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.He paused.There it was again.The crying hadn’t been part of his dream.He stood and crept to the window.Surely Olivia would hear Emily and comfort her.If that happened, Jules wouldn’t want to intrude.Stretching upward, he peered into the room.A shaft of moonlight laid an arrow of light across Emily’s peacefully sleeping face.She hadn’t been crying after all.The noise had been so real, he’d been sure he’d heard it.He’d almost moved away, when he heard the sound again.A soft muffled sob.But the weeping hadn’t come from Emily.Olivia.The realization burned through his awareness and stabbed him with empathy.She was of a delicate gender and tender age, a gently bred young woman doing her best to look out for her young charge, yet she had no stability or security of her own.Her composure and confidence had all been for show.Softly spoken words drifted to him then, and he strained to make them out.Who was Olivia speaking to? She and Emily were the only two in there, and Emily was sound asleep.“…I shall not want,” she said.“You make me to lie down in green pastures.You lead me beside still waters.You restore my soul.You lead me in the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake.Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”Jules had never heard anyone personalize a verse of Scripture and say it to God as though God was a person right there in the room with them.But that’s what Olivia was doing.“Lord, Your goodness and Your mercy followed me all the way to Montana,” she continued.“And now I’m trusting Jules to do the right thing.”He got a hitch in his chest, a sensation more uncomfortable than his prickling arm.Lowering himself away from the window, he moved back to his pallet.Olivia’s talking stopped and so did the crying.Apparently, she’d been comforted by that psalm.The night’s silence closed around him.The only sounds were the ordinary ones of the livestock, the wind and the creaking windmill, but he couldn’t forget what he’d heard.And he couldn’t go back to sleep.After lying awake until first light, he got up and started chores.Sunday morning.Olivia was as pretty as a picture in a pale green striped dress, with the velvet rose pinned to her collar.She wore green silk ribbons threaded through her hair, the ends dangling from the shiny golden knot.She topped her head with a straw hat, hiding most of those shiny curls, and Jules disguised disappointment he shouldn’t have felt.Emily wore a shade of blue that reminded him of the bluebells he’d seen in Texas, and he told her so.She thanked him politely.“Will you stay beside me in church?”“Of course.” He reached for her hand.She looked at their clasped hands in surprise and then offered him a shy smile.“I won’t know anyone there.”“You’ll make friends.”She shook her head.“I don’t think so.”“Why not?”“I’m not from around here like they are.And besides, Miss Rose says I’m leaving to attend another school.I don’t want to make friends and then leave.” Remorse stabbed his conscience.He pushed it away by telling himself that sending Emily away was the right thing to do.Yet in spite of his reassurances, Olivia’s prayer the previous night still hadn’t left his thoughts.And now I’m trusting Jules to do the right thing.She had more faith in him than he had in himself.Chapter SevenEmily’s practical reasoning about avoiding new friendships rubbed him wrong all through the drive to town.A child shouldn’t plan to hold herself in check.A little girl should just…be a child.But that was another argument for sending her away, wasn’t it? No child would be safe all alone in his cabin every day.He wasn’t going to feel guilty about looking out for her best interests.His presence at the First United Fellowship of Christ Church was an oddity in itself, but arriving with two unfamiliar females in tow caused a stir that morning.The women gathered around, eager to learn about his guests and introduce themselves.Emily participated in the singing with enthusiasm, while Olivia held herself more in reserve.Both showed interest in Reverend Vaughn’s sermon, and both placed a coin in the offering basket as it passed.After the service, it appeared as though Lee Crandall’s prediction might be correct.Half a dozen single men—cowhands, ranchers and the barber’s son—all asked for introductions.Obviously embarrassed by the attention, Olivia offered polite greetings, but it was plain she only wanted to escape the building and their interest
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