Sister's Choice Read online

  SISTER'S

  CHOICE

  BOOKS BY JUDITH PELLA

  Beloved Stranger

  Mark of the Cross

  The Stonewycke Trilogy*

  Texas Angel

  DAUGHTERS OF FORTUNE

  Written on the Wind

  Somewhere a Song

  Toward the Sunrise

  Homeward My Heart

  PATCHWORK CIRCLE

  Bachelor’s Puzzle

  Sister’s Choice

  THE RUSSIANS

  White Nights, Red Morning

  *with Michael Phillips

  PATCHWORK CIRCLE

  SISTER'S

  CHOICE

  A NOVEL

  JUDITH PELLA

  BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHERS

  Minneapolis, Minneasola

  Sister’s Choice

  Copyright © 2008

  Judith Pella

  Cover design by The DesignWorks Group, Jason Gabbert

  Cover photograph by Steve Gardner, PixelWorks Studios, Inc.

  Cover quilt created by Grace and Peace Quilts, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

  Published by Bethany House Publishers

  11400 Hampshire Avenue South

  Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

  Bethany House Publishers is a division of

  Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

  Printed in the United States of America

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Pella, Judith.

  Sister’s choice / Judith Pella.

  p. cm. — (Patchwork circle ; bk. 2)

  ISBN 978-0-7642-0134-9 (pbk.)

  1. Quilting—Fiction. 2. Courtship—Fiction. 3. Trials (Murder)—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3566.E415S57 2008

  813'.54—dc22

  2007035136

  This is dedicated to my small

  quilt groups who bring me

  laughter, inspiration, therapy,

  and wonderful friendships.

  Thanks to each of you!

  Sew Much More

  Thursday Nighters

  So & Sews

  Novel Quilters

  JUDITH PELLA has been writing for the inspirational market for over twenty years and is the author of more than thirty novels, most in the historical fiction genre. Her recent novel Mark of the Cross and her extraordinary four-book DAUGHTERS OF FORTUNE series showcase her skills as a historian as well as a storyteller. Her degrees in teaching and nursing lend depth to her tales, which span a variety of settings. Pella and her husband make their home in Oregon.

  VISIT JUDITH’S WEB SITE:

  www.judithpella.com

  Contents

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY - ONE

  TWENTY -TWO

  TWENTY -THREE

  TWENTY - FOUR

  TWENTY - FIVE

  TWENTY - SIX

  TWENTY - SEVEN

  TWENTY - EIGHT

  TWENTY - NINE

  THIRTY

  SISTER ’ S CHOICE PATTERN

  ONE

  COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON

  AUGUST 1882

  Maggie Newcomb stood on the front porch of her house gazing idly into the yard. The day was sunny with some dots of white clouds in the blue late August sky. Dad said it might rain later in the week to usher in September, but now summer was holding on nicely.

  Maggie sighed as she peered across the yard and down the road. She felt as if she were looking for something but couldn’t think what. Surely not for the guests to arrive for Mama’s quilting bee. She’d hardly noticed the two quilt frames set up in the yard. No, she really wasn’t anticipating the gathering. And it wasn’t because she was jealous of her sister, Ellie, for whom Mama had arranged this bee so they could finish her twelve wedding quilts.

  Maggie did feel blue, but she was sure it wasn’t because of the quilting party for Ellie or because her sister was engaged to be married to a handsome, wonderful man. Maggie didn’t want her sister’s quilts, or her man—though Maggie had in fact proposed marriage to that very man, to Zack Hartley, but that was when he had been the minister William Locklin. In truth, Maggie hadn’t wanted him even then. She’d just been stupid and silly, wanting to get back at everyone who thought she was too young and too immature to snag the much-sought-after new minister. All she had ended up proving was just how right they were. She had been childish and immature. Maybe she still was a little, but in the last weeks since all the upsetting events, she had changed some—for the good, she believed.

  The cause of her present melancholy wasn’t jealousy. It was . . .

  She couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause. She felt as if she were floating around aimlessly in a fog. Everyone else seemed to have a purpose in life. They were moving ahead to exciting futures. Well, at least Ellie and Zack knew where they were going, and so did her older brother, Boyd, who would marry in October after he finished the season in the lumber camp where he worked. Her younger brother, Georgie, had school to look forward to, even if he didn’t always like it. They all had a reason to get up in the morning: wedding plans, new home plans, even schoolwork.

  All Maggie seemed to have were chores. Was she just bored, then? Did she merely want some excitement? No, she simply wanted to know that there was more ahead for her than mucking out the barn or helping Mama peel potatoes or hang laundry. She had recently turned eighteen; surely there was more out there for her to look forward to.

  “Maggie! Maggie!”

  Mama’s voice abruptly intruded into Maggie’s reverie.

  “Come on, now. Everyone will be here soon.”

  Maggie gave another long-suffering sigh and turned toward the house.

  Mama was standing in the doorway with an armload of quilts. She and Ellie and even Maggie had been hard at work getting Ellie’s quilt tops ready for the quilting. Mama and Ellie had marked four or five of the quilts, as that’s all there had been time for. Then these had been sandwiched with wadding and backing and basted—this is what Maggie had helped with. Some of the ladies would work on marking the other quilts while the marked ones were being quilted. Maggie, of course, hadn’t been involved in the marking, for marking the quilting patterns was exacting work, far above her meager skills.

  “Take these and set them carefully on the blanket I spread out by the frames,” Mama said.

  Ellie had twelve quilt tops ready to be quilted. Maggie could not imagine the women finishing them all today. If they just finished the five that were basted, that would be something. Mama said when she was a girl she had been to quilting bees where it was common for all twelve to be done in a day. But there might be three or four frames set up and twice as many ladies stitching. There were nine members of Mama’s Sewing Circle; however, a few extras would come today, including some of the older daughters of the Circle women, some of the very girls who had vied with Ellie for Zack. There were no hard feelings among the girls, especially since it turned out Zack hadn’t been a real minister. Ellie was the only one who had fallen in
love with the man, not the “office.”

  Maggie set the quilts where instructed and then returned to the house. Ellie was slicing the bread Mama had spent two days baking. All the women would be contributing food, but Mama felt, as hostess, she had to make sure there was enough, since both lunch and supper would be served. The menfolk had been invited to join the ladies for supper. Lewis Arlington and Kurt and Clyde Lambert might even bring their instruments to provide music for dancing later.

  “Ellie, why don’t you let me finish the bread,” Maggie offered, “so you can get started loading your quilts onto the frames.”

  Mama and Ellie both started at Maggie’s suggestion, and her cheeks suddenly heated.

  “Well, I can be helpful once in a while,” she added defensively.

  She could see both Mama and Ellie were suddenly embarrassed at being caught with their surprised expressions.

  “We’re sorry, honey,” Mama said. She seemed about to say more but remained quiet.

  “It would speed things along if the first two quilts were loaded,” Ellie suggested.

  “And that’s best left to you,” said Maggie. “I’m far better at slicing bread.” She nudged her sister away from the cutting board and slipped the knife from her hand.

  “Thank you, Maggie. But you are going to do some quilting today, aren’t you?”

  “You don’t want my toenail catchers in your beautiful quilts.”

  “But I do—well, that is, I don’t . . .” Ellie sputtered. “That is, your stitches aren’t that bad, and I want my sister to be part of this. I truly do!”

  “Well, I guess—”

  “Of course Maggie will add some quilting!” Mama spoke up. “I’ll help her, and her work will look fine.”

  As the back door shut behind Ellie, Maggie bit her lip to keep from groaning, or worse, from spouting a cross retort. All she needed was to be the only one getting quilting lessons like a child. That’s what nearly got her into trouble with Zack. Why couldn’t she be equal with the women, or at least with those her own age?

  The answer was clear. They were all skilled stitchers, and she wasn’t. Since she could never measure up, she would always be inferior. No one seemed to care much about her other talents. Why, she was good at—

  What was she good at? As she sliced the bread she searched in her mind for her accomplishments and came up quite blank. In school she’d always been good at arithmetic, but no one cared if a girl was good at that. What else? She could ride, but so could Ellie. She could fish, but even Ellie could learn to fish if she put her mind to it.

  Let’s face it, Maggie, you have no real talents. You are just a big lump.

  “Ow!” she cried suddenly. Because she hadn’t been paying attention to her work, the knife came down and nicked her finger instead of the bread. She thrust her wounded finger into her mouth.

  “Oh, Maggie, what have you done?” exclaimed Mama.

  “Nothing!” Maggie retorted angrily. “I can’t do anything! I am just a . . . lump.” Her voice caught on the final word, and to her surprise tears sprang to her eyes.

  Mama tore a strip from a clean rag and handed it to Maggie. “Wrap this around it.” Mama looked closely at her. “What is it, Maggie?” she said more gently.

  Maggie sniffed. “Nothing.”

  “You’ve been out of sorts all day. What’s troubling you?”

  “It’s just what I said.” Maggie’s voice trembled over the words, but she just couldn’t keep her feelings in any longer. “I’m not good at anything. I’m a lump of plain nothingness.”

  Mama took Maggie’s injured hand and examined the cut finger. It was still bleeding a little. She wrapped the piece of cloth around it. “Surely you can’t believe that,” Mama said.

  “I dare you to name one thing I can do.”

  “Well, you are good at arguing.”

  Maggie grimaced at that.

  Mama smiled. “You are young, dear. You will find your niche in life, I promise.” She put her arm around Maggie. “You said you are a lump—well, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, you know. It’s like the lump of dough that made this bread. It starts out as not much, but before you know it, it turns into this wonderful bread.”

  “I can’t even make bread,” Maggie groused.

  “You know what I mean, though, don’t you? You are a late bloomer, Maggie, but you will bloom. I believe it with all my heart. You will bloom into a beautiful flower.”

  “I’m eighteen, Mama. That’s kind of old to be a bud.” Maggie dashed a hand across her eyes to wipe the tears still dripping. Mama took a handkerchief from her apron pocket and gave it to Maggie.

  Maggie wiped her eyes and blew her nose. Mama was about to say more when Ellie called from outside.

  “Mrs. Donnelly and Mrs. Renolds are here!”

  Mama hesitated, clearly torn between her duties as hostess and her need to comfort her daughter.

  “Go on, Mama,” Maggie said. “I’ll be okay.”

  “We’ll talk more later, all right?”

  Maggie nodded. Mama went outside, and Maggie returned her attention to the task at hand. She tried hard not to think glum thoughts for the rest of the day, but that proved almost impossible because every little thing seemed to conspire against her efforts.

  Right off she was reminded of another reason for her melancholy when she glanced out the kitchen window and saw Mrs. Donnelly. Immediately she thought of the woman’s son, poor Tommy Donnelly, languishing away in the St. Helens jail. He was never far from her thoughts, not only because he was her friend but also because she held a secret that could, if revealed, probably get him convicted of murder. A few weeks ago Tommy’s father had been found dead. Tommy had eventually confessed to shooting his cruel, good-for-nothing father. He’d said it was because he had feared for his own life, but shortly before the shooting Tommy had made remarks to Maggie that could be construed as threats against his father’s life. Zack had advised Maggie to keep quiet about these matters unless the sheriff asked her point-blank. So far, no one had given her a second thought, but if there was a trial, she could be called, Zack had said, as a character witness. Then she would most likely have to reveal her secret.

  And that wasn’t all. Maggie had not gone once to visit Tommy in jail. She felt terrible about it. She knew she was about his only friend. Some friend! She was a coward, afraid if she got in the same room with the sheriff, she would panic and blurt out everything. She’d been avoiding Mrs. Donnelly, as well, for weeks, not an easy thing, since she was Mama’s best friend.

  Maggie finished cutting the bread and went outside to join the quilters. Just then Florence Parker arrived with her usual grand flourish, this time all excited about a letter just received from her son, Evan, saying he would be coming home soon for an extended visit. He was away in Boston, attending Harvard University. But Maggie was far more interested in another bit of news. Emma Jean Stoddard mentioned they would be having a houseguest, as well, a young woman from Portland. She and Sarah Stoddard had become friends in finishing school. Mrs. Stoddard said her name was Tamara Brennan, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Curtis Brennan, who apparently were hoity-toity Portlanders.

  Upon hearing the Brennan name, Mrs. Parker gasped. “Well, it is a small world, isn’t it? Evan attended Harvard with the Brennans’ son. We met them in Boston last spring when we attended Evan’s graduation.”

  Maggie was dying to know what this girl Tamara was like. Colby Stoddard was, after all, still a very eligible bachelor, and now that Ellie was taken, Maggie had been thinking she might finally have a chance with the handsome young man. She hated to think that new competition was going to be close by.

  Mama was speaking to Mrs. Parker. “I thought you said Evan was going to work for a big law office in Boston.”

  “He’s had offers from several very prestigious firms back East,” Mrs. Parker replied. “But he misses his family, you know. I am sure he will be able to take up any of those offers when he is ready. He was fifth in his class at
Harvard and is much sought after.”

  Maggie had heard Mrs. Parker brag about that fact several times since the graduation, and she thought she saw her mother roll her eyes just now. Well, Mrs. Parker and Mama were not the best of friends. They were brought together only through the Sewing Circle. Otherwise they probably wouldn’t give each other the time of day.

  By noon two quilts were finished. Everyone was having a grand time chatting and exchanging gossip. Maggie had managed to avoid quilting all morning. She helped with the basting of some of the other quilts but was even criticized for that.

  Mrs. Stoddard came up, turned over the section Maggie was working on, and said, “Dear, you didn’t catch the backing in your stitches. You will have to re-do that.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Stoddard. Sorry,” Maggie said contritely through gritted teeth. She couldn’t antagonize Colby’s mother if she hoped to have any chance at all with him.

  After lunch, however, Maggie was railroaded into a seat at one of the quilt frames. She knew how much Ellie wanted her to participate, so she tried to do the task with good grace. It was just her luck that Mrs. Stoddard took the seat right next to her, and Mabel Parker sat down across from her. Someone to criticize her and someone to compare her work to. Mabel, along with Ellie and Sarah, were the best young stitchers in Maintown. Nevertheless, Maggie worked doggedly on her section, which happened to be a fairly intricate feather design with some cross-hatching. Every now and then she could feel Mrs. Stoddard’s incisive eye upon her, and that was usually when she would prick her finger or bungle in some other way. Though she did her best, most careful work, her stitches were uneven.

  After about a half hour Maggie was ready to scream with restlessness and boredom. She decided she had done enough to satisfy Ellie. Nonchalantly she rose and stretched.

  “I need to take a little break,” she announced to no one in particular.

  “We have barely gotten started,” Mabel said.

  True, the women would go far longer, taking brief moments to stretch and flex their hands. “Well, nature calls, you know,” Maggie said with a nervous chuckle.