by Regina Scott
Chapter Twelve
So Levi didn’t want to wed. The matter troubled Callie as Catherine drove them back to Wallin Landing. She couldn’t very well fault his logic, especially since it matched part of her own. She just couldn’t understand why she felt so disappointed.
As if to prove he was too busy to court, he was away most of the next day. He rode to town to pick up materials for the Sunday school he was planning to start after Christmas, then he holed up in the church working on what he would say come Sunday. She kept herself busy, as well. She poured over fashion magazines with Beth, took Mica to visit Nora and even emboldened herself to make the acquaintance of John’s wife, Dottie, and their son Peter, who was a few months older than Mica. The two babies made quite a contrast. Blond Peter tended to be serious, studying people before reacting. Mica laughed and smiled indiscriminately.
“I hope they’ll be good friends growing up,” Dottie told Callie, her hair as blond as her son’s. “And I hope we will be, too.”
Callie was beginning to hope so, as well. Perhaps she could fit in at Wallin Landing. Perhaps she, her brothers and Mica had finally found a home.
She wasn’t sure what to expect when Sunday rolled around. She knew that was the day ministers generally preached, but the only service she’d ever attended had been in a tent on a gold rush camp. That preacher had explained how God had sent His Son to die for everyone’s sins, but she’d gotten the impression God wasn’t much pleased with people in general. Certainly the minister didn’t like them, for he’d marched up and down the aisle shaking his finger at the miners and predicting their downfall if they didn’t repent.
Still, she was a little surprised when Levi worked with her brothers to haul buckets of water to the stove Saturday night so they could each take a bath in the tin washtub. Seems ministers took cleanliness seriously. Levi and her brothers waited upstairs until she was finished, and she and Mica waited in the bedroom until they were finished. And when Levi came downstairs the next morning, he was dressed in a suit of dark blue wool that fitted his lean form, emphasizing his shoulders. She glanced down at her usual shirt and trousers.
“Should I wear Ma’s dress to church?” she asked.
Levi smiled. “God doesn’t care how you dress, only that you come to see Him.”
“We’re gonna see God?” Sutter asked as he and Frisco hopped down the stairs.
“No, stupid,” Frisco said. “Nobody sees God. He’s way up in the sky.”
Sutter frowned.
“Actually, God is right here with us now,” Levi told them. “You may not see Him, but you can feel Him inside and sense what He wants you to do.”
Now both her brothers were frowning, but they went to the table for breakfast without arguing. Callie slipped away to change into her mother’s dress. Levi may think God approved of everyone, but she wasn’t so sure.
Shortly after breakfast, he led them down the breezeway and in the side door of the church. Unlike the time they had looked in previously, now everything was neat. And full. People crowded the benches, gazes turned expectantly to Levi. Callie would have preferred to sit at the rear, but that would mean walking past all those people. She and her brothers settled in the front row instead, Mica on her lap. She tried not to think about the number of gazes on their backs.
As Levi went up onto the raised platform, another tall man with the same sharp cheekbones as him came to the front and set a violin under his chin.
“Look, Callie,” Frisco said. “He’s got a fiddle.”
Callie hushed him, but the murmur that went through the church was more kind than censorious.
The man, who Callie guessed must be Levi’s older brother and Nora’s husband, Simon, played two songs. Everyone in the church seemed to know the words, because several dozen voices from high to low joined in. Callie caught on to the refrain after the first verse and added her voice to theirs. There was something strong, something powerful about so many people singing together. She felt as if the bubbles from a sarsaparilla were lifting her off her feet.
After the music, Simon sat down and a man she didn’t recognize—dark hair, broad shoulders, strong chin—stood up and read from the Bible. Like Levi and Simon, he wore a suit, but she didn’t see any resemblance to the Wallins. Someone from the area, perhaps. He had a confident smile, and when he came down from the platform he winked at her as he passed. Mica waved back happily.
Well!
“You know him?” Sutter whispered as Frisco frowned after the fellow.
Callie shook her head.
Other men came forward to pass around the little velvet purses, and Callie realized they were for collecting money. Perhaps that was how Levi was paid. She hoped the congregation was generous.
Finally Levi stepped up to the podium. The light from the lamps overhead set his golden hair gleaming.
“Look, Callie,” Sutter cried. “It’s the preacher.” He waved.
Callie wanted to sink under the bench.
“Good morning, Sutter,” Levi said with a smile as another murmur ran through the crowd. He glanced out at the church. “Good morning, everyone. I’m glad to see you today.”
Callie waited for his look to turn stern, his voice to raise. She wasn’t sure what fault he’d find in the seemingly good folk of Wallin Landing, but he’d spent hours working on this talk. Surely he had something he wanted to say.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about traveling lately,” he started. “Many of you know I sought my fortune on the gold fields. I met a lot of men there who were travelers, always looking ahead to the next big strike.”
Frisco and Sutter were still beside her, listening. Mica’s gaze was fixed on Levi, too. Callie could understand why. There was a glow about him, as if a fire was burning inside him, warming all who came near.
“As we move through the Advent season, we read about a number of travelers. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to be counted in the census decreed by the Roman Empire. The wise men from the east followed a star to find the newborn King. Travelers have a goal, a destination in mind and a dream of what they’ll accomplish when they arrive.”
A fool dream. It seemed even important folk in the Bible had them. Yet were those dreams as foolish as her father’s and brother’s? She’d heard the story of the Christ child, told around campfires or in crowded hotel rooms at Christmas. Mary and Joseph had wanted to raise a baby, just as she was raising Mica. The wise men had wanted to find someone more impressive.
She was a traveler, too. She’d journeyed up the West Coast and inland as far as Vital Creek. Her only goal had been to survive and make sure Frisco, Sutter and Mica did all right. Now they were safe at Wallin Landing, with every opportunity for a bright future. Could she start dreaming of more?
* * *
Levi found it easier than usual to preach that morning. Oftentimes when he stood up, one look at his congregation reminded him that more than half the people in the room had known him since he was a boy. Would they listen to anything he had to say? He’d been trained to speak formally, forcefully, following the sermons laid out in the church manual. But he couldn’t help falling back on the more informal discussions he’d heard growing up. Even so, he sometimes wondered whether someone like him had anything worthwhile to share with this community.
Today, he’d felt confident in the message he brought and his ability to bring it, and that had a great deal to do with Callie and her family in the front row.
“So this week,” he concluded after speaking for some minutes, “I challenge you to think about your own journey. Where are you traveling? What’s your destination? And what do you hope to accomplish? Ask the Lord to give you wisdom to seek Him as we continue through this Advent season. Shall we pray?”
He led them through the final prayer, gave the benediction and climbed down from the pulpit as his congr
egation rose to take their leave.
Sutter and Frisco ran to meet him as he stepped off the altar.
“That was really good, preacher,” Frisco said. “But I like the fiddler the best.”
“Though you talked good, too,” Sutter told him.
“Thank you,” Levi said as Callie joined them, Mica in her arms. She nodded her agreement to her brothers’ praise, but her gaze was unfocused, as if she was seeing something other than the church.
“All the Wallins generally spend Sunday together,” he explained to them. “One family may visit another, and everyone gathers at the main house for dinner and games afterward.”
“Can we go?” Sutter begged.
Both boys watched him for the answer. He heard Callie suck in a breath and knew she must be thinking the same thing he was.
This was the first time they’d sought his permission instead of hers.
“Callie?” he asked.
She nodded again. “It’s a fine idea.”
“Yay!” Sutter ran for the door as if ready to go right then.
“He said dinner,” Frisco reminded him, loping after his twin. “That’s hours away.”
Sutter paused in the act of opening the door. “Oh.”
“In the meantime,” Levi put in smoothly, “I’ll show you that fishing hole I mentioned. You still owe James a fish, if I remember correctly.”
Both boys brightened, but the voice that answered came from his left.
“That’s a fine idea, pastor. You take the lads fishing, and I’ll keep Miss Murphy company.”
Levi turned with Callie to eye the big logger who had come up to them. Harry Yeager was the second man on Drew’s logging crew, after Levi’s brother. Tall and muscular, with wavy brown hair and deep brown eyes, he had volunteered to be one of the deacons at the new church.
Now he smiled down at Callie as if discovering a rose blooming in winter. “I’m Harry Yeager, Miss Murphy. Pleased to meet you and eager to learn more about you.”
Callie hefted Mica. “Nothing to know. And I have Mica to keep me company.”
The baby batted her lashes and blew bubbles at Harry.
“And very fine company I’m sure she is,” the logger said. “But I imagine she might be a little thin on conversation.”
“Don’t much need conversation, either,” Callie replied.
Was she being contrary on purpose? Couldn’t she see Harry was intent on furthering their acquaintance?
Levi could. Funny—he’d always rather liked the bold and brash logger. Now he wanted to order him from the church.
“Callie and Mica are coming fishing with us, Harry,” he said. “But thanks for the offer. Everyone has been very kind about welcoming them to Wallin Landing.”
“Just helping a sister traveler, pastor,” Harry said. He winked to Callie, then turned to saunter down the aisle.
“Does he have something wrong with his eye that way he keeps winking?” Callie asked as she headed for the side door after her brothers.
Levi kept himself from smiling. “You never know. Let’s get everyone bundled and go fishing.”
She didn’t protest, so he hoped she’d forgiven him for his high-handedness in including her and Mica in the outing.
If anything, the air was even colder than it had been, so the trout weren’t inclined to bite, even at the spot on the south side of the promontory, where he, his brothers and Scout had always fished. As it was, Sutter caught the only fish. It was so small Levi insisted that he throw it back.
“But I caught him,” Sutter protested, clutching the string with the wiggling fish close. “He’s mine.”
“He’ll taste much better after he’s had a chance to grow,” Levi promised him, managing to detach the fish from the hook.
“Taste?” Sutter stared at him as Levi released the fish into the waters of the lake. “You eat the fish you catch?”
“What else do you think we do with them, silly?” Frisco jibed.
Sutter’s face fell. “I thought he’d be a pet.”
“You don’t have pets on a farm,” Frisco told him, turning away. “Mary says animals here have to work.”
Mary had obviously had that discussion with her father, Drew. Levi had certainly heard the sentiment from his oldest brother over the years.
“I think a pet is a fine idea,” he told the boys. “I’ll ask around and see if anyone has a dog with puppies expected in the spring.”
Frisco and Sutter grinned at each other before running ahead.
“That went smoother than I’d feared,” Levi said, watching them.
“You’re doing better with them,” Callie agreed as she walked beside him, Mica in her arms. “You just have to know when to stand your ground.”
“And when to allow life to teach the lesson,” Levi replied. “Would Sutter have learned more if I let him eat the bony thing?”
“He wouldn’t have eaten it. He’d have tried to keep the poor fish in a pail of water. It’s better this way. The fish is free, and Sutter can brag he was the only one to catch one.”
There was that. Sutter needed more encouragement, he’d noticed, while Frisco had to be reined in once in a while. It was a delicate balance, one that Callie seemed to have mastered.
Now if only he could find the key to working beside her.
* * *
Beth had told Levi she planned dinner for five, so he took Callie and the other Murphys over to the house a quarter hour earlier. Everyone supplied something for the meal. He was carrying four dozen biscuits along with a jug of apple cider a neighbor had given him.
Callie walked beside him, stiff. She kept tugging at her coat as if concerned about the shirt and trousers she’d changed into before they’d gone fishing. Mica peered from one face to another as if waiting to see who would smile first. Sutter and Frisco seemed the most eager for the get-together.
Levi was used to the circus, but Callie clung to his side when they entered the house. In truth, his parents’ house was quickly outgrowing the family. Drew and Catherine had three children; so did James and Rina. Simon and Nora had two, and John and Dottie had one. Harry and the other two members of the logging crew were also invited. Adding Callie, her brothers and Mica made the big room feel all the more snug.
And busy. Dottie and Catherine were ferrying bowls from the kitchen, stepping around a wrestling match that spanned the room and seemed to involve all the boys, most of his brothers, the logging crew, a few of the girls and Beth. Rina, her daughter Victoria and Nora with Peter and two of the toddlers were milling about the edges as if they couldn’t decide whether to join in or order everyone out. Before Levi could even think, Sutter and Frisco detached themselves from his side and dove in.
Harry appeared out of the crowd. “Miss Murphy, may I take your coat?”
Callie flinched away from his outstretched arms. “Why? What would you want with my coat?”
Harry opened his mouth and shut it again.
Beth bustled up to them, hair hanging down one side of her face and cheeks pink. “I’m so glad you’re here. Levi, take the biscuits to the kitchen and pour the cider.”
“I’d be happy to find you a seat, Miss Murphy,” Harry said, recovering.
With a distracted frown, Callie nodded.
Levi didn’t like leaving her alone with a near stranger, but it was best not to argue with Beth. He hurried toward the kitchen, managing to snag John’s arm on the way.
“Pour the cider,” he told his brother, dropping the biscuits on the sideboard and leaning around John to keep an eye on Callie.
“Glad to be of help,” John said. “After all, you’ll have to fend off Tom and Dickie, too.”
He was right. Harry had positioned Callie and Mica in Ma’s old bentwood rocker by the hearth, and alread
y the other two members of his brother’s logging crew, Thomas Convers and Dickie Morgan, were bearing down on her. Levi had to remember that Seattle was still lacking in female companionship. Any unmarried lady was bound to be besieged.
And when that lady was as pretty as Callie...
He shoved the jug of cider at his brother and hurried back into the fray.
“Do you like fish, Miss Murphy?” dark-haired Tom was saying. “I can bring you a dozen a day.”
“No, thank you,” Callie said, adjusting the collar on Mica’s gown. “Sutter would only want to make them pets.”
Tom frowned.
“That’s a nice baby,” the younger Dickie ventured, straw-colored hair sticking out in all directions as he kept his distance. “She’s almost as pretty as you.”
Callie regarded him. “Do you need spectacles, Mr. Morgan?”
Dickie stepped farther back as if she’d wounded him.
Levi didn’t know whether to help the poor fellow or shout a hallelujah that Callie didn’t recognize their attempts at courtship. Callie had more important things to do—learning to read, tending Mica, spending time with him. Callie had made it clear she couldn’t abide matchmaking. And when the time came for her to court...
He was in trouble. Because no man, especially him, would ever measure up to the husband Callie deserved.
Chapter Thirteen
Callie glanced at Levi as they walked home from Sunday’s dinner with his family. His brother James had shown Sutter and Frisco how to whistle, and their shrill notes drifted back to her as the twins ran ahead up the hill.
Levi smiled, carrying a drowsy Mica in his arms. For a moment, Callie allowed herself to remember how it had felt to rest her head against his shoulder.
“Was that a sigh?” he asked. “Is something bothering you?”
Callie hurriedly looked away. “No. I just keep thinking about your talk this morning.”