Read Online A Moment in Time by Tracie Peterson - Free Book Online

I get past the next month, then perhaps I’ll say something.”
    “But what about Jake? You will tell him, won’t you?”
    Marty bit her lower lip and said nothing. Alice took hold of both arms and turned Marty to face her. “You have to tell Jake. He’s your husband—the father. He has a right to know.”
    She was right. There would be no avoiding the subject if Marty proved capable of carrying the child to delivery. But so many miscarriages, so many disappointments stood between her and the ability to share this news.
    “When the time is right,” Marty finally whispered. “Then I’ll tell him. For now, you must swear to me that you’ll say nothing.”
    Alice hesitated a moment but then finally gave a nod. “I’ll say nothing . . . for now.”

    Alice couldn’t help but dwell on the news throughout the rest of the day. Marty was going to have a baby. The thought delighted and terrified her. She had to find a way to get Marty and Jake back together. A woman in such a condition needed her man, and Marty definitely needed Jake.
    Not only that, but Alice feared the emotions that were growing in Mr. Brentwood. Marty might be blind to his devotion, but Alice could see that he had lost his heart to Marty. She knew him to be an honorable man, just as Marty had said, but she also knew that honor could give way under the pressures of life. Wasn’t that what had happened to her mother and father? Honor certainly hadn’t kept them together.
    Alice walked in silence alongside Marty as they made their way down Fourteenth Street to catch the tram. As they approached the corner of Sherman Street, however, Marty took a turn.
    “Where are you going?” Alice asked.
    “I thought it might be nice to walk through the old neighborhood. Just to see what’s what and whether anyone is still there,” Marty replied. “I heard that the Tabors lost all of their money in the panic.”
    “Everything has changed in such a short time,” Alice said, shaking her head. Many of the grand homes were deserted—their wrought-iron gates locked tight. Gone were the bustling activities of visiting and sharing in one another’s luxuries. The Queen City of the Plains had sadly succumbed to the devastating financial epidemic sweeping the country. Poverty was an infectious disease.
    “Do you suppose the people will ever come back?”
    Marty shrugged. “Jake said these things always seem to run in cycles. Those who were diverse in their investments will ride this out like they have before. Others will be destroyed.”
    A carriage approached from the opposite direction, and Alice recognized one of the city’s socialites, Mrs. Kountze, staring out her carriage window. Their opulent mansion at Sixteenth Avenue and Grant Street was said to be the most ostentatious and grand of all Denver homes. Alice knew Marty had attended several affairs at the Kountze estate, yet the occupants of the carriage did not so much as signal the driver to slow.
    “Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever,” Marty murmured.
    “What does that mean?” Alice questioned.
    Marty smiled. “It means that we are once again nothing more to the Kountzes than the dust beneath their feet.” She smiled. “Napoleon Bonaparte once said it. He had his glory and fame, his wealth and successes, but also his failings and defeats. I suppose that is a part of everyone’s life in one degree or another.”
    Alice nodded. “It certainly was so in my life. I always fancied I would marry a man who was amply positioned—perhaps a bank employee like my father. I thought I would be a wife and mother and live in relative comfort.” A tinylaugh escaped. “Guess it was only one of my many mistaken assumptions.”
    “We have all had them,” Marty admitted. “Some of us more than others.”
    Alice took hold of her arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here and catch the tram home. I’m freezing and you need to take better care of yourself now that you’re to be a mother.”
    Marty