Love Inspired Historical March 2014 Bundle: Winning Over the Wrangler\Wolf Creek Homecoming\A Bride for the Baron\The Guardian's Promise (42 page)

With the meal over, the dishes washed and put away, and the little ones down for an afternoon nap, the grownups were gathered to hear the details of Libby's confrontation with Sarah the evening before.

“Be specific, Mother.” Win sprawled in a wingback chair, his long legs crossed at the ankles, regarding the contrasting tips of his shining shoes. He glanced up. “Surely she listened to what you had to say.”

“Oh, she listened,” Libby said, whirling around to face her family. “I told her that I'd always known about her and Lucas. She had the gall to tell me that if I'd been the right kind of wife, he would never have strayed.”

“That's interesting.” Edward said. “Especially since it's common knowledge that he broke off with Sarah and took up with a woman from Murfreesboro not a month after you left.”

Rachel and Gabe exchanged surprised looks. This was new information and said even more about what a rogue Lucas Gentry had been.

“Serves her right,” Libby snapped, clearly in a huff. “Then when I confronted her with starting the gossip about Caleb and Abby even though her accusations were groundless, she informed me that we were supposed to ‘abstain from all
appearance
of evil,' and she felt it was her Christian duty to bring awareness to the situation, so that it could be set straight.”

Caleb's jaw clenched, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Abby stopped him with a hand on his arm. “And here we are,” she said, meeting his heated gaze with a smiling one. “As happy as two fat cats in the sunshine.”

“It could have turned out far differently,” Caleb groused.

“Could have, but didn't.”

Rachel saw that Libby looked at her new daughter-in-law with unabashed affection.

“All's well that ends well, then,” Blythe said. Though she seemed painfully shy, as her time in Wolf Creek had passed and she got to know her brothers and their families better, she seemed more comfortable contributing to the conversations.

“I don't mind telling you that I was furious,” Libby continued. “She was totally unrepentant about anything she'd done. When I brought up Rachel and Gabe and told her she had no right to blather her suspicions about Danny to everyone in town, she just laughed. ‘Your sins will find you out,' she said, to which I replied that she was twisting scripture and what she had done was motivated by pure meanness—not goodness. Then I reminded her that we are to ‘keep our tongue from evil.'”

“And?” Gabe asked, fighting the urge to smile as he listened to his mother go on about her confrontation with her archenemy.

“She told me not to preach to her and stalked away. I realized then that I was casting pearls before swine and—”

Edward's sudden hoot of laughter silenced her in midsentence. Planting her hands on her slender hips, Libby glared at him, but then when she realized how ridiculous the idea of her and Sarah tossing scripture back and forth in the heat of an argument must sound, she joined him.

“You can't reason with unreasonable people, my dear,” he told her. “I'm afraid that unless something drastic happens to make Sarah see the error of her ways, she'll never change. It's a reality you'll have to deal with if you do decide to move here.”

Caleb, Abby and Gabe looked as shocked by the casual comment as Rachel felt. The animation on Blythe's pretty face vanished, and her hands tightened in her lap. As usual, Win's expression gave away little, but Rachel thought he seemed watchful beneath the nonchalance, as if he were inordinately interested in everyone's response.

Frowning, Caleb addressed Win. “I know we talked about this some, but I thought you were just making conversation, showing interest in town. Are you really considering a move from Boston?”

Win gestured toward Libby, who sat down in a chair next to Edward's.

“Well, I am. At least for part of the year. With Sam gone, there's no reason I can't go where I wish. So why not? Win is perfectly capable of overseeing the family businesses.”

“Which are?” Gabe asked.

“Actually, Win worked with his father's newspaper and printing endeavor, and Sam handled the furniture-manufacturing facility,” she said. “Since he died, Win has taken it on, too. Along with Philip's help, of course. He's an attorney.”

Gabe was impressed in spite of himself.

“Win and Blythe have had me for more than twenty years, and I feel I have so much to make up for with you two boys and the grandchildren here. I would miss Win and Blythe terribly, of course, which is why I'm considering equal time at both places.”

“Unless Blythe and I decide to come, too,” Win added, casting a quick glance at Gabe, who felt a sudden urge to smash his fist into his stepbrother's aristocratic nose.

“I don't want to move,” Blythe said, her lips forming a pout that made her look younger than her twenty-two years. “Wolf Creek is a nice little town, but after living in the city all my life, I can't imagine being happy with no theaters, museums or parks and no eating establishments but the hotel and Ellie's café.”

“The choices are a bit limited,” Win said, “but I think that's exactly why this might be a good place to branch out. It seems to me that the area could use a new business or two. What about an attorney? There are bound to be legal issues that crop up, even with so few people.”

“Are you saying your brother might move, too, if the rest of you come?”

“Not Philip!” Win said with an emphatic shake of his head.

“I agree,” Libby added. “I can't see him ever leaving the city, but some young lawyer out there will settle here one day.”

“So it's really all still up in the air,” Caleb said. “What would you do with your days, Mother? As Blythe said, we don't have much to do in the way of activities, and there isn't much of a social scene. I don't see that changing any time soon.”

“I'm not sure. I'll be somewhat limited being gone half the year, but I'll think of something. Maybe Ellie would let me help her part of the day.”

“You'd work in a café?” Rachel asked, astounded at the thought that the stylish woman sitting across from her would lower herself to work in an eating establishment.

“Well, I'm a pretty fair cook, and I had a lot of practice before I went to Boston. I'm certainly not above it, just because my husband left me with a lot of money,” she said with a shrug. “It doesn't matter what we do. It matters that we do something and that we're happy doing it. I happen to like being busy and I love to cook and bake.”

“I don't know, Mother,” Win kidded her. “I'm not sure your piecrust is up to Ellie's standards. Her food is pretty wonderful. Not to mention she's a real stunner. What I can't figure out is why someone hasn't snatched her up.”

“Sheriff Garrett is working on it,” Gabe said, giving Win a pointed look. “They've hit a bump or two lately, but it's nothing they can't resolve, I'm sure.”

“What kind of bumps?”

Abby looked around the room. “Well, I don't want to gossip...”

“For pity's sake, Abby!” Caleb said. “Just tell the truth. Colt is a good man, but his children are wretched little brats.”

“I can vouch for that,” Gabe said. “I actually shudder when I see them come through the doors at the store.”

“They are a handful,” Rachel added. “But that isn't the biggest problem.”

Everyone looked at her expectantly.

“Ellie's daughter, Beth, is a Mongoloid. Ellie's husband took one look at her and disappeared. She hasn't seen him since, so Ellie isn't divorced, and she isn't a widow. Until her husband is located or declared dead, she couldn't marry again if she wanted to.”

* * *

Over the next few days, every moment Rachel was not treating someone's ailment, she was thinking about her conversation with Gabe and his mother's announcement that she might return to Wolf Creek. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she understood the older woman's need to reconnect with her sons and establish relationships with her grandchildren. She would think less of Libby had she not felt the way she did.

As for everyone else, they were fine with the idea. Neither Danny nor Ben was accustomed to having a grandmother around and were ecstatic about the notion. No doubt the younger children would be just as happy once they figured out exactly what having a grandmother meant.

Two days before the Granvilles were scheduled to return to Boston, Edward asked them to the house for dinner. Win and Blythe declined, stating that Ellie was having chicken and dumplings at the café, a dish they hadn't tried before coming to the South and one they declared was so good as to be “positively sinful.” Though they might be right about how good it was, Rachel suspected there was something more behind their refusal. She also suspected that that something more was Libby wanting to spend some special time with Danny before she left.

But it wasn't only Danny Libby wanted to spend time with. When the supper dishes were done and put away, Edward challenged Danny to a game of checkers and Libby suggested that she and Rachel sit on the porch. Nervous, though she wasn't sure why, Rachel acquiesced.

“I wanted a chance to talk to you alone before I leave,” Libby said.

“I understand.”

Libby smiled. “I'm not sure you do. I imagine there are all sorts of things running through your mind, including wondering what I really think of you.” She reached out and patted the hands Rachel clutched in her lap.

“I've talked to Gabe, and he told me about St. Louis. After hearing about his antics through the years, I was a bit surprised that he took the entire blame for what happened.”

“You kept up with him and Caleb?” Rachel asked, surprised.

“Some,” she said with a nod. “Enough to know that Caleb was turning into a sour recluse and Gabe was running amok. When he left here, I lost track of him except for what few things made the papers back East. I never heard a word about you and Danny, though.”

“There's no way anyone could have known about me and Danny until Sarah spoke up.” Rachel said. “I never even told my father who Danny's father was.”

“So Edward said.”

“Who kept you informed? Surely not Lucas.”

“No, not Lucas,” Libby said with a laugh. “It was Frank, actually, but I only heard from him a time or two a year, since reading and writing aren't his strong suits. And when there was some medical problem, your dad would drop me a line through Frank. It was all very hush-hush. I couldn't have Lucas finding out that I was keeping up with them.”

Rachel liked Libby even more, knowing she'd done what she could to keep up with her sons' development.

“Do Caleb and Gabe know?”

“Yes.”

“I appreciate your openness, Libby, and I especially appreciate your acceptance of Danny. It was very gentlemanly of Gabe to take sole responsibility for what happened. For years I told myself that he was the only one responsible, but the truth is that I was as much in the wrong as he was.” She took a deep breath and met Libby's gaze. “Suffice it to say that he's very hard to withstand when he puts his mind to something—not that that is an excuse.”

“He always was hard to resist,” Libby agreed with a gentle smile. “When Caleb got into trouble, he got all serious and helpful and did any and everything to get back in my good graces. Gabe turned on the charm and wooed me back into a good mood by entertaining me with some sort of foolishness or another.”

Rachel had no problem envisioning that, since Danny was pretty adept at the same thing.

“Since coming back and hearing about how truly appalling their time with Lucas was, I'm ashamed of not having tried harder to do something to get them back. Sam had money. I should have found a good attorney and...done something.”

“Lucas Gentry was a powerful man,” Rachel said, wanting to ease the pain reflected in the older woman's eyes. “Even more daunting than his fortune is the fact that he was very politically connected, from local attorneys to the governor. He wouldn't have hesitated to use that influence against you.”

“Thank you for pointing that out. I know you're right. It's just that I hate what happened to them, and I worry about how it affected them as they grew up.”

“Lucas's behavior had a profound effect on everyone's life, including yours,” Rachel reminded her. “Thank God you've come through it, stronger. You've made a wonderful new life and have Win and Blythe. Caleb is like a new man since Abby came along, and I truly believe Gabe is on his way to happiness, so stop worrying. Dad always says that worry is like a rocking chair. You can rock all day and never get anywhere. One thing I've realized is that we can't undo the past. All we can do is take the lessons we learn from our mistakes and apply them to future situations.”

“As you've done.”

She shrugged. “As tough as Caleb and Gabe's life was, it has made them the men they are. Imperfect, certainly, but basically good men. That goodness had to come from you, from the memories of you they never let go.”

Libby's eyes shimmered with tears. “He loves you, you know, and the longer I'm here, the more I understand why.”

Rachel's breath caught. “He loves Danny.”

“Don't sell yourself short, my dear.”

Rachel felt her own eyes fill with tears. “How can you be so nice to me?” she whispered. “When you know...”

“I'm not here to cast stones,” Libby said. “We all fall short, and no matter how much we'd like there to be, there are no little sins and big sins. Just sins.

“She may never acknowledge it, but Sarah's gossiping tongue is just as bad as what happened between you and Gabe. The two of you have learned from your mistakes and have made things right with God. You're trying to live good lives. It's a heart thing, something Sarah just doesn't get.”