Threads of Change (26 page)

Thomas saw the exchange and could only guess what the cowboy had said. He decided the cowboy might need a little schoolin’ on the proper way to walk a lady home. He jumped up and took the steps three at a time down to the back door. He caught the man by surprise as he bolted from the door and crossed the yard. The cowboy immediately turned Megan loose.

“It’s time for you to go home, Cowboy, and tell your friends to stay home with you!” Thomas said firmly.

“I didn’t mean any harm,” the cowboy said. “Just making the lady feel welcome is all.” He tipped his hat to Megan. “Thanks for the dancin’, ma’am.”

He backed away and turned to walk across the yard.

“Megan, don’t be a flirt. The men will get the wrong idea,” Thomas chided her more firmly than he guessed Megan had ever heard from him before.

“Thank you, but I can handle myself fine,” Megan bristled back.

“Megan, you don’t weigh more than his leg. You are going to get caught in some trouble. Why didn’t you walk home with Jackson or the others?”

Thomas began to settle down, but he could see that Megan had only begun to get fired up.

“I was,” she snapped, “but they left without me, and Tex took Jackson and Colt back to the bunks because they are riding out early. Thomas, what’s wrong? Did that cowboy really make you that upset?”

Thomas turned to leave then hesitated. “Just be careful and watch out for the others. You’re like a sister to me and I don’t want to hear of anyone hurting you.”

“Thomas, you talk like you’re leaving. Are you going somewhere?”

Thomas took his hat off and held it in both hands, twisting it a little. He looked back toward the distant sound of the music where the festivities were coming to an end. “Just watch yourself and take care of everyone.”

He nodded goodnight and went to the back door of the mercantile.

Thomas returned to his chair by the window, watching the chair where he hoped a quilt might appear by dawn. As night pushed its way in, Thomas swung his leg over his mare and rode north from Fort Worth.

Liz rubbed her eyes as the morning sun peeked in between the gray clouds. Normally, the warmth of the sun would wake her at daybreak, but not today. The cloudiness and the late night had caused her to oversleep. She stretched and tugged back the quilt to swing her legs free, and she pulled herself upright. As she ran her fingers through her loose hair, she saw the circle quilt still laying where she’d left it. Liz bounced out of bed to the window.

How long has the sun been up?
she wondered.

The gloomy morning had tricked her. Liz gathered the gift from Thomas and scurried barefooted without her wrapper to the back door. She passed Megan in the kitchen, already dressed and cooking breakfast, singing to herself as she flipped the bacon sizzling in the cast iron skillet.

“What time is it?” Liz asked as she stepped outside and spread the quilt across the chair near the back door. She wanted to make sure it was easy to see from Thomas’s window. She stood in her nightwear and looked to the back of the mercantile. She saw no sign of him. It was breezy and cool for late summer, and gray clouds loomed overhead. Liz folded her arms across her chest for warmth and modesty. She looked into each direction but saw no one.

Where is Thomas?
she wondered.

She had to find him right away.

Why did I have to oversleep, today of all days with Thomas waiting for a sign of my commitment?

Liz spun around and ran to her bedroom. She needed to find Thomas before it was too late.

She nearly knocked Emma down in her wake, and she heard Emma ask Megan, “What did she say? And where’s the fire?”

“Watch the bacon and I will go see what all this is about.”

Megan followed her into their room just as Liz frantically buttoned the bodice of her green calico dress. Liz tugged a brush through her hair in hurried strokes.

“How did I let things get like this?” she asked Megan. “What is wrong with me?”

Liz willed the comb through her sleep-tousled hair as tears stung her eyes.

“Liz, what is it?” Megan asked her.

“Megan, have you seen Thomas this morning?” she asked urgently.

“No. Why, what happened?” Megan asked, drying her hands on her apron and stepping aside to get out of Liz’s way as she approached the doorway at a full run.

“If you see him, hold him until I return. I need to find him. I’ll explain later. Oh! And don’t bring in the quilt that’s on the chair outside the back door.”

Liz passed the corner of the mercantile, walking hurriedly along the dirt road. She couldn’t take the time to use the wooden walkway in front of the store. She peered into both directions but saw nothing. She decided to ask at the pastor’s house to see if they had seen Thomas this morning and, lifting the edge of her skirt slightly off the ground, she moved quickly. Calming herself some and with the scant tear wiped away, she knocked on the door.

“Good morning, Anna,” Liz quickly said to the pastor’s wife, “I’m sorry to bother you so early, but have you seen Thomas this morning?”

“No, I haven’t,” Anna replied sweetly. Liz looked up at the intimidating sky growing darker, and another tear escaped her eye. “Do you need help with something? Parker just went down to Smithy’s to get his horse. He’s leaving town to meet up with the Rangers. It sure looks like rain is in store for us today.”

“Thank you,” she called out as she waved goodbye and rushed over to the livery where she hoped to find all the men, including Thomas. Surely they would still be there. She had all but forgotten about the missing county records from the neighboring Birdville community.

The wind picked up as she silently wished she had grabbed her shawl on the way out.

As she approached, she saw many men, but not the one for whom she’d come looking. She reached the corrals and Samuel saw her first. He sent a smile her way just as she looked into his eyes.

“What brings you out so early this stormy morning?” he asked as he pulled the strap under the belly of his black mare. Samuel was dressed in his long riding coat, and he paused to study her and gave his cowboy hat a firm tug against the wind.

Pastor Parker had finished saddling his horse when he looked up and saw Liz. He tucked his Bible into his saddlebag and came to the fence where she stood. “Liz, do you need some help?” he asked as he buttoned his rain slicker that flapped in the wind.

Liz looked past him at the men, hoping one more would appear. The gust rearranged her hair and the comb fell out and into the corrals. A pony, skittish with the storm, pranced on it and cracked the comb in one step.

“I was hoping to find Thomas with you,” Liz stated, holding her hair with one hand, trying to keep it from her face as she spoke.

“Thomas told me last night at the church social that he may leave early this morning and go north to look at some ranch land,” the pastor told her. “I assumed he had discussed his plans with you.”

Samuel had finished securing his bedroll and canteen to his saddle. As he came closer, he picked up the broken comb and handed it to Liz. “Sorry,” he said, and he shrugged as he handed her the broken comb.

“Me, too,” she sighed.

“Smithy said Thomas was here at sun-up to get his pony saddled up and wasn’t much on conversation, but he did say that we were not to wait on him to come back.”

Samuel’s father now joined the group and added his two cents’ worth. “I think he planned on being gone for a while. He had a good-sized pack with him.”

Liz nodded her head in understanding. “Thank you. How long will you all be gone?”

Samuel spoke up. “We are meeting up with the Rangers south of here. Not sure if there will be trouble bringing the records back, but Tex thought it would be good to have backup and some town authorities with us, just in case. Parker, being a preacher, should help keep everyone calm.”

The pastor chuckled. “We live in hope.”

Grandpa Lucas appeared at the livery with Luke mounted and ready to ride. He seemed quite surprised to see his oldest granddaughter standing at the stables.

“Liz,” he called out, “you better get out of the weather. We have to ride out this storm if we are going to leave on time. Thomas will be back soon.”

Her son gave her a smile and prodded his horse in step with the others.

Liz wasn’t sure how her grandfather could be so confident about Thomas’s return. Had he spoken to him?

The wet wind swirled about her, enforcing her state of mind. She felt so confused and out of control about everything. With the change in living conditions, she wasn’t even aware of what Luke was up to or had been doing. He had grown up so much over the time they’d spent traveling west. Thomas had taken Luke completely under his wing in the last few weeks. Luke loved the freedom of riding with the Rangers to Fort Worth and bunking with the men in the barracks of the fort.

The group of Fort Worth men mounted their horses and rode out of the stables. They all touched or tipped their hats as they passed Liz standing in the street. The rain had started and was cold as it hit her face. Instead of running home, she paused and gazed at the mercantile for a moment. It boasted new window panes and two new red doors made to order. It looked just as she had always imagined. Thomas had worked hard to grant her every wish, and now she had a storefront to be proud of.

Liz went up the steps to the mercantile and pulled open the door. Her wet hair puddled on the shoulders of her damp dress as she looked after the group of riders again, silently hoping to see one more added to the company. She only saw Pastor Parker give Anna a goodbye kiss in front of the church, and she heard him pray over the band of men for protection. His hearty “Amen!” traveled on the wind as she stepped inside the building. A gust of wind blew the door ajar behind her and she turned to bolt it.

His room
, she thought.
I haven’t checked his room
.

Liz climbed the stairs to the living quarters above the mercantile, not yet ready to accept the fact that he had gone.

“Thomas, are you here?” she inquired, before she entered.

Only the whistle of the wind disturbing a window answered her. The loft looked much as she had left it days ago. Some of his clothes had been removed from the pegs.

He packed them
, she thought.
He really is gone?

His worn family Bible lay open to Romans 8:28, and she slumped into the chair to read it.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” she read aloud.

A sterling silver wedding band had been placed on the open page. Liz could imagine Thomas seeking Scripture to comfort and guide him. She knew that she had hurt him and she ached with sadness at the thought. Thomas had already purchased a wedding ring by the time she had rejected him.

Liz shook her head and clamped her eyes shut to hold back the tears. Thomas had such a quiet determination, so different than Caleb.

Why does he have to push me so?

She dropped her head into her hands as she leaned back against the chair and began to sob.

What have I done?

She’d played a sad, self-indulgent game and lost. She didn’t mean to hurt Thomas or force him to leave. She had not meant to sleep so late and lose her future in this careless way. She didn’t like how things had turned out. She didn’t like playing the fool, being wrong, or losing control of her life.

“How can this be fixed?” she cried as the storm intensified outside the window.

The rain came down in steady streams until the street out front began to look like a muddy river.

Ting-ting
came the sound of the wind as it whipped the rain into little metal needles that crashed against the glass. Thunder boomed and rattled the newly installed windows in the red door of the mercantile.

Liz wrapped herself in the log cabin quilt made by Thomas’s mother. She could smell Thomas on it. She looked to the open Bible from which all of her strength, faith, and courage had always come. She whispered a prayer for her family and all of the men on horseback, asking for wisdom, direction, and a second chance, from the God of second chances. Liz wiped her eyes as the passage of Scripture she’d read echoed through her mind and a sudden prompting spoke to her heart.

My daughter, you don’t have control over your life. I do, and all things do work together in My plan and My timing
.

Liz looked around but knew that she would find no one. She recognized the familiar voice; she’d heard it before and it always comforted her and gave her strength. She smoothed out the quilt and lifted herself up, heading out to face the storm with restored confidence.