“I don't care if Ralph Middlebrooke outgunned a crippled chipmunk,” I told Jose. “I'm telling you the absolute truth, but your pain and anger at Joel is clouding your reasoning.”
Jose walked to the table and struck it with his fist. “A beautiful woman like yourself just so happened to be stranded and in need of a hero, is that it?”
I stared into Jose's furious eyes. “I guess Joel did become my hero,” I confessed. “I saw a man fulfill a promise at the risk of his life.”
Jose narrowed his eyes. “He is a coward.”
“Tell that to Ralph Middlebrooke and Sam and Willie Chatsworth,” I told Jose and drew in a deep breath. “Mr. Connor, I'm very sorry that you sister was killed, but you're not the only one hurting. Do you honestly believe Joel intentionally let Ralph Middlebrooke kill your sister?”
“He should not have been out with that posse!” Jose yelled.
“Why?” I asked. “I mean if Joel was a lawman at that time, wasn't he just doing his job?”
Jose jerked away from me and walked back to the fire. “He will die tonight.”
“I think that's what Joel wants,” I confessed to Jose. “I think the man wants to die because he's tired of hurting. Now, I'm just a simple woman from Georgia who surely doesn't understand the way of the world, but it seems to me that a man like Joel did what he said he was going to do.”
“He did not outgun Ralph Middlebrooke alone,” Jose insisted. “Maybe...maybe...he could outgun Sam and Willie Chatsworth, but not Ralph Middlebrooke. He is a liar. Someone was with him. A hired gun, maybe? He is trying to make my father forgive him for his crime through lies.”
“Is that you think?” I asked and nearly spit. “Oh boy, are you thick-headed.”
Jose stared at me. “You dare insult me?”
“Yes, I dare insult you, you thick-headed cow,” I snapped. “Listen to me and watch my mouth,” I told Jose. “Three men were coming down the trail. Joel appeared in front of them and told them to get their hands up. The three men went for their guns. There was a shootout. When the bullets stopped flying, Joel was alive and the three other men were dead. It's that simple.”
“No,” Jose objected stubbornly, “that is impossible. There must have been more men.”
“There was,” I was told, Jose. “And that man was in the furnace.”
Jose stared at me with confused eyes. “In the furnace?”
“Jesus Christ the Lord,” I told Jose and smiled. “He was in the furnace with three very faithful and loyal Jewish men who refused to bow down to an awful king.” I calmed my nerves. “Jesus was with Joel the night he stepped out onto the trail and killed three deadly men.”
Jose wasn't certain how to respond. He grew silent and listened to an angry, howling wind roam around the shack we were in, searching for a way in. “I loved my sister very much,” he finally spoke. “I begged her not to marry a lawman. I told her Joel Middlebrooke was sour from the beginning. I begged her to marry Walton Young, a rancher. My sister would have had a very good life.”
“The flesh doesn't decide who we get to have as our life-long companion,” I said and shocked myself, “the heart does.”
“The heart is foolish,” Jose snapped and kicked at the fireplace. “My sister is dead because she listened to her heart. She died childless.”
I closed my eyes and began to pray, clueless that Joel was right outside the shack listening to every word Jose and I spoke to one another. “Mr. Connor,” I finally said and opened my eyes, “if your sister were alive today, what she would tell you?”
Jose shook his head and looked at the fire. “Be quiet.”
“What would your sister tell you?” I insisted.
“Be quiet!” Jose screamed at me.
“Why?” I asked bravely, “Because you know, somewhere deep down, it's not Joel you're furious with; you're furious with yourself. Mr. Connor, where were you the night your sister was killed?”
Jose charged at the table and raised his fist into the air and prepared to strike me. “Be quiet,” he said in a trembling voice.
“Go ahead and strike me,” I told Jose staring up into his tormented face, “but hitting me isn't going to take away your pain or anger.”
Tears began to fall from Jose's eyes, and his fists dropped down to his side. “The night my sister died I was in in the barn, drunk; passed out on a pile of hay,” he said and then dropped down to his knees and began to cry. “Oh, forgive me!” he wailed.
Joel opened the front door to the shack and stepped in. “Jose?” he asked. “I'm here.”
“Take the woman and go!” Jose yelled. “Go before I kill you both!”
Joel shook his head. He walked across the floor, knelt down next to Jose, and put and arm around the broken man. Jose tried to fight Joel away but finally gave up. “I miss her, too,” he told Jose and looked up into my face with tears in his eyes. “I prayed on my way here,” he said in a grateful voice.
I began to tell Joel to untie me when a loud cracking sound exploded in the air. Before I knew what was happening a large tree crashed down onto the roof of the shack and landed right on Joel and Jose. Panicked, I shook snow, wood and leaves off my face and looked at the spot where Joel and Jose had been standing. “Joel!” I yelled and tried to stand up but managed to topple down onto the floor instead. “Joel!”
“I'm okay,” I heard Joel moan. “Jose?”
“My leg,” Jose cried out in pain.
“My hands and ankles are--” I stopped talking. The smell of burning wood sent a second wave of panic through my heart. “Oh no, the tree is catching fire!” I screamed.
“Get out of here Nola, this shack will go up in seconds,” Joel hollered at me, buried under the tree.
I watched as the part of the tree that had landed up against the fireplace began to catch fire. What in the world was I going to do? I couldn't leave Joel and Jose, but how was could I save them? My wrists and ankles were bound together by rope. Hopelessness and despair washed over me like a vicious tidal wave. I closed my eyes and began to pray. “Jesus please,” I begged, “help us. Show us your mercy.”
When I opened my eyes, I saw a man dressed in a white robe standing over me. The man's face seemed to glow. He smiled down at me and then told me to stand up. I began to explain that I couldn't stand up because my wrists and ankles were tied together but suddenly felt that I was free from my ropes. I quickly stood up. The man pointed at the tree and told me to lift it. “But that's impossible.”
“All things are possible with God,” the man smiled.
I drew in a deep breath, turned toward the tree, and with all my might, tried to lift it, expecting the obvious but achieving the impossible. Before I knew what was happening, Joel was crawling out from under the tree, dragging Jose with him. As soon as they were free, the tree dropped from my hands and crashed down onto the floor. Joel struggled to his feet. “Help me get Jose outside Hurry,” he begged as the fire in the room began to grow.
Moments later we were standing outside in the snow just as the shack exploded into a ball of flames. The man wearing the white robe was standing next to me. “This man is to be your husband,” he said and smiled into my eyes and then vanished into thin air. I turned and looked at Joel. The flames from the burning shack were glowing off his face.
“I heard,” Joel told me. Without saying another word, he reached out and pulled me into his arms. I placed my head against Joel's chest and closed my eyes. I had left my home in Georgia in search of a dream, and had found that my dream had come true. Maybe not the way I expected, but definitely, the way the Lord had planned for me. And as the shack burned and the snow fell, my heart filled with peace and hope.
Joel sure didn't like my hot kitchen. He sure didn't like the humidity, either. But, for a man who had used a gun all of his life, he didn't bake a bad loaf of bread. “You're doing fine, honey,” I told Joel and rubbed my pregnant belly. I felt like I was about ready to explode and worried the yellow dress I was wearing made me appe
ar even larger than I was.
Joel wiped sweat from his forehead and went back to kneading dough for a loaf of bread. The kitchen was hot and Joel sure looked funny wearing a white apron over his black shirt. “Are you sure about this?” he asked me. As always, he was still a man of few words.
“Yes, honey, I'm sure,” I smiled and stood up from the chair I was sitting in. I walked over to Joel and patted his shoulder. “The Lord wants you to learn to bake bread. No more gun fights.”
Joel sighed, leaned over, gently kissed me, and then went back to working on the dough. “Where is your Papa today?”
“Papa is at the general store getting supplies,” I told Joel, squeezing his arm. “You're doing wonderfully. But don't knead the bread so hard. Knead with love, not frustration.”
“I...” Joel began to speak but then stopped. “Are you sure this is what Jesus wants for me?” he asked me again. “I've always been a lawman. This is silly.”
“Jose, please help me,” I said.
Jose was leaning in the back door to the kitchen, looking out into a bright field. “Do as she says,” he fussed at Joel. “Your wife has already taken the broom to the both of us four times. I don't feel like being hit again.”
Joel rolled his eyes. “I saw that,” I told him and pointed at my broom. Judge Connor laughed. “Don't you start.”
Judge Connor held up his hands and walked to Jose. “I wish no harm to come to me until I see your child. My daughter may be away from me, for now, but a part of her is in you, and therefore, a part of my daughter will be in your child.”
Joel smiled. “It's good to have you both here.”
“It is,” I said and walked over to Judge Connor and squeezed his hand. “I'm so grateful that you came.”
Judge Connor smiled into my eyes. “I lost one daughter and gained another. If it weren't you for you, I would have lost my son, too.”
“Thank Jesus, not me,” I told Judge Connor and walked back to Joel and hugged his arm again. “After you knead the dough, it will be time for your Bible reading studies. You can't become a preacher unless you study the Lord's Word.” I looked at Jose. “That goes for you, too.”
Jose turned and looked at me. He said something is Spanish and then smiled. “Okay.”
“Don't start with me,” I warned him and pointed at my broom. Jose held up his hands and slowly backed out of the door.
“I think I'll leave you two alone and go take a walk,” Judge Connor told me and left the kitchen.
Joel watched Judge Connor walk away and then reached out and took my hands. “I never thought I could love another woman,” he told me and then smiled: “I love you.”
“I know you do,” I told Joel and hugged him. “And just think, this all began with me making silly decision.”
Joel wrapped his warm arms around me and held me tight. “If you hadn't have been silly, the stage would have never let you off and stranded you in that small town. We would have never met and, who knows, what might have happened?”
I leaned forward and looked at Joel. “I was very embarrassed. I didn't know the Lord had a plan for me.”
Joel's face became serious. “The man we saw the night outside of the burning shack, he was the same man I saw on the trail when I outgunned Ralph Middlebrooke and the Chatsworth brothers. He told me when the draw my gun and who to aim at first. Afterward before he left, he told me that I was to make you my wife. I didn't know what to make of it.”
I stared at Joel in shock. “I-” I began to speak but found that I no words would form in my mouth. I closed my eyes, leaned my head on against Joel's chest, and smiled. The Lord sure works in mysterious ways, I thought happily. And how wonderful are His ways, too. For He took an impossible situation and brought forth a miracle. And instead of returning home ashamed, I returned home with love in my bags and a new dream in my heart. Miracles, I smiled, were real after all. THE END
Susan’s Surprise Marriage
Chapter 1 – Grandmother Hattie
“A lady must never cross her legs at the knee. If you must cross your legs at all, only cross at the ankle. What are you doing? A lady never takes that much sugar in her tea!” Grandmother Hattie crossed her arms, glaring at Susan.
Susan Greene timidly stirred her tea, doing her best not to spill any on her grandmother’s crisp, white table linen. She knew that would lead to another speech about the proper behavior of a lady, although she never thought of her grandmother as being much of a refined gentlewoman.
“I am having a dinner tomorrow night with some of the town’s most respected residents; you are expected to attend.” Her grandmother sipped on her own tea, and Susan fought to keep from groaning aloud. She took a sip of her tea, then set the cup down gently.
“Who are our guests?” She asked politely, already knowing that whoever it was, she wasn’t going to like them. Grandmother Hattie was a hard woman, and she only entertained people who shared her narrow views. If she was having a dinner, there had to be some reason for it, and Susan was already curious as to what it was.
“Mr. Finley; you’ve met him before.” Her grandmother replied curtly, and Susan’s heart sank. She didn’t like any of her grandmother’s friends, but she especially didn’t like Mr. Finley. He was older than Grandmother Hattie, and twice as mean. He lived his life caring only for himself and his vast fortune, and it showed.
“May I ask if this is an informal dinner?” Susan asked, trying to form the question in a way that wouldn’t upset her grandmother. A slight smile played at her grandmother’s lips, causing Susan to be even more curious than she was before. Grandmother Hattie didn’t answer, and took another sip of her tea.
“Not entirely, although I have to admit I am looking forward to seeing him. He has written to me with an interesting proposition, and I look forward to discussing it with him further.” Grandmother Hattie’s voice trailed off, and even though Susan studied her grandmother’s face for some clue as to what she could be talking about, she couldn’t detect anything.
“Finish your tea, it’s almost time for your singing lessons.” Her grandmother said, putting an end to the conversation, and Susan sighed. She hated the singing lessons her grandmother forced her to take, and she hated singing for the guests her grandmother invited to the house.
Taking a big gulp of her tea, she endured another reprimand from her grandmother, explaining that proper ladies did not drink their tea in such a manner. Susan rolled her eyes when her grandmother looked away, and her mind drifted to her sister.
Susan missed her older sister, Hannah, and thought of her often. The two girls had been orphaned when they were young, and with nowhere else to go, had been taken in by their wealthy grandmother. However, she had always been cold and overbearing, and neither girl could wait until they were old enough to leave.
As soon as Hannah had been old enough to marry, she ran away from the house and became a mail-order bride. Grandmother Hattie was so infuriated by the act that she wrote to Hannah forbidding her to ever come back, or even to write to the house and tell them how she was doing.
Susan didn’t know if her sister ever did write, but she never got to see any letters if she had. Susan had done her best to keep in contact with her sister, but her grandmother would always destroy any letters that she tried to post to Hannah. It had been nearly two years since Susan had been in contact with her sister, and she felt the pain of her absence every day.
Quickly finishing her tea, Susan got up from the table and excused herself.
“I expect to hear you singing within five minutes.” Grandmother Hattie called out after her, and Susan raised her hand to show that she had heard. She didn’t know why her grandmother so desperately wanted to refine her. The girls’ mother had done a fine job instilling manners into them both before she had passed, and neither of her daughters had forgotten them, or her.
Things had been rough as it was before Hannah had left, but ever since she had, Grandmother Hattie had focused all of her attention and instru
ction on her youngest grandchild. Susan had begun to wonder if her grandmother was trying to make up for Hannah’s rebellion by trying to turn Susan into the perfect little lady.
“I can’t hear you!” Grandmother Hattie’s voice drifted in from the next room, and Susan sighed. Picking up her songbook, she chose an easy song and began to sing. Her sweet voice filled the room, and for a moment Susan closed her eyes.
Singing reminded her of her mother, and even though she only remembered a few things about the woman, singing made her feel closer to both her parents. When she wanted to sing, that is. Susan suddenly stopped as Grandmother Hattie walked into the room, shaking her head.
“When will you learn? That is a high C! You keep lowering your voice as though it is a D, when it is, in fact, a C!” Her grandmother took the song book out of her hands and pointed to the note on the page. Susan apologized and tried again, but on the inside, she wanted to scream. Closing her eyes, Susan focused and tried her best to hit the right note.
She knew that regardless of whether she hit it or not, her grandmother wouldn’t be pleased with her, and her mind once again drifted to thoughts of her sister.
Wherever you are, I hope you are happier than I am.
Chapter 2 – A Wedding Arranged
“Dinner is in an hour and I expect you to be ready.” Grandmother Hattie said flatly, and Susan nodded. She had just returned from walking in the garden, taking the opportunity to get away from her grandmother’s nagging for a few minutes. However, her excursion was short-lived as her grandmother had sent the maid to find her.
“I was just about to go up and braid my hair.” She said with a smile, but her grandmother shook her head.
“Braids are childish. You are sixteen-years old; a young woman. It’s high time you started wearing your hair in a more appropriate style. I will send Mildred up to help you – oh, and I want you to wear your green dress as well.” Grandmother Hattie was fidgeting with the ribbons in Susan’s hair, and Susan gave her a puzzled look.
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