Blessed With a New Beginning: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book

by Lilah Rivers

  Her innocence was just another aspect that made her so lovely.

  Mrs. Roberta caught his eye. She was watching him intently with the faintest hint of a grin on her face. Somehow, David thought that Hank was right. In fact, the two may have even been in discussion about what they had noticed in David towards Clementine. If that was the case, he had not been very stealthy in noticing her.

  Of course, they were not aware of his past, either. Perhaps, if they knew what had happened, how he had been publicly jilted and mocked by those he had once called friends, it would have been different.

  If they knew those things, would they still accept him? Would they still be all right with him having an attraction to Clementine?

  He wondered. But amidst that wonder, he also knew that it was too late.

  David wasn’t able to let her go.

  Chapter 9

  Clementine set the plate in front of Chelsea and then sat down with her own. They said a prayer to bless the food and then got caught up in conversation.

  “I’m sure that your aunt is thrilled that you are here, helping out and keeping her company,” Chelsea said.

  “Yes, she says that she is. But I’m the one who is made fortunate by it. I have only her left of my family and I can’t very well continue on my own,” Clementine lamented.

  “Have you thought any more about the possibility of marriage? That ranch hand is an awfully handsome gentleman,” Chelsea suggested, taking another bite of her greens.

  Clementine shrugged nonchalantly.

  “You know it’s true…” Chelsea teased.

  “All right. Maybe I do. He is quite handsome. I have enjoyed getting to know him. He’s very helpful and kind,” Clementine said.

  “Do you think he is the sort of man that you could ever marry?” she asked.

  “Oh, I don’t want to go thinking about things like that already. I’ve only barely begun to know him. And if I start thinking things like that, I’ll never stop,” Clementine said with a laugh.

  “I get that. I know that with the man I’m in love with, I can’t get him out of my mind even if nothing ever comes of our love,” Chelsea said.

  “Well, I can’t say that I’m in love yet. But my situation is complicated enough. My circumstances are difficult just now. I’ve so recently been orphaned and I’m trying to start a new life. Shouldn’t I try to learn how to live it before I decide to introduce another person into it?” she asked.

  “Maybe. But it could also be nice to have someone to come alongside you for the changes,” Chelsea said.

  Clementine nodded. That was true. But she didn’t know if she really liked the ranch hand that much. He was the only man that she could consider herself as caring about or being interested in, but she didn’t know him very well.

  Aside from little interests here and there—things that she had thought over dramatically about as a young woman—Clementine hadn’t ever been in love. She had no idea what to compare it to and simple attraction wasn’t nearly enough to cause her to give her heart to anyone.

  “Well, anyway, the changes have come, whether I want them or not. And if I make any sort of effort to try and stop them, they come laughing in my face,” Clementine said.

  “It may feel that way, but you have to remember that God is with you. He knows the days of your life, remember? He knows that you are in a time of need,” Chelsea said.

  “Thank you for that reminder. I needed to hear it,” Clementine said.

  “One of my favorite Psalms is chapter forty-six. It says,

  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

  Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

  There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

  The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

  Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

  He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

  Clementine took in the words and held them near to her heart. She wanted to be the sort of woman who turned to God’s Word whenever she was struggling to have faith in life.

  “I know your circumstances are difficult, but we all face those things,” Chelsea continued. “I’m struggling quite a lot with my own right now. But we will get through.”

  “You have mentioned that you are struggling; it concerns me on your behalf,” Clementine said.

  She had been trying to give Chelsea privacy with her vague remarks, but now, she was ready to just ask and learn how she could help her friend to cope.

  “Well, I’m sure you have figured out some of it by now,” Chelsea said.

  “You think?” Clementine asked.

  Chelsea laughed.

  “I saw you catch us as we gazed at one another. Oh, I have loved Hank for such an age. He is the most wonderful man in all the world. You cannot imagine what it is to be loved by him,” she said.

  Clementine wished she could, but agreed that she had no concept of that love.

  “My father does not approve,” she said, growing serious.

  This was something that she had not expected. Clementine could not understand why the Reverend would not like Hank. He was a man of good character, hard-working, and he clearly loved Chelsea. What reason was there to deny him?

  “But why?” was all she could ask.

  “Hank has never walked the same since his injury. It is a disability and that hinders my father’s trust in him,” Chelsea said.

  “I don’t understand it. Why wouldn’t your father be all right with you and Hank loving one another and getting married all over a limp?” she asked.

  “He thinks that Hank will not always be able to work to provide for me. That’s what it all comes down to. The Bible instructs men to work and be providers. But with Hank’s injury, he will not always be able to do that,” she said.

  “He is doing just fine right now. I don’t see how that could change,” Clementine said.

  “Forgive me for even saying this. I know it is awful, but if anything should happen to your aunt, Hank would have no job. And what other ranch is going to hire someone who is only able to do half the duties expected of him?” Chelsea asked.

  Clementine tried not to take the suggestion about her aunt to heart. She understood that these were things that had to be considered. And it suddenly made sense why the Reverend had been worried. He only wanted what was best for his daughter and was not sure that Hank could be that.

  “But it is clear that Hank loves you as well. Do you think that he will be obedient to your father?” she asked.

  “Oh, yes. Hank is a man who respects that he is my father and has final say over this decision. He is also a man who respects the Scriptures, and knowing that my father is the one who preaches them means that he wants my father to like him,” she said.

  “Even if it means that the two of you are separated?” she asked.

  “I believe that he hopes, in time, my father might come around. I honestly can’t say whether or not it will happen, but I should like to think so. I should like to think that my father will realize that a man is not worth the value of two working legs,” she said.

  “I’m sorry. That is truly difficult,” Clementine said.

  “Yes, it is. And Hank wasn’t ever able to tell anyo
ne that we loved each other. He was even pursued by Tabitha and could not tell her that he was courting someone else.

  “He never had feelings for her, but I think she is going around and telling people about her betrothed in order to get a rise out of Hank and me. Or that she will start telling everyone that he intends to marry her just so that she can trap him into doing it,” Chelsea said.

  “He would never do that, would he?” Clementine asked.

  “No, but that doesn’t mean that she won’t try,” Chelsea said.

  Just then, the front door opened and David came through it, his eyes going wide when he saw the two young ladies seated together.

  “Good evening,” he said.

  “Good evening,” they replied.

  “I had best be going,” Chelsea remarked, looking out the window to see that the light was starting to dim.

  She gave Clementine a quick grin as if to tell her to relax and made her way out the door.

  “She’s a nice enough young lady,” David said.

  “Yes, she is,” Clementine replied. “How is your day? I will try and get dinner ready very soon.”

  He smiled at her, quiet for a moment.

  “My day was lovely and you don’t have to rush to make dinner. I know that you have other things to do with your time,” he said.

  Clementine realized that he was trying to let her know that he didn’t see her as a maid, after all.

  “Can I ask you something?” he began, drawing nearer and appearing braver.

  “Certainly,” she replied.

  “Why did you come here? To the ranch, I mean. I know you are a great cook, but there has to be more that you wanted from life,” he said.

  Clementine bit her lip.

  “Well, I had little other choice,” she said. “All of my siblings are long since dead and my mother and father passed away fairly recently. Aunt Roberta is the only one that I have left and I thought it made every sense to come and be with her,” she said.

  David looked at her with sympathy.

  “I am terribly sorry. I had no idea, or I might not have asked you. That is terrible,” he said.

  “Yes, it was very difficult. But I had to leave and my mother and father left me more than enough to get to Feldey. Here, I can start over. I can keep my family in my heart, but I can be with Aunt Roberta. She is the only family that I truly have left,” she said.

  In that moment, she realized that he had given her the perfect opportunity to be brave as well. She could ask him a few of the things that had been on her mind of late.

  “And you? Why did you come out here? You didn’t know anyone and you said that you hadn’t even planned to come here specifically. So why did you leave?” she asked.

  He nodded, appreciating that it was his turn to answer questions.

  “Well, back where I came from, we are a known enough family. I had fallen in love with a young woman and she had agreed to a courtship,” he began.

  Clementine listened, the pulse pounding in her ears to hear that he had loved somebody. Did he still love her? She could hardly bear to wait until the end of his story.

  “In the midst of that courtship, she had begun to change. I wasn’t able to put my finger on it, but she was not the same as the young lady that I had fallen in love with,” he said.

  “Then, one day, she vanished. We were all terrified. I even thought that something dreadful might have happened to her. As if she had been taken by someone,” he continued.

  “Oh, dear. That would be so frightening,” Clementine said.

  “It was. But you can imagine my surprise when we all learned, a very short time later, that she had run off with another man that I had gone to school with. And…she was already pregnant,” he said, breathing through the words.

  Clementine’s mouth dropped. David had been subjected to scandal like this? Someone had actually rejected him? She could hardly believe it.

  “Anyway, we all thought it best that I leave. You see, she humiliated me by telling everybody that the child was mine and that the man that she married had rescued her from having to be with me,” he said.

  “I have never heard of such cruelty,” Clementine said, placing a hand on her chest.

  “I assure you that it was untrue. But I couldn’t stay. A fresh start was better. And thankfully, my father and brothers all took my side, as well as did a few others in town. To be honest, I don’t think a soul believed her. But it was an accusation, nevertheless. And that is something that I could not escape while I lived there,” he said.

  Clementine looked at David in a whole new way. A man so recently heartbroken. A man who was kind and pure.

  A man who was worth caring for.

  Chapter 10

  “Good morning, good morning,” Reverend St. Claire greeted David.

  He had been surprised that the Reverend was so insistent after the service that the two of them have a private meeting. Regardless, he promised Hank and Mrs. Roberta that he would come back after the meeting.

  There he was, seated in the small, simple room behind the sanctuary.

  “Thank you for meeting with me. I felt that it was a bit urgent and as you are new to town, you might want to get to know me a little bit better before I make a few suggestions,” the Reverend said.

  David was nervous. He could not imagine what suggestions the Reverend was going to make. As he shifted in the chair, trying to get comfortable, he paused and waited.

  “Well, you have now met Chelsea, my daughter. And I saw that the two of you briefly interacted today after the service as well,” he said.

  “Yes, I did. She is a nice young woman,” David replied.

  “She is. And she is the sort of nice young woman who is going to make her husband very happy someday,” the Reverend said.

  David was even less comfortable than he had been the minute before. Why was the Reverend talking to him about this? Did he think that David had feelings for Chelsea? Had he done anything at all to convey that message?

  “That is very well,” he said, not wanting to make anything more of this.

  “Yes, it is. Anyway, I would like for you to get to know her better. If the two of you feel as though you have a connection of any kind, it might be prudent that you make a match sooner rather than later,” he said.

  David sat without a hint of movement. He was a statue. A deeply confused statue.

  “Are you suggesting that I court your daughter?” he finally asked, outright.

  “That is the matter, indeed,” Reverend St. Claire said.

  David took in a deep breath and exhaled it in one go.

  “Reverend St. Claire, I do not think that she and I are suited for one another,” he said.

  “How well have you come to know her? I think that the two of you are quite perfect for one another,” he replied.