Falls Creek Western Romance Boxed Set: Books 1 - 3

by Woods, Emily

  Christina didn’t want to lie, but she was still a little confused. “In a way, but I can’t quite fathom why the God of the Universe cares so much.”

  “Because He made us,” Elise replied softly with a sweet smile. “We are His children.”

  Thinking of herself as a child of God seemed overwhelming, a burden even. All parents wanted something from their children. What could God want with her? “I don’t know if I am,” she replied. “My parents say I’m too proud and selfish. That can’t be what God wants in His children.”

  Valerie let loose a half-sigh, half-laugh. “You’re right in saying that He doesn’t want us to be either of those things, but you can decide to change. Even if you don’t, He still loves each of us. Even though some children are easier to raise, or even easier to be around, we don’t love one more or less than the others. They’re all precious.”

  She understood the concept now, but wasn’t sure she quite believed it. “Thank you for answering my questions,” she said. “Please move onto whatever it is you usually do. I’m happy to sit and listen.”

  That was what she did for the next hour. She listened and took in the conversation about Peter and how he doubted Jesus even though he’d been with Him.

  “He was one of Jesus’s followers and still didn’t believe that He was the Son of God?” Maddie sounded annoyed. “If Peter couldn’t believe back then, sitting with Jesus every day, how can we convince people these days?”

  “That’s a good question,” Kate replied. “The thing is, we can’t actually convince anyone, and it’s foolish to think otherwise.”

  Maddie gave her a look of disbelief. “Then why bother evangelizing at all?”

  Marge leaned in to answer. “Well, first, people have to learn about Jesus and then decide for themselves if He is who He says. We explain what we know and why we believe and then leave it up to the Holy Spirit to do the rest.”

  “But how does that work?” Maddie persisted.

  Christina leaned forward a little. She wondered too.

  Amanda, the former teacher of the area, spoke up now. “Remember when you were in school and you were learning math? The first time the teacher did it for you, maybe it didn’t make sense, but then she showed it to you again and again until you understood, but you didn’t really understand it until you did it yourself and saw how it worked. It’s not a perfect comparison, but perhaps you can see what I mean. When you do the work yourself and see the results, you really believe it’s true. People have to ask God for faith, and He will give it to them.”

  The answer seemed too simple to be true, but Christina felt her heart soften even more.

  “I want that kind of faith,” she murmured, unaware that she was speaking out loud. The others looked at her, their faces showing surprise and pleasure.

  “Then let’s pray for Christina!” Marge exclaimed. A moment later, her sister and Maddie had grabbed her hands and Marge was praying for her, that God would show Himself to her and send His Spirit. Christina felt hot all over and started to tremble. She felt all her ideas about herself and the world slip away, and all the things she’d learned in that dusty old church suddenly made sense. When Marge said amen, she looked up, amazed that she was crying.

  She looked around the circle of women and whispered, “I believe.”

  After that, there was much crying and praise. Another child had come home.

  * * *

  While the women were enjoying coffee and treats a while later, Christina saw Kate huddled up with Valerie and Elise. They wore concerned expressions. When Valerie came to sit with her, she couldn’t help asking if everything was okay.

  “Um, well, it’s hard to know right now. It seems there was a problem with Alex, you remember, the new hand?”

  She blinked a few times and her heart sped up. Oh yes, she remembered him. She remembered how hard she tried to ignore him and how curious she was about him, but he gave away nothing.

  “Is he okay?”

  Valerie shook her head. “I’m not sure. It seems he left in the night, and Luke went to find him. There’s something going on that Kate either doesn’t know or doesn’t want to share, but she’s asking us to pray for both of them.”

  As she called his face to mind, something finally clicked. “I remember him!” she exclaimed. When they looked at her, she repeated, “Alex, I remember him from the train.”

  The women were puzzled.

  “But you weren’t on the same train,” Kate replied.

  She heard that she’d arrived on an earlier train than she had, but she knew that her memory was finally telling her something. “Yes, but we were at one point. I don’t know why he got off…” But then she had a small suspicion and wondered if she should tell. It wasn’t her secret, and although she would have relished in sharing gossip once upon a time, her newly convicted spirit told her to be quiet. “Maybe I’m mistaken.”

  “You must be, dear,” Valerie agreed. “If he knew you, I’m sure he would have said.”

  Christina decided to keep what she knew to herself. She had met him on the train, but he was dressed like a gentleman at the time. Why had he gotten off the train? And why had he changed? It didn’t make sense unless he was pretending to be someone else now.

  They prayed for Alex and for Luke, and then moved on to pray for other needs in their group. When they were done, it was nearly time to prepare lunch. Some of the women bustled around the kitchen while the others watched the children, who had tired of playing with blocks and coloring and wanted to go outside.

  Maddie, Valerie, and Christina volunteered to watch the preschoolers and were in the middle of discussing Peter when they noticed someone approaching in the distance.

  “It’s Pa!” Maddie shouted excitedly, scaring two of the toddlers, who then started crying. Valerie picked up one and handed him to Christina while she soothed the other. Christina had only ever held a child once in her life and was worried to death that she was going to hurt this small boy. However, he didn’t seem too concerned and immediately stopped crying when he was placed in her arms. He seemed fascinated with her hair pins and began to pull them out. The delight on his face in doing so made her laugh.

  Maddie ran towards her father, and as he got closer, she saw a second rider with him. It was Alex. Whatever had happened to make him leave must have been resolved, at least to some extent. In a way, Christina was glad to see him again, if only to have the chance to discover why he was hiding behind a false identity.

  From where she was, Christina couldn’t hear the verbal exchange, but she saw Maddie talking excitedly. Luke also looked happy, but Alex was somewhat somber. The two of them brought the horses to the barn and Maddie returned.

  “They’ll come in when they’re done with the horses. Pa says it was just a misunderstanding and Alex is fine.”

  Christina thought there must be much more to the story than that, but who was she to pry? No one. Maddie rushed to tell her mother that the two of them were back and then rang the bell to bring everyone in for lunch.

  As the men came in and saw Alex, they started questioning him, but Luke intervened. “Don’t bother him,” he said firmly, but not unkindly. “There was a miscommunication about his terms of employment, but it’s settled now. End of discussion.”

  It might have been the end of the discussion at the table, but Christina was quite certain that it wouldn’t be the end of things once the men got out on the range or back into the bunkhouse. She wondered if she’d have a chance to talk to Alex at all. She could see from his expression that he was upset. A week ago, she wouldn’t have cared, but the compassion that the women had shown her in the morning seemed to affect her. If she had a chance, she would try to be kind to him. That was the least she could do.

  Chapter 11

  Alex knew that his return would raise some questions, or more so, his departure. He wasn’t sure how Luke wanted to deal with the men, but he promised that he would tell his family today, tonight, when the children were home from s
chool and the men had gone to bed. Moreover, he wanted Alex to move into the house right away, but Alex didn’t feel that was wise. He liked the bunkhouse and worried how the special treatment would affect his relationship with the others.

  It was easy to see that his return had a strong effect on his father. He couldn’t stop grinning, but Alex felt hesitant to believe that everything was going to change for the better. He worried that the other children wouldn’t accept him, or that Kate would worry her children would receive less of an inheritance. He knew that his grandparents planned to leave him their wealth, if they weren’t going to disown him for his actions, so he wanted to make it clear that he didn’t need anything from them. He’d said as much to Luke, but he wasn’t sure that the comment had really penetrated the man’s happy fog.

  The rest of the afternoon passed in a haze as he worked alongside Luke building the fence. Alex suspected that Luke stayed close by to prevent the others from asking questions. That was fine with him. Until they figured out how they were going to move forward, he didn’t want to be the center of attention.

  “We’ll get everything settled tonight,” Luke had promised.

  Dinner was a strained affair, much more than lunch had been. Even though the other families had gone home, there was a tension created by the unknown. Alex wanted to apologize, but of course that would have to be followed up by an explanation, and that would have to wait.

  When the men had retired to the bunkhouse, Alex stayed behind. Austin and Cole gave him a questioning look, but the others seemed to either be losing interest or were more concerned about their nightly game of cards.

  “Family, I have very good news,” Luke began excitedly when Kate, Maddie, Marge, Lucas, Susie, and Jane were all seated in the living room. “This is going to be a shock to you all, but I wanted to tell you at the same time. Do you remember how I told you I was married before? And how I had a son?”

  “I have an older brother,” Lucas declared knowingly. “I hope I can meet him one day.”

  Luke’s eyes shone, and Alex wondered if he would burst before he could get the news out.

  “You don’t have to wait anymore,” he exclaimed, looking at Alex. “Everyone, Alex came out here to find me. He’s my son.”

  The room was quiet for a few seconds before the children began to clamor with excitement, even shy Susie clapped her hands, her face lit up with wonder. Marge kept saying, “Well, I’ll be!” and looking at Kate and Maddie.

  Alex’s heart thundered in his chest, but he couldn’t speak. He’d hoped the younger children would be happy, but he didn’t know about Maddie or Kate. They might feel betrayed or angry. After all, he’d lived among them for almost a week under somewhat false pretenses.

  Maddie stood and walked over to where he was sitting. He stood up warily, unsure of her intentions. When she was standing right in front of him, he saw tears in her eyes. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

  “I knew there was a reason I liked you!” she whispered fiercely. “My brother.”

  When she released him, his own eyes were wet, but he turned to focus on Kate. She was the final hurdle. If she didn’t accept him, he would leave, simple as that. However, he could see nothing but kindness in her eyes.

  “Welcome home, Alex,” she said softly, a sweet smile on her face. “I hope you’re here to stay.”

  After that, such a noise raised the roof that Alex was surprised the hands didn’t come running to see what the matter was. When things finally settled down, there were a million questions, but Kate must have seen how overwhelmed he was.

  “Leave him be now, children. Alex, I’d like you to move in here with us whenever you feel comfortable. We have an extra room with a bed and a dresser in it. It’s yours.”

  The lump in his throat grew so large that he was in pain trying to swallow.

  “Thank you,” he whispered. “I—I don’t know what I should do.”

  “First things first,” Aunt Marge declared. “Let’s give thanks to the Lord and ask his direction in all things.”

  Each family member bowed his or her head as Marge led them in a passionate prayer, giving thanks to God for Alex and asking Him to help them navigate the days ahead.

  “We’re delighted to have Alex among us, Lord, but give us Your wisdom to know what to say to those around us, more for his sake than for ours. Thank You, precious Savior, in whose name we pray, Amen!”

  They all echoed the sentiment, even little Jane. When Kate announced it was time for the younger ones to go to bed, they protested, but Kate won out as usual. In less than twenty minutes, there was relative quiet in the house.

  “I’m tired too,” Aunt Marge announced. “I’ll say good night. Welcome to the family, Alex. I’m real glad to have you here.”

  And then there were just the four of them, sitting and looking at one another.

  “How are you feeling, Alex?” Kate asked gently. “Or should I call you Paul?”

  He shook his head. “No, I like Alex. I feel like a different person out here.”

  “It suits you anyway,” Maddie declared staunchly. “Paul sounds old and boring.”

  Luke was mildly offended. “Hey, that was my father’s name, you know.”

  “Sorry, Pa,” she said with a cheeky grin. “But that just proves my point.”

  He hadn’t said much for the entire evening, and he felt they were waiting for him to declare his intentions, but he had no clue.

  “Uh, I think I’ll go to bed now too. It’s been a long day and I didn’t really sleep last night.”

  “Uh, where…?” Luke started to ask, but Kate put a restraining hand on his arm.

  “Good night,” she said. “Sleep well, and tomorrow, we’ll talk more if you want.”

  He nodded and went to the bunkhouse. Kate must have sensed that he needed to be away from them and didn’t want Luke pressuring him. He liked her more and more. She was very considerate and seemed to understand his state better than Luke did. Maddie was easy to like, along with Aunt Marge and the other children, but he still felt torn about his father. He wanted to forgive him, to love him and accept him as a father, but his heart wouldn’t completely allow it.

  Thankfully, the men didn’t bother him as he headed to his bunk. Charlie and Boone were still up playing cards, and almost seemed to ignore him, but the others were either reading or sleeping.

  “Everything okay?” Cole asked kindly.

  Alex shrugged as he changed into his night clothes. “Hard to tell. I’ll know better in the morning.”

  “Okay, well, you know where I am.”

  “Thank you. Good night.”

  Of course it wasn’t a good night. Despite his fatigue, Alex couldn’t sleep until late. All he could do was think and worry. He sincerely hoped that things would look better in the morning.

  * * *

  As she got ready for bed that night, Christina did something she’d never done before. She prayed on her own. It was awkward and new, but she was determined.

  “Uh, Lord? God? It’s me, Christina. So, I wanted to say thank You for bringing me here. I don’t know if I would have gotten to know You back in New York. Things are different there. You know what I mean. I’m also glad I got to know my sister and her children, and Thomas too. I don’t know what the future holds, but I guess I’d like to go home soon.” However, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wasn’t so sure. “Also, I don’t know how to pray for Alex, but I feel sorry for him. Please, uh, help him. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”

  It was a struggle to get all the words out, but when she was done, she felt content. She slid under the covers and thought about her day. It had been such a mix of emotions. First, she’d been so unsure of herself, then overwhelmed and joyful. When Alex returned, there had been a lot of tension and uncertainty.

  Her mind stayed on Alex for a while. Who was he really? Now that she remembered him from the train, she tried to recall what he’d said. She was embarrassed to think about how rude she�
�d been to him, especially when he’d been so kind to her and…what was her chaperone’s name? Mrs. Norton. She felt doubly bad when she thought about how horrid she’d been to that lady. She really was a spoiled princess, or rather, she had been. She didn’t want to be that woman anymore, and indeed, she didn’t feel like she was.

  Her mind kept returning to Alex. On the train, he’d been such a gentleman, and she confessed to herself that he appealed to her that way, so courteous and well-mannered. The man she’d met on Triple Range was the opposite, gruff and brazen, but now she wondered if that was all an act to throw her off. He was probably worried that she would recognize him. There certainly was a mystery, one she hoped wouldn’t cause any trouble for the family.

  “Help him, Lord,” she prayed again before her eyes finally closed. “Whatever that means.”

  * * *

  Alex woke up to find the others had all gotten up and left, even Cole. How had he slept through their morning noise? Usually, he was the first one up, but he thought perhaps they were being cautious around him now, unsure of what to think given the strange behavior of their boss last night. Already the lines of division had started, and they still didn’t even know who he was.

  “Good morning,” he said when he entered the house to the kitchen full of people. “Sorry I overslept.”

  “That’s quite alright, Alex,” Aunt Marge said. “Still lots of food left.”

  “Sit here by me!” Jane chirped, smiling broadly at him. His eyes flickered toward Kate. Would one of the children give him away? But she managed to indicate with a slight shake of her head that they’d keep his secret.

  Last night, it had been pretty clear to him that they were going to let him decide when and how to break the news to the other hands, and how to go forward in general. He really wanted to tell them all, but he was worried it would affect his relationship with them. Even though he wasn’t on terribly familiar terms with Boone, Mark or Charlie, he really didn’t want to lose the friendship he had formed with Austin and Cole. Would they resent him for his misrepresentation?