Wild At Heart (13 page)

He didn’t want to walk in that direction. Didn’t want the townsfolk to think he frequented the place, but he had to get Mariah away from there before she saw something she shouldn’t.

What in the world would make a lady like Mariah snoop around such a place?

She had to be the most frustrating—and interesting—woman in the whole world.

He jogged toward her but slowed his gait because the jolting stabbed his arm. As he stepped up beside her, he heard her gasp. He didn’t want to imagine what she’d just witnessed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He spat out each word.

Mariah whirled around, holding her palm to her chest, her face pale. She laid her small hand on his sling.

“Oh, Adam. You frightened me half to death.” She looped her arm around his good one. “Come on. We have to get away from this dreadful place before someone sees us.”

A little late for her to be thinking that.

He allowed her to guide him back toward the depot. After they passed several homes, he stopped in the shade of a small grove of quaking aspen trees. The leaves dangled in the cool breeze, making a soft clattering sound. A blue jay screeched at them before flying away.

Taking a calming breath, he stared at her. How was he supposed to keep her safe if she refused to do as he asked? “Did I or did I not tell you to wait at the store?”

She swallowed and nodded. “Yes, but—”

He shoved his hand to his waist. “Didn’t I tell you that it’s dangerous to go unescorted around here?”

Again she nodded. “But, Adam—”

“Don’t argue, Mariah. A woman who hopes to maintain her good reputation has no business anywhere near that place.” He pointed back at the stone house.

Her pale face brightened with irritation, her brow wrinkled in an alluring manner. “Would you please let me tell you something?”

When he kept silent, she lifted her chin and leaned forward. “For your information, I was accosted outside the mercantile a short while ago by a heinous villain.”

His heart jolted, and he grasped her upper arm with his left hand. “Who was it? Why didn’t you stay in the store?”

Adam trained his focus on Mariah as he scanned her length. “Were you hurt?”

She shook her head, and Adam noticed that her hat was askew and her hair mussed. Her lips looked puffy, and his gaze leaped to her eyes. He moved his hand up to her shoulder as tears puddled in her lovely eyes. He thought his heart would break. “Tell me what happened.”

Mariah swallowed her discomfort and gazed at Adam, his concern evident in his intense stare. “A man was watching me in the store. He looked like the train robber, and he went outside, and I followed.” She shrugged one shoulder and flashed Adam an apologetic half smile. “Sometimes my curiosity overpowers my common sense.”

His presence and concern warmed her heart and calmed her jittery nerves. He brushed back a strand of hair the wind had blown across her face. His touch, so much gentler than that atrocious man’s, brought more tears to her eyes.

“Shh… Don’t fret. You’re safe now.” He tucked his hand behind her neck and pulled her against him. His curiosity about the incident was obvious, but he seemed more concerned about her well-being than hearing her story. That made her care for him even more.

She leaned her head against his solid chest, being cautious not to press against his injured arm. He hugged her close to his left side and rested his chin against her head, the warmth of his tall, masculine frame making her feel safe and secure. She inhaled his unique scent of soap, dust, and leather. If not for the fact that they were standing in a public place, Mariah was certain she could have stood there an hour, holding on to him, but after a moment, she stepped back. Had Silas ever once comforted her in such a way?

She told Adam what the man said and how he manhandled her, grimacing at Adam’s stunned expression. He tugged her back into his arms, hugging her fiercely. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.”

After a minute, he stepped away, looking like he had on the train when the cowboy had harassed her. Adam took her arm and tugged her forward. “We need to talk to the sheriff.”

She longed for a bath to wash off the filth that she felt from her attacker’s manhandling and from peeping into the house of ill repute. Thank goodness nobody saw her except Adam.

As Adam escorted her to the sheriff’s office a story started swirling in her mind. Dare she put one of those scantily-clad ladies in her story? Could a soiled-dove-turned-heroine somehow save the day?

A cool north wind whipped the crocheted shawl away from Mariah’s shoulders. She snatched the flapping garment and tucked it back around her neck then leaned closer to Anna on the bench. Quinn stood by the side of the barn, a Bible open in his hand. He read from Psalm 42:5.

“ ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.’ ”

Mariah glanced around the ragtag group of ranch hands standing or squatting around the campfire, all whose attention focused on Quinn. Adam stood outside the group, twisting the brim of his hat. Something about the rustic gathering touched her heart. She felt closer to God here at this smoke-scented, outdoor assembly than she’d ever had in her grandmother’s formal church with its beautiful stained-glass windows and fancy decor. Lifting her face, the chilly breeze teased her hair and coated her lips with dust—something she was getting used to.

“ ‘Hope thou in God.’ ”

The words Quinn quoted beckoned her—or was it God calling?

Faith in God seemed an intricate part of life out west. Not something talked about but rather a firm belief. Mariah longed to know God in a more personal manner and to have that assurance in her heart.

Anna stood and sang “Amazing Grace.” Tears pooled in Mariah’s eyes at Anna’s sweet songbird voice. The words that called to her. She was lost. She’d been blind to the ways of her heavenly Father—and now that she could see, she longed to become a part of the family of God.

But how did one do that?

An old man stood with the help of another ranch hand. He shuffled to the front where Quinn and Anna had stood. Mariah admired the McFarlands for employing such a man at their ranch. He obviously couldn’t perform most of the difficult tasks that needed doing because of his age and lack of physical prowess.

The bent man looked at the group through round spectacles and faded blue eyes. A straggly, misshapen beard covered the lower third of his face, and his overalls were well worn. Mariah wondered what such a man would say to a group of ranch owners and workers.

“In Exodus 33, the Bible says that our Lord spoke face-to-face with Moses as a man speaks to a friend. In 2 Chronicles 20, the Word refers to Abraham as God’s friend forever. God wasn’t just the friend of these men who lived thousands of years ago; He wants to be your friend, too.”

Mariah listened as the man continued talking for the next ten minutes. She’d never considered that she could be a friend of God. As if a flame flickered to life in her chest, she had a burning desire to have a relationship with God. Not the One her grandmother’s minister told of—a God of wrath and vengeance, but the God this man talked about—a God of love and friendship.

He walked around, taking time to look each person in the eye. When he glanced at Mariah, her stomach flip-flopped. “In John, the Good Book says: ‘Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.’ Imagine that, Jesus, the Son of God, calling us friends. It’s such a simple thing, but mighty hard to understand.”

He finished with a final verse. “ ‘A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.’ ” With an apologetic grin, he glanced at Quinn and Adam. “The Lord loves us all the time, no matter if we’re walking with Him or not. No matter where you are in life or what hardships you’re facing, God is there for you. He wants to be your friend. All you have to do is call on Him, confess your sins, and let Him into your heart.”

He ambled back to his buddies. Quinn stood, hat in hand. “Thanks for that thought-stirring word, Claude. Let’s close in prayer.”

As he prayed, Mariah considered the man’s message. Surely reaching God couldn’t be as simple as just asking Him into your heart. There had to be more effort involved than that.

Adam carried three sticks of wood into the kitchen and laid them in the box near Leyna’s stove. It took him awhile to fill the bin, but this was a job he could do one-handed. The fragrant odors of rabbit stew simmering on the stove and fresh bread baking made his belly growl, even though he’d just eaten breakfast a few hours ago.

He snatched a leftover biscuit, receiving a mock glare from Leyna, and headed outside. He couldn’t shake the words that Claude had shared the day before at their Sunday gathering. “
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
”

He and Quinn had never been very close, but he never thought of his brother as the enemy. Sure, as a boy, he had resented the times their pa took Quinn out to work and left him behind. His brother had said something in anger one time about Adam having it easy while Quinn had to do the hard work all the time. It wasn’t his fault that he was five years younger and had to help his ma with duties around the house.

Adam dumped another load of wood into the bin. Mariah glided into the kitchen, her eyes sparkling when she saw him. She was so pretty, graceful, and kind. As she moved in his direction, his heart skittered. A woman like her could make a man forget he had other plans and dreams.

Mariah stood before him, wringing her hands like she did when she was nervous. “Just the man I was looking for.”

Just the woman he wasn’t looking for, but the one who had ambushed his heart.

“I was wondering if I might have a word with you.” She stood like a princess with her hands folded in front of her. The gold-colored dress she wore looked nice with her brown hair and eyes and the lightly tanned glow of her skin. His mouth went dry, and he nodded.

He held the door for Mariah as she swished outside. Lately, Anna had attempted to walk more ladylike than her normal bouncing and running motions. She’d even worn a dress to their Sunday service and had actually walked down the front steps instead of jumping off the porch as she usually did. Mariah was influencing his sister in a positive way, and for that he was grateful.

Mariah worried the lace on one sleeve with her fingers. She glanced up at him then looked away, but not before he noticed the pink tinge on her cheeks. She definitely had something on her mind.

They walked away from the house toward the creek that ran along the bottom of the hill. He thought of all the times he’d lugged buckets up and down that incline before they’d rigged up a rope-and-pulley system.

“I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.”

“Sure. What’s on your mind?” Adam broke off a stem of blue gama grass and fiddled with it.

“Would you please tell me how one goes about becoming a friend of God?”

He shot her a look. Was she serious? Of all the things she could have asked him, he’d never seen that one coming.

Why ask
him?
A man who’d been at odds with God for a third of his life?

And yet, he knew the answer that she sought. As a child, he’d prayed daily and felt that God was his best friend, but when his pa had died, he’d grown distant and had misplaced his faith.

“Uh… I’m not sure I’m the best person to be asking.” He rubbed his nape.

“Why not?” Her innocent brown eyes stared up at him, imploring him to answer.

He sighed. “It’s just that I haven’t been on talking terms with God for a long while.”

“Oh.” Her shoulders sagged, and she stared at the ground. “That man who shared Sunday made it sound so easy to be God’s friend, but it seems difficult to me.”

They stopped beneath a cottonwood and sat on a flat, sun-warmed boulder near the creek bank. The water rippled over rounded stones, making a soft gurgling sound he never failed to enjoy. Above them a blue jay ranted at their invasion of his territory.