Hill Country Courtship (Brides of Simpson Creek Book 8) Read online

  Hector Segundo rode at the side of a man Maude didn’t recognize at first, not until they drew up in front of the veranda. Hector said, “I’m sorry, Senor MacLaren. I suggested this man send a message, but he insisted he must see Senorita Harkey at once.”

  The man, who wore a travel-stained, mud-spattered duster over denim trousers and a striped shirt and leather vest was the very man Maude had hoped never to see again—Felix Renz. Hannah’s father. He jumped off his horse and stood facing her, reins clutched in his hand.

  She felt Jonas stiffen beside her as she said, “Mr. Renz, I’d like to present you to my employer, Jonas MacLaren. Mr. MacLaren, this is—”

  “Where is she?” Felix interrupted her, his voice frantic. “I just got back into town late last night, and Miz Meyer told me April Mae was dead, and that I had a kid...”

  “Mr. Renz, let Senor Gonsalvo take your horse, and why don’t you sit down?” Maude said, rising. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Jonas was fetching another chair from against the wall of the house.

  “Where’s my girl? Mrs. Meyer said it was a girl,” Renz said as he collapsed into the chair Jonas set down for him. “And what happened to April Mae? Mrs. Meyer wouldn’t tell me much...”

  Maude thought about offering him some tea, but he looked too panicked to be capable of swallowing anything or holding on to a delicate china cup.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Renz. April Mae arrived at the boardinghouse in labor, delivered a baby girl and died two days later of childbed fever. It...happens to new mothers sometimes...” she murmured, realizing how inadequate the statement must sound to someone who cared even as thoughtlessly as Felix Renz had for April Mae Horvath.

  Renz was as pasty pale as the belly of a fish and stank of spirits. His red-rimmed eyes stared blearily at her.

  “But how did she get to Simpson Creek?” he demanded, taking hold of her hand and clutching it desperately. “I left her on a ranch ’bout fifty miles from there. I went there to see her when I came back through, and her people shut the door in my face, sayin’ she’d run off.”

  There was a whining note in his voice that was causing her to lose pity fast. “She walked, Mr. Renz. She came looking for you,” she told him without trying to soften the facts.

  “But I told her I’d be back to see her,” he insisted. “I didn’t know I’d left her expectin’...”

  “Her parents threw her out when it became obvious she was with child,” Maude told him. “She didn’t have a choice about waiting for you. She came to the boardinghouse hoping to find you.”

  “And I was gone.”

  Maude nodded.

  “So where’s my baby girl?”

  That wasn’t the question she’d expected to come next. She’d thought he’d ask, Did April Mae suffer? Did she have a decent burial? Did she ask you to try to find me? Maude seethed inside at the man’s omissions and his disregard for the sorry state in which he’d left that poor girl.

  “I have been caring for the child, Mr. Renz. Hannah is well.”

  “Hannah? Hannah is what you named her?” He looked around them frantically then, as if baby Hannah might be sitting quietly at the front door, just watching the proceedings, or peeking from Maude’s front pocket or Jonas’s shoulder.

  “April Mae named her,” Maude told him.

  “I wanna see her. I’m her pa.”

  “I think not,” Jonas said, standing and putting an arm protectively around Maude’s shoulder. “At least, not today. If you want to see her, you will sober up and bathe, and return with clean clothes on.”

  Renz drew himself up to his unimpressive height. “You can’t keep a man from seeing his child!” he shouted, lurching unsteadily toward Jonas who showed no signs of backing down.

  “The same child you abandoned, along with her mother, before she was even born?” Maude asked in an icy tone. “You haven’t even asked where April Mae is buried. You forfeited any rights you might have had, Mr. Renz.”

  Renz gaped at her as if he might be trying to focus. “I was comin’ back, I told you...”

  Hector, still holding Renz’s horse’s reins with one hand, caught him before he could get any closer. “My boss has spoken. You must leave, senor.”

  “All right, I’ll leave,” Renz said, shaking off Gonsalvo’s grip. “But I’m comin’ back. An’ when I do, little Hannah’s leavin’ with me. A man’s got a right to his child!”

  Renz staggered toward his horse, seized the reins ungraciously from Gonsalvo and somehow managed to mount. The horse rolled its eyes and did a little protesting crowhop, nearly unseating his rider.

  “Show him the horse trough at the side of the barn before he goes, Hector,” Jonas said. “He’s ridden all this way and hasn’t given a thought to watering his horse. Clearly he doesn’t think any more of his animal than he did of his woman.”

  Hector obeyed, and Maude and Jonas remained on the veranda, frozen in silence, until Renz and the horse returned from the other side of the barn, then trotted down the lane that led to the road. Then Maude, her face awash in tears, turned to Jonas.

  “He can’t take her, can he? You won’t let him take my baby?”

  From his shirt pocket he produced a handkerchief, which he placed in her hand. He waited until she swiped at her eyes and cheeks, then said, “Of course I won’t let him take her, Maude. The man’s no more fit to be a father to Hannah than a pig is.” His face was grim as he added, “But don’t worry yourself—with any luck the horse will buck him off on his way back to Simpson Creek and break his neck, and that’ll be the end of it.”

  Maude could tell he was completely serious about his wish, and couldn’t find it in herself to blame him for it. She was just thankful she had left Hannah with Juana, rather than bringing her out to sit in the sunshine where Renz would have seen her immediately. In his worked-up state, he probably would have grabbed for her. She wished they didn’t have to face the prospect of his return, and she knew instinctively that he would return, despite the distance of the ranch from town. The man wandered all over central Texas selling his wares—what was an extra ten-mile trip?

  Jonas must have been thinking about it, too, for he turned to Hector, who had remained where he had been holding Renz’s horse and said, “I want two hands on watch at night until I say otherwise. If you see that man again, you’re to notify me immediately, no matter where I am on the ranch, you understand? Do not let him anywhere near Miss Maude or her child unless I am there.”

  Hector nodded, his black eyes liquid with earnestness. “Of course, senor. That serpiente—that snake—will not get close to that sweet baby or Senorita Harkey. This I vow. I will go and alert the rest of the vaqueros.” He bowed, then walked his horse toward the bunkhouse.

  She believed in that moment that Jonas’s foreman would give his life before letting Hannah’s father get past his guard, but she still wasn’t easy in her mind.

  “Jonas, I’m afraid,” she said, turning to the man next to her. “What should we do? Does that man have a right to his child, just because he fathered her? He’s done nothing to prove himself a responsible parent,” she said. “He didn’t even know he’d left her mother with child, and he’s got no job in Simpson Creek to provide a stable home for her. He doesn’t even have anywhere to take her other than back to the boardinghouse—and I doubt he’s bothered to consider how he’ll take care of her once she’s there. He’s not a man who thinks things through, which is why he’s always going to be nothing but a drummer, carting his pots and pans from town to town. But what if he insists, and brings the sheriff out to make us give Hannah to him?”

  Again she felt those strong arms go around her and pull her close. In the circle of his arms she felt protected and safe, and knew that he would see Hannah was protected and safe, too.

  “I’ve only met Sheriff Bishop once, but he doesn’t seem
the kind of man to suffer fools like that man gladly,” Jonas said. “Still I think it might be prudent to let the good sheriff know what’s going on, and your Reverend Chadwick, too. Would you like to see the preacher, and hear his advice?”

  Tears streaming down her face, she nodded, amazed that he had discerned the very thing that would bring her at least a measure of peace.

  “Then I’ll send for them, sweeting,” he said. “Right now. I’m going to have Hector send one of the hands into town directly, and tell them we’d appreciate the two of them calling on us as soon as possible. Until they come and we hear their counsel, rest easy, but do not leave the house without someone with you. And keep Hannah in the house. I won’t be leaving the ranch till this is settled.”

  “I’ll be careful,” she promised. “Thank you, Jonas.”

  He put his arms around her again. “Don’t worry, Maude. After suffering so much at the hands of a bad father myself, I will not allow it to happen to a sweet innocent like little Hannah.”

  Felix Renz’s bad example was one more reason Jonas would use to keep from believing in a heavenly Father who cared about him, Maude thought grimly, even as she rejoiced that he was here to protect them. Please, Lord, change his mind about Yourself. Show him Your love.

  “I’m going to go tell Juana what happened and see if your mother needs anything,” Maude said when he released her.

  “’Tis well for Juana to be aware, too,” he said approvingly. “And while I wouldn’t worry my mother with Renz’s threat—she never leaves the house and I would never permit him inside, so she won’t be crossing his path—I will say she’d die before she let anyone harm a hair on Hannah’s head. She’s very taken with the wee lass.” Then, astonishingly, he leaned over and kissed the top of Maude’s head.

  “All will be well, Maude. Trust me,” he murmured. Then he turned and headed for the barn. Too dazed to speak, she watched him go until he was out of sight, and then she went into the house.

  Chapter Fourteen

  When Maude went to attend to Coira the next morning, she was quickly made aware that her son had told his mother of yesterday’s visit by Felix Renz.

  “I wish I’d been there to greet him,” the older woman grumbled. “And if he comes back, I’ll bash him over the head with my cane,” she said, pointing with a bony, shaking finger at the polished mahogany cane with its silver-knobbed head that lay propped by her bed.

  Maude, who’d been brushing the old woman’s pale ginger hair, paused and said carefully, “I hope we won’t have to resort to any violence to make the man see sense. Reverend Gil and the sheriff have been sent for, so hopefully they can give us wise counsel on how the situation should be handled.”

  “If that man comes and thinks to do anything but leave the wee bairn here where she’s loved and safe, I won’t be responsible for the result,” Coira harrumphed. “Though my son would probably take action before I could.”

  Maude couldn’t help but smile at Coira’s assertion that Hannah was “loved and safe” here. “I thank you for giving us a home, Hannah and I, and Juana,” she murmured, her fingers moving deftly to braid Coira’s hair before winding it into a thin coronet at the top of her head.

  “You earn your keep,” the woman muttered. “But how do you feel about serving a murderess, now that you know what happened to Jonas’s father back in our homeland?”

  Startled that Coira knew that Jonas had told Maude of their past, she dropped a handful of hairpins, which fell to the floor with a tiny, tinny clatter.

  “I don’t think of you as a murderess, Mrs. MacLaren,” Maude said honestly. “To me, you’re a mother who did what she had to do to protect her son. I wasn’t put here to judge you.” How could she decide that there was some way Coira could have handled it better? Maude hadn’t been there and didn’t know what Coira’s choices could have been. Yet didn’t the Commandment say Thou shalt not kill?

  “You’re a good girl, Maude Harkey,” Coira murmured, placing a hand on Maude’s wrist. “I wish I could have your peace of mind.”

  “Would you like me to have Reverend Gil call on you when he comes? I’m sure he would pray with you and help you find the peace you’re looking for.”

  Coira uttered a short, bitter bark of laughter. “As simple as that, ye think? Girl, I killed my husband. Do ye think it’s as simple as saying, God I’m sorry, please forgive me?”

  “Yes, I do,” Maude said. “The thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus wasn’t able to atone for his crimes, but he asked our Lord, and Jesus took him with Himself to heaven that same day, didn’t he?”

  Coira stared at her for a long moment. “So the Good Book says, child, so it says.” She didn’t sound convinced. But she didn’t sound scornful, either. It was a start.

  * * *

  Hector returned to the ranch at midday the next day with Sheriff Bishop and Reverend Gil in tow. The two were shown into the parlor of the ranch house and given coffee, and Maude and Jonas sat down to hear what they had to say.

  “I’ve spoken to Gabe Bryant, whom you’ll know is Simpson Creek’s only lawyer, Miss Maude,” Sheriff Bishop said. “And he’s of the opinion that having abandoned the baby’s mother, no court would order that a helpless infant be given to such a person, especially seeing as how he has no fixed residence, no wife and makes his living traveling all over Texas,” he said. Hannah, who was sitting in Maude’s lap, chose this moment to gurgle happily at him, and Bishop smiled, reminding Maude that the hard-faced, grim sheriff was a loving father, too.

  “That’s reassuring,” Maude murmured. “But what if he comes and tries to insist on taking her?”

  “Then Mr. MacLaren has every right to throw him off his property,” Bishop said. “I’ve already put Felix Renz on notice in Simpson Creek that I’m watching him and won’t stand for any shenanigans. One wrong move and he’ll be enjoying the hospitality of my jail. You just send me word if he comes out and harasses any of you. But I think the reverend might have some good advice worth listening to,” he said, nodding at Gil Chadwick.

  “If it involves turning the other cheek while that blackguard tries to take the wee bairn, forget it, parson,” Jonas warned, his voice a rumbling growl.

  Gil Chadwick smiled. “Oh, I don’t think it’ll come to that. I’ve been praying about the matter, and here’s the approach I would suggest...” He laid out his plan as Jonas and Maude listened attentively, asking questions to work out all the details.

  When it came time for the sheriff and the preacher to return to Simpson Creek, Maude felt only a trifle more confident about following the preacher’s suggestion. What if it didn’t work? She wanted to beg Sam Bishop to stay and guard her child, but she knew that was impossible. The sheriff had a whole town to guard, several miles away. She needed to remember that Jonas, as the owner of Five Mile Hill Ranch, would protect those who lived here. She owed him her trust that he would do as he promised.

  And perhaps she was worried about nothing, in any case. Felix Renz might have realized on his own that he had no real means to provide for a child, and never return to Five Mile Hill Ranch. But still she thought she’d better cover her worries with prayer, and did so that evening with Juana. Juana had not been present when the preacher made his suggestions and was a great deal less confident that they would work.

  Maude’s hopes were dashed the next morning when Felix Renz, freshly bathed and shaved and wearing clothes that must have been newly purchased in the Simpson Creek mercantile, rode up to the ranch house and announced he was here to see his child and wouldn’t take no for an answer. There was at least this much to be grateful for—he was sober this time.

  True to his word, Jonas had remained at the ranch house in case of this visit, and grudgingly escorted Renz to the parlor. Maude had gone to wait there, and now greeted the man as civilly as she could, hoping he didn’t see just how nervous she was abou
t the prospect of letting this scoundrel near her child. But like it or not, he was Hannah’s father and had the right to see her—even if she had no intention of letting him take the baby away.

  “Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Renz, and I will go and get Hannah.”

  “You tell my baby girl her papa is here to see her!” Renz crowed with a smirk as if he was well aware of Maude’s and Jonas’s discomfort at his presence and enjoyed every minute of it, despite Jonas’s glowering.

  A few minutes later, Maude shakily descended the stairs, accompanied by Juana, who held baby Hannah.

  “Amiga, are you sure this will work?” Juana hissed as they hovered outside the parlor. “That our Hannah will be safe?”

  “Have faith, Juana. We prayed about it, didn’t we?” Maude said, though she felt far from perfectly assured herself. “Besides, Jonas will be here the whole time. He won’t let anything bad happen. I think it was wise to dress her as you did.”

  Juana winked. “A father must learn certain realities, no?”

  For anyone else who’d come to admire baby Hannah, Maude would have made sure Juana was dressed in her best, a long gown with lace trim that Senora Morales had stitched, and would have wrapped her in the crocheted blanket she’d made herself out of the ranch’s softest wool. But Maude would not dress Hannah up like a gift for Felix Renz.

  “Here she is, Mr. Renz, your daughter, Hannah,” Maude cooed, taking Hannah from a shaking Juana and bringing the baby forward, though she wanted nothing more than to run out of the room and barricade herself and her child in their bedroom.

  “Come to Papa, sweet girl,” Renz said, grinning as he stood to admire his child. “What a beautiful little thing you are! I believe you have April’s blue eyes, daughter.”

  Maude stiffened at Renz’s mention of Hannah’s late mother, for she had last seen April’s blue eyes clouded with pain and fever before they closed forever. She steeled herself to keep smiling as she held out the baby.