Chasing Charity by Marcia Gruver

Author:Marcia Gruver [Gruver, Marcia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction/Romance Western
ISBN: 9781607420996
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2008-12-31T20:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

“Which one are you looking at now?”

Charity sat at the dressing table, pinning her hair and watching her mama through the big looking glass. Mama sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, bent low over the catalog in her lap. At the question, her head came up, one finger held steady on the page to mark her place. Her eyes met Charity’s in the mirror.

“It’s the Henke-Pillot.”

Charity pointed to the toppling stack wedged against her side. “And those?”

Mama picked up the topmost book. “This here’s the Sears Roebuck.” She pointed down at the pile. “That one’s John Deere. The rest are old Harper’s Weeklies. I’m studying on the adverts.”

“John Deere? I thought you were set on raising cattle, not crops.”

Her attention divided between her daughter and the catalog, she turned another page. “Ain’t looking for me. Widow Sheffield’s plow is held together by prayer and a wad of spit. I reckoned I might fetch her a new one when our money comes in.”

Charity smiled at Mama’s reflection. “I might’ve guessed. You haven’t a greedy bone in your body.”

Mama shook her head. “It ain’t that. If God intends to bless me when I don’t deserve it, how can I do less than bless others? I’ve always said money in the right hands does more good than harm. Now I aim to prove it.”

Instead of returning to her browsing, Mama watched while Charity fussed with her hair, peering so intently that Charity started to squirm. She put down the brush and squinted back at the brooding image. “What now? You’re staring.”

Mama frowned. “You’re mighty flushed, sugar. You ain’t taking sick, are you?” Tossing the catalog aside, she wiggled to the edge of the bed and hurried over to press her palm against Charity’s forehead. “Gracious, I reckon you’re a mite warm, too.”

Cheeks flaming, Charity caught the groping hand and pulled it away from her face. “I’m fine. It’s a warm day, that’s all.”

Mama slid both arms around Charity’s neck, resting her chin on top of her head. Their gazes locked in the glass. “Don’t you get sick on me, you hear? Not now, when everything’s about to change for the better.”

Charity patted her hand. “I won’t. I promise.”

Relieved when her mama crawled to the center of the bed and took up her books again, Charity returned to taming her hair. She dared not confess the little meddler had caught her mooning over Buddy, an activity that warmed her cheeks quite often lately. He’d been gone for two whole days now, and Charity missed him something fierce.

They’d never made it home that day. Charity had begun making peace with the possibility they never would. Back in the hotel, Mama overflowed with plans to build a new house every bit as grand as Mother Dane’s, with a stove like hers and a balcony attached to each of their bedrooms.

Buddy’s lesson on the eagle had come to Charity on wings of mercy. She’d spent a lot of time pondering her death grip on the past and decided not to let it steal her future.

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