The Rancher’s Spirited Bride

by Chloe Carley

  Mark’s face fell and he added, “I was only offering up suggestions that would afford me more time in your presence.”

  While his words were prettily said and aimed to earn Sara Jane’s affections, they had no effect upon her emotions today. Not even a tiny bit. She was about to make sure he understood she was only interested in being his friend, when his mother exited the house dramatically.

  Mark glanced at the bevy of women making their way across the dirt street and then asked, “Do you really think this is a good idea? Having met some of the townsfolk, I’m afraid you are setting them up for a great disappointment.”

  His words were very similar to his ma’s, and Sara Jane’s countenance fell. “That would only go to show that you don’t really know the people of Rio Arriba. There are a few who believe themselves to be better than everyone else, but most folks just want to get along with one another and are very welcoming and forgiving.”

  “I’m just saying, you shouldn’t be too disappointed if they are shunned today. I wouldn’t want to see you treated so poorly because you’ve chosen to champion their cause.”

  “No one will be shunning anyone,” Sara Jane informed him coldly. “As for me, you don’t have to worry on that hand. I couldn’t care less what the people of this town think of me. It matters not one whit.” She took a breath and then pasted a serene expression on her face as his ma drew closer. “Excuse me.”

  “Miss Lawson … Sara Jane,” Mark reached out and touched her arm as she moved to walk around him.

  “Yes?”

  “I didn’t mean to upset you, I just wanted you to be prepared for the likely outcome of today’s venture.”

  “And I choose to give the fine people of Rio Arriba credit for the compassion and kindness I know dwells within their hearts. Good day, sir.”

  She marched across the street, quickly catching up to the others.

  “Everything okay?” Riley asked.

  “It seems Mrs. Lawry isn’t alone in her narrow-mindedness.”

  Riley nodded and then waved at Gideon who had just ridden into town with Shawn and Carl beside him. “The boys are here.”

  “Good.” Sara Jane watched as Gideon slipped from the saddle and greeted his wife with a brief kiss. Shawn slipped from his saddle next and made no secret of his infatuation with the lovely Polly. It seemed to be mutual as the young woman’s face was a nice shade of pink as she shyly conversed with him.

  Marybeth and Tara escorted Stephanie and Jasmine a short distance away, giving the two young people a few moments to speak without others listening. Sara Jane nodded at Marybeth for her intuition and then turned to see Carl slowly stalking toward her. He’d already taken his own horse, and that of her brothers, to the hitching post. His smile didn’t appear to be directed at the group, just one person. Specifically, her.

  His eyes never faltered as he approached. When he was a few feet away, he stopped and then tipped his hat back so that she could see his twinkling eyes. “Looks like you were successful in half of your mission.”

  Sara Jane nodded, her thoughts on how handsome he was. “No thanks to Mrs. Lawry or her son.”

  Carl’s smile fell and he asked, “What did they do?”

  “Nothing, just judgments and nasty words. Nothing the women haven’t heard numerous times.”

  “Still, that is no reason for newcomers to our town to feel that they can pass judgment on anyone.”

  “I agree, which is why I decided to ignore them.”

  The church bell rang out and everyone who was still loitering outside began to make their way up the stairs and into the building. She smiled at Gideon as he took charge of the other women and herded them toward the steps. She turned to find Carl holding out his elbow as he waited to be her escort.

  She whispered, “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  “Making a statement. What do you think? Ready to acknowledge that you like me just a little bit?”

  “You know what everyone will think if you escort me into church,” she reminded him.

  “I’m fully aware. I told you at Gideon’s wedding that I was going to court you and you were eventually going to marry me. Now, while I know you’re not ready to marry me this afternoon, I am confident that we will one day stand before the preacher and God and exchange our wedding vows. For today, I simply want everyone to know that Sara Jane Lawson is not available any longer. Especially to that newcomer teacher.”

  Carl turned her head to see Mark driving his ma in their wagon, his eyes on her and Carl instead of the road in front of him. She turned her back on him and then slipped her arm in Carl’s. “Don’t worry about him. He might feel that he is better than everyone here, but I know him to be just as shallow and narrow-minded as his ma. I have no time for a man like that.”

  Carl grinned and then started walking them toward the church where Pastor Russell was standing with her parents on the top step, watching them with smiles. Any hope that Sara Jane held of her folks not expressing their feelings about Carl’s bold declaration for her affections was lost. As they climbed the stairs behind the boarding house women and the rest of her family, Sara Jane found she didn’t really mind.

  So be it! Carl thinks he wants to marry me, and I have to admit we’ve been getting along a lot better, but let’s just see how he handles what’s surely to become a rather awkward Sunday church service. Maybe if he can handle the glares and loud whispers behind feminine hands, he’ll have what I’ve never found before in another suitor. A backbone and ability to accept and defend me–just as I am.

  Chapter 19

  Pastor Russell watched as the women from boarding house climbed the steps. He greeted Gideon and Riley, and then shook hands with the older women and young Stephanie.

  “Good morning, ladies.”

  “Good morning, Pastor Russell.” Marybeth smiled at him. “A beautiful day to enter the House of the Lord.”

  “Indeed. We are privileged to have you join us this morning,” the preacher told her. He’d been waiting for the day when the widowed preacher’s wife would finally emerge from the blue house at the end of the main street and rejoin society. There were several middle-aged women in the town who could benefit from Marybeth’s brand of grace and acceptance. He looked forward to helping them make her acquaintance.

  “Mrs. Pedersen tells me you are doing a good job at the mercantile,” he addressed Stephanie.

  She nodded her head and then smiled. “I’m happy to have something to do.”

  “Good morning, Pastor Russell,” Jasmine told him with a bright smile.

  “Good morning. I’m very happy you all decided to join us. I must apologize for not having issued an invitation sooner.”

  “No apologies are necessary, sir. As Marybeth always tells us, the Good Lord’s timing is never wrong.”

  “And she would be correct. Welcome.”

  “I think we’ll help them find their seats,” James spoke softly.

  “I’m sure they would appreciate that. Ladies, go on in and find a place to sit. The Lawsons have reserved several rows on the right-hand side. Please have a seat and we’ll get started shortly.”

  They entered the building and James and Pearl followed them. He then watched as Shawn escorted Polly up the remaining two steps.

  “Shawn, it’s good to see you this morning,” Pastor Russell told him.

  “Good to see you, as well. Have you had the privilege of meeting Miss Polly Nichols?”

  “I did make her acquaintance several days ago. Miss Nichols, welcome to our church.”

  Polly gave him a shy smile and then murmured, “Thank you for having me.”

  “Everyone is welcome. Please remember that,” he advised her.

  Shawn placed a hand on the young beauty’s arm and led her into the building. Pastor Russell hid his smirk when he met Carl’s knowing look. It seemed romance was in the air for more than one member of the Lazy L Ranch.

  “Miss Sara Jane, it’s a beautiful day.”

  “A
bit chilly, but the sun is a welcome sight,” she agreed.

  Carl removed his hat. “It’ll warm up this afternoon a bit. Pastor, it feels like it might snow again.”

  Pastor Russell looked up at the sky and the gathering clouds in the distance. “You might be correct. Find a seat as we’re just about ready to begin. Just a few more people straggling in.”

  The new schoolteacher and his mother were two of those, along with the blacksmith and his family. He greeted them all and then, seeing no one else approaching the church, entered and closed the doors behind him. He walked to the front of the church and smiled at everyone.

  “Welcome, one and all.”

  Murmurs returning his greeting echoed through the small room. He offered up a word of prayer and then invited them to open the hymnals placed in the rack on the back of each pew. “Turn with me to page twenty-six. No matter what happens in this world, we have this hope–the Lord will never forget us or forsake us. All of our blessings are in Him.”

  The congregation stood to their feet as he led them in the hymn, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

  Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

  Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

  Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

  Call for songs of loudest praise.

  Teach me ever to adore Thee,

  May I still Thy goodness prove,

  While the hope of endless glory

  Fills my heart with joy and love.

  Here I raise my Ebenezer,

  Hither by Thy help I've come,

  And I hope by Thy good pleasure

  Safely to arrive at home.

  Jesus sought me when a stranger,

  Wandering from the fold of God;

  He to rescue me from danger

  Interposed His precious blood.

  O, to grace how great a debtor

  Daily I'm constrained to be!

  Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

  Bind me closer still to Thee.

  Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

  Prone to leave the God I love;

  Here's my heart O, take and seal it;

  Seal it for Thy courts above.

  The congregations’ voices rang out and he was pleased to see the women from the boarding house joining in. He stopped singing for a moment, closing his eyes as he listened to one female voice rising above the rest in a pure and melodious sound.

  He opened his eyes and looked until he identified the singer. Jasmine. She had a beautiful voice and he wasn’t the only one who had also stopped singing to just listen. Before the third verse was finished, she was the only one still singing, lost in the song and completely lost to the fact that everyone else had grown quiet.

  As her voice faded away, she opened her eyes and met Pastor Russell’s gaze. He gave her an encouraging smile and then invited everyone to be seated again. “Well, I for one am very pleased to welcome some new visitors to our congregation. I trust you will all take a moment after service to introduce yourselves.”

  He met the gazes of several women he knew were probably going to be difficult, hoping his simply- worded admonishment would be enough to make Christian charity rise up within them. When he met his wife’s eyes last, he acknowledged her slight nod as confirmation that she planned to make sure everyone behaved at their very best today.

  “Turn in your Bibles with me to the Book of Matthew…”

  *****

  Sara Jane listened to the preacher as he began his message, talking about forgiveness. The verse he was using was one she was familiar with and had heard many times in her life.

  Matthew 6: 14-15 "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

  She was fairly certain the topic of Pastor Russell’s sermon had been spurred by the visitation of the boarding house women. She only hoped some of the more difficult members of the town were listening.

  Carl leaned down to whisper, “Think it’s a coincidence that the sermon’s about forgiveness this morning?”

  “I think it was well planned out and I must remember to thank Pastor Russell for doing what he could to help make things right this morning.”

  “Shawn seems smitten,” Carl murmured.

  Sara Jane turned her head and observed her brother sitting beside the lovely Polly. Their shoulders were touching, and Shawn continued to murmur to her throughout the sermon. “He likes her.”

  “Yes.”

  Sara Jane bit the inside of her cheek as she let that knowledge sink in. Polly didn’t seem to mind her brother’s attentions, and her face was a delightful shade of pink that it hadn’t been earlier this morning.

  When someone coughed, Sara Jane turned her head to see Mark watching her carefully from across the aisle. He caught her gaze and smiled, mouthing something that she didn’t even try to interpret. She thought she’d made it very clear that she was only interested in being friends with him, but after hearing him sound so much like his judgmental ma earlier, she wasn’t even sure that was possible.

  Another pair of eyes captured her attention. Sheriff Parmele’s. He seemed fixated on the row in front of her where the some of the women sat. She tried to figure out whom he was watching and then she saw him smile for someone. Jasmine slightly turned her head and returned the sheriff’s look. Jasmine liked the Sheriff.

  It seemed that the women were doing a credible job of making a place for themselves amongst the townsfolk, at least amongst the men. Now they just needed to befriend the women. That was where Sara Jane was hoping the pastor’s wife, Mrs. Pedersen, and her ma, could be instrumental.

  The service ended while Sara Jane was still deep in her thoughts and only Carl’s touch on her hand brought her back to the present to see everyone standing up and preparing to exit the building.

  “Sara Jane?” Carl called as he exited the pew.

  “Sorry,” she whispered as she quickly exited the pew and headed for the doorway where Pastor Russell was bidding everyone a farewell. “I was thinking …”

  “And I look forward to hearing what about on the way home,” Carl whispered as she walked in front of him.

  “I’m having supper at the boarding house,” Sara Jane murmured to him.

  “As am I.” Carl smiled at her.

  Sara Jane had to wait a moment until they’d bid Pastor Russell good day before she could speak again. She noticed her ma and Mrs. Pedersen were keeping close tabs on the women, making sure that anyone who might wish to cast a cloud over the day was sent away.

  Mark and his ma were speaking to her pa and, given the frown on his brow, he was desperate for a way out of the conversation. Sara Jane started to descend the stairs with that exact thing in mind, but Gideon and Riley beat her to it.

  She told Carl, “I need to go speak to the women…”

  “Go. I’ll catch up to you in a few minutes as soon as I make arrangements for Thunder to be taken back to the ranch.” When she started to question him, he added, “I’ll have one of the hands ride him back. Never fear, he won’t be deprived of his exercise. He would throw me just for the fun of it next time I climbed atop his back if I did that.”

  Carl’s smile was infectious, and Sara Jane chuckled. Thunder was a gorgeous horse, but with a temper everyone was leery of, most especially his owner. “Go.” she shooed him off with her hands.

  She joined the women just in time to hear one of the most notorious gossips in the town bubbling over with excitement about the lovely dress she had made for her granddaughter back East.

  “The stitches were so small and even … I’m sure I don’t know when you had the time to craft such a beautiful piece.”

  Mrs. Pedersen smiled and then pulled Polly forward. “Mrs. Witherspoon, your compliments should be directed at the woman who performed such lovely stitches. Have you met Polly Nichols yet?”

  Sara Jane covered her mouth and pretended to cough
at the look of abject horror that came across Mrs. Witherspoon’s face. “This … creature …”

  “Lady,” Shawn interjected in a hard tone as he stepped forward, coming to Polly’s defense. “She is a lady and I would think you of all people, Mrs. Witherspoon, should want to observe the social niceties.”

  “Polly? Is that your name?” Mrs. Witherspoon asked in a degrading fashion.

  “Miss Nichols is fine,” Polly spoke up, straightening her spine as she confronted the irate woman. “I don’t believe we know one another well enough to be on a first name basis.”

  Sara Jane pinched her own arm as she attempted to gain control of herself. She’d forgotten the verbal abuse the women had suffered from some of the women over the last few years, and it didn’t seem that Pastor Russell’s sermon had quite sunk in yet.