An Uncommon Beauty: Abiding Love, #2

By Kari Trumbo

The long-awaited sequel to An Imperfect Promise.

Esther Greely has lost her orphanage, the only home she's ever known.
Life is cold and unyielding. What can she possibly do with her limited skills? She's always felt like an outsider, except to one man. The one man who can't help her. No matter what.

Carl Rainer is the sheriff of Albertville, Nebraska, but people don't trust him after a rustling ring formed right under his nose.
He not only needs to rebuild trust, but find somewhere for the displaced Esther Greely. He has loved her since he met her, but convention says he shouldn't. If he takes a chance now...it could seal public opinion against him forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inked in Faith Publications
• Release date: May 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393199816

Book preview

Prologue

Cornton, Nebraska, January 1903

The back of Esther Greening’s neck prickled in the stifling heat, and she flicked her fan to cool her face. More people entered the packed courtroom and took positions along the back wall. Perhaps no one was looking at her, but she felt eyes on her nevertheless. What seemed like the whole town of Albertville had turned out for the hearing of the decade. Residents had ridden all the way to the county seat of Cornton to watch the proceedings. Five deaths and two rustlers were bigger news than ever before, and no one wanted to miss the trial. Now they’d get the full story of the goings-on at the Dowds’ ranch, not just gossip shared over coffee.

Esther nestled into her seat near her dear friends John and Gini Dowd. They’d found a small but open section big enough for their group in the front, the second row back, near the table for the prosecution. Sheriff Carl Rainer sat on Gini’s right side, as fidgety as if he were on trial himself. Since the crimes, he’d been on trial so far as public opinion was concerned. Once the two men who’d survived the shootout were locked away for cattle rustling, theft, vandalism, and murder, he could finally get back to doing his job. Nothing had ever happened in Albertville that compared to this case, not that Esther or anyone she knew could recollect. The whole incident had been mulled over so much, she was sure she knew the details inside and out. Now it was time for the judge to bring the rest to light.

Long benches, similar to the pews at church, sat in rows, one long one on each side of the room, to form an odd curve facing the raised wood enclave for the judge. Tall windows ran along one side, but another building staunched the light merely a few feet away. For as similar as the room was to a church, with even the front like a pulpit, it gave her none of the comfort. Until those rustlers were put away for good, John and Gini would worry about the safety of their daughter, and Carl would be blamed.

The sheriff clasped his hands so tightly that even his suntanned skin turned white under the stress. He released his grip, then sighed as he bunched his hat in his hands and tugged on the collar of his shirt. The watchful eye and often fierce tongue of society were new to him. There were no words Esther could impart on him as to how to manage the weight. She wanted to calm his nerves, give him some of her belief. She gently reached for his hat and tugged it from his vicelike grip. With a few presses of her fingers, she had most of the creases out.

Sheriff Rainer, stop acting like you’re the one who stole John’s cattle. You weren’t. This trial isn’t on your head. You did your job. Now let the lawyers do theirs.

He didn’t respond. Instead he pushed back in the seat until she felt the whole pew shift. Carl was strong, but this case had burdened him, aged him. Enough that he’d stopped coming out to see her at all.

We are here to see the Fitzpatricks get what they deserve. They earned every minute behind bars they get. She couldn’t abide the thought of hanging, but if they rotted away in prison for the rest of their days for what they’d done, she wouldn’t regret wishing for it.

Nothing about the law is ever sure. He sighed, and the furrows over his eyes deepened, and if possible, the circles beneath his eyes darkened.

He’d been a wonderful sheriff up until this case. It wasn’t his fault John and Gini hadn’t taken their problems to him when the rustlers had arrived. John hadn’t known what—or rather whom—had caused the death of his sister’s husband. No one had known except his sister, and she hadn’t been willing to tell. If John had known, the losses to his ranch and the deaths might have been prevented. But Carl’s fault or not, the town blamed him and labeled him an incompetent failure. Even though he could do nothing to make the court proceedings successful, if the court failed to put these two men away, Carl would be the one who paid by way of losing all public confidence. And maybe his job.

Judge Morgan Cartwright entered the chamber, his long dark robes billowed out around him as he strode to the raised desk. He wore gold spectacles and had a heavy gait. A tall, thin man in a badge stood in front of the high wooden bench.

All rise.

The packed courthouse complied quietly. Carl gripped his hat so tightly it quivered. If the thick felt weren’t there, he’d probably gouge his own hands. While Carl would welcome her comfort, she couldn’t do it, especially not as the prickles on her neck made her shiver. People watched her even now. Having her solace would make him even less of a man in the eyes of the court and possibly the people of Albertville.

The court deputy indicated they should be seated, and Esther sat once more. The sensation of eyes on her made her want to glance over her shoulder to see who might be there. She was the only colored woman in the room, but most of the people in Albertville accepted her, or at the very least ignored her difference. She’d lived there her entire life and had helped the community as much as she could. The feeling of being on display never went away though, but even more so in a new place where people might assume she had no business. No matter how some accepted her, others never would. Those were the most disheartening of all, that she would never prove to them who she was. Almost thirty years after the reconstruction had ended and many towns were still predominantly white. Albertville was no exception.

She’d found herself in Albertville alone when she was about five. Her parents had been poor and heading north. Starving and sick, she had been dropped off, by her aunt, at the Gregorys’ orphanage with the promise to return someday. Neither her parents nor her aunt ever had. Esther’s matron, though never cruel, had been strict with all the children and had treated Esther differently because there had been no one willing to take on a colored child.

The judge presided over the room with a grave face, much like Mrs. Gregory’s had been. Judge Cartwright scanned the crowd and caught her glance for a moment, then moved on to Carl, where his eyes lingered.

A man in a suit with his back to the crowd stood at the defense table, and the two defendants, who’d inflicted so much damage, sat close to him. Their attorney’s trimmed moustache was thin and oily, mimicking the same swoop as his tie.

The defense will show the court that my clients, Neil and Cody Fitzpatrick, were merely pawns in a devious scheme developed and funded by the late Elmira Dewey to take over the lands and houses, including the orphanage property, both owned by Martha and Dallas Madsen. My clients weren’t, in fact, guilty of anything, except caring far too much for their aunt, who had some sort of mental derangement.

The courtroom responded with whispers, and Carl tucked his chin. He’d been right. How could this happen? Could this lawyer really prove that the Fitzpatricks were innocent? Esther had assumed the judge would come in and pronounce them guilty, and they could all return home and forget all that had happened.

People behind her whispered, I always thought she was a horse shy of a team.

Esther wanted to turn around and scold them. No one had defended Gini when she’d put up with Elmira Dewey’s daily abuse. The townswomen had gladly complimented Mrs. Dewey and paid her well for the dresses Gini sewed. It wasn’t until Mrs. Dewey died that any of them knew even part of her scheme. Only the banker had known, and he’d been in on it. He’d backed out when the Fitzpatricks had threatened him. People pulled their money out when it came to light that he had tried to foreclose on the Madsons’ land to help Mrs. Dewey get it, and the bank had almost closed

These two men, sitting right here, were just as much victims of Elmira Dewey’s preposterous idea as anyone else. Three brothers lost in a gun battle orchestrated by a mad woman. Only after her death did they feel free to tell what happened.

Esther squirmed in her seat. While what he said was possibly true, it was bent, slanted. The words felt like lies. The men had come out and threatened her and the children after they’d murdered Mrs. Dewey. Carl had surprised Esther when he’d kept her name from the account given to the county when they took over the case. She’d shot one of the rustlers as they tried to bust their way into the orphanage. Though, no one knew that except John Dowd and Carl. Despite the town’s general feeling about the sheriff, John and Gini never stopped supporting him. Even though they were the ones most affected by his negligence.

If the remaining Fitzpatricks were set free, Carl, John, Gini, and especially their blind adopted daughter, Sarah, weren’t safe. Sarah was actually Neil Fitzpatrick’s daughter, and he wanted her back. Though no one could explain why, since he’d been cruel to her.

The man’s voice droned on, detailing how the case would go and how his clients would eventually be set free. The longer he spoke, the more Esther fidgeted. When the state’s attorney stood and tried to refute the defendants’ lawyer, he didn’t sound near as convincing.

The court recessed, and Carl waited in his seat until the room was almost empty. His expressive dark eyes met hers, and he nodded. ’Bout time to get something in our bellies. He stood and turned to leave.

Sheriff Rainer… She swallowed hard. This doesn’t mean anything. None of this was your doing, she reiterated.

He sighed as his brown eyes sought hers. I lived my whole life devoted to the law. I never wanted to be anything else. I worked hard and never thought the law would turn on me.

You’re stronger than that. If you stop doing what’s right just because what’s wrong is louder, then those men surely win. You arrested them. You came to our rescue when we needed you. She hated to admit to how she felt about Carl. No one could ever know. Not even him. But if he needed to borrow some of her strength, she’d be pleased to share. "When I needed you."

His face hardened. You never should’ve had to take up a gun. I should’ve known what was going on. Whether they reported it or not. I should’ve seen, like your neighbors did. I wasn’t there when you really needed me.

He turned from her and left the courtroom.

1

Albertville, Nebraska, April 1903

Yellow flowers bobbed in the spring breeze along John’s pasture fence as Esther tucked her basket over her elbow on her way to town. Everything she looked at day to day belonged to John Dowd, but that had to change. She’d felt a nagging insistence within herself to make something of her life now that she wasn’t the mother to orphaned children. Fourteen-year-old Thomas Dowd kicked up dust as he walked alongside her. The boy didn’t know the meaning of sit still. With his long legs, he was already taller than her, and his lengthy stride made it difficult to keep up. He swung his arms as he walked along, chattering as if he could get the mood to talk out of him before he reached school. He and Sarah were John and Gini’s newly adopted children.

Miss Esther? He slowed his pace, letting the dust settle so she could catch up to him. The quiet with the loss of his shuffling steps unsettled her, and she glanced around. She didn’t belong there, walking into town. No matter that the change had to come sometime, the action felt purely unnatural.

Yes, Thomas. She stared straight ahead. Though he was no longer her charge, their relationship had been so long and so deep, she still felt a bit like his mother. Especially after living with John and Gini on the ranch and helping them find homes for the majority of the orphans Esther and Gini had once housed.

Why are you coming to town today? You aren’t one to ever go to town, ’cept in the case of church. He clasped his hands behind his back, trying to look and sound older than he was, but his gangly legs made him look more like a duck than a learned man.

She would never tell him though. He was making so much progress in becoming a caring and dutiful man. Having a father had caused him to grow in so many ways. Before too long, he’d be thinking about his own family. Though that was still years away, the time did fly.

Of the eleven children at our home before it burned, six have found homes. Magdalene and Anna are adults now and are staying on to help Gini with her sewing and to help with Sarah. John adopted you and Sarah. The only one left to find a home is Billie. There is a family coming today to meet him, and I have no doubt they will want him. He is a precious blessing. His likely departure left her with no reason to stay. She wasn’t going to simply live her entire life under John and Gini’s charity. They didn’t need her help, probably hadn’t for a few months. The idea that she was needed had stayed her from looking elsewhere until now.

The slight shadow of Albertville appeared on the horizon ahead, and Esther held her breath. Never before had visiting town caused so much twisting in her belly. Only the distraction of movement in her shuffling hems kept her feet moving forward. Fear of the unknown was easy. Nothing would be the same after today.

When the trial had ended, she’d done her best to stay away from town. However, the day had come to face Albertville and to find new employment…and a home. Somehow, with her limited skills as the house mother to orphans, and with some people feeling as if her work wasn’t worth pay, she had to find employment.

You know you’ll always be welcome at our house, Miss Esther. Gini would never make you leave. You’re like her sister. She says so all the time. Thomas took a deep breath and set his shoulders to keep pace with her. Poor boy wanted to run since he’d be cooped up in the school all day.

Gini did feel like a sister in all the ways that mattered, but she was not blood kin. Neither Thomas nor Sarah would ever call Esther Auntie. She ignored the pang in her heart at losing all her blessings. She’d always considered every last child a gift from the Lord, her blessings. But the Lord had decided she would only have them for a time. And perhaps never again.

I know she wouldn’t ask me to leave, which is exactly why I must. While you’re in school, I can go about town and find somewhere that needs me.

Thomas adjusted his stride again to keep his steps slow, but his long legs made him look like a chicken strutting around at such a slow pace. He wove his hand in hers for just a moment to gain her pace. The contrast of his hand against hers, even with a tan, was still stark. Well, we probably need you, but if you don’t think so, I’d think the mercantile would be a good place to start. You’re good with numbers and figures and reading. Most everything but sewing. He let go of her hand.

Mrs. Gregory had made certain Esther could care for a house to make her more desirable to certain people looking for a child, but the few people allowed to even see her hadn’t chosen her. Though, Mrs. Gregory had also told her she didn’t belong in a white home and she was "saving her special for the perfect people." At least Mrs. Gregory’s teaching had ensured the orphanage was run by someone who could cook, clean, manage a home, and rear a family. Obviously Mrs. Gregory had liked Esther in some ways, or she wouldn’t have allowed Esther to be the owner of half the orphanage grounds. She’d tried to do right by Esther in her own way, just not the way Esther would’ve liked. Mrs. Gregory had treated Esther much as the town did now, with a measure of trust—since she’d been there her whole life—and a pinch of doubt, like she could suddenly change unexpectedly.

Thank you, Thomas. I’ll try there first off.

The school bell pealed in the distance, and without another word, Thomas raced ahead, unable to contain his exuberance a moment longer. The door would close on him if he didn’t hurry anyway. In the doorway, a tall man in a somber black suit and tie stood guard—or at least, she’d always felt he was more guard than teacher. His greasy hair shone in the morning sun, and he scowled at each child as they neared, slowing them to a crawl at the door. He glanced up, staring at her, and narrowed his eyes from his spot on the tall porch leading into the school, sending a shiver down her spine as he eyed her every move. The white building stood midway through town, on its own block between the stores and the bank. Children seemed to appear out of nowhere, running toward the school. A few moments after the bell was silent, the teacher stopped tracing Esther’s path as the door closed, leaving the street oddly quiet.

Esther took a deep breath and adjusted her basket. As usual, she switched to breathing through her mouth to avoid the scent that lingered along the streets. She’d brought lunch with her, but she wouldn’t want to eat it if she didn’t get away from the odor of dust and horses.

Her search might span the whole day, going door to door if she must, until she found a place that needed her. If she couldn’t find anything in Albertville, she had to consider moving on to somewhere more accommodating. Cornton was a large city and might have more jobs, though she hadn’t enjoyed the town. Albertville was safe. She’d made it her home. Everyone knew her here. There were people who didn’t treat her well, but most did.

The bank wouldn’t hire her, even if times were now better for it, and she wouldn’t work for Mr. Collins anyway after what he’d attempted to do to John. The dress shop was closed after Mrs. Dewey’s passing, and Esther had never bothered with sewing. Since Gini now provided her service as a seamstress from the bunkhouse at the ranch,