Marrying the Preacher's Daughter

“This is ridiculous,” she said, straightening her skirts and her disheveled hair, while catching her breath. “You’re taking your medicine and sleeping and not getting back out of bed until you’re better able.”

She poured a dose of the liquid painkiller, and with Phillip’s help got it down Gabe’s throat, then got him situated on the bed and closed the curtains.

“Is he dead?” Phillip asked.

“No, he’s breathing,” she answered, but paused to watch his chest rise and fall. “He’s sleeping.”

“He’s sleeping in his clothes,” the boy remarked. “And wearing his holster and gun.”

“That’s his own fault. He could have stayed put and he’d still be comfortable.” Her hand went to the thick envelope in her apron pocket. Just having all that money on her person made her uncomfortable. She would give the ill-gotten gains to her father and let him use it to his discretion. She led Phillip out of the room. “We’ll let him be.”

She carried the money to Sam’s study and left it in his top desk drawer, then hurried to the kitchen to help Josie with supper.

The Jacksons were again their guests at dinner that evening. Beatrice had been a widow for the past five years and occupied herself holding tea parties and peddling her son as a perspective husband. From all accounts it looked as though Elisabeth was her first choice. Beatrice raised a questioning brow at her now. “Elisabeth, we were quite concerned when we heard the news about the holdup and learned that you’d been on the train. How dreadful for you. Thank the good Lord you weren’t injured.”

“I’m thanking God for my safety,” Elisabeth replied, not wanting to talk about the incident.

“Mr. Taggart saved Lis’beth,” Phillip piped up. “And he saved all the people’s watches and rings and money, too. Din’t he, Lis’beth?” He sat with a slice of turnip forgotten on the tines of his fork, his expression serious. “He gots a big gun.”

Beatrice’s eyes widened. Rhys glanced from Phillip to Elisabeth.

Samuel Hart spoke up, saying, “We’re all appreciative for Elisabeth’s safe return home.”

Josie returned to the dining room at that moment. Elisabeth took the refilled bowl of mashed potatoes and reached to set it in the middle of the table. Unconsciously, Josie spread her hand at the small of her back before taking her seat. Elisabeth glanced at Rhys at that moment, confused by the fleeting expression that darkened his features before quickly disappearing.

She’d gone to school with Rhys, though he’d finished ahead of her. He’d always been interested in the Harts and enjoyed coming to their home. He worked at the bank and knew much of the goings-on of the townspeople.

“Does your new position sit well with you, Miss Tyler?” Beatrice asked.

Kalli had been assigned a seat between Peter and John, where she sliced their meat and encouraged them to eat their vegetables. She glanced up. “Yes, ma’am. Quite well.”

“Kalli is a perfect fit for our family,” Josie added.

Elisabeth glanced at her sisters to note any reactions to Josie’s remark. Anna was absorbed in her meal, and Abigail was giving Rhys surreptitious glances. Neither seemed to think anything of Kalli’s presence or the conversation.

Anna glanced up and smiled, and with a surge of affection, Elisabeth returned the smile. She dearly loved her sisters. They shared so much history, and wonderful memories of their mother.

Sam had brought Elisabeth and her sisters to Jackson Springs after their mother’s death and his remarriage to Josie. Elisabeth had been filling the role of caregiver and nurturer and at first felt usurped by Josie’s new position as her stepmother. But it hadn’t been easy to resent a woman so kind and generous and who made her sisters happy. She and Josie had come to an understanding, and she had grown to love the woman dearly.

Still, even though their marriage and family had turned out well, Elisabeth sometimes questioned her father marrying for convenience. She was far from a romantic—in fact she was a painfully logical and practical person—yet Elisabeth had always imagined herself finding a love born of common interests, mutual needs and future plans. She wanted to marry for love and passion, not practicality.

Her father had never questioned Elisabeth’s choice to assist him in his duties, appreciating in fact, that she took care of details and finances while he saw to the spiritual and emotional needs of his congregation. Still, it was the natural order of life for a man or woman to leave her father and mother and marry.

She had turned twenty on her last birthday. Most of the young ladies with whom she’d attended school were married and already had their own children. Elisabeth loved her young brothers and had spent a good share of time caring for them. Perhaps that was why she hadn’t yet experienced a burning desire to have her own children.

Once she was married she’d undoubtedly feel different. Love changed everything. Zebediah Turner had called on her for a season. She’d been to his family’s ranch with her father a time or two. When Zeb had kissed her after an ice cream social, their relationship had grown awkward. He hadn’t called on her again, and he later married someone from Morning Creek.

Studying Rhys now, she wondered about the whole kissing thing. Maybe it just had to be the right person.

“How was school today?” Josie asked, looking to Abigail and Anna.

“I finished all my assignments in class,” Abigail replied. “So I have no studies this evening. I’d like to make pies with those apples Mr. Stone gave Papa, if that’s all right.”

“No one around here ever objects to pie,” Josie answered with a smile.

“I have arithmetic to finish,” Anna said. “May I sit in your study with you, Papa?”

The sound of a bell tinkled from a distance. It took a second for Elisabeth to process the sound. She set down her fork. “Excuse me.”

“Can I come help Mr. Taggart with you, Lis’beth?” Phillip asked.

Rhys set down his fork and studied her with a questioning look.

“Your sister can handle it,” Sam said to Phillip. “Eat your turnips.”

“The man is here?” Beatrice asked. “In your home?”

“He was injured defending my daughter and many passengers,” Sam told her. “The least we could do was offer him a place to recuperate. My wife wanted this great big house so we could be a blessing to others. Over the years we’ve had a goodly amount of guests stay with us.”

Beatrice blotted her lips with her napkin.

“He was sleeping the last time I checked on him,” Elisabeth told Josie. “I imagine he’s awake and hungry.”

“I made him a plate,” Josie answered. “It’s in the warmer.”

In the kitchen, Elisabeth readied a tray and carried it up the back stairs.

“I could’ve come down,” Gabe said when he saw her. He had managed a sitting position with the pillows behind his shoulders.

“That didn’t go so well last time.” She set the tray on his lap. He was still fully dressed, boots and all.

“You knocked me out.” Frowning, he picked up the fork and tasted the potatoes.

She stood at the foot of the bed. “You’re easier to get along with that way.”

“You’re amusing, but it’s not safe for me to be unconscious.”

“And why is that?”

“Train robbers have friends. And relatives. If word got out that the man who shot their friends was staying here, they might come looking for me.”

“Nothing will happen to you while you’re in this home.”

He raised a brow. “Didn’t see any armed guards when I got here.”

“Our shield and fortress isn’t visible to the eye. Psalm ninety-one assures us that God has given His angels charge over us to protect us in all our ways.”

He looked at her as though she’d just told him she could fly. “In my experience the only sure thing is something I can see and feel.”