Faith

by Peggy McKenzie

  Hope threw an exasperated glance over her shoulder. She kept her red-headed firebrand of a sister in forward motion. Faith knew it was the only way to keep any smidgeon of control over Charity.

  Faith watched her two sisters leave the school building and disappear out onto the street. They might not be blood kin, but they were kin by choice. And that made their bond even stronger.

  Grace tugged on her arm and sent her a look of encouragement. “Don’t worry about people like that woman, whoever she was. We know who you are and you are the kindest person we know, right darling?”

  Her sister turned to her husband for support. Faith saw the love in John Malone’s eyes when he looked at her sister.

  “That’s right, sweetheart. Faith is as kind as you are brave.”

  Tears again. This has got to stop.

  “Thank you both for standing by me. I sincerely mean what I said, Grace. I’m so grateful to you for being brave enough to set out on the adventure of a lifetime. Not everyone has that kind of courage. I know I wouldn’t.”

  “Of course you would.”

  The thought sent shivers down her spine. She could never do something like that. Not even to save someone she loved very much.

  “Of course you would.”

  Faith would never have guessed she would get a fair trial. She still couldn’t believe she wasn’t going to hang. A chill traveled down her spine underneath her cotton dress. It was just too terrifying to think about what might have been if Mr. Hanover and Mr. O’Brien, Liam, had chosen not to represent her.

  Liam. Her heart hiccupped at the thought of him.

  “We better get going or Hiram will have every morsel of those sweet confections devoured. I’ve never seen a man of his short stature put away so much food.” John laughed at his own joke, his robust laughter ricocheting off the school’s walls. He urged his wife up the aisle and out into the warm Colorado sunshine, his hand lovingly on the small of her back.

  Faith followed Grace and John into the summer sun. The warmth heated her skin. The smell of pine on the light afternoon breeze scented the air. She breathed in the fragrant air and sighed. For the first time in a long, long time, Faith allowed a tiny seed of hope to grow in her doubting heart. Could there really be happiness for someone like her?

  Out on the street, Mr. Hanover helped his wife up into their luxurious buggy for two and called down to his partner who stood on the street.

  “We showed ‘em, didn’t we, my boy? Nobody gave us a snowball’s chance in hell of winning this case. But we showed them all.” Mr. Hanover’s face beamed his delight.

  “Yes, sir. We certainly did.”

  Faith noted Liam’s response was much more subdued when compared to his partner’s.

  Picking up the reins for his pair of handsome bays, Hiram snapped the straps and the horses stepped jauntily into traffic and down the street. Faith watched the Hanovers cuddle in the carriage until they were out of sight. What it must be like to have someone to love like that. And, love you back.

  “Faith, John and I have to go by the general store to pick up some things for our little Abbie Rose. Do you want to go with us, or perhaps Mr. O’Brien will see you to the Hanovers’ home?” Grace waited for her answer.

  Faith stole a glance at Liam. She could tell by the hard set of his jaw he was still angry about something. Perhaps if she apologized for whatever it was…

  John turned to the other man. “Do you mind, Liam? We will be a while and I hate for Faith to be subjected to my wife’s shopping habits. We could be there for—“

  “I think they get the idea, darling. And I do love shopping for our daughter so I make no apologies.” Grace slapped lovingly at her husband’s arm.

  “I’ll see her to the Hanovers.” Liam’s voice was flat.

  Faith could tell he was less than thrilled. She could have gone with Grace and John, but she wanted to ask him what she had done to upset him so.

  Grace hugged Faith. “I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”

  Faith nodded and hugged her sister. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for everything.”

  Grace and John walked down the street, leaving Faith alone with the brooding Irishman.

  “Come on. Let’s get going.”

  Liam’s tone startled her. He didn’t wait for her to respond. He shifted his case and coat to his left arm and grasped her upper arm with his right hand.

  Faith’s heart slammed against her ribs. She knew from his remote looks over the past few months that Liam O’Brien didn’t much care for her. He seemed even more out of sorts with her today.

  She followed his quick pace down the busy boardwalk about half a block. It was when they slowed to cross the street, she dared steal a covert glance in her handsome attorney’s direction. His features made her heart kick a little faster. But when he seemed to feel her gaze and turned his attention on her, she shrank from the stab of his cold blue eyes. Perhaps she should have chosen to go with Grace and John after all.

  He led her across the busy street, dodging horses and riders, wagons and teamsters. She did her best to keep pace with his long legs but her skirts made it difficult. Another block and she had to know.

  “Have I done something to offend or upset you, Mr. O’Brien? You seem so angry with me today.”

  His attention was on the street ahead of them, but she could see the tense muscles in his jaw twitch at a furious pace. His grip on her arm tightened. They walked for another block before he released his grip a little and impaled her with an angry scowl that looked a lot like repugnance. But what had she done?

  “Let’s just say I have sentiments about certain things that can’t be overcome.”

  2

  Liam O’Brien knew he was acting irrationally. He let go of his client’s arm and shoved his hand in his pocket.

  He wasn’t normally a judgmental kind of man. He made his living being open-minded about his clients’ guilt. He had to be able to defend them properly. But it was hard for him to overcome his prejudices where Faith was concerned. After all, her people were responsible for murdering his parents and kidnapping his little sister.

  The images from that day never failed to make him sick at his stomach. Today was no exception.

  “Are you ill, Mr. O’Brien? Can I do something for you? You look like you are going to be sick. Can I get you some cool water or do you need to sit down?” Faith asked.

  He heard her voice, soft and concerned. But all it did was make him more agitated with her.

  “I’m fine.” His words were clipped and sharp. He picked up his pace, forcing the woman walking next to him to increase hers as well. She began to fall behind and he could tell she struggled to keep up. He kept his pace for another block. His client never said a word. Not “slow down” or “I can’t keep up”. No. She followed as best she could and never uttered a word of complaint. And, for reasons beyond his comprehension, her lack of lamenting made him even more cross with her.

  Finally he could take it no more. He stopped short, causing her to run into the back of him. He turned and grabbed her by the shoulders, his anger palpable.

  Liam knew he was acting crazy, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He turned on the frightened young woman beside him.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  He watched her face pale under her coffee-and-cream-colored skin. “I...don’t know what you mean. I was trying to keep up with you, but your strides are so much longer than mine and with my skirt hindering—“

  Liam realized they were creating a scene. People walking on the boardwalk had to step off into the dirt street to get by them. Perhaps he just needed a drink at the Holy Moses. Let off a little steam.

  He pulled her by her elbow to the side, nodding to passersby known to him. He watched as they side-stepped them, trying not to be obvious they were curious about Creede’s newest felon.

  “I’m so sorry—“ Faith began.

  “Why are you apologizing?”

  “I’m not s
ure. You are so angry with me. I must have done something to upset you. I truly didn’t mean—“

  Her subservient demeanor fired his Irish blood.

  “Well, stop apologizing.”

  He watched another group of people avoid them and it irked him. And yet he understood their morbid curiosity about the beautiful stranger beside him.

  The general store owner’s wife just happened by at that moment. She was a nice lady and she didn’t deserve to be singled out. And yet, he did it anyway.

  “Mrs. Craddock. How are you today? And your children?”

  “Fine, thank you.”

  He watched the woman nod to him and give a side glance to Faith.

  “Do you have a moment? I’d like to introduce you to someone.”

  He watched the woman hesitate, but Mrs. Craddock was too much of a lady to deliberately be rude.

  “Of course, Mr. O’Brien. But only a moment. I’m in a hurry to...I have an appointment with...the dressmaker and I promised to be there on time.”

  Liam could see the woman struggle to come up with a believable excuse. She obviously wasn’t used to lying.

  “Mrs. Craddock, please meet Faith—” Damn. He couldn’t introduce her as Faith No-Name. He hurried past the awkward moment. “Faith, this is Mrs. Craddock. Her husband owns the general store up the street. He sells tools and machinery to the mines. Bits. Saddle repair supplies. Material for dresses. Lace. Buttons. Beans. Well, just about everything anyone could need, I suppose.”

  Liam knew he was blathering, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He wasn’t usually so incoherent. Refocusing his thoughts, he watched Mrs. Craddock sizing up Faith before bowing her head in greeting.

  “Faith. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  Faith dipped in a timid courtesy and mumbled, “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Craddock.”

  Liam noticed Mrs. Craddock’s eyes sparkle with curiosity and suddenly it dawned on him. She thinks we are a couple. Could it be she hadn’t heard about the trial?

  Well, it wasn’t his job to keep the community apprised of the happenings of the legal system. And he wasn’t required to explain he had just introduced a pillar of Creede society to a newly convicted murderer. Technically she wasn’t a murderer, but how was he to explain the difference between murder and manslaughter? He couldn’t, so he let the subject be.

  “We won’t keep you, ma’am. Please give my regards to your husband. And tell him I’ll be sending the Hanovers’ blacksmith to pick up some tools for the carriage house. Put them on Hiram’s account.”

  He nodded his goodbye and pulled Faith from her hiding place behind him. He did his best not to make it appear he was doing just that.

  A few yards from the spot where he and Faith had encountered Mrs. Craddock, he let go of Faith’s arm and picked up his former pace.

  Everything about the woman irritated him. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Irritation wasn’t the word that came to mind when he thought about those luscious lips of hers. And those gut-punching dark eyes full of promise of something more. He had spent many days and late evenings over the last few months sitting across a table from her, or worse, sitting next to her while he helped prepare for a trial that should have gone an entirely different way. He really was glad he and Hiram won her case. It was a huge legal victory for their business. But it was one thing to sit next to her all those months, knowing at the end of the trial she would be gone. It was quite another to know he would be working with her—in the same office—day in and day out for the next year. It was going to be impossible not to notice her as a woman. Because as hard as he had tried not to, he had noticed.

  He wouldn’t admit it. At least not to anyone but himself. He needed to hate her and everything she was. He owed that loyalty to his parents and younger sister.

  He cut a heated look in her direction, but she didn’t see it. Her head was down, eyes to the ground as if she wanted to disappear into thin air. He wished she would. He cut another look to her slim figure. But then again…

  She struggled to keep up, but he kept going. He had to put some distance between the two of them or he was going to explode into a fit of anger. His Irish ancestry was seeping through every pore. But it was more than that.

  His hatred for Faith’s kind had taken root deep inside his soul and festered until there was nothing good living there. How could it? He’d only been fifteen years old when he watched his mother and father brutally murdered while he and his sister hid under the flour sacks and dresses inside their wagon.

  The savages pulled his sister from his arms. He hadn’t hidden her well enough and her bright red hair gave her away. He watched from his hiding place when they threw Mary on the back of a beautiful painted horse. The contrast of the horse’s beauty against the ugliness of the day was not lost to him.

  And, to this day, every time he closed his eyes, he could hear his sister’s terrified screams as the devilish group, finished with their gruesome mission, rode away with her while he hid like a coward, safe among his mother’s petticoats.

  He could still smell the metallic scent of his parents’ bloodied bodies lying in the tall grass and wild flowers a few yards from their wagon. The same flowers his mother and sister admired only moments before they had all been taken by surprise. His stomach churned. Liam squeezed his eyes shut and tamped his rising rage the best he knew how.

  “We’re here.” Faith’s small voice pulled him back from the abyss of terror.

  Without a word, he escorted Faith No-Name up the Hanovers’ steps to their massive front porch. Not bothering to knock, he opened the door and pushed Faith inside the house.

  Mr. Hanover entered the entryway from the library. Mrs. Hanover and Faith’s sisters followed.

  “Here she is, Mr. Hanover. Safely delivered.” Liam backed out the door to leave.

  Mr. Hanover stopped him. “Liam, my boy. Stay. Join us in our joint practice’s first victory.”

  “I’d like to, sir. But I have a lot of work to do. I’ll see you tomorrow at the office.” He nodded to his law partner and the room’s occupants in general, careful to avoid the one person in the room he wished to never lay eyes on again. Unfortunately, he would see her every day for the next year.

  Before Mr. Hanover could insist, and Liam knew the man would, he closed the door and retraced his steps, heading for the Holy Moses Saloon. He wanted nothing more than to dull the never-ending ache in his belly into sweet oblivion, courtesy of a glass of Irish whiskey. Maybe a bottle this time.

  Perhaps John Malone would join him. He shook his head. He doubted it. Ever since John married Grace Sinclair, his unexpected mail-order bride, John stayed close to home.

  He didn’t figure John would show up. His friend was completely wrapped up in his new wife and their baby daughter.

  He supposed someday he would have that kind of love in his heart for another human being. But, until he could calm the anger that bubbled just below the surface and forgive Faith’s kin for the atrocity he had witnessed, there would be no room in his heart for love. For anyone. Not even himself—the coward who’d hidden behind dresses and petticoats while his family was destroyed.

  He had little hope that day would ever come. He shook his head and quickened his pace uptown. His rational side knew Faith was an innocent in the murder of his family. But his angry side needed a place to fester. Someone to blame. And the dark-haired beauty gave his anger a home. A direction. A purpose. Now he had something tangible he could focus that anger toward. Right or wrong, he intended to make someone pay for the death of his family.

  He needed a drink and maybe a warm, willing woman to distract him, even if only for tonight.

  3

  Faith watched Grace and her husband play with their young daughter everyone affectionately called Abbie Rose.

  Grace turned to their host. “Mrs. Hanover, I can’t thank you enough for letting the girls stay with you. I know it isn’t a popular decision among the citizens of Creede, but my sisters a
nd I couldn’t be more grateful to you and Hiram.”

  “It is our pleasure, Grace. The citizens of Creede will come around as soon as they get to know each of you. They are good people. They will do what’s right. Give them time.” The older woman smiled warmly.

  Faith knew she should express her gratitude too. Especially since she was the reason the people of Creede had to worry about accepting them in the first place. Who could blame them for not wanting a killer living in their midst?

  Faith gathered her courage. She was never one to speak up if she didn’t have to. It drew too much attention, which always caused her and everyone around her a lot of grief.

  “Mrs. Hanover, I’m sorry if my being here causes you problems. I would gladly move to the country with Grace if I could. But with the judge’s orders—”

  Mrs. Hanover rose from the overstuffed sofa and walked to where Faith stood. “Nonsense, my dear. And please, call me Aggie.”

  She pulled Faith to her bosom and wrapped loving arms around her. Tears stung the back of Faith’s eyes as this woman, practically a stranger, gave unconditional love to a person most people shunned.

  “Now, you listen to me, Faith No-Name. You are welcome to stay here as long as you like. Even after the court’s one year sentence is up. You will always be welcome.” Aggie pulled back and forced Faith’s chin up with her index finger. “Hiram and I are childless, and all these years I’ve had an endless supply of love that had nowhere to go. Now I have the wonderful opportunity to mother me a brood of young ladies, even if they are mostly grown.”

  Faith watched the woman pull away and walk across the room to pick up Abbie Rose. “I also have the unexpected privilege of being a grandmother. And that, my dear, is a blessing for which I will always be grateful. It doesn’t matter how we became a family. All that is important is that we are here for one another now.”

  Grace motioned for Faith to come and sit beside her while Aggie bounced Abbie Rose on her hip, causing the chubby blue-eyed, blond-haired one-year-old to giggle uncontrollably. The sound of the baby’s laughter made everyone in the room grin.