly accepted that when Louis woke up, and if he asked for her hand in marriage, they would not stand in the way of her happiness and Cora felt that finally her world was alright.
Her tongue was held between her teeth, the tip of which was peeping out, something she tended to do when she was deep in concentration. Louis opened his eyes slowly and Cora was the first person that he saw and he remained still for a moment, not wanting to break her concentration and also wanting to drink in the beauty of her features. Cora looked at peace with herself and with the world and he smiled slightly, that was how she should always look, he thought.
“Cora,” he said softly and she heard the whisper and looked up and a big smile broke on her face.
“Oh Louis,” she flung everything to the floor and grabbed his hand, tears forming in her eyes. “I was so scared that you would not make it.”
“Hush, my love,” his throat felt dry. “I am alive and that is what matters.”
“I am so happy that you are alive, Louis,” she kissed his hands, his forehead and then his lips. “Let me tell Ma and Pa that you are awake. They said that I should tell them immediately when you woke up because they want to express their gratitude for saving Henry’s life.”
“Cora, could that wait for a little while?” He shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “There are some things I need to take care of first before I can see anyone.” At first Cora did not understand and then she realized what Louis was trying to tell her.
“I am sorry, let me get Henry to help you and meanwhile I will go and prepare some soup for you.”
“That will be wonderful.”
Cora rushed out of the room, yelling at the top of her voice and her parents and brothers who were outside rushed into the house thinking Louis had taken a turn for the worse.
“Ma, Pa, Louis is awake,” she said breathlessly, dancing with joy, her laughter filling the air and her family thought that it was the most beautiful sound they had heard in a long time. Their little Cora was back and it felt wonderful to see her alive once again.
When her parents would have gone into the room, she restrained them. “Wait, he needs Henry to help him clean up before he can see you.” She turned to her brother. “Hurry up, I am going to warm up some soup for him, go,” she pushed Henry playfully in the direction of the sickroom and he laughed.
Michael followed Cora into the kitchen. “You really love him, don’t you?” He asked quietly, leaning against the kitchen table.
Cora smiled at her brother. “Yes, Michael, I love Louis with my whole heart.”
“I am truly happy for you, Cora, and I am deeply sorry for misjudging your love for each other,” he sighed. “I just pray that when the time comes for me to fall in love that I will find a woman who is as loyal and as committed to me as you are, and that even in the face of all obstacles, she will stand firm and unshakeable as you have done for Louis. Yours truly is love in its purest form.”
Cora put the mug she was holding onto the table and rushed to her brother and gave him a strong hug. “Thank you so much, Michael,” she said in a shaky voice.
“Hey, Cora, no tears okay? This is a time for joy and happiness.”
“You and Henry are the best brothers in the whole world and I love you so much.”
“We know you do,” he grinned cheekily at her and she punched him playfully on his upper arm.
“Like I said before, the tide changes every day and it can change even now,” she wagged at finger at him and he pretended to shiver in fright. Michael felt really happy in his heart that his sister was once again smiling with her whole being.
“Okay then I surrender, remember Louis needs soup quickly, he has not eaten anything for about four days and the only thing sustaining him are the foul medicines that we forced down his throat.”
“Leave the kitchen and let me prepare the soup quickly.”
“I am here to help you and whatever you want me to do I will.”
Cora smiled at her brother. “Go and catch one of the big chickens and slaughter it. When I finish feeding Louis this soup, I will come and dress it and prepare a nice soft stew for him.”
“Got it,” Michael left the kitchen, glad to be of service to his sister and Louis.
Henry called out to Cora after a while and she carried the large mug of soup which she had cooled to a manageable temperature. Louis was sitting up, pillows supporting his back and even though he looked weak, he was trying to stay upright.
“Here you go,” Cora fed him a few sips of soup at a time but because his stomach had been empty for a long time he could only manage very little. “A little more,” she tried to coax him but her mother spoke from the doorway.
“Give him time in between feeds so that his body can once again become receptive to food,” she said.
“Yes Ma, but I want him to eat and get stronger and better because we have a wedding to plan for,” she said. Because she was looking down as she set the mug down on the small table, she did not see the shocked look in Louis’s eyes when he looked at her mother and father.
Walter cleared his throat. “Son, we are so grateful to God that you are alive and well, and Henry told us how you saved his life and kept him alive in the caves and we owe a debt of gratitude to you.”
“Anyone would have done the same thing, sir,” Louis replied humbly, wondering at Cora’s word in the presence of her family.
“That may be true, but very few people would have done what you did for Henry without regard to your own health. He told us you gave him your pullover and shoes to keep him from getting harmed by the cold,” Walter entered further into the room and stretched out his hand. “Let me be the first to welcome you into our family, Louis Albert, and here and now I give you my blessings should you still want to marry my daughter.”
“Yes, sir I do, my commitment to Cora has never changed and I thank you for accepting my proposal which I want to make now,” he cleared his throat. “Mr. and Mrs. Richards, would you be kind to me and accept my suit as I humbly ask for your daughter Cora’s hand in marriage?”
Mary came over and stood next to her husband and they both held Louis’s hands. “We do, and it is an honor for us to have you as a son-in-law,” she said. Michael who had been hovering in the doorway gave a hoot of approval and together with Henry they clapped for all they were worth.
Louis’s recovery after that was speedy and Cora prepared him all kinds of food to help him regain his strength. She would also walk him to the bench that was under the large oak tree in the compound and they would sit for hours, talking about their lives to come.
“Cora, have I told you how beautiful you are today?” He whispered on one of those days. It was the fourth day since they had come back from the caves. “Your smile makes my heart glad and when I see the radiance in your eyes, I know that no matter what obstacles I may face in the days to come, I can overcome them knowing that you love me and you have my heart.”
“Oh Louis, you realize one thing don’t you?” She had her tongue in her cheek and her eyes were dancing with mischief.
“What is that, dearly beloved?”
“You asked my parents for my hand in marriage but I cannot for the life of me recall you asking me for my own hand and that is an affront,” she held her hands at her waist and pretended to glare at him.
“My greatest mistake, dear one, that was presumptuous of me and I beg your forgiveness.”
Cora nodded in satisfaction. “You will get my forgiveness on one condition.”
“And what is that?”
“That you will love me for the rest of your life,” she said half joking and half serious.
“Of that you can be sure, dear one,” Louis smiled and then his face became serious. “Cora?”
“Yes my love?”
“You realize that I cannot offer you the comforts and luxuries of life that you are accustomed to, but my promise is that you will never go hungry and I will do all that I can to ensure that you always have a roof over your head and food at the table, even if it is just simple fare.”
Cora took his right hand in both of hers and squeezed it gently. “Louis, if it was worldly riches that I was after then I would have married any of the men in Akron that seemed suitable because their parents had the means and the wealth.” She smiled at him and he saw the deep love that she had for him reflected in her eyes. “You hold my heart and my soul, Louis, no one can ever take your place and because God has given us this second chance, I will never take any of His blessings for granted ever again. I almost lost you and that was when I realized that I had to stop being a child and grow up and prove to my parents that I am mature and ready for marriage.”
“Thank you, Cora.” He sighed. “You do know that when I am better, I am going back into the mines again?” He searched her eyes anxiously. “I am not cut out for farming and so I cannot lie that I will get a farm and settle down.”
Cora nodded. “I understand that you have to follow your heart’s desire and I will be by your side and urge you on.”
The two held hands and sat gazing into each other’s eyes for what seemed to be an eternity but was in actual fact a short time. Then Cora made a sound of disgust.
“What is it, my love?” Louis squeezed her hands gently.
“Mrs. Willows came by yesterday when you were asleep and she had a message for you.” Cora smiled. “She told me to tell you that you are the best tenant that she has ever had and she has prepared better quarters for you because she is aware that we are getting married soon. She said we will not pay her any rent until we are able to, and for as long as it takes, we can live in her house.”
“That woman is noble, she is just like my mother,” Louis had a pensive look in his eyes. “I cannot repay her for the good that she has showed me ever since I went to live in her house.”
“Mrs. Willows said the same thing about you, and she confessed that she owes you so much because you turned what was once a ramshackle of a house into a beautiful and habitable place and she never paid you, and she was so guilty that she even charged you for meals and let you go hungry when she could have just fed you at no extra cost to her at all.” Cora shook her head. “She was crying so much and Ma had a hard time comforting her and telling her that you do not think ill of her, and that since she was a widow with no other source of income, it was alright for her to be frugal with her money.”
“Poor woman,” Louis genuinely meant it.
“This morning she brought us some corn and wheat flour and promised that for as long as you would be recuperating, she would ensure that you are well fed. Ma decided to allow her to bring whatever she wants because she felt it made Mrs. Willows feel absolved from her guilt.”
As the couple shared their love in the days to come, Cora’s parents finally accepted Louis in their hearts and they discussed how they would support the couple once they got married.
“Louis will not take any money from us but I feel that we need to help them until they can stand on their own feet,” Walter said. “I told him that according to tradition which our family has followed for many generations, it is the bride’s father who takes care of all the wedding expenses apart from the groom’s own clothes.”
“Did he accept the story?” Mary was anxious. She had talked with Naomi Willows at length and discovered that Louis was a man of integrity because in all the time he had lived at Naomi’s house, he had not displayed any inappropriate behavior. Mary also felt guilty for having been very prejudiced against the young man and like Naomi, she sought to make amends for her shortcomings.
“He was reluctant at first but I managed to convince him that if he felt so strongly about being the one to pay for the wedding, he should consider the money we will spend on the wedding as a loan and whenever he is ready he can repay us.”
“That was good, Father, now my heart can rest easy,” Mary sighed. “It took a near disaster for our eyes to be opened. That Louis Albert loves Cora is obvious to everyone, and I know that he is just the kind of man that our Cora needs to tame her wild nature, while cherishing her at the same time. Very few men can do that.”
“Don’t I just know it,” Walter murmured, a twinkle in his eyes. “I seem to remember a certain young lady some years ago who displayed the same characteristics that our daughter has, and now I hear that she is a wonderful wife and mother of two strapping sons and a beautiful daughter. A little bird also told me that just like the young lady and her husband have a marriage made in heaven, our daughter and Louis will also have a marriage that could only have originated in heaven.”
Mary’s laughter not quite unlike Cora’s tinkled and floated out to the couple.
“My parents seem so happy and relaxed, as though a load rolled right off their backs.”
“It is because when you were in pain they shared your pain, Cora. They love you so much and now that you are once again the happy and carefree young lady you were before, their hearts are at peace.”
“I love you so much, Louis Albert.”
“And I love you more, Cora Richards.”