Beth (Brides 0f Needful Texas Book 4)

by Danni Roan

  “Yes, she seems to have things well in hand,” Beth agreed. “Her sons work most days with Orville at the sawmill, and her daughters-in-law cook, serve, and care for the rooms in the boarding house.

  “Did you get along well with all of them?” Peri asked. “I know you weren’t there long, but it took me a while to get them all sorted out.”

  “My wife likes to visit Olive as often as possible,” Bear said with a knowing grin. “I’m sure they are plotting something, but I haven’t figured out what it is yet.”

  “Bear Cassidy, that is not kind,” Peri scowled. “You know I don’t plot, I only plan.”

  The table erupted in laughter as everyone shook their heads.

  “Peri, you are a wonder,” Prim laughed. “You have such a quick mind and soft heart.”

  Peri grinned at her sister then turned to the head of the table to speak to Anderson. “I think you’re spoiling my sister,” she said, “big house, fancy furniture, and now house help. You’d better watch she doesn’t get fat, dumb, and lazy.”

  Anderson smiled, his eyes falling on Prim at the other end of the table. “I have no fear of that happening,” he said, his crisp English accent clear in the large room. “Prim is one of the hardest working people I have ever known.”

  “Good thing, too,” Jacks spoke from the far side of the table. “We have plenty of it to do.”

  The conversation turned to cattle and plans for expanding the ranch and the upcoming drive.

  “Of course, we’ll have to do the big barn raising at Dan’s place soon,” Jacks said. “He put it off for the worst of the winter, but the man needs his big day just like you had.”

  Beth watched as Anderson’s face flushed slightly. “I suppose you’re going to tell me not to get in a fight this time,” he grinned at his foreman.

  “I don’t think that will be necessary,” Prim laughed. “We seem to have settled that misunderstanding.”

  Beth looked at Mr. Tippert, who whispered a reply about Anderson thinking that Dan was interested in Prim when they had first started building his big house, but didn’t give any details.

  “What about the rodeo the boys are talking about?” Jacks looked along the table. “It might be a fun distraction as the weather warms.”

  “I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Peri said, her blue eyes flashing. “In another month the weather will be good, and we could have a barn dance as well.”

  “Do you dance Preacher?” Bear asked, looking at Brandon and offering a grin.

  “I’ve been known to cut a rug,” Brandon replied easily. “I might even know a few steps you’ve never seen.”

  Beth couldn’t help but grin and wondered if she would get the chance to dance with Mr. Tippert. He was quickly becoming one of the most interesting people she knew.

  Chapter 15

  “I think we’ll just have dinner at the Hampton House today,” Prim said as she hustled through the kitchen Sunday morning serving a simple breakfast of oatmeal for the four of them. “It’s always a nice way to catch up with everything going on in town.”

  Beth smiled. She would be happy to see Olive and the other Hamptons again. She was enjoying her quieter life here with Prim, Anderson, and Mercy, but getting back to town and seeing what was new was a welcome change.

  She also hoped to spend a few minutes with Mr. Tippert if time allowed. They had had such a nice visit the other day, and she wondered about the feelings that had started to grow in her heart.

  No matter how much she tried to convince herself that the town’s preacher was simply a friendly and good person, she couldn’t deny her feelings. Perhaps it was because he was the first man she had met in Needful, or perhaps it was his openness with her, but she knew one thing, she like Brandon Tippert very much.

  The ride to town was quiet as the sun played hide and seek with the fluffy white clouds above. The weather was warming a bit and Beth enjoyed the change, though she wondered if she would hate the rumored heat of summer.

  For now, she tipped her face toward the sun and watched the leaves unfurling on branches in shades of bright green. Along the road a few flowers were blooming as they sparkled brightly in the morning sun, and Beth felt that her new home was not only a nice change from New York but also lovely in its own way.

  Beth leaned back into the comfortable buggy, feeling a sense of contentment engulf her. She was still sad and grieving over the loss of her mother, but she also found that she had hope. Even as the earth was warming and bursting into bloom, Beth felt her heart opening as it filled with faith that the future ahead would be bright.

  “You’re very quiet,” Prim said, adjusting her elegant red skirt. “Is everything well?”

  Beth smiled at her employer and friend. She liked Prim and being so close in age she felt a kinship with the other woman. “I was just thinking about the changes in my life,” she said. “It wasn’t so long ago that I said goodbye for the last time to my mother, and only family. Now I’m here in Needful with my whole life before me. I’ve got a lovely job and good friends,” she finished, squeezing Prim’s hand.

  “I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived in Needful, but I found a place I belonged,” Prim nodded. “It was frightening but when I met Orville and Olive, I was sure they needed me and felt, for the first time, I was my own woman,” she grinned, trying to put the thought into words. “I mean I had an independence I had never experienced before and relished it.”

  “But then you met Anderson,” Beth said.

  “I met Anderson first,” Prim laughed. “He saved me from a rather difficult situation. I had no idea how this whole thing would play out.”

  Beth nodded. Life was like that. You could start down one path only to be turned in a completely different direction. The verse that Pastor Tippert had mentioned only a few days ago came to mind again and Beth tried to remember to accept the plans God had for her.

  “Whatever comes next,” Prim spoke. "Know I’ll be praying for you.”

  ***

  Beth sat on her hard bench seat watching Brandon move to the battered piano and take a seat as he began to play. It was odd seeing a preacher play the piano and lead the singing as well as speak, but no one seemed to mind.

  Back home the church had been a much more settled space, stayed and staunch. The singing was led by one of the elders and then the preacher would speak. Thinking about it now, Beth rather enjoyed the sound of the piano as Brandon played. It was different and the tune seemed to lift her heart as the congregations sang.

  The message dealt with one’s hope in Christ, and trust for the future, which also lifted Beth’s spirits, making her feel that the preacher was speaking directly to her. The man seemed to have a great deal of feeling on the matter and she thought once more about his past, wondering what had changed him so much from who he had been.

  All too soon the service was over and Beth followed Anderson and Prim from the church greeting friends and chatting happily as they all headed toward the Hampton House for dinner.

  Casting a glance over her shoulder, Beth tried to catch a glimpse of the preacher as he shook hands with the last of the assembly, wondering if he would be joining them for dinner as well.

  ***

  Brandon Tippert turned back into the church to tidy things up and smiled at the piano. It would be rude not to play just a bit more, he thought, as he hurried back to the stool and placed his fingers over the keys.

  An old hymn came to mind and he rolled it off the keys with a jaunty trill then switched to another. He loved playing the songs that spoke of such joy and love with a hint of jive tossed in. God’s love was a beautiful blessing, a joy, and freedom that should be sung about with relish.

  Perhaps his congregation wouldn’t approve, but for now, they were far away and he stood to his feet tapping his toe as he jazzed up the songs, playing with all of his heart.

  Even in the saloon down the street he played with reserve, but here, alone, and with the piano to himself, he cut loose diving int
o the fancy finger work, and jaunty tinkle of the tunes.

  ***

  “Beth, have you seen the Preacher?” Peri asked as she joined the table in the dining hall. “He should be here before all the food is gone.”

  “No, I haven’t,” Beth replied. “Would you like me to check on him?” Outside the town was quiet and Beth felt confident she would be able to make it to the church unmolested.

  “Would you,” Peri said with a grin. “He’s been a good friend to my mother, and I wouldn’t want him to miss a meal. Besides, I know Mama looks forward to seeing him each week.”

  Beth nodded standing to her feet and heading for the door. Perhaps Mr. Tippert had been delayed by some unexpected work at the church and she could help.

  The sound of the piano’s raucous tune caught Beth by surprise as she stepped in the church, freezing as she watched the tall thin preacher doing some fancy foot work while he plinked out a rowdy version of At the Cross. Surely the man didn’t believe that was an appropriate way to play such a reverent hymn.

  As she watched the preacher, Beth’s heart sank. Although a man of the cloth, Brandon seemed to be entrenched in his old ways, and she couldn’t help but think that one day he would slip back into the old life of dance halls and saloon living.

  ***

  Brandon finished his tune as his stomach rumbled and he stood upright stretching his back. He had enjoyed his few moments of revelry and his heart sang with the joy and thanks he felt for his own salvation. He had been on a slow spiral to doom when catastrophe had pulled him from a wasted life, and he couldn’t express in words how grateful he was for not only his life, but also a life in Christ that meant freedom, joy, and love.

  Turning on his heel, Brandon froze, looking into the bright green eyes of Miss Beechen, and his heart sagged. He could see from the expression on her face that she didn’t approve of his playing, and it made him sad that the beautiful young woman could look at him that way.

  “Mr. Tippert,” Beth said stiffly, “I believe they are wondering if you will be in for lunch today.”

  Brandon hurried up the aisle toward the young woman, plastering a smile on his face. “I am,” he assured. “As a matter of fact, my stomach was just reminding me it was high time I made my way to the Hampton House for a meal.”

  Pausing next to the young woman, Brandon offered his arm, smiling when she accepted it reluctantly. He knew she was thinking something and hesitated to ask about her thoughts, but something just behind his left ribcage seemed to prompt him.

  “You don’t approve of my music,” Brandon stated, raising one brow at the young woman.

  “It’s not that exactly,” Beth hedged. “But if you aren’t content with the music of the church, aren’t you afraid you’ll go back to how you were before?”

  Brandon nodded, understanding what she was thinking. “I can see how it might appear that way,” he said. “But I play that way because my heart is full of joy. I want to praise the Lord with all that is within me and this is the talent I’ve been given. I assure you I have no wish to return to the way I was before I saw the light.”

  Beth looked up at Mr. Tippert, wanting to believe him, but thinking of how her father, no matter how much he loved her mother, would always leave, drawn by the next card game.

  “My father was a gambling man,” Beth spoke, looking at the tall man with the kind eyes. “He loved my mother, but he always left. He couldn’t break the hold cards had on him.”

  Brandon looked down into the lovely face of Beth Beechen, wanting to sink into her green eyes and make her understand what was in his heart. “There are many who are drawn into that life by drink or gambling. It seems to take a hold of them and they can’t shake it off. For me it was all a lark. I was a wealthy man’s son who thought it fun to play music for the patrons of saloons and dance halls. It was a laugh for me, who had been classically taught to tinkle out music for the men, watching the can-can girls swishing their skirts and kicking their heels, at least until one night, in a well established dance hall when everything changed.”

  Beth watched as the tall man’s dark eyes filled with sorrow, and he swallowed hard, coming to a stop before continuing.

  “There was a girl there,” the preacher continued. “She had fallen on bad times and took the only job she could get. She wasn’t a bad person. She kept to herself and simply did the dance steps she was taught. I wouldn’t even have gotten to know her, but the barkeep at the place always had her bring me my drinks.”

  Beth wondered what came next in the tale. Had Mr. Tippert been in love with the girl? Had he planned to marry her?

  “There was a fire,” Brandon said as Beth turned to look into his dark eyes. “I tried to get to her. I tried to save her, but I couldn’t.” He shook his head. “When I woke up in the hospital, that was when everything changed. I met a man everyone called Pastor George, and I finally understood that I had been spared for a reason. We are more than these mortal beings we walk around in,” the preacher smiled. tapping his chest with a long fingered hand. “I learned that I had a soul and that God had a job for me. My heart, once full of nothing but my own desires and cares, was filled with the love of a Savior who cared enough to die for me.”

  Beth placed her hands on the man’s arms, studying his face and the depth of emotion in his eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  Brandon shook his head dispelling the sorrows of the past, the way one might shake off a cobweb. “I have a new life,” he said, “and that’s all I ever want. I have no desire to go back to what I was. I only want to reach out to those who need love the most.”

  “Is that why you came to Needful?” Beth asked, trying to believe that a man who once ran in saloons and dance halls could truly never go back.

  “Yes,” Brandon’s face glowed with a bright smile and his eyes twinkled. “I had heard they had a need for a preacher-man.”

  Beth couldn’t help but chuckle as the sorrow of a moment ago was whisked away on a spring breeze.

  Chapter 16

  Brandon enjoyed his meal with Beth and his other friends. Since coming to Needful he felt he fit in more than ever before. Perhaps it was the fact that he was comfortable in his soul and knew that ultimately his life was in God’s hands, as well as the fact that the majority of the people in Needful wanted to build something lasting.

  Still, he wondered if perhaps he had said too much to the young woman sitting the other side of the table chatting with Peri.

  Could God have brought him to Needful because he still had a need in his own life? Would Beth ever see him as more than the preacher who had helped her out of the stage coach when she arrived? The thoughts nagged at him, and he wanted to blurt out his feelings for the beautiful blonde woman who was rapidly stealing his heart. He couldn’t explain why or how, but something about her appealed to him in a way no one ever had.

  “Mr. Tippert,” Olive gasped, “you’re dribbling coffee all over my table cloth!”

  Brandon looked down to see a brown stain spreading over the table and sighed. “I’m sorry, Olive,” he apologized. “I guess I was wool-gathering.” His eyes drifted back to Beth as he placed his still full mug on the table and dabbed at the mess with a napkin.

  “Just drink that up.” Olive shook her head but offered a kind smile. “We’ll be doin’ the wash tomorrow anyway.”

  Brandon relaxed as he sipped the bitter brew. Perhaps he would talk to Olive about Miss Beechen. He knew that she and Peri had plotted to bring brides to Needful, and if Beth hadn’t taken a liking to anyone in the town, perhaps he could court her properly and win her heart. Was it possible that God had brought the lovely girl with the white-gold hair to Needful just for him? Perhaps in time he would know.

  A lazy smile tugged at Brandon’s lips as he watched the young woman trying to keep up with Peri’s chatter, and he wondered what it would be like to have someone of his own to love. Although his family still lived in the same home he had grown up in when he had taken the cloth, his fat
her had disowned him, banning him from both business and family in one harsh pronouncement.

  As thoughts raced through Brandon’s mind, Prim and Anderson rose preparing to leave.

  “Beth, are you ready?” Prim asked, taking her mother’s hand and helping Mrs. Perkins to her feet. “If not, perhaps Peri and Bear can bring you on home later.”

  “I think I’d like to stay and visit a bit longer,” Beth admitted, her eyes drifting to Brandon. “Are you sure you won’t need me?”

  “I’m planning on going home and taking a rest,” Prim smiled. “I’ve been a little tired these last few days, so you stay and enjoy your visit, and I’ll enjoy some quiet.”

  Beth watched as Prim, Anderson, and Mercy shuffled toward the door, turning back to discover Mr. Tippert studying her intently, the overt attention making her blush.

  “I’d be happy to see you home Miss Beechen,” Brandon said, the words tumbling out before he could stop them. “I always like a chance to get outside when the weather is fine.”

  Beth watched the preacher and had to admit that she liked the idea of an additional bit of time with him. Frankly, she liked Mr. Brandon Tippert quite a bit.

  The sun was still bright as Brandon brought the wagon around to fetch Beth home. He grinned at the chance to spend more time with her. Something about the pale haired beauty touched his heart. They had spent a lovely afternoon visiting with the Hamptons, watching the children play, and sipping coffee while the family chatted and planned.

  “I’ll see you later this week,” Olive smiled, giving Beth a hug as she walked her out the door. “I’m so pleased you’re happy with Prim and Anderson.”

  “I’ll see you later.” Beth nodded, walking to the wagon where Brandon helped her up, then climbed in tipping his hat to Olive, and clicked for the horse to start out.

  “It’s a beautiful day for a drive,” the preacher mused, gazing around him at the westward moving sun. He turned the horse toward the Bowlings spread.