Hope Springs by Sarah M. Eden

Author:Sarah M. Eden [Eden, Sarah M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction
ISBN: 9781629721392
Amazon: 1629721395
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: 2016-03-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

Joseph was about a breath away from consigning all of Hope Springs to perdition and letting them happily take themselves there. Though the ranch owners out at the farthest reaches of both the roads were a rough and often argumentative group, he’d reached the point where he far preferred their company to any of his nearer neighbors.

Almost every day that week he’d had a new report of one side or the other causing problems. Eggs had been stolen. Animals were being let out at night, leading to creative methods of locking barns or rigging pans to the doors so they would clang about should anyone try to break in. Hay had disappeared. Equipment had as well.

Bob Archibald and Damion MacCormack had spent much of an afternoon a few days earlier fighting on the road to town. Chester Smith and Eoin O’Donaghue undertook the same task, but along the banks of the river. No one was quite certain where Gerald Jones and Seamus Kelly had held their boxing match, but they looked every bit as bad as the others.

They were stealing from each other, pounding one another into a pulp, and generally doing their utmost to make life for their neighbors as miserable as possible. Their animosity increased day by day. The likelihood of widespread violence continued to grow. At some point, Joseph realized with frustrated resignation, he would have to once again threaten them into a cease-fire.

He’d seldom felt less like going to church than he did that Sunday morning. In the past, the Sunday after the final harvest had been a favorite. His mind was clear of work for once. But that day going to church felt like another chore.

“Are you ready to go, girls?” he asked, stepping into the parlor as he straightened his lapels.

Mrs. Smith finished tying a white ribbon on one of Emma’s long braids. The woman gave him a single quick nod, a gesture he’d come to recognize as her most common. It meant everything from agreement to reprimand to acknowledgment of an assignment. She didn’t say much. What she did say tended to be a touch too blunt. He almost preferred her silence.

“Come along.” He motioned the girls toward the dining room.

They passed through it to the kitchen and out the back door. Mrs. Smith followed along in their wake. He helped the girls onto the back bench of the buggy. Mrs. Smith preferred to sit up front. That had taken some getting used to, as the girls had grown accustomed to sitting beside him. Still, it kept the peace, which was all he wanted.

The drive to church was a quiet one. Ivy didn’t chatter away, and Emma’s usual silence felt quieter somehow. Had the tension in Hope Springs settled on his girls as well?

Inside the church building the townspeople sat like statues. Backs were ramrod straight. Eyes remained firmly ahead. Both sides refused to acknowledge the other. Though Joseph could see nothing but the backs of their heads from his place in the rear of the room, their postures were unmistakable.

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