by Linda Ford
“Better make it two. I want to have everything ready tonight. Mr. Gratton arrives tomorrow.”
“Two hours, then.” He touched the brim of his hat.
She hated watching him leave and wanted to say something more about his intention, but she only nodded, then headed indoors.
Judd strode away as if his mission required it, but George Gratton was the man he sought. He had no reason to look further. He simply had to observe the man and wait for the right time and situation.
Madge’s convictions about revenge had seared his conscience. But he could not walk away from his goal. Mr. Gratton must be stopped. Justice must be served.
Madge did not know she worked in the house of his enemy, and he didn’t intend to tell her.
He had two hours to pass and nothing to do. He wandered to the edge of town and stared out across the prairie. A man could settle down here and be content. Why had he thought he wanted to go back to the foothills and ranching? The idea no longer fit. A bit of land of his own, a nice little house, a wife—
A chuckle sprang to his lips. His land and house were just wisps in his mind but “wife” had shape and form. Madge. He reflected on the idea. She’d make a very nice wife—hardworking, cheerful, determined.
Buoyed by thoughts of Madge, he moseyed back to the center of town and parked on a bench outside the store to wait. He listened to conversations around him, hoping to hear something about George Gratton.
A man sauntered by and paused to study Judd. “You waiting for something?”
Judd explained he was tutor to Miss Louisa. “Her sister is cleaning the Sterling house.”
“I heard someone was moving in.”
Judd risked asking more. “Anyone you know?”
“Heard it was a relative of the banker’s wife.”
Judd already knew that. He wanted to know why. “What do you suppose brought him here?”
The man leaned on the wall and picked his teeth with a straw. “Heard he was going to work at the bank. Suppose he’ll be helping the banker take people’s homes from them.” He chomped down on the straw and then spat it out.
Judd expected Mr. Gratton’s methods would serve the banker well. He could see how Gratton could use this to his advantage, too. With access to personal financial information, he’d learn who he should befriend. His situation would enable him to steal from someone else. Judd clenched down on his back teeth. He would see that another helpless woman or vulnerable family wasn’t hurt by this man.
Two hours later he returned to the house. Madge stowed cleaning supplies in the car and looked up at his approach.
“Any success?”
He drew back, at a loss over her question.
“Locating this man you seek?”
“Oh. Yes. I’m certain I’ve located him.”
She quirked an eyebrow and waited. When he didn’t offer any more information, she prodded. “Someone I know?”
“Can’t say. Doesn’t matter. I’ll watch him and when the time is right—” He pressed his lips into a grimace.
She edged closer and touched his arm. “Judd, please reconsider. I fear there is a fine line between justice and anger.”
She cared. The knowledge almost made him willing to give up his plan. Almost. But he couldn’t shake the burden of guilt pressing against his heart. “If I’d been home, I would have stopped him before he stole Mother’s money. Now the best I can do is—”
“Can you get her money back?”
“Maybe.”
“Can you get her house back?”
“Depends on whether the bank has sold it already.” Mother said she didn’t care about the house, but Judd was certain she only wanted her sons to feel better.
“Have you prayed about this?”
Her words tore at his conscience, warring with his faith. But he didn’t see how he could trust God to fix this problem.
He hadn’t told Mother his plans. He’d guessed her reaction would be much like Madge’s. “This is something I have to do.”
They got into the automobile, but if Judd thought Madge had forgotten the subject, she proved him wrong.
“Judd, you can’t undo the past. Even if you feel you failed your mother by not being there, this is not going to change anything.”
“I did fail her. As the oldest, I should have protected her.”
“What about Carson? He’s a lawyer. Why didn’t he stop the man?”
He’d posed the same question to his brother. Carson had insisted Mother had not told anyone her plans, had not consulted anyone. None of them had known what she’d done until she’d informed them she would be moving out of the house. Only after much prodding had Carson managed to squeeze the truth from her.
“I intend to stop the man.”
Madge made a sound of distress. “I fear for you.”
“You do?” The idea tasted like honey. She had both hands on the steering wheel, and he reached over and squeezed one. “I’m glad you care.”
A jolt ran through her arm to his. “Of course I do. My family could be hurt by anything you do.”
He removed his hand and stared out the window. He didn’t want her to care for her family’s sake. He wanted her to care for his sake. Though either way, it would make no difference. He had his mind set on this course. The man had to pay, had to be stopped. Judd must somehow make up for failing his mother.
Chapter Six
Madge dropped Justin at the soddie, refusing his help to unload the baskets of laundry. She needed the time to sort out her feelings before she went indoors.
Judd had accused her of caring. She hadn’t denied it. She couldn’t. But the knowledge left her shaken and struggling for mental balance. Her only defense was the argument she’d given him—what he did had the potential to impact her family, especially Louisa.
Louisa had not yet gone to her room when Madge entered the house. She sat in an upright chair, Mouse in her lap.
Madge stiffened her spine, knowing something was amiss. “You should be in bed by now. You’ll overtire yourself with all this studying and staying up late.”
Louisa gently stroked Mouse, then lifted her head and gave Madge a look fit to cause her heart to stall. “Mother told me about Justin.”
Madge quirked an eyebrow. “I’m sorry. Is that supposed to mean something?”
“She didn’t hire him just to be my tutor. She picked him as my future husband.”
Madge sat down.
“She said you knew.”
Madge could do no more than nod. In a secret corner of her thoughts, she’d clutched the idea that neither Judd nor Louisa knew of Mother’s plan, so she wasn’t really stealing from her sister. Now she could no longer deceive herself. She resisted an urge to say she’d seen him first.
“And yet you spend every evening in his company.” Louisa’s voice rang with accusation. It was an exaggeration. They’d spent only a few evenings together.
“You have him all day. Besides, I don’t invite him along. He has business in town so he finds it convenient to catch a ride.”
“He has his own auto which, I’m sure I don’t need to point out, is in much better shape than ours. Besides, what’s this business he has?”
Madge tried to ignore the little surge of pleasure that she knew Judd’s secret and Louisa did not. A flood of guilt followed—hard. How petty to feel in competition with her sister. “Ask him yourself. After all, you two should be getting to know one another better.”
They smiled at each other, but Madge wasn’t fooled. Behind Louisa’s smile lay a scowl, just as one lay behind her own.
“I’m tired. I’m going to bed. Do you want help?”
“No, thank you.”
Good, because I don’t feel like helping you.
But a few minutes later, in her room, her uncharitable attitude haunted her. Lord, forgive me. I’ve known from the beginning what Mother’s plans were. I knew better than to think about Judd in a romantic way. She had no one to blame but herself tha
t her heart had betrayed her. She’d let her imagination take her so far off course.
Holding her Bible on her lap, she bowed over it and prayed for wisdom to deal with this situation and strength to do what was right. Paying no attention to where her bookmark lay, she let the pages fall open and skimmed over the words before her. She’d marked the last two verses of a psalm. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Oh God, give me the strength to keep my face toward what is right. Judd cannot belong to me. Not without hurting Louisa, and I couldn’t live with myself if I stole him from her.
Even as she murmured the words, she wondered if Judd might have something to say about the arrangement. No. She would not keep allowing herself excuses and loopholes.
Judd had accompanied them to church each Sunday. Today was no different. The five of them crowded into the car. Judd offered to drive, so Madge made sure Louisa sat beside him. She crawled in the back with Mother and Sally and pretended she didn’t see his look of surprise.
When they got to church she lingered behind, waiting for Judd to follow the family into a pew. He hesitated, glancing at her. She smiled and nodded as if everything was fine when, inside, sharp talons scraped at her heart. Why must he be all she’d ever dreamed of in a man? Not as Justin, but as Judd. Strong, adventuresome, determined—her eyes stung with worry. Though he’d said nothing about how he planned to make the man he sought pay, she feared his determination would end in disaster.
He waited a moment, and when she made no move toward joining the family, he sat—but not before she’d seen his mouth draw down in resignation.
She spotted Joanie and went to sit with her.
Pastor Jones had a good sermon. At least she suspected he did because of the way others in the congregation nodded agreement and murmured, “Amen.” She couldn’t concentrate, as her gaze insisted on sliding toward Judd, sitting calmly beside Louisa. Anyone watching would think he listened intently. She wondered if he did. From the little she heard of the sermon, she understood the pastor exhorted them to trust God in these hard times.
“He is the answer to our suffering and sorrow. He is the One who offers hope, justice and everything we need for godliness and contentment.”
Throughout the service, Joanie shifted and glanced around. Something bothered her.
As soon as the final “Amen” had been said and people began to move about, Joanie turned to her. “Conrad isn’t here. None of his family is. Something’s wrong. I know it.”
It was unusual, but perhaps not a cause for worry.
“I’m going out to see for myself.”
“How will you get there?” The Burnses’ farm was ten miles from town, and Joanie’s family didn’t own a car. Nor even a horse and buggy.
“Can you take me?”
“Certainly.” She welcomed the chance to do something away from home, away from Judd and Louisa and the knowledge of her forbidden attraction. “I’ll take the others home first.”
“Hurry. I’m terribly worried.”
Madge squeezed Joanie’s arm. “You’re disappointed because you hoped to see him.”
Joanie’s eyes crinkled in amusement and embarrassment. “True. But then, it’s not as if I see him any other time.”
Madge gathered up her family and hurried them to the car, explaining she’d promised to take Joanie to the Burnses’. “She’s worried because none of them showed up today.”
Mother tsked. “I do hope they aren’t sick.”
“They should give up and move on,” Louisa said.
Sally gasped. “Louisa, how can you suggest such a thing? What will they have if they leave?”
Louisa sighed. “Surely there are better places with more opportunity. I can’t think it’s as bad all over the country as right here.”
Madge kept her opinion to herself. From what she’d heard, people were worse off in many other places. “Hurry up, girls. Joanie is waiting for me.”
“Where’s Justin?” Louisa demanded. “We can’t leave him behind.”
The thought crossed Madge’s mind to do exactly that. She knew he often walked to town in the dusk. But the others only knew him as Justin, with a bum leg and poor lungs.
“There he is.” Louisa waved, indicating they were ready to leave.
Justin limped over and crawled in the passenger side. That left Madge to drive and share the front seat with him.
She didn’t care. She ignored him for the few minutes required to reach home. But it took a great deal of effort to concentrate on the conversation in the back and on her driving.
The trip seemed longer than usual. She put it down to her need to hurry for Joanie’s sake—not her acute awareness of Judd so close, nor his probing glances. If they’d been alone, he would have surely demanded an explanation for her strange behavior. He couldn’t miss the fact she’d gone out of her way to avoid him. Thankfully Mother and her two sisters shared the car, preventing him from making a comment.
She pulled up to the house and waited for everyone to get out. Mother and her sisters hurried inside. Judd gave no indication he meant to get out.
“Any objection to me going along?”
She wanted to argue, but try as she might, she couldn’t dredge up a single word of protest.
“I’ll switch to the back when you pick up your friend.”
Still, she could do no more than stare at him.
“Who knows what you’ll find at the farm? Might be a wreck and you’ll be grateful for my company.”
“Fine.” As she drove from the yard, she glimpsed Louisa at the window and instantly regretted her decision. But it was too late, and she didn’t want to waste the day arguing with him. But then, she also didn’t want to confront the questions she expected he wanted to ask. So she began talking about Conrad’s family.
“Conrad’s father died several years ago. He’s the eldest and has been running the place since. He has four younger siblings. Mary is…well, she must be fourteen by now. Then there’s Quint—he’s a couple years younger than Mary but a big boy. I expect he’s a lot of help to Connie now. The two little girls are six and seven. Rosie and Pearl.”
“Uh-huh.”
“They live on a farm. But you know how farming is right now. The drought, the dust, the grasshoppers.” Her voice trailed off. These were all things he was well aware of.
He nodded, his gaze fixed on her as if realizing why she poured out all this information.
She rushed on so he wouldn’t get a chance to probe. “Connie’s mother has been sick a lot lately. I expect she’s under the weather again, and Connie didn’t feel like he should leave her to attend church.”
“Perhaps we should stop by and ask the doctor to visit.”
“Conrad’s mother refuses to see the doctor. Says she can’t afford to pay. Besides, I don’t think it’s up to me to make such a decision.”
“I suppose not, though I would expect you’d do what you had to do, with or without permission.”
He sounded as if he thought doing so was admirable, and she allowed herself a quick glance. And instantly regretted it. His dark gaze filled with questions, demands, regrets….
She swallowed hard and forced her attention back to the road.
A regretful sigh whistled past his teeth. “Just as I’d expect honesty from you if I have somehow upset you.”
“Honesty from me?” Her voice squeaked a protest. “Now, that’s ironic from a man pretending to be something he isn’t.”
“You know my reasons, and I’ve been honest enough with you about them.”
“Perhaps because I found you out?”
“Maybe I wanted you to.”
At the gentleness in his tone, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing at him again. At the teasing smile on his lips, she understood he was trying to correct whatever had made her avoid him so pointedly all day. Thankfully they had reached town, and she was s
aved from trying to explain.
Joanie stood on the front step waiting. She ran to the car as Judd stepped out. “Oh, excuse me.” She ducked to peer at Madge.
“Joanie, this is Justin Bellamy.”
“The tutor?” She eyed him up and down, winked at Madge, then, before Madge could do or say anything, climbed in. “Let’s be on our way.”
Madge hoped no one would detect any hint of the heat flooding her cheeks. Joanie was wrong. There was no romance. Nothing to make her nudge Madge and giggle as Judd closed the door after her.
“I didn’t invite him along,” she whispered before Judd climbed into the back.
Joanie took the conversation no further. Instead she amused them with tales of adventures she and Conrad had been on. Madge knew it was her friend’s way of keeping her worries at bay. By the time they arrived at the farm, Madge was almost as worried as Joanie. It was unusual for none of them to attend church. Mary often brought the younger children if her mother was ill. And Connie made an effort to come, if only to see his favorite gal—Joanie.
They turned down the trail toward the house. The two little Burns girls sat dejectedly on the step as Madge pulled the car to a halt. The wheels hadn’t ceased rolling before Joanie bolted from the car and rushed to them.
“What’s wrong? Where is everyone?”
“They’s inside with Momma,” Rosie said.
“Momma is very sick.” Pearl shuddered.
Joanie hugged them both, but her glance sought out the mysteries of the house.
“I’ll take care of them,” Madge murmured. “You go see what’s going on.” She pulled the two trembling girls to her side.
Judd held the door open for Joanie. “Can I help?”
Joanie shivered. “I don’t know.” She slipped inside.
Madge edged the girls away from the step, into the sunshine. She wanted to ask them how long their momma had been sick, but it was plain as jam on toast that the children were near to breaking down. Instead she sat on the empty water trough and pulled them to her side.