Betsy's Return Read Free

Cooper’s store and see about getting some tea and a few other things we’ll need,” she mumbled. “I’d better tell Papa where I’m going.”
    When she entered the sitting room, she found her father asleep, so she scrawled him a note and left it on the low table in front of the sofa. She didn’t think it would take long to get the things she needed, and she’d probably be back long before Papa woke up.
    ***
    As William guided the horse pulling his rented carriage down the dusty road toward Walnutport, he thought about his mother’s predictable reaction when he’d told her that he was interviewing to be pastor in a small town near the Lehigh Canal in Pennsylvania.
    â€œWhy can’t you wait until a church opens here in Buffalo?” she had questioned. “Why would you want to minister to a bunch of country folks?”
    â€œDon’t you think I’ll be a good enough preacher to shepherd the flock?” William had asked.
    â€œThat’s not what I meant at all,” she had said in a defensive tone.
    â€œWhat your mother is trying to say is that a small church in the middle of nowhere won’t be able to pay you much because there won’t be enough people,” his father had interjected, giving his goatee a couple of quick pulls.
    William gripped the reins tighter. “I shouldn’t have expected them to understand. All Mother cares about is her socialite friends, and all Father worries about is his money.”
    He drew in a quick breath and blew it out with a huff. “It would have been nice if one of them had been supportive about me going to Walnutport for this interview.”
    William rounded a bend and spotted a store near the canal, so he decided to stop and get himself something cold to drink. It wouldn’t do for the prospective pastor to show up in Walnutport hot, sweaty, and feeling as out of sorts as a dog with a tick on his backside. Maybe a bottle of sarsaparilla was what he needed.
    ***
    â€œIt’s so nice to see you again,” Kelly Cooper said, as she wrote up Betsy’s purchases. “It’s a shame you had to come home under such gloomy conditions though.”
    Betsy lifted her shoulders and let them drop with a sigh. There was no point giving in to her emotions, for it wouldn’t change a thing.
    â€œIf there’s anything we can do to help, be sure to let us know,” Kelly’s husband, Mike, offered as he joined his wife behind the counter.
    â€œI appreciate that.” Betsy hoped her smile didn’t appear forced. She appreciated their concern, but it was hard to think about Papa leaving the ministry, much less to see the pity on Mike’s face when he offered support. “What Papa and I need most is your prayers.”
    â€œYou’ve sure got those,” Kelly said.
    Mike nodded his agreement.
    â€œIf you hear of anywhere we can move once we’re ousted from the parsonage, be sure to let us know.”
    â€œI’ll keep my eyes and ears opened—you can be sure of that,” Mike said.
    â€œThanks.” Betsy was pleased she had developed a pleasant relationship with the Coopers over the years in spite of the way she’d behaved before Mike and Kelly had gotten married. I’ll never throw myself at another man the way I did at Mike, she determined. It would be better to remain an old maid for the rest of my life than to embarrass myself like that.
    She glanced around the room. “Where are your two little ones, Kelly?”
    â€œThey’re over at my sister Sarah’s, playing with her kids.”
    The bell above the front door jingled, and Betsy turned her head. A young man with neatly combed, chestnut-colored hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen stepped into the store. He wore a dark brown suit and a pair of leather shoes that looked as out of place in Cooper’s General Store as a fish trying to make his home on dry land.
    â€œCan I