Chapter 8

After turning Patriot loose to graze in the pasture behind the barn, Jesse walked back to the house. The soft lamplight glowing from the side window told him Leah had waited up. Even so, he tiptoed through the back door in case she’d fallen asleep.

“Jesse!” She met him as he reached the kitchen. “Thank God, it’s you. I thought a burglar was sneaking into the house.”

He grinned at her big-city terminology. “Not too many burglars around here.” But they did have their share of horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and thugs, like those who ran in Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch gang. However, Jesse wasn’t about to tell Leah that.

“You’re all right?” She rushed toward him then stopped short.

Had she been about to embrace him? Jesse smiled. He’d like that. He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist, and, slowly, her arms came up and she rested her hands at his waist. He closed his eyes. She smelled so sweet, with her silky brown hair falling down her back.

Jesse held her closer. Would she prefer he slept in the barn again tonight? He’d prefer not to.

“I was worried about your safety.”

“I’m just fine,” he whispered near her ear.

To his disappointment, she pulled away. “You must be hungry. I can fix you some eggs.”

Jesse kneaded his whiskered jaw. He was hungry, all right—they’d ridden the range all day without stopping to eat. “Eggs will taste real good.”

“Scrambled?”

“I’m not picky.” But he probably smelled awfully ripe from sitting in the saddle all day beneath the hot sun. “I’ll go wash up, so take your time cooking.”

He strode to the closet containing linens and found it had been rearranged. Nicely rearranged. He pulled out a towel. In the bedroom that looked suddenly very lived-in, he found his clean clothes occupying one side of the wardrobe with Leah’s hung and folded on the other side. It pleased him to see she was settling in.

A change of clothes and a towel tucked beneath one arm and a bar of soap in his hand, Jesse passed Leah, purposely too close and earning him an excuse to put his hand on her waist.

“Oh, pardon me, Jesse. I didn’t mean to get in your way.”

“You’re not in my way.” He would have liked to get a kiss, but what did he expect? They’d known each other for only a day.

Leah sat at the table with Jesse as he ate and told her about the hours they’d spent tracking the thieves.

“You’re a good cook,” he said, changing the subject.

“Scrambling eggs isn’t difficult. And the sweet bread came from a neighbor who stopped by this morning.”

“There’s good folks in One Way.”

“So I’ve learned.” Her fingertips fell on his sketches. “I saw these this morning.” She held up his plans for her bathroom.

“What do you think?”

“I think I’ll be the envy of all the ladies in One Way.” Maybe she already was, having married Jesse Waite. Leah was sophisticated enough to know she could have fared much worse, considering hers was a marriage of convenience.

But God had a purpose for her, just as He had a purpose for Queen Esther.

“Does it … make you happy?”

Leah smiled. As Nellie told her this afternoon, Jesse wanted to please her. “Yes, it makes me very happy.”

“Whew!” He sat back in his chair. “That’s a relief. I fretted about it all day.”

“But you were hunting down cattle rustlers. I would have thought you’d fret over finding them, not worry about my bathtub and me.”

“You’re more important to me than finding rustlers.”

Touched, she traced a scratch in the tabletop with her forefinger. “Did you find them?”

“Yes, I found several in the store’s catalog. But I figured I’d let you pick out the one you want on Monday morning.”

“No, Jesse, not the bathtub—the cattle rustlers.” She giggled. “Did you find them?”

“Oh … yeah, we found them. Returned the cattle to the Abby Springs ranch, too.”

“All in a day’s work, eh, Sheriff?” Leah couldn’t help teasing him just a bit.

“And without firing a single shot.” He sent her a wink.

She grinned. Perhaps she would enjoy being married to Jesse Waite.

Rather than explore that possibility, she hastened to clear his dishes from the table. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll clean up the kitchen tomorrow before we go to church. I’m exhausted.” She made for the bedroom. “Good night.”

“Night, Leah.” His voice sounded soft and full of tenderness. If he felt miffed by her hasty exit, it wasn’t evident in his tone.

Once in the sanctity of the bedroom, she closed the door and leaned against it. Her breaths came in short bursts, as though she’d run up to the house from the pond. How could this be happening to her? She and Jesse had met only yesterday. Oh, but he was so handsome … and so kind.

Could it be?

She pondered the question. Lord, could I befalling in love with my husband?

Listening to Reverend Bigelow deliver an eloquent message beneath the whispering cottonwood, Leah decided Uncle Robert would be so proud. She hoped her aunt and uncle were safe in Glendive. Tomorrow morning they’d board the train for Portland. For all his terseness, Uncle Robert surely loved God. And he clearly loved Auntie, too, taking that long trip, selling his wagon and possessions, seeking help for her failing eyesight—treatments that may not even work. Leah never noticed, never appreciated until now, the subtle way husbands loved their wives as Christ loved the Church.

She glanced around the small congregation and counted six children, including Reverend and Mrs. Bigelow’s boys. And what a joy to see Rebecca Smith and her husband, Eden, here today with their little girl. Of course, Nellie and Zeb had come with baby Henry. Leah caught her sister-in-law’s gaze, and they exchanged smiles.

And then it hit her. While Leah had said good-bye to her only living relatives yesterday, God had graciously, lovingly, given her a new family. A new beginning.

Looking at her husband sitting beside her, Leah threaded her hand around his arm. He glanced her way and gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. So far, this hadn’t been punishment at all, and she truly believed that her aunt and uncle had her best interests in mind when they’d instructed her to join them in One Way after she’d gotten herself in such a mess back home.

Back home … No. This was her home now.

She peeked at Jesse from beneath her pompadour and decorated hat. At breakfast, he’d told her women were plain and practical out here and that she needn’t fuss with her appearance, but Leah wasn’t quite ready to abandon the latest fashions just yet. Her refusal to comply, however, caused her to look a bit silly this morning, although before they left the house, Jesse had said she looked lovely.

She didn’t deserve such a good man, and she knew she had to tell him the truth about what happened in Newport, no matter how much shame and pain it brought her.

And tell him she would. Someday.

The service concluded with “Bringing in the Sheaves.” Zeb accompanied the singing with his fiddle, although it didn’t drown out Mrs. Rigley’s enthusiastic and slightly offkey alto voice. When the believers dispersed, Jesse led Leah around and introduced her to some people she hadn’t yet met.

“Jesse, as a businessman,” Mr. Fields said, his slicked inky-black hair shining beneath the sun, “I have to admit I like the hotel idea that Welton’s proposing. He has a point—a church can meet anywhere. A school, too.”

“Well, Dirk, it’s your vote and your prerogative.”

Leah couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. The statement was hardly that of a man running for public office. Jesse’s character and qualifications for the job far exceeded Luther Welton’s. She’d gleaned that fact as soon as she’d met Mr. Welton. Surely everyone else couldn’t be so fooled.

But even if they were, why didn’t Jesse do his best to convince the man he conversed with and others that he was most suited for the job? And a church and school … they were essentials to a town.

Leah caught something out of the corner of her eye. A woman a ways off, standing outside the boardinghouse, waving a hanky.

“Jesse?” She tugged on his arm. “Excuse me for interrupting, but who is that near Mrs. Rigley’s place?”

He glanced in that direction. “That’s Collette Welton.” He squinted, watching her. “But what she’s doing is anyone’s guess.”

As the last syllable rolled off his tongue, the ground beneath them began to rumble. A thundering off in the distance rapidly drew near.

An earthquake?

Leah clung to Jesse. A collective gasp went up from the ladies. A couple of children whimpered while men murmured among themselves.

A heartbeat later, riders on horseback came into view, seven of them, all galloping at a breakneck pace past the church tree and Jesse’s homestead. They stirred up a cloud of dust that wafted over the gathered believers. Leah coughed despite the hanky she held to her mouth and nose.

“’Scuse me, Leah … Dirk. Seems I have work to do.”

“No, Jesse …” Leah lurched forward as he pulled from her grasp. Despite the heat, a cold shiver shook her to the bones and rattled her mind. Those reckless, rowdy men outnumbered her husband. He could be hurt—or worse.

“Arrest those men for disturbing the peace!” Reverend Bigelow called after Jesse’s retreating form.

“Throw them in jail, and toss the key in the Yellowstone!” Mrs. Rigley hollered.

“Jesse, come back!” Before Leah could go after him, Nellie stepped into her path. The expression on her sister-in-law’s round face spoke volumes. Leah’s shoulders sagged. “You’re going to tell me he’s just doing his job, aren’t you?”

Nellie gave a nod but took Leah’s hand. “He’s a big boy. He can handle himself. Don’t you worry.”

But she did worry. Lord, please, protect him!

And in that moment, Leah got a taste of what it felt like to be a sheriff’s wife. But, even more, she glimpsed what life in One Way would be like if Luther Welton became the law in this town. A renewed sense of purpose sprang up inside Leah, and she knew what she had to do.

Somehow, some way, she had to make sure Jesse was reelected on Tuesday morning.

But how?