“Thankee, Logan.” Rooster took a deep breath. “Fer everything. I cain’t remember much of this week, but I know it ain’t been easy on either of us. I owe you more’n I cain say.”
“You don’t owe me a thing, Rooster.” Logan looked into his eyes. “But you do owe it to yourself and Nessie and Hattie to take better care of yourself.”
“I ken what you mean, son.” Rooster closed his eyes. “I stepped off the path a long while ago and lost my way. I ain’t been able to see straight in a good long while.”
“I know.” Logan took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “Isaiah tells us of men of God who ‘are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.’ ”
“That’s it, right there.” Rooster bowed his head. “Moonshine. It’d be easy to lay the blame on the drink, but I allowed myself to let it destroy me.”
“You aren’t destroyed, Rooster. You’re alive, and you haven’t had a drop in over a week.” Logan saw the need to encourage him. “Your leg is in a bad way, but Hattie has it on the mend. You have a chance to make things right.”
“That’s what I want to do.” Rooster’s eyes filled with the depth of his emotion. “I cain decide niver to touch the stuff agin, but I don’t know how to make right what I already done.”
“You can’t change the past, Rooster,” Logan told him. “But the good news is, you don’t have to. Remember First John 1:9? ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ Sounds to me like you’re confessing and want to make a change.”
“I do.” Rooster began to cry. “Lord, forgive me for what I done. Holp me not to do it agin. Holp me to make it right with the people I love.”
Logan prayed as he held the old man, who cried away the years he’d drowned his soul with liquor. After a while, Rooster’s sobs subsided, and his drained face shone with peace.
“You know, I’ll need to take down m’ still,” he mused, sinking down onto the bed and closing his eyes.
“I’m glad you mentioned it.” Logan grinned as Rooster began to snore.
Hattie woke up late the next morning to the smell of bacon frying. For the first time in more than a week, her eyes didn’t feel as if a fistful of grit had blown in them. She stretched and got out of bed, pulling on her blue cotton dress. She needed to get back to Rooster.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Miz Willow’s voice stopped her in her tracks. “You jist sit yore pretty little self down at that thar table and eat. Yore nothin’ but skin an’ bones.”
Hattie obediently sat down and buttered a roll, suddenly realizing how hungry she was. She’d have to bring some of this back for Logan and Bryce.
“Things shore been changing ’round the holler since Logan left for Charleston.” Miz Willow poured herself a cup of tea and lowered herself into the rocker.
Yep. He left without saying a word, come back with no explanation, and then proposed as though nothing had happened. How cain you expect that I’d deem him worthy of my trust anymore? I placed you and ev’rybody I love in his hands, and he let y’all slip through his fingers when he wanted to go off on another adventure. He acted like an overgrown boy.
Hattie pushed away her plate, her appetite gone.
“Otis Nye came by an’ tole me all about it.” Miz Willow’s head bobbed up and down. “Now I ken why Logan couldn’t tell us ’til after he talked to Otis, Asa, and the Trevor twins.”
“What do you mean?” Hattie had no idea what her friend was going on about.
“You’ve been with him all week tending to Rooster, and it never came up?” Miz Willow stopped rocking. “Dearie, Logan went to Charleston on business. He done met up with an old friend and struck up a few deals. Otis has a standin’ order for his fancy checker sets, and so does Asa for those nativities of his. Logan even found a new buyer for the pelts the Trevor boys trap—all at a very tidy profit.”
Hattie couldn’t say a word, but Miz Willow kept right on going.
“Every one of them families’ll be farin’ well now. Bryce says he reckons Logan can do the same for Daisy’s lace, too. Ain’t niver seen the like of what that buck’s done for our holler.”
Hattie got up and headed for the door. She needed to think all of this over. She mumbled a hasty good-bye to Miz Willow and waved to Daisy and Jamie, who were working in the vegetable garden. She walked as fast as she could until she came to the stream. She couldn’t sit, so she paced.
He didn’t abandon the holler, Hattie acknowledged ruefully. He knew I’d be back in about a day, and Bryce was still there with Miz Willow. He knew thangs would be fine with them here. I jist felt like he’d left us behind because he wasn’t home when I got back. He told me he’d had to go—that he’d done it for the holler. I didn’t listen. I was too wrapped up in my own assumptions. He deserves better.
Look at how hard he’s worked to holp people around here. He’s chopped enough wood to see me and Miz Willow through the winter. He went huntin’ on account he knew he and Bryce et a lot of our meat. He spent time with the people of the holler and valued them for who they are and what they do, and then he took that and found a way to give them a better life. He stayed by me an’ Rooster through thick and thin and showed respect to us both, even after I railed at him for his proposal.
He didn’t leave us. Logan wouldn’t leave me. I don’t jist love him; I trust him. I had no call to say those awful things to him, and he turned the other cheek and holped me anyway. He deserves a woman who sees him for the man he is. Even though I know I was wrong, it cain never be. I still won’t leave the holler, and even if he wanted to stay, I wouldn’t tie him down. He should have children. We cain’t ever be together, because I’m not good enough for him.
She gave herself some time to mourn her mistakes and accept that Logan would move on, then headed back to Rooster’s cabin. When she got close enough to see it, she noticed Logan standing in the yard, watching her.
“Nessie’s with him now. They have a few things to talk about.” Logan met her halfway beneath the shade of a towering elm. “So do we.”
“Yore right, Logan,” Hattie looked into his intense blue eyes. “I owe you an apology. Miz Willow tole me what you done in Charleston. You tried to tell me you was lookin’ after the people I care about, but I didn’t listen. I misjudged you, and I’m sorry for that.”
“You don’t bear the blame alone, Hattie.” He reached out and held her hands, sending a wave of heat through her arms. “I shouldn’t have proposed until I could explain where I had been. You deserved to know everything before giving me an answer.” His eyes searched hers. “Now you do. I still want you for my wife, Hattie.” He raised a hand to cup her cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Logan,” she whispered, tears coursing down her cheeks and onto his hand. “And I know I cain trust you.” She swallowed hard. “But I still cain’t marry you.”
“Why?” Logan demanded an answer, not budging an inch.
“I cain’t go to Californy.” She silently begged him to understand. “These are my people, and they need me, Logan.”
“I know. Over the past months, they’ve become my people, too.” His words sent a shiver of hope to her aching heart. “Asa, Otis, Fred, and Ted need me to follow through on the business agreements. The men of the holler came and said I’d earned a right to voice my opinion in a community vote about disassembling Rooster’s still. Rooster himself cried in my arms and forsook liquor, coming back to Jesus. I can’t leave them, Hattie, and I wouldn’t ask you to, either.”
“You mean…” She couldn’t even voice the question.
“I want you to marry me, Hattie, and we’ll stay here together.” He drew her into her arms. “Say you’ll love me forever.”
“I cain’t wed you.” She pushed him away and wrapped her arms around herself to ward away the pain. “You deserve a woman who cain give you sons to carry on the Chance name. I cain’t.”
>
“Hattie.” He put his arms around her once more and waited until she looked at him. “I already knew that. I want you. Having children isn’t important to me. I have five brothers, four of whom are happily married and having babies about as fast as they can. The Chance name is well taken care of. As for me, I left Chance Ranch to find my place in the world.” His arms tightened around her. “And I found it here, with you. Marry me, Hattie.”
“Yes, Logan.” She raised up on tiptoe to kiss him. “I love you, and I’ll marry you.”
“I love you, too.” He smiled and spun her around. “And I’ve got a feeling that my adventure is just beginning.”
Epilogue
Dear Gideon and Miriam, Titus and Alisa, Paul and Delilah, Daniel and Lovejoy, Obie and Eunice, Hezzy and Lois, Mike and Tempy, Pollywog and Ginny Mae, and all the kids,
Sorry, but just writing all of your names took up the entire first sheet of paper, so you’ll have to move on to the second one! I didn’t want to leave anybody out.
Actually, we didn’t want to leave anybody out. The beautiful and all-around-wonderful Hattie Thales has agreed to marry me, Logan Chance, on the first day of fall. We know you won’t make it out to the wedding, but you’re in our hearts. We hope you’re not mad we didn’t send a telegram right away, but we figured that getting a message saying only, “Getting Hitched,” would raise more questions than it was worth.
All this means I won’t be coming back to Chance Ranch. We plan to visit sometime, but Salt Lick Holler has become my home. I’ve found my purpose and my place here. I love you all, but I won’t even pretend that I don’t know you’re a little relieved to hear that I’m settling down.
The truth is, you’re dead wrong. Hattie’s the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’ll have her all to myself (except for the rest of the holler) for the rest of my life. I’ve become a greedy man, and I don’t aim to change. Lovejoy, Hattie says to tell you that I’m the most difficult package you’ve ever sent, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. Neither would I.
Don’t worry about us. I’ve become a businessman of sorts between here and Charleston. Bryce will tell you all about it when he comes home—which will be late fall now instead of late summer. He’s promised to stay long enough to help me build a cabin for me and Hattie.
God has been good to me, and I pray He sheds as many blessings on you. You’re all in our prayers.
Love,
Logan Chance and Hattie Thales-soon-to-be-Chance
P.S. Lovejoy, your father is doing very well. He’s taken down his still and come back to the Lord. He prays that you’re well and asks you to write. Bryce and I decided to give him the packhorse we didn’t use to replace his old mule. He and Nessie have started getting the land ready to plant corn. It’s been a beautiful season for all of our lives.
Epilogue
Six years later
So Jesus fed five thousand with just that one little boy’s lunch.” Lovejoy folded her hands. “Uncle Paul’s gonna pray; then you young’uns scamper off to bed.” After Paul said the prayer, the cabin burst into a flurry of nighttime hugs and kisses. The Chance clan now boasted a full dozen children, and Miriam, Alisa, and Delilah all blossomed with the promise of another babe apiece in the coming months.
Lovejoy nuzzled a kiss on Miriam’s youngest toddler’s cheek then laughed as Bryce and Logan loaded up kids to piggyback them off to their cabins.
Delilah stood next to Lovejoy and said, “I read a verse this morning that fits you.”
“Oh, what is it?”
Delilah smiled. “Psalm 113:9—‘He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.’ Your hands have caught all of these kids, and you add so much to their lives. I’m praising God for you.”
“Now wasn’t that jist the best verse I ever heard? Thankee, Delilah.” Lovejoy gave her a hug.
After they tucked Polly and Ginny Mae into bed, Daniel gathered his wife into his arms. “I was watching you again this evening, and something struck me anew.”
She hugged him back. “What was that?”
“Your name—how fitting it is. You brought love and joy back into my life.”
She stood on tiptoe. “Praise ye the Lord.”
CHANCE OF A LIFETIME
by Kelly Eileen Hake
Dedication
To my family and friends, who love and support me unconditionally. Thank you, guys!
Chapter 1
1874
Billows of soot filled the air, enveloping the yard. Daisy Thales put all her disappointment, hurt, and rage into the rug beater as she walloped the smoky taint of the fire from the clothes.
Whump for Peter, her first sweetheart and loving husband, who had died from pneumonia just months before their child came into the world.
Whump for everyone who looked at her palsied son in pity. Jamie’s hands and legs weren’t steady, but his heart more than made up for it. She would only have him for a short time—he wasn’t strong enough to live past childhood.
Whump for their home in Hawk’s Fall, Kentucky, which burned to the ground a fortnight ago, leaving them with only the clothes she couldn’t wash until now, because they had nothing else to wear.
She and Jamie had made it through everything life hurled at them, and she’d make sure they kept on doing so. After Peter went to his eternal reward, she’d supported herself and her son by making delicate lace for fancy ladies. She had birthed Jamie alone in their house, the pains coming too quick to fetch help. When Jamie’s little legs jerked and twitched, she’d taken him to the doctor three towns over and learned her son had palsy and likely wouldn’t live past his first birthday without professional medical care. Her beautiful boy would be turning five come the fall. Every time she came up against a grief greater than she thought she could survive, Daisy had plowed on ahead and made a life for herself and the son who was her one joy.
And I’ll do it again. Hattie took us in after the fire, but we cain’t live off her and Widow Hendrick’s generosity for long. It would be so easy to stay in the warm home with Hattie’s healing knowledge to help Jamie sleep through the night. But we’re nothing more than charity, no matter what Hattie says about me holping with the old healer.
Daisy straightened her shoulders before whipping the clothes off the line and carrying them over to the soapy wash water.
Owin’ Hattie is one thing—she’s kin. But I’m even beholden to those Chance men— complete strangers, mind. If it weren’t for how Logan brung me that material to make new clothes, I couldn’t have washed the old ones. We barely escaped that fire with the clothes on our backs.
She winced at the memories. Jamie had awakened her in the middle of the night, the hearth rug aflame and the fire greedily spreading to take away all they owned. She scooped him up and bolted for the door, not stopping until she was sure Jamie would be safe. Then she ran back for her lace-making basket, the only way she could eke out a living and take care of her son. She’d had the presence of mind to snatch Jamie’s favorite blanket, as well. By the time she made it out, the roof was collapsing behind her. It was still hard to breathe sometimes on account of the smoke she’d taken in that night.
The fumes of the lye soap stung her eyes, and she let a few tears fall before taking the clothes and plunging them into the cool, fresh rinse water. She wrung them out, then pinned them to the clothesline to dry.
Almost good as new. Daisy nodded to herself. And we will be, too.
She finished the rest of the washing before going inside to start dinner. Hattie’d set out early in the morning to visit an ailing family and wouldn’t be back before supper. The Chance brothers had been hard at work all day, so Daisy reckoned they’d have a hollow leg apiece to fill.
“Ma! ’Ook!” Jamie pushed his slate toward her, and she picked it up.
“That’s wonderful, Jamie!” He’d copied his name from Miz Willow’s spidery scrawl, and his big, wavering, loopy letters filled
the slate. She handed it back to him. “Now practice it one more time.”
Jamie’s chalk rubbed slowly along the board while Daisy wondered whether or not to call Logan and Bryce to come in and wash up. She could still hear them sawing lumber outside while she sliced bread and put it on the table. She hastily put together a platter full of chicken sandwiches and cheese. She rang the dinner bell. That’d do. After dinner she’d start a hearty pot roast with potatoes and carrots for supper. And as a special treat, she’d bake a fresh apple pie.
Logan and Bryce deserved it for working so hard on the new addition to Willow Hendrick’s house. The healer’s home already had an extra room to store medicines and such, but with Hattie and Logan fixin’ on marrying each other, they’d need a place of their own. Logan worked like a man with a fine reward waiting at the end of his labor, and his brother kept pace alongside him.
The two brothers walked into the cabin, and Daisy was once again struck by how much they could look so alike but be so different. Both were tall and well built, with blue eyes and brown hair. Logan, his easy smile and chin set like someone who usually got his way, stood a few inches shy of his older brother.
Daisy reckoned she’d pegged Logan Chance the first time she saw him—a goodnatured, exuberant, polite young man who’d treat her sister-in-law well and give Hattie the love she deserved. Every person on earth wanted something, and Logan wanted Hattie, as well as to stay in Salt Lick Holler. By building this addition, he’d get both.
Bryce wasn’t so easy to figure out. His broad shoulders and quiet manner announced to the world that he was a man who stood firm in his decisions. His smile, though much harder won than that of his brother, would break across his face like a lightning bolt and shine with an intensity that startled her. There was a calm in his deep blue eyes that made Daisy wonder what he knew that she didn’t.
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