Joanie clung to Gray Eagle’s arm the next morning. This would be the last time she’d feel the strength of his touch and revel in the warmth of his eyes. All things ended. Joanie had known this since she was a young child, but the reality of losing Gray Eagle was intolerable. “You will be leaving soon?”
“Yes.” He focused on the thorny path that led to the hot pools. A smile played around his lips. “For a while.”
“For a while?” Her heart skipped. What did that smile mean? “For a while indicates that you plan to return.”
“It does.”
Footsteps pausing, she turned to face him. “Gray Eagle, stop teasing me. Are you leaving forever or are you coming back?”
“Would my answer make a difference to you?”
“Yes.” Her tone dropped to a whisper. Propriety didn’t concern her. If all it took to bring him back was a yes, then she would shout it from the rooftops!
“I will come back.” His grin widened. “You haven’t spoken with Beth yet this morning?”
“No. Pierce came by earlier and asked her to join him on a walk.”
They approached the pools, and after taking off her socks and boots, Joanie stepped barefooted into the swirling water. Gray Eagle followed.
“Why did you ask me if I’d spoken with my sister?”
“If she had come back from her conversation with Pierce, and you’d spoken to her, you’d know that there’s a plan in the making.”
She dipped her hand into the warm water and let it filter through her fingers. “What plan?”
“Don’t you want to sit first?”
She murmured, “Apparently I should. You sound so mysterious.” Settling into the water, she met his gaze. “Now, tell me the secret.”
“No secret.”
“Surprise?”
Moving beside her, he said softly, “I doubt that what I have to say will come as a total surprise.”
“Which would be?”
“How would you feel about living here?”
“Here? At the camp?”
“Close by.”
Her breath left her. Stay here, at this tiny piece of heaven? Was it possible? “I would love it, but there’s no way…”
“There’s always a way.”
“How?”
“Last night, the sisters invited us for supper—”
“And?”
“They offered us a parcel of land adjoining the convent.”
“Why?”
“Reverend Mother asked us to form a small community.”
“Here?”
“Here.” His grin resurfaced. “The town will be called Sanctuary. It will be a place of refuge where the downtrodden can come to find peace and healing.”
“Reverend Mother has the authority to give you this land?”
“It would appear so.” His eyes locked with hers. “What do you say, Joanie Jornigan? Should we stay?”
“We?” She mouthed the word as she drowned in the love she saw in the depths of his eyes. “But, Gray Eagle, you said you had to leave.”
Nodding, he said, “For a while—a short while. I will go home to see my family, see that they have survived and are well, and then I will return.”
The enormity of what he was suggesting, or at least hinting at, began to sink in. “We will stay here forever?”
“Not forever.” His smile was warm and tender. “We have an eternal home, and it’s not here.”
“What are you suggesting?” Was he proposing?
Scooting closer, he reached for her hand. “Will you wait for me? I mean, when I return, will you—”
Grasping his hand, Joanie’s heart felt as though it would come through her chest. “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes. I will marry you when you return.”
Smiling, he drew her face closer and whispered, “I will only be gone for a short while. You will stay here, soak in the springs, and get better.”
“What about Beth and Pierce? I so long to tell Beth about the hot springs. She wonders about my improvement, and I feel dishonest not telling her how the waters have helped me.”
“I know it is hard to keep silent about this wonderful thing, but you must for just a little while longer. Until the new town is formed. Then you will be able to share the news with your sister. It is my belief that the Father will use these pools to help many.”
“Is Pierce staying too? Beth would be heartbroken if he didn’t.”
“Pierce’s feelings are apparent in his eyes; he will stay. There are responsibilities we must fulfill, but I sense that both he and Preach will answer the call.”
The news was shocking and exciting. Joanie was trying to take it all in at once. “The Indians…how will they feel having a new community so nearby?”
“Reverend Mother has discussed her dream at great length with the chief. He is resigned.”
Gray Eagle briefly explained the nun’s strange request as Joanie shook her head. “She must feel strongly about this idea of Sanctuary.”
“She does. The Cherokee prefers his space, but this is a summer camp. In the fall, the Indians will move south where the temperatures are warmer and the buffalo are many. At first the community that the sister envisions will be small: Pierce and his wife, Preach and his wife, and me and my wife.”
Wife. The word sounded so wonderful to her ears. “What about Trella and Beth?”
Giving her a patient look, he said, “I somehow think they will be accounted for. Reverend Mother wants the community to be small. A refuge for weary travelers.”
Shaking her head, Joanie said, “What travelers?”
“The ones God sends our way.”
“That’s sounds crazy.”
“Do you feel it was crazy that God led us here, to this place?”
“No. I prayed for a miracle and God answered.”
To her way of thinking, God sent her here, to these springs, to these sisters, and to the Cherokee, and it seemed He had another grand plan—one of those special things He did that appeared to have no basis in logic. “I would love to make this land my home.”
His eyes lit with joy.
Leaning up, she kissed him. His lips were warm, strong. Amazing.
“Forever, if God wishes,” she whispered.
“I’ll only be gone a few short weeks.”
“They will feel like a hundred, but I will wait,” she said before fully surrendering to his kiss.