Reforming the Rebel (Cowboys and Angels Book 14)

by Kirsten Osbourne

  “He is telling the truth, Patience,” Sarah said, suddenly appearing right in front of Patience in the storeroom.

  Patience yelped in surprise. “Where did you come from?”

  “It’s probably time I told you who I am, Patience,” Sarah replied calmly, a serene smile on her face. “I’m your guardian angel, and I’ve been sent here to make sure you end up with your one true love.”

  Patience was too shocked to speak. She had a dozen questions but couldn’t make her lips move to ask them.

  “I know you’re feeling too surprised to talk, so I’ll answer some of the questions that are on your mind.” Sarah chuckled. “You’re probably thinking I’m not doing a very good job, aren’t you?”

  Patience nodded. How did Sarah know exactly what she had been thinking?

  “I know you’re upset with John right now, but you do need to forgive him, Patience. His behavior yesterday evening wasn’t actually his fault,” Sarah explained.

  Patience opened her mouth to protest, but the words still weren’t coming to her.

  “I know, I know, you’re thinking ‘How could that possibly be true?’” Sarah continued. “It’s not my job to explain exactly what happened. You and John will need to work a few things out on your own. But it is my responsibility to make sure that you two end up together.”

  Patience couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She felt torn. One part of her was thrilled that Sarah was telling her that she was meant to be with John Jackson. He was the first man she had ever truly cared about or wanted to become close to. Another part of her felt like she was in disbelief and upset. Who was this woman to tell her what to do? And how would she know what was and wasn’t John’s fault? It was all too much to take in.

  “If you don’t heed my advice,” Sarah said, her tone turning dark, “then your life is at risk. And if you die too soon, your future children will never be born at all.” Sarah hung her head mournfully.

  “What are you talking about?” Patience finally found her words. “You’re not making any sense.”

  “I know my warnings might seem strange to you now, Patience, but it’s my job to protect you. There are many things that I know about that you can’t know, or at least, not yet,” Sarah said.

  Patience was growing frustrated with Sarah’s cryptic words. “Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on? If my life is really in danger, shouldn’t you tell me why it’s in danger?”

  Sarah considered this for a moment. “Here’s what I can say: there are evil forces at work in Creede. There are some dark days ahead, and not everyone will survive them. If you don’t marry John, you won’t be living with him, and therefore, he won’t be able to protect you from the attack.”

  Patience looked around, suddenly feeling fearful. “Attack? Who’s going to attack me?”

  Sarah sighed. “Oh, dear. I’ve probably said too much. What’s important is that this can all be avoided quite simply. Go to John. Allow him to apologize to you. Accept his proposal. You’ll get to have the family you’ve always dreamed of.”

  Patience narrowed her eyes. “How do I know I can trust you? For all I know, you’re one of John’s friends and are just saying all of these things to make me marry him. This might all be a big trick.”

  “Oh, dear.” Sarah frowned. “It seems I’ve really made a mess of things if you don’t believe I am who I say I am. I don’t know how to make you believe. You need to find it in your own heart to accept who I am. What I can tell you is this: I know you’ve noticed that I can appear and disappear whenever I need to. I usually talk to you when you’re alone, so we have some privacy. A few days ago, I helped you and John find each other in the town square. I was the one who led John to your side when you met in the middle of Main Street a little while back. Do you remember that?”

  Patience thought about this. Her head was spinning. She wanted to believe Sarah. She had a feeling deep down that Sarah was telling the truth. But she had also believed that John was telling the truth, and that had turned out horribly. “I don’t know.”

  “I also know what you’re thinking. At any time,” Sarah reminded her.

  Patience decided she would do a test. She would think of something that Sarah couldn’t possibly know what she was thinking of. She tried to pick something that would be very hard to guess, like the yellow pincushion at the bottom of her mother’s sewing basket.

  “Yes, it’s a lovely yellow pincushion. Shame your mother keeps it hidden away like that,” Sarah said, not missing a beat.

  Patience gaped at Sarah. “How did you know that?”

  “I told you, I know what you’re thinking. We’re connected, dear,” Sarah replied. “That’s something even I don’t know everything about. I couldn’t explain it all even if I wanted to. And what’s more, we have limited time together. So I hope I am able to impress upon you the importance of you marrying John.”

  Patience nodded slowly. “I think I finally understand what you’re trying to tell me. But what can I do? My parents hate him, especially after he carried on like that in the restaurant. I know I was already planning to disobey them by marrying him, but now it just seems foolish to have a relationship with John Jackson.”

  “Why don’t you go to him?” Sarah suggested. “Talk to him. Ask him to tell you everything about last night. Maybe the two of you together can figure out how to move forward.” Sarah’s eyes widened. “I need to go now. I’m needed elsewhere. Please, think about what I’ve said. Your life truly will depend on it.”

  In the blink of an eye, Sarah was gone. Patience looked all around the storeroom, but there was no trace of her. Sarah being an angel would explain all the weird appearances and disappearances and her ability to read Patience’s mind. Still, Patience felt skeptical. It all seemed like it could be one big, cruel joke someone was playing on her.

  Patience considered Sarah’s suggestion to talk to John and ask him exactly what had happened the night before. That morning, she had been too angry to have a calm, reasonable discussion with him, but maybe Sarah was right. In any case, it couldn’t hurt to have a more logical conversation, rather than tears, screaming, and door slams.

  Patience grabbed the mop and bucket and rushed back into the kitchen. She looked at the clock on the wall. She still had plenty of time before noon, but now, she had a new mission.

  Patience finished her chores as quickly as possible, scrubbing every last surface until it shined and gleamed. She raced up the stairs to her room. “I’m done with chores! I’m going to read for a bit!” Patience yelled down to her parents.

  “All right, dear. No need to shout!” Lydia replied from the bottom of the staircase. She shook her head. What had gotten into her daughter? One minute she was sobbing, the next she was scrubbing, and the next she was shouting from the stairs. Daughters were impossible sometimes.

  Patience waited until she heard her parents go into the dining area to prepare for lunch. She tiptoed carefully down the stairs and exited through the side door. She hoped that her parents would be so busy with lunch, they wouldn’t even think to check on her. If they did find out she had left the house, she knew she’d be in trouble. Even though the missing girls had been found and other kidnapping attempts had been prevented, her parents insisted on accompanying her almost every single time she left the house.

  Patience shook her head. No, it was much easier to simply leave the house without asking for permission. The walk to the mercantile was a bit long. Her father or one of his employees usually drove when they needed to purchase something outside of the normal delivery, but walking in the fresh air allowed her to clear her mind and think.

  She still wasn’t sure what she was going to do about John. She believed Sarah was telling the truth, and she was scared that her life would be in danger. She knew she wanted a husband and children, a family of her very own, but she still wasn’t convinced that John was responsible enough to make that all possible. Still, she owed him a chance to explain himself.

  When Pati
ence arrived at the mercantile, John was building a new set of shelves on the side of the store. Toria was at the front of the building, helping an older woman pick out fabrics. Patience approached John cautiously.

  When John saw Patience, his mouth broke out into a wide grin. “Patience! I’m so glad to see you.”

  “Is there somewhere we could speak privately?” Patience asked.

  John walked over to Toria and whispered a few words to her. Toria glanced at Patience, smiled, and nodded.

  John returned to Patience and gestured to the back of the store. “Follow me.”

  Patience trailed John through to the exit in the back of the store. John held the door open as she walked through into the glittering sunlight.

  “I really am sorry about last night, Patience,” John began earnestly. “I want you to know that if you’ll give me another chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

  “Could you tell me a little more about what happened? I want to understand,” Patience explained.

  John shook his head warily. “I honestly wish I could explain it. There’s a lot I don’t understand.”

  “You can start by telling me everything you did yesterday,” Patience suggested.

  “Hm. Okay. Let me think,” John said, stroking his chin. “It was a full day of work, doing deliveries for the mercantile. Willie and I finished just a little early so we would be back in enough time to go to my father’s birthday dinner. We left the wagon at the store so Toria and my father could use it. Then we walked to the restaurant together and waited for the others to arrive. And that’s where everything starts to get a little confusing. I don’t remember everything,” John admitted.

  “You don’t remember drinking any alcohol?” Patience asked.

  “No. I gave that up months ago, Patience—for you.” John looked straight into Patience’s eyes. He wanted so badly for her to believe him.

  “And you didn’t consciously make the choice to drink alcohol?” Patience continued.

  “Correct. I did not make the choice to drink alcohol.” John sighed. “I know it must sound ridiculous, but I am telling the truth.”

  “Thank you for telling me what you remember,” Patience said. “I honestly don’t know what to do. I would love to give you another chance, but the truth is you hurt me badly yesterday, and I’m not sure I’m ready to do so.”

  John exhaled loudly. “I can understand that, Patience. I’ll wait for you as long as it takes.”

  “Thank you for understanding. I should leave. My parents don’t know I’m here,” Patience said sheepishly.

  John walked with her to the front of the building. In the distance, he could see a group of men loudly laughing and talking, headed for the mercantile. “I should get back to work. When can I see you again, Patience? I don’t want last night to ruin everything.”

  Patience felt conflicted. She wished she could tell John not to worry about it, but she wasn’t able to forget the events of the night before so easily. “I’m not sure, John. I just don’t know.”

  “I understand. But I hope you’ll change your mind. I’m going to do everything I can to make you see that last night’s events are not a reflection of my character,” John told her.

  Patience knew John was telling the truth. She nodded her head and turned to leave. Before she could walk away, John grabbed her hand. Patience turned around, startled.

  “I love you, Patience Graham,” John whispered tenderly.

  Patience felt little shivers running up and down her spine. No matter what John had done, he was also the only man she’d ever met who could make her feel like this. Patience withdrew her hand and turned back around, walking away as quickly as possible. Her strong feelings for John were making her decision even more complicated. She needed to go home and think for a while. There had to be a solution to her predicament. She just didn’t yet know what it was.

  Chapter Nine

  Whistling and shouting, Grant, Reilly, and Roger strode into the mercantile as Toria monitored their every move. She didn’t trust these men and didn’t want them anywhere near her or her family. Although they were customers, she didn’t care for their business and wished she could refuse them entrance. But she and Mortimer both felt strongly that the mercantile should be available to all of Creede’s residents, even if they didn’t agree with all of the residents or their lifestyle choices.

  Toria sighed. Mortimer wasn’t working, but she wished he were there to make sure the young men weren’t up to too much trouble. Fortunately, John was there, and Toria knew the men wouldn’t try anything violent in front of their old friend.

  “Hi, John!” Reilly grumbled as the men began poking around each corner of the store.

  As Toria watched the men carefully, she found her thoughts drifting back to the previous evening’s events. She was still in a bit of shock herself. In the span of one day, she had gone from planning a wedding to comforting her stepson because his beloved didn’t want to see him again. She was glad Patience had come to speak to him at the mercantile. She thought that was a good sign. But Patience had left rather abruptly, and there had been no signs of reconciliation.

  Toria was upset for John and Patience, but she was also a little sad for herself, too. Patience was a wonderful young woman who would have made an excellent addition to Toria’s small family. Although Toria loved Mortimer and John fiercely, she was more than ready for some female companionship.

  The one thing she still could not figure out was what had happened to John the night before. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought someone had slipped something into his drink! But that was impossible; John had drunk from the same punch that several other people at the table had enjoyed. Another possible culprit would be if John had eaten something that had made him feel strange, but that was impossible because they hadn’t yet received their food when John began acting strangely.

  Toria remembered that when she had first met John, he drank often and couldn’t be trusted or relied upon. If his strange outburst had happened then, she wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But she knew that John had done a lot of hard work to give up drinking, gambling, and spending time with his friends who were poor influences on him. She believed him when he said he hadn’t had a drink.

  So what in the world had happened the night before?

  “How much for these, Toria?” Grant sidled up to Toria and pressed a tin of sardines onto the counter.

  Toria stepped back. “It’s Mrs. Jackson, and let me check.” Toria looked up the price in her book next to the register.

  Before she could read him the price, Toria remembered something. She had seen Grant and his two friends at the restaurant the night before. And they had been sharing a flask. “I’ll tell you the price if you tell me one thing. And you need to be honest with me. Do you agree?”

  Grant smirked. “All right, but I don’t see why that’s necessary.”

  “Did you have anything to do with John somehow getting drunk last night?” Toria looked right into Grant’s eyes and stared at him, waiting for him to answer her truthfully.

  Grant looked away. “I don’t need these sardines. I’m leaving. Roger, Reilly, let’s go!”

  Roger and Reilly were still looking at different items in the mercantile, and they didn’t respond quickly.

  “You agreed to tell me the truth. I just want to know what happened. You won’t be in any trouble,” Toria explained.

  Grant sighed. “I got mad that John was ignoring all of his friends. It didn’t seem right. I just wanted to make him see that he can’t just forget about us. I just wanted to teach him a lesson!” Grant sounded miserable. Toria almost felt sorry for him, but then she remembered his reprehensible actions.

  “You’d better explain to me exactly what happened, Grant,” Toria continued.

  “What will happen if I don’t?” Grant asked sullenly.

  Toria thought for a moment. “You and your family will never be able to purchase anything f
rom this store again.” She knew if she explained the situation to Mortimer, he would agree.

  Grant sighed. John came over to Toria and Grant, approaching them cautiously. He had heard his name and wanted to learn more. “What are you talking about?” John asked.

  Toria’s eyes blazed as she gestured at Grant. “Grant needs to explain himself, and he owes you an apology.”

  John was confused. What had Grant done that he needed to explain himself for?

  Grant looked at the ground. “Last night, the three of us were at Graham’s Grub. We had a flask of moonshine with us as we ate our dinner, and we took turns drinking from it. We were all having a good time, and then we saw you all come in.” Grant glared at John. “We started thinking about how you’ve ignored us for the past few months, and how you act like you’re better than us—”

  “I don’t think I’m better than anyone,” John interjected. “I’m making choices that are right for me and my family. That shouldn’t be any of your concern.”

  Grant exhaled. He looked like he was in pain, but Toria stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. “At the time, it made us angry. So we found one of the Graham’s Grub servers. We convinced him to pour a little moonshine into his pitcher of punch and only use that pitcher to fill your glass, not anyone else’s.”

  John’s mind was spinning. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  Toria was angry. “Who would agree to such a thing? I think the Grahams need to hear that story, so they can appropriately deal with their employee. Why, John could have been hurt or worse.”

  Grant stared at the floor again. “We offered him some money to do it for us. We thought it would be funny.”

  “Well, what you thought would be funny has cost my stepson a great deal. The woman he loves—” Toria began, so upset that she barely was able to speak.

  “I’m handling that, Toria. But this is helpful. I was wondering how it was that I came to be drunk last evening,” John interrupted. He didn’t see the value in continuing to berate Grant for his bad deed. What Grant and his friends had done was wrong, but it was over now, and from the look on the man’s face, John had a feeling that he wouldn’t pull a stunt like that again. “That being said, I do suggest that the three of you leave. Right now. And that you don’t come back for a very long time.”