A Bride for Cameron by Barbara Goss (read novels website .txt) 📗

them.  Maybe you took something that didn’t belong to you, or maybe you said a lie, committed adultery, or coveted something that belonged to someone else?”  His dark eyes roamed the room, making sure they hit on everyone.  “Well, if you did break His commandments, He sent his son, Jesus, to earth to die for your sins, and they nailed Him to a cross until He was dead.  He arose after three days and joined His father in heaven.  Jesus suffered greatly before He died, for all for us.  Because of Jesus, if we are truly sorry for our sins, all we need to do is ask God’s forgiveness and He will grant it.” Hollister gave them all a rare smile.  “Otherwise, not a one of us would get to heaven.”

Everyone laughed, and Hollister closed his Bible.  “This will be my last week here as a traveling preacher.  The Hunter’s Grove town council has chosen me to be your permanent minister.  We’ll start a fund, and with the council’s help, by this time next year, we’ll have a church.  Can I hear an amen?”

“Amen.”  The applause given to Reverend Hollister shook the barn’s rafters.

Hannah and Cameron walked into the livery and back to the office where Sam Hendricks, the owner, sat at his desk.  “What can I do for you folks?”

Cameron introduced himself and Hannah before asking, “Would you happen to have a white carriage to rent?”

“White?  No, never.  All our carriages are black.  I have a shiny, brand new one, if you’re interested.”

“No,” Cameron said. “A friend saw one the other night, and I wondered if someone had rented it from your livery.”

“Afraid not.”

“That’s all right,” Cameron said.  “We were just curious.  It was nice meeting you.”

As they left the livery, Cameron bet they were both thinking the very same thing: Joe was the only one with a white carriage.

Hannah and Cameron picked up the children from Otto’s house, but they kept their thoughts to themselves as the children sang “Jesus Loves Me.” Georgie was getting better at talking. Hannah turned to smile at them.  “Very good singing.  Who taught you that song?”

 “Miss Bessie,” Annabelle said.

Cameron turned to smile at Hannah.  When she returned his smile, he knew, at that moment, that he loved her. She was pretty, smart, and an excellent mother, but together, they had something more—they were a family.

When they returned from church, Hannah put Georgie in bed for his nap.  Before she left the room, she peeked out of the window to see Annabelle swinging on the swing Cameron had made her.

Hannah smiled.  Despite what they'd learned at the livery, she had a good feeling that day.  Cameron was growing on her.  She hated to admit it, but she was starting to like him since he was now acting like a father to the children.  She felt that he loved them as much as she did. While Cameron had a few things about him she disliked, little by little, he was chiseling those things away.  What she disliked about him most were the acts of dishonesty he’d committed.  Could she ever trust him?

She went downstairs to find Cameron on a large sofa chair in the sitting room, reading a book.  She sat on the settee and struggled with whether she should bring up a subject that might spoil the peacefulness of the afternoon.  She sighed.  “Cameron, what reason would Joe have for killing Mr. Monroe?”

Cameron put his book down on his lap.  He frowned, but his words didn’t sound angry.  “I’m sure he didn’t.  I just haven’t figured out how his carriage came to be there that night.”

“You know him pretty well, then?”

“For years.  It was Joe who brought me to settle here in Hunter’s Grove.   We graduated from law school together, took our bar exam around the same time, and he and I decided to open a law firm.  Joe picked Hunter’s Grove because his uncle had lived here before he passed away.  His uncle had left him the building, which was a barber’s shop.  We remodeled it, and that’s how we got started.”

“Do you think Joe knew Monroe?” she asked.

“He knew him but not well.  He mentioned that he’d written a will for Monroe before he married Myra McCracken. According to Joe, that was the extent of their relationship.”

“A will?  I wonder how much she got from his death.”

“She got the house and five hundred dollars.  Not enough to commit murder for.  I checked all that for the trial.”  Cameron relaxed back into his chair.  “I’m going to find out what his carriage was doing at the murder scene tomorrow.  That never came up during the trial.  No one, including me, thought to ask a neighbor since Wilson lived in such a rural area.  No neighbors could have even seen his house.”

Cameron jumped to his feet.  “Where’s Annabelle?”

“She was on her swing a few minutes ago.  Shall we go out and join her?”

“Yes. She shouldn’t be left outside alone too long—there are wolves and coyotes around,” Cameron said as he rushed out the front door.

Hannah heard him sigh with relief when he saw her on the swing, singing “Jesus Loves Me” as loudly as she could.

Cameron stood on the porch and laughed, “On second thought, her singing would most likely scare any wild critters away.”

Hannah laughed with him, and before she knew it, his arm was around her shoulders.

“Hannah,” he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze, “we have the most delightful children.”

Chapter Seventeen

Early the next morning, Cameron left for the office while Hannah was giving Annabelle her lessons.

He walked into Joe’s office and slid into a chair.

Joe looked up and smiled.  “Just the man I wanted to see.  I have your speech in the town square all set up for tomorrow at one o’clock.”

“I’ll be there,”