Chapter Ten
“I’ll take the little one off your hands.” Sally’s blustery statement sent alarm rushing through Rachel that afternoon. “You’re in no shape to tend to her.”
“No thanks,” Rachel announced firmly. “She was put in my care, and I’ll see to her.” She prayed she didn’t sound rude. She hadn’t meant it that way. Sally Lassiter was like a bull that charged at anything that fluttered in the wind. Yet, Rachel knew deep down underneath all those rough, jagged edges lay a sensitive caring woman.
Sally sniffed and finished folding the last of the baby clothes that Rachel had found in the old trunk and washed. “Well, I just thought you might want me since I’m older and more experienced. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t.” Rachel put her arms around the stout woman. “I think of you as an older sister. You and Heath have become very special to me.”
Concern replaced Sally’s hurt. “Thank you, dear. I feel the same about you.”
Glad she handled that well, Rachel stepped around Sally and picked up the stack of clean laundry. “I appreciate your help. Had I been doing it by myself it would’ve taken all day.” Rachel lovingly smoothed each wrinkle from a tiny gown that Alice had once worn.
Dear, precious Alice. She’d never done a single bad thing in her short life. But the more Rachel thought about Heath’s comparison to the baby birds that the wind blew out of their nest the more it made sense. Surely God didn’t punish innocent animals and babies.
Still, she was another story.
Blackness and evil had touched her life through no fault of her own. She couldn’t choose her father but was stuck with his legacy. Whatever punishment lay in store for her she well deserved since she now knew full well she had to pay for the sins of her father and would be followed by the reputation he’d left. He’d taken every opportunity to tell her she was no good. Nothing but a whore.
The abduction and rape hadn’t been her fault. She’d fought her attackers until they’d overpowered her and fighting back only made them meaner.
Rachel shook herself from the nightmare. “Sally, who do you suppose left Eden here?”
“Don’t rightly know. She might belong to one of the ranchers’ daughters. Or one of the Quaker women over in Estacado. It’s surely a puzzle.”
Just then Eden let out a cry to let Rachel know she’d awakened from her nap and was starving.
Sally took a step toward the bedroom then stopped and turned around. “You’d best go see to her. You’re the only mother the poor little thing has now.”
Rachel fed and changed the infant. Each time she held the precious bundle her love grew.
All of sudden she froze. What if whoever left her came back for her? It would kill Rachel to have to give up the baby. In fact, she wouldn’t. She’d hide the child first.
She laid Eden back in the wooden cradle she’d found in the barn and tiptoed to the door. Heath and Sally sat at the kitchen table talking.
Rachel didn’t know why, but she kept out of sight, listening.
“Sally, you’ve got to stop being so headstrong,” Heath said. “Just leave Rachel be. She needs this baby to care for right now. It’s the best thing in the world.”
“I’m just saying she may not be in the right frame of mind to tackle a child. She’s fragile and I still think Eden would be better off with us.”
“God knows what Rachel needs and he sent this baby to her. Are you saying you know more than our Heavenly Father?”
Sally released a huff. “Don’t be silly.”
“Then that’s the end of it.” Heath rose to pour himself a cup of coffee.
Rachel eased the bedroom door open and closed it again to make some noise before she entered the room and just in time to see Tillie ride into the yard. Excited, she opened the door to greet her friend. She had much to tell.
Upon Tillie’s arrival Sally and Heath said their goodbyes.
Heath held her hand for a long moment beside the wagon. “Since my sleeping in front of your door bothers you, I won’t do it again. But if you need anything, no matter how small, you come for me.”
He kissed the baby. Then before he said a final goodbye, he ran the back of a knuckle gently across Rachel’s cheek. “I care for you, beautiful angel.”
For a moment Rachel thought he would kiss her despite Sally and Tillie watching. But the moment passed. As he helped Sally into the wagon then climbed up himself, an unexpected disappointment swept through her.
When she could breathe again, she turned to her friend. “Come into the house, Tillie. I’ll tell you all about Eden.”
Rachel and Tillie spent the afternoon talking, baking bread, and acting like fools over the baby.
“You’ve got even more reason now to get some money coming in,” Tillie pointed out.
“That’s true. I no longer have just myself to consider.” She was going to do the very best she knew how to raise Eden and find redemption somehow. Someway.
Rachel occupied Heath’sthoughts all the way home and into the night as he lay in his bed. It was the first time he’d slept in his room in the barn since Rachel moved into her new house.
But sleep refused to come. He was worried about Rachel’s safety. Even though he hadn’t seen any more evidence of digging, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something troubling loomed on the horizon.
It frustrated him to see trouble coming like a blinding twisting sandstorm that cared not what lay in its path and being unable to prevent it from destroying everything.
The simple fact was he loved Rachel and baby Eden. Loved them with all of his being.
“And she saw the white dove too,” he whispered to himself. God had a plan.
Would she but say the word he’d take them both in his arms and protect them to his very last breath.
But how did a man protect someone he loved when she refused to let him?
The way he felt about Rachel Malloy could most likely be seen as irrational by some people. Truth was, she made him crazy. The pretty woman was mulish by half, but she was also nurturing, understanding, and drove him to distraction.
A deep sigh escaped him. He punched his pillow and turned over.
For two cents he’d saddle up and ride over to her place just to make sure everything was all right. But he’d given his word, and the word of a Lassiter was his bond.
Unless breaking it was in Rachel’s best interests. Of course, then it was different. He reached for his trousers.
Rachel had just dousedthe lamp when a knock came at the door. Jax, curled up beside Eden’s cradle, growled low in his throat and leaped to his feet. Terror gripped her and thoughts of her abduction sprang into mind. She grabbed her shawl and threw it over her gown. Striking a match, she re-lit the lamp. Jax sprang to the door. She was grateful for the dog’s presence. His fierce barking deafened her.
“Who is it?” she yelled through the locked wooden door. “What do you want?”
Jax leaped onto the door, baring his teeth.
“Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am. Don’t mean to frighten you. Is this the Malloy house?” The voice belonged to a man.
“Yes. May I help you?”
“Might you be Rachel Malloy?”
Surprise flittered along her spine. Who would come calling in the dead of night? She prayed that whoever it was hadn’t come for Eden. She couldn’t give her up. She just couldn’t.
Not without a fight.
She tried to stop her trembling. “My dog will tear into you, mister.”
“Can you hold him? I don’t wanna get bitten.”
Throwing the bolt on the door, she took a firm hold on Jax and opened it a crack, shining the lamp on the caller. The shaft of light illuminated a man of middling age, well past his prime on her stoop. His grizzled features sported several days of beard growth and streaks of silver created paths through hair that was the color of worn saddle leather.
“I’m Rachel. State your name and your business, please.”
“Zeb Thacker, ma’am. I’m your uncle.” He ran his hand through his thick shock of hair. “I apologize for the late hour. I’ve traveled a far piece.”
The hackles on Jax’s back rose. She wondered what the dog was sensing. Leery, she considered slamming and bolting the door. “I don’t know who you are, mister, but you’re mistaken. I have no kin. Now, be on your way or I’ll turn my dog loose.”
“Wait a minute, ma’am.”
It occurred to her that quite possibly she was again hasty in insisting that she could take care of herself. If only she hadn’t sent Heath and Sally home.
“Now, ma’am, I understand. I really do. But, truth of the matter is I’m too tired to go another step. If I could—”
“The lady said no,” interrupted a firm, male voice that could only belong to Heath. She opened the crack wider and sure enough Heath stepped from the shadows. He pointed a rifle at the stranger. She could’ve hugged him. “Now, if you’ve got good sense you’ll get on your horse and ride on, late hour or not.”
The stranger’s eyes widened, and he held up both hands. “I didn’t mean the lady no harm.”
“Then you should’ve come in the daylight,” Heath snapped.
“I can sleep in the barn and clear up everything tomorrow,” the stranger suggested, a hopeful tone in his voice. “I won’t be any trouble.”
Rachel opened the door wide. “Heath, may I have a word with you?”
“Sure.” He turned to the stranger. “Stay right where you are.” Heath lowered the rifle and joined Rachel inside the door. “Are you having second thoughts?”
She chewed her bottom lip. “I can’t turn him away. What if he really is my uncle? I’d give anything to have a family again. Maybe he really is who he says.”
He gently touched her cheek. “I reckon it won’t hurt if he sleeps in the barn and we can sort things out in the morning. But I’m staying to make sure you and Eden are safe. Just so we’re clear on the matter.”
Relief swept through her. She patted his chest. “Thank you, Heath. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Good. Now, close this door and bolt it. I’ll see to your guest.”
“Goodnight, Heath. I’ll have coffee ready at daybreak.”
“I’ll need it. Get some rest now. You’re safe.”
And that’s what she did. Her head barely touched the pillow before she was sound asleep. It was as if unseen arms had slid around her and protected them from harm.
The next morning the stranger who’d called himself Zeb Thacker sat with Heath at her breakfast table. Rachel tried not to stare, but she found herself desperately searching his face for any sign of recognition.
She wanted, needed to believe.
“Mr. Thacker, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you before.”
“Well, I should hope not. You weren’t even born when my sister, your mother, left Tennessee and came to Texas.”
Rachel handed him the plate of biscuits. “Pardon my asking, but why are you here?”
“Word reached me that your father died. I didn’t know that all the rest had died too until I got here. You’re all alone and in need of kith and kin. I can help you.”
Heath frowned and pushed back his plate. “I’ve been taking care of Rachel. I hate that you’ve come so far for nothing.”
“That’s right neighborly of you, Lassiter, but friends can’t take the place of family.”
The two men glared at each other over their plate of eggs and flapjacks. For a moment she was afraid they’d come to blows.
“I never knew my mother’s maiden name,” she murmured.
“Stranger, what proof can you give her that Thacker is indeed her mother’s family name?” Heath asked.
Zeb’s eyes shifted to a spot on the floor. It took him a long minute to answer. “Well, sir, I have a Bible that Rachel’s grandmother wrote everything down in. It’s in my saddlebags.”
“I think Rachel would like to see that if you don’t mind,” Heath said, a measure of steel in his words.
“Sure thing. As soon as I’m done here.”
“Thank you, Mr. Thacker.” Rachel offered him another biscuit. She’d breathe much easier once she saw proof of his wild claims. For all she knew he could be making up the whole thing. And she could tell that had occurred to Heath as well. “Tell me, what was my mother like as a girl growing up? How did she occupy herself? What did she like? Do you know her favorite color?”
“Hold on there, missy. That’s a lot of questions.”
“Can’t you satisfy my curiosity?”
The footprints in the ash in her burned kitchen swept into her mind. She had to move slowly on this sudden turn of events.
“Well, yeah. But give me time to get my bearings.” Zeb made a move to rise.
Jax got to his feet and growled low.
The color left Zeb’s face and he eased back onto the chair. Thank goodness for Heath and his watchful eye. She’d stop complaining and keep her eyes open for that white dove, hoping it would hang around.
Heath was convinced it was a sign. Rachel not so much. The man carried his convictions deep inside and couldn’t be dissuaded by anything.
And he could kiss the daylights out of a girl.
So why was she refusing to marry him? It was getting harder to remember.