Texas Brides Collection (46 page)

The start of the worship service relieved her of social interaction, but she froze as the hymns were sung. The time for the pastoral prayer had arrived. Her stomach knotted so tightly she thought she might look like a bow, tied in the middle.

“Today we are doing something different during our prayer time. Miss Rosie Carson, who shared her remarkable story with us a few weeks ago, has asked to address our congregation again.”

Murmurs rippled across the sanctuary. Owen helped Rosie to her feet and walked with her to the first row. “Go ahead. I’m right here,” he whispered and nudged her forward.

Light slanted through the windows, crossing the patch of floor she must cross to reach the pastor’s side. Light and dark, freedom and imprisonment, acceptance and rejection…she had to walk those few short feet to reach her heart’s desire. She took one hesitant step forward then a second. Light shone full on her face when she turned to face the congregation, and she felt as though she stood in the presence of God.

The pastor had already heard Rosie’s confession. To the congregation, he said, “We all learned a lot from Miss Carson’s first testimony. I believe today will be equally powerful, if we listen with open hearts.” He nodded for Rosie to begin.

“A few weeks back, I bragged how God had reached down and saved and plucked me from the pit of crime I found myself in.” She looked at the floor then looked back up into the light. “The truth is, I’m the one the newspaper’s been calling the Easter Angel. The first time I ran into a problem, I turned back to my old ways.”

Tears fell down her face, but Rosie didn’t stop them. “It’s okay if you cry,” the pastor had said.

“I made excuses for myself. I thought I was helping the New Testament Church of San Antonio act more like the church I was reading about in Acts, where people who were rich sold things so everybody’s needs were met. I didn’t think anyone would even notice anything was gone.” Her eyes had adjusted to the light, and she searched for Mrs. Wilkerson. “Mrs. Wilkerson, I have to ask for your forgiveness. You invited me into your home and asked me to share my heart. And I repaid you by taking your things. Please forgive me.”

She and Owen had debated whether she should confess her plans to steal the money. They decided, no, she shouldn’t.

“All along, I read some verses that talked about leaving the corners of the harvest for the poor, and helping widows and orphans, and giving somebody your coat if they needed it. God was showing me all those other verses, too, the ones about not stealing and how Christians shouldn’t steal anymore. It’s even on God’s list of the biggest ten sins we can commit. I have asked for God’s forgiveness, and now I ask for yours.”

Not a page rustled in the silent sanctuary. The light obscured most faces in front of her, and she couldn’t tell how people were reacting.

“I know I was wrong to take those clothes. But before we wash them up and return them, I wanted to show you who I gave them to. Ma, will you help our neighbors up here?”

Each person wearing an article of clothing from the robbery formed a ragged line. They came forward and talked about the clothes they had received. Rosie heard rumblings in the congregation as the parade of clothes finished.

“We can’t give back the food, because we already ate it all. I’ll work for free until I pay back the cost. And if I need to work more for the clothes besides giving them back, I’ll do that, too.” Exhausted, Rosie pushed herself to the last thing she needed to say. “You have every reason not to trust me or want me in your church. But don’t blame my friends. Welcome them as you would welcome Jesus if He were here. And, I guess that’s all.” Her legs sagged as she took a step forward, and Owen rushed to her side. He walked with her to their seats on the back row.

When Rosie’s senses returned, she heard quiet sobbing around her and low voices in conversation.

Pastor Martin took his place behind the pulpit, head bowed, waiting for a full minute without speaking. When he lifted his head, he didn’t open the Bible but instead looked across his congregation. “God has opened a window for us at New Testament Church today. We can close the curtains of opportunity and continue to do everything the same way we’ve always done it. If we do, as God’s shepherd of this flock, I warn you, we will not see the blessings God wants to pour down on us.

“But if we forgive Miss Carson the wrong she has done—and she freely confesses her sin—and open the doors God has placed to our community, we will see unprecedented growth. New Testament growth.” He continued exhorting the church to love not only God with all their hearts but to love their neighbors as they loved themselves.

After the service, people flocked to Rosie. Many of them wished her well, even the lady she had stolen the clothes from. “Oh, Miss Carson, don’t worry about those clothes. In fact, I’m sure I have some more garments to give away. If I get them to you later, you’ll see about giving them to people who need them, won’t you?”

Rosie could barely find a voice. After what she’d done, what she’d confessed, they would still trust her with the clothes? She nodded.

“An excellent suggestion.” Mr. Abbott came last in the line. “Right in line with what the deacons are proposing. We just had a quick meeting”—he nodded at the men gathered behind him—“and we’re in complete agreement. We have been remiss in our care of the people at our doorstep. It took you to show us that. And we believe you are the best person to take charge of our outreach. Are you willing?”

They were handing Rosie her heart’s desire on a platter? But she had to say no. “As soon as I finish paying back what I stole, I gotta find work that pays. My ma’s only got me to support her. I can only work on something like that part of the time.”

Mr. Abbott blinked. “Miss Carson, we will pay you for your services. We’ll help you work things out with the people you hurt.”

Happiness welled up inside Rosie. “Then I say…yes!”

The last of the deacons filed out behind Mr. Abbott, leaving Ma, Iris, and Owen with Rosie. Ma winked at Iris. “Let’s go out into the sunshine and leave these two alone for a few minutes.”

“Owen—”

“Rosie—” They spoke simultaneously.

She broke into nervous laughter. “Well.”

“I told you God had things under control.” Owen’s grin could have filled all of Texas. “Remember the question I asked you that night by the river?”

When you said you want to court me? How could I forget? “Yes.”

“Do you have an answer for me now? I already asked your mother; that’s why she left us alone.”

“Will you ask me again?” she asked. Part tease, part a request for reassurance.

“I love you, Miss Rosie Carson. Will you allow me to court you, to shower you with my love, and marry me in due time?”

“Yes.” But Rosie wasn’t finished. “What about you, Ranger Cooper? Do you want to court a convicted thief, a sinner who returned to her old ways at the first opportunity?”

“Who is that?” Taking her hands in his, Owen looked straight through her. “The only woman I see here is a new creation in Christ, beloved of God and called to ministry. I am the one who is honored, if you will accept me.”

For answer, Rosie stood on tiptoe and leaned forward, audaciously inviting him to kiss her. “Yes.”

He brushed her lips with his. “Welcome home, angel.”

This book is dedicated to CJ, my outlaw.
I love the trail we’ve traveled together.

Denmark, Texas, 1867

Q
uit your bawling, Benjamin.” Reuben Wilson didn’t mean to sound harsh, not with his baby brother. But a six-year-old couldn’t understand why they couldn’t go home. Reuben didn’t care to think about what he’d left behind in Wyoming. Otherwise he’d probably want to lean back and give a good howl like Benjamin.

Benjamin’s round cheeks flamed red, his eyes swollen from a day and night of crying. “I want Ma!” A few passersby on the street glanced toward them but kept on their way. Reuben hoped they’d mind their own business. Colt should be back any moment with their supplies. That is, if he didn’t lose his head and draw too much attention to them.

“You can’t have Ma, not with the law after us.” Caleb Wilson bent closer to Benjamin. “One day, I promise, I’ll come back for you. Me, Reuben, and Colt.”

“You p–p–promise?” Benjamin’s sobs turned to hiccups.

“Yeah, sure do.” Caleb chucked him on the shoulder.

“Y’all gonna stand there jawing with the boy, or can I show him where he’s goin’ to sleep?” Sadie stood in the doorway of the Gilded Lily. Her booted foot tapped like a woodpecker on the boardwalk. She shoved the short-capped sleeve of her flaming red dress over her bare shoulder. “I got customers waitin’ to meet the girls.”

“Yeah, go on, Benjamin.” Reuben kept scanning the crowded street. He considered himself a man at twenty, and he took his responsibility for his brothers seriously. “Sadie’s goin’ to take good care of you. She’ll even give ya some spending money once in a while for helping out.” His gaze darted from faces to horses to weapons of passersby. They needed to leave, and fast.

“She will, will she?” Sadie’s brow furrowed. “I don’t recall agreein’ to pay the boy just ’cause y’all are running from the law.”

Reuben flashed his attention to Sadie. “Just give the boy a quarter once in a while. He’s a good boy. My ma taught him. He can read a mite, even sweep floors and do dishes. Can you help ’er out, Benjamin?”

“Okay.” Benjamin hiccupped.

“We can’t go back to Ma now. But one day I’ll come back for you.” The promise made Reuben feel as if he’d swallowed an apple core.

Pounding hooves made Reuben look up. He touched the revolver on his hip. It was only Colt, riding up on a new mount. He had two more in tow. “Got our rides, boys. Let’s go.”

Reuben’s eyes burned as he took one last look at Benjamin. If only Caleb and Benjamin hadn’t tailed them from Wyoming. By the time he and Colt had discovered the boys following, they couldn’t well turn back. Not with the sheriffs of three towns hunting for them. He said nothing and grabbed the reins of the nearest mount. The other horses had been ridden too hard, and they couldn’t risk stopping for long.

Before Benjamin’s tears began anew, Reuben led Colt and Caleb to the edge of town.

Reuben reined in his horse and faced both of them. “We go different directions. Y’all lay low, keep your noses clean, and get a new life if you can. A year from now we meet here, get Benjamin, and go back to Ma.” Colt and Caleb nodded, then spurred their mounts and disappeared in clouds of dust.

Desperation now drove them apart, but Reuben hoped they’d all find their way back together somehow.

Raider’s Crossing, Wyoming Territory—February 1880

T
hirteen years and a heart full of memories lay between Charlotte Jeffers and Reuben Wilson. That, and his mother’s coffin being walked down the chapel aisle and out the front doors. Charlotte shivered at the blast of wind that whistled through and touched them all.

The man’s heart had to be as icy as the late winter air to leave his mother for so long and return but a few days before her spirit left this earth. Charlotte knew Reuben had broken Elizabeth Wilson’s heart. She shoved her own childhood pain aside and prayed silently that somehow the Lord could work good out of the whole mess.