The Redemption of Jake Scully (24 page)

Clutching Scully close as he sagged down onto the step, she saw Jewel turn and walk back out onto the street—directly into Buddy’s arms.

Struck with the determination to fight for the man she loved, Lacey separated herself far enough from Scully to whisper, “I love you, Scully. You’re a part of me. You always have been. I want to be with you always. I know that now, just as I know we were meant to be together. Speak to me, Scully, tell me—”

Lacey looked up toward sounds on the staircase above them the moment before helpful hands lifted Scully to his feet and turned him back toward his room. Hardly aware of the scurrying footsteps and the mumbling of deep voices in the alleyway below as onlookers gathered around Barret’s body, she remained close beside Scully, refusing to surrender his hand.

Lacey stood anxiously beside Scully’s bed when Doc Mayberry appeared in the doorway minutes later. She heard him mumble as he approached, “That fella down in the alleyway won’t be needing my help, so let’s see what I can do here.”

Lacey said shakily, “Scully’s going to be fine, doctor.” She bent down toward Scully to conclude in a whisper, “Because we were meant for each other.”

Startled when Scully’s eyelids lifted and his sober gray eyes met hers, when he curled his palm unexpectedly around her head to press her mouth down to his, Lacey leaned into his brief kiss.

She was breathless at the love reflected clearly in his gaze when Scully released her and he said weakly, but with conviction that came clearly from the heart, “That’s right, darlin’, we were meant for each other…and I’ll never let you go.”

Chapter Fifteen

T
he ranch house bedroom was large and airy, with flowered wallpaper in pale shades of blue. The early morning sun shone on the large bed that dominated the center of the room—the bed where Lacey and Scully lingered with their infant son lying beside them.

Lacey looked down at her sleeping child, at the spiky lashes lying against his smooth cheeks, knowing that underneath his closed eyelids, Jacob Scully, Junior’s eyes were a clear and sober gray like his father’s.

Her heart was full.

At Scully’s touch, Lacey looked up to find his gaze searching her face. He whispered, “Is something wrong, Lacey?”

Wrong?

The thickness in Lacey’s throat briefly precluded speech. How could anything be wrong? She was lying beside her husband, the man she loved, the man who had recuperated fully from his grievous wounds more than a year earlier. He was the same man who had relinquished his former life at the Gold Nugget to become a rancher—not because she had demanded it of him, but because he had accepted a need to follow the Lord’s word more closely…and because he loved her. In the time since, she had borne him a son, and the love between them had expanded in ways she had never even dreamed.

Yet there was more.

Lacey recalled the beautiful moment almost a year earlier when Jewel and Buddy came to Sunday church services; when afterward, they asked Reverend Sykes to marry them. It had never been determined whether it was Scully’s or Jewel’s bullet that ended Barret’s life. She supposed it was better that way because both Scully and Jewel had made a difficult, split-second decision for which she would be forever grateful.

Jewel had confided that she hadn’t expected to see Buddy on the street when she emerged from the dark alleyway that fateful night. Yet when he was there with his arms open and waiting, she had walked into them instinctively, suddenly sure his love was true and his fidelity would never fail her.

Jewel had also confided that in that moment, she had resolved she would become worthy of Buddy’s love, and of God’s love as well. In truth, that was all she had ever wanted.

Lacey remembered the day shortly after Jewel and Buddy’s wedding when Rosie came to tell her she was quitting her job at the Gold Nugget, that she had saved up enough money to leave town for a job farther west where she would start over using her new skills at reading and writing to good advantage. Lacey knew Rosie would succeed because the dear girl’s heart was pure and open to the Lord’s word.

Lacey glanced at the night table where her grandfather’s Bible lay. Scully had recovered it from Barret’s office, further proof of Barret’s guilt, although, in reality, no proof had been needed. She had been overjoyed to be able to touch it again with the feeling that Grandpa was always near. Scully had accomplished that for her, and in doing so, had ended her nightmares and rounded out her circle of love.

She was so blessed.

“Lacey?”

Lacey responded belatedly, “No, nothing is wrong, Scully. I was just thinking.”

Anticipating her need to hold the precious volume in her hands, Scully took her Bible from the night table and handed it to her. She fingered it lightly, then turned to the page where her grandfather’s simple drawing noted a familiar passage:
Thou will show me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

She remembered the moment when it all came together in her mind. Her grandfather had read that passage to her often, but he had read it to her with particular significance while drawing a small critter resembling Careful beside it before he left for Weaver the day he was killed. The truth of that passage had guided him throughout his life, and she suddenly realized that he had meant for it to guide her in other ways as well.

Lacey stroked the miniature drawing with her finger. She and Scully had followed that thought to fruition so simply. They had returned to her grandfather’s gravesite, had loaded prospector’s tools on Careful’s back as her grandfather had done countless times before. The loyal burro had then turned instinctively to follow a trail through the wilderness that he had walked with her grandfather. He had stopped automatically at the last location her grandfather had worked—
the site of his lost strike.

Lacey remembered the moment when the first nugget was uncovered. She had met that moment and her grandfather’s legacy with tears of bittersweet joy.

So many good things had come from that legacy—improvements on the ranch where Scully and she would spend the rest of their lives, Weaver’s newly repaired church, the clinic that Doc Mayberry had always wanted to found.

Scully drew Lacey from her meandering thoughts as he nudged, “You were just thinking—about what, Lacey?”

“Weaver already has a school, but I was thinking how fine it would be if Weaver had another kind of school.” She looked up at him, her clear eyes suddenly intent. “For people like Rosie and Jewel who aren’t able to read and write because they never had the chance to learn.”

Scully responded, “That sounds like a fine idea to me. I could talk to Reverend Sykes about it if you want.”

Lacey’s eyes filled. “And maybe…possibly…Rosie could come back to teach others to read.”

“Maybe she could.”

Suddenly solemn, Scully took a silky lock of Lacey’s pale, unbound hair in his hand as he whispered, “But I want you to know, darlin’, that when all is said and done, this gold is my true treasure. You mean more to me than any other legacy Charlie could possibly have intended.”

His voice growing hoarse with emotion, Scully continued more softly still, “Charlie meant you for me…I know that now. That was that old man’s purpose in sending you to find me that last day. He meant to keep you safe, which you will always be in my arms. He also meant to turn my life back onto the right path with love—which he did.” Pausing briefly, Scully said, “Because I love you, Lacey.”

Lacey saw the truth of Scully’s words reflected in the planes of his handsome face. She felt it in the touch of his lips as they lingered on hers, then glimpsed it in his eyes as he looked down at their son when he stirred.

Lacey comforted their son softly. She then leaned back to luxuriate in Scully’s embrace as she held close a truth that was etched into her heart. In sending her to Scully, her grandfather had left her the most precious legacy of all—a legacy of love more precious than gold. A legacy that would last a lifetime.

Dear Reader,

When I was first asked to write for Love Inspired Historicals, I was immediately certain that Lacey and Scully’s story would be the perfect one to tell. I had kept the premise for
The Redemption of Jake Scully
tucked away in a folder just waiting for the opportunity to develop an outline that had come to my mind so many years previously that I can’t truly remember when or how it did. I knew
The Redemption of Jake Scully
was perfect because it embodied all that I felt was true about romance.

So much is written and said about romance and true love. To my mind, nothing has truly changed about it over the years. Most men and women always have been—and always will be—looking for a sense of commitment that will make them feel complete. My feeling is that when all material elements are stripped away, it is how much a couple is willing to share with each other, to sacrifice in a way that proves not to be a sacrifice in the end, and how willing each is to participate in making themselves become
one
in God’s eyes that defines the true meaning of love.

I cherished Lacey and Scully’s story. I wanted to bring their characters to life in
The Redemption of Jake Scully.
Writing about them was a true joy, and I hope I shared that joy with you.

Sincerely,

Elaine Barbieri

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. In the beginning of the story, Lacey leaves her school and a potential position in New York to return to Weaver, a place she both fears and loves. Why do you think Lacey felt so driven to return to her beginnings when she had the potential for a good life in the East?
   
2. Aside from sympathy for the unusual circumstances under which Lacey first entered his life, why do you think Scully felt so great a commitment to a young girl he had never seen before? Was it guilt for the lifestyle he had developed or loyalty to his mentor? Or was there more to it?
   
3. How did the author bring the Old West to life? What do you remember most about the setting and the time period based on this story?
   
4. What mannerisms did the characters have that marked them as living in the Old West? How do they differ from people today, and how are they the same?
   
5. How did faith impact the plot of
   The Redemption of Jake Scully?
   Might everything have worked out differently had Lacey exhibited a different attitude toward the teachings in the Bible? How so?
   
6. The religious quotations that sprang to mind in different situations in her life guided Lacey. Which quotations spoke particularly to you? Which do you feel best represented the messages in the story?
   
7. Do you think Lacey compromised her faith with her devotion to Scully when his lifestyle conflicted with that faith? Why or why not? Did Scully’s actions to save Lacey at the end of the story redeem him, or does he need to do more?
   
8. Did Lacey make a mistake by becoming friends with two of society’s outcasts? What did Jewel and Rosie bring to Lacey besides their friendship? How did the choices they made fit with the book’s redemption theme?
   
9. Barret Gould and his henchmen act selfishly throughout the story. Did they get what they deserved in the end, or was there any hope of redeeming them?
   
10. Did Lacey’s grandfather make a mistake by keeping his strike a secret from Lacey? Why do you think he kept that secret?
    
11. Burros like Careful were common in the Old West. They thrived in hot, dry environments and were popular for carrying supplies for miners. How did Careful’s presence enhance the plot of the story? What did he symbolize to Lacey, and to the heart of the book?
    

ISBN: 9781408937730

The Redemption of Jake Scully

© Elaine Barbieri 2008

First Published in Great Britain in 2008
Harlequin (UK) Limited
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

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