Jesse by Barbara Goss (best romantic books to read TXT) 📗

possibility that someone could shoot you during your secret mission? I’m scared, Jesse.”

“There’s always a possibility, but I’ve been doing this for ten years and I have only had one gunshot wound; it was just a flesh lesion in my shoulder.”

Charlie sat up and searched his shoulders with her fingers in the dark.  “There!  I feel the scar.”  She kissed it.  “Please, come home to me safely.”

Jesse pulled her closer.  “Sweetheart, tonight has been the best night of my entire life.  I don’t want to go.  I love you so much; I’ll do everything in my power to return safely and quickly. Together we’ll be a family, and I promise this will be my last mission.  I’ll find a job here in town, somewhere.”

Jesse was as worried about her as she was about him.  Would she be safe alone?  He couldn’t protect her if he was miles away.  He pulled her closer and kissed her lightly.

“There is plenty of money in our safe,” Jesse told her.  “The combination is in my office. On my desk, you’ll find an ink bottle.  Lift the bottle, and you’ll see the combination underneath it.  Do you know how to open a safe?”

 “Yes... put the thingy on zero, then turn to the first number going right, then left, then right, then open, correct?”

“Exactly.  I want you to take whatever you need.  Perhaps you and Sophia could go to Sterling’s Mill to see if the furniture I ordered is in.  If you see any furniture there that you’d like, buy it.”

“We could use a new table and chairs, a dresser, and a more comfortable settee.”

“I’ll leave the décor to you.”

“Jesse... I promise I won’t cry again about you leaving if you'll do something for me.”

“I’ll do anything for you,” he answered, knowing he meant anything except give up this mission.

“I want you to pray to God every day for Him to keep you safe and return you to me quickly.”

Jesse hesitated as he played with her hair.  “Pray?  I don’t think I’ve ever prayed.  How do I pray?”

 “You don’t even have to speak the prayer out loud.  Just think it, and God will hear you.”

“He’s a mind reader?”

“He is omnipotent.”

Jesse chuckled softly.  “Omnipo what?  What does that mean?”

“It means that God has unlimited power, and He can do anything.”

 “So show me an example of a prayer.”

Charlie sat up.  “Dear heavenly Father, please keep my dear husband safe while he journeys, and bring him home to me safe and sound.  He’s going to pray to you while he’s gone—please hear him.  In Jesus’ holy name, I pray.  Amen.”

“And that’s all I have to do?  It’s like talking to a friend, then.”  Jesse kissed her forehead.  “I promise to pray every day.”

“There’s one more thing I’d like you to do, just in case things go bad.”

“You’re such a pessimist.” He laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

“Seriously, Jesse.  If something happens to you, I want assurance you’ll go to heaven because I love you so very much.”

Jesse felt like he’d do almost anything for her.  She was the best thing that had ever happened to him.  “You name it, I’ll do it.”

“I want you to accept Jesus as your savior and invite the Holy Spirit into your heart.”

“I don’t understand,” he said.

Charlie spent the next half hour explaining salvation to Jesse.  He focused on her every word.

“You know something, Mrs. Morgan? You’re good for me. Ever since I was a child I’ve known there was a superior being up there,  but I ignored it because I didn’t understand any of it.  Now that I have Jesus and the Holy Spirit in me, I know I’ll be protected.  Thank you for sharing this with me.  I listen to the sermon on Sundays, and it all makes perfect sense, but I was missing a few important facts, and now I have everything I need: the best wife in the world and Jesus as my savior.”

He kissed her passionately, and she wrapped her arms around him.  “Make love to me again, Jesse.  I want to remember this night until you return.”

“I can’t ever turn you down.”

Later, Jesse held Charlie in his arms.  “I’m going to sneak out of here before you wake up tomorrow morning—I can’t stand goodbyes. I’ll play this night over and over in my mind while I travel.  I’ll do my best to get home as fast as I can.”

Jesse had reached the Sterling's Mill area using his backwoods shortcuts before the sun appeared on the horizon, and he headed for Cheyenne.  There, he’d veer southeast to get to Kansas and Dodge City. He knew how to sniff out an outlaw.  He’d stop first in Dodge to talk to people. He’d find out how many were in the gang, who had seen them, and which way they had headed. He’d find Leo.

When Jesse finally reached Dodge, he questioned the bank employees, bystanders, and everyone he could.  Next, he asked people in the street if anyone had seen which direction the bank robbers had headed.  He asked so many people, and it seemed as if no one had seen which way the men had headed until he spoke to the owner of the livery.

“I sure did see them scoundrels. Couldn’t miss ‘em.  They nearly knocked us off the road that day.   I was bringing a rental buggy back to the livery when four men raced by me, and one of 'em still had the kerchief over his face.  The others had 'em around their necks.”

“Which direction were they headed?” Jesse asked.

The man pointed and said, “North, down that road.  Now, that road ends after a mile, and they’d have to choose whether to turn left or right.  Tom Abernethy lives near the end of the road, and he might know which way they went.”

 “I’m