Page 21

“All right, it’s been several days since Sunday, and you’re still under a black cloud.” Emma fixed Colton with a look she hoped was that of a concerned friend. “Tell me what’s bothering you so much.”

Rosie had gone outside to gather the laundry from the lines. She was all excited because Emma had been teaching her to iron, and she wanted to show Colton how good she was at doing the job.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

They had finished with lunch and now sat rather leisurely in the front room. Emma shook her head. “You’ve been out of sorts since church. Did you not like it? Was there some reason you took offense?”

“Church was fine. In fact, I found it to be better than I expected. The sermon wasn’t all focused on hell and what terrible sinners we are. Honestly, I don’t know how a Christian is supposed to find any happiness at all with that hanging over his head.”

“But if they accept Jesus as Savior, they don’t have that hanging over their heads.” Emma gave him a smile. “I know from things Tommy and you have both said that your mother was a godly woman. Surely she taught you about the joy of the Lord as well as the consequences of sin.”

“Ha! You told me yourself that you didn’t want to be a Christian because you were convinced they never had any fun or happiness.”

“But I was a child when I believed that.”

“You weren’t a child when you married my brother, and you still thought that way. The only reason you changed your mind was a fear of dying.”

Emma tilted her head slightly to the right and glanced at the ceiling. “I suppose that’s true. I’m certainly not proud of believing that way. But I’m not too prideful to admit that I was wrong. My thoughts were selfish and self-serving. I wanted to live a life without rules or restrictions.”

“And you no longer want that?”

Colton’s question surprised Emma. She lowered her gaze to meet his.

“I suppose there will always be a part of me that desires adventure and a good time versus a bad one. Rosie and I were talking just the other day about how we’d like to see London and the palace where the queen lives.

We’d like to see some of the ancient wonders in Rome too. ”

His expression softened. “I didn’t know that.”

“I often read to Rosie, as you know. We were reading in Romans just the other day, and both of us thought it would be wondrous fun to visit Rome and see the things the apostle Paul would have seen, walk where he walked.”

“I think a trip to Rome would be a great adventure.”

“Would you want to come with us? That would be wonderful!” Emma couldn’t contain her excitement. “Just imagine all the places we could visit. We could read about them first and figure out where all we wanted to go.”

“Slow down, Emma. I only said that it sounded like a great adventure.”

“I know. And I know that you aren’t one for having fun, but think of Rosie. She would be absolutely over the moon.”

Colton’s frown momentarily silenced her. Had she made him feel bad?

“I’m sorry, Colton. I didn’t mean to suggest you never want to have fun. It’s just I know from Tommy and my own observations that you are very cautious and diligent about your life.”

“Cautious and diligent. Hmm. Not much of a recommendation.”

“Unless you’re a doctor tending to the sick or a diplomat fending off war. Goodness, Colton. Those are admirable traits, and you are an admirable man. I’ve thought highly of you since I first met you, in part, for those very things.”

“But they weren’t of interest to you. You preferred Tommy’s carefree spirit and desire for adventure.”

It was Emma’s turn to frown. For days now she felt that she’d somehow offended Colton, and now his words seemed to confirm her thoughts.

“For all that I’ve done to offend you, Colton, I apologize. I know the person I was, and it’s already coming back to threaten my happiness. I found myself apologizing Sunday to a woman whose son I did terribly wrong.”

“What was it you did to him?”

“I was engaged to marry him. I took up with someone else and broke the engagement two weeks before we were to marry. I just kept imagining myself stuck on his ranch, giving him a dozen children and never seeing the world. The man I took up with was a roving gambler who claimed to want the same things I did. He thought I was from a wealthy family and jumped the first train west after learning I wasn’t.

I was always glad that I didn’t know Tommy had money for the longest time.

I never ever wanted him to think that I cared for him because of his money.

” She leaned back in her chair. “It’s positively awful to find out that someone only pretended to love you for your money. ”

For the briefest of moments, Colton’s expression was one that Emma could only describe as a child being caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Then as quickly as it had come, it was gone. She decided to ignore it.

“So if church isn’t putting you in a bad state of mind, what is? Has business gone bad?”

“No. I suppose ... well, I can tell you, but I’d rather not make too much of it with Rosie. She thinks so highly of everyone she meets, and when people are kind to her, she assumes they are of good intentions.”

“But you believe someone isn’t of good intentions with Rosie?” Emma narrowed her eyes. “I won’t stand for that.”

“I found Robert Vogel talking to Rosie alone after church. He told her he wanted to help her learn to read. I don’t trust him. I fear he’ll take advantage of her innocent ways.”

“Rob?” Emma laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about him.

He’s one of the most honest and trustworthy people in Cheyenne.

His folks are good people, and while I haven’t been here for nine years, I know from my mother’s letters and later Lucille’s that the Vogel family continues to be highly esteemed.

Rob has proven himself over and over to have admirable qualities.

I think you should get to know him before judging him so harshly. ”

“You haven’t been around him for nine years by your own admission. He would have been a child when you left Cheyenne.”

“True enough, but as I said, I’ve known the family for years. One of the first times I got in trouble with the law, I had to face Edward Vogel. He was firm but kind, and I always appreciated that.”

“Still, a son can be very different from his father.”

“I know that very well. My brother, James, is nothing like my father. James is an intellectual, as he tells it. He studies books in all his free time. My father can barely read and would take the company of a cow over a book any day.” Emma smiled.

“I just think you should put your mind at ease. Rob wants to help me teach Rosie to read. He won’t be alone with her.

I spoke to him about it, and he would just come here after supper in the evening, and we would sit here in the front room or at the dining room table and work on teaching Rosie.

You could even join us. I think it would do her a world of good if we continue her exposure to other people. ”

“But he’s a man. I don’t mind at all that you have her going to tea parties and sewing circles, but men tend toward one line of thinking.”

Emma looked at him with a teasing smile. “And what would that be, Colton?”

He looked embarrassed and cast his glance toward the open window. “You aren’t na?ve, Emma. You know how passion and desire can build between a man and woman.”

“And would that be so terrible? If Rosie were to find herself a good man like Robert Vogel and marry him, would that be the end of the world?”

“But she’s not like other women.”

“No, she isn’t. She’s better. She’s kinder and more loving. She’s got virtues that far outweigh the losses.”

Emma got up and went to a small basket that was placed beside a chair across the room. She reached inside and pulled up a handkerchief and brought it back to Colton.

“Rosie embroidered this after just one lesson with Marybeth Vogel.”

Colton took the piece and studied it a moment.

“She’s better at it than I am,” Emma continued.

“She has taken to cooking like nothing I’ve ever seen.

She memorizes things quickly because she can’t read them.

Reading would open an entire world to her.

Think of how much you cherish the ability to read and then imagine if that was taken from you and you could only look on with longing. ”

He handed her back the embroidery. “I’m sorry. I never really thought of it that way. I never realized Rosie was capable of much until you came into our lives. Doctors told Mother and Father not to bother trying to teach her anything.”

“Doctors can obviously be wrong. They didn’t know what Rosie was capable of. She may be slow, and there may be some things that she’ll never be able to do, but please don’t try to stand in the way of her happiness.”

“I don’t want to stand in the way of her learning to read; I just worry that Robert Vogel isn’t worthy of the trust you’ve placed in him.”

“Then why not get to know him? Give him a chance to prove himself. And remember, Colton, someone had to do the same for you. Each man must prove himself worthy of trust and respect.”

Colton seemed to consider that a moment. “I promised my mother I wouldn’t let anyone hurt Rosie. I promised to look after her and care for her.”

“And you have done an admirable job. But now you’re the one who is threatening to hurt her. Just give it some thought and maybe invite Rob out for lunch or dinner sometime and talk about your concerns. Who knows, maybe you’ll even make your first friend in Cheyenne.”

“He’s half my age. I don’t need a boy to be my friend.”

Emma shook her head and turned to put the embroidery away. “I’ll take all the friends I can get, Colton. I think you should feel the same way.”