Marrying the Preacher's Daughter

by Cheryl St. John

  “Not with this gunshot in my side,” he replied.

  “Why did you do that?” she questioned, her tone incredulous.

  He glanced from his sister to Elisabeth. Without blinking, he answered, “It’s what I do.”

  He untethered a horse from a nearby post and led it by the reins as they walked toward their street.

  “I don’t want you to take a chance like that again,” Irene pleaded.

  “Didn’t mean to frighten you. You should’ve stayed put at the church. Your yellin’ and carryin’ on lost us one gun hand when we need him.”

  They stood in front of the church now. Irene turned toward their little house and walked away, leaving Gabe and Elisabeth standing. The horse snorted softly behind him, and he turned to run his knuckles over the animal’s forehead and nose.

  It wasn’t full dark yet, but a light came on in the parsonage Irene had entered. The church beside it stood dark and silent.

  “She was scared,” Elisabeth said softly. “We all were. Maybe you should leave her alone for a little while.”

  He shifted his weight. “Want a ride up the hill?” he asked.

  She glanced at the horse. “I haven’t ridden much.”

  “I won’t let you fall.” He hoisted himself into the saddle with a creak of leather and led the horse over to the set of steps where buggies unloaded. “Climb up.”

  “I don’t think so.” She turned and headed for home.

  He followed, guiding the horse at a walk. “I’m sorry about the doc. He was a good man.”

  “Yes, he was.”

  “If there’s a God, why would He let someone like that get killed?”

  At that Elisabeth halted. She turned around to look up at him. “God isn’t in the business of shooting people. He gave everybody free will. Free will to believe in Him or not. Free will to live for Him and do what’s right or to carry guns and rob and lie and cheat. Those men chose a life without godly principles. Of course their behavior makes God sad, but He doesn’t control people like puppets. We make our own choices.”

  “Not everyone who carries a gun lies and cheats.”

  “Not everyone who carries a gun kills people, either,” she returned.

  “Your own father has a gun. And he’s a preacher.”

  “It’s not for gunfights. It’s for defense.”

  “Same thing.”

  She spun and started back up the hill.

  “Your friend Gil is a deputy. You don’t have a problem with that.”

  “But you do. You didn’t want Irene getting involved with him. How hypocritical is that?”

  “I don’t want her to marry someone in a dangerous occupation is all. We were talkin’ about you.”

  “Gilbert’s a lawman. You’re a…a gunfighter.”

  “I’m not a gunfighter.”

  “What then?”

  He drew a deep breath. “Bounty hunter. But not any longer. You know I’m starting a ranch.”

  “Doesn’t that sort of life follow you wherever you go?”

  “Why don’t you stop? I’ll get down and we’ll talk.”

  “We are talking.”

  He nudged the horse with his heels, got ahead of her and slid from the saddle to prevent her from getting past him. Gabe didn’t know why it drove him crazy, but the fact that she wouldn’t listen to his explanations or discuss this irritated him. He’d left one angry woman at home and was confronting another.

  She leveled her gaze on him and placed her hands on her hips. “It’s no business of mine what you did in the past or what you do now.”

  “If it makes no difference to you, why are you so mad?”

  She dropped her hands to her sides. “I’m not mad. I’m…disappointed.”

  “I’ll bet a lot of people disappoint you.”

  “Are you saying I’m judgmental?”

  “No. Only that it’s tough to live up to the standards you set for yourself and everybody else.”

  “They’re God’s standards, not mine.”

  He mulled that over a moment. “God doesn’t want criminals brought to justice? What about that Joshua fellow your father told us the story about? He fought battles and won. What’s so different about that?”

  “I’m really tired, Gabe. I’ve had a bad day. I just want to go home.”

  Jaw set, he moved aside to let her pass.

  She climbed the hill and he watched her reach the steep stairs that led up to the Harts’ property. She didn’t look back. At the top, she opened the iron gate and closed it behind her.

  Why did he care what she thought of him?

  He mounted his horse and led it down the hill at a gentle walk. He’d done the right thing. He’d gone after the man who’d killed Dr. Barnes and he’d caught him. That was the only justice he knew.

  Most of the residents of Jackson Springs showed up for the funeral. With no family at her side, Donetta Barnes made a lonely figure in her black dress and hat. Friends and her husband’s patients lent her support and sympathy.

  Gabe sat with the Hart family during the church service, because Irene had immediately led him toward them. Victor Larken performed the eulogy, and then the people solemnly followed a black-draped horse and wagon along the streets to the cemetery on the outskirts of town. There Sam prayed and read from his Bible.

  Gabe had witnessed more death than most people, though he hadn’t attended a funeral since his parents’. Living and dying was the natural way of things.

  “Let not your heart be troubled, Jesus said.” Sam read, “‘Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.’”

  These people sure set store by their Bibles. Elisabeth talked about God as though He was a real person. His sister, too, he was learning, lived by the same principles and beliefs.

  “‘Verily, verily, I say unto you,’” Sam continued. “‘He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments.’”

  Gabe had heard of the golden rule, of course, and of the ten commandments. He’d figured he’d broken most of them, so what was the use in thinking God had any special love for him?

  “‘He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father.’”

  Yep, he was pretty much at the end of the line in God’s opinion.

  “‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’”

  Gabe was glad if those words gave the doctor’s widow some comfort. She was a real nice lady and had been kind to him during his stay at her place. But he also hoped it helped knowing the man who had taken her husband wouldn’t be hurting anyone else.

  He glanced aside at Elisabeth. She wouldn’t understand his logic. Since he’d met her his life had become more confusing and complicated. She questioned his way of thinking. What was worse, she made him question his own thinking. She challenged him to consider things outside his realm of knowledge or understanding.

  He asked himself at every turn why he should care what she said or thought. That he spent hours lying awake, going over their conversations…and their kisses should have been some kind of clue, but he still hadn’t faced the truth. He’d never backed away from a confrontation in his life, but right now he was hiding from something he didn’t want to acknowledge.

  He had strong feelings for Elisabeth Hart. However, the timing was all wrong. Their relationship was definitely all wrong. But those facts didn’t stop the way he felt about her.

  He wanted to be a man
she admired.

  It would never happen. How could he ever measure up to her standards or the people she admired?

  After a final prayer, Sam picked up a handful of dirt and handed it to Mrs. Barnes. She tossed the dirt onto the lowered coffin. Friends followed suit, the clumps hitting the wooden box until several inches of soil silenced them.

  Gabe was one of the last to grab dirt and toss it into the grave. After the women and most of the people had headed back to church for a meal, Gabe joined Dan and Gil in picking up shovels and finishing the work.

  “The marshal said you hunted for bounty,” Gil said.

  “That’s right.”

  “Does your sister know?”

  “She does now.”

  “And Elisabeth?”

  Gabe looked up. Dan wasn’t paying any attention to their conversation, but Gil looked right at him.

  Gil shrugged. “I’ve noticed something between the two of you is all.”

  “She thinks I’m lower’n a snake’s belly.”

  “Give her some time.”

  “Don’t know if I have enough time left. She’s mighty fixed on her ideas.”

  “You, uh…you fancy her, do you?”

  “Can’t sleep half the night. Can’t get her out of my head.”

  Gil rested a hand on his hip, pausing to rest on the handle of the shovel. “A woman like that can sure get a hold on a man’s thinkin’, can’t she?”

  Gabe agreed.

  “Same thing your sister does to me.”

  Gabe stopped shoveling to look at him. “You asking my permission or something?”

  “I’d like it if you weren’t opposed.”

  “She’s every bit as set on her notions as Elisabeth. Maybe more. She wants to make her own choices and decisions about her life. A lawman’s job seems dangerous to me, but look what happened to this good doctor just minding his own business. Guess there’s no telling who’s safe and who isn’t.” He tucked the shovel handle under his arm to lift his hat away from his head and tie his handkerchief around his forehead, then settle the hat back on. “If it’s her choice to let you come calling, I’m not going to stand in her way.”

  Gil gave a satisfied nod and they resumed their grim task.

  Chapter Sixteen

  In the days that passed, Gabe stayed busy overseeing the construction of the house. The Barnes woman stayed on his mind. He wondered off and on how she was getting along and whether or not she would stay. If she had family elsewhere, she might join them. He remembered how alone and lost she’d seemed the day of the funeral.

  Irene was content to write in her journals, perform chores around the house and accompany Elisabeth when she had notary duties. He was glad for their friendship, because he wouldn’t want her stuck in that tiny house all day long.

  Everything had changed now that he had feelings for Elisabeth Hart. Living in Jackson Springs was going to be difficult when he’d see her and her family—and he would, since she and Irene had developed a close friendship. Was he doomed to spend his days regretting that he would never be the sort of man she could love or marry?

  But he couldn’t ask Irene to leave now, not so soon after arriving. Not when she was delighted to be here and making additional friends and feeling more at home every day.

  On his way out of town early one morning, he shot a deer. After he dressed it, he took a portion of the meat to Mrs. Barnes and gave Josie the rest.

  Irene hadn’t caught on to cooking just yet, though she gave meals her best efforts. Some evenings they ate at the café, other nights Gabe prepared a quick meal, and when they were especially fortunate, the Harts invited them for supper. One of those evenings, the Stellings were guests as well, and Gil invited Irene to another game of checkers. Afterward, the two of them took a stroll through the gardens and sat on the porch.

  He worked every day to accept this thing that was developing between his sister and the deputy. He wanted her to be happy, and if Gil made her happy, Gabe could deal with that.

  Ironic how he’d always considered himself capable—invincible actually—in his line of work. He’d been solely responsible for Irene, and had something happened to him, she’d have been alone. Now in context, his concern that something could happen to the lawman was pretty hypocritical.

  From all appearances his time with Irene was already running short. If she married Gil…if she married anyone…he’d be alone again. His concern was more like a father than a brother, he realized. But when it happened, he would let go.

  The evening before the Independence Day celebration, Irene was beside herself with excitement when Junie Pruitt brought her a message. Jane Carter Lockhart had arrived on the train.

  Irene asked Gabe to accompany her to the hotel, where they met the famed suffragette and her husband. Gabe shook hands with the man. Funny, Gabe hadn’t paid any attention to the fact that these prominent women had husbands. Attention was always focused on the woman, but he learned that Silas Lockhart campaigned right alongside his wife, petitioning for women to be able to vote in local and national elections.

  The people of Jackson Springs had been preparing for the holiday for over a week, decorating the buildings along Main Street with banners and patriotic swags and constructing a platform. Even dealing with their sadness from the loss of their friend, the community moved on.

  The following day Gabe stood on the boardwalk as Irene participated in the procession of decorated wagons, sharing a ride with Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart. Penelope Berry, the café owner, offered him a jar of lemonade and he enjoyed the parade from a good vantage point before returning the jar.

  Abigail Hart spotted him and motioned for him to join their family. The boys greeted him as though he was one of them and Josie showed him how much the baby had grown.

  Peter was sitting atop Sam’s shoulders so he could see the goings-on, but John clung to his mother’s skirt with a frown.

  “Can I give you a seat?” Gabe asked.

  Delighted, the boy raised his arms and Gabe lifted him to his shoulders. The minimal pain the effort took was well worth the boy’s delight as he watched the parade. They all shouted and cheered for Irene when the wagon she perched on slowly passed by.

  He and Elisabeth had barely spoken since the evening she’d learned of his true occupation. There was nothing he could say to change her opinion of him, nor could he change who he was or what he’d done.

  As the family strolled toward the booths lining the street, she glanced up at John and offered Gabe a hesitant smile. “How is the house coming along?

  “Frame’s up. Two fireplaces are built. Roof goes on next.”

  “Sounds like everything’s going well. How’s your side?”

  “Better. Hardly notice it anymore, unless I do something without thinkin’.”

  “Like picking up small children?”

  He shot her a glance.

  “I saw you wince when you picked up John.”

  “He’s heavier than he looks.”

  She smiled.

  John joined his brothers then to play games along the row of booths. Eventually the band played, announcing the speeches. Gabe and the Harts joined the crowd that surrounded the platform. The mayor spoke first, expounding on the United States’ freedom and the basis of this centennial celebration. He introduced the governor of the territory who spoke of their ongoing pursuit for statehood. Andrew Johnson had turned down their requests for statehood, but another petition was currently before President Grant.

  After much applause for that cause, the mayor introduced Rhys Jackson. Rhys spoke about the founding of their community and his grandfather’s part in it. Eventually Irene was welcomed to the podium.

  Gabe knew she’d been spending a lot of time writing, and he guessed he shouldn’t have been surprised, but when she took the podium and didn’t immediately introduce the visiting guest, he cocked his head. In a clear voice and with heartfelt enthusiasm evident, she spoke with knowledge and passion.

  After meeting Si
las Lockhart, Gabe had a more sympathetic view of the suffragettes and their cause. He caught Elisabeth watching his reactions. “I think I might be proud of her,” he said.

  Spotting Gil in the crowd, he wondered about his reaction to Irene and her cause. At the moment, she held the attention of nearly the entire town. The young man listened intently, but he also glanced at the nearby people’s faces to gauge their reactions.

  “Her passion for women’s rights is contagious,” Elisabeth said from beside Gabe. “I’ve noticed only a few grumblers in the crowd.”

  She drew her talk to a close and, with added excitement in her tone, Irene introduced Jane Carter Lockhart. The crowd applauded for the well-dressed woman. She wore a jaunty hat at an angle over her upswept dark curls.

  She was indeed an impressive speaker. She incited the gathering to applaud after every high point in her talk. Finally, the band played and Mrs. Lockhart mingled with the townspeople, shaking hands and answering questions.

  Abigail took Gabe’s hand and led him to a sign-up table for the friendly competitions. “Will you be my partner at one of these? How about the three-legged race?”

  “There’s always the potato toss,” the man at the table suggested.

  “I can probably toss a potato,” Gabe said.

  “We need two more people for that,” she told him. She glanced aside. “Elisabeth! Anna! Come join us.”

  The others joined them and Abigail signed them as a team. The competition began, and he discovered the snag he hadn’t known about. Each person wore an apron and wasn’t allowed to touch the potato with their hands. They had to use the apron to throw and catch.

  “Never done this before?” Elisabeth asked as he watched.

  “How can you tell? We haven’t started yet.”

  “That frown on your face gives you away. What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking…do people really do this?”

  She grinned. “Some do.”

  He pretty much made a fool of himself, but only got hit in the shoulder with the vegetable once. In the end he and the Hart sisters took second place and congratulated each other.