“Ringing stopped.” Packard rode on Matt’s other side. “Someone’s hurt. Kate and April must be busy trying to help.”
Lord, I don’t want anyone harmed, but please—especially not Kate.
Their horses skidded to an abrupt halt in the barnyard. Relief flooded Matt when he spied Kate standing on the porch clutching the striker that belonged to the triangle.
The men bolted from their saddles. “Where?” Caleb demanded at the same time Tobias yelled, “Who?”
“Everyone is okay!” Kate called back.
April stood by her side and yelled, “Nothing’s wrong!”
“Then what did you think you were doing?” Caleb bellowed as he started toward her.
Matt jumped in front of him. He wasn’t sure whether to fight Caleb or shake Kate until her teeth rattled. She’d given him a fright.
Lucinda pushed between the Chance girls and stepped forward. Her lower lip poked out in a pout, she said, “That’s what I asked them, too.”
“Kate?” Matt’s tone demanded an explanation. Relief continued to pour through him at the sight of her.
“Forget it.” Cole strode over from the stables. “Lucinda came over and couldn’t find anyone.”
“So I rang the triangle.” Lucinda didn’t seem apologetic at all. “At least that made folks show up.”
The rest of the men tore around the corner and came to a dead halt. “Everything’s all right!” Tobias yelled.
“Then who set out the alarm?”
“Since you men are here,” April said, “we may as well put lunch on the table.”
“Go ahead and wash up.” Kate turned toward the door. “I’ll get the dishes.”
Matt wasn’t going to let her out of his sight until he reassured himself that she was all right. He rushed to open the door for her. “Sure everything’s okay?” he asked quietly.
Her gaze darted over to Lucinda. Tobias stood close to her and was speaking in a hushed, forceful tone. Kate looked back up at Matt. “I guess the important thing is that no one’s hurt.”
Several more horses thundered into the yard. Matt hadn’t seen the riders before, but he knew in an instant they were Kate’s father and uncles. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Dad.” Tobias let out a beleaguered sigh. “It’s all a misunderstanding. Welcome home.”
A tall man with silver at his temples hopped off his horse straight onto the porch. “Are you okay, Katie Louise?”
“I’m fine, Daddy.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.
“Good.” He turned and glowered at Matt. “Who are you, and why are you holding my daughter’s hand?”
Just then, a bunch of MacPhersons arrived, demanding to know what the emergency was. Matt ignored them. He stuck out his hand. “I’m Matthew Salter, sir.”
“Our new hired hand, Daddy. He’s a hard worker.”
Matt didn’t for an instant mistake the possessive spark in Kate’s father’s eyes. Something even more possessive flared inside him. “As for holding your daughter’s hand, well, I’ve never seen a more lovely one.”
“It’s got stain on it.”
Matt shook his head. “Better look again. Those are beauty marks.”
❧
April wound her arms around Mama. “I’m so glad you’re home!”
“It’s good to be home.”
“Daniel, put me down,” Aunt Lovejoy said. When he refused, she reached over and cupped April’s cheek. “April-mine, we went past the MacPhersons’. My sister tole me about you and Peter. Hit’s about time. Two of you b’long to one another.”
Guilt churned inside, and April blinked back tears.
“Why are you crying, honey?” Mama asked.
“They’re happy tears,” Kate said. “But she misses Peter. He and Johnna went to San Francisco.”
Uncle Obie snorted. “April ain’t the onliest one missin’ that son of mine. He’s a hard worker.”
Uncle Titus folded his arms across his chest. “With all of us back, we’ll do just fine. I understand our new hand, Salter, isn’t a stranger to work. We’ll loan him to you.”
Kate gasped, “Daddy!”
“I don’t mind, Kate.” The corner of Matt’s mouth kicked upward. “After all, you’ve told me on more than one occasion that Chances share.”
“Won’t be for long.” Obie combed his fingers through his beard. “I reckon Peter and Johnna’ll be home in two more days.”
Mama gave April a tender smile. “Quicker than that if he’s missing April half as much as she’s missing him.”
“Don’t mean to rush you folks, but I need to tuck Lovejoy into bed.”
“I’ll do that!” April chased after Uncle Daniel. “You go on ahead and eat lunch. I’d love to visit with her and hear what she liked best in Yosemite.”
“That’s a grand plan.” Lovejoy patted Daniel. “You jist tole me how hungry you are.” April rushed forward to open the door to their cabin and turn down their sheets. Uncle Dan gave his wife a kiss and gently settled her on the bed. “Stop frettin’, Dan’l. Get on out thar and eat hearty.”
For the past week, Kate and April had been putting a fresh pitcher of water in all of the cabins just in case their family got home. Now she poured water into the basin and dampened a washcloth. All at once, doubts assailed her. I can’t believe I volunteered to come in here. I was afraid Mama would figure out something’s wrong, but Aunt Lovejoy knows me just as well.
Daniel left, and April pasted on a smile as she turned around.
Aunt Lovejoy let out a sigh. “Darlin’, I don’t mean you no offense, but I’m plumb wore out. All I want is to lie down and take a nap like I’m ninety years old.”
“The day we came home, I was at least ninety. You have to be ninety-nine.” She gently washed her aunt’s face and hands.
“Ahhh. Nothin’ feels finer than comin’ clean.”
It took no time at all to slip her aunt out of her dusty clothes and into a fresh nightgown. April tucked her into bed and brushed a kiss on her pain-etched face. “Welcome home.”
“It’s good to be home. Onliest thang that don’t feel complete is my Polly and baby Ginny Mae aren’t here.”
As soon as Lovejoy drifted off to sleep, April walked the long way around to the stable so she could avoid everyone. She saddled up her mustang and rode to town. Lovejoy deserved to see Polly and her grandbaby. Besides, April had to think.
Lord, I don’t know what to do. It’s all such a mess. I don’t feel good about asking You to fix this when it’s my fault. The people I care about the most are going to be disappointed in me. I’ve used Peter to reach my selfish goals, and I’ve misled everyone else. I know I have to pay the consequences, Father, but could You please work things out so no one else does?”
When she reached town, April headed straight for the doctor’s office. Old Mrs. Greene hobbled out of Eric’s office and smiled at her. “Doc Walcott’s in. You here to see him or visit Polly and that cute little baby of theirs?”
“I’m hoping they’re not busy. Everyone got home from Yosemite, and Lovejoy wants to see them.”
“I heard that!” Polly sang out.
April laughed and let herself in. Polly enveloped her in a hug.
“Eric’s seeing a patient; then he needs to go pay a visit on the pastor’s kids. Ginny Mae finally got down for her nap. I can pack for us, and we’ll come spend the night.”
“Need some help?”
Polly’s eyes lit with humor. “Actually, what we really need are some sourballs. Eric’s out, and he always gives his pediatric patients a sourball. Would you mind running over to White’s and grabbing them?”
“I don’t mind at all.”
Mrs. White was busy measuring out yardage for Mrs. Dorsey, so April took the lid off the big jar of sourballs and started filling a quart jar when the bell over the door rang.
“April!” Peter’s voice rang through the mercantile. “What’re you doin’ here?”
“Get
ting sourballs,” Mrs. Dorsey said.
April wanted to crawl into the corner and hide. Everyone in the place was going to think she was buying sweets for herself.
Peter hadn’t stopped in the doorway. He strode straight to her. “Put ’em down, honey pie. I aim to claim a hug.”
“Here?”
Mrs. White bustled over. “Young love. It’s so sweet. April, hand me that little jar. I’ll fill it for Doc. Peter’s looking impatient, and I don’t want these candies to roll all over the floor.”
Being in his arms felt right. April allowed herself a second to relish his closeness one last time before she ended things and set him free to find a girl he could love.
“Missed me?”
She nodded.
The bell rang again. Johnna said, “Peter, you said you were jist gonna pick up the mail. What’s—oh. Hi, April! I want to hurry home so I cain still see Trevor afore it goes dark.”
“We ain’t hurrying anywhere with those big crates full of material Gabe sent.”
April tried to sound casual. “Johnna, you’re welcome to borrow my horse. I’m sure Peter can get me home.”
“Oh, thankee!” Johnna wheeled around, but the door no more than shut when it opened and jangled the bell again. “Where’s yore horse?”
“In front of Eric and Polly’s.”
Peter chuckled. “Well that proves that love is blind. Eric and Polly are right across the street!”
They collected the mail, delivered the sourballs, then Peter curled his hands around her waist and lifted her into the buckboard. He looked her in the eyes. “I’m glad you sent my sister on ahead. I sorely need to talk with you.”
April felt sure her heart had dropped right out of her chest and Peter had run it over with the buckboard. It took every bit of her courage to stay on the seat beside him. As soon as they’d gotten out of town, she blurted out, “Everyone’s home.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Yes. Peter, you’re right we need to talk. I’ve gotten us into a horrible mess.”
Fourteen
“Horrible mess?” April’s words cut deeply. Peter had decided he had to come clean and confess his love to her.
“I’ve prayed for years for the man God intended to be my husband. Instead of waiting patiently for God to prepare me, I roped you into getting me ready. I should have known better and trusted in His timing. Instead, now everyone thinks we’re in love. It’s the very first thing Mama and Aunt Lovejoy said to me.”
“Afore you go blaming yoreself any further, you need to recollect ’twas my idea to come calling and teach you thangs you needed to know.”
“Only after I cried all over your shirt.”
“I ain’t never once felt anything but honored to spend time with you. I’ve tole you afore, I’m here to share yore joys and sorrows.”
“I was afraid you were going to do that—be all honorable.”
He gave her an exasperated look. “Most gals would be afeared a buck wouldn’t be honorable.”
“I’ll have to confess to our families. It’s my fault.”
The horses knew the way home, so he focused his attention fully on her. “Are you miserable o’er having to swaller yore pride and tell them, or are you upset on account of how you might feel deep down inside?”
Pain flashed across her face. “Don’t ask me that!”
He cupped her face between his hands. “I gotta ask. Time’s come for truth, April. You ain’t been o’er my spread on account of havin’ so much extry to do back home with so many gone. I cleared a spot, and we’ve all been spending time putting up a cabin. That cabin is for me and my true love.”
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. In a tight voice, she whispered, “I hope she makes you happy.”
“Yore the one who makes me happy.”
Tears seeped out as she scrunched her eyes even tighter. “You’re being noble. I was afraid of this.”
“Noble?” He snorted. “Gal, I been crazy in love with you for over a year now. I been a-waitin’ for you to fall in love with me. All this business ’bout me holpin’ you catch a man was jist an excuse for me to be ’round you more.”
Her eyes opened, but he couldn’t interpret what she was thinking. “The whole time I’ve been gone, I near worried myself sick, thankin’ on how other bucks would come a-callin’.”
Her eyes dilated.
“They have!”
He heaved a deep breath and let go of her face, only to grab both of her hands. “I knew onc’t they realized how special you are, I’d have to wrastle for your love. But I ain’t a-gonna let you go. ’Member what I tole you afore I left?”
“You told me to remember everything you’d said.” Her voice went ragged. “How to build a man up, to make him feel special—”
“No, no! Not that. I meant about how you got a heart full of tenderness and sweet words trip off yore tongue. Not to let a man jist look at you as the gal who makes tasty food. Yore value is far above rubies.”
Not sure she was convinced, Peter halted the wagon and looked around. He hopped down, pulled April down, and didn’t turn loose of her. She waited a second, then tilted her head up to give him a startled look. He yanked her into a hug. “I ain’t a-turnin’ loose of you.”
“You stopped in the middle of the road to give me a hug?”
“Ain’t no better reason.” He grinned.
For an instant, one of her beautiful smiles burst through, but it dimmed just as quickly. “I don’t suppose you noticed there’s less of me. I’ve been trying—”
He pressed his fingers over her lips. “Shhh.” He looked around and ordered, “Go yonder to that shady spot. I’ll be there in a jiffy.”
He rummaged in the boxes and crates, then went over to kneel by April’s side. Carefully setting two candles on a flat rock, he looked at her. He lit the short, round pillar first, then the tall, narrow taper. Sitting back on his heels, he whispered a prayer. “Tell me, honey pie. Which candle gives the most light?”
“It doesn’t make any difference.”
“ ’Zactly. God don’t make His children all alike. Some folks are tall and skinny like that taper; others are stocky. Our Creator sets fire to our souls, and we’re to be His light. How could you thank I’d care ’bout something that don’t matter one whit?”
April’s gaze dropped from his, back to the candles. “Lucinda is right. Gluttony is a sin.”
“That’s ’tween you and God. Ain’t nobody else’s business to judge.”
“But they do.”
“Most sins are hidden in the heart. Folks cain foster greed, lust, envy, or wrath in secret or jist show that side of their character to one other person. Sloth—well, folks don’t show that flaw in public. Gluttony’s the onliest one that shows on the outside.
“Gluttony is eatin’ and drinkin’ to excess. That bein’ said, I cain’t honestly say I’ve e’er seen you eat more’n anybody else. Kate’s remarked on that, too. My uncle Mike—well, he’s downright runty and scrawny compared to my pa or my uncle Hezzie.”
A smile flickered across her face.
Heartened by that fleeting smile, Peter winked. “Don’t you niver tell him I said so. But ’tis the truth, and we both know it’s so. Anyhow, Uncle Mike—I cain’t recollect a single meal where he didn’t eat as much or more’n his brothers. Anybody jist a-lookin’ at him might assume he eats less, but appearances and actuality—well, they’re worlds apart. Could be, God fashioned you to be short and round to begin with. Whether you added on a little more, only you and He know.”
He took her hand in his. “Not a one of us is perfect. God holps us, works with us to be more like Him. You and me—we both yearn to be what God wants us to be. We gotta harken to His voice and follow His will. Philippians says, ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ We cain be confident He’ll lead us aright.”
“That’s talking about our relationship with H
im. What about other people?”
“He don’t compare us to anybody. He loves us jist ’cuz we’re His. We get ourselves into trouble when we compare. Iff’n a thin person starts makin’ comparisons, then Lucifer has a high old time lettin’ pride seep in. Lucinda sat there, preening and actin’ all superior when she decided to judge you. ’Twas a stingy heart she showed that day, but you cain’t let yoreself believe that ever’body who’s lanky feels the way she does.”
She twitched him a smile. “That’s true.”
He paused and tucked a wisp of hair back behind her ear.
“April, iff’n you compare yoreself to a gal who cinches herself ’til she’s got a fourteen-inch waist, yore takin’ yore eyes off God. Lets the devil have a chance to make you feel defeated.”
She nodded slowly. “I do feel beaten down.”
“That saddens me no end. April, yore the most beautiful gal I’ve e’er seen. I reckon I could tell you how yore fine brown hair sparkles in the sunshine and when ’tis silvered with age I’ll love you all the more, but that ain’t what you need to know most.”
She chewed on her lower lip.
Lord, holp me here. I don’t wanna be vulgar. Peter’s gaze swept across her and back to her eyes. “In the Bible, in the Song of Solomon, when that feller tells his gal how he feels—I feel that way ’bout you. Yore generous—in heart and of body. I cain’t holp thanking how much a man would be blessed to come home each night to you. Yore body was made to cuddle a man and cradle babes. Nothin’ would please me more than to be that man.”
Pink tinted her cheeks, and her eyes widened—but she didn’t look away from him.
He reached over and pinched out the flame on the taper and lifted the pillar. “You already let yore light shine, April. My heart warms by it’s glow. I’m askin’ you to become my wife.”
“Oh, Peter. I love you. Nothing would make me happier.”
❧
An almost sickening sweetness hovered in the air. Matt inhaled and looked around. If the moonshiner is using sweet mash instead of sour mash, it might smell like this. But the wind’s blowing from over by the MacPhersons’ cabins. I’ve managed a glimpse inside all of them, and none holds a still.
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