‘I remembered that the healers had pot for pain,’ Mercy said. ‘And I remember the field of poppies that we kids weren’t allowed to go to.’
Amos sat back, looking drained. ‘Poppies? For opium. Dear God.’
‘Heroin, most likely,’ Gideon said.
‘You took Mercy’s punishment for going to the poppy field,’ Amos whispered. ‘They put you in the box for days.’
Gideon nodded. ‘But you offered to take my place.’
Mercy stared. ‘He did? But you took my place, Gideon.’
Gideon made a pained face at the memory. ‘When Amos heard what had happened, he ran in and said he’d go in the box for us. But I think Edward McPhearson wanted me to be weak. Then I couldn’t fight him when he . . . you know.’
Amos slowly raised his hand to his mouth. ‘Oh dear God. You’re right. I didn’t know it then. I didn’t have a concept of that. I was raised in the church. Nobody spoke of boys being hurt like that. But you did fight back,’ he said, his jaw rigid. ‘You fought back and you saved yourself. You killed McPhearson and I’m glad you did.’
He startled when Gideon laid his hand on Amos’s arm. Gideon looked kind of surprised too, Mercy thought. ‘You took me out to Waylon’s truck, didn’t you?’ he asked. ‘Mama begged you to help and you did.’
Amos looked away, ashamed. ‘Yeah.’
Mercy’s mouth fell open. ‘You did? You told me that he’d run away.’
‘Because I thought he had. On the truck.’
Mercy shook her head. ‘No. You said he was lazy and that’s why he ran away.’
Amos looked up suddenly, his eyes glassy with tears. ‘Because once Waylon brought back his body, I was afraid of what they’d do to you,’ he whispered. ‘Ephraim took your mother away. I tried to get her out. I offered to leave with her, but she was afraid of what they’d do to you if we got caught. And then when you were twelve, he took you, too. For what it’s worth, I truly thought Gideon had died. When Waylon brought his body back, I thought it was him. I didn’t lie to you about that.’
‘You offered to get Mama out?’ She whispered it because her throat suddenly hurt too much to speak.
Amos nodded miserably. ‘She said no. She was so afraid of Ephraim.’
‘But you helped her get me out,’ Gideon said quietly. ‘I thought I’d dreamed that.’
‘I should have tried harder,’ Amos hissed. ‘I should have dragged your mother away. I should have tried harder.’
‘Yeah, you should have,’ Gideon agreed wearily. ‘But you did try. You tried to keep Mercy away from Ephraim. You tried to help Eileen. And you took a lot of risk to warn Mercy. You could have done more, but you did do something.’
‘I can’t ask you to forgive me,’ Amos said, so quietly that even sitting next to him, Mercy could barely hear his words. ‘I don’t deserve it. I was weak and I believed blindly. And you both suffered.’
‘I’m not going to argue whether you were weak or strong,’ Gideon said. ‘But, for whatever it’s worth, I do forgive you.’
Mercy had to clear her throat before she could trust her voice not to break. ‘Same here.’
‘Papa?’
Everyone turned to the little girl standing in the doorway. Zoya and Jeff Bunker stood behind her. ‘I tried to get her to watch a movie,’ Zoya said, ‘but she was afraid that Gideon was being mean to her papa. If it’s all right with you, we’ll go back to Dad’s office. Jeff’s mom is waiting and Dad’s got the movie on pause. It’s Mulan. Jeff’s never seen it.’ Without waiting for a reply, the two teenagers left.
Behind her, Rafe sighed. ‘Can I still hate him?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Mercy murmured. ‘Abigail? You can come sit with us if you want to. We’re not being mean to your papa.’
Amos smiled sadly at Abigail. ‘Gideon’s not mean at all. He’s kinder than I deserve. Come.’
Abigail climbed into his lap, staring Gideon down until Daisy chuckled. ‘Tell her you’re sorry for being mean to her daddy, Gideon.’
‘I am very sorry,’ Gideon said obediently.
Abigail lifted her chin. ‘You should be. He has your picture and everything.’ She patted Amos’s shirt pocket. ‘In here.’
Amos drew three faded Polaroid photos from his shirt pocket and put them on the table.
It took Mercy a moment to realize what she was looking at. A little boy, about six, looking so serious. A chubby-cheeked girl, toddler age. And a woman smiling brilliantly. ‘It’s us.’ Her gaze jerked up to meet Gideon’s. ‘It’s us. And Mama.’
‘Oh,’ Daisy breathed. ‘Gideon, look at you.’
‘You were adorable,’ Rafe said, putting his hand at the small of Mercy’s back.
But Mercy and Gideon only had eyes for the picture of their mother. She wore a huge smile, like she’d been laughing. Mercy shuddered out a breath. ‘I almost forgot what she looked like.’
Gideon reached for the Polaroid but jerked his hand back, afraid to touch it. ‘Me too.’
Mama’s so happy. ‘I have her locket, but I can’t look at that picture. Ephraim’s in it.’ And Mama wasn’t happy after that, ever again.
Gideon didn’t say a word, but the look they shared said enough. Then Mercy nearly cried again when Gideon reached across the table to grip her hand in his, then took Amos’s hand with the other. Mercy completed the circle, taking Amos’s other hand, and she hoped he could understand what they couldn’t find the words to say.
Thank you. Welcome home.
Amos’s eyes grew shiny and then he was crying openly, which set off Mercy’s tears. Gideon didn’t cry, but his lips pursed hard, the muscle twitching in his cheek as he fought to keep his composure. Others around the table weren’t as successful at keeping their emotions in check. Mercy could hear their sniffles and was unsurprised to see Farrah leaning into André’s shoulder, her shoulders shaking with sobs. André’s eyes were also suspiciously bright, which also wasn’t a surprise. Mercy had observed his tender heart many times over the years and felt her own heart flood with gratitude that her best friend had found such a good man.
Little Abigail seemed to understand that their tears were happy ones. She smiled sweetly as she patted Amos’s cheeks with a tissue that Irina tucked into her small hand – after wiping her own eyes, of course.
Abigail beamed proudly. ‘Aren’t you glad that I didn’t let you forget the pictures?’