“Of course you can give her love. Do not say things like that,” Luke admonished.
The aunts stood off to the side, holding each other. Tears streamed down their cheeks.
Aaron was holding Kat whose shoulders heaved with sobs.
Sam stiffened. “I do not want a sermon, Luke. You will either take her and love her or you won’t. I will find someone else if you won’t. I just need an answer.”
His eyes shifted to Maddie, then to Kat. “I thought about askin’ Kat, but knew from her last letter that she had just had Hannah. With already having Johnny and Rebekah, taking Cailie would be too much of an imposition right now. I love you, sis, but I would not ask it of you.”
“It would be no—”
Luke blustered, “Of course we will take her. But I do not understand why you won’t stay with us. We can help you heal.”
Sam shook his head. “No, you cain’t. No one can right now. Not even God, so do not start preachin’.” He closed his eyes while he breathed deeply, then opened them and kissed Cailie’s tiny forehead.
He walked over to Luke and held out the baby. “Please. I need to do this. But I have to know she is all right. I love her. With everything that is in me.”
Luke cradled the tiny baby in his arms. She was smaller than Joshua. Luke guessed she was around three months old, right about the same as Josh. Although certainly much smaller.
Sam moved to unfasten the horse that had been tied to the back of the wagon. He reached inside and grabbed a few things out of it and threw them over the horse, tying them in place.
Then he turned to look at everyone. The saddest smile Luke had ever seen graced his brother’s face as he put his foot in the stirrup and threw the other leg over the horse.
“Gotta go now. Don’t know when I’ll be back. I love you all.”
He reined his horse around. Kicking it to spur him forward, he rode away.
Didn’t look back.
Matt started to say something, but stopped himself.
Luke moved forward to stop Sam, but Maddie placed a hand gently on his arm and shook her head. “No, Luke. Let him go. He will be back. A father cannot love a child as much as he does this one and not return. His eyes said it all.”
“I do not understand why he won’t stay with us,” Luke said. “We are family.”
“I do,” Matt surprised them all by saying. “Let me go talk with him.”
Unwrapping the reins of his horse from the porch rail, Matt jumped up and raced after Sam.
It didn’t take him long to catch up with him, even though his brother was riding hell for leather toward a future he thought he had no control over.
Matt shouted several times, but Sam didn’t stop.
Finally he edged his horse close and reached over and pulled on the reins to Sam’s horse. Sam flashed a look of aggravation.
“What the Sam Hill did you do that for? Didn’t I make myself clear back there? I want to be alone!”
“You did, and I am not here to stop you. Just want to talk a minute. Will you give me that long?”
Sam grumbled, but finally acquiesced.
“Can we get down off our horses and talk man to man?”
“You said it would only take a minute.”
“Well, maybe a few more. Please, Sam. It is important.”
With a reluctant sigh, Sam slid off his mount and Matthew followed.
Sam took off his hat and slapped it against the side of his leg. “All right. What is so all-fired important you had to come talk with me now?”
“I wanted to let you know we will all be praying for you.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Puhleeze. Didn’t I already say I didn’t want no sermons?”
“No preaching. I know that is the last thing you want to hear—even though it is what you need right now. You wouldn’t listen if I tried. I just want to let you know all of us—especially me—will be here anytime you need us. If you get in trouble, get word to us and we will be there.” He turned to look out over their lands to the far off horizon.
“Got any idea where you are gonna go?”
Sam shook his head. “Nope. Just goin’ to ride until I feel like stopping. Stop along the way to paint my tonsils.”
Matt’s heart slipped to his stomach. That’s one of the things he was so afraid of. “Don’t get drunk too often, Sam. Takes a toll on you that you might not ever recover from. I…”
He stopped. No, there were some things Sam wasn’t ready to hear yet. “If you do not want to go far, there is an empty line shack up in the hills. You could stay there. I could fetch provisions up to you.”
“Don’t want to stick around.”
“All right, but it is there if you change your mind.”
Sam moved toward his horse to mount it, but Matthew placed a hand on his arm.
“I know what you are going through. Know what you are feeling. If I can do anything to help, anything at all, I will do my best to try. Even if it is just to listen to you cry.”
“Like blazes you do!” Sam shouted. “You never lost the mother of your baby. A woman you loved.”
Matthew couldn’t stop the pain. “Do not be so sure of that.”
That stopped Sam, made him turn back to face Matt.
“You never got married.”
“Nope. Never made it that far.”
“Then how…?”
Matthew scrubbed a hand over his face. “That is one of those long talks we can have if’n you ever decide to come back. I think hearin’ it will help some. Talkin’ about it won’t be so easy.”
His eyes met and locked with Sam’s. “Let’s just say when something similar happened to me, I probably blamed myself more than you are blamin’ yourself now. Even though I assure you there was nothing you could do to change what happened. Louisa dying in childbirth was not your fault. I know right now you do not believe that.
“Took me hittin’ rock bottom afore I was able to climb out of the muck I had made of my life so I could come back home. You had one grave you left behind. I had two.” His voice cracked. “Family don’t know about it. Never told them. I would be obliged if you didn’t either.”
He moved toward Sam and pulled him into his arms, then backed away and mounted his own horse. “Don’t forget. If you need to talk, yell, shout, even cuss, or if you want to use that line shack any time, I will do whatever I can to help. The family don’t need to know you are there.”
He tipped his hat with his finger. “I love you, little brother. We all do. And we will all be here when you are ready to come home.”
Turning his bay, he gently nudged his horse with his thighs and rode back to Maddie and Luke’s house.
The family would need him there. He was sure they were all in shock right about now.
He certainly was.
He knew only too well that this was only the opening battle in what was about to become a war within Sam. A battle he’d already fought and barely lived through.
Seeing the pain in his youngest brother’s eyes, and the horrified shock of his family as the young man rode away, had brought every wrenching, painful moment of his past back to life.
How in God’s holy name was he going to relive the pain?
When Matt rode back into the family’s yard, Luke rushed forward, his eyes scanning the area behind Matt. “Where is he?”
Matt raised a leg over and slid easily off his horse. “Clean gone by now.”
“Gone! Thought you were gonna talk some sense into him. Thought you were gonna bring him back.”
Matt ran his hand over his chin. “Never said that. Just said I was gonna talk with him. Did that.”
An uneasy quiet settled over the group. Finally Luke broke it. “And he kept goin’ anyhow?”
“Yep.”
Maddie walked up beside them holding baby Cailie while Aunt Lola sat on the porch rocking Josh.
Matt leaned close to Maddie, then held out his arms. “Can I hold her a minute?”
Maddie nodded and
gently placed the child in Matt’s waiting arms. “Of course. I am sure your niece will love having her big, strapping uncle hold her.”
“She is a tiny little thing,” Matt said. “Must look a lot like Sam’s Louisa. Hate I never got to meet her. I see a little of Sam in her, but not a lot.”
“She is tiny, but I am guessing she is right about Josh’s age. I only saw Louisa once, right before Luke brought me out here and he went to tell Sam goodbye. She was a very pretty young woman. Petite. Cailie will probably take after her.”
Matt eased the edge of his pinky finger over the little girl’s cheek. The baby’s eyes moved to his face and a smile covered her round little face. “Be easy to lose your heart to this little one.” Just as he would have lost it to his own child. A surge of grief washed over him. He gruffly cleared his throat and handed her back to Maddie. “You goin’ to be all right taking care of her having a little one of your own?”
Her eyes rose to his. “I will. Shouldn’t be much more difficult than what Rosemary’s going through with her twins. Will just take a bit of adjusting since we weren’t automatically thrown into that routine with dual births.”
“And feedin’ her?”
Her eyes widened and she shot him a look. “Mr. Guylenhall, I am shocked. An inappropriate question out of you? Thought this family did not ask those.” She turned her head to watch Luke.
He rolled his eyes, but Matt had the grace to blush.
Maddie chuckled. “I’ll be fine, Matt. But thank you for worrying.” She lifted the little girl out of Matt’s arms and squeezed her close to her chest. “This precious child is going to need all of us taking care of her. It will take a lot of love to take the place of a father.”
Luke glanced off into the distance. “We will all be here for her. I just wish her pa would let us take care of him, too.”
“He is lost right now, Luke. Nothing we do or say will penetrate the fog of his mind.” Maddie moved close to him. Leaned against him. “Remember how lost you felt when I was having Josh? Your fears were not realized. Sam’s are. He is having to come to grips with what you feared most—living without me. It is going to take him a long time to get over that.”
“What if he does somethin’ rash? Gets himself hurt?”
“We cain’t stop him.” Anguish filled Matt’s voice. “People grieve in their own way—most often to the detriment of themselves.”
Maddie saw emotions flicker over Matt’s eyes. Pain. Sadness. She wondered what was behind them. More than just watching his brother ride away.
“He is gonna crash down a lot further before he can begin to rise back up,” Matt continued. “Just like I…” He coughed and cleared his throat. Moved toward his horse. “Gotta get back to town. Need me to do anything here afore I leave?”
Luke shook his head. “Nah. We will see you in a couple of days when we head into town.” He turned to Maddie. “Guess we will be needin’ to buy a few more things.”
She nodded. “Let’s see what Sam brought with him in the wagon first. I saw a cradle back there when I glanced in earlier. Then we can make our list.”
Matt rode toward town. Maddie watched him disappear over the rise. “Matt’s troubled.”
Luke wrapped his arm around her. “We all are. It is rough watchin’ your baby brother in so much pain. We all fought like cats and dogs when we were young, but when somethin’ hurt one of us, it hurt all of us. And we were always there to help that person. Sam’s not lettin’ us do that right now. Makes me feel pretty helpless. Not a feelin’ I like.”
He took the little girl from her arms. “For now all we can do is care for this here gift from God. Give her all our love, plus enough extra to cover for her missin’ pa.”
“And pray for him to come back safely to us.” He’s going to do exactly what I did—push God away. Maddie had seen it in his face. But she wouldn’t say that to Luke. He had enough to worry about for now with his brother disappearing.
“And for Matthew. Something is seriously bothering him right now—much more than Sam riding away. We need to pray for him like we never have before. I don’t know what is wrong, but something major is going on with your big brother.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and bent to kiss the top of her hair. “Oh yes, darlin’. We will definitely be prayin’ for him.” He pulled her closer. “It is good hearing you talk of prayer, darlin’. That day was a long time comin’.”
“I would nt be without you. Your love and that of your entire family is what finally broke through the shell of hate I had encased my heart in. The war tore everything from me—including the relationship I had with Jesus as a child. The one based on my mama’s feelings for Him. It was only your patience and love that helped me to find that.” She smiled. “And your stubborn sister”—she cast a glance at Kat—“who refused to give up on me. Her perseverance and God’s ever-powerful grace are what led me to my own journey with Him.”
Careful of the baby in her arms, she threw her other arm around Luke’s shoulders. “I love you, Luke. Thank you for being the strong man you are and doing what my father wanted when we met—although neither of us wanted it at the time.” Bringing the memory to mind, she added, “I think Papa knew it would wind up being his dying wish.”
She looked out in the distance, Matt now just a speck on the horizon. “And now we will pray for each of your brothers. Just as I leaned so heavily on you when I arrived here, now it is time for this family to lean on me.” She smiled up at him. “With God on my side, I am here for you every step of the way.”
“Oh, my darling Southern belle. You will never know how much I love you.”
As evening fell, an explosion of beauty filled the sky as the sun slowly sank over the West, the heavens awash in color.
God had heard them. And knew exactly what each of them would need in the future.
Be watching for…
A poignant Christian western…
A war torn country.
A woman running for her life.
And a town sheriff who’s running from his past.
The Sheriff’s Unexpected
Mail Order Bride
A Guylenhall Family Saga, Book 2
Matthew’s Story
Leanne Burroughs
Highland Press Publishing
Florida
~ Chapter 1 ~
The stagecoach rode hell for leather toward town in an attempt to elude the bullets spraying around them from the bushwhackers in pursuit. It bounced as it hit each rut and swayed side to side as the passengers inside clung to anything they could trying to stay upright.
The guard riding shotgun beside the coach’s driver suddenly slumped over.
Thankfully eluding the bandits as the stage pulled to a lathered stop near the town’s only hotel, Arlo, the driver jumped to the ground. “Need help here. Old Gus has been shot. Help me get him down and someone fetch Doc Turner and the sheriff.”
A young boy hightailed it toward a small white, two-story clapboard house with a sign on the front proclaiming it Doctor Turner’s office.
Arlo lowered the steps so passengers could step down before climbing back up on the stage box to assist with lowering the elderly wounded man to the ground.
As a beautiful young woman placed one dainty foot on the steps leading from the coach, nearby men stopped to stare before returning their attention to Gus.
To Arlo’s surprise, when Gus was lowered to the ground to wait for Doc, the young woman rushed forward and sat on the ground beside the wounded man. Despite getting blood on her hands and all over her lovely dress, she lifted the man’s head into her lap.
Arlo leaned forward. “Ma’am, this here street ain’t no place fer a young woman to be settin’.” He reached a hand forward. “Although it’s mighty nice o’ you to try to help Gus.”
She raised beautiful chocolate brown eyes to his. “Sir, this man was wounded trying to keep those brigands at bay. I assure you that a bit of blood will not tarnish me in any way. It�
�s the least I can do to thank him—both of you—for getting us here safely.”
Rubbing a weathered hand against his bearded chin, Arlo stood and moved closer to the coach, watching men throw down valises that had been strapped to the coach’s top.
Matthew Guylenhall rushed toward the stage. Another attempted robbery. That was the last thing he needed. Two robberies within the last month. This couldn’t continue. People would quit coming this route and bypass Kansas City completely.
He drew up short at the sight that greeted him. Not only was Gus lying on the ground waiting for Doc to arrive, but a young woman—a beautiful young woman he might add—had the old man’s head cushioned on her lap.
She was sitting smack-dab in the middle of the road! The raised boardwalk situated behind her. What lunacy was that?
And who was she?
He moved closer and squatted beside her. “Sheriff Matthew Guylenhall at your service, ma’am.” He reached up and touched the brim of his hat.
“Can I help you stand? Are you injured?”
She nodded in acknowledgement, several dark curls that had escaped what had probably once been a very lovely hairdo bobbing as she moved. “No, thank you, sheriff. I am doing just fine helping this brave man that tried so hard to protect us.”
Matthew took in her appearance. “But you have blood all over your hands and clothes. Not to mention several streaks on your face. Are you sure you are not injured? I can have Doc check you over as well when he arrives.”
Her face broke into a smile and Matt’s world swayed beneath him.
“I assure you I am fine, sheriff. None of the blood is mine. It’s all our faithful guard’s.”
Doc arrived and quickly assessed the situation. Snapping shut his black medical bag, he rose and told those nearby, “Need to get him up to my office as quickly as possible so I can remove those bullets.”
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