“A doctor. Your parents must be proud.”
“I believe they are, yes.” Her golden hair was tucked under a light straw hat with a blue ribbon that matched her dress. She was no longer the malnourished little girl she’d once been; a slight flush in her cheeks and her curves told me she was in good health.
“Poor Martha says she never sees her husband,” Louisa said. “They’re anxious for your help.”
“I’m delighted to be of service.” I touched the front brim of my hat.
She looked down at the tips of her shoes. “You’re looking well. Medical school agreed with you.”
“As are you.” In fact, she was more beautiful than ever. I felt a tinge of my old crush coming back to life. Never mind, I told myself. She would never be interested in me. I’d certainly learned that with my ill-fated request to write to her during the war. What an idiot I must have seemed to her. I’d certainly felt like one. Despite the embarrassment the memory brought, it all seemed like another lifetime now. I’d gone to school and forgotten her. My infatuation was simply a young man’s fanciful imagination. Not true love.
She caught her bottom lip with the top one before speaking. “I’ve always meant to say how sorry I was about how I acted that day when you asked if I’d write to you.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.”
“I was a stupid child.”
“And I, the wrong twin,” I said with a laugh.
“Oh, Theo. Don’t say that.”
I waved a hand dismissively, smiling down at her. “I’m only teasing. I was simply scared and needed something to cling to.”
She briefly touched the sleeve of my jacket. “Of course you were scared. Going off to fight a war that had nothing to do with us. And not yet seventeen. I couldn’t believe my ears when you told me you and Flynn had enlisted. You were too young to have to face such a horrible war.”
“We were but didn’t know it.”
She glanced upward before smiling. “When Flynn started courting Shannon, I didn’t want to show my face in town. I think the whole town knew I liked him. I was such a lost little lamb—thinking I was in love when I knew nothing about what that really meant.”
I laughed again. “That describes me as well. How about we agree to never think of it again?”
“Agreed. I’m glad you haven’t held a grudge. It’s nice to see you.”
“You too. Are your parents well?” I asked.
She touched a slender finger to the brim of her hat. “Not entirely well. Father has been fired from the church.”
“No, really?” Fired from the church? Was that even possible? “Papa wouldn’t let that happen.” He’d found Pastor Lind himself.
“Things have changed. The town and church have gotten bigger. Your father isn’t able to protect everyone like he used to. The congregation decided they wanted a board to run the finances and staff. They didn’t like Father, and now they’ve pushed him out.”
I didn’t know what to say. How could they not like kind Pastor Lind? He was jolly and encouraging, especially to the youngsters. “Your father was a great pastor. I can’t comprehend what they didn’t like.”
“They’re more the fire-and-brimstone types. Father’s style isn’t that way.”
“I do recall your father’s message to be uplifting rather than threatening.” Pastor Lind and his wife suggested we carry on conversations with the Lord, as if he were an intimate friend.
She sighed and clutched her package against her chest. “Since Prohibition, a war has developed.”
“A war?”
“Between those who believe Prohibition saves souls and those who don’t.”
“Right, yes. That seems to be everywhere in our country,” I said. “Dividing communities and even families.” Flynn and my father thought the government shouldn’t be involved in business, let alone ban alcohol. Flynn and Phillip were running a secret bar in the basement of the ski lodge. The sheriff looked the other way. When I’d asked Mama what she thought, she’d merely pursed her lips and given a little shake of her head. Phillip and my brother were upstanding businessmen in this town. Did running an illegal bar make them less so? I didn’t think so, but I knew there were many who would disagree. Would those same women who were forcing out Pastor Lind convince the sheriff to shut down the bar? Were my brother and brother-in-law setting themselves up for trouble? For that matter, who was making the booze in the first place?
“We’re going to have to move out of the house,” Louisa said, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Where will you go?” I asked.