Hannah Saves Samuel (Wanted: Wives In The West 1) (3 page)

Hannah quickly shut the door, startled by the recognition of him. Rushing around her room, she poured a bit of water in the wash bin and splashed her face. She pulled her long, blonde locks into a low knot at the nape of her neck, a few wisps left framing her face. She pinched her cheeks for some color and brushed the wrinkles out of her dress with her hands. She took a deep breath and stood up straight as she slowly opened the door and walked out to sit at the breakfast table.

“Hannah!” Margaret said with excitement. “I’m so glad you’re awake! Caleb was just about to leave with Samuel to make a run around the ranch, but I insisted they have breakfast first. Plus, I was hoping you two would meet before they left. Samuel, this is Hannah, from St. Mary’s, Georgia.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said quietly, giving a quick nod in her direction. They all sat down to breakfast as silence crept over them like a fog. Samuel sat eating his biscuits and gravy and Hannah picked at her breakfast. She felt nervous being around Samuel. He didn’t appear to like her very much, but then, he wasn’t talking to anyone at the table at all, not just avoiding her.

“Samuel here works for the Swift and Company meat processing plant,” Margaret stated, trying to break the silence. “He’s one of their top suppliers and he’s done real well moving up in the company. He’s also got his own ranch just outside town. He goes to our church, too, so you’ll see him there this Sunday at the potluck dinner.”

Hannah shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She studied Samuel’s face closely by stealing quick glances across the table. All the details she couldn’t see in the grainy photograph were now being etched into her memory. “That’s wonderful,” she said, a little too enthusiastically. “Have you ever been to Georgia?” she asked, trying to initiate a conversation directly with the handsome young man who had been the catalyst for her decision to move.

Samuel winced at the mention of Georgia, where Abigail was from. “Yes,” he replied curtly as he put his fork down and stood up from the table. “We’d best be heading out,” he stated to Caleb. “A storm is moving in from the north and we need to get that fence repaired so it doesn’t get knocked down in the wind.”

Caleb stood up and gave Margaret a kiss on the cheek as he put his cowboy hat on. “I’ll be hungry for supper later, so let’s have some more of that delicious chicken of yours,” he said, grinning. “Hannah, have Margaret show you around the ranch so you know what you’ll be doing here for the next six months.”

Hannah smiled and nodded at Mr. Marshall. She couldn’t even look at Samuel after she’d embarrassed herself trying to talk to him. It was obvious he wasn’t interested in her. This whole idea had probably been a big mistake! She’d be the one girl who came to Texas in search of a husband and got rejected by the entire town. Hannah felt tears rising to the surface.

She didn’t want the others to see, so she hurried off to her room.
Come shelter my heart, dear Lord. Give me hope and strength to find my way here.
Just then, Hannah heard a soft knock upon the door as it opened slowly. “Hannah, dear,” said Margaret. “You mustn’t let Samuel’s demeanor get you down.” She walked over to Hannah and sat down on the bed beside her, wrapping her arm around her and pulling her in for a gentle hug. “He’s just lost, Hannah.”

Hannah looked up, sniffling, at Margaret. “Lost?” she asked. “How so?”

“Just a short year ago, Samuel had his heart broken,” she explained. Margaret told her about how excited and full of promise he had been when he first arrived, how he had woven a place for himself in the hearts of the congregation and been a solid contributor to the growth of the city. “You should have seen him, Hannah,” Margaret remembered. “He always had a smile on his face. He greeted everyone in town, regardless of their moral compass. If he knew of someone whose home or wagon needed repairing … why, Samuel was the first one there and the last one to leave. When Abigail sent that letter, she destroyed his dream, and Samuel just hasn’t found the light again. That’s one reason we brought
you
here, Hannah. We wanted him to realize that he has a future ahead of him, with the possibility for true love and a family by his side.”

Hannah’s heart melted as she realized that distant look in Samuel’s eyes was one of shame and sorrow. Here she was being selfish, thinking only of herself when his reaction had nothing to do with her. She suddenly felt very protective over Samuel, bitter at the black-hearted woman who would spurn his love. In Hannah’s eyes, this was a mission from God to lead Samuel back to a place of Heavenly hope and celebration.

Margaret told Hannah about Samuel’s more recent troubles – how he used to never drink and had recently been seen heading into the Acre, nursing one whisky after another. That next morning, he had gone to Pastor Littlejohn to ask for guidance and forgiveness because he wanted to get back on the straight and narrow path to salvation. He just didn’t know how to make the pain go away.

As they walked the property, Margaret filled her in about Samuel’s life in Fort Worth. “He owns a plot of land and a ranch just west of town, with rolling hills and lush, green pastures for his cattle to graze,” she said. “His front porch looks out over the plains and he has a good-sized pond out yonder in the tall grass where the longhorns gather.”

Hannah spent her day learning about the household chores she’d be helping with. It was good to know how homesteading worked in the plains of Texas and she was pleased to see that women were providing a helping hand right alongside the men in the settlement. This made her feel useful and needed.

At one point in the day, Margaret and Hannah crossed paths with Caleb and Samuel. Hannah couldn’t help but want to bring Samuel back out of his shell. She longed to see that high-spirited man they spoke of from before Abigail’s letter. Samuel stood looking off into the distance as Margaret and Caleb walked away for a chat. Hannah heard the voice of her pa in her head about helping those in trouble and she walked up to Samuel to strike up a conversation. “The Marshalls are wonderful, aren’t they?” she asked.

“Mm-hmm,” he said, fiddling with the straw he had hanging out of his mouth. He wasn’t turning toward Hannah, but she was undeterred. She moved in between Samuel and whatever he was looking at and looked straight up at him.

“So,” she tried again, “Margaret tells me you love cobblers. I happen to have brought a few jars of my ma’s canned peaches with me. I’m going to make you the very best Southern peach cobbler you’ve ever had for the potluck dinner this Sunday. Do you promise to try it?”

Samuel looked down at Hannah. “Your eyes match your dress,” he said, referring to the cornflower blue and white dress she wore. Hannah followed his gaze as they trailed from her eyes to her blonde hair, neatly pulled back in a well-kempt knot at the nape of her neck. Her smile radiated between the two of them. “Promise,” he said, an ever so slight smile cracking the somber exterior of his face.

Margaret and Caleb walked up and resumed their rounds with Samuel and Hannah. As she and Margaret approached the hen house, Hannah couldn’t help but turn her head to steal a glance toward Samuel, who was walking in the opposite direction with Caleb. Her heart raced when she realized he had turned around, too – and nodded his hat in her direction, as if admitting to the fact that he got caught admiring her.

…

It was hard to wait for Sunday, but Hannah had spent that time preparing for her debut in the community. This would be the first time she would meet Pastor Littlejohn and his congregation. It would also be the first time she’d seen Samuel since he came to the Marshall’s property and finally noticed her.

That morning, she had awakened bright and early – before the sun came up. She wanted her cobbler to be as fresh as possible, and she needed time to get herself ready and clean up after cooking. Margaret and Caleb woke to the wonderful scent coming out of the kitchen. “My goodness!” they said in unison. “That sure does smell fantastic!”

Caleb joked that they ought to accidentally forget to bring the cobbler to the potluck at church, so that he could have it all to himself. Hannah had pampered him and Margaret with her wonderful, home cooked meals all week. She was so grateful to them for their generosity in taking her in, and she wanted to return the favor. She’d worked hard all day, every day, and refused to be a burden on the family.

Margaret helped Hannah pick out a proper dress for church. She loaned her a beautiful shawl and a reticule that she could carry her handkerchief and fan in. Hannah felt proud and couldn’t wait to make new friends at church and see how else she could contribute to the community.

As they walked up the steps of the church, she spotted Samuel standing outside the door, talking to someone. She didn’t dare make eye contact, not wanting to walk in and meet everyone while blushing. But she could
feel
his eyes on her, and it made her smile and blush a bit anyway.

Pastor Littlejohn greeted her as she walked through the doorway, and one of the women took her cobbler and set it down on the table for her. “Hannah,” the pastor said, gently shaking her hand, “So nice to meet you! I’d like you to meet my wife, Mabel. She’s the one who showed me your letter and insisted we bring you here!” The pastor and his wife looked like they belonged together. They were both shorter than Hannah, and a little round. Both had black hair that was starting to go gray, and each just as jubilant as they could be.

Hannah thanked them and told them how nice the Marshalls had been to her. Caleb and Margaret ushered her to their seats in the third pew and introduced her to those around them. Everyone was very nice to her, shaking her hand and inquiring about her origins. Hannah spotted the other four men in the photograph, and they had all smiled at her kindly, hopeful that she might be there for them. But it was Samuel who caught her attention and held it as he strode up the aisle to one of the pews in front of Hannah and glanced in her direction, grinning slightly and giving a nod in her direction.

Pastor Littlejohn stood at the pulpit looking happy and energized. As a shepherd to his flock, he had brought Samuel back from the brink of destruction for now, and if all went well, the church would continue the program for the rest of the bachelors in the congregation.

After the service, everyone gathered in the church hall for the potluck dinner. Hannah was greeted kindly by almost everyone, but she was well aware of the small group of older women who ignored her presence and whispered behind her back. “Don’t you mind her,” Margaret said to Hannah as she caught her staring at Beatrice Reynolds. “She’s just an old busy-body who can’t stand for others to find happiness.”

Margaret filled her in on how Beatrice and a few of her friends had fought with the pastor about his Hearts and Hands idea – how she’d likened it to a brothel arrangement. Margaret laughed it off, but inside, it hurt Hannah to know that anyone was seeing her as that type of woman. She wanted them to know she was committed to Christ and that her only goal of being here was to serve as a loving and faithful wife to someone—and a useful member of the congregation.

Samuel walked up to Hannah with his plate in hand. “You weren’t lying about your cobbler,” he said. “It’s the best I’ve ever tasted.” Hannah smiled softly, but was distracted by the glares coming from across the room.

“Thanks,” she said. “Will you please excuse me?” she muttered, walking off toward Margaret. She wanted to stand there and talk to Samuel, but she felt shame and humiliation. Right now, she just wanted to go home.

“I’m afraid I’m not feeling so well,” Hannah said to Caleb and Margaret. “Will you please express my appreciation again to Pastor Littlejohn?” The couple arranged for their neighbors to give her a ride home to the ranch, and when she arrived, Hannah laid down on her bed, buried her face in her pillow, and sobbed.

Dear Lord, help me to understand why my efforts are being met with hostility. Guide me in forgiving those who question my integrity and help me find a way to prove to them my intentions are pure.

The warmth of the house in the afternoon sun lulled her to sleep. She woke to the sound of Caleb and Margaret returning from the church’s potluck dinner, Caleb talking loudly about how John Thornton had practically licked the entire dish clean after tasting Hannah’s incredible peach cobbler! Hannah stood and freshened up a bit. She wasn’t sure how she would tell them about her decision, but if the congregation as a whole would not accept her, she would be leaving to return home to Georgia.

Margaret and Caleb listened to Hannah closely and seemed to understand her delicate state, being in a position of outcast among some when she had just left a situation where she had no one to take her in. The two of them explained to Hannah that there was nowhere in the world she could reside where everyone would be kind at all times. And besides, Samuel needed her. Was she really here to commit to the Lord and a future husband, or was she more concerned with winning over a grumpy, old troublemaker?