A House United Book 1: The Hardest Goodbye

Chapter Three

Adam's final fall semester at Harvard passed quickly, and the Christmas holiday was soon upon him. The Cartwrights had decided to spend Christmas 1849 in Boston with Aunt Rachel, so Adam had only to travel the short distance from Cambridge to the Stoddard home in Boston.

All the Cartwrights except Hannah, who over the years had learned how to handle her oldest sister, approached this visit with trepidation. Rachel Stoddard spent much of her time complaining about the depths to which the Stoddard family had sunk. On the few occasions Adam had met her since coming east, she spoke highly of his intelligence, manners, and resemblance to his mother, but she always injected a backhanded insult at the same time.

"Such a handsome boy," she would say. "It is a pity that father of his raised him in such a heathen country." Or "He gets his intelligence from the Stoddard side, you know. Thank goodness it was not diluted by that Cartwright blood!"

Josie was even less fortunate. Aunt Rachel never attempted to shroud her disappointment with the child. Josie was never clean enough, polite enough, or interested enough in things Rachel thought little girls should take interest in.

"If you ask me," she would say without being asked, "little girls like that do not grow into ladies, if you know what I mean." Jacob had learned to avoid his sister-in-law as much as possible and therefore was ignorant of her opinion on him, though he assumed correctly that it was not favorable.

Despite his best efforts to arrive at the same time as the rest of his family, Adam found himself at the Stoddard home several hours before Jacob, Hannah, and Josie's train was due. Though it was beginning to snow heavily, he thought he might walk around the city for a bit, maybe have a cup of coffee at a café, and then meet their train, but he dithered outside the house a moment too long. Rachel spotted him from the window and sent her butler to the door to summon him in. He heaved a long sigh and trudged up the front steps and into the house.

His aunt was waiting for him in the grand foyer. "Honestly, Adam Cartwright, wandering about in the snow!" she chided shrilly. "Your poor departed mother would turn over in her grave if she knew." Adam had gotten upset the first time Aunt Rachel alluded to his mother thus, but he was so used to it now that he barely noticed. He tried to apologize, but Aunt Rachel shushed him and fussed at the butler to take his coat. "And bring my nephew some hot tea!" she ordered as the butler scurried down the hall with Adam's coat. "Come, Adam," she said, suddenly sugar and spice. "Sit and chat with me for a bit before the rest of the family arrives."

He could think of several things he would prefer to chatting with Aunt Rachel for several hours—getting caught in a bear trap came to mind—but he saw little recourse, so he sat. He felt so out of place in Aunt Rachel's house. His grandfather had done well as a ship's chandler and then owner of a merchant line after retiring as a sea captain, and the fine old colonial home was furnished accordingly. Pa's home in Nevada had a single sofa. Rachel had two in the sitting room, plus one in each of the house's six bedrooms. The gold and crystal chandelier in the dining room alone was probably worth as much as the entire humble ranch house on the Ponderosa. Pa had always met his sons' needs, but Adam had never known wealth like this. It made him squirmy.

The butler reappeared with tea and scones for them. Adam would have much preferred coffee, but tea was more common in the East, so he loaded it up with sugar and forced himself not to grimace while he sipped it politely.

"So, Adam," Rachel launched in, "tell me all about your school term."

Thank goodness she'd picked a noncontroversial topic. He told her about his favorite natural history course and the rowing competitions he'd watched. Aunt Rachel listened attentively and asked polite questions at all the proper moments. The conversation was going swimmingly right up to the point when she inquired if he'd met any young ladies. Adam immediately shot crimson from his hairline to his collarbone.