Daring to Start Again: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book

by Grace Clemens

  Sammy looked confused, but she nodded. She took Bianca’s hand and the two of the turned to go inside.

  “We’re going to have the best ice cream ever,” Bianca said in a voice that betrayed she was being saccharine sweet to protect Sammy’s fragile feelings. “I love coming here.”

  Sammy nodded, regaining a little pep in her step. “Okay, let’s go!”

  Sarah watched her, proud that she was the stepmother of such a strong and willful child.

  Once the two little girls disappeared on the other side of the entrance to the ice cream parlor, Sarah turned her attention to Clara, clutching the bag on her lap like it was worth millions of dollars.

  To Sarah, it might as well have been a million dollars. It was still more than she’d seen in one sitting in her life and she would probably never see anything as beautiful again. Not until she made her way up to Heaven and stopped worrying about anything at all.

  She looked down at the bag, her heart thumping in her chest as she nervously thought of what she wanted to say.

  “I… I have to tell you something.” Her cheeks were burning. She was betting they were red as beets. She dared to look up at her friend. The noise from her rushing blood and pounding heart prevented her from thinking straight for a minute. She pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “My goodness, Sarah,” Clara said, resting one small hand on Sarah’s back. “You look so troubled. Is it because of the storm? Are you really that afraid of them? Tornadoes are bad, I know. But that one last night wasn’t much.”

  Sarah wondered if they’d seen the same funnel cloud. That whirlwind of twisting tragedy had at times looked like it was coming straight for them. The next moment it would be moving east or west, then turning back and coming for the Huggins ranch again.

  “It really hit the ranch hard,” Sarah said. “I’m a little worried about Bobby. I don’t know if he’ll have the money to fix it. Not by himself, anyway.”

  Clara tilted her head to the side, giving Sarah a confused look. “What do you mean? Are you planning to get a job? If you do, what kind of job? I’m assuming as a seamstress?”

  Clara was talking so fast, Sarah didn’t interrupt. She waited until the questions were out before replying. “I suppose if I really needed to, I could get a job as a seamstress.” She had serious doubts she’d be treated terribly by Bobby for that decision, the way her father and brothers had bullied her mercilessly when she said she didn’t want school to end.

  School had been her refuge in times of trouble.

  Clara looked satisfied. “There you go. You could work and give him your pay to help with rebuilding the ranch. I’m sure it wouldn’t be much, but every bit helps, right?”

  Sarah nodded. “Yes, you’re right. I agree with that. But I don’t think I’ll need to. I have this.” She bravely pulled out the coffee canister and stared at it for a moment.

  “You have coffee,” Clara said, sarcastically. Sarah glanced at her and saw she was grinning wide.

  “No, it’s not coffee,” Sarah replied, gathering every bit of her courage. “It’s money.”

  Clara dropped her eyes to the canister. They were suddenly wide and curious. “Money? Where did the money come from? Is it a lot? Where did you get it? Are you gonna give it to Bobby?”

  Sarah took in all the questions and hoped she could remember to answer them all when her friend was finished asking them.

  “It’s real money,” she said, keeping her voice low. “Before I left my hometown in New York, I… I met a man who…” She stuttered and stopped, not knowing how to explain who Mr. Rochester had been. “I met a man who gave the money to me.”

  Sarah was only tripping over her words because she had such a hard time lying. If she was a deceitful kind of person, it would be easy to continue the falsehoods.

  Seconds before Sarah spilled her guts, she spotted the little girls on the other side of the window, waving frantically at them, huge smiles on their faces and ice cream bowls in their non-waving hands. For a moment, Sarah went into panic mode, even though it was obvious Sammy was safe. And so was Bianca.

  “I’ve been lying this whole time,” Sarah managed to get out. She bet her whole face was red by now. She had to turn her eyes away from her friend, who was looking at her with alarm.

  When she spoke, Clara’s voice was cold. “Lying? About what, Sarah?”

  Sarah blinked, taking in a breath and holding it for a moment before noisily letting it all out. “I didn’t come from an orphanage. I’m not an orphan at all.”

  Clara narrowed her eyes. “Then why would you tell Bobby that? Were you just trying to get sympathy?” Her voice sounded a little harsh, just a bit angry, and Sarah was anxious to ease her friend’s mind about the way she’d acted when she first arrived.

  She shook her head. Her voice came out strained when she answered. “I wasn’t trying to get sympathy at all. And I’m not trying to now. I want to tell you why. You must promise to let me get it all out before you say anything.”

  Clara tilted her head to the side. “I’m your friend, Sarah. I’m on your side. If you aren’t from an orphanage, there must be a reason you chose to hide your parents and family from us.”

  Sarah bit her upper lip, chewing on it nervously. “I was living with my father, Bruce, and my two brothers. They… they weren’t nice to me so… they… I…”

  Clara scooted a little closer to Sarah, so she could draw her into the hug and hold her there.

  “Oh, Sarah, what a horrible thing for a little girl to go through. I’m so sorry.” She reached across and rested one hand on Sarah’s knee, squeezing gently. “But you don’t have to worry about Bobby. He won’t care that you aren’t an orphan.”

  Sarah swallowed meekly. “But he will care that I lied to him. I got this money from a rich man who had dealings with my brothers and father. He knew how horrid the three of them are. He helped me get on the train and instructed the clerk to make sure I had a good ride. He even paid my tab in the dining car.”

  Clara tilted her head to the side. “What a kind and generous man. And you want to give this money to Bobby to help with the repairs, right?”

  Sarah nodded, drawing out the can and resting it on her lap on top of her handbag.

  “How much money is it, do you know?” Clara’s eyes were on the container. Sarah’s heart thumped in her chest when she looked down at it. She touched the lid and unscrewed the top of the can.

  She reached in and pulled out the wad of cash. Clara gasped.

  “Oh my! I’ve never seen so much money all at once.”

  Sarah gazed at the cash. “Me neither,” she breathed. “And I want to give it to Bobby, but I know he’ll question me and then I will have to tell him that I lied to him about my father and brothers. I just know he’s going to think I had bad intentions, but I didn’t! I really didn’t, Clara. Please believe me.”

  Clara nodded, lifting her eyes from the wad of money to Sarah’s face. “I do believe you. But if you want my advice, I suggest you tell him. Just confess. He loves you. He won’t hold this against you.”

  Sarah blanched when Clara declared Bobby loved her. She gazed at her friend through wide eyes. “Do you really think he loves me? Already?”

  Clara stared at Sarah for a moment before letting out a sharp laugh. “What? Of course, he does. Why is it the recipients of affections are always the most clueless? How can you not tell? He’s madly in love with you.”

  It felt like a hand was squeezing Sarah’s heart as she considered that concept. If Bobby was truly in love with her, this could go one of two ways. Bobby could be incredibly hurt and send her away, or he could accept what she’d done and forgive and forget.

  But how could she tell him? How could she risk him sending her away at all?

  “I don’t know what to do, Clara. What should I do? With everything that’s going on, Bobby has enough to deal with. This would just cause him stress.”

  Clara shook her head. “I think you should tell him
. The longer you keep this a secret, the better the chance it will threaten everything you’re building together. Tell him, Sarah. Please tell him.”

  Chapter 19

  Bobby plopped his hat on his head and pulled open the front door. He lifted his hand to shield the bright light until his eyes adjusted as he stepped out on the porch. The sky was blue, the air was warm, and he was going to enjoy this fine morning despite the destruction of his ranch.

  His foot met a solid surface and he kicked something over. He looked down at the coffee can and bent over to pick it up. He’d never seen the brand before.

  Bobby looked to the left and the right but there was no one around. The men wouldn’t be arriving to begin repairs on the ranch for at least a half hour. Where had this coffee come from?

  He twisted the top open and stared at the contents. It wasn’t coffee.

  A chill ran up his spine. He reached inside and pulled out the wad of money. It was rolled up, kept together with a rubber band. Without taking his eyes from the cash, he set the coffee can back down on the ground, left the lid beside it, and began to count the bills.

  It was $340 dollars.

  Bobby had seen a good deal of money. He wasn’t poor by any means. He had surrounded himself with beautiful art and sculptures, busts and fine furniture. But he had never seen $340 left in a coffee can on his front porch before. He didn’t know anyone who’d ever received that much money that way.

  Bobby was stunned. He swept his eyes around him again. Who could have left the money? Had they come in the middle of the night, the opposite of a thief, leaving money instead of taking it?

  Bobby smiled. He couldn’t help it. He wouldn’t need to extend his deadline for rebuilding now. He’d be able to pay the men ahead of time, ensuring their work and their trust. He could buy the materials without selling off assets.

  A soft chuckle escaped his lips. His horses were safe. He’d been considering all night what he would do to get the extra money he would need to get everything back the way it was. Selling a few horses had come to mind. He’d even considered working a few hours for someone on another ranch as a hand if he needed to. But he’d dismissed that eventually. It was counterproductive.

  He turned and went back in the house. The money would go in the safe until he needed it. He crossed the foyer and strolled to his study, his heart at ease. After everything he and his family had been through and the injury he’d sustained getting that dog of Sammy’s… He grinned again… It was about time something good came along to save his skin.

  Not that he was a pessimist. There was always a silver lining. In this case, this gift was the silver lining.

  He joyfully turned the knob on his safe and put in the correct numbers before lifting the latch. When the door was open, Bobby put the entire flattened stack of money in the safe. Then he thought about it and took some of the bills off the top. He would go into town with Steven and get some supplies today. And every day. Until the money was gone.

  He glanced up at the ceiling, directing his thoughts to God.

  “I don’t know what human put that money there,” he said aloud, “but You get the credit for this. Thank You, and bless the servant of Yours that left it for me and my family.”

  He didn’t want to know who had left the money. It was an intentionally kind act of a selfless person who knew rebuilding would be expensive. Happiness filled his chest as he tucked the bills in his right trouser pocket. He closed the safe and spun the knob.

  ***

  An hour later, Bobby and Steven were heading into town after Bobby instructed his men on what to do. Steven rode quietly, so silent that Bobby was curious what his friend was thinking about.

  “So… you’ve got somethin’ on your mind,” Bobby said, glancing over at the foreman. “Everything okay at home? Clara all good?”

  Steven looked at him with blank eyes that suddenly sharpened, and he nodded. “Yeah, everything is good at home. I’m just… I guess I’m worried about ya, boss.”

  Bobby’s eyebrows shot up. “Worried about me? Why?”

  “I know ya got a lot of money. But that’s a lot of repair work, a lot of supplies. We’ll be doin’ this for a while without help, I suspect. You can take some of my pay. Me and mine will be fine with a little less.”

  Bobby shook his head vigorously. “Not gonna happen, buddy. First of all, I would never take food out of your or your family’s mouths and second, I just had a financial windfall that’s saved my ranch. Don’t know how it happened, but I got enough money from a kind benefactor to fix up the place without dipping much into my own money.”

  Steven raised his own eyebrows, a curious look on his face. “Oh?”

  Bobby nodded. “Yep. So don’t you worry. Today, we start clean-up. When we’re done with that, we’ll start rebuilding the bunk house so the men will have somewhere to stay when they’re workin’ here. Then we’ll fix up the chow house and the barn. There’s a couple of fences down we gotta repair. Thank God the chicken coop wasn’t touched.”

  Steven let out a short laugh. “Yeah, I thought about that the morning after when I left. I actually went round the barn to check on it myself. I thought, Oh, Bobby’s gonna be happy to see that! And I was right.”

  Bobby joined his friend in his laughter. “Yeah, you were. I sure was.”

  They both laughed again.

  “Yep, mighty glad you came into some money.”

  Bobby could tell Steven was curious, but he also knew he wouldn’t ask so he volunteered the mysterious gift. “I found a coffee can on the porch this morning with 340 dollars in it.” He left the sentence hanging, his eyes on Steven to see his reaction.

  The look of shock on his friend’s face made Bobby laugh, throwing his head back and barking at the sky.

  “You heard me,” he said. “In a coffee can. On the front porch. Of my house!” He laughed in between each shortened sentence.

  “That’s a lot of money, boss! Where you think it came from?”

  “I don’t know.” Bobby shrugged. “There was no one around that I could see. It had to have been left in the middle of the night. And I didn’t have any parties last night, so no one left it behind accidentally.”

  He said the words with amusement in his voice. After finding a gift like that, nothing was going to bring him down.

  “Wow. That’s a real blessing. A miracle.”

  Bobby thought so, too. He was all smiles as they rode into town, tipping his hat to the ladies as he passed. Several people called out their hellos to him and he responded in kind with a raucous, “Howdy!”

  Once they were in town, they parted ways so make the trip faster. Bobby would have any large pieces of wood or equipment brought to the ranch, since they hadn’t brought the wagon.

  Steven went to the lumber mill, which was further through town than the general store where Bobby stopped. He dismounted and made sure the water in the trough looked clean and fresh before he tied the reins around the post.

  He stepped up on the porch when a commotion behind him made him turn around. There were men yelling just inside the saloon. He wasn’t the only one who turned to look. Everyone outside was staring as three men came tumbling through the doors. One was holding another man by the arms, keeping him from defending himself against his attacker.

  There were several men just outside the saloon and they all jumped into the fray. Bobby hurried to help break it up. The two men who seemed to initiate the fight were strangers to town. He’d seen the others but wasn’t close to them and wasn’t sure of their names.