A Match Made in Texas
Page 30
“I don’t think I want to have that many.”
“Hannah, I’m an only child. Seven children, that’s inconceivable to me. No, we most assuredly do not have to have that many children.”
“What if the first six are girls? Won’t you want to keep trying until we have a son?” she persisted.
“I like girls.” Mark turned to her and drew her close. “I’d like a couple of little girls who look like you. Two children, regardless of whether they’re girls or boys, sounds fine to me.”
“Men want boys, Mark,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Maybe ranchers want boys, to help them or to leave the holding to, but I’m a banker. I’m not going to mind if I don’t have someone to take over when I retire. I’ll just sell the bank to someone. Besides, the girls will probably get married, and their husbands can have the bank.”
Hannah nodded with a serious expression on her face as he talked. She felt one last weight lifting off her shoulders and realized in a sense that Mark was rescuing her again. “Good, because it was real hard on my ma.”
“We are not having that many children!”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind four,” Hannah suggested. The thought of two didn’t seem quite right to her.
He grinned. “How about we have two and then decide about more, one at a time?”
“That sounds perfect.”
He lifted himself away from the doorframe as if his knees were trustworthy again. “Now that that’s settled, let me show you the house.”
Mark started leading her to the left side of the house. Earlier he’d said there was nothing to the left except bedrooms.
But she was sure they were beautiful, so she went along.
Her thoughts still lingered on Leah, with her constant quest for Jacob’s love, with her gift of one son after another, all to no avail. And Hannah, for the first time, took another view of that ancient Bible story.
Perhaps Leah wasn’t as unwanted as it seemed. After all, she did have six sons and a daughter. Surely that meant Jacob paid her some attention. And her sons stood equal with Rachel’s as patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. God had named a child of Leah’s line, Levi, to be the father of a tribe of priests. Leah’s son Reuben saved Joseph’s life. Judah’s line was the one King David came from, as well as Solomon and Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father. So it turned out that Leah had been a very significant member of a great nation—a nation that survived to this day. A nation that provided the world with a Savior.
Hannah decided she wasn’t going to feel sorry for Leah anymore—or herself. She decided all of this as Mark took her on his tour, which proved to be very short.
Mark’s room.
And she had no idea if it was pretty because they never got around to lighting a lantern. She and Mark discovered yet another part of love through the long winter night.
And Hannah—the quiet, lonely Texas meddler with a gift for helping other lonely people—knew she’d finally met her match.
Two-time RITA Award finalist and winner of the HOLT Medallion and Carol Award, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer writes historical romance to provide the world with more happily-ever-afters. She is an avid cross-stitcher and shower singer, and she bakes a mean apple cobbler. Karen makes her home in Abilene, Texas, with her husband and three children. Learn more at www.KarenWitemeyer.com.
Regina Jennings is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and minor in history. She has worked at the Mustang News and the First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She lives outside of Oklahoma City with her husband and four children and can be found online at www.ReginaJennings.com.
Carol Cox is the author of over 30 novels and novellas. A third-generation Arizonan, she has held a lifelong fascination with the Old West and hopes to make it live again in the hearts of her readers. She makes her home with her husband and daughter in northern Arizona, where the deer and the antelope really do play—often within view of the family’s front porch. Learn more at www.AuthorCarolCox.com.
Mary Connealy writes romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a Carol Award winner, and a RITA, Christy, and Inspirational Reader’s Choice finalist. She is the author of Swept Away and Fired Up, books 1 and 2 in the TROUBLE IN TEXAS series, as well as the KINCAID BRIDE series, LASSOED IN TEXAS trilogy, MONTANA MARRIAGES trilogy, and SOPHIE’S DAUGHTERS trilogy. She is married to a Nebraska rancher and has four grown daughters, two sons-in-law, and two spectacular grandchildren. Get more details at www.MaryConnealy.com.
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