Читать книгу Wolf Creek Wedding - Penny Richards - Страница 13

Chapter Four

Abby lay quietly in her bed, the covers clutched in her fists, and tried to keep from flipping and flopping and waking Ben, who slept beside her. Though Sarah VanSickle’s reputation as an inveterate gossip preceded her, the fact that Abby herself was now bearing the brunt of that hatefulness was a definite shock. The situation with Caleb was not what she would have chosen, but there was no denying that the opportunity to get her life in order had come along at a perfect time, and had seemed like the answer to her prayers. But if that were so, why was it being jeopardized by senseless gossip?

Dear God, what am I to do?

God was silent.

The faint fingers of dawn were poking through the window when she finally drifted off to sleep, tears of hopelessness drying on her cheeks as she faced the only moral decision possible. As much as Caleb might dislike her decision, as soon as she could gather her things, she was going back to her own farm.

With or without his daughter.

* * *

Being a man who preferred action, Caleb paced the path from the bunkhouse to the house over and over. He vacillated from self-pity over Emily’s death and his current situation to fury at Sarah VanSickle for making an already bad situation worse. He wasn’t sure why he was so surprised by the unexpected turn of events. Hadn’t he always been the one saddled with the responsibility of doing the right thing?

As the older son of Lucas Gentry, it had fallen to Caleb to follow in his father’s footsteps, while Gabe played the spoiled, pampered son. Though both boys were required to work the farm, more often than not, Gabe’s contribution had been to keep everyone laughing at his jokes and antics, while Caleb was expected to toe the line and pick up the slack left by his younger brother. Caleb was the one who worked the longest hours and took the tongue-lashings and razor strap beatings, the one forced to learn farming from the ground up, including how to manage the soil and take care of the books. His father’s demands left no time for fun, something Gabe enjoyed to the fullest.