by Lori Wick
122”I don’t know,” Jessie said, fingering the small piece of cinnamon-colored thread. “You might have to check with Jeanette.”
“Jeanette isn’t open on Mondays.”
“Well, then, let’s go look.”
The women found Seth at the front counter, but he was working with a pretty, dark-haired woman who wanted to order something from the catalog. Clancy sat on the counter looking on, and Hannah lingered near the door. The moment the woman had placed her order and walked from the store, Clancy started in.
“Tell me now,” she ordered her father.
“Well,” Seth said, trying to think. “Dumplings are like wet biscuits.”
The look of distaste on Clancy’s face caused her mother and Patience to laugh. Not until that point did Seth realize he was being listened to and watched. He turned and leaned one hip on the counter, his arms crossing over his chest and a challenging look covering his face.
“Well, ladies,” he said with mild sarcasm, “if you think you can describe dumplings better, be my guest.”
Jessie opened her mouth and then shut it. Patience, however, was ready to give it a try.
“The dough for dumplings is a little like biscuit dough, Clancy, but it doesn’t bake in a pan. You drop spoonfuls of dough onto the top of the gravy and they cook there. They end up a little wet on the bottom, but the inside is light and fluffy.”
“Why are they wet?” Clancy asked, not able to let this go.
Her mother tried to explain, but it didn’t go very well. Jessie looked over at one point and found Seth watching her, a more-than-satisfied look on his face that she hadn’t had a ready explanation.
“You had to mention dumplings,” Jessie muttered, shooting him a look.
Seth did not look the least bit repentant. He shrugged a little and said, “We were talking about foods we liked.”
Jessie rolled her eyes at him and realized that if she was going to
123
settle Clancy on the topic, she was going to have to make dumplings sometime soon.
“I didn’t know,” Seth told Jeb that evening near the end of the meal, “how much I would want to talk to Pastor English. I had so many questions when I was still in prison. When I lived in his house, I didn’t know there would come a time when I would give anything to have answers from him.”
“Did you actually remember some of the things he said?” Patience asked.
“Not specifics, but I remembered that he was so open and honest about praying for me. I might have thanked him, but never once did I think to ask him why he believed that way.” Seth stopped and stared at the couple and then asked, “Is he dead now?”
“Yes,” Patience volunteered. “He was quite ill when he left here and went back to Denver. I’m not sure he lived another year.”
“But he’s in heaven,” Seth said.
“Yes, he is.”
“He’s the first person I’ve ever known who I thought went to heaven. For a long time I didn’t know if heaven was real or not, but now I do, and I realize I have a friend there in Pastor English. It changes the way I think about heaven and eternity.”
“That’s a special gift,” Jeb agreed. “For me, it’s my father. I want to talk to Jesus more than anything, but knowing that my father is there, the man who told me about my need for salvation, means so much to me.”
Seth looked at the couple for a moment and said, “I can’t tell you how much I want to be able to talk to Jessie the way I talk to you and Rylan and Bri, but I can’t do it. She doesn’t understand.”
“Her father didn’t either,” Jeb said. “Maryann was a little more receptive, but never Hiram.”
“And Jessie is so much like him,” Patience added. She had been a
124little uncomfortable when she learned that Seth was coming, but was very glad she had listened to her husband and given him a chance.
“She certainly is,” Jeb agreed. “How are you doing with the girls?”
“I can tell they like me but don’t know quite what to do with me. And Jessie is still very tentative, not that I blame her.”
“I’m not condoning what you did, Seth,” Jeb offered, but I hope you know that after Clancy was born it wouldn’t have mattered when you returned. I knew better than to even ask if she’d heard from you. After Clancy’s birth she was calling herself Jessie Wheeler again. She didn’t seem bitter. Itwasmore like you’d never existed.”
“I think it was the only way she could survive,” Patience guessed. “I think so too,” Jeb agreed. “The Wheelers have always been very good at surviving.”
Seth hadn’t thought about any of this, but it was true. She was Jessie Wheeler again in nearly every way. Were it not for the girls, it would be hard to find any evidence that he’d even been in Token Creek.
“Have we given you too much to think about, Seth?” Jeb asked, having watched the younger man’s face.
“It’s a lot to take in, but I’m all right.”
“Well, I don’t want to pile more on you, Seth, but I do need to repent to you about something,” Jeb stated.
Seth had all he could do not to blink in astonishment at his host.
“We didn’t have you over enough and befriend you as we should have all those years ago. You might have come to me about the way you were feeling instead of just leaving, and for that I’m sorry.”
“Thank you, Jeb,” Seth said quietly, his heart overwhelmed.
Patience could feel tears at the back of her eyes and rose long enough to get the cake she had made. She did not make a fuss over it but simply served up large pieces and set them out.
Over dessert, the men continued to talk about the changes God had brought to both of them in the last eight years. Before Seth left for the Jarviks’, he knew he would not make the same mistake again. Even if he was tempted to leave, he would come here first.
125Jeanette had never seen anyone move more slowly than Sheriff Nate Kaderly. Since commenting to Heather months past about his possible interest, Jeanette had simply kept her eyes open. And she had not been disappointed. Nate was interested in Heather-Jeanette was sure of it-but doing nothing about it.
And as for Heather! She had no clue. Jeanette watched her as well, thinking that the way he lingered in her company whenever he had a chance or the kind way he spoke to her would have to get her attention, but so far it hadn’t worked.
“You’re not opening today, are you, Jeanette?” Rylan asked, finding her outside the shop:
“No, I just came to get some papers,” Jeanette answered in a distracted way, her gaze flicking down the street.
Rylan glanced behind him and then back at Jeanette. He took a moment to study her before saying, “I think you’re watching someone.”
Just Nate Jeanette admitted.
“You haven’t lost your heart, have you, Jeanette?” Rylan asked, his voice turning serious.
“Of course not!” Jeanette said, an incredulous laugh escaping her. “That’s good since Nate has already lost his.”
Jeanette gripped his arm, her face hopeful. “Is it Heather?” “Of course,” Rylan said with a kind smile. “Who else?”
“I knew it!” Jeanette said too loudly, looking triumphant as she worked to keep her voice down. “If he feels that way, why hasn’t he said anything?”
“Because the lady herself shows not the least bit of interest.” Jeanette sighed. “I tried to talk to her about this some months ago, and she basically told me I was imagining things.”
“You’re not, but I know he would not appreciate your being involved.”
126”No, I don’t suppose he would.”
She looked so saddened by this that Rylan smiled, but he still had to be getting home.
Jeanette said goodbye, not realizing until he was too far away that she had one last question. Jeanette turned for home herself, almost glad she hadn’t had a chance to ask. It would be much too hard if he had said no.
“Is this going to work?” Bri asked Rylan while sh
e worked on dinner Tuesday afternoon. “I mean, I don’t really know how they’re getting along.”
Rylan nodded thoughtfully before saying, “I don’t think it can be too bad, or Jessie wouldn’t have him working there.”
“Oh, that’s true.”
Danny, who had found his father’s ear, continued to poke at it, but Rylan’s eyes were on his wife.
“Are you worried?”
“A little. I mean, I know them both in such different capacities. I don’t know Seth well, but even if he’d been living here longer, I have no past with him. Jessie and I have a good friendship, but it doesn’t include Seth at all.”
Rylan found himself thankful that he’d been able to come home early. He worked part-time at the livery for Pete Stillwell. He should have worked until closing, but Pete had shown up and said he could leave anytime. He’d stopped and talked to Jeanette, but that had taken less than ten minutes. Once home he’d cleaned up and gone to the kitchen to take Danny off Bri’s hands and found his wife looking tense.
“When I asked Jessie and the girls to join us tonight, we even spoke about the fact that Seth would also be here to eat. She was fine with it, but now I’m suddenly afraid of making them both uncomfortable.”
“I can understand your hesitancy, but this is still a good idea. Jessie and the girls have been coming and going since we got married, and
127Seth would not expect us to change our habits on hospitality because he was staying here.”
“That’s true,” Bri agreed with a nod, her shoulders relaxing.
“Gently, Danny,” Rylan said to his son when he pulled a little too hard on the big man’s lobe. “And we’ll just take our cue from them,” Rylan continued. “If it seems uncomfortable, we’ll know what not to do in the future.”
Bri’s eyes met his and she nodded. Rylan winked at her and went to the living room. Danny had taken all the books off one of the shelves. Rylan was sure Bri hadn’t noticed, and that suited him just fine. It gave him a chance to teach his little son to put the shelf to rights before their guests arrived.
Seth ended up walking with Jessie and the girls to the Jarvik home. He hadn’t planned one way or the other, but he was done, and they were ready to go. Clancy skipped along beside him, talking all the while, but Hannah was a little quieter.
“Are you all right, Hannah?” Seth asked when they were almost there. She had been silent the entire walk.
“Yes.”
Seth didn’t press her further, but he felt Jessie’s eyes on him. Maybe it was normal for Hannah to fall quiet, but he didn’t know her well enough to gauge if all was well. Before he could think of a way to ask, they were at the house.
“How did you two meet?” Bri asked quietly after dinner. The adults were still at the kitchen table, but the girls had taken Danny into the living room to play.
“This is where I found myself out of money” Seth said.
“Where had you been?” Bri asked.
128”I had been living in Kingdon, but I was on my way to Texas. I was planning to pass through Token Creek, but someone lifted my money when I fell asleep on the train, and I was broke.”
, “I wondered for a long time if that story was true,” Jessie said, her mind going back.
“What story?” Rylan asked, not sure.
“The one about your money being stolen. I thought it was a line for sympathy.”
Seth smiled a little but didn’t comment. Bri had another question. “How did you find out about it, Jessie?”
“He came in looking for a job.”
“Why the mercantile?”
“I was well and truly without a cent to my name, but I was also a man, and when I saw a beautiful blonde in a purple dress sweeping the boardwalk in front of the mercantile, I went that way.”
Even Jessie had to smile over this.
“Why were you headed to Texas?” Rylan asked.
“My brother lives there, and he had been asking me to come. I had just lost my home in Kingdon and saw no reason to stick around any longer.”
The questions might have continued, but Danny and the girls suddenly joined them. Danny made a beeline for Seth, handing him his favorite wooden block.
“Thank you, Danny,” Seth said, lifting the baby onto his lap and kissing his small brow. Clancy had come very close, and Seth, without thinking, reached and stroked down her soft, blonde curls.
No one at the table thought anything of this, save Jessie. She watched Seth’s hands and his tenderness with Danny, as well as with their daughter, and felt such an ache inside she didn’t know what to do. She managed to keep her feelings well hidden, but only until the evening wrapped up. Even before Seth had a chance to offer, she had quietly asked him to walk them back to the store.
129Can you walk us home?Seth agreed without hesitation, but there was no comfort in the act. It was clear that Jessie was bothered about something, and it was with a good deal of dread that he walked his family to the rear door of the store.
“Go on up now, girls,” Jessie directed when she’d unlocked the door. “Get ready for bed. I’ll be right up.”
The girls wanted to know what she was going to do, but she stopped them with a stern voice. “That’s enough! Now tell Seth goodnight and go get ready for bed. And I’d better not find you sitting at the top of the stairs.”
The girls obeyed, but not without a lot of eye rolling and complaining. Jessie ignored them, waiting only until they were out of earshot to speak to Seth.
“Was all of what you told me true? Did you really work for a man and hurt people?”
“Yes,” Seth said quietly, wondering where this had come from. “What made you think of that?”
“It’s just not who you ever were, Seth. I can’t think why you would make such a thing up, but I can’t imagine it.”
Seth could hear the anger in her voice and understood why she would feel that way. How did he explain what a different person he had been while he was away?
“And then tonight!” Jessie went on. “You held Danny so gently, but you never even saw Clancy at that age. I can’t stand the thought right now. It just makes me so angry with you!”
Seth didn’t know what to say. It was all true, but it was also in the past. And he didn’t know how to fix that.
“I need some time to think,” Jessie said. “Don’t come in tomorrow. I need to think.”
“All right,” Seth agreed, his heart constricting with pain.
He watched Jessie move toward the door and thought she looked tired and discouraged. Her shoulders were bent a little and she looked beaten down, not a look that was usual for her.
“Wait, Jessie.” Seth stopped her. “Why don’t you take the day off
130tomorrow. That way you’ll really have time to think. I’ll watch the store, even the girls if you want, and you can have the day to yourself”
Jessie’s first thought was to refuse, but something stopped her. She couldn’t say that Seth was not experienced enough because he was. In the two days he’d worked, he’d asked her only one question, and it was so insignificant that it hadn’t really mattered.
“You can think about it,” Seth offered, not sure why he didn’t just wait for her to answer. “I can check with you in the morning.”
“All right,” Jessie agreed, slipping inside without another word.
Seth stood for a while at the door, the sky growing dark fast. When he did turn for Rylan and Bri’s, he made the walk back very slowly.
It took some doing to get the girls in bed and settled down. They were wound up from their time with Danny and just wanted to keep talking about him. Jessie finally got them calmed and for a while sat in the living room with one lantern burning.
Her thoughts could not settle on any one thing as her mind went over the evening. She saw the way Rylan treated Bri. It was nothing new to her, but with Seth back in town, it was hard to watch. There had been a time when she had been that happy with Seth, but then the fights had begun. She knew that R
ylan and Bri had been married for a while now, and she had never seen them quarrel or be unhappy with each other.
Jessie had a sudden desire to see the girls. Taking the lantern with her, she slipped into the bedroom and looked down at them while they slept. For a moment she wanted life as it had been before Seth returned, but then she remembered Seth with Clancy that night. She saw his hand on her hair and the way she leaned close and looked up at him, her little eyes alight with pleasure just to be near him. Hannah had been the same. Already both girls were more drawn to him than Rylan, and it had just been a few days.
You can stay, Seth Redding,Jessie’s heart whispered inside of her,but only for the girls. Only because they need you.
131Jessie’s needs were not on her mind at the moment, but she was being prayed for right then. Seth had gone to his room as soon as he arrived back, lay across the bed, and begun to pray. He didn’t know exactly what he’d seen in his wife’s face tonight, but Seth knew she needed a Savior. He didn’t pray for himself or for the girls, just for Jessie.
For almost two hours he asked God to save Jessie, to open her eyes and soften her heart to her need. When he did rise to ready himself for bed, his heart khew peace. The peace did not hold a guarantee that God would say yes to his prayer, but he knew that Jessie’s salvation was out of his hands and he had done all he could by casting his heavy heart on God.
“We’re going somewhere today,” Jessie told the girls at breakfast. “Where?” they asked, both rather quiet in light of this revelation. “Somewhere fun.”
“What about the store?” Hannah asked.
“Seth is going to keep the store. The three of us are taking the day off.”
“Can’t Seth come with us?” Clancy asked.
“No,” Jessie said, having anticipated this. “Someone has to mind the store, and he volunteered.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. Now finish your breakfasts. We’ll be going as soon as Seth arrives.”
Thankfully the girls were almost done eating because almost nothing else went in their mouths. They speculated with each other and continued to ask their mother about the destination, but she would not answer them.