California Romance (51 page)

Ellie felt perspiration spring to her forehead. Dread tightened her fingers into fists. She clutched her arms around herself to suppress pain. The thought of never seeing Josh again was unbearable. How could he have staked a claim on her heart in such a short time? She held her breath and watched Matt, Seth, Red Fallon, and the four board members join the group under the tree. Now what?

It felt like an eternity to Ellie before Luther raised his hands with a disgusted look. He walked at a snail’s pace toward Josh, dragging his feet all the way. “Reverend Stanhope, it has been decided to hire you, contingent upon—”

Loud cheers erupted, but Luther scowled. “As I was saying, the offer is contingent upon your performing acceptably for the next six months.”

For the first time in their acquaintance, Ellie saw Josh’s jaw tighten. His gray eyes darkened with anger, and his voice rang. “Mr. Talbot, I will be happy to serve Christ the Way, but I do not perform. Any minister who does isn’t worth his calling.”

Red Fallon stepped to Josh’s side and glared at Luther. “We’re hirin’ a preacher, Talbot, not an actor. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!”

“ Yippee-ki-ay!”
Tim bounded over to Josh. “I’m gonna be the first one to shake our new preacher’s hand.”

The excitement on top of the reaction Ellie had experienced from singing proved too much for her. One hand over her rapidly beating heart, she slipped back into the empty church. She sank into a pew, trying to shut out the look Josh had given her just before she fled. And trying in vain to remember that anyone who walked so close to God could never be yoked with a girl who had never stopped hating her father.

Tim found her there a long time later. “C’mon, Ellie. Matt and Sarah invited Josh to the ranch for dinner. He’s going with you in the buggy as soon as the rest of the folks here clear out.” Tim sighed and rubbed his stomach. “Hope it’s soon. Amy’s hanging on till the last dog’s hung, but I think Luther’s about ready to drag her home.”

It took a moment for his news to sink in. “Josh? Ride with me? What about you?”

“I already got a horse from the livery stable. Josh has to have a way to get back.” Tim flashed a mischievous smile. “Now’s your chance, sister dear. He’s already interested.”

Ellie didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Some chance.” She couldn’t keep bitterness from her voice. Bitterness and longing. “Can you imagine Gus Stoddard’s daughter married to someone like Josh?”

Tim’s smile disappeared. “You’re Ellie Sterling now, not Ellie Stoddard.” His loyalty brought tears. “What if Gus…?”

Tim patted her hand. “Forget about him, Ellie. He was glad enough to get shut of us. Most likely, we’ll never see him again. Peter or Ian either.”

“Do you ever think about them?” Ellie turned her hand over and clung to Tim’s. It suddenly seemed terribly important to hear his answer.

He shrugged. “Not much. They were mean. All three of them.”

“Do you hate them?”

“Naw.” Tim’s brown eyes took on a poignant light. “I used to, but Seth says we gotta love God more than we hate people. We gotta forgive them, too, even when it ain’t easy.” His sigh sounded like it came up from the toes of his boots.

“If only I could find a way to be worthy of someone like Josh,” Ellie whispered.

Tim cleared his throat and gave her fingers a squeeze. “You already are.”

“Just ride close to the buggy,” she pleaded.

“Sure. Can’t let you and our new preacher go buggy riding without a chaperone.”

Ellie smiled. Tim had returned to his usual impish self, but she’d caught a glimpse of the man he was well on his way to becoming.

To Ellie’s dismay, Luther and Amy still had Josh buttonholed, even though the others had gone. Josh finally said to the Talbots, “If you’ll excuse me, it’s quite a ride out to the Diamond S, and they’re waiting dinner for us. Miss Sterling, are you ready to go?” He nodded toward the buggy.

“You don’t mean to say you and Ellie are riding ten miles unchaperoned!” Luther burst out. Disapproval oozed from every word, and Amy’s smile changed to a pout.

Tim drew himself up into a picture of outrage. “Of course not. It wouldn’t be proper.” He pointed to a saddled horse. “I’ll be riding alongside the buggy. We’d best be going. Solita doesn’t like us to be late for meals.”

“Harrumph
. We will continue our conversation at another time, Reverend. Come, Amy.” Luther strode off, but Amy sent a venomous glance toward Ellie before she tripped away and called, “Remember, Preacher Josh. You’re to have dinner with us next Sunday.”

Ellie could barely control herself at the look on Josh’s face. It clearly said he did not enjoy the prospect of dinner at the Talbots.

He helped her into the buggy and asked, “Shall I drive?”

“Please.” Self-conscious, she wondered what to say next. She needn’t have worried. Josh began to ask about the country, the people, and Christ the Way Church. The trip to the Diamond S had never seemed shorter. By the time they arrived, Ellie knew Tim was right. Incredible as it seemed, “Preacher Josh” was definitely interested in her.

E
llie had always scoffed at old wives’ tales and oft-quoted sayings. When one came true, she chalked it up to coincidence. Yet a week after her discussion with Tim about their father and brothers, something happened that shook her skepticism. It also brought back memories she wanted to forget.

One evening, Seth came into the huge sitting room where the family had gathered after supper. A fire flamed in the huge fireplace and flickered on the colorful tapestries that brightened the walls. Seth walked over to Sarah and sat down beside her. His grim expression sent an alarm bell clanging in Ellie’s mind.

“I’m glad you’re all here.” He slowly took a crumpled envelope from his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “When Curly brought the mail home today, this letter was in it.”

Ellie’s body tensed. She shivered in spite of the warmth from the fire.

“It’s from Gus,” Seth said.

Tim sent a startled look at Ellie. “Talk of the devil and his horns appear,” he mumbled, so low only she could hear him.

Ellie shushed him and turned her attention back to Seth. She’d seldom seen him as serious as when he told Sarah, “This concerns you as well as me.”

She gasped, and her face paled. “What does Gus want?”

Seth’s face turned thunder-cloud dark. “The usual. Money.”

“So what’s Gus whining about this time?” Matt barked.

Tim leaped up from the rug where he’d been sprawled at Ellie’s feet. “The usual? This time? Has Gus asked for money before? How come I didn’t know about it?”

“Settle down,” Seth told him. “There was no need for you or Ellie to know. Matt and I took care of it.”

Tim’s eyes blazed. “You didn’t send him money, did you?” he choked out.

“No. We won’t this time either.”

“Good.” But Tim remained on his feet, fiery-eyed and rigid.

Heartache and shame that they were Gus Stoddard’s children tightened Ellie’s chest. Why must they face humiliation again, just when she was trying to follow Tim’s lead and forgive her shiftless family?

Seth looked even more troubled. “Ellie, I’m sorry you and Tim have to hear this, but you need to know what Gus has to say.”

Ellie nodded, unable to get words out of her constricted throat.

Tim snorted. Tall and straight, he flung his head back and said, “I’d rather never hear what he has to say. Is he trying to get Ellie and me back?”

“He can’t!” Sarah protested. “Matt made sure of that when we adopted you.”

“Gus has ways,” Tim reminded her. “Nothing could be worse than our being yanked back to St. Louis.”

Amen to that
, Ellie silently agreed. “Read the letter, please, Seth.”

“All right.” He unfolded the page and read:

“Dear Seth,

“I need yer help. Peter and Ian showed up and got in a fight on the docks. A feller died. The boys didn’t kill him, but they got tossed in jail anyway. I would of sent a telegram but it takes every penny Agatha and me kin scrape together to get by. It don’t seem right, us starvin when you and Sarah are livin in luxury.

“Wire five hundred dollars right away so we kin buy food and bail out yer brothers. You owe me, considering all I done fer you.”

Seth threw the letter down. “Five hundred dollars? How dare that miserable excuse for a man come whining to Sarah and me after the way he treated us?”

Ellie cringed, but Tim ground his teeth, snatched up the letter, and read on:

“I can’t stand knowin Peter and Ian might git hung. It’s bad enough that I give up Timmy and Ellie when I wuzn’t thinkin straight. Send the money to…”

Tim flung the letter toward the fire, but Ellie sprang from her chair and caught it.

“Why did you do that?” Tim hollered.

She shook her head. “I—I don’t know. Something told me it should be saved.” Tears dripped on the wrinkled page.

“Aw, Ellie, don’t cry. I’m sorry I yelled at you.” He looked so contrite that she mopped her eyes and hugged him, glad he didn’t jerk away as he usually did when others were present.

Matt came across the room and held out his hand. “I’m glad Ellie saved it, Tim. Gus’s story doesn’t ring true. Seth and I will get to the bottom of this. We’ll need the letter to investigate.”

Ellie handed it to Matt, glad to be rid of the hateful thing. Barren of either
please
or
thank you
, it typified Gus’s approach to life: wheedle, whine, and take, take, take. What would Matt discover when he investigated?

Early the next morning, Matt saddled up for the ride to Madera. Seth did the same. And Tim, who flatly refused to stay at the ranch. Matt would send a telegram to the lawyers who drew up the ironclad adoption papers on Ellie and Tim. “It won’t take long for them to get the truth about the Stoddards,” he said. “I expect an answer before nightfall.”

Matt’s prediction came true. Late that afternoon, the three horseback investigators returned. Tim leaped from the saddle and onto the veranda where the womenfolk sat waiting. Matt and Seth followed close behind. Tim’s grin melted the cold, hard knot crowding Ellie’s chest.

“Gus’s story has more holes than a tin can used for target practice,” he yelled.

“It sure does,” Matt put in. “A dockhand who saw the fight cleared Peter and Ian.”

The breath Ellie had been holding whooshed from her lungs. Her brothers weren’t murderers. Thank God!

Matt continued. “The law released Peter and Ian. They left St. Louis before Gus wrote the letter!”

“That’s not all,” Tim announced with a look of disgust. “Gus and Agatha don’t need food or anything else. Can you beat that? After all his bad luck at gambling, Gus made a killing on the
River Queen
. The lawyer said Agatha grabbed the money and invested it.” A look of satisfaction crawled across Tim’s excited face. “Serves Gus right.”

Seth took up the story. “The lawyer also said that, according to gossip, Agatha only doles out a few dollars at a time to Gus. They have a cottage in a nicer part of town now. The old shack burned shortly after they left.”

Good riddance
, Ellie thought. She exchanged glances with Tim. His expression showed he shared her relief that the place where they’d endured so much heartache no longer existed.

“I learned a whole lot more from the lawyer.” Matt laughed until tears came. “Agatha is the talk of St. Louis. Seems she’s bound and determined to make Gus respectable. She descended on every gambling hall he frequented. She brandished an umbrella and threatened dire consequences to anyone who gave him credit. Agatha Stoddard is one determined woman!” Matt wiped his eyes, then sobered.

“I told the lawyer about the letter asking for money under false pretenses. He advised me to put it away for safekeeping. The lawyer is officially warning Gus that if he ever tries any more shenanigans, he’ll be jailed for attempted extortion. I seriously doubt we’ll be hearing from him again.”

A collective sigh of relief went up from the group. Ellie felt a long-carried burden slip away. Was she finally unshackled from the past? A prayer rose from her grateful heart.
Lord, please help Pa. No sheep was ever more lost than he is
.

That night, Ellie lay in bed, watching the stars through her open window. Suddenly the significance of the prayer struck her. For the first time in years, she’d referred to her father as Pa, not Gus. Was it the first step toward forgiveness? She fell asleep pondering the day’s events and thanking God for brighter tomorrows.

Joshua Stanhope surveyed his new home and burst into laughter. “Lord, this parsonage could fit in the downstairs of the Nob Hill mansion with room to spare, but I love it. The church women sure made it shine.” He breathed in the resinous smell of furniture polish and the woodsy odor of carpets beaten in the fresh, summer air. Gleaming windows offered an ever-changing parade of swaying tree branches and scolding squirrels. A well-trodden path led between the simple wooden dwelling place and the church.

Josh left his door open to the great outdoors as much as possible. It presented endless ideas for his sermons. He never tired of watching the squirrels and listening to the multitude of songbirds that filled his days with music. They lessened the heartache of the scene with his mother when he went to get his trappings for the move to Madera. Josh never dreamed he’d be hired after his first sermon so had arrived with only limited clothing and none of his personal treasures. Considering his mother’s opposition to him leaving San Francisco, it hadn’t seemed wise to ask for them to be sent.