Jessie (24 page)

“Jessie is not a mean person—she never has been—but I don't know what she'll do with the details of my life.”

“Do you think she'll send you away?”

“Not that. She says the girls need me and she puts them first, but she might put such a wall between the two of us that the girls will hold back, unconsciously taking their cue from her.”

That made complete sense to Rylan and Bri. They both wished they could reassure him on Jessie's behalf, but that wasn't possible. On God's behalf, however, it was completely possible.

Rylan spent the rest of the meal reminding Seth that God had a plan and that Seth needed to remember that he had been obedient by returning to Token Creek. Rylan did not promise him that he would have no pain or heartache in the process but that obedience was always blessed.

“And don't forget,” Rylan finished, “our actions here are for eternity. We do the right thing and make the right choices here for eternity's sake. We leave the details to God as to what that's all going to look like.”

Jessie settled into bed, the little girls already asleep on the other side of the same bed, and thought about the day. It had been wonderful. Somewhere on the ride out of town, it occurred to her that she'd walked away from the store, going so far as to leave it in Seth's care. She'd almost panicked, but the delight of her daughters and the absolutely decadent feeling of being gone during the workday had swiftly crowded all else aside.

She and Meg had always been friends. Meg, the younger of the two, had started making summer-long visits to Jeb and Patience many years ago, and the result had been her staying in Token Creek to marry Brad Holden. And today, somehow Jessie had known that Meg would welcome her. It wasn't that she'd never been to the ranch—she had several times over the years—but never on a weekday.

Jessie sighed a little as sleep crowded in, thinking about Brad and Trace's children and how precious they were. For a moment she thought about having a day like that every week, a day off that wasn't a Sunday. She fell asleep before she could start to wonder where this feeling had come from.

Rylan and Nate met each week but not always at the same time. This week they met on Saturday morning. The August weather was nice, so they had gone down to the edge of the creek and found a stretch of grass to sit on. Each man had his Bible.

“I found a verse from Psalms that I think applies to me,” Nate said.

“Which one?”

“Psalm 119:17: ‘Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.' ”

“How do you think that applies to you?” Rylan asked.

“I can't remember too much about lying there when I was so weak, but after you told me I wasn't ready I do remember trying to talk to God. I hadn't done that very often, and I realize now that I was trying to make a deal with Him.”

Rylan had not heard this before and was quiet as Nate shared.

“I think I said something about ‘Just let me live, just let me live,' but I never worked out what my end of the bargain would be if He actually did that.”

“And this verse reminds you of that?”

“A little. It almost sounds to me as if the writer is trying to make a deal with God.”

“I can see why it might look that way, but don't take this verse out of context. It's from an amazing chapter where all but a handful of verses mention God's Word. That might not seem all that significant, but there are 176 verses in that chapter.”

Nate blinked with surprise but kept listening.

“The psalmist is asking to live for a reason, that reason being God's Word. There is nothing self-seeking in this request. God's Word is so great and precious that this writer asks for more time so he can know that Word.

“Also, be sure to keep the next seven verses with it. They're all a plea and a thanksgiving to God for how amazing His Word is and how much we need it.”

The men took time to read all the verses that Rylan mentioned and then prayed together. They were just minutes away from Nate heading to work when Rylan asked how Nate was doing with the topic of Heather.

“Most days I'm all right,” Nate said. “It's hard not knowing if she doesn't want me or doesn't want
anyone
special in her life.”

“I've been meaning to ask you about that. Had you noticed Heather before you came to Christ?”

“Yes, but she didn't get out much before Mrs. Holden died, so I was just drawn to her looks. But now that we've talked and I know how nice she is, the feelings are much stronger.”

“This is when trust is so key, Nate. We don't know if God will ever touch Heather's heart concerning you, but we can still trust Him. Memorize Isaiah 26, verses 3 and 4. If ever you're tempted to think that God doesn't know her heart or yours, remember those verses.”

Nate looked them up on the spot and had to laugh.

“They're perfect!” he said.

“Yes, they are,” Rylan agreed, also laughing.

Moments later Nate thanked him and went on his way, but Rylan didn't hurry home. He sat back down by the creek to pray for his friend. Rylan would never presume to know what God had in mind for Nate, but the pastor did ask God to move and work concerning Heather. He didn't ask for himself but in God's will, knowing that if God wasn't glorified by such a relationship, it would not be worth a moment's time or place in Nate's and Heather's lives.

Clancy hadn't meant to boss Seth, and she certainly hadn't meant to get caught in the act. For a moment, however, the seven-year-old forgot what her mother had said.

“Did you fix those shoe boxes yet?” Clancy asked not long before dinner on the busiest day of the week.

“I haven't had time,” Seth told her, working to right a display of kitchen knives.

“Well, they need it and so do those bowls and pitchers on the top shelf.”

“Thank you, Clancy,” Seth said, having seen Jessie come up behind their daughter.

“Are you giving Seth orders?” Jessie asked, her voice quiet but astounded and angry that she'd been disobeyed.

Clancy spun, her lower lip tucked between her teeth, telling her mother she had heard correctly.

“Head to the stairs and do not move until I get there.”

“But it's Saturday!” the little girl argued.

“Go!”

Clancy went off, and Seth waited only for her to disappear to ask about what she'd said.

“I've been known to send the girls to sit on the stairs on a Saturday and been so busy I've forgotten them,” Jessie explained.

“How long will you leave her there?”

Jessie was about to answer when she saw what needed to be done.

“Why don't you go to her? Maybe if you tell her you don't want to be bossed, she'll remember.”

“All right,” Seth agreed, thinking he would never have dared to suggest it. It wasn't that he hadn't given the girls directions, but he never got after them. He figured that would come in time, when the relationship wasn't so new.

“I've been thinking,” Jessie said quietly, knowing it wouldn't be long before she was needed elsewhere in the store. “I have some questions.”

“For me?”

“Yes.”

“All right.”

“I don't want the girls to know anything more, but I need to know some things.”

“Sure,” Seth agreed, glad he'd already anticipated this. “Just let me know when.”

There was no time for more. Both husband and wife were needed by customers in the next few seconds.

Chapter Twelve

I
T WAS SOME TIME
before Seth had time to even go check on Clancy. He found her lying across the second step, looking bored and put out. He sat on the bottom step to be on her level.

“Is Mama coming?” she asked as soon as she spotted him, sitting up in the process.

“No, I'm here to talk to you.”

“Not Mama?”

“Not this time,” Seth said, working to find brief and simple words for all the things in his heart. “I want to tell you something, and I want you to listen carefully. I think we all have jobs to do. Your job is to be a little girl who listens to her mother and does what she's told. My job is to work and take care of things for your mother here in the store, and do what
she
needs me to do.”

Clancy watched him, her eyes intent on his face.

“It's wrong of you to boss me around. But I don't want you to boss me around because your mother said not to. I don't want you giving me orders because it's not
your
job. Do you understand, Clancy?”

“What's my job?”

“Your job is to be seven. You're not an adult, so you don't need to act like one. You need to be seven and listen to what your mother and I tell you, and then obey.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“No, but if you forget and boss me around again, I'm not going to wait for your mother to find out. I'll put you on the stairs myself.”

Her eyes grew a little over this statement, but Seth did not sense that she was going to argue.

“You can get up from the stairs now,” Seth said.

He watched the little girl stand, but she didn't try to move. Seth wasn't sure if she didn't believe he had the right to dismiss her from this place of punishment or if she thought she was still in trouble.

“We call you Seth,” Clancy said suddenly.

“Yes, you do,” that man agreed, wondering where this had come from.

A moment later, Clancy was gone. Hannah had come looking for her, and she had gone with her sister without a backward glance. Seth went back to work himself, but his mind was not on anything but Clancy. Somehow he thought her last statement might be significant, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

Jeanette, Heather, and Becky walked home from church together on Sunday, each with their own thoughts. They would probably discuss the sermon over dinner as they usually did, but at the moment Jeanette had Nate and Heather on her mind again. That man had sat with Bri, Danny, and Seth. He'd not come anywhere near Heather, but Jeanette had seen him glance her way several times.