Second Chance Brides (37 page)

Dread gripped Jack as she turned and saw the big letters painted on the fresh, raw wood of the store’s walls. J
ACK
is
A LIAR
.

She should have repented sooner. Should have told her papa what she’d done. Now the whole town would know. Nobody would believe a word she said. Ever.

Billy’s laughter echoed behind her. She wanted to punch him quiet, but she’d done enough already. With dread in her heart, she stared down Main Street. Almost every other building had the hated words painted on them.

J
ACK IS A LIAR
.

J
ACK IS A LIAR
.

The words bounced around in her mind until she thought her head would explode. Jenny was out front of her office, already scrubbing the letters. She saw Jack, dropped her rag in a bucket, and walked toward her. Jack wanted to run. To hide. But she couldn’t move.

“Jack, do you have any idea who did this?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. But she did know, and now she was telling another lie. “I might.”

A sudden thought raced across her mind. She felt her eyes widen. “You’re not going to print anything in the paper about this, are you?”

Jenny’s eyes turned compassionate. “I’m sorry, honey, but this is news, and I’m in the news business. Who would be angry enough to do such a thing? Did you upset one of your friends?”

Jack closed her eyes. Everyone in the county would soon know that she was a liar. How could she face anybody again?

“Jacqueline, I need to see the marshal, right away.” Dolly Dykstra waddled down the dirt road, her rose-colored skirts swaying from side to side. The near gray-headed woman had to be almost as wide as she was tall. “Do you know who defaced my building? Do you know how difficult it is to find paint the color of a thistle?”

Why was the lady angry at her? She was innocent, and it was her reputation that had been ruined.

Just like she’d help ruin Butch’s.

“Do you know where the marshal is or not?” Miss Dykstra crossed her arms over her big bosom and tapped one finger against her shoulder.

Her papa was the last person she wanted to see right now. She had to get away. Billy’s laughter rang through her mind. How many other schoolchildren had seen the paint on their way to school? It hardly mattered that many of them were too young to figure out the words, because the older kids would gladly tell them what they said.

A sob escaped, and she tore down the street, tears streaming from her eyes and making it hard to see. She had to get away from town. Away from those awful words.

She had to find Butch and beat him to a pulp.

She’d never apologize to him.

How had she even considered it?

As long as she lived, she’d hate Butch Laird.

Leah sat at the table even though everyone else had gone. Shannon had hurried to her room to work on some project she’d started the day before. Dishes clinked in the kitchen where Rachel was cleaning up, and the low hum of voices from her and the marshal drifted Leah’s way.

Her heart felt battered, as if a herd of cattle had stampeded it into the ground. She rested her cheek on her hand, unable to find the energy to move. What was she going to do now that she couldn’t marry Dan? How was he managing with all those little children?

In spite of everything, she longed to see him. To be held safely within the confines of his strong arms. To kiss his warm, eager lips. But she never would again. Tears blurred her eyes, and someone pounded on the door. Luke hurried down the hall to answer it. Leah heard raised voices, and the door shut. Some emergency must have pulled the marshal away from home again.

Maybe it was time for her to return home. Would her parents accept her back? She was pretty certain her ma willingly would, but her father was another issue. She’d wounded his pride and made him look bad in Mr. Abernathy’s eyes. It didn’t matter that the old man wanted to buy her. No, her pa would only see that she’d made him a laughingstock by running off. The only thing that had surprised her was that he hadn’t come and found her and hauled her back. Just the thought sent a shiver down her spine.

Rachel entered the dining room, holding a cup of steaming coffee in her hand. She set it on the table and sat in the chair next to Leah. “It might help to talk about things. You’ve been moping around ever since Dan returned with the children. I haven’t even seen you working on your wedding dress.”

Leah’s chin wobbled. “I’m not working on it anymore.”

Rachel blinked, looking confused. “Why ever not? The wedding is the day after tomorrow. We need to plan the menu for your wedding dinner.”

Leah stared at the tablecloth and flicked her finger at a crumb. “There isn’t going to be a wedding.”

“What?”

Leah shook her head and pursed her lips, trying to keep additional tears at bay. “I called it off.”

Shock engulfed Rachel’s face, and her pale blue eyes opened wide. “Why? I know you two love each other. It’s evident to all who see you together.”

Leah shrugged one shoulder, ashamed to confess why she canceled the wedding. It sounded cruel and petty to say she didn’t want to mother those poor orphans. Her heart ached for them, but she couldn’t be their new ma.

“Is it the children?” Rachel patted Leah’s arm. “I know that was quite a surprise. Dan should have telegraphed you and told you about them before he brought them back, so you’d have time to get used to the idea.”

She shook her head. “I doubt that would have helped. After practically raising my siblings, I’ve decided I don’t want any children, much less five that aren’t even my own.”

Rachel looked taken aback, but she continued on. “I realize that it’s not an ideal situation, but those poor children are orphans. They need two loving adults to raise them now that their parents are gone. It’s a noble thing Dan is doing, and it’s that big heart of his that you fell in love with.”

“I know, and I feel awful. I’ve hurt him something horrible, but I don’t know what else to do. I can’t go against what I believe. I’d just make everybody miserable.”

Rachel stared at the window and tapped her index finger on the table. “Hmm…have you prayed about this? Asked God what He wants you to do?”

Guilt washed over Leah as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on her. She’d been so upset that she hadn’t prayed. What kind of a Christian was she?

“In Psalm 127, the Bible tells us that ‘children are an heritage of the L
ORD
.’ It also says, ‘As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.’”

Yeah, happy is the man, but what about the woman?
Leah shifted in her seat. Was her thought blasphemous to the scriptures?

“If you don’t mind,” Rachel said, “I’d like to pray now. It’s never too late to seek God’s guidance. He’s in the business of changing hearts. Just look at me and Luke. When Luke first returned to Lookout, he wanted nothing to do with me, but God changed his heart and made me a very happy woman. He can change your heart, too, Leah, if you let Him.”

Well, therein lay the problem. She didn’t want to change. She wanted Dan but not a houseful of children. Still, praying couldn’t hurt, so she bowed her head.

Rachel grasped Leah’s hand. “Heavenly Father, I know Leah didn’t count on being a mother right from the start of her wedding day, but You know all things. You knew these children were going to lose their parents, sad as that is, and that they’d need new ones. Open Leah’s heart. She is a kind woman with lots of love to give. Let her see that children are a blessing sent from You, and You will not give her more than she can bear.”

Rachel sat silent for a few moments, then raised her head. “I know life wasn’t easy for you, helping your mother with all your siblings, but things are much different when you’re the mother. God puts so much love in your heart for each child, and like I prayed, He’ll never send more your way than you’re able to handle.”

Leah considered her friend’s words. She’d been so upset the past few days that she hadn’t prayed. Hadn’t wanted to talk to God. Couldn’t He have prevented Dan’s brother and wife from dying or his other sister from being pregnant just at the time the children would need her?

She winced, realizing again how selfish her thoughts were. But Rachel didn’t understand. She only had one child.

“What’s going through that head of yours?” Rachel smiled. “I can see the wheels turning.”

“I just don’t think I can do it.”

“What? Marry Dan? Raise his nieces and nephews?”

“Yes, I mean, I still want to marry Dan, with all of my heart, but I don’t want to be a mother, especially not so soon.” She wrung the edge of the tablecloth in her hands. Would Rachel be disgusted for her lack of compassion?

“It’s a big shock, I know. But we do what we must. I think if you will spend some time in prayer that God will speak to you.”

Leah nodded. She believed in her heavenly Father, and He seemed more approachable here than back in Missouri. Perhaps His help was needed more here in Texas with the harsher living conditions and the dangers surrounding them. Part of her longed to cry out to God, but the other part was afraid. What if it was God’s will for her to marry Dan and mother the children? How could she bear it?

Footsteps sounded on the porch, and the door burst open. “Rachel!”

The boardinghouse owner bolted to her feet at her husband’s frantic voice. “In here, Luke.”

He hurried through the doorway and grabbed her hand. “C’mon. Something’s happened.”

Leah jumped up and followed them, curious as to what had gotten the mild-mannered marshal so agitated. Rachel stopped as she walked down the porch steps, and her hand covered her mouth as she stared across the street. “Who would do such an awful thing?”

“I have my suspicions,” Luke said. “But the important thing is that Jack saw it and got upset and ran off somewhere. We’ve got to find her.”

Leah glanced across the street and saw the harsh red letters: J
ACK
is
A LIAR
.

Jack was an ornery child and definitely a tomboy, but she wasn’t mean and didn’t deserve this shame heaped on her. Leah’s heart ached for the girl. “I can help search.”

Jack ran all the way to Butch’s land. Her lungs screamed for her to stop, and a pain grabbed her side. Finally, she smelled the hog pens, and she slowed her steps. Gasping for breath, she pressed her hand to her aching side and studied the old place. The house was set at an odd angle and looked smaller than the parlor in her own home.

She lifted her hand to her nose. Where were all the hogs? They might be gone, but the stench sure wasn’t. The only sounds she heard were the thudding of her heartbeat, her ragged breathing, and birds chirping in a nearby tree.

The place was empty. Butch was gone, and she was too late. Too late to apologize for lying. Too late to knock Butch to the ground for doing such an awful thing to her.

Slowly, she walked toward the house. What would it have been like to live in such a dirty place and to smell the stomach-churning odor every day? To get up first thing in the morning and face the reeking stench?

Dropping onto the chopping block, she hung her head in her hands and stared at a beetle crawling on a stem of grass. Butch was gone, and that was that.

But how could she face the people in town? They’d all wonder what she’d lied about and if she was lying whenever she talked to them. Nobody would trust her, ever again.

She picked up a rock and flung it at the house.

Butch had ruined her life.

And she hated him for it.

Maybe the best thing for her to do was leave town, too. Just run away. But she’d miss her ma—and her new papa. The worst thing of all would be staying and seeing the disappointment in their eyes.

Her vision blurred as tears formed.

“What do I do now?”

Quick hoofbeats approached, and the horse slid to a halt. Someone dismounted and walked toward her, but she was too embarrassed to lift her head.

Luke.

She recognized his boots.

Would he hate her now?

“Half bit, what are you doing here?”