Coming Home, Chapter 2

I was on my own at a tender age. There wasn’t support — a place to call home, extra funds, or even a warm set of arms when things were hard. I learned from an early age an unhealthy message that says, “If this is going to happen, it will be on my own.”

But what if God is trying to bring support? A good friend. A safe place to land. A group of people. A community. Maybe even a new love?

Is it an opportunity or an obstacle?

In today’s chapter from the third book in The Legacy Series, Coming Home, Molly feels drawn to Thomas, but she’s also carved her own path. Letting someone else in feels risky.

Have you experienced that? (I’d love to hear your story.)

If you missed Chapter One of Coming Home, you can find that here.

The first four chapters will be free to all subscribers. I hope you love this new story. Thank you for being a part of this novel adventure!

“You missed class?”

Molly shrugged. “I’ll make it up.”

Esther stood in front of the modern gas stove, stirring the hearty vegetable stew. They were all learning how to cook on it, the cast iron wood or charcoal stoves of their previous homes their only experience before now.

Five girls occupied the upper story of the independent lodging house, including Molly. Increasing labor shortages and the beleagured women’s independence movement had led to less regulated rooming houses like this one. Though a house mom lived downstairs part-time, the young women, most of them working girls, had private spaces to cook and eat for themselves.

It felt liberating.

Until now, most young women had been expected to work on their farms or family businesses, or to marry and have children, but a boom in manufacturing and river-borne trade drew hundreds to the city for work and education. Molly was the only one attending university. The others worked, ranging from clerical to a busy makeup counter to factory work.

Molly felt immensely grateful when a spot came open in the five-story “Hotel for Working Girls,” especially since the male-dominated medical university didn’t offer housing to females. The hotel, which was not a hotel at all, but a grand old dilapidated house with several rooms, catered to single women earning $10 or less per week. It offered a kitchen, shared dining room, parlor, and even a library. It was a safe space for rural girls moving to the city, shielding them from urban vices. She and Esther were assigned to one room, while the three others shared a larger one down the hall.

“Why did you miss class?” Esther asked. She slipped her hands in thick padded oven mittens and moved the stew to the old oak table.

Steam rose, the wonderful odor tickling Molly’s nose. Her stomach grumbled. “I was talking to someone.”

“A man?”

She nodded. “A student. He’s in his first year, like me.”

Hazel stood in the doorway. “You’ve got yourself a man?”

Molly blushed, the heat rising into the roots of her red hair. “No. I shared a sandwich — and a conversation. That’s it.”

Hazel was the boldest of all of them. She wore red lipstick and blush, finely blended to highlight her high cheekbones. Her hair was swept into an elegant knot on her neck. Her hours at the cosmetics counter were part sales, part education, part luxury, as she used the samples on her own skin to show customers how they could make their best features shine. Sometimes she slipped samples to the girls, though Molly had not used them as of yet. She pinched her cheeks like her mam had showed her, and her lips were already a blush of pink.

“I don’t know why you go to that university at all,” Hazel said, “unless it’s to meet a man. Guess a doctor would be a good husband…”

“That’s not why I am there and you know it,” Molly said, not offended. Hazel’s good-natured ribbing wasn’t meant to harm. She just had different plans, something Molly was accustomed to.

“Who was he?” Esther asked.

“His name is Thomas. It’s someone I’ve seen in lab. He’s pretty quiet, different from most of the others. When I saw him passing, I asked him to sit with me for a moment and he did. That surprised me.”

“That surprises me too,” Esther said. “You’re not usually so bold.”

It had caught Molly off guard when she saw the tall, blonde-haired student walk past. There was something about him that had captured her attention the first time she encountered him.

It was in lab. The professor had asked a question, and Molly thrust her hand in the air. She was first, but the professor looked around, as if waiting for someone else to respond. Two other hands shot in the air, but they didn’t have the right answer. Later, in open discussion, she had a chance to talk. Thomas, whose name she didn’t know at the time, engaged in the discussion, giving weight to her theory. He didn’t seem to have an agenda, only a willingness to listen and appreciate her thoughts. When she saw him walking past, she had called out, surprising herself with her flirtatious words, and even more surprised when he sat down beside her.

It had felt comfortable.

He was kind, something she appreciated, especially thinking of her own band of rough-hewn brothers back home. He shared that his mother was a nurse and had practiced in Covington, Kentucky, and also overseas, and that she currently served as a volunteer with foreign-born German and Irish immigrants, a population that was nearly one-third of Covington, but who often did not have access to medical care. Suddenly his acceptance of her, when so many other medical students had not, made sense.

There were many things about Thomas that intrigued her. He looked like a rugby player, tall and broad-shouldered, but instead of swagger and charm, he was reticent. While the other men threw their arms around each other’s shoulders and boasted, he observed. He was intelligent, but he also listened. He spent a lot of time writing in a thick journal, sitting at a distance from others.

He seemed other worldy. Like he didn’t quite fit. But as interesting as he might be, the truth was Molly had no time for men in this season of her life.

She wanted a family one day, but not now. Not like her cousins or the girls that attached themselves to her brothers from a young age. While she loved her roots, she had always known her path would look different.

She wouldn’t allow anything — or anyone — to get in the way of that.

Hazel sliced into the warm sourdough bread, slathering butter across her portion. She pulled a chair up. Esther joined her. Footsteps clattered from the stairs as Dagmar and Adelaide came to join them. For the next hour, the women told stories from their day — the factory boss that demanded too much; the woman who spent nearly a week’s wages on lipstick and perfume; the unfairness of wool skirts and long sleeves in spring.

The conversation was life-giving and honest, and it filled Molly with thankfulness.

Thank you, God, for allowing me to pursue this path.

While the handsome blue-eyed student was still on her mind, Molly determined he’d only be a friend.

She had sacrificed too much for it to be anything else.

That night, as the stars tiptoed in the heavens, Molly tossed and turned.

As the youngest of eight, all of them boys but her, Molly helped in the kitchen from a young age. She and her mam started baking before dawn while her da and brothers took care of the farm. Her oldest brother was tender toward her, brushing a hand over her red waves in affection. Yet some of her brothers saw her simply as an annoyance. They rebuffed her when she had a question about the mechanics of farming, or showed up to help when a sow was farrowing.

When she secretly filled out the application for medical school, she didn’t anticipate she’d be selected as one of two women to fill the quota, though she had volunteered for two years for the local doctor. They had noted they were impressed by his glowing reference.

After receiving the letter, telling her da and mam was her first step.

Convincing them it was a good idea was the second.

The first few months away were painful. She was used to being ignored by some of her brothers, but they had never mocked her. They had not pointed out how her red hair was distracting. They didn’t pour molasses over her books when she wasn’t looking. One professor’s comments in front of the class left her breathless and shaking when he emphasized that women had no place in the medical field, and sardonic glances came her way. But the more they tried to push her out, the more resolute she was to excel.

Many nights she found herself kneeling beside her bed, tears that never saw the light of day bleeding into the patchwork quilt as she prayed for guidance and resilience.

As Molly lay in bed, the soft breathing of Esther across the room stilled her heart.

She closed her eyes.

Tomorrow is a new day.

She thought about her dream, the one she’d told no one — not even her mam. She was determined to fulfill it. She’d not let anyone deter, not even her attraction to the handsome, quiet man whose gentle smile made her heart beat a little faster.

© Suzanne Eller, 2026. Do not reproduce or share in any form.

Book Club Questions

1. Molly is one of only two women admitted to medical school and faces ridicule simply because of her gender. What do you think gives her the resilience to keep pursuing her dream? Have you ever had to persevere when others doubted your abilities or calling?

2. The boarding house provides Molly with friendship, encouragement, and a sense of belonging. Why is community especially important when pursuing a difficult goal?

3. Molly is determined that Thomas will be “only a friend” because she refuses to let anything derail her future. Do you think she is being wise, overly cautious, or both? How do you balance pursuing your goals with remaining open to unexpected relationships or opportunities?

4. Throughout the chapter, Molly quietly thanks God for allowing her to pursue what she believes is both her dream and His dream for her. What does this reveal about her faith? How can faith shape the way we view our ambitions and life purpose?

5. By the end of the chapter, Molly reflects on the opposition she has faced from classmates, professors, and even some of her own brothers, yet she remains committed to a specific dream. Which moment in this chapter most deepened your understanding of Molly’s character?

6. Any questions or thoughts about this third book in The Legacy Series?