Faith (30 page)

As the driver and guard climbed atop the stagecoach,
Faith blinked back tears.

An old woman entered the coach and took the seat opposite Faith. "There, there, dear. Don't cry," she comforted,
bending forward to pat Faith's hand. "Why, you'll be back
before you know it!"

Faith burst into tears.

"Oh, gracious me." The white-haired woman looked
startled. "I hope I haven't said anything to upset you.,,

Shaking her head, Faith sobbed uncontrollably. "It's
just-that-I'll never be coming back."

"Dear child, one mustn't ever say never." She smiled
angelically, a sparkle in her warm brown eyes. "We never
know what the Lord has in store for us. Why, our next
miracle could be waiting just around the bend. Yes, just
around the bend."

"The only thing waiting around the bend for me is
Michigan," Faith sniffled. "And Edsellllll Martinnnnnnn!"
She leaned over, sobbing harder as the stage lurched and
wheels started to roll.

Suddenly a buckboard wheeled wildly down the road.
A familiar voice shouted, "Stop that stage!" Faith jerked
upright in her seat. What was that?

Jeremiah looked up, then whirled and shouted. "Driver!
Hold that stage!"

The driver tightened back on the reins, bringing the
four-horse team to a halt. "Somebody better have a mighty
good reason! We got a schedule to keep!"

Jeremiah grinned, looking in Faith's direction. She could
barely hear his words. "Well, thank you, Lord. I was beginning to wonder if you were listening."

Nicholas sprang from the buckboard, followed by Liza.
Running toward the stage, his legs covered the ground with
long, powerful strides.

The stagecoach jerked forward as the horses threatened to
bolt. "Driver, wait!" Nicholas shouted.

"I ain't goin' nowhere. You're spookin' the team!"

Bounding aboard the stage, Nicholas jerked open the
door. Faith was face-to-face with him. For a moment
nobody spoke.

"Faith, you can't leave."

"Why not?" she sniffled.

"Because ... I'm in love with you. I ... I want us to start
over.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he laid his hand
across her mouth. "I'm a thickheaded, opinionated man.
Sometimes I say too much; other times I don't say enough,
and rarely do I get out what I actually mean. My pride has
cost me something very rare and precious. I surrendered
that pride to God this morning, Faith, asking him to free
me of that burden. I love you, Faith. I thought I could
marry you and Mama would have someone to keep her
company, but instead I fell in love with you. I hope-no, I
have prayed, all night, that you will someday feel the same
about me."

Their eyes met and held for what seemed like an eternity.

"I take heart that you're leaving town," he admitted.

"Pardon me?"

"You're leaving town; that means you really can't be in
love with Dan."

"No ... I don't love Dan," she conceded, glancing at the
Walters family happily gathered around the stylish young
woman. "I've told you that before, Nicholas. Dan is not the
issue.

"Then could you ever love me?" Nicholas inquired softly.

Pride, the same that had affected Nicholas, made her want
to say no, but her eyes-and her heart-gave her away.
Lowering her eyes, she whispered, "Yes, I just don't like
you very much sometimes."

Nicholas's features turned as solemn as a hanging judge's.
"I can safely promise that I will spend the rest of my life
working on that."

The old woman leaned forward and whispered under her
breath, "See, dear? Always a miracle waitin' just around the
bend."

Faith's eyes steeled as she recalled the torturous weeks
Nicholas had put her through. "How do I know you're not
doing this out of obligation?" Nicholas was foremost an
honorable man.

"You don't. You just have to trust me on this one." He
looked so needy, so repentant. How could she do anything
but trust him?

"Will you marry me?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Right now?"

"Now?"

"The sooner the better! I love you! And I've already
checked. Reverend Hicks is in town today, and he is standing by for a wedding tomorrow." He threw his head back
and laughed. His mood was infectious. Faith found herself
laughing with him. In the years to come, she planned to
make him laugh more often. A lot more often.

His laughter gradually receded, and he reached for her
hand. Love shown brightly in his eyes. "Tomorrow, we will be married, regardless of birthing cows, raging fires, needy
mothers, cattle drives-this time in a church ceremony,
dressed in our finest, with the whole town looking on."

Faith's eyes glowed with wonder. Ceremony. Now that
was so much nicer than "recital of vows."

She rested her fingers lightly against his cheek and silently
thanked the Lord for this hour. Her faith had seen her
through. She had prayed for faith that she and Nicholas
would be married, and sure enough, God was listening. It
finally made sense now why she'd always felt that God
meant her to marry Nicholas. She'd prayed for the faith to
believe that, but as circumstances had changed, she'd lost
that faith and had begun to believe she had been mistaken
all along. But now, at the last hour, God was giving her her
heart's desire after all.

"Yes, my darling.... Tomorrow I will marry you." It
wouldn't be in her finest, and they'd have a lot of inviting
to do if the whole town was to be there-but, yes! she most
certainly would marry him.

"All in God's plan," the old woman sitting across from
her observed.

Faith took a closer look at the old woman. Her silvery
white hair framed her angelic face like a halo. Faith remembered passages from the Bible about how the Lord sometimes sends special messengers.

Faith asked softly, "Are you an angel?"

"An angel? Me? Mercy no, child. I sell eggs. I have a
chicken ranch just outside San Antonio." She leaned forward, a merry twinkle in her eye. "I'm Bessie Lewis, Carl Lewis's sister. Been visiting my brother, and we sure have
been praying hard for you young people." She winked.
"Where one or more are gathered to pray?"

"Oh, thank you-but please, you can't leave now."

"She's right. You have a wedding to attend," Nicholas
said.

The old woman beamed. "Why, I reckon I can stay
around a spell longer. It would do my heart proud to see
you young'uns finally tie the knot."

Nicholas helped Bessie out of the coach. Carl Lewis and
his wife were there with welcoming smiles. They expressed
brief congratulations, then escorted Bessie back to their
wagon.

Nicholas gently lifted Faith from the stage, momentarily
holding her in midair as he kissed her.

"Why, Mr. Shepherd!" Faith accused breathlessly as their
lips parted.

"Nick, to you, Miss Kallahan." He kissed her again.

"Oh, yes-Nick," she murmured against his mouth.
"That sounds so much better." Faith's senses were reeling.
So this was what love felt like. Thank you, wonderful, merciful
God!

The roar of applause from the crowd quickly brought her
back to earth. Her face flushed bright red. She'd been so in
love with Nicholas, so swept away, knowing he loved her
right back, that she'd forgotten they were standing in the
middle of town. And kissing, of all things.

Nicholas turned to the waiting crowd. "My friends! I'm
getting married! And you're all invited!"

"It's about time!" Dan shouted, hand in hand with his
mail-order bride.

Dan's pleasant features sobered as he pulled Faith aside.
For a long moment he just looked at her. "Nicholas has
held your heart from the beginning. I knew that-everyone
can see it." His unspoken words were clear to Faith. "I
needed to move on, to find a woman I could love-one
who could love me back."

Faith smiled. "I understand, Dan. I hope you will be
wonderfully happy!" She hugged him tightly. Then she
turned back to Nicholas and hooked her arm in his.

Everyone, young and old, shouted in ear-piercing unison,
"It's about time!"

Faith gazed up at Nicholas. "Did you hear that, Mr.
Shepherd?"

"I heard." His eyes openly adored her. "But they're
mistaken."

"Mistaken?" She frowned.

"It's past time." He kissed her again, long and hard. It
really mattered not that she would be married in her
second-best dress.

The embrace ended, and Faith slipped her arm through
his. She felt as if she were walking on clouds as they strolled
to the buckboard. So love must be the secret to walking in
pointy shoes, she mused, realizing her feet didn't hurt at all.

Liza sat in the wagon, smiling. As Nicholas helped Faith
aboard, Liza quickly scooted to one end of the bench. She
had been strangely quiet during all the activity, but Faith
realized the sparkle in her eyes looked downright cagey.

Liza patted the bench beside her. "Hello, dear. I believe
your place is here, beside Nicholas."

Faith smiled, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Thank
you, Liza."

"No." Liza's features softened. "Thank you, Faith.
You've made my son very happy."

Everything was happening so quickly that Faith wasn't
sure if she was dreaming. But if by chance she was, she
hoped she'd never wake up.

"And, Nicholas, I want to thank you for bringing Faith
into the Shepherd family. You've made me very happy.
Your father would have been proud of your choice of a
bride."

"Thank you, Mama. For the first time in years, I agree
with you." Nicholas glanced at Liza, smiling. "And whatever's in that brown bottle you've been sipping out of, I
think it's helping." He clicked to the horse, and it trotted
off.

Faith gasped. "You knew all along about her drinking?"
she tried to whisper to Nicholas.

A hearty laugh from Liza caused another gasp. Was the
woman mad?

"Oh, my dear, dear girl. That was medicine in the bottle.
Doc told me it would help my ... my-" she turned bright
red, then took a deep breath-"Doc explained that my
actions were not only a result of my grief when I became a
widow. My age had a lot to do with my emotions. It really
is part of God's plan."

"But why did you hide it?"

"That was before I saw Doc. I wasn't taking enough of
Pinkham's Tonic to help me ... and I didn't believe medicine would help. I know now I was foolish. And I caused a
great deal of grief by being so bullheaded. The Lord and I
have had a good long talk, and I've turned all my hurts, all
my sorrows over to him. Should have done that all along."

Faith's arms tightened through Nicholas's as the wagon
rolled along. He refused to let her go now that they had
found each other.

Liza reached over and patted Faith's hand. "I know I've
said it before, but it bears repeating. From the moment you
arrived in Deliverance, I have made life difficult for you.
I've whined, complained, and been a downright-"

"Mama!" Nicholas cautioned.

"Pain," she finished. "I didn't consciously set out to be
so difficult, and I'm not sure I've fully explained why I've
acted this way. We'll save that for tea and cookies. I only
know I'm sorry for all I've put you through. I pray you
can find it in your heart to forgive me."

Liza's words touched Faith's heart even more deeply than
those spoken in confidence at the Founder's Day picnic.
Her heart swelled with love. She knew that from this day
forward they would share a solid relationship, based on
respect. After all, they loved the same man.

Who said mother and daughter-in-law couldn't be
friends?

"Mother Shepherd, you are forgiven, and all is forgotten."
Faith gently squeezed Liza's hand. "As long as you remem her your place." She flashed an impish grin. "And that's
right here, beside Nicholas and me."

Liza shook her head with wonderment. "Thank you,
Faith. I'll try to be a good mother-in-law. When my
grandbabies come along-"

Nicholas glanced over. "Whoa! Is there a conspiracy
going on I should know about? Did you say grandbabies?"

Liza's eyes lit up. Faith could see that Mother Shepherd
liked the thought of grandchildren as opposed to grandchild. "Yes. Grandchildren!"

Faith chimed in. "At least one boy and one girl. Or
maybe two of each. And kittens, lots and lots of kittens!"

They all laughed. This time as Faith rattled on about cats
and babies she could tell the Shepherds loved the sound of
the warmth and laughter. Faith's eyes fell on a familiar
wagon ahead.

Jeremiah, who was watching from his buckboard, waved
as the Shepherds' wagon approached. His gaze focused on
Liza, and Faith could have sworn she saw Mother Shepherd
blush.

Liza quickly averted her head and pinched both of her
cheeks, hard. "Ouch." She muttered under her breath,
"Now I remember why I stopped doing that."

Faith grinned. "Mother Shepherd!"

Liza winked. "At my age, a woman needs all the help she
can get."

Faith noticed that the usually taut braids strapped tightly
across Liza's head were now styled into a loose French
braid. A few wisps of hair softly framed her face.

"Mother Shepherd, you look absolutely-stunning!"

A natural blush colored Liza's face. "Thank you, dear. A
certain wise young woman once told me, `You're only as
old as you feel!"' Liza grinned. "And right now, I feel about
as young as a body can-for my age."

She turned and waved at Jeremiah as the wagon flew past.

His hand shot up, returning the greeting.

Faith suddenly stood up in the wagon floor, shouting over
her shoulder. "Hey, Jeremiah! I'm not leaving after all!
Sorry to have troubled you! I'm getting married!" She made
pointy jabs with the tip of her finger at Nicholas. "To Mr.
Shepherd!" she silently mouthed, almost losing her footing
as the buckboard whipped around a sharp bend in the road.