At the breakfast table two days later, Julia told Hugh she was going to ride over to see how Peter was doing.
“Mind if I come along? I’d like to get those last stumps removed before he tries to do it himself.”
A warm sensation squeezed her heart. This was what one neighbor did for another. She wished … She wished … What did she wish?
Giving her head a quick shake, she said, “I’m sure Peter will be grateful.”
“I’ll get the horses saddled.” Hugh rose from his chair. “We’ll be ready to go when you are.”
With determination, Julia closed her mind to the strange, unwelcome feelings she had about Hugh.
I hired him to help take the cattle to market
.
A good reminder. She’d best get the cattle sold and the taxes
paid so Hugh Brennan could be on his way. Once he was gone from Sage-hen, she would be able to see things clearly again.
Peter sat in a chair on the front porch, enjoying the morning sunshine while listening to the sounds coming from inside the house where the Collins children were receiving their school instruction from their mother. It was a rare moment when he got to hear his daughters as they sat around the large kitchen table, completing their lessons. Usually he was in the fields or the barn, tending to crops or animals. But the doctor had ordered him not to exert himself for another few days, and Rose was making sure he obeyed.
His Rosie girl could be stubborn as all get out when she took a mind to it. Lord love her.
“Care for some company?” Roland asked from the doorway.
Peter looked at his brother-in-law. “Of course. Join me. I’m just woolgathering.”
“Not something you get to do very often.” Roland sat in another porch chair. “But there are better ways to get to do it, I surmise.”
Peter released a soft chuckle. “True enough.”
“I’m going to miss all of you when I return to Portland. Sorry I have to cut short my visit.”
“We’ll miss having you here. Rose especially. You know how she dotes on you.”
“Do you suppose she’ll forgive me for not sweeping the lovely Mrs. Grace off her feet?”
“You knew her intentions?”
“Peter, my sister has been playing matchmaker for me since I changed out of short pants. I knew before I came for this visit that she must have someone for me to meet, with the hopes of pairing
us off. I just didn’t know her name until she arrived for Sunday dinner.”
Peter chuckled again. “Rose isn’t very subtle, I suppose.”
“No, not subtle.” Roland laughed with Peter. “And as attractive and nice as Mrs. Grace is, I don’t believe she would find pleasure in the kind of life I could give her. Political parties. Society events. Evenings debating the law with friends. She doesn’t strike me as the sort who would want any of that.”
Peter nodded his agreement.
His brother-in-law’s expression sobered. “About the news the sheriff brought yesterday. I want your word that you will let me know if you need help with the increase in taxes.”
“Roland, I can’t —”
“Your word, Peter. If for no other reason than to put my sister’s mind at rest.” He leaned forward on his chair. “You are a good provider for your family, and I know you told Rose that you have enough in the bank for the taxes even with the increase. But I have none of the obligations you have. God has blessed me financially. Allow me to be part of your family in this way. Please.”
“All right, Roland. You have my word. If the need arises, I will contact you.”
The sound of horses drew both men’s gazes toward the road.
“Looks like your friends have returned.” Roland stood as Julia and Hugh rode into the yard. “Good morning, Mrs. Grace. Mr. Brennan.”
“Good morning, Mr. March.” Julia dismounted and quickly came onto the porch. “How are you, Peter?”
“I’m doing fine. I don’t have a good reason to be sitting here, to tell you the truth, other than Rosie won’t let me do otherwise.”
Julia glanced over her shoulder. “Hugh’s come to clear the last of the stumps.”
“No need to do that,” Peter said. “It can wait until next week.”
“Glad to do it,” Hugh answered.
Roland took a step forward. “Perhaps I could be of some assistance.”
Peter thought the work might go faster for Hugh without his brother-in-law’s help, but he kept that opinion to himself.
Julia hadn’t been inside the house long before her friend excused the girls from their studies and sent them outside to play until lunch. Then she poured them each a cup of tea and they settled on chairs at the recently vacated table.
“What’s troubling you?” Rose asked in her best no-nonsense voice.
“Did the sheriff come to see you and Peter yesterday?”
“About the taxes? Yes, he came by.”
“He said some properties have seen the taxes doubled.”
“I know. Peter says we’ll be all right, but it’s hard not to worry. We have money in the bank, but if we were to have a drought or if Peter were to be injured again or …” Rose let her voice trail into silence, then added, “I’m awfully good at worrying, I’m afraid.”
Julia looked at her hands, wrapped tightly around the tea cup, as if she expected to choke an answer from it. “So am I.” She drew a deep breath and released it, relaxing her grip at the same time. “I have no extra funds in the bank to draw on. The only way to raise enough is to sell more cattle. But I’m afraid of what will happen if I do. Not this year, but next year.”
“You know what Peter would tell you.”
In unison, both women said, “Don’t borrow trouble from tomorrow.”
They smiled at each other, although Julia knew hers was a poor attempt.
“Maybe the ladies from the church in Pine Creek could hold a bake sale to help raise money for your taxes.”
“A bake sale?” Julia was horrified at the suggestion. “I’d rather not share my business with everyone. Besides, they couldn’t raise enough from selling pies and cakes, Rose. And I’m not the only person who must find more money because of the land board’s decision.”
Rose frowned. “You don’t suppose Charlie Prescott had anything to do with this, do you?”
“Charlie? Why would he? His taxes must have gone up too. Anyway, he has nothing to do with the land board.”
“He knows all the men on the board, and unlike the rest of us, he can afford an increase. Maybe he’s calling in favors.”
“You always think the worst of him.”
“And you are generous to a fault. He is more like his half-brother than you realize.”
Julia shook her head. “I mustn’t judge Charlie based upon Angus’s actions. Other than pestering me about selling Sage-hen, I have no reason to think ill of him.”
“Even demons can masquerade as angels of light,” Rose muttered.
A chill shuddered down Julia’s spine, her friend’s words reminding her of Angus when he’d come courting so long ago. She’d been fooled then. Could she be fooled in the same way again? Was Rose right to distrust Charlie?
A baby’s cry reached them from the bedroom. Rose stood. “Sounds like Jemima’s awake and hungry. I’d best go feed her. You think on what I said. Just be careful, that’s all.” She left the kitchen, disappearing into the back of the house.
Silence — an unusual condition in the Collins household — surrounded Julia. At Sage-hen, silence was familiar, comfortable. Here, it felt strange. She rose and went out to the porch.
Peter grinned when he saw her. “You two done jabbering already?”
“We weren’t jabbering.” She gave him a smile before she sat on the chair next to him. “We
never
jabber.”
“Ha!”
Julia turned her eyes toward the distant field. She could see Hugh and Roland, although from the porch she couldn’t tell who was who, not with both men bent over shovels.
“Did Rose tell you Roland’s going back to Portland tomorrow?”
“No, she didn’t mention it.” Maybe she
could
tell who was who. Even from a distance, there was something about the way Hugh moved.
“I guess you know she’s disappointed things didn’t work out the way she wanted.”
Julia didn’t have to ask what he meant. “Roland is a nice man and I’m sure he’ll make some woman a wonderful husband. But that woman could never be me. I’ll never marry again.”
“I wonder.”
“Don’t.”
“Time has a way of changing us, Julia. And God has a way of healing our wounds, if we let Him.”
A part of her believed what Peter said. Another part found it impossible to believe. Of course she knew that God could heal her, but could time and healing change her enough that she would want to marry again?
Surely not.
Her gaze returned to Hugh as he worked in the distance.
Her heart fluttered, and she had the strange sense that God wanted to say something to her — if only she had ears to hear.
Hugh figured he could have accomplished just as much without the lawyer’s help as with him. Maybe more. Roland was a good sort, but it was obvious he wasn’t used to physical labor. He also wasn’t much of a talker. Except when he asked the occasional question, Roland didn’t speak, concentrating instead on shoveling dirt and cutting tree roots.
But the verbal silence was broken at long last by a young girl’s voice. “How ya doing?”
Hugh looked up. Two of the Collins girls stood a short distance away, holding hands. If he wasn’t mistaken, the older one was Dinah and the younger one Gomer. Although it was hard to be sure. The girls all had a strong resemblance to one another. “We’re almost ready to pull this stump out. Maybe you should go back to the house. Don’t want you getting hurt.”
“We won’t get too close.” Dinah shook her head. “Pa won’t care if we watch as long as we don’t get too close.” She looked toward the house and waved. “See? He knows we’re here.”
Sure enough, Peter raised an arm and waved in return.
“Pa says those taproots go down really deep,” Dinah continued.
Her younger sister tugged on her arm. “What’s a taproot?”
Dinah shrugged. “You don’t need to know. Just be quiet and watch and don’t make trouble.”
The girl’s comment sent Hugh’s thoughts speeding back to Chicago, to a time before his mum died. He could hear himself saying almost the same exact words to his younger sisters. Just be quiet. Just watch. Just stay out of trouble. Just don’t bother me. Sometimes he’d hated being Felicia’s and Diana’s older brother, having to look out for them. He’d been known to complain loudly to their mother.
Strange, wasn’t it? Then he’d wanted to make them go away.
Now he hoped to find them, to ascertain that they were doing well, maybe even discover if they had a place for him in their lives.
He sunk the shovel deep into the earth, but his thoughts stayed elsewhere.
According to the folks on that farm in the eastern part of this state, Felicia had become a schoolteacher. It was easy to envision her in that role. She’d always been a bookish sort. She’d always been willing to help other children with their studies.
Two more weeks or so, and he would draw his pay from Julia and be on his way. That was good. It was time to find his sisters. Time to honor the promise to his mum. Time to cut short this growing sense of belonging — on Julia’s ranch, with these people he’d begun to think of as friends — when the truth was he didn’t belong here, would never belong here, perhaps would never belong anywhere.
“Dinah!” a more mature voice called.
For the second time in a short span of time, Hugh stopped shoveling and looked over his shoulder. Abigail, the oldest of the Collins girls, walked toward her sisters, frowning at them.
“What are you and Hope doing out here? You’re bothering Mr. Brennan and Uncle Roland.”
Hope. Not Gomer
. He’d have to try to remember that.
“We’re not botherin’ them.” Dinah stuck her chin in the air. “We’re stayin’ out of the way. Aren’t we, Mr. Brennan? Aren’t we, Uncle Roland?” She looked from Hugh to her uncle and back again.
Abigail stopped beside her sisters. “I don’t care. Besides, Ma says you’re to get back to the house and wash up so we can eat lunch.” She looked toward the men. “She says you’re to both come eat too, and you can finish pulling that last stump after.”
Roland set aside his shovel immediately. “I’m ready.”
Hugh wanted to say that if they had just another half an hour, they’d be finished and could call it a day. But that option wasn’t available to him now. Not unless he wanted to be rude to Rose. Reluctantly, he leaned his shovel against the stump and headed toward the house with the others.
From the parlor window, holding the sleeping infant in her arms, Julia watched Hugh’s return to the house, along with Roland and three of the Collins girls. Hugh moved with a confident stride, different now than on the day he’d arrived at Sage-hen. There was a new air of quiet strength about him that appealed to her. It was a strength that would never be turned on a woman in rage or cruelty. She couldn’t say how she knew that to be true. She simply knew it.
Once again she felt that flutter in her chest. Once again she felt God wanted to tell her something. Something about Hugh?
But of course not! What would God wish to say to her about a man who was headed for Idaho in a short while? Hugh would be gone, and she would remain in this valley. She would hold onto Sage-hen somehow and live there to her dying day.
Alone
.
“Hurry up, slowpokes.” Rose stood in the front doorway, watching the small group as they came near. “The food’s growing cold.” She looked over at Julia with a smile. “That means you too.”
“We came to help out, not to be fed.”
Rose laughed. “As if cooking for two more mouths makes a bit of difference in this household. And I’ll not have anyone clearing a field on an empty stomach.”
Julia smiled and determinedly set her troubled thoughts aside. How could she be with this wonderful, boisterous, generous family and do otherwise?
Julia’s respite from worry, found at the meal table with her neighbors, was brief. That night was another restless one. Each time she was about to drift into sleep, she would think about the taxes. Then she would begin to count her cattle again, trying to decide how many she would need to sell and wondering how long she could survive after selling so many.