Moment in Time, A (Lone Star Brides Book #2)

by Tracie Peterson

  Unable to hear another word against the man she loved, Alice jumped to her feet. The chair spilled over backward and made a loud clatter against the floor.

  “I don’t believe you. This isn’t true. It can’t be! You would have me believe my father was some sort of criminal, but he wasn’t!”

  She left the room without waiting to hear her mother’s reply. The things her mother said rang over and over in her ears. And though she longed to refuse them, they burrowed deep into her mind and taunted her.

  Mindless of where she walked, Alice crossed the barnyard and made her way down the long drive toward the main road. She fought to control her emotions, but tears began to fall.

  I can’t believe my father would be so cruel. I can’t believe he was so devious and . . . so evil. Surely she’s just making this up to make herself look better. After all, Papa can’t defend himself.

  But even as she considered this, Alice remembered that he had lied to her about her mother and Simon being dead. She glanced heavenward with a single word on her lips.

  “Why?”

  “Looks like it’ll be anytime now,” Brandon Reid told Robert as they considered the laboring mare. “Legs are out and well positioned. Front legs are white.”

  “I hope the foal will be a beauty like her mama.”

  Brandon eyed the horse. “She is a fine animal. One of the best paint quarter horses I’ve ever bred. She comes from good stock. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with her offspring.”

  Robert gave the mare another look and then smiled. “You know, I’m gonna go get Alice. She’s never seen anything like this, and I know she’d enjoy it.”

  “You know how persnickety horses can be in giving birth. You get an audience in here and she may hold off for hours.”

  “I know, but . . . well . . . Alice will just sit back quiet. She’s not like some women who’d be all fussy and chatty.” Robert headed out of the barn toward the house. He knew Alice had planned to iron that morning and would be set up in the kitchen, so he came in through the back entrance.

  “Alice?”

  “She’s . . . not here,” Mrs. Chesterfield replied.

  Robert found the older woman at the table. She’d been crying. “What’s wrong? Is Alice all right?”

  She shook her head. “She’s upset with me. She stormed out of here about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Did she say where she was going?”

  The woman again shook her head. “I don’t imagine she had any particular place in mind so long as it was away from me.”

  Robert wanted to say something comforting to the woman, but he was more concerned with Alice’s welfare. “I’ll find her. If she does come back, let her know I’m looking for her. We have a mare about to foal, and I thought she’d like to see it.” He didn’t know why he felt the need to give her the details of what was happening. Somehow, he hoped it might soften her discomfort to focus on something else.

  He left the house and looked around the yard for some sign of Alice. He noted his mother and Marty working in the garden, but Alice wasn’t with them. Rounding the barn, he glanced out across the front grasslands and spied Alice walking up the long lane to the house.

  Mrs. Chesterfield had said Alice was upset with her. Robert couldn’t help but wonder what had been said in their exchange that would send the normally even-tempered young woman off alone. He decided he’d say nothing about it. In time, maybe she’d tell him.

  “Alice!” he called, giving her a wave as he made his way down the drive. “I’ve been lookin’ for you. Belleza is about to foal, and I thought you might like to witness it.”

  She picked up her pace and made her way toward him. Robert could see that her eyes were red-rimmed, but he said nothing. “It might take a while or it might be quick. With a mare you can never tell.” He held out his hand.

  Alice looked at him oddly for a moment. “I would like to see the new baby, but I have a lot of work to do.”

  “Ma and Marty will understand.” He didn’t wait for her to take his hand, but took hold of her arm. “Come on.”

  They made their way back to the barn, and Robert tried to figure a way to get Alice to talk to him about what had happened. “That little brother of yours sure has taken to Will. He’s followin’ him all over the place.”

  “He seems to enjoy the ranch setting,” Alice said after a few seconds.

  “And what about your ma?”

  She shrugged. “I guess so.”

  They reached the barn and Robert knew there’d be nothing else said on the matter. “Mr. Reid is here. You met him at the roundup, remember?”

  Alice nodded. Brandon approached them. “She’s just dropped the foal.” He looked worried and Robert couldn’t help but tense.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Alice looked at him in confusion, but he didn’t take time to explain. Instead, Robert made his way alone to the stall. There in the hay was a most incredible sight. A pure white foal. Belleza was working to lick the baby’s face. Everything seemed perfectly fine.

  He turned in confusion. “What’s wrong, Mr. Reid? Your voice sounded . . . well . . . you look like there’s something to worry about.”

  Alice and Brandon joined him at the stall. “I don’t wanna buy trouble,” Reid began, “but I’ve seen this kind of thing before, so I have my concerns.”

  “What kind of thing?”

  “White foal. You can see the skin is pinkish and the eyes are blue.”

  “I don’t understand.” Robert looked again at the foal and shook his head. “Looks like they’re gettin’ on just fine.”

  “I’ve seen this a couple of times before. There’s no way of tellin’ right away,” Reid answered, “but usually this doesn’t bode well for the foal. Somethin’ happens with the paints deliverin’ whites. Not sure why, but we’ll know soon enough.”

  “Know what?” Alice asked before Robert could.

  “If we need to put it down.”

  “Kill it? A newborn?” Robert looked at the man in confusion. He completely respected Brandon Reid’s knowledge of horses and knew that he wouldn’t say such a thing lightly.

  “The next twenty-four hours will tell us what we have to do. Most of the time, though, it seems these paints have problems with white foals not bein’ able to digest and pass waste.” He watched the baby try to get to its feet. “We’ll just have to wait it out.”

  ———

  Alice didn’t like Mr. Reid’s prognosis of the foal’s situation. She knew nothing about horses, but it seemed horrible to imagine that a newborn might be killed. She reached out and touched Robert’s sleeve.

  “Don’t let him harm the foal.” Her pleading tone was barely audible.

  “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt that animal,” Mr. Reid replied. “However, if the foal can’t process food, it’ll be in a lot of pain. The waste will just pack up inside, and then it will die a slow and painful death. I won’t have that.”

  “Neither will I,” Robert said, patting Alice’s hand. “You wouldn’t want that, either.”

  “Of course not. But . . . I mean . . . isn’t there something we can do?”

  “Pray,” Mr. Reid suggested. “Pray for a miracle.”

  And that’s exactly what they did. First Robert suggested they pray together. Mr. Reid offered up a prayer asking for wisdom and God’s will to be done. Robert added that he hoped that will would include the foal being healthy. Alice silently prayed that the baby would live and that God would somehow help her to deal with the information her mother had given her earlier.

  She waited in the barn with Robert for the next hour. It was discovered that the baby was a male. A darling little colt that Alice instantly lost her heart to.

  Poor baby. I don’t even know if you will get to live, and you have no way of knowing, either.

  The foal nursed while the couple watched in silence. This was a good sign, Robert had told her, but she knew it wasn’t the sign they needed. Robert suggested they go about their bu
siness and meet back after lunch. Alice went to her ironing, glad to find her mother had gone to tend to something else. She attacked the baskets of clothes and sheets as if they were enemies to be conquered. By the time Marty and Hannah showed up to start the noon meal, she had things well in hand and was just finishing with a pillowcase.

  “Goodness, but I thought that would take you most of the day,” Hannah said, noting the freshly ironed pieces.

  “I suppose I found it better to focus on this than that poor little colt.”

  Marty smiled. “Robert told us what Mr. Reid said about it. I hope that he’s wrong.”

  “He could be, couldn’t he?” Alice asked hopefully.

  Hannah patted her back. “Of course he could. There’s always exceptions to every situation. I’ve seen plenty of pretty white horses in my day.”

  “Mr. Reid said it was something that happened at times with the paints,” Alice relayed.

  “He can still be wrong. We have a mighty God who answers prayers, and I’m praying that colt will live.”

  “Me too,” Alice said.

  “I think we all are,” Marty agreed.

  After lunch Alice went to the barn with Robert. The baby seemed to be doing well. He nursed without seeming to notice them, although Belleza was very aware of them. They agreed to come back just before supper and see how things were going.

  Alice continued to pray, even as she worked on the evening meal with Hannah. Alice’s mother wasn’t feeling well and had taken a nap. Marty had gone to rest, as well, and that left the two women alone.

  “You seem awfully quiet,” Hannah said, interrupting Alice’s thoughts. “Is it just the horse or is something else bothering you?”

  Alice looked at the older woman and found only compassion in her expression. “I had words with my mother. I’m afraid I wasn’t very kind.”

  “Ah, I see,” Hannah replied and picked up a carving knife. “Sometimes that happens. If you care to talk about it, I’m willing to listen.”

  For some reason, Alice didn’t even consider remaining silent. “She told me my father was a bad man. He did bad things—illegal things. That’s why she had to leave. I can’t believe it. He was always so good to me. Sure, he lost his temper at times, but . . . well . . . she said he was cruel toward her and Simon.”

  “That had to be hard to hear.” Hannah busied herself with slicing up a large roast.

  “It was horrible. My father isn’t here to defend himself, and I suppose I felt as though I should. Now I find myself so confused. I was only thirteen when Mother left. I loved them both so much, but I thought my father was very nearly perfect. I knew I was his favorite, and I thought there was nothing wrong with that because I figured Simon was Mama’s favorite.”

  “Favoritism never leads to anything good. We can see that in our Bible stories about Jacob and Esau, and of course the ordeals of Joseph and his many brothers.”

  “I know, but when I was younger, it didn’t seem to be a bad thing. My mama said it was a big problem because . . . well . . . my father . . .” She fell silent and tried to think how to express the delicate matter. “He thought my mother had been unfaithful.”

  Hannah looked up. “He didn’t believe the boy to be his son?”

  Alice nodded. “Mama said he wouldn’t believe her. He was jealous of everyone. I don’t know what to think. She said he was involved in illegal activities and he had evil people for friends. That doesn’t fit my memories of him.”

  Smiling, Hannah continued to slice the meat. “I think we often create our own image of people, especially after they’ve passed on. Remember, if your father favored you, then most likely you benefited from his good nature and kindness. If he didn’t extend the same to your mother and brother, it wasn’t your fault. You mustn’t carry any of the blame. Obviously there were circumstances that made the situation unbearable, or your mother would never have made such a daring choice.”

  Alice considered that for a moment. It was true that it must have been quite perilous to sneak out in the middle of the night—to leave with a small child and no one to help her. She mulled these things over in her mind as everyone was called to supper and Will offered the blessing.

  Hannah’s words stayed with Alice throughout the meal, even while her brother detailed his day with Will.

  “I got to ride on a horse, and it was really big. Mr. Barnett showed me how to put the saddle away and how to brush the horse. It almost stepped on my foot, and Mr. Barnett said if we stayed very long I was going to need a pair of boots.” He paused with a big grin. “When Mama’s feeling better, I’m going to ask her if we can stay for a long time.”

  Alice loved the excitement in his voice. She felt a bond with him that she couldn’t explain. He was so like her in appearance that she found it hard to believe her father could have ever doubted Simon’s paternity. Perhaps jealousy could make a person blind.

  After dinner, Marty and Hannah urged Alice to go ahead with Robert to check on the foal. “Don’t worry about a thing,” Hannah ordered. “I’m going to pop in on your mother and see that she eats something. You go on and see how that baby is doing. Let us know.”

  Walking alone with Robert, Alice tried not to think about her mother or father. Instead, she focused on the colt and the man at her side. In the distance she heard a rumble of thunder and noticed dark clouds moving in.

  “It’s gonna storm,” Robert declared. “Hope we get some decent rain with it.” He opened the barn door and reached for a lantern that hung on the wall. Nearby a metal box of matches had been nailed to the wall to allow for quick lighting. He struck a match and lit the lantern. Light spilled out across the barn, and Alice made the mistake of looking up to find Robert watching her with a strange look on his face.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, putting her hand up to cover her scar.

  “Nothing. I was just noticing how beautiful you are.”

  She shivered and tried to make light of the moment. “Not nearly as pretty as your fiancée.”

  He shook his head. “She’s not my fiancée.” The tenderness of his expression hardened, and the magic of the moment passed. “Come on. Let’s see how they’re doing.”

  Alice followed Robert to the stall. He hung the lantern on the post and opened the gate. “You stay here.”

  She nodded and leaned against the stall rail. The little foal seemed quite interested to find Robert in the stall with them. He danced around a bit and backed off behind his mother as Robert approached. Belleza seemed unfazed, however. She knew Robert and it was evident she felt safe with him there. Alice had to admit that she did, too.

  “Is he doing all right?” she asked softly.

  “I think so. He’s frisky and doesn’t look to be in any discomfort.” Robert worked his way around the mare to better see the colt. The animal did its best to avoid him, and made Robert work to get to him. After maneuvering around the mare, Robert stopped.

  Alice couldn’t see much of Robert behind the large animal, but just then he started laughing.

  “Why are you laughing?” she asked. In such a grave situation, laughter seemed quite foreign.

  Robert came around to the front of the mare and gave her face a nuzzle with his own. “It’s gonna be all right, Mama,” he told the animal. He glanced back over at Alice with a grin. “The little guy is making a mess back there, and I stepped right in it. Best thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Alice felt a surge of joy. “You mean he’ll be all right? He won’t die or need to be killed?”

  “No, ma’am,” Robert said, coming to where she stood. “We got our miracle.”

  Relief flooded her and Alice couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s what you should name him. Miracle.” She didn’t attempt to turn away when Robert hugged her. The fence between them seemed to make it all very innocent and proper.

  “I’ll give him the name in Spanish,” Robert said. “Milagro.”

  She fixed her eyes on the white colt. “I think that’s beautiful.”

/>   Robert smiled and whispered against her ear. “And I think you are.”

  Chapter 18

  Alice sat listening to the preacher share his thoughts on Jesus’ teachings on the Beatitudes. She was well familiar with the Scriptures taken from the fifth chapter of Matthew, but her heart wasn’t at all on the topic. At least not until the man spoke out on verse nine.

  “ ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ ”

  She didn’t hear much else the man said. She pondered the word peacemaker and wondered if that included being the kind of person who put aside old issues and focused on the ones at hand.

  Forgiving her mother for leaving her was something that Alice had complete control over. No one could force it from her or keep her from giving it. The past could not be altered, not even in part. If her father was the man her mother declared him to be, Alice could not change that by denying it.

  You were good to me, Papa. Why not to them?

  Her mother had been sickly that morning, and Hannah insisted she remain behind. No one seemed to question Mrs. Barnett’s commands. Even Will just nodded and told everyone he’d have the carriage ready by eight. Hannah remained with Mother, and for this Alice had been grateful. She wasn’t yet ready to sit at her mother’s side and hear further discussion on her father’s failings. Alice had questioned Hannah about her mother’s condition—seeking to learn the extent of her ailment. Hannah told her that most likely she was just overly exhausted from the trip to Texas. But Alice thought Hannah had seemed guarded in her response.

  Simon fidgeted beside her. It was clear the boy found confinement in his suit coat to be a misery unlike any other. He looked downcast and continued to glance toward the windows. Alice thought to take him out of the service and let him walk a bit, but she didn’t want to draw attention to them. She’d never thought to ask if her brother was used to attending church. They weren’t an overly religious family when they’d all been together years ago.

  After the service concluded, Alice whispered in his ear. “Why don’t you go outside with the other children and see if you can make friends.”