Blessed are the Merciful (31 page)

“Yes, sir. The ladies’ department.”

“Right over that way,” he said, pointing. “My name’s Jack Brady. If I can help you, please let me know. I’ll be through here in a couple of minutes.”

Rachel thanked him and headed toward the ladies’ department. She had barely begun to look around when a man with a patch over his left eye approached her. He smiled at her and said, “I’m Patch Smith, ma’am, the proprietor.”

“I’m happy to meet you, Mr. Smith.”

“I believe your name is Miss Rachel Mason?”

“Why, yes, it is.”

“And you’re here to marry our fine attorney, Adam Burke.”

“Right again.”

“Let me welcome you to North Platte, Miss Mason.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now, is there anything I can help you with?”

“What I need, Mr. Smith, are hat, gloves, and shoes to complete my wedding trousseau.”

“I believe you’ll like our selection,” Patch said. “Where would you like to start?”

“Let’s go for the hat, first.”

Rachel made her choices and went to the counter, where Patch tabulated the sale and began wrapping the items for her.

“We have a nice jewelry department over on this side of the store, Miss Mason. I would like to—”

“I’m really not in the market for jewelry right now, Mr. Smith. Maybe some other time.”

Patch smiled. “Maybe I should have come at this another way. What I would like to do is give you something from the jewelry case as a wedding present.”

Rachel’s face flushed. “Oh, Mr. Smith, I can’t let you—”

“Please?”

“Well, I—”

“Please let me do this. I would be honored.”

Olivia Dahl looked up from the paperwork before her as Rachel came through the door. “Looks like you’ve been shopping,” she said with a grin.

“Some things for my trousseau. Is Adam busy?”

“He’s working on some business contracts for a client, but he’s alone. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.”

Rachel knocked on the door and was received with open arms. Adam closed the door, kissed her soundly, and said, “Find everything you wanted?”

“I did. May I show them to you?”

Adam oohed and aahed at the hat, shoes, and gloves, then said, “Did you get these all at the same place?”

“Yes. At the clothing store across the street.”

“Oh … that’s nice.”

“And I got something else there, too.” She took a small box from her purse and opened it. Inside was an exquisite brooch.

“It’s beautiful, sweetheart! That will look really good on just about anything you wear. I always want you to buy anything you want.”

“But I didn’t buy this. That nice Mr. Smith gave it to me for a wedding present. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen. Wasn’t that a sweet thing to do?”

“Ah, yes. It sure was. I’m surprised he would do something so … thoughtful.”

“Well, I’ll get out of here and let you go back to work,” Rachel said, closing the small box and returning it to her purse. “Would it be all right if I buy some materials so I can make some things for our new house? I’ll need some muslin, embroidery thread, and hoops.”

“Sure. Buy anything you want.”

“You’ve been so generous in every way, Adam. I’d like to contribute something to our new home when we get it finished and move in.”

Adam took her in his arms and kissed her. “You’re the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to me.”

That evening when Rachel was alone in her hotel room, she wrote a thank-you note to Patch Smith, then wrote to Aunt Esther—the third letter since she arrived in North Platte. She told her aunt they were getting married on July 17 and asked her to tell her father about the wedding.

Adam was superbly happy that night, lying in bed. He even breathed a prayer, thanking God that he had found the girl of his dreams. He was glad he hadn’t given in to Philipa and stayed in Philadelphia. Sooner or later their marriage would have fallen apart. But he would always be happy with his wonderful Rachel, and he was living in the West where he belonged.

The next morning Adam went to the Western Union office and sent a wire to Seth and Bettieann Coleman in Omaha telling them of their wedding plans. Four hours later, a Western Union messenger came to Adam’s office with a telegram informing him that Deputy Coleman was tracking outlaws in western Nebraska and was not expected to return for some time. The chief U.S. marshal had contacted Mrs. Coleman, and she sent her congratulations, saying that she would advise her husband of the wedding upon his return.

July 17 was a glorious summer day in Nebraska. Wayfaring breezes tufted the tall grass on the prairie and made the leaves in the trees dance jauntily. The cobalt blue sky stretched endlessly in every direction.

Adam drove his buggy toward the hotel to pick up Rachel. He looked resplendent in his best black suit, white shirt and black tie, and shoes so well polished he could see his reflection in them.

Rachel was no less than dazzling in her soft butter-yellow dress of fine cotton broadcloth sprigged with tiny green leaves. A wide sash of the same green cinched her slender waist and tied in a graceful bow in back. White eyelet lace trimmed the modest rounded neck and elbow length sleeves. A natural straw hat nestled atop her glossy hair.

At four o’clock, the bright-eyed couple stood before Justice of the Peace James Waldron radiating happiness. Witnessing the ceremony were Mrs. Waldron and Olivia Dahl.

When the justice pronounced them husband and wife, Adam sweetly kissed Rachel’s lips. The Waldrons congratulated them with a smile and a handshake, but Olivia hugged them both and kissed Rachel on the cheek.

Rachel tucked her hand in the crook of Adam’s arm and he escorted her toward the door, then stopped to look back and say with a mock frown, “Back to work, Miss Dahl.”

“Slave driver!” she said, laughing.

Adam had made a reservation at the hotel’s café for the one room they had for private occasions. He and Rachel had an hour before dinner and decided to take a drive outside of town and just enjoy each other’s company.

Rachel held on to her husband’s arm as the horse trotted west along the south bank of the North Platte River. A few months ago she had thought she would never be happy again. But now, here she was, sitting beside her husband … the love of her life. A wondrous future awaited her.

She leaned close to Adam and whispered, “I love you.”

He took the reins in his left hand, put his arm around her, and pulled her against him. “I love you too, beautiful lady.”

God has been so good to me
, Rachel thought.

They sat down at the table in their private dining room, almost too excited to eat. When dinner was over and they left the café arm in arm, Adam and Rachel looked toward the spectacular sunset. The lowering sun was painting the broad prairie a brilliant red that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Rachel’s hand found Adam’s as she said, “What a perfect ending to a perfect day.”

Adam helped her into the buggy, kissed her softly, and said, “Perfect because today Adam Burke became the most blessed man on the face of the earth.”

He climbed in beside her and put the horse in motion. They
drove through the dusty streets of North Platte toward their little rented home and their new life together.

On Friday, when Adam came home from work, a pleasant aroma met him at the door. It hadn’t taken long for him to learn that Rachel was an excellent cook. Now he tiptoed to the kitchen door and peeked in. Rachel was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a letter.

Her hands were trembling, and she was sniffling.

He went to her quickly and said, “Honey, what’s the matter?”

She looked up at him through a film of tears. “I’m crying happy tears, darling. Look here.” She took out a check from Aunt Esther’s envelope. “My precious aunt sent us a hundred dollars as a wedding gift.”

“Well, that was awfully nice of her. We’ll have to write and thank her.”

Rachel laid the check back on top of the envelope and picked up a second letter. “And this is from Daddy.”

Adam’s eyes fell on the envelope. The return address was the same as Esther Holden’s, but a gasp escaped his lips when he saw the name Joseph Mason.

“What’s wrong?” Rachel said, frowning up at him.

“Nothing. It just surprises me that you got a letter from your father. You know … being an alcoholic and all. What does he say?”

“Here. I’d like you to read it.”

Adam began reading. Joseph’s handwriting was sharp and clear as he told his daughter that within days after she left for Nebraska he came to the end of his rope, and for the first time he listened as his sister told him the gospel and they read together from the Bible. For the first time in his miserable life he saw what Jesus had done for him on the cross. Esther had led him to the Lord on June 6. Immediately after opening his heart to Jesus, he had thrown away every liquor bottle.

He went to church with Esther the next Sunday and was baptized.
He had not touched a drop of alcohol since the day he got saved. Jesus had not only saved his soul from hell but had taken away the power of alcohol over him. He was free in body and soul.

He had been offered a job at a Memphis brokerage firm. With his years of experience as owner of American Securities Company, he felt he would do well there. He told Rachel how sorry he was for not having been a good father. He asked her to forgive him and told her he loved her. He also asked her to greet his new son-in-law for him.

Adam’s insides were churning. Nancy Mason’s husband, Joseph, had owned the most successful brokerage firm in Philadelphia—American Securities Company.

He handed the letter back to Rachel. “I’m glad your father found a way to overcome his drinking problem.”

“My aunt has long been a Christian. She’s talked to me about being saved many, many times. Daddy taught me to stay away from that ‘religious fanaticism’ from the time I can remember, but now I’m wondering if there really isn’t something to it. I expected that any day Daddy would die from his drinking but … his letter sounds so wonderful. I can hardly believe the change.” Rachel left her chair and went to Adam, putting her arms around his neck. “Honey, are you all right?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m fine. I’m just … so overwhelmed to hear this good news about your father.”

“You go get washed up. Supper will be on in fifteen minutes.”

“We haven’t talked about church or that sort of thing, Adam,” Rachel said while they were eating. “What do you think? Daddy’s change is really marvelous. Is there something to it? Believing in Jesus and being saved, I mean.” Adam seemed preoccupied and didn’t respond. Rachel reached across the table to grasp his hand. “Honey, are you sure you’re all right?”

“Oh. Uh … yes. I think there just might be something to it. Pastor Gann has talked to me about it at length, and I’ve thought
about Jesus on the cross a lot since then. It could be everything Pastor Gann says it is.”

Later that night as they lay in the darkness holding each other, Rachel said, “Adam, would you like to know more about becoming a Christian? There’s been such a change in Daddy, what Aunt Esther has been telling me all these years has to be true. Why don’t we go see Pastor Gann tomorrow and let him explain it some more?”

“Maybe we ought to go to church Sunday, like we told Pastor Gann we would.”

“I think that would be a good thing to do.”

Rachel awakened the next morning tired and listless from a troublesome night. She and Adam sat at the breakfast table barely picking at their food, and she could tell Adam had not slept well either.

Rachel kissed Adam and sent him off to work, then cleared the table and did her morning chores. All the while the words of her father’s letter kept running through her mind. She poured herself a second cup of coffee and read the letter again. She stared out the kitchen window at the white clouds drifting on the high winds, and recalled Aunt Esther’s letters and their conversations over the years.

Suddenly, Rachel knew she couldn’t wait till Sunday. She undid her apron, tidied her hair, and hurried out the door.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Seth Coleman guided his horse down Main Street at the west end of North Platte. His chase had led him almost to the Nebraska–Wyoming border before it came to an abrupt end. He had decided to see Adam Burke on his ride back to Omaha, and planned his route through North Platte.

Seth spotted his friend coming toward him on the boardwalk. He put the horse to a fast trot, removed his hat and waved it, calling, “Adam! Hey, Adam!”

Adam was caught momentarily off guard, then smiled at seeing
his friend and waved back. He left the boardwalk and headed into the street.

As Seth slid from his saddle, he noted a man sitting on a horse in line with the bank’s front door. He was holding the reins of two other horses.

Just then, Adam rushed up and slung an arm across Seth’s shoulders. “It’s so good to see you, friend. I wired you that I’d found my mail order bride and was getting married on the seventeenth. Your office said you were chasing outlaws in western Nebraska.”

“That’s right. I left a couple of dead outlaws with the Kimball County sheriff. Thought I’d come through here and see how you were doing. I’m really glad to hear that you’re married!”