Above Rubies (Rockland Ranch) (8 page)

             
“You’re right.  There is a secret, but it’s not my secret.  And it‘s not just to know what to say.  We can know what God would have us do in every situation, if we listen closely enough.  Sometimes His answers take time or extra effort, but He
is
all knowing and will lead us if we try to let Him.  Everyone has the right to have personal inspiration.  We're blessed with divine insight if we ask for it, and are worthy of it, and listen to it, and heed it, when we receive it.”  Naomi was at her side making hot cakes on an identical griddle.

             
Kit repeated this softly to herself, “If we ask, are worthy, listen and heed it.  Okay, how do you ask?”

             
“The way man has communicated with God from the days of Adam and Eve.  Pray.  Everyday, several times a day, for all the things we're grateful for, or need, or are concerned about, or are happy and excited about.  He’s a loving parent who wants to bless us, but we have to ask.”  Naomi poured another round of batter out.

             
“And how do we be worthy of it?” 

             
Naomi set the pitcher of batter aside to consider this question.  “I guess the answer to that is to do our best, as imperfect mortals, to try to do what we know is right.  The more we're in tune with deity; the clearer the lines of communication are going to be.  It’s sort of like tuning in a radio, in a way, I guess.  If we're trying, and are doing good things in the right places, there’s going to be less static and it’s easier to hear.  When we make poor choices, or are in places we shouldn’t be, we chase the Spirit away and God can’t communicate.  The more we do our best, the easier and clearer it becomes.  Does that make sense?”

             
“What did you mean by ‘if we heed it’?”

             
“Well, think about it.  If you were a parent and gave your child wise counsel over and over, if they didn’t listen and obey, wouldn’t you soon stop giving it to them?”

             
Kit nodded as she considered this.  The more she learned about all this, the more it just made sense. 

             
They had mountains of food when the others came in, but it didn’t take long to make it disappear.  After this long, Kit was still amazed at how much food this family put away.  It’s a good thing they had oil wells.  It probably took the proceeds from one just to buy groceries. 

             
They ate and opened gifts and even Slade’s ranch help, Hank and his wife Ruby, who were family friends, showed up to be welcomed in.  There was every gift imaginable, and some of the gag gifts were hilarious.  Joey had given three of her brothers, Rossen, Sean and Treyne, girl watching glasses.  They were huge neon colored plastic sunglasses to help them find wives.  And she’d given Cooper fake dynamite to help him learn to fish better.  Rob received a real “Fragile” leg lamp like in
The Christmas Story
, and even Isabel got into the spirit of the thing and gave the brothers Slade’s collection of women’s unsolicited phone numbers from a friendly competition he and Rossen had had on the rodeo circuit.  There was a shoebox crammed full and Kit wondered if Rossen had collected one just like it. 

             
Rossen had purchased board games for the family from her and many of them had given her clothing to build up her wardrobe.  By day’s end she had more clothes than she'd ever owned at one time in her life.  Isabel gave her cosmetics and then helped her put them on and Naomi gave her her own Book of Mormon.  Rob gave her a new ski parka and matching hat and gloves.  It was slightly big, but she knew she would need the extra room soon. 

             
Everyone pitched in to make a huge Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, and then helped to clean it all up when it was over.  Afterward, they went to Slade’s house to watch
A Christmas Story
in his theater room.  The movie was funny, but Kit couldn’t keep her eyes open and when Isabel noticed, she suggested Kit go into the bedroom next door to rest on a real bed.

             
As she led her in, Isabel mentioned, “This is actually Rossen’s room.  He lives here with Slade, but I’m sure he won’t mind letting you rest for a few.”  Kit glanced around in interest.  Rossen always seemed to be around his parent’s house, but then so did Isabel and Slade, and she knew his office was there.  Kit had, had no idea he didn’t live there.  Looking around, she got a whole new sense of who Rossen was.  On the wall were his Petroleum Engineering degree and a plaque about serving a mission to Peru.  There was a photo of him whitewater rafting with his family and Slade, and another of him posing beside a massive, dead bear with a bow. 

             
When she saw the huge gold belt buckle on the dresser that held the title World Champion Team Roper she couldn’t even believe it!  She picked it up to finger the intricate design and was surprised by its weight.  She knew they'd been on the way home from a big rodeo the night they'd rescued her.  Everyone had been talking about it a lot, but world champion?  He’d never even mentioned it. 

She wondered if she'd somehow taken some of the importance of it away by showing up in his life that night.  She knew he’d spent the next three days beside her in the hospital.  He hadn’t had any chance to celebrate.  She was feeling decidedly guilty about it all when he knocked. 

              She stood there holding the buckle in her hand as he looked in.  “You’re a world champion and I didn’t even know.”  Her voice was low and miserable as she looked up at him with sad eyes.  “It was the night you found me, wasn’t it?”  He nodded and she went on, “I’m so sorry.  You were sitting in a hospital room when you should have been celebrating the accomplishment of your life.”  She looked down and her shoulders drooped.  She felt like she'd messed up something priceless.

             
He touched her arm and she looked up at him.  “It’s okay.  All we were doing was coming home.  It sounds ungrateful, I know, but we were tired and just wanted to come back to the mountains.  The only plans I had were to eat, shop and watch football.”

             
She looked down again.  “And you never even got to do that.”

             
He lifted her chin.  “I did something much more satisfying than any of those things.  It’s been nice to be needed.  Helping you was important to me.  Don’t begrudge me that.”  She still felt terrible about it all.

             
He changed the subject.  “I brought you something.  I didn’t want to give it to you in front of everyone because it’s kind of personal.  I hope you can understand and take it in the spirit it’s given.”  Now he had her worried.

             
He pulled a small package and card out to give to her.  “I hope you’re not offended, but I wanted to make sure you knew . . .  ”  He hesitated.  “I wanted to make sure you remembered that even though your foster father uh abused you, it wasn’t your fault.  You're still the same sweet virtuous girl you would have been, had you been raised under better circumstances.” 

             
She looked up in surprise and her eyes were wide as they searched his.  Could he really believe this?  How could it be true after what she had been through?  Her foster father had made her feel filthy and worthless and used up.

             
He must have been able to see her thoughts in her eyes, because he said, “Our Father in Heaven knows your heart, Kit.  He doesn’t blame you for the wrongs others have done you.  Neither should anyone else.  In His eyes you're still clean and pure and chaste, and I want to make sure you see yourself that way too.”  He pushed the card and tiny box into her hand.  “I know that kind of abuse sometimes messes people up.  And I’m sure I have no idea what you’re dealing with.  But, in just this short ten days I’ve come to know you’re a good person.  I have no doubt that you are indeed a virtuous woman.”

             
Her eyes filled with wonder as she watched him.  She could see that he really believed that.  It was a completely foreign concept to her.  For so long she had felt used and dirty.  She could hardly even wrap her brain around this.  She still looked at him as she opened the card.

             
It read, “Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies.  King David, Proverbs 31:10” 

             
Slowly she opened the small box, trying to see through the tears that welled in her eyes. A small gold ring containing a single brilliant ruby lay on a bed of black velvet.  She looked up at him as the tears overflowed and trailed down her cheeks.

             
He was flustered.  “Don’t cry again.  This is a happy gift!”  He looked around as if for something to wipe her tears and finding nothing, gently wiped her face with his fingers.  He folded her into a gentle hug and spoke against her hair, “I have no idea what to do when you do this.”

             
That wasn’t true. He knew to hug her which was exactly what she needed although she hadn’t known that until she came here and had done the counseling research.  She struggled to control her emotions.  “I’m sorry.”  She spoke against his chest, “I don’t usually cry this much.  At home I never cried.  Ever.  Naomi says it’s the baby.  It might be the on-line counseling stuff.  I don’t know.  It’s just that I thought this whole virtuous thing was hopelessly gone forever.”  She raised her head.  “Are you sure God still thinks I’m okay, even pregnant?”

             
He smiled and hugged her tighter.  “Yes.  I’m sure.”

             
At length, he pulled away.  “I want you to wear it and when you look at it, always remember that you are worth far above rubies.  And someday, when some jerk insinuates otherwise, you’ll always know what God and Rossen know--that Kit is a virtuous woman, of infinite worth.  Deal?”  He put his fist out to meet hers like a high five.

             
“Deal.”

             
“Good.”  He ruffled her hair again.  “Take your nap.”  He turned and left the room, and she lay down on top of the covers to contemplate her ruby ring.  She drifted off in wonder.  Could it really be true?  She knew she could trust Rossen, so it must be.

                                                        ****

             
Kit opened her eyes and for a second she wasn’t sure where she was.  Then she remembered Rossen’s room and the ruby ring.  She lay there for a moment wondering why the house was now dark and silent and she noticed that his bedroom smelled faintly like him.  It was a combination of aftershave and leather and something uniquely Rossen.  Somehow it was comforting.  She climbed off the bed, slipped on her shoes and went to see where everyone was. 

             
She found Rossen alone in the theater room working on his lap top.  At first he didn’t know she was there and she watched him work, his long brown fingers flying over the keyboard, his concentration intense.  She wondered what he was working on.  He'd told her he was a petroleum engineer slash cowboy.  Then, she’d thought he was teasing, but she’d come to know he’d been serious.  She didn’t know the first thing about either subject and wished she knew more about his life. 

             
She must have made a sound because he looked up and smiled.  Finishing what he was doing, he shut down his computer.  “Ready to go?”

             
Trying to comb out her hair with her fingers she asked, “Where is everyone?”  The house felt deserted.

             
“They went back to my parents after the movie, but I didn’t want to wake you.  Did you rest okay?  We were being kind of rowdy in the second movie.  They were watching Remember the Titans, and kept singing along.”

             
“Second movie?  What time is it?  How long did I sleep?”  She yawned and stretched.

             
“You must have been tired.  It’s seven forty five.  You’ve been asleep for almost four hours.  Everyone else left about an hour ago.”

             
She smiled guiltily.  “I didn’t use to need so much sleep.  I feel almost lazy.  I think the baby must make me tired.”

             
He headed up the stairs grinning.  “Sure.  Blame it on the baby.  What are you going to name her?”

             
Right behind him on the stairs, she questioned, “Her?  What makes you think it’s a her?”

             
He waited for her at the top.  “I don’t know.  I just always picture a girl, with pretty dark hair like her mother.  Where did you get the dark hair?  Were your biological parents Hispanic?”

             
She shook her head.  “My father was half Papago Indian.  My real name is Kitawna Star.  Kitawna is a native word meaning valuable."

             
“It’s a pretty name.  It fits you.”  He helped her on with her coat. “What do
you
think the baby is?”

             
They went through to the garage.  “I don’t know.  Sometimes I don’t even dare wonder.”  She hesitated.  “It sounds awful, but sometimes I worry it will remind me of my foster father.  Is that terrible?”

             
“No, it’s not terrible.”  He helped her up into his truck. “You feel how you feel.  I can see how you wouldn’t want a reminder, but you should try to think positive.  If you don’t think you want to put her up for adoption, then try to be excited for her.  Picture yourself thrilled with her.  I’m sure the rest of us will be.”