by Woods, Emily
“The night is so clear,” she said softly. “The stars, they shine so bright.”
Jacob made a small noise in his throat, one of agreement. “It's the same sky in Italy,” he commented. “Does it look different here?”
His talk of Italy was both comforting and painful. “Yes and no. I feel the air is different here. In Milan, there are so many streets and people, but here, the houses are far apart.”
“Yes, well, that's country living for you. I guess your family lived in the city?”
She nodded. “Is very different.”
“My family is in the city too. I tried to convince them to come here, but my father...” He sighed, aware of the trickle of anger that niggled at him. “Well, they didn't want to.”
“Moving away is hard,” she acknowledged. “You can only do so for fear or for love.”
It struck him that both he and Carl had moved for the same reason, but different from what Rosa believed. “Or because you have no choice. My father basically kicked my brother and me out of the house when we turned eighteen. There were too many mouths to feed.”
She stopped walking and tilted her head up to look in his face. “You still are angry with your father. How long ago?”
Jacob forced himself to breathe evenly and unclench his jaw. “More than ten years.”
“Ten years is so long for such feelings.” She paused. “Forgive him.”
The force of her words, the passion behind them, nearly caused him to stumble. “You don't know...” he began.
“I know,” she interrupted. “I do not know your father, but I know anger and, uh, what is this word...disappointment. I have it many times in my life. But I forgive, and my heart is happy.”
Just hearing her talk softened his heart a little, and he wanted to know more. “Who did you forgive?”
“My family, brothers and sisters. They ask me to take care of my parents, I say yes, and so I do not marry. I do not have a family because my parents were sick. I was angry for some years, but then God showed me that I will be unhappy forever if I do not forgive.”
Her answer created more questions, but Jacob couldn't pry. He accepted what she said and pondered it.
“I feel like my father could have kept his job and we could have stayed with our family. That's hard to forgive.” That was only part of it, but he wasn't going to burden her with the entire story.
“You do not like Montana? You wish to go home to the city?”
The question surprised him. “I—I don't want to go home now, but it was hard in the beginning. I missed my family so much.”
“Yes, it is hard to leave a family. I know. But sometimes, there is something more for you when you listen to God.”
Jake didn't want to contradict her, nor did he want to reveal how shallow his own faith was, so he merely nodded. She seemed to take this as encouragement and continued.
“I loved my parents, but it was hard to take care of them and watch my brothers and sisters have families. But now, I have a family. My sister's family is mine now.”
His heart squeezed and he wanted to encourage her, tell her that it wasn't too late. She was still a young woman, and there was more than one man in the area who would be happy to marry her, himself included. He may not know her deeply, but his heart was already telling him that she was the one. All he had to do now was convince her.
“You may have your own family one day,” he said softly. “Don't you think so?”
Rosa shrugged a little and smiled. “If it is God's will.”
Her confidence astounded him. He had not suffered more than she had, but his own faith had been lost along the way. Hers had been strengthened and seemed to sustain her. Although he had endured many trials, they hadn't strengthened his faith, but rather had it made it practically disappear.
Perhaps it hadn't been that strong to begin with.
Chapter 13
“Where have you been?” Elise exclaimed when Rosa rejoined her sister. “I haven't seen you for over twenty minutes.”
“I, uh, just went for a walk,” she answered in Italian, not wanting the others to know what she'd been doing. “There's no need to get so upset.”
Elise eyed her suspiciously. “You went for a walk by yourself?”
Although Rosa might be inclined to omit some information, she would never outright lie. “No. I was with Jacob.”
Her sister's frown deepened.
“My dear sister, you must be more careful. You can't just go off alone with any man you please. It doesn't take much to encourage a man out here. You don't want to mislead anyone.”
Rosa laughed incredulously. “By your account, that would have half the men in this place thinking that they can propose to me after tonight. You told me to dance with everyone who asked.”
“That's entirely different!” she countered. “You were in plain sight the whole time. To be alone with someone is not the same.”
After processing this information, Rosa grimaced. “Well then, you won't be too happy about something else.”
Elise pulled her off to the side, crossed her arms, and waited.
“Um, well, I agreed to go on a picnic with him next Saturday, with the children.”
“Which children?” Elise asked, her brows lowering as though thinking deeply.
“Um, well, yours of course, and his nieces and nephews.”
It was almost comical to watch Elise's face transform from worried to pleased. Her smile was so knowing that Rosa wanted to groan.
“Ah, well, you won't do any better than Jacob Bowman. He's a hard worker and a good man.”
Rosa was piqued at the assumption. “Just because I'm going on an outing with him doesn't mean we're automatically going to marry. That's quite a jump, don't you think?”
“Not around here, sister. Even a warm glance at a man is enough to make him think about marrying.”
Rosa didn't know what to say. If there was a man that she would be interested in, it would be Jacob, but she wasn't ready to entertain the notion just yet.
“Should I cancel then?” she asked, worried she’d made a poor decision.
Elise shook her head. “No, but if you're not interested in him, you should make that clear on the outing.”
In that moment, Rosa knew she would have to spend a lot of time in prayer regarding this. As much as she was drawn to Jacob, there was still much more she needed to know before she would even consider the idea of pursuing anything beyond a friendship.
Before she could think about it anymore, Elise was rounding up the women at the dance.
“Now, I think it's time you get to know my friends a little better.”
Since the band was taking a break, the group had a chance to chat. Although they all seemed perfectly nice, Rosa wasn't sure if she would find a close friend among them. She didn't have anything in common with the ladies near her age, and there was almost ten years between herself and the younger ones.
However, it didn't take long for her to warm up to Amanda, Jacob's sister-in-law. She supposed it wasn't really a coincidence that she took to this particular woman, given who she was.
“You are a teacher, yes? It is a most noble profession. You must be very smart.”
Amanda laughed and blushed a little. “Not that smart, and I'm no longer a teacher. These days, I'm just a wife and mother.”
“Just? No just... This is even more noble…and harder, I think? Also, you never stop being a teacher. You teach your children every day.”
A warm light entered Amanda's eyes. “How did you know? It's true. I guess I'll always be a teacher.”
The two chatted for a while longer, and it would have been extremely pleasant if George hadn't kept interrupting them every so often to either ask Rosa a question or bring her something, such as a drink or a treat from the table. His behavior was so obvious that Amanda couldn't help but give Rosa a funny look each time.
At around nine o'clock, the party drew to a close. The little ones were rubbing their eyes and
the adults made comments about getting up early the next day. Before Rosa could say thank you to everyone for attending, George was once again before her.
“I was hoping to show you around when you have some time. There are some real pretty sights not too far from here. What do you say to a picnic this weekend?”
Flustered, Rosa wasn't sure what to say. His forward remark had taken her by surprise and she was momentarily dumbstruck.
“No need,” came a voice from behind George. “I've already offered to play the part of the guide, provided that Elise approves, of course.”
She looked over George's shoulder to see Jacob standing there, a possessive look in his eyes.
“Oh, I see,” George mumbled, clearly disappointed. “That's how it is. Well, I shouldn't be surprised. Once a man gets a bit of land, that's all it takes.”
Rosa was indignant and about to reply when Elise laid a restraining hand on her arm.
“But that was kind of you to offer, George. Thank you.”
It was a good thing Elise had prevented her from speaking because the words on her tongue were caustic and probably would do harm to whatever reputation she may have earned.
“Yes, thank you,” she said stiffly instead. “I appreciate it.”
The faces of the other men also reflected disappointment, each one probably thinking the same as George: she'd already made up her mind.
That her future could be sealed so easily disturbed her, and she found other words coming out of her mouth that she didn't intend. “Maybe another time.”
She immediately regretted her words when she saw George's face light up with hope. “Anytime you want. Just give me a holler, and I'll make time.”
The man went away happy, but Rosa realized that she'd made a mistake. In her attempt to show that she was still her own woman and was not spoken for, she'd done exactly what Elise had warned her against and led the man on. Worse than that was the look on Jacob's face. While it would be an overstatement to say that he was crushed, the sparkle in his eye disappeared.
Elise and the others discreetly moved away and left the two of them standing alone.
“I will see you next Sunday? Elise is happy for me to go.” She worked hard to keep her voice bright.
He nodded and smiled a little, but his enthusiasm had dampened. “Sure. I'll pick you up around eleven o'clock.”
“Yes. Good. Thank you.”
He nodded once more and then made his way to the exit, leaving Rosa feeling as though she'd lost something, but that was ridiculous. She didn't have anything, so what could she have lost?
* * *
Jacob chided himself for behaving so petulantly, but he couldn't seem to control his feelings. Was Rosa going to accept every invitation that came her way? She hadn't struck him as the type to lead on any man who crossed her path, and hadn't she actually tried to escape the attentions of George Campbell? Why had she suddenly changed her mind? Was it something he said, or maybe something George had said?
He reviewed the conversation in his mind.
Rosa seemed to take offense to the comment that she was going on a picnic with him because he was a land owner. Perhaps she felt insulted and wanted to show them that she wasn't as shallow as that. The thought cheered him up a little, but he still had to contend with the fact he wasn't the only one in pursuit of her.
From practically the moment they'd met, he'd felt so drawn to her that he could almost see their future together. The only thing preventing his vision from being complete was that her faith seemed to be ahead of his by leaps and bounds. However, he thought that perhaps it didn't matter that much. He would go along with whatever she wanted in that regard. It didn't bother him that other people believe in God; he just didn't see things the same way.
Deciding that a little competition wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Jacob changed his outlook. He would take Rosa out and show her such a good time that anything George tried to do would pale in comparison.
But what could he do that would make her see he was clearly the better choice? That would require some thought. For now, he had to think about everything else he needed to do to prepare for the arrival of the horses in just five days.
* * *
As she prepared for bed, Rosa mulled over the events of the evening. She'd been annoyed at her sister for forcing the party on her and then for expecting her to socialize with everyone there, no matter who they were. The time she spent with the women was nice enough, but she had to figure out how to dissuade the men for pursuing her any further.
One idea that popped into her head was creating a fictitious beau, or better yet, someone they knew. She wondered if Jacob would be willing to go along with the idea.
The thought of him sent a small shiver up her spine. It wouldn't be hard to pretend with him, but she wanted to get to know him better first. She knew that he was going to be at his ranch the day after tomorrow, checking that everything was in order before the arrival of the five Thoroughbreds. Although she had initially been against the raising of horses for the Army, now that she knew Jacob a little better, she hoped he would do well. In fact, she prayed for him to do well.
“And, Lord, if he's the one for me, if You have plans for the two of us, would You please show me? I don't want to get my hopes up.”
The time they'd spent together had been enjoyable this evening, but something was a tiny bit off. She couldn't figure it out, but she didn't feel as comfortable as she'd hoped with him. He was a perfect gentleman, but there was something about his responses to her statements about God's will for their lives that didn't sit well with her.
Could it be that he wasn't a believer? The thought seemed too incredible to consider. He hadn’t refuted any of her statements, but neither did he agree with them enthusiastically. Perhaps he didn’t feel the same way. That would be a huge obstacle if it were true. She would never consider a union with someone whose beliefs were so drastically different from her own.
As soon as she could, she would find out if this were the case, and if it was as she suspected, the outing would have to be canceled.
There was no question of that.
Chapter 14
As Cole, Alex, and Jacob worked their way down the checklist one more time the following Monday, a figure approached the barn. Alex was the first to notice.
“Who's that?” he asked, causing the other two to look up from the list.
Jacob instantly recognized Rosa and jogged towards her without answering.
“Good morning,” he greeted her when she was still far enough away to be out of earshot. “What brings you by?” He tried to make his voice sound casual, but failed miserably. His excitement at seeing her combined with the fact that his nerves were already on edge regarding the arrival of the horses in four days had his question coming out more aggressively than he intended.
However, Rosa took no offense. He could tell that her mind was too filled up with something else.
“I wanted to see how you are doing. I thought maybe you have time for a short walk? From tomorrow, you will be very busy.”
He couldn't be sure, but she appeared to be quite nervous herself.
“Sure, I can do that. Let me just tell Alex and Cole.” That only took a minute, and he returned to her side. “Any particular direction you'd like to walk?”
Rosa shook her head. “Just show me your favorite parts of the ranch.”
That was easy enough. Jacob began walking in the direction of the river that flowed from Falls Creek. The spring runoff caused it to rush by, creating a turbulent yet glorious sight.
“In the fall, it looks quite different. You almost wouldn't recognize it as the same river.” He had to raise his voice a little to be heard, but was glad to see how fascinated she was.
“I see why you like it here,” she answered, also raising her voice. “But can we go somewhere a little more quiet?”
He obliged her by going downstream a ways to where the stream widened out and was thus less raucous.
“What's on your mind?” he asked, not enjoying the suspense. “I didn't expect to see you until Sunday. Not that I mind, of course.” He added the last part quickly in case she misunderstood. “I'm just surprised.”
“Yes, I know, but I have to ask you something and it cannot wait.”
Now his senses tingled, and not in a pleasant way. He suspected that he question must be very pressing, or she wouldn't have walked the hour it took to get from the Porter house to here.
“Go ahead,” he replied with more confidence than he felt.
Rosa took a deep breath and turned to face him. “Jacob, do you believe in God?”
Although he wasn't sure what to expect, the direct question startled him.
“Uh, well, yes. I guess so.”
That was the truth, but it didn't seem to please her.
“You guess?” Her eyes narrowed.
He wished he'd had more time to prepare, and he scrambled for an adequate answer.
“Um, yeah. There doesn't really seem to be any other reasonable explanation for the world and the people in it, so I'd say that God is real.”
“You say? Real how?”
Stalling, he bent over to pick up a smooth stone and skipped it along the riverbed.
“Well, not real like you and me, but real like, He's a power that we can't see, a power that made the Earth and all that is in.”
She didn't seem to like that much either.
“We may not see God, but we know He is real because He lives in our hearts. His Spirit is with us every day.” Her lips twitched a little and she blinked a few times. “And what about Jesus?”
Jacob blew out a breath. “Yeah, I know about Jesus.”
“You know about Him?” Her tone was incredulous. “Even the evil one knows about Jesus. What do you believe?”
It was too much. He leaned against a tree for support and blew out a long breath. “I believe that I have a good life. I've worked hard for the past ten years, saving every penny I earned for this ranch. Now I have it. The world is beautiful, and I appreciate it.”