A Heart Renewed (45 page)

Will hesitated as he put the branding iron back in the fire.  All morning he had an uneasy feeling.  When Hannah agreed to rest this morning after breakfast, he grew more concerned.  It was the first time she hadn’t argued with him.  Her quietness when she woke this morning made him wonder if something wrong with the baby.  Did she sense it?

He looked toward the ranch house, although the view was somewhat obscured by the trees surrounding part of the lake.  Rosa was hanging laundry on the line, but Hannah was not with her.  Maybe she really was resting.

A woman’s scream pierced the air.  Will looked at Adam who was standing next to him.  He heard the noise too.  Taking off on foot, Will sprinted the distance to the ranch house as another scream echoed through the air, Adam following closely behind.  His heart lodged in his throat as he covered the distance quickly.

“Hannah!” he yelled as he burst through the door.

There was a man he had never seen before standing there, but not anywhere close to his wife.  Hannah doubled over on a chair clutching her stomach in pain.  Oh, God, no.  Not the baby.

“Will, the ba…” she managed before being hit with another pain.  She was going into labor.

Will gathered his wife into his arms frightened for both her and the baby. 
Lord please!

“Adam!” he yelled as he deposited her on the bed.  “Saddle a horse and ride for the doctor!”

The stranger replied, before Adam could, “I’ll go.”

Will caught his arm.  “Who are you?”

“Thomas Anderson.  Drew’s brother.”

Will frowned.  “The bank robber.”

The man looked down.  “I see Hannah has told you about me.  I was here seeking forgiveness for the pain I have caused her.  Please, let me ride for the doctor.  I work at the La Paz Express and have one of our fastest horses.”

Will was hesitant to trust him, given what Hannah told him, but he knew it would take Adam several minutes to saddle a horse.  “Go.”

Thomas ran out of the building and almost instantly Will heard hoof beats thundering up the road.

Will looked at the gathering crowd.  Adam and Ben, as well as several other cowboys had followed him to the house.  “Adam, can you ride for Julia?  We’re going to need her help.”

As Adam ran from the house, Will returned to Hannah’s side.  The pains kept coming.  He prayed the doctor would hurry.

Saddling a horse, Adam mounted the gray gelding.  Pressing for a hard gallop, he made his way to town to fetch Julia.  His stomach lurched and flopped with the horse’s fast pace—not because of his mission.  He was nervous about seeing her again.  Considering they hadn’t spoken since the kiss, he had no idea what her reaction might be.

That kiss.  He thought of it and that day often, replaying his role a hundred times.  He should have done things so differently.  He should have held back.  He should not have asked her to be his wife.  Not yet.  Especially in light of what she told him.

Ducking to avoid a low hanging branch, he prayed for Hannah, for the baby, for Will.  And for Julia.  About a mile before he reached town he saw Thomas and the doctor riding back towards the ranch.  They would have help soon.

Reining in his horse in front of the Juniper House, he still felt unprepared to see Julia again.  No matter.  It was Will calling her home, so he hoped she would not raise any objections.  When he opened the lobby doors and saw her, a lump formed in his throat.  When she looked up and her smile faded, that lump became a boulder.

Clearing his throat, he said, “Will needs you to come home.  It’s Hannah.”

Fear clouded her eyes.  “What’s wrong with her?”

“The baby.  We think it is coming.”

“But, it’s too soon.  She’s only seven and a half months,” Julia said.

“We need to go,” he said impatiently, wanting to tell her he still loved her, but knowing now was not the time.

Finally, she moved into action.  “Let me get my things.”

Two minutes later, she wished Mr. Hamilton farewell and handed her carpet bag to Adam. 

As they stood before the one and only horse he saddled, he counted himself a fool again.  He hadn’t thought far enough ahead to saddle a second horse for Julia.  He climbed up then reached down to help her up behind him.  As soon as her hand brushed his, fire shot through his arm.  He handed her carpet bag back, asking her to loop her arm through it then around his waist.  Once she was settled, he clucked the horse into motion.

The ride back, while short, seemed to stretch on for Adam.  He was very aware of her body pressed against his.  At first her grip around his torso had been light, but as soon as the horse got up to full speed, she leaned into him and kept a firm hold.  Is this what it would be like when she was his wife?

He mentally kicked himself.  She would not be his wife.  She had made that abundantly clear the day she left him standing there in the forest.  The day he wished he could change.

When he pulled the horse to a stop in front of the ranch house, Julia did not even wait for him to help her down.  She dropped the carpet bag on the porch and ran inside, leaving him to miss her nearness.

Julia, shaking from Adam’s nearness, hoped others would think it nerves.  He smelled awful—like he’d been working the branding pit.  But, she was so desperate to see him, to be near to him again that she didn’t let it bother her.

Pushing those painful thoughts aside, she stopped short when Hannah screamed.  It was a howling wail, different from the normal sounds of child birthing.  Julia knocked on the door before entering.

Hannah was writhing in the bed, still in her dress.  The doctor kneeled over her on one side trying to get her to lie still so he could examine her, while a frantic Will stood on the other side.  The express rider, Thomas Anderson, hung back near the door.  Confused by his presence, she coaxed him from the room, thinking she would find out more later.  Right now Hannah needed her.

“Can I help?” Julia asked.

“Miss Colter,” Dr. Armstrong said, his relief obvious.  “Would you be able to help Mrs. Colter into a nightdress?  It would make the examination easier.”

“It’s too soon,” Hannah cried, her fear evident.  “I can’t lose the baby.  I can’t!”

Julia nodded to the doctor and shooed him and Will from the room.  She whispered words of comfort to Hannah between the pains as she slipped the loose nightdress over her head.  Helping her lie back down, she paused and said a quick prayer.

“Lord, please help Hannah to calm down.  Fill her with your peace.  Let her know your hand is on this baby.”

“Th-thank you.”  Hannah sniffed.

Julia let the doctor and Will back in the room.  Will took a seat on the side of the bed, intertwining his fingers with his wife’s.  The tender action prompted a longing in Julia’s heart.  Would Adam react in such a way?

Dr. Armstrong instructed Hannah to take several deep breaths and release them slowly.  She did as he asked.  When he listened to the baby’s heartbeat, he said it was strong and healthy.  He asked Hannah to describe what happened when the pain started and she relayed the events that took place with Thomas’s arrival.

Julia listened, shocked that the express rider was Hannah’s brother-in-law.  Strange that he ended up out here.

Finally, the pains lessened and subsided altogether.  Hannah appeared to be calming down.  The doctor explained that sometimes emotional stress could cause the onset of pains similar to labor.

Dr. Armstrong said, “I think that it would be best for you to remain in bed until the baby comes.  I’m concerned that any undue exertion or emotion may cause the baby to come early.”

Julia glanced over at Will.  His gaze remained fixed on Hannah as he stroked her hair.  Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes.  She’d only seen him cry once before—the day he brought their father back to the ranch battered and dying after having been trampled in a stampede.

Wiping away her own tears, she said, “I’ll stay, Hannah, and help you with whatever you need.  Whether it’s helping Rosa with cleaning and cooking or if you need me to sit with you.  Whatever you need.”

Hannah stretched out her hand towards Julia.  Moving closer, she grasped the outstretched hand.  “Thank you, dear sister.  Thank you.”

Julia squeezed her hand before Dr. Armstrong ushered everyone from the room insisting that Hannah needed her rest.

As soon as they were in the living room, Will headed directly for Thomas with fists clenched at his sides.  “What are you still doing here?”

The young man lowered his head.  “I wanted to make sure Hannah was alright.”

She saw the twitch in her brother’s jaw and knew there would be trouble if he did not get himself under control.  Will took a step and pointed to the front door.  “Get out!”

Thomas stood there for a second and Julia hoped he would heed Will’s instructions.  To her relief, the young man went to the door.  Stopping in the doorway, he said, “Please tell her I’m sorry for everything.”  Then he shut the door.  Hoof beats pounded up the lane confirming he was gone.

Julia took a deep breath trying to recover from the strange events that brought her back to the ranch.  Looking around the room, her gaze connected with Adam’s.  His look was still intense and sent pleasant tingles up her arms.  Fulfilling the promise she just made to Hannah was going to be harder than she thought.

Chapter 36

Two weeks into her bed rest, Hannah grew restless.  She wanted to be up and around.  Bored, she spent much time reading her Bible.  The more she read through the gospels the more convicted she felt about her anger and bitterness towards Thomas.  She knew that it truly was not his fault that Drew died.  But, seeing him so unexpectedly brought those unresolved feelings to the forefront.  When he asked for her forgiveness she contemplated giving him a piece of her mind.  However, the labor pains stopped her short.  Perhaps, God was granting her the time she needed to think.  The Thomas who asked for her forgiveness was definitely a different man than the one they left behind in Ohio.

Sighing, she reached for the cowbell on the stand next to the bed.  She smiled every time she rang it.  Will said it was the only bell he could find at the mercantile.  Giving the bell a good shake, she set it back down.

“How can I help you?” Julia said, peering in from the doorway to her room.

Patting the edge of the bed next to her, she motioned for Julia to sit.  “I would like some company for a few minutes.”

Crossing the room, her sister sat with one leg tucked underneath her, allowing Hannah to easily make eye contact.

“I’ve been thinking about what happened with Thomas.  I know I haven’t heard his full story, but I would like to talk to him.”

“But, why would you want to do that?  Hasn’t he caused you enough pain?”

“I need to forgive him and to let go of the past.”

A frown settled on Julia’s face and her back stiffened.  “Why do you need to forgive him?  What does it benefit you?”

“These past weeks reading through the gospels have given me new insight into forgiveness.  I know that I need to forgive Thomas—not because he asked it of me, and not because he deserves it—but because I need to forgive him and let go of the bitterness and anger I’ve carried with me.  I need this even more than he does.”