Betrayal by Robin Lee Hatcher

Author:Robin Lee Hatcher [Hatcher, Robin Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780310411857
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2012-09-08T04:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

Julia’s respite from worry, found at the meal table with her neighbors, was brief. That night was another restless one. Each time she was about to drift into sleep, she would think about the taxes. Then she would begin to count her cattle again, trying to decide how many she would need to sell and wondering how long she could survive after selling so many.

It was close to two in the morning when she gave up trying to sleep. After rising from the bed, she grabbed a shawl to put around her shoulders and went outside onto the porch. The night air was surprisingly warm for this early in June, and a first-quarter moon frosted the barnyard in a white light. She sank onto a wooden chair and waited for an answer to her worries to present itself.

Timothy Trent, the rancher who’d bought Sage-hen cows for the past nine or ten years, was a fair man. He’d always paid Angus well for the cattle that he then shipped to market with his own. There was no reason to believe he wouldn’t give her fair market value this year as he had last. But even if she received top dollar, the herd would have to be cut by more than half if she was to have enough money to pay her taxes.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

As the Bible verse whispered in her heart, she caught her breath. Had she asked God for wisdom? Or had she been too busy telling the Lord how she expected Him to arrange things for her? What if it was His will for her to leave Sage-hen? Could she accept that? Oh, but surely that wasn’t His answer. It couldn’t be His answer. Not after all she’d gone through. Not now. She’d worked hard and prayed hard. She’d set her mind on rejoicing at all times, on praising Him. She’d tried to do all that He asked of her. Surely she deserved to keep the ranch. Surely He would provide the means for her to stay.

How could His will be otherwise? Her babies were buried here. Her only friends lived on the neighboring farm. This ranch had been her home and her world for all of her adult life. How would she survive if forced to leave? She knew no other way to make a living. She had no skills or expertise that would recommend her to an employer.

Like my mother before me.

With that thought came another fear. Fear that she would find herself living as her mother had lived, doing the work her mother had done, perhaps still did.

“There isn’t any sin the blood of Christ cannot cover,” Reverend Adair had said to ten-year-old Julia as they sat next to one another in the church pew one weekday afternoon.

Julia squinted as she looked at the minister. “Nothing?”

“Nothing.” He leaned toward her. “The only thing that can separate us from God is if we reject the gift of salvation that Christ offers.

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