The Cowboy's Healing Ways

“No, I’m thinking about going to the mission field, to Honduras.”

“For how long?”

“A year.”

She nodded. “And so the job would be?”

“I have a small house on my place at the lake. You could have that home and a small salary. In return, I could use a housekeeper and if you aren’t afraid of horses, someone to feed my livestock when I’m not there.”

“A job and a house.” Her voice tightened with emotion. “But do you really want me on your property? I’m a convicted felon.”

“Tell me your side of the story and I’ll decide.”

“I didn’t know that my stepbrother was a drug dealer. He used my apartment that last day to make meth while I was gone. The police had been watching him and they thought I was involved. Ryan jumped out of my car and they never caught him. I got busted with meth, some prescription drugs and the money. I was just naive when it came to Ryan. I saw him the way I saw myself—as a victim of our childhood.” She shrugged thin shoulders. “I wanted to fix him.”

As she finished he nodded. “I believe you.”

She nodded and looked away, her hand coming up to swipe at tears. “That’s good to know.”

“This will be good for both of us. I need a housekeeper and you need a home.”

“Why haven’t you hired someone? There would have to be any number of people who would want a position like the one you’re offering me.”

“I interviewed a few people but most of them know my family. The older women feel as if they have to mother me and watch over me.” And the younger women wanted a husband.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Will you take the job?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

The battle with her tears was lost. She swiped at her eyes but tears streamed down her cheeks. Jesse found a napkin in the console between the seats and handed it to her. The most impulsive decision he’d made in years was sitting next to him crying, and he couldn’t take back the offer. Not when a child was involved. Because Laura was a mom who wanted to keep her little girl.

Jesse started his truck and pulled out of the parking lot of the motel. He told himself he’d done the right thing. He’d let her clean his house. He’d provide her a home. No strings, no attachments. Easy.

* * *

Laura wiped her eyes and tried to think through what had just happened. Too good to be true? In her life strings always seemed to be attached. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done anything for her that didn’t require something back.

She closed her eyes tight and tried to think, which was hard to do in her present condition. First, she had to consider Abigail—not just getting her back, but keeping her safe. She had so much at stake. She couldn’t take chances, not with her future or her daughter’s.

With a sigh she faced the man who had offered her the opportunity of a lifetime. “Why would you do this for me?”

He shrugged and pulled out on the road. The truck eased through the traffic and he didn’t answer for a few minutes.

“Because you deserve a second chance.” He paused to make a left-hand turn. “I want to help you out because your little girl deserves to have you.”

“How do you know that?”

He looked at her for a brief second, then refocused on the road. “I’ve seen a lot in my life, Laura. I’ve seen the best and worst of humanity. I think I know when someone is decent and really needs a second chance.”

She knew there was more to his story. She saw it in the sometimes-lost look in his eyes, as if he might have been a little boy needing a mother. But she had to remind herself that he was a man, not a little boy anymore. And in her experiences with men, limited as they were, there were usually consequences.

“Where are we going?” She touched the phone in her pocket, reassured by its presence.

“If you want the job, I thought I’d take you out to the house.” He glanced her way again. “I think we’re both going to have to make a stab at trusting.”

She nodded, glancing out the window. They were close to Dawson when he turned down a paved road with signs giving directions to different points of interest. A few minutes later he turned into a driveway, hit a remote on the visor of this truck and the gates in front of them opened wide.

Laura shivered in the blanket wrapped around her shoulders and watched out the window. A few deer jumped from the woods and ran across the road in front of them. Her breath caught as she watched the creatures bound out of sight.

A few hundred more feet and the woods gave way to grass. And then a tiny house surrounded by a picket fence. Ahead she could see a small stable and barely could make out the exterior of a house surrounded by tall trees.

“This is the original house.” He pulled in the drive. “It isn’t much, but it’s in good shape, easy to heat and cool. Two bedrooms and it’s furnished.”

She swallowed the lump of fear that said this couldn’t be real. Things like this didn’t happen, not to her, not in this life. She remembered a prayer that God would help her find faith again—that He would provide a way for her to get Abigail back.

“We can go in.” Jesse pulled the keys from the ignition and he had his hand on the door.

Laura looked at him, at the house. She could trust him. He was Myrna Cooper’s grandson. He was a doctor. And she didn’t have a lot of options. She had to take this chance if she meant to get on her feet again.

She reminded herself that decent men existed. Laura barely remembered her real father, but he’d been one. He’d been kind, caring, always worried about his family. After he passed away, her life had been filled by men who were sad replacements. She’d known selfish men, abusive men, users.

“Are you okay?” He had opened his door but pulled it closed again. “Look, there are other options if you don’t think this is what you want.”

“I’m fine—just amazed and worried that I could never repay you.”

“It isn’t charity. You’re going to work for this.”

“You don’t understand. This means everything. I have a daughter who I haven’t been able to bring home with me for months.”

He smiled, the gesture settling in his chocolate-brown eyes. “Laura, I get it. Let’s go in and see if you’re going to be okay living here.”

Laura got out and met him at the front of the truck. The yard was pretty and neat. The leaves on the trees were budding and still the bright green of early spring. She walked through the gate and up the sidewalk to the front porch of the little white house with the green roof.

Jesse reached into his pocket for the key and after opening the door, he motioned her inside.

Laura stepped into the tiny but bright living room. She walked around the room, touching soft chenille-upholstered furniture and lingering in front of the wide window that overlooked the lawn, the driveway and, across the way, a tiny view of the lake. She drew the blanket around her shoulders a little tighter.

Jesse walked up behind her. He touched her shoulder and she turned a little, smiling at the man who had offered her this place, this chance at a real life and the real opportunity to get Abigail back.

She looked into his deep brown eyes and saw a flicker of something, just before he shook his head and stepped back, his hand dropping from her shoulder.

“Let me show you the rest of the house.”

She followed him from the living room to the kitchen, a bright room with white cabinets and ceramic tile floors. Down the hall were two sunny bedrooms. She stood in the center of one of those rooms, hugging herself, thinking she might possibly wake up from a wonderful dream where things went right in her life only to find herself still in the halfway house praying for a way out.

“Are you okay?”