Jessie (Big Sky Dreams 3) Read online

  57

  TRACE HOLDEN WATCHED HISvery expectant wife, Cassidy, push food around her plate but didn’t say anything just then. She had made it to church that morning, but he could tell she wasn’t comfortable. Joey, who was two months past his second birthday, was growing sleepy. As soon as he was down for his nap, all Trace’s attention would go to his wife. A small gasp of surprise left Cassidy just then, and Trace made a swift decision.

  “I’m going to run him next door for his nap.”

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Cassidy said.

  “Is it going to be today?” Trace asked, remembering how attuned she’d been to when Joey would be born.

  Cassidy could only nod, and Trace cleaned Joey up enough to get him to Brad and Meg’s. He knew his brother and sister-in-law’s own two children, Savannah and Cathryn, would also be going down for naps and thought this might be the best opportunity. Not even remembering to have Joey say goodbye to Cassidy, he moved swiftly for the door.

  “You were quiet during dinner,” Rylan said to Bri after Danny was

  58down for his nap. Bri was settled in the living room, working to mend a small pair of pants for Danny. Rylan had sat down next to her on the sofa.

  “I’m just thinking.”

  “Do you want to tell me?”

  Bri looked at the man she married, still amazed by the way he thought. His God was so big, and sometimes she knew she shrank God to her size.

  “I needed to hear what you said today,” she finally admitted. “What exactly?”

  “The part about the way I see God and the light He gives me. I need to shrink. I have too big an opinion of myself.”

  Rylan didn’t witness this in her very often, but he trusted her to know her own heart.

  “Sometimes life is too easy, Ry,” Bri went on. “When I was alone here in Token Creek, knowing hardly anyone and not sure each month if the money would last, I trusted God more. You take such good care of Danny and me that I tend to put my faith in the wrong place.”

  “It’s a good problem, isn’t it?”

  Bri had to smile. It was just the type of thing he would say. “Do you think you’re expecting?” Rylan suddenly asked. “What made you ask that?”

  “I just remember with Danny you craved salt, and during dinner you added salt to everything but dessert.”

  “Did I?” Bri asked, her brow furrowed as she tried to think. It didn’t take long for her to realize he was probably right and she’d been too busy to notice.

  Rylan had to smile. She was concentrating on remembering, and he thought she looked adorable.

  “Am I being laughed at?” Bri asked, having caught the look.

  “Are you pregnant?” he asked, still smiling at her with a good deal of humor in his eyes.

  “I don’t know,” Bri replied, deciding to tease him. “I might not tell someone who laughs at me.”

  59”Would you tell someone who kisses you?”

  “I might,” Bri answered slowly, a smile stretching her mouth. Rylan did kiss her but spoke again before she could say anything. “What do you want, another boy or a girl?”

  “I don’t care, as long as the baby is healthy.”

  “What if the baby isn’t healthy? Did God make a mistake?”

  Bri’s mouth opened in surprise. It was true. It didn’t matter. Whomever God sent they would love and treasure.

  “Oh, Ry,” Bri said, setting the sewing aside and cuddling close to him. “I love you.”

  “Don’t misunderstand me, Sabrina,” Rylan said, his arms holding her close. “It would be very hard to watch our child struggle with some physical affliction, but just like you had to learn to trust God for everything when you came to Token Creek, we would learn to trust God for the baby’s needs as well as our own.”

  Bri put her arms around her husband and held him right back. She was challenged and encouraged by his words, and she knew what he said was exactly right. She also suspected he was right about her expecting another child and how wonderful that news would be to share.

  When they both relaxed enough to doze off, neither one could say, but Danny was suddenly awake, sounds coming from his crib. Rylan went to get him, and Bri started on the hot dish she needed for that night. They were having dinner with Chas Vick, one of the church elders, and his family, and she was taking a dish to share. She would have to ask Rylan if they would be sharing their news as well.

  Cassidy watched Trace and Joey leave and then tried to summon the energy to do something about the dishes. Sheknew it wasn’t important, but she enjoyed cleaning and thought it might relax her. She was wrong. She hadn’t even had a chance to heat water for the washing when a pain hit. Cassidy held on to the edge of the dining room table and tried to breathe.

  60Well, now,she said to the Lord,I think it’s going to be today. Every time I think of how long Joey took to arrive, I dread this. Please, Lord, help me to see this as a blessing. Help me not to count the hours until I’m comfortable but to rest in You.

  Cassidy was still praying when the pain eased and she made her way to the living room. She knew Trace would help her upstairs when he returned and for the moment let herself be lazy.

  “Cassidy?” Trace suddenly called, having gone to the bottom of the stairs on his return.

  “Over here,” she said on a laugh. “I don’t know how I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “Why are you in here?” Trace asked, sitting on the edge of the sofa.

  “Because I’m being lazy and want you to carry me upstairs.”

  “I can’t lift you when you’re this big,” Trace said, and laughter burst out of Cassidy. It was such an outrageous thing for him to say and completely unexpected. “And besides,” he added, eyes twinkling, “you haven’t done the dishes.”

  “I was working on them when I had a contraction.”

  “How long ago?”

  “I don’t know,” Cassidy said, looking drowsy and content, something that didn’t last for more than ten minutes. She didn’t end up going directly upstairs as the pains were slow in coming, but Cassidy was right: This was the day. A baby girl was born just before midnight.

  Jeanette Fulbright’s buggy headed out of Token Creek and to the Holden Ranch first thing Monday morning. She had received word the day before that Cassidy was in labor, and when no word came before bedtime about a birth, she headed that way in the morning.

  It was cold out, but the wind was calm and that made a difference. Not until she pulled under the wooden archway that said Holden Ranch did Jeanette realize she would be glad to get indoors. Swinging past

  61Brad and Meg’s house, Jeanette stopped in front of Trace and Cassidy’s, pleased when her nephew came right out.

  “A girl!” he said, his face beaming.

  “Oh, Trace!” Jeanette cried, the two hugging before Trace could even give her a hand down. “How is Cass?”

  “Doing great. Settled in the living room under a pile of blankets.” “Already out of bed?” Jeanette asked, looking concerned as the two headed inside.

  “She feels good, and I carried her down.”

  “What does Joey think?”

  “You’ll have to see for yourself”

  Jeanette headed into the living room to find Cassidy on the sofa, her legs on a hassock. Beside herandholding his sister was Joey. Trace followed Jeanette inside, and before she could even greet the family, Cassidy spoke. “Come in and meet Jeanette Theta Holden,” she invited.

  For several long minutes Jeanette could not speak. She came near to the sofa, her eyes on Cassidy’s lovely face, before swinging to Joey and the baby. Even then she couldn’t find words.

  “Joey, can you tell Grandma what we’re going to call the baby?” Cassidy invited, using the name they had decided the children would call Trace’s aunt.

  “Netty,” the little boy said.

  Jeanette put her arms around Cassidy and simply held her. Cassidy hugged her back, giving her time to collect herself.

  “She crying?
” Joey suddenly asked.

  “Yes,” Trace said, taking this question, “but she’s not sad. She’s just happy and excited about the baby.”

  Trace knew that Joey had no idea what that meant, but in time he would learn. He didn’t question his father again, but Trace could see he was growing a bit restless. Jeanette was just containing herself when Trace tucked the baby into the crook of one arm.

  “Sit here, Jeanette.” Trace invited her to take the spot Joey had just vacated. “Someone is waiting to meet you.”

  Jeanette could not stop smiling as she held the newest family member

  62in her arms. Tiny and adorable, with dark hair and brows, Netty Holden had a rosebud mouth and a round face. Her face was a little red in places, but everyone knew that would fade.

  “Netty,” her mother spoke softly, “are you going to wake up and meet Grandma Jeanette?”

  Everyone smiled when she made absolutely no move of any kind. Jeanette watched her for a moment more and then began to talk to Trace and Cassidy.

  “So how was it?”

  “Long,” Trace said, his voice dry. “I thought the second time around went faster.”

  “I tried to tell him that wasn’t always the case,” Cassidy put in.

  “It has been with Meg,” Trace said, “and she didn’t spend much

  time with Savanna or Cathryn. Brad will be afraid to leave her alone

  for the next one,” Trace said.

  “Have they been here?” Jeanette asked.

  “Just before you came.”

  Joey climbed back onto the sofa then, standing in stocking feet next to Jeanette. He had a toy to show to Jeanette, and she was careful to give him her full attention.

  Netty never did wake up, but Jeanette stayed for a longtime, enjoying each child._ She still missed her sister, the real grandmother to these children. But not a day went by that if Theta Holden had to be gone, Jeanette didn’t thank God that He’d left her in her place.

  “Is Grandma coming?” three-and-a-half-year-old Savanna asked her mother when Jeanette’s carriage could still be seen at the other house.

  “I’m sure she’ll stop in,” Meg said, cleaning two-year-old Cathryn’s hands and face. She had just given them a late breakfast and was working on the dishes. Brad had already headed to the barn and quite possibly out to the range.

  “When will we see Netty more?”

  63”Maybe this afternoon. I think Joey might come here for his nap again, and then we can see Netty when we take him home.”

  Savanna went back to the wooden horses she was playing with, and Meg kept an eye on Cathryn to see where she would end up. The toddler’s attention was suddenly taken with the butter churn in the corner, and Meg knew that would keep Cathryn busy for a time.

  Meg took full advantage, even going so far as to work on dinner and make plans for supper. If Jeanette was coming this morning and Joey this afternoon, she had plenty to get done in the meantime.

  “Tell me everything,” Heather, who lived with Jeanette, invited as soon as Jeanette arrived home.

  “A girl! And wait until you hear the name: Jeanette Theta. They’ll call her Netty.”

  Heather looked as pleased as she felt. She was the woman Jeanette had hired more than ten years ago to see to Brad and Trace’s mother. She had even written a book about Theta Holden after she died. So far no one had wanted to publish it, but since it was also a book about the things she learned from caring for Theta and the way she’d grown in her trust of God, it didn’t bother her. Just writing it had made for a time of healing, and that was all that mattered to Heather.

  “What did I miss?” Becky asked, coming from the kitchen. She had been cooking and taking care of the house for Jeanette for more years than anyone could remember.

  “A girl!” Heather said. “Jeanette Theta.”

  Tears filled Becky’s eyes, and that started the other women. Whenever Becky cried it made them all cry as tears were a rather new thing for the cook. Just a few years earlier, Bri Jarvik had come into their lives when she was still Bri Matthews. Her new faith in Christ and love for all had touched Becky in a way she’d never known before. After years of watching Jeanette and Heather go off to church, she suddenly wanted to join them. The change had gone all the way to

  64her heart. For the first time Becky admitted her need for a Savior and repented to God.

  “Is Cassie all right?” Becky finally managed.

  “Yes. She’s already downstairs, comfortable in the living room. And you won’t believe how close I came to forgetting the food!” Jeanette remembered. “Trace came out to meet me when I got there, and then I was seeing the baby, and then I went over to Brad and Meg’s, and I came within an inch of bringing it all back home.”

  Heather and Becky laughed at her expression before Becky said that dinner was almost on. Over the meal Jeanette told the women each and every detail, not just about the baby but about Joey and about Brad’s girls too. By the time she was finished, they felt almost as if they’d visited the ranch with her.

  Bri was at the mercantile first thing Tuesday morning, Danny in tow. Jessie was in the rear but called a greeting. As soon as she heard Bri’s voice, she came to the front.

  “Hi, Danny,” Jessie greeted, wasting no time in taking the baby from his mother. “How are you?” she asked fondly, kissing his round cheek as she removed his hat. “Hi, Bri,” Jessie finally remembered to add, and that woman laughed.

  “You become invisible when you bring a baby into the room,” Bri said dryly. “Have you ever noticed that?”

  “Try being Clancy’s mother. That child draws attention like flies.” “She’s a charmer,” Bri agreed.

  “Big list today?”

  “Not bad, but I’m out of a few things.”

  “Do you want help?” Jessie offered. Bri had worked for her in the past and knew her way around the store.

  “Not if you want to keep holding Danny.”

  Jessie only smiled, and Bri got busy. She stacked things on the front counter where Jessie kept a list going, and then put them in her bag.

  65”Do you miss the girls when they’re at school?” Bri asked on one trip to the register.

  “By the end of the day, yes. It’s nice to have the morning to get things cleaned up and organized with no interruptions, but by afternoon I can’t wait to see them.”

  “Summer will be here before we have a chance to blink.”

  “That’s certain. We’ll change from cries of ‘too cold’ to ‘too hot!” “It’s always hard to imagine too hot on a day like this,” Bri added,

  heading back down the aisles.

  “The girls are going to be sorry they missed you,” Jessie said to Danny as he tried to put a box of yeast cakes into his mouth.

  “Come for supper,” Bri invited, still gathering items.

  “I just put a pot of soup on. Why don’t you three come here?”

  “All right,” Bri said, arriving back with her last item. “What time, and what shall I bring?”

  The women put the details together for the night before Bri paid and gathered her son and bag. Much too soon it was time to head back out into the cold.

  Before Cassidy married Trace, she had opened a small business in town, Token Creek Apparel. For a time she ran it on her own, but then Jeanette Fulbright came to work for her. Token Creek supported the business well, and when Cassidy got married, Jeanette purchased it from her and took over, opening the shop door to the public four days a week. Heather worked with her now, and on Wednesday morning when the shop opened, both women were busy inside.

  They were working on several orders at the moment, but they weren’t swamped. Cold weather, they had learned, was not the most conducive to business, but they were busy enough. This is the way Rylan found them when he stopped in on his way to the livery.

  “Good morning, ladies.”

  66”Good morning, Rylan. Come in and warm up a bit,” Jeanette invited. She was nearest the stove, and Heather was at th
e sewing machine.

  “Thank you, I will. I’ve got to get to the livery pretty soon, but I thought I’d stop and see how you’re doing.”

  Rylan heard all about Netty’s birth, well and truly pleased that Cassidy was doing fine and that Joey had a baby sister.

  “Pastor Rylan,” Heather suddenly asked, “do you have news of your own?”

  Rylan smiled at her, not sure how she knew but very glad she did. These women were very dear to him, and it seemed most fitting that they would know as soon as he could tell them.

  “As a matter of fact, I do. It’s early yet-we’ve only told the Vicksbut Sabrina is expecting.”

  The women were as thrilled about this news as they were about Trace and Cassidy’s. Both of them hugged Rylan and nearly made him late for work with their questions. He hadn’t been gone ten minutes when Jeanette realized she wanted to see Bri. Heather urged her to go, and it was for this reason that Nate arrived at the shop and found Heather on her own.

  “Hello,” Heather greeted with a smile. “You just missed Jeanette.” “Actually, I thought I saw Rylan over this way”

  “You just missed him too,” Heather said, laughing a little.

  Nate smiled at her laughter and wondered at the fact that every time he saw Heather Wales, he wanted to find reasons not to end the conversation too swiftly.

  “Do you have many orders?” Nate asked, trying not to stare at her hair or eyes, both of which he found very nice.

  “Just enough,” Heather said. “We expect two to be picked up today-those are done-and then three items were ordered on Friday and Saturday. I’m working on those now.”

  “Did you make this shirt?” Nate asked, having forced himself not to stare and spotting a man’s shirt hanging on a hook.

  “I’m not sure. Jeanette might have done that one.”

  “How do you divide up the work?”

  67”I just do what Jeanette tells me.”

  Nate could not stop his smile, his eyes filling with amusement. “What did I say?” Heather asked, unable to miss how much he wanted to laugh.