Tags:
Fiction,
General,
Romance,
Historical,
Western,
Love Stories,
Texas,
Christian fiction,
Religious,
Christian,
INSPIRATIONAL ROMANCE
his
father, who made it the greatest outing of the entire
summer.
"I'm sorry about this gravy," Liberty apologized as she
returned with the dark blue gravy boat and set it on the
table. "I'm going to start parroting you, Mam, about my
head falling off."
"Did you help Griff today?" Zach suddenly asked.
"Yes, I did. I was there for a few hours."
"Did you put someone in jail?" This came from Laura,
and Liberty nodded.
"Did you need your gun?"
Every Little Thing About You 19
"Yes. The man waited a little too long to do as I asked,
and I couldn't take any chances."
"Is Griff with him now?"
Again Liberty nodded. "That was the plan."
Kate was thankful that the subject was dropped after
28
that. They finished the meal on another topic, and she
wasn't forced to keep her feelings hidden. Thoughts of Liberty
helping Griffin played in her mind the entire evening,
but she prayed and worked to give her two oldest children
to the Lord. It was a huge relief, however, when it was time
for her younger children to go to bed. She kissed Liberty
goodnight and finally gained the privacy of her bedroom.
Duffy wasn't far behind her. He found his wife sitting on
the edge of the bed, facing away from the door. Duffy
slipped his shoes off and climbed onto the mattress. With
gentle fingers he unbuttoned the back of her dress and then
softly kissed her neck.
"Are you all right?"
"I think so," Kate answered honestly as she slipped
from her cotton dress and sat back down in her petticoat
and chemise, turning a little so she could look at her husband.
"She's so calm, Duffy."
"She has to be, Kate. You don't want her carrying her
emotions on her sleeve when she has to pull that gun."
Kate's breath caught in her throat, and Duffy pulled her
29
into his arms and held her close. Kate clung to him. She
didn't want to cry, but she felt a desperate need to be held.
Duffy was only too happy to oblige.
He hadn't seen her coming. He hadn't known she was
going to walk into his life when she did. They had known
each other for years, lived in the same town, and gone to
the same church, but he hadn't noticed her until almost a
year after Thomas Drake died. Kate had been teaching
school in those days--the town's sheriff had not been able
to leave a huge legacy behind--and still trying to do her job
as a mother to Griffin and Liberty, the only two of her five
children to make it past infancy. Then she had taken ill.
20 lori wick
Duffy would never forget Liberty's pale face as she came to
his office.
"Mam is sick/' the slim 12-year-old had said.
"Who is sick?" Duffy questioned her.
"Mam. She's hot and quiet."
Duffy had finally figured out that Liberty was referring
30
to her mother. He had hung a sign on his door and followed
her home. And Kate had been sick--very sick. Duffy
still remembered asking God if He would take the children's
mother as well as their father.
Some days passed before he felt she was out of the
woods, and even then she wasn't back in the schoolhouse
for more than two weeks. And that first day when school
dismissed, Duffy was there. He used her health as an
excuse for a long time but eventually gained the courage to
ask if he could court her. He thought his heart would burst
when she said yes.
"I was married to Thomas and had two babies by the
time I was Libby's age," Kate said suddenly; Liberty was
not long past her twenty-first birthday. "I don't want Libby
to marry for anything but love, Duffy, but I find myself
wishing she would show more interest in some of the
young men who like her."
"Kate," Duffy said seriously, waiting for her to look at
him, "you're trying to change circumstances that are out of
your control rather than serving God in the midst of them.
31
And you're worrying."
Kate looked up into his wonderful face. Older than she
was by ten years, he'd never planned to marry. But he had
suddenly found himself in love with her, and in time, Kate
had loved him