City Girl (25 page)

It was Katy's undoing. No one had ever told her she was wanted as a friend. She cried, her hip hurting with how tensely she held her body, but her heart hurting more. It was some time before she could calm down enough to ask for help, but in the next half an hour, Cash questioned Katy and answered her questions in return before praying with her as she made the same choice Reagan had made earlier.

For a time the three sat in silence. Cash didn't know when he'd been so drained, but there was no denying the peace that filled his heart. He remembered the wonder he felt when his grandmother had come to Christ, and then Slater and Dakota. He knew his family was going to be stunned and delighted when they learned of Katy's salvation. It also gave him great hope for his parents.

And Reagan! Cash was still in a state of shock over that. Her heart had been so open, and she had been completely unguarded for the first time since he'd met her.

“Did Brenda give you lunch, Katy?” Reagan asked with wonderful practicality.

“No, I wasn't hungry.”

“I'll bring something in.”

“You go ahead and eat, Reagan,” Katy said quietly. “I'm not that hungry, so go ahead.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want me to set up a table in here for the three
of us?” Cash offered, not having thought of it before.

Katy smiled at him, an unusual sight. “I'm tired, Cash. Maybe later.”

“All right.”

The redhead bent low and kissed her cheek. Reagan did the same thing. The two exited on a quiet note, each feeling his own level of weariness. Reagan put Sunday dinner on the table and they ate together, but there was not a lot of conversation.

After the meal, Reagan checked on Katy and found her sleeping. She then felt free to spend some time on her own. Cash did the same, both understanding that the last few hours had given them a lot to take in.

Katy was settled in for the night, and Reagan was headed to her room. Earlier, Cash had come to the younger woman with a Bible and told her she could use it for as long as she liked. Reagan didn't bother to tell him that Holly had done the same thing for her, but now that the house was completely quiet for the day and Katy's closet door was shut against the lantern light, Reagan sat in her room, the lantern turned high, and started on the verses Pastor Ellis had given her.

The first was in Romans 10, and when Reagan read it she saw that that was just what she'd done: confessed Christ and believed on Him. But the next verses were of a different sort.

Romans 8:38,39 said,
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reagan read this in quiet amazement. She didn't know when she'd read such a comprehensive list. And if the list missed anything, it was covered in the last part about “any other creature.” Reagan was so pleased and surprised about this that she sat on the edge of her bed and smiled. Truly it had never occurred to her that God might rescind His love, but if the thought ever tormented her, she now knew where to turn.

Reagan found the next verses on the list just as amazing. She read John 10:27-30.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.

Reagan had not been positive who it was that was speaking until the last verse.
This has to be Jesus Christ,
she thought,
or He would not be claiming to be one with God.

Without warning Reagan knew she shouldn't read anymore. She had been growing tired, a good tired that meant she would sleep well, but now questions were coming to mind that were going to keep her awake.

Setting the Bible aside, she readied for bed, her heart amazingly full of what she was learning, but her brain trying to maintain control so she would sleep. Eventually her mind won over. Reagan fell asleep in the darkness, her heart never once wondering who she was.

“Well, now, Katy, have you been lying still like a good girl?” the doctor asked Monday morning a few hours after breakfast.

“I've been out dancing,” she told him, a small twinkle in her eye.

“How's the pain?”

It was on the tip of Katy's tongue to brush it off and say she'd had worse, but that wasn't true.

“More intense in the morning.”

“That's the usual complaint. Another three weeks and we'll have you up in a wheelchair.”

“Not walking?” she asked, wondering how she'd missed this.

“No. You'll have to stay off your feet for another three weeks after that. You don't want to risk falling again. And even when you start to walk, it's going to have to be slow.”

Katy was stunned. She had thought that Reagan could go home as soon as she could get out of the bed, but the housekeeper knew she would never be able to help herself in and out of a wheelchair.

“We don't have a wheelchair,” she reminded the doc, wondering why Cash remained quiet through this whole exchange.

“I've got one you can use,” he said calmly. “And by the way, you're coming along fine. This is all very normal.”

Katy felt herself relax. The news of the wheelchair wasn't a surprise she enjoyed, but there was no doubt that she found comfort in the doctor's other words.

Reagan was doing laundry. She'd meant to attack the kitchen that morning but realized the laundry was piling up. The washing and dusting would still be waiting for her, but at least their clothes would be clean.

I didn't think a task as mundane as the laundry could be done with such peace,
Reagan thought to herself, even as she washed. The same strength was needed for the hard wringing-out after rinsing and the lugging of wet, heavy clothes, but knowing God loved her somehow made the burden lighter. Nothing had changed around her, Reagan understood, but things were certainly different on the inside.

Even while pegging out the wash in the swiftly warming air on the clothesline at the back of the house, Reagan's thoughts lingered on what she knew about God. Sheets went up amid thoughts of God's Son. As towels and tablecloths were hung, she wondered about heaven. Jeans, shirts, dresses, blouses, skirts, and underclothing were pegged out in tidy order, but the work was done rather unconsciously. In fact Reagan didn't even hear her employer approaching.

“Move along,” the rancher ordered mildly.

“Move where?” Reagan stopped and asked, having misunderstood.

“I wasn't talking to you.”

Reagan frowned at him.

Cash nodded his head, and Reagan looked behind her. Four ranch hands were walking away, two of whom still turned to look behind them.

“You don't want them outside?” Reagan innocently guessed.

“They can be outside all they want, but I didn't think you needed an audience.”

Reagan's brows rose, and she asked before thinking, “Why were they watching me?”

Cash laughed. “They have great hopes,” he explained.

Having been confused by men's reaction to her for a long time, Reagan asked with candid curiosity, “Of what exactly?”

“Of catching your eye.”

Reagan nodded and Cash went on.

“You might smile or speak to them. If you do that, you open the door so one of them could ask you out on Saturday night.”

Reagan shook her head a little, and Cash misunderstood.

“Come now, Reagan. Were there no men who wanted to court you in New York?”

Reagan looked to where the men had been, her eyes thoughtful. “Do you really think one of your ranch hands
wants to court me?”

“He might. His intentions might not be honorable, but this can be lonely country. Some cowboys don't figure they could ever support a wife and don't even try, but some work a ranch like this, dreaming of a time when they could own their own. When a man does that, he wants a woman by his side.”

Reagan almost asked if Cash wanted that very thing but decided she might not like the answer. She wasn't blind. She could see that men stared at her, but she also figured that they knew, just by looking at her, that she was not the love-and-cherish type.

“Doc just left,” Cash said, appearing not to notice Reagan's hesitation.

“What did he have to say?”

“That she's doing well, and all is as it should be. Right after the fall she didn't hear him when he talked about her time in the wheelchair, so that was a surprise to her.”

“Where will you get a wheelchair?” Reagan suddenly thought to ask.

“The doc has one, but what I want to know from you is, did you hear that she'll not be completely back on her feet for about six weeks?”

“No, but it doesn't matter.”

“You're sure? I didn't know what arrangements you made with Sally or Russ and Holly.”

“I'm still paying my rent, and Sally wants me back no matter when I can come.”

“She's a good employer, isn't she?”

“Yes, she is,” Reagan said. Then her eyes grew huge. “I've got to tell her. I've got to tell her about Christ!”

Cash blinked at her sudden vehemence.

“Just this morning I read a verse in Matthew about letting people see your light. I've got to tell her!”

“Do you think she wants to hear?” Cash asked with maddening calm.

“Does that matter?” Reagan's face and question were so
comical that Cash laughed all over again.

He knew they would have to discuss her evangelism tactics, but Reagan was already calming. Her mind had gone back to the Christians in New York and the first time she realized Russell Bennett was a Christian.

“I could turn her away from me, couldn't I?” she asked quietly. “If I don't tell Sally the right way, she won't want anything to do with me.”

“It's entirely possible, and I don't think you want to take that risk.”

Reagan's head tipped to one side.

“How did you tell people?”

“I told a few without invitation, but my family started asking why I'd changed. Then the door was open. The same thing has happened with some of the other ranchers in the area.”

Reagan was asking herself if that might happen between her and Sally when she spotted something that made her gasp.

“What is that?” she asked in horror, moving a little closer to Cash and trying to get behind him.

“Go on now.” Cash raised his voice and waved his hand.

The armadillo that had wandered into the yard stopped his clumsy progress and stared over at them, so Cash waved him on again. Reagan's eyes nearly swallowed her face as she looked at the strange armor-plated creature as he waddled back the way he'd come.

“What is it?” she gasped out loud.