Chapter 25 #3
Then Cassie said, “Griff was a bad rancher, wasn’t he? He didn’t check the cattle hardly ever. He said they’d forage on their own, but you check them once or twice a day.”
“Well, yeah. You have to check ’em, or they wander off or die. Every rancher knows that.”
“Griff didn’t. We had chickens, but they all ran off or got eaten by varmints.
He blamed everything on bad luck or dishonest people, but our land was as good as yours.
He wouldn’t listen to advice from anybody, most especially me.
And he couldn’t do everything himself, but he wouldn’t let me help, so lots of things went undone.
Even the fence that he cut himself on was badly repaired because he had done a sloppy job of mending it. ”
Cassie sat halfway up in bed. Lines of distress deepened around her mouth and eyes, but when he reached out to her to urge her to lie back, she resisted. And really, her opposition to his wishes was something to be encouraged at the moment.
“I’m not stupid, Red. I was always a good student in school. You’re right about that. Why did I let him convince me I was?”
“He was a violent, domineering man, and you were so young that you couldn’t stand up to him.
Your mother trusted him to care for you, but he betrayed that trust and only cared for himself.
He took all of your money by marrying you and squandered it.
” It made Red furious to think of the way Cassie had been robbed and cheated.
“Then he died and left you with a baby on the way, all his bills for a high life he couldn’t afford, and no way to care for yourself. ”
Cassie’s gaze had dropped to the middle of Red’s chest while he talked. Red tilted her chin up to see how she was handling his blunt truths. Her eyes blazed into his. She opened her mouth, then stopped whatever words were working their way out.
“Say it. Even if you think I won’t like it. Even if you think it’s a stupid, mean thing to say. I’d love to know what’s going on in your head.”
She closed her mouth and opened it again as if the words just wouldn’t emerge.
Red waited, afraid to push her any further.
Finally, the worst of the fiery anger faded from her eyes, and she looked over at her sleeping child.
“I’m thinking a lot of things, Red. They’re all so jumbled, I can’t seem to get any of them to come out, but the main one is”—she looked back at him—“I’m glad I’m your wife.
I’m glad you’re Susannah’s father. I think…
I think God knew just what He was doing that day in the cemetery, and I’ll thank Him every day of my life for letting me be with you.
” She launched herself the few inches that separated them and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Red didn’t have to think a second before he was holding her snug against him.
Cassie pulled away for just a second. “I’m going to try and say what’s on my mind, Red.
And God help you when I do because you may not like some of it.
But be patient with me, and we’ll see if I can…
start to believe I’m smart and that what I think matters.
Maybe the Cassie who’s been hiding inside of me all these years isn’t such a bad person. ”
“I like everything about you, Cass, honey. I only want to know more.”
“Well, then, the first thing that’s on my mind, now that I’ve turned over a new leaf is…
go away and let me get some sleep. I’m exhausted.
” Cassie leaned back against her pillow with her chin lifted ever so slightly in the air as if she were daring him to tell her to stay awake.
She tugged at her covers, and since he was sitting on them, she gave him a disgruntled look.
He stood and helped her smooth them.
“When I wake up, I might demand you make me something to eat. How would you like that, sir?” She sounded very bossy, but a smile escaped her prim lips.
Red smiled right back. “It would be my pleasure to serve you, ma’am. You tell me how your want your eggs, and they’ll come out scrambled like they always do.”
Cassie nestled herself amid her blankets. “That sounds just fine.” She was asleep the instant her eyes closed.
Red looked back as he left the room. He stood for a minute and reveled in the beautiful sight of his family. His two beautiful girls, Cassie and Susannah. Sleeping. Trusting him for their care.
It was a moment of crystal-clear clarity.
A moment with a value beyond price. They were all bound together with a generous supply of love.
And, with God’s help, that love would overflow into every corner of their lives.
He couldn’t bring himself to leave immediately, and he almost climbed into bed with Cassie just to hold her close. He would soon.
Fatigue tugged at his sleep-deprived brain, but he had something to do first. He stepped out of the room, a room he’d barely left in the last day, to spend a few moments in communion with God.
He knelt by the fire, his Bible clutched against his chest, and prayed the most sincere prayer of his life.
Thank You. Thank You, heavenly Father, for the gift You’ve given me. And thank You, thank You, thank You for my life with Cassie, and this joy and perfect peace.