A Tender Hope

by Amanda Cabot

  She was not surprised by the grapevine’s speed. “What most of the townspeople don’t know is that Grace Sims is Aimee’s mother.” When she’d returned from Lydia’s house, her face glowing with happiness, Aimee had told Thea the whole story, including her relationship to Warner. An hour later, she’d taken Thea across the street to meet Grace.

  “Aimee and Grace look so much alike that everyone’s going to realize they’re related once they see them together.”

  Though they hadn’t finalized the decision, Grace had suggested that they ask Pastor Dunn to introduce Aimee as her daughter following Sunday’s service. “We know everyone will speculate, so we might as well satisfy their curiosity,” Grace had said.

  But Jackson’s curiosity appeared to have taken a different turn. “What will you do when Aimee marries Nate?”

  “I don’t know.” The thought had crossed her mind more than once, but now the situation was more complicated. It had been difficult enough remaining in the house and remembering the damage the intruders had wreaked on it when she had Aimee with her. Though last night had been better, Thea couldn’t imagine what it would be like with only Stuart for company. He couldn’t reassure her the way Aimee did.

  Thea smiled at the infant in her arms, grateful that he was continuing to amuse himself with the rattle Widow Jenkins had given him. “I’m not sure there will be a wedding. Nate hasn’t proposed.” And, though Aimee had once believed he might be on the verge of doing exactly that, now she was worried.

  “He will. The man is boots over hat in love with her.” Jackson flashed Thea a smile. “I’ve had to listen to him tell me how wonderful she is. Trust me. It’s just a matter of time before Aimee and Nate are hitched. What will you do then?”

  For some reason, Jackson was persistent in wanting to know her plans. The problem was, Thea didn’t have any firm plans. “I’ll probably try to find a house where I feel safer.” She paused before adding, “The problem is, I’m not sure that moving will help.”

  Jackson nodded as if he understood, but, though a smile teased the corners of his lips upward, his words were solemn. “You’ll be safe as soon as I put the Gang behind bars. I’ll admit that they’ve been cleverer than I expected. Even though we did a thorough search, Travis and I couldn’t find any signs of them.” His voice remained sober as he said, “I know they were the ones behind your break-in, but I can’t figure out where they’re hiding. What I can tell you is that they’re not following us today.”

  And that was reassuring. “Where are we going?” Jackson had refused to tell Thea anything more than that he wanted her advice.

  “We’re almost there.” A minute later, he turned the buggy off the main road.

  “Austin Goddard’s ranch?” Thea had ridden past the entrance several times when she’d visited patients, though she’d never seen the house.

  “Yep. I heard he might be interested in selling it and wanted your opinion. I can tell if the land is good and the barn is large enough, but I don’t know much about houses. I was hoping you’d look at it and tell me whether it would be a good home.”

  Jackson gave a deprecating shrug as he continued what was for him a long speech. “I saw it from the outside once and thought it looked all right, but I’m no expert. When my ma used to say there’s a difference between a house and a home, I never could figure out what she meant. I’m hoping you can help.”

  Thea shared that hope. Jackson had helped her in so many ways, never once asking anything in return. The least she could do was give him an opinion of this house. Perhaps it would turn out to be a home for him and not simply the building where he lived.

  As they approached the sprawling ranch house with its wraparound porch, a frisson of excitement made its way down Thea’s spine. Though she was here to evaluate it for Jackson, she could not deny her own reaction to it. To her surprise, she was filled with a sense of homecoming, though the building bore little resemblance to the house where she’d grown up.

  After a tragic fire had destroyed the original house, Sarah and Clay had rebuilt their home with stone, eschewing the half-timbered style that was common in Ladreville. Unlike Thea’s childhood home, this house was a simple frame structure, one story high with green shutters providing contrast against the white walls and black-shingled roof. While there was nothing distinctive about it, the building that Austin and Catherine Goddard now called home seemed to be welcoming Thea.

  The feeling was so unexpected, a bit like the coup de foudre that Aimee had felt when she met Nate, that Thea wasn’t certain what to do. Rather than blurt out her feelings, she busied herself with Stuart, adjusting the cap Widow Jenkins had knitted for him so it would shade his face when they left the buggy.

  As Jackson helped her and Stuart out of the buggy, the couple Thea had seen at Lydia’s house the previous day emerged from the house, their faces wreathed with smiles.

  The man pulled out his watch and smiled. “Right on time, just like you said in your note.” He gave Thea an appraising look. “I see you brought someone with you.”

  Austin Goddard matched Jackson in height, but that was where the similarities ended. His hair was blond, not auburn, his eyes blue rather than green, his chin distinctly square. While the town’s new doctor was a handsome man, he didn’t compare to Jackson.

  Jackson nodded. “This is Thea Michener. I wanted her opinion.”

  Although Thea could see nothing amusing about Jackson’s words, Austin appeared to be fighting to hide a smile.

  His wife stepped forward, her smile as welcoming as her husband’s. “The men are going to worry about boring things like barns and corrals. Let me show you the inside, Mrs. Michener.” Her smile broadened as she looked at Stuart. “I have just the right place for him to stay while we look around.” The assurance with which the pretty brunette spoke reminded Thea that she’d once been Cimarron Creek’s schoolteacher.

  “Please call me Thea,” she said as she climbed the porch steps.

  “All right, Thea. And I’m Catherine.”

  Instead of opening the front door, Catherine continued around the porch to what Thea surmised was the entrance to the kitchen. When she’d escorted Thea inside what was indeed a nicely appointed kitchen, Catherine pointed to a wicker basket filled with freshly washed towels. “Just give me a second to get the towels out. I think the little one will fit inside.”

  And he did. Stuart appeared intrigued by his new surroundings, batting the sides of the basket with his fists while he chortled his approval. Thea knew from experience that Stuart would remain entertained for a while, giving her a chance to explore the rest of the house.

  As Catherine led the way around the house, showing Thea the parlor, separate dining room, pantry, and five bedrooms, she said, “It’s not fancy, but everything is in good condition. We find it comfortable.”

  “It’s more than comfortable. It’s charming.” The house where she was living was larger and some would say more stylish, but it paled compared to this.

  The sense of homecoming that had settled over Thea as they approached the house had only increased when she’d entered the house that Jackson was considering buying. He might not know the difference between a house and a home, but Thea did. This was a home. It was a place she could easily picture herself spending the rest of her life.

  She swallowed deeply, unwilling to voice those thoughts. Instead, she settled for, “It’s bigger than I expected.”

  Catherine nodded as if she’d had the same reaction herself. “The people who built it kept adding rooms as they had children. I understand they had twelve.”

  Thea gasped. Though she had encountered large families in her practice, the most she’d seen were ten children. “It’ll take Jackson a while to fill all those rooms.” They had never spoken of children other than Stuart, but Thea knew instinctively that Jackson would want at least three or four.

  “A few years, anyway.” Catherine turned back toward the kitchen. “I imagine the men will be another half hour or s
o. Would you like a cup of coffee or tea while we wait?”

  “Tea would be wonderful, if it’s not too much trouble.” It might help settle her thoughts, which were whirling at the realization that she did not want to leave this house.

  “It’s no trouble at all.” As the tea steeped, Stuart began to fuss. Catherine smiled at him, then turned back to Thea. “Would you mind if I held him? I want to practice a bit.”

  The almost hesitant tone in the formerly confident schoolteacher’s voice caused Thea to give her an appraising look. “Any particular reason?”

  A laugh was Catherine’s first response. “Exactly the one you’re imagining. I believe I’ll be having a baby of my own next spring. That’s one of the reasons I’m glad you came today. I have a million questions for you.”

  They were still talking about babies when Jackson and Austin entered the kitchen.

  Austin laid a protective hand on his wife’s shoulder but directed his question to Thea. “So, what do you think?”

  “I think you’re going to be a father next May.”

  The look Austin and Catherine exchanged warmed Thea’s heart. This was how parents ought to react to the news that a blessed event was in the offing. They were eager, excited, and full of love for each other and their unborn child.

  “That’s the best news possible, but that wasn’t the question I was asking.” Austin turned toward Jackson. “Maybe you’d better do it.”

  His face reddening as though he hadn’t anticipated this, Jackson swallowed, then said, “What do you think about the house? Can you picture yourself living here?”

  32

  As the bell over the door tinkled, Aimee looked up from the shelves she was dusting. She hadn’t expected to see Nate, especially not Nate looking the way he did. Dressed in his Sunday suit, his hair freshly cut, a bouquet of slightly wilted flowers in his hand, this was a Nate she’d never seen.

  “Hello, Nate.” Her mouth suddenly dry, those were the only words she could force out. Not sure what else to say or whether she would be able to speak at all, Aimee looked around for Warner, but he’d disappeared. A moment ago, he’d been in the back room; now the store was empty except for her and Nate.

  She laid the feather duster on the counter and stared at the customer who did not look like a customer. Why was Nate here hours before he normally joined her, and why did he look like a man who’d come courting? Aimee’s heart pounded at the thought that that might be exactly what he was doing.

  As the door swung shut behind him, Nate turned the sign from “open” to “closed” and took a step toward her, and as he did Aimee realized that the farmer who’d once been afraid to talk to her had disappeared, replaced by a man who exuded confidence.

  “I was going to wait until the store closed, but I couldn’t wait another minute. Those two weeks with chicken pox were the longest of my life. But what am I doing? I almost forgot.”

  Extending his arm, Nate handed the flowers to Aimee. “These are for you. Rachel warned me that they would wilt, and they did. I hope you like them anyway.”

  Aimee buried her nose in the bouquet, smiling at both the fragrance and the realization that this was the first time a man had brought her flowers. Grace had told her that if Nate’s love was true, it would not be altered by the story of her father. If these flowers were any indication, Nate’s love was indeed true.

  “They’re beautiful.” Some might believe that the simple wildflowers could not compare to the roses that bloomed in what had been her grandmother’s garden, but to Aimee nothing could be better than the bouquet she held in her hands. Not only had Nate given them to her, but he’d picked them especially for her. “Thank you, Nate. They just need a little water.”

  She started to turn, planning to fetch an empty jar and some water from the back room, but Nate stopped her. “That can wait. There’s something I want to say first.”

  He looked at the wilted flowers and frowned. “I don’t know what kind of flowers you like. I don’t know a lot of things about you, but I want to. I want to know your favorite flowers, what you like to eat, which authors you prefer—everything about you.”

  For a man who’d once been tongue-tied around her, it was quite a speech. Aimee didn’t know what had caused the change, but she liked it. Oh, how she liked it!

  Nate smiled at her, and the expression she saw in his eyes made Aimee’s heart leap with joy. Nate was looking at her the way Clay looked at Sarah, the way Travis looked at Lydia.

  He took a shallow breath, then straightened his shoulders and smiled again. “What I’m trying to say is, I love you, Aimee. I want to marry you.”

  “Oh, Nate. C’est ça que j’ai esperé.” As happiness washed over her, Aimee found herself unable to find the English words to tell him that that was exactly what she’d hoped for.

  Seemingly unconcerned by her inability to answer, Nate continued. “Rachel told me a man’s supposed to ask his gal’s father for permission, but since I couldn’t do that, I did the next best thing. I asked your brother, and he said yes.” Nate’s grin confirmed that Warner’s sudden departure was no coincidence. “Will you marry me, Aimee? Please.”

  “Are you sure?” Though he’d spoken to Warner and now knew the truth behind her birth, she had to give him a chance to reconsider.

  Nate nodded so vigorously that a lock of hair came loose from the Macassar oil he’d used to tame it. “I’ve never been so sure of anything. So, will you take your chances with this goat farmer?”

  “Yes, Nate. Oh yes!”

  As he opened his arms, she raced into them. What a wonderful, wonderful day!

  “What do you mean?” Thea stared at Jackson, wondering whether he had somehow guessed how much the house appealed to her.

  Catherine rose, lifted Stuart from the basket, and nodded at her husband. “Let’s give them a little time alone.”

  When the trio had left the kitchen, Jackson took the seat next to Thea. “I didn’t mean to blurt it out that way. The truth is, I’ve been looking for the perfect time and place, but I haven’t found it. Somehow, the words just popped out.”

  He leaned forward ever so slightly, but it was enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath as he asked, “What do you think about the house?”

  Thea chose her words carefully. “I think it would be an ideal place to raise a family.” She could picture Stuart chasing another child or two from room to room, then hiding behind the settee in the parlor to avoid detection. “I know Austin wants to be in town and closer to his patients, but I can’t imagine ever wanting to leave here if this were mine.” Jackson remained silent, as if waiting for her to continue, and so she did. “It’s what you said you wanted—a home, not just a house.”

  Thea hoped Jackson wouldn’t repeat his other question, because she wasn’t ready to tell him that she could indeed picture herself living here, that the instant she’d stepped inside the front door, she’d felt as if she belonged here. She wasn’t ready to tell him that she’d imagined herself dusting the mantelpiece in the parlor and pulling a roast from the oven, placing it on this very table in front of her family—Jackson, Stuart, and a little girl with Jackson’s red hair.

  Jackson appeared satisfied with her assessment. “That’s what I thought. I rode out here a couple weeks ago when I heard that Austin might be willing to sell it, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since. I keep picturing us living here.”

  Us. “Oh!”

  He shook his head. “There I go, getting ahead of myself again. The first time I asked you to marry me, I did it all wrong, and it seems I’m not doing any better this time.”

  Thea shivered with anticipation and apprehension. This was what she wanted, and yet . . .

  Jackson’s expression remained solemn as he said, “I know it’s probably too soon for you. Folks tell me a person needs a whole year to get over a death, and you had two to deal with. If you want to wait, I’ll try to be patient, but I don’t want to wait another day to tell you that I
love you. That’s why I want to marry you.”

  He loved her! One of the doubts that had plagued Thea began to fade.

  “But you said Stuart . . .”

  Jackson clenched his fists and relaxed them in a gesture she’d seen him use when he was frustrated. “I told you I did it all wrong the first time. I probably left you believing the reason I was talking about marriage was because Stuart deserved two parents.”

  Thea nodded. She wouldn’t tell Jackson how much that had hurt, how she’d felt as if he were rejecting her the way Daniel had.

  His eyes clouding as if he understood and regretted her pain, Jackson continued. “It’s true: Stuart does deserve that, but that’s not why I want to marry you. I love you, Thea, and I know that you’re the only woman who can make my life complete.”

  Those were the words Thea had longed to hear, the words that made her heart sing. The man she loved loved her. He wanted to marry her as much as she longed to marry him. And yet the fears were still there. It wasn’t only her happiness that hung in the balance. So did Jackson and Stuart’s. She couldn’t make another mistake.

  When she didn’t respond, Jackson reached out and took her hands in his. To Thea’s amazement, she felt the slightest of tremors in his. “Do you love me even a little? If you’re not ready yet, can I hope that one day you’ll marry me?”

  Thea swallowed deeply, trying to dislodge the lump that had taken residence in her throat. How was it possible that this strong man, this fierce warrior, was practically pleading with her to marry him? What had she done to deserve a love like that?

  “Oh, Jackson, I’m so confused. I care about you.” She saw disappointment shadow his eyes and regretted her choice of words. “I care about you a great deal.” The disappointment began to fade. “I think what I feel is love, but I’m afraid.”

  The hope that had filled his eyes turned to confusion that mirrored her thoughts. “Afraid of what?”