Rachel’s heart melted at the precious words. “Caleb, you shouldn’t say things like that to me, but,” she quickly added when he opened his mouth to argue, “I’m so glad you did. I enjoy being with you, too; you’ve brought so much to our lives, Caleb. I can’t tell you how much.”
Caleb’s throat developed a knot, and it became hard to swallow. No one had ever meant so much to him. No one had ever affected him like Rachel Branigan did.
But one word, spoken by Caitlin, destroyed the moment.
“Snake.”
That word sent both Caleb and Rachel into a frozen panic. Caleb’s head snapped up to look where Caitlin stood. Coiled in front of her, its head arched back in a curve and its tail rattling a warning, was a rattler.
And it was ready to strike.
Rachel turned and with a cry started to run toward her daughter. Caleb grabbed her and held her still.
“Don’t! If you frighten Caitlin and make her move, that snake will strike.”
Rachel whimpered but nodded her head. She was shaking, and Caleb knew it took everything within her not to run to her little girl.
Luckily, Caitlin didn’t seem to be upset at seeing the snake. She apparently had no idea it was dangerous and could bite. She watched the rattling tail in fascination.
Sweat started to bead on Caleb’s forehead as he slowly reached into his saddlebag and brought out his six-shooter.
Rachel gasped when she saw the gun flash in the preacher’s hand. He sent her a brief look of warning, then turned his attention back to the rattler.
Slowly and carefully, he inched forward. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, and he had to force his arm to be steady. One shot was all he’d have. And it had been three long years since he’d touched a trigger.
He was close enough, he knew. He cocked the gun and took aim.
But Caitlin moved and the snake struck.
Later, Caleb wouldn’t remember the moment he knew to pull the trigger. It had been all instinct and reflex.
Just like it had always been.
The snake’s head exploded in midair. Caitlin screamed and fell backward.
“CAITLIN!” Rachel screamed and rushed to her daughter, who lay prone on the ground. For one horrifying moment, she thought Caleb had shot her.
But Caitlin was already trying to sit up by the time Rachel reached her. Her face was pale and teary. “Snake was gonna get me!” she cried as she threw her trembling arms around her mother’s neck.
“Shhh. It’s okay, sweetheart. Caleb got the snake. It’s all right now,” she said softly into her daughter’s satiny hair.
It wasn’t until she spoke his name that she realized Caleb had not walked over to them. She looked over her shoulder at him.
He was still standing where he had fired the pistol. His eyes were dazed as he looked down into his hand where the six-shooter lay. His face was white as a sheet, and he was shaking.
“Caleb?”
He looked up, but she could tell he wasn’t really seeing her. It was as if his mind was occupied, like he was somewhere far off and very frightened.
She felt afraid for him but had no idea why.
Slowly he lowered his eyes to the pistol and held it tightly in his fist. He blinked one time, then again, and looked as if he were just becoming aware of his surroundings. His grip loosened on the pistol. Without looking in Rachel’s direction, he walked over to his horse and put the gun back into the saddlebag.
Caleb closed his eyes for a moment and leaned his head forward to rest on his saddle. He breathed in deeply. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks and a small plea for strength. For one terrifying moment, it had all come back to him. The power of holding the pistol in his hand. The adrenaline that surged through his system. But this time he hadn’t been in complete control. This time he was gripped by fear.
Fear and guns were a deadly combination.
He could have missed.
“Caleb?” Rachel called out. He felt her warm hand on his back. “Are you okay?”
He pushed back from the saddle and turned toward her. Rachel looked at him with concern as she cradled Caitlin in her arms. “Is she all right?” he demanded.
Rachel nodded. “She’s just fine, Caleb. Thanks to you.”
“Caley!” Caitlin cried and then flew into Caleb’s arms. He caught her easily and held her against his chest. He held out his other arm, and Rachel joined them.
Rachel and Caleb really couldn’t have said how long they stood that way—Caleb with an arm around each of them, holding them to him as if they were his dearest possessions. And they both had to laugh when Caitlin started wiggling, wanting down.
It lightened both of their moods.
But it was getting late, and Caleb knew Rachel had to get back to her job.
“Thank you, Caleb. I could never repay you for what you did. I just hope that you are all right,” she said with concern.
He smiled, though there was a weariness in his eyes. “I’m fine.” He patted her arm. “Now you two get on back. I’ll watch to make sure you get there all right.”
She nodded and gave him one last searching look, then she and Caitlin began making their way back to the mercantile.
Caleb was mounting his horse when he felt it, a prickly sensation that started at the back of his neck and ran down the length of his back. It was another one of those things that he’d not experienced in three years.
In the past it had never failed him.
Quick as lightning, he whirled around and searched the trees that lined the far side of the creek. Nothing. He relaxed and chuckled to himself. He chalked it up to leftover nerves from handling the gun today. He let out a breath and took one last look at the thick woods, then mounted his horse.
From his resting place beside a tree, a slightly drunk Snake Barnes watched the rider fade from his view. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head.
“Nah! It couldn’ be,” he mumbled to himself. “Tha’ looked like Stone!”
He sighed, scratched his whiskers, and pulled himself up. He swayed but caught himself.
“Gotta tell Jenkins ’bout this,” he said aloud.
He then made his way back to the gang’s camp, chuckling all the way.
Chapter 9
The tapping at his door brought Caleb awake immediately. He’d always been a light sleeper. In his former line of work, that had been a necessity.
He was grumbling to himself about it being the middle of the night when he opened the door. At first he didn’t see anyone. Then he looked down.
Whatever he’d expected, it certainly hadn’t been two blond-headed children wearing ragged clothing and looking at him like he was their only hope.
Ten-year-old Jessie Holt stood bravely in front of the frightening man, gripping his five-year-old sister’s hand. Their mama and daddy had died a few weeks back of influenza, and they had been left in their aunt’s care. She wasn’t a particularly good person, though; and when she’d heard that the preacher in this town had talked about starting an orphanage, she wasted no time in finding his house and dumping them off. All they owned in the world were the clothes on their backs and a crudely written letter their aunt had sent the preacher.
Caleb stared at the children for a moment, wondering what they were doing at his door, particularly at this time of night. He opened his mouth to ask that question, but the boy held a piece of paper out to him.
Puzzled, he reached out, took the paper, and smoothed it out so that he could read it. The writing was messy and almost illegible, like a child had written it. But the message was all too clear: These kids had been abandoned.
And they expected him to take care of them.
He did what most men would do in this kind of situation—he panicked. Then he went in search of help.
Addie and Rachel nearly fell over each other as they came rushing out of their bedrooms at the same time.
Rachel pushed her tangled hair out of her eyes. “Who do you think it is?” she asked a startled Ad
die.
“I don’t know, but I guess we better go down and see!” she answered. “Oh, wait!” Addie added as she disappeared back inside her room. When she returned, she was holding a shotgun.
Rachel gasped. “Addie! What in the world are you going to do with that?”
“It’s for protection!” she declared.
“Addie Hayes, I don’t think I trust you with that gun! Do you even know how to use it?”
“I’ve seen it done.”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed in the darkness. “Addie, just because you went all three nights to see that Wild West traveling show, it doesn’t make you Annie Oakley!”
“Shhh!” Addie hushed her as they walked into the store. The shades were pulled and the room was dark. She walked quickly to the side of the door. “Get back, Rachel,” she hissed. “They could start shootin’.”
Rachel rolled her eyes but did as ordered.
Addie cocked the rifle with a flair that would have done Wild Bill proud and shouted out, “Okay!” She pushed the lock on the door and threw it open. “Hold it right there….”
Her voice trailed off into a whisper when she looked into the amused eyes of Reverend Stone.
“Saw the Wild West show, did you, Miz Hayes?” he asked with a straight face.
“Is she goin’ to shoot us?” a voice asked below them.
Addie and Rachel’s gaze zeroed in on the two children standing next to Caleb. But the children didn’t seem to notice the attention. Their eyes were trained on the barrel of the shotgun pointed in their direction.
“Oh!” Addie cried with a red face. She quickly propped up the gun inside the door. “Come on in, Brother Caleb.”
“Brother Caleb, whose children are these?” Rachel asked as the threesome stepped inside.
Caleb wearily removed the hat from his head and laid it on the counter. “Ladies, meet Jessie and Emmy Holt. They’re from Louisiana. Their ma and pa died about six weeks ago, and their aunt dropped them off at my front door just a little while ago.”
“You mean she just left them with you and rode off?” Rachel asked in disbelief. “What was her reason?”
“I didn’t talk to her. She wrote a note for Jessie to give to me, and it didn’t say much.”
“She said she wouldn’t be able to find her a husband if she was saddled with two kids,” Jessie explained calmly, drawing the adults’ attention. He looked so much older than his ten years as he stood calmly before them, still holding his sister’s hand.
Ever the crusader, Addie became indignant. “I say we hitch up a few wagons and see to finding this woman. We’ll bring her back here to face her responsibilities!”
“Now, Miz Hayes,” Caleb interjected. “She’ll just go dump them off some other place. Next time it could be a worse place than my house.”
Addie grew quiet as the truth set in. Everyone knew that a lot of bad things could happen to innocent children in this day and age.
Rachel smiled down at the little girl as she asked Caleb, “Brother Caleb, what do you need us to do?”
Caleb seemed to hedge on his answer. “I was hoping that … maybe … you two could watch them for me tonight. I don’t have extra bedding for the other beds in the house. I’m just not prepared.”
Addie nodded. “Of course we will. Come on, kids. Let’s get you into some bedclothes, and I’ll show you where you can sleep!”
Caleb and Rachel watched with amazement as Addie hustled the children up the stairs before either of them could answer.
Caleb shook his head. “Is she always like that?”
Rachel giggled. “Yep. She’s probably thirty-five years older than me, but I can’t keep up with her!”
It grew quiet in the room, and for the first time, they realized that they were all alone.
Caleb looked around as if searching for something to say, then gave up and just looked back at her.
“I’ll be here as early as I can get here in the morning,” he finally said.
She blinked and realized that she’d been staring at him. “Oh. Uh, okay,” she stammered. She started to turn away, but he took her chin between his thumb and finger.
He leaned forward and softly kissed her lips, then backed away.
“Good night, Rachel.” His voice sounded as if it had been raked over sandpaper.
He was out of the building, and Rachel realized that she hadn’t uttered a word since the kiss. She didn’t even tell him good-bye.
Rachel would always wonder if she’d walked back up those stairs that night or if she actually had floated.
The next morning, before Rachel had even come downstairs, Caleb and Addie talked about what he must do.
He’d discussed his plans with the church board about starting an orphanage. They were in favor of doing so, although they’d planned for it to be further in the future. For now, he’d have to keep the kids at the parsonage until he could find them a good home. He would also need to build an extra room onto his house. For that, he’d need the church members’ help.
But the biggest problem he faced was finding household help during the day. Who would cook their meals? He couldn’t take them to the restaurant for each of their meals. Who could fill this role?
They both voted for Rachel. Rachel, however, was horrified by the plan.
“You want me to do what?” Rachel blurted out to Caleb. “You two can’t be serious!”
Caleb took her hand in his. “Rachel, just listen, all right? What better way to get folks used to seeing us together? And just think of the time that we will be able to spend together every day, Rachel!”
Addie glared at Caleb. “Now, hold on there, boy! Just what are your intentions concerning Rachel?”
Caleb let her hands go and threw his arms up in surrender. “Perfectly honorable, Addie. I’ve been telling Rachel that I’d like to court her. Well, if we can’t be together as a couple in public just yet, at least we can get to know each other better with her helping with the kids at my house.”
Addie crossed her arms under her bosom. She looked stern. “I hope you realize what you’re up against, ’cause it won’t be easy.” She turned to Rachel. “And you, young lady. How do you feel about all this?”
Rachel glanced at Caleb, then back at Addie. “Oh Addie, I don’t know. Ever since I met Caleb, I’ve wished I was a normal girl with no past to drag around with me. I don’t want this to make things worse for us. I hope and pray things will work out,” she said truthfully.
Addie sighed and dropped her arms. “Oh, all right. Just watch everything that you do, you hear? I ’spect God will work this out, if it’s His will. You just got to be careful!” She pinned Rachel with another look. “Now tell me straight. Are you going to help out this poor man or not?”
Rachel looked at Addie, then Caleb. He looked back at her with pleading eyes.
“Yes. I’ll do it,” she said. “I just hope we’re all not sorry later on!”
By that afternoon, word had spread throughout Springton about the children. Folks came to the parsonage with clothes for the children and enough food to last several weeks. Bobby Joe Aaron, one of the owners of Aaron Brothers Sawmill, came by and offered the lumber and labor needed to build an addition onto the parsonage.
Bobby Joe was one man Caleb had yet to figure out. He came to church Sunday mornings with his little girl and his three brothers, but he rarely socialized. Addie had told him that Bobby Joe’s wife had left him when his daughter was only a baby. His wife later died, but Bobby Joe didn’t show any interest in finding a replacement for her. He seemed like a sad man. Caleb prayed that he might be able to reach out to him someday.
His final guests were Prudence and Patience Primrose. He let them in and they met the children. Prudence barely acknowledged them, but Patience cooed and made over them like she’d never seen children before. Then she’d turned her attentions Caleb’s way.
She was sweet on him, that much was obvious. And somewhere along the line, someone must have told her that batting
her eyelashes was attractive to a man, because she could bat those lashes faster than anything he’d ever seen. And she giggled. There wasn’t anything that wore on his nerves faster than a giggling female.
Unless, of course, the giggle was sweet and sounded like bells. Like … Rachel’s!
“I just wanted to tell you, Brother Caleb, that I would be happy to come around some night and cook for you. I know you must have a lot of volunteers, but I can come anytime you want!” Patience offered with a lot of the batting and giggling thrown in.
“Oh, well, I—”
“Now, we won’t take no for an answer, Reverend,” Prudence interjected. “Patience is an excellent cook, and a man with children in the house needs a woman around who can cook!”
There was more than one way to take that little speech, and Caleb wasn’t going to think about the other! “Well, you see, Miz Primrose,” he began, “I have hired someone to come and take care of the house and fix our meals.”
Twin pairs of eyebrows rose at that. “Who? I can’t think of a soul who has the time, unless it’s the Widow Miles; but she’s seventy years old if she’s a day. She won’t have the energy.”
“Miz Primrose, it’s not the Widow Miles.” He paused, then just blurted it out. “Rachel Branigan will be helping us.”
They both froze upon hearing Rachel’s name.
“It was really thoughtful of her,” Caleb continued. “I mean, she has a daughter and a lot of work to do at the store. But she cares about children and doesn’t want to see them suffer. I’m sure they’ll appreciate having a woman around, too.”
He stood up. “Well, I notice it’s getting dark outside. I’m sure you two will want to be on your way,” he said, ignoring the suspicious look from Prudence.
“Reverend Stone. I really think you should rethink this! I—”
“Now, now, Miz Primrose. What we do for others, we do for God! You wouldn’t want to take away her blessing, would you?” He opened the door. “It’s been a pleasure, ladies. And I’ll look forward to your song this Sunday, Patience,” he added, hoping to distract them.
It worked. Patience, batting and giggling, replied, “Why, thank you, Reverend! And we insist that you come eat Sunday dinner with us. The children, too, of course!”
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