At Liberty to Love (Texas Romance Book 7)

by Caryl McAdoo

  He said he’d been smitten forever, except it had been, what? Four years since he’d even seen her. Bonnie would soon turn twenty-five, from twenty when he’d gone off to war.

  Rebecca wondered about true love.

  Could it be? Did Jasper love her truly? Her little sister might just be the most comfortable young lady in his life. And who knew the condition of Bonnie’s heart? Four years was a long time.

  Had she fallen for someone else there in California? Definitely a possibility, and probably the instigator of the young man’s concern.

  The wagon turned, and Rebecca slipped back around and faced the driver. “Isn’t this the street the Lone Star Mercantile is on?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The man pointed to his right. “And right there is the Miner’s Bank. Less than a block up a little and across the street is your sister’s store.”

  She relaxed. She’d done it. Come all the way from Texas by herself. A smile stretched her lips. Even though her daddy didn’t think she could or should, she’d made it.

  The teamster whoa-ed his mules right up in front of the Mercantile’s steps. Jasper jumped down and extended his hand, but before she could take it, the store’s front door flung open and Mary Rachel burst out.

  “Rebecca Ruth! You’re here! I just got your letter last week, and here you are! Oh, mercy, Sister! You are a sight for sore eyes.”

  Hugs and kisses and introductions to young ladies, including her namesake warmed her heart. They’d both grown considerably since the last time she’d seen them. A handsome young man hid behind his mama, but kept stealing peeks.

  Finally the soon to be eleven-year-old stepped out. “Not fair, Aunt Bitty Beck.”

  She smiled at the nickname she figured she’d never outgrow. “How’s that, Boaz?”

  “You being prettier than my mama.”

  What a little flirt. She shook her head. Was that her lot in life to be a candle to all the male moths?

  She focused on the boy’s mother. “Look who I ran into on the Saint Louis, all grown up! Is Bonnie here?”

  “No. She’s at the orphanage.” Mary Rachel made a sad face aimed at Jasper. “With Clay and Gwen. He’ll be so glad to see you!” She turned back to her sister. “If I’d known you’d be here so soon, I’d have arranged a big welcome party.”

  “We’ve got plenty of time for that.”

  “CeCe and Elijah are at the mine with Moses and Lanelle. Want to rest up and go in the morning? Or.…”

  Rebecca chuckled, glanced at Jasper, then back. “Mister Briggs here is about to bust a gut to see Bonnie. If it isn’t too far, I figured we’d go this afternoon.”

  “Not a problem.” Mary Rachel faced her clutch of children. “Becca, you and Boaz hitch the wagon. Susie, you and Francy gather some supplies and some extra picnic stuff, too. If we’re going, might as well take some things with us.”

  “Speaking of supplies, the driver’s carrying my purchases around back.”

  “Oh fun! I can’t wait to see what all you found.” She pivoted. “Francy, would you be certain that brother of yours knows there’s a shipment coming in and ask him to go ahead and log it all.”

  “Amos went up to the bank, but I will as soon as he gets back. Hank can get started unloading.”

  Jasper offered to help with the team, but the boy especially took offense, so he let it lay. He hated twiddling his thumbs waiting for all the folks who were somewhat his kin through his brother Clay to be ready to go.

  Hopefully, he’d be married into the clan soon enough, or either he might never see any of them again.

  That notion put his pulse to racing. A life without Bonnie Claire wouldn’t be worth much.

  Once the the wagon rolled out of the city, seemed he could breathe better. But the way his gut knotted, proved a wonder he got any air at all.

  Then the huge mansion came into view. He didn’t know what he expected, but it looked like a painted picture with its white fences on either side of the drive and the green pastures dotted with cows and calves. The big house was enormous. Must have been twenty windows across the second floor.

  Though hard, he hung back next to the wagon while the sisters hugged and squealed and carried on. His love hardly looked his way, like she didn’t want him there. Had she even noticed him? Did she have a beau? Was she already married?

  Why hadn’t he written her?

  Had the whole trip been a fool’s errand?

  At last, she tore herself away from the sisters’ clutch and strolled toward him. He met her halfway and knelt onto one knee just like he’d been planning for four years. “I’ve always loved you, Bonnie Claire Buckmeyer. Will you marry me?”

  His love backed up a step and shook her head. “Get up this minute, Jasper Briggs! You’re making a spectacle!”

  He scooted toward her, taking a weird knee step, and extended the small ring box. “I could care less, Bonnie Claire Buckmeyer. For pity’s sake. I’m asking you to be my wife. Don’t I deserve an answer?”

  “No, you do not. Not yet anyway.” She pursed her lips and shook her head again. The expression pained his heart. “You know I could never say yes without Daddy’s blessing, so get up now.”

  Ah ha. He had her now. Inching closer with more awkward knee-foot steps, he patted his shirt pocket. “But I’ve got it right here. In writing.”

  Backing another step, she stared hard into his eyes. Did she not believe him? “You’ve already talked to Daddy then? And he said yes?”

  Jasper nodded. “Sure did. I had the coin to get here. He loaned me enough to get us back, said we could get married here, and he’d throw us a celebration party when we get home.”

  “Doesn’t sound like Daddy.”

  “I’m here ain’t I?” He walked on both knees until he could take her hand. “Marry me, Bonnie. You know I’ve loved you forever. Say yes. Make me the happiest man in the world.”

  She exhaled then sank to her own knees and glared, her eyes about to overflow with tears.

  “If you loved me, why haven’t you told me before now? Why have you waited so long? Did it never occur to you I might move on, fall in love with someone else? You didn’t think it important to let me know your heart?”

  “Bonnie! You haven’t, have you? Wouldn’t’ve been right to get hitched then me go off to war. Everyone knew what was coming. And…and….” He shrugged. “We were both so young and –”

  “And what?”

  “Your Daddy. Uh…well…him and Levi and Wallace. They would’ve shot me dead if…. I mean if I’d told you, then we might’ve…and well, you was.…”

  Leaning too close, she smelled so sweet. He thought he might pass out right there. Her lips dripped with such anticipated honey. His heart boomed in his ears. Could she hear?

  “I was what, Jasper?” Her whisper intoxicated him.

  He filled his lungs. “You were…so…desirable, Bonnie. I had so much trouble controlling myself around you.”

  “Do you really love me?”

  “Yes, with my whole heart.”

  Again, she stared hard and deep into the windows of his soul, and he allowed it. Finally, she nodded. “Fine then. I will marry you.”

  “Yes? Did you just say yes?”

  She grinned then nodded some more. “Now let me see Daddy’s letter.”

  He stood, pulled her to her feet, then swung her around. “We’re getting married!”

  Rebecca loved it. How romantic. Jasper dropping to a knee right there in front of everyone. If only it could have been Marcus…and he’d loved her since forever. What? Mercy! What was she thinking?

  Her rose had faded and the petals were already falling off. She had cause to be filled with such romantic nonsense. That sort of life had already passed her by.

  What an idiot she was! Her time was past, her husband gone, and for sure and for certain what she wanted, everything she truly needed lay right in front of her. A son or daughter—perhaps both—to fill the rest of her days with love.

  Once everyon
e finished hugs, glad handing, and back slapping the happy couple, Rebecca pressed Gwendolyn in a tour of the orphanage.

  Of course, as if her little sis enjoyed tormenting her again like a six-year-old—not that she knew Rebecca’s intentions—Gwendolyn seemed to take the long way to where the babies were housed.

  Finally, she stood in the nursery’s doorway. Sunlight filled the cheerful room through a row of large windows with light, and cribs lined the walls on either side. Bright yellow curtains fluttered in the breeze coming in off the ocean.

  Eight infants, in ages ranging from one to ten months, played on pallets or in their beds, and a couple more still slept, dreaming through morning naps.

  One small guy lay across the lap of a matron who sat in one of the room’s three rockers. Gwen placed a vertical index finger over her lips.

  Though Rebecca wanted to stay right there and have an opportunity to coo and goo with each one, her tour guide—still totally unaware of her secret intentions—strolled toward a connecting door, whispering how the next room housed the older babies who only took afternoon naps.

  What would Gwen say when she found out?

  “Wait. I’m not ready to leave yet.”

  Her sister returned and strolled more slowly beside her. As Rebecca took time to mosey between each of the baby beds, her sister passed along what she knew of each child in soft tones.

  Hearing their stories…how they came to be orphans… enthralled her. She stopped at the forth little darling.

  How could it be?

  “We have a problem with this one.”

  “No.” She tore her eyes away and faced her sister. “Why in the world…?”

  Gwendolyn nodded toward the far corner where what looked to be a four-year-old sat, glaring. “Well, not so much with the baby, more with his big brother.”

  Rebecca smiled at the boy then, as if her hands couldn’t control themselves, lifted the infant from its crib.

  The older youngster jumped to his feet and charged. “Hey! Stop that! Put him down.”

  Rebecca hugged the baby tighter and breathed in his sweet scent. She knelt as the urchin stormed forward with both fists balled, eyes blazing.

  “Hi, there, little man. What’s your name?”

  He stopped short of her and frowned. “Put him down, Miss Lady. Cain’t buy that baby. Him ain’t for sale. Him’s my brother.”

  She scooted the baby to her left side then spread her right arm out. “Your brother? Well, how wonderful that he has you to look out for him. How about I hold you both?”

  The boy’s shoulders drooped half an inch, maybe more. His fist un-balled, but his eyes still burned white hot. “Cain’t buy me neither. Ain’t for sale. We live here now.”

  She grinned. How could she not love him?

  The baby couldn’t look more like how she’d always pictured Wallace’s son might, and his big brother was obviously cut from the same cloth as her dead husband.

  “Silly boy. Children aren’t for sale here.” She turned to her sister and played indignant. “Are they, Mis’ess Briggs?”

  “No, of course not! We only want to find loving homes for our little ones; families to care for them and play with them. We’d never sell them. Never ever. No no no.”

  The boy’s hands relaxed.

  The intoxicating baby smell set her senses on edge, and she caught herself swooning a bit. Rebecca closed her eyes and kissed the baby’s head. When she opened them, the brother had moved closer.

  His eyes, though not exactly trusting, no longer burned. His expression looked more curious…maybe with a tad of playfulness.

  “Come on. Please? It’s just a hug.” She arched her eyebrows and put on a sad but sweet face. “It’s been a very long time since I had one.”

  “Then you’ll put Rooster down?”

  She nodded. “I promise.”

  The child turned his head and walked into her one-armed embrace and wrapped his arms around her neck. “You stink good.”

  What a left-handed compliment. Just like something Wallace would say, except her husband said such quite on purpose.

  “Thank you.” She carried the brothers to the closest rocker and eased down. “Rooster, you say. Does your brother have another name?”

  “Yep, a whole lot of them. Big Mama called him BabyBoy sometimes, and sometimes a word that lady there...” The little guy threw his chin toward Gwendolyn. “Says I can’t say, or I’ll get my mouth washed out again with lye soap. It tastes bad!”

  “I imagine so.”

  “And little Mama, she…” The boy shrugged. “She didn’t call him nothing before she run off.”

  The baby twisted then kicked as if he needed some attention. Rebecca looked to her sister. “Does he need changing? When is his next feeding due?”

  “Should be dry, but bottle time is getting close. Want to give it to him?”

  “Would it be alright with you?” She looked to the baby’s big brother. “If I fed him before I put him back down?”

  He frowned. “Guess so.”

  “Want to help me?”

  “Sure, but then you gots to put him back. Big Mama says he needs lots of sleep.”

  It took all the milk and a man-sized burp to get the baby all satisfied and happy, but she rocked on, and soon both brothers slept soundly in her lap.

  Never in the whole of her life had she been more certain or sure—even though she’d barely seen a quarter of the children. Those two boys were coming home with her.

  Daddy would love them.

  With both of her soon-to-be-sons lying down together to finish their naps, she located her sister in the business office. Looked a lot like Daddy’s library, except with a feminine flare—books aplenty filled the shelves that covered more than half of one wall, floor to ceiling.

  Slipping into the far wingback, she put on her best poker face. “So what’s the story on the Baby Rooster and his protector?”

  “Brother Paul’s not sure where the mother took off to. The grandmother passed about a month ago though. That’s when we got them.”

  “And who is this Paul?”

  “He’s the preacher at the Methodist church we attend and the chairman of Mercy House’s oversight board.”

  “Has anyone searched for their mother?”

  “Not really. She’s…uh…well….” Gwen shrugged. “Shall we say her reputation isn’t stellar?”

  “I see. What’s the adoption process like? What all does it entail?”

  “Oh, we interview the couple, talk with as many friends and family that we can, check them out. It really depends on if they’re known around town or not. If we approve them, then the couple speaks before the board. It has the final say.”

  “Any costs?”

  “Some, but not much. We’re only concerned with the children’s futures. It’s amazing how God has provided. With the dairy and the older children helping, we pay our own way. Jethro Risen has a gift for inventing time-saving equipment, as you well know.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “We have a fund to help folks out with the legal fees if you’re so inclined to donate.”

  “Sure…if it’ll help me.”

  “Help you?” Gwendolyn leaned back in her chair and looked so much like their mother it warmed Rebecca’s heart. Her sister had acquired Mama’s suspicious nature. “How could making a donation possibly help you? Exactly what does that mean?”

  “Well, I want to adopt Rooster. And his big brother.”

  “What? Did you just say you wanted to adopt those two boys? As in take them home to Texas? Are you crazy? Rebecca, you don’t even have a husband. You’d be going it all alone.”

  “Mama raised Levi and me alone for nine years until she married Daddy.”

  “But it’s such a huge responsibility…I don’t think it’s anything to take on so lightly.”

  “But I’m not taking anything lightly at all. I’ve thought on it a long time and prayed about it. That’s a big reason why I came. That and bei
ng heartsick to see my sisters.”

  “What did Daddy and Mama May have to say about you adopting?”

  “Nothing…yet. I haven’t mentioned it to them. But they wouldn’t change my mind, and neither will you.”

  Gwendolyn shook her head. “We’ve never adopted to a single lady before. I don’t even know if it would be allowed.”

  “But you know I’d be a great mother. I’m convinced of it. What difference does it make that I don’t have a husband? If Wallace and I adopted before the war, he’d still be just as dead.” Tears sprang to fill her eyes.

  “None I suppose. Maybe. I’ve got to talk with Mary Rachel and Jethro…and of course, the others, but.…” She grinned. “You’re right in that those two scalawags couldn’t find a better mother. Aren’t you living in the big house now? Would you stay there?”

  “For now.” She looked off out the window. The mountains certainly made for a beautiful backdrop. Wallace would love it. A heavy sigh escaped. “Anyway, Daddy’s bound and determined to move to Llano. He’s been sending loads of lumber almost weekly for the last month or so, and he and Levi are planning on going in the spring with a crew to start building.”

  “Is that so? Red River County won’t be the same without him.”

  “Once he and Mama make the move, I thought I might buy Levi and Rose’s place. They’re wanting the big house. Need it, too, with all those Baylor young’uns who aren’t all that little anymore.”

  “Well there’s an idea. It’s plenty big enough. Might not mention that you’re planning on living by yourself with two boys though. You know how some men are, thinking we can’t do a thing without some hairy leg galoot right there at all times. Might go better if you didn’t mention moving out of the big house for now.”

  “Bless God that Daddy never fell in with the likes of such men. I’ve always loved it that he taught us all how to shoot and ride and do whatever needed to be done.”

  Gwen snickered. “I could have done without all that cotton picking though.”

  “Amen to that, Sister.”

  “So you’re positive about this? That you want to saddle yourself with two little boys? Why not meet the rest of the children. Look for a daughter. Might make getting approved easier.”