Donovan's Daughter (The Californians, Book 4) (8 page)

They were able to talk with ease, but Marcail's prayers
were many on Sydney's behalf. She hadn't mentioned
her fears to anyone else, but she recognized the fact that
he was a child who was prone to acts of violence when
angered. It frightened her a little that she had no idea
what had set him off the last time, but she kept an eye on
him, and Mr. Flynn was making his visits as promised.

Teaching school was harder work than Marcail had anticipated. Her sister had made it look so easy. This made
the weekends a time of relaxation and recuperation. She
liked to work on her lessons and bake Saturday morning.
Often she would walk into town in the afternoon.

One Saturday, when the weather was beginning to
turn cold, Marcail ran into Kay Austin in the general
store.

"Miss Donovan," Kay greeted her warmly, "did the
girls give you my message about tomorrow?"

"Yes, Mrs. Austin, they did, but tomorrow is-"

"The pie auction," she finished for her. "That's no
problem because I want you to bring the young man who
buys your pie."

"Oh," Marcail said with genuine pleasure, "that sounds
wonderful. I'll plan on it."

Kay squeezed her arm and smiled before telling her
she would see her on the morrow. Marcail thought that
Mrs. Austin would never know what a relief the invitation was. Rowie Kilmer had seen Marcail just the weekend before and made it quite clear that he was going to
bid on her pie. Marcail had been gracious, but in her
heart she sighed and wished that he would turn his
attention elsewhere.

She had crossed his path from time to time, and although he made no move to press her, he questioned her
very carefully as to whether or not she'd been seeing
anyone else. Her comments on the privacy of her own
business seemed to roll off him like boulders on a hillside.

The next morning Marcail went to church. Since the
auction was to follow the service, she brought her apple
pie in a basket, as did most of the other women in town.

Allie's pie was mince. She whispered to Marcail during church that it was Seth's favorite. Marcail smiled at
the joy in her friend's eyes. She had missed Allie since
she'd started seeing Seth, but Marcail recognized the
signs of love and told Allie, in all honesty, how thrilled
she was for her newfound happiness.

No social time had been planned, since the weather
was cooling, but spirits were high as the bidding began,
raising funds that were once again to go to the school.

Marcail's pie came up in the middle of the bidding, and
just as Rowie had said, he was on hand and bidding like a
rich man. It looked as if Marcail's basket was going to
go high, and the young schoolmarm kept her eyes on
Mr. Flynn as two men took the price over $1.00. She recognized one voice as Rowie's, and the other as Allie's
brother, Logan's.

Marcail, preparing herself for an afternoon of being
gawked at or pulled around, was praying for patience. A
deep voice from the back of the crowd startled her with a
bid.

"Three dollars!"

Marcail's eyes slid shut on a sudden rush of tears. She
was barely aware of the way Mr. Flynn stuttered to a halt
or how still the crowd had grown. Moments passed
before Mr. Flynn declared the pie sold and Marcail turned
and made her way back off the platform.

A massive hand was there to take her basket and then
her hand, but Marcail didn't dare look up until the man
had led her away to the semiprivacy of a nearby tree. As
soon as he stopped she let her tear-filled eyes meet his,
and a second later she was crushed in Rigg's arms.

Marcail didn't know when anything had felt so good.
She let herself be cuddled against his chest and tried not
to cry.

"I've missed you," Rigg whispered in her ear, feeling
as though he could cry himself.

He couldn't love this girl more if she had been his own
child, and in a way she was. He was only 17 years her
senior, but she had come into his life as a nine-year-old
girl whose mother had just died and whose father was
overseas. Their's had been a love-at-first-sight relationship, a brother-sister type of love.

A year later he was married to Marcail's sister, and she
was living with them. Not even the birth of his own three
children had diminished his love for her. He'd gone into
a state of near mourning when her father had returned to
California and she had moved downstate to live with
him.

Rigg released Marcail and tenderly wiped a tear from
her cheek. There was so much they wanted to say to each
other. They had just began to share when Jethro Kilmer
came on the scene.

"Who is this, Marcail?" Jethro demanded unexpectedly.

Rigg only glanced at the younger man before turning
his surprised gaze to his sister-in-law.

"Rigg, this is Jethro Kilmer. Jethro, this is my brotherin-law, Marshall Riggs." Marcail's voice was polite, but
Rigg heard the note of longsuffering.

"Oh, he's married! Why didn't you say so?" Rowie's
voice was so filled with relief that Marcail felt angry. She
would probably have spouted off at Rowie if Rigg hadn't
put his hand on her arm.

"It's nice to meet you, Jethro," Rigg's voice was steady.
"But I'm sure you'll understand my wanting to spend
some time with my sister."

Rigg led Marcail away without further explanation.
Marcail was so pleased over the way he'd handled Rowie
that her smile nearly stretched off her face.

"Do you need me to talk with this young man?" The
question came softly to her ears as they walked. When
they stopped, trying once again to steal some privacy,
Marcail shook her head.

"No, but thank you. As you've probably guessed, I'm
not encouraging him, even though I'm sure he would
welcome any interest on my part. I'm certain he'll grow
discouraged and eventually leave me alone."

Marcail grew silent then and simply drank in the sight
of her sister's husband. He had seemed bigger than life
to her when they first met, and even now he was one of
the largest men she'd ever known. But there wasn't a
mean or malicious bone in his body, and from the first
he'd always made her feel loved and secure.

"How's Katie?" Marcail asked softly.

"She has a bit of a cold."

Marcail nodded. 'And the kids?"

"Colds too. They miss you almost as much as I do."

They grinned at each other again, and Marcail reached
to give him another hug. She explained the invitation for
lunch, and as they talked they made their way toward the
Austin home.

Marcail had a myriad of questions, as did Rigg. They
had exchanged most of the pertinent information regarding family and friends by the time Rigg knocked on
the Austins' front door.

Unfortunately, some of the joy went out of Marcail's
afternoon when the door was answered by Dr. Alexander Montgomery.

Two hours later Alex knew with a certainty that Miss
Donovan's fear was not of men in general. She was at complete ease with her brother-in-law, as well as with Dean
Austin. This left only him, or doctors in general. Alex
wondered why the thought was so discouraging to him.

He figured it might have to do with the fact that after
15 minutes of conversation around the dinner table, he
knew that both Rigg and Marcail were believers. This
made the young teacher safe enough for him to drop his
guard, but no more approachable.

Alex knew that everyone in town believed he was still
too much in love with his first wife to even look at another
woman, but that was not true anymore. What the townspeople didn't understand was how earnestly Alex took
his relationship with Jesus Christ, and in so doing, he
was serious about finding a wife who shared his belief.

Without a doubt, the first criteria was that the woman
be a Christian. Alex found himself thinking, however,
that it certainly didn't hurt that her hair was so black and
shiny it appeared blue in the right light, or that she had
eyes like big brown pansies. Her eyes, along with the
tiny dark mole near her lower lip, drew his attention to
her smiling mouth and her beautiful teeth when he least expected it. No, none of those things hurt at all; and,
added to the fact that she loved the Savior, they made her
more distracting-by- the minute.

Alex had worked hard at not staring at her all afternoon, but surprisingly, he found himself alone with her in
the living room after the dessert dishes had been cleared.
Alex could almost hear her telling herself to relax. After a
few minutes of tense silence, she smiled at him. It gave
him hope, and he spoke, his excellent bedside manner
coming to the fore.

"It was certainly nice of Rigg to surprise you today."

Marcail smiled a little wider because he didn't seem at
all threatening to her at that moment. Her voice revealed
her relief when she answered.

"It was, wasn't it? I don't think I knew how much I
missed him until I heard his voice at the back of the
crowd."

"How long has it been?"

"I saw them for a few minutes when the train stopped
in Santa Rosa, but I moved away in late February. I wish
Katie and the children could have come, but Rigg said
everyone has colds."

"You're an aunt then?"

Marcail beamed with pleasure, and Alex sucked in a
sharp breath at her enchanting beauty.

"Several times over, actually," Marcail answered easily,
not having noticed the doctor's reaction. "Katie and Rigg
have Gretchen, Molly, and Donovan. My brother, Sean,
and his wife, Charlotte, have Ricky and Callie."

Alex smiled at her, a smile of genuine warmth. Marcail
returned the grin until Alex shifted in his chair. Marcail thought he was rising to join her on the sofa. She
tensed and moved a little further down the cushions, an
action that Alex did not miss.

"Is it me, Miss Donovan, or all doctors?"

Marcail's face flamed with humiliation, and she stuttered an apology.

"Please don't apologize." Alex's voice was tender. "It's
just that if I've done something to upset you, I'd like to
ask your forgiveness."

"No, no,"Marcail assured him swiftly. "You've been
very kind; I just that is-I'm rather-" The young woman
came to an awkward halt and was surprised to find the
doctor smiling at her, his eyes filled with understanding.

Marcail met his gaze for just a moment and then
unintentionally spoke out loud. "I guess you might not
be so bad after all."

Laughter erupted from Alex's chest, and Marcail's
hand flew to her mouth. Her face had heated all over
again, and she began to rise from her seat. Alex waved
her back with his hand, still chuckling over her remark.

"Please don't go, Miss Donovan. I assure you, I'm not
easily offended. I find your honesty refreshing."

Marcail eyed him carefully to gauge his sincerity. She
finally relaxed back on the sofa, and they continued to
talk. If Marcail wasn't exactly at ease in the situation, she
found it tolerable. What she didn't know was that Kay
Austin was beyond the door, hesitating before entering.
She was also listening to every word and hoping that
before long Marcail would find the situation much more
than tolerable.