Song of Her Heart. Irene Brand

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ walls were lined with plaques attesting to the Flying K’s superiority in cattle raising.

      Cereal and cracker boxes, and peanut butter and jelly jars were on the table. Stacks of newspapers and magazines covered a large library table. The room was a combination of antique and new items, including a modern refrigerator, stove, microwave and an extensive computer center.

      “Have you had your supper?” Mason asked.

      “I stopped in Broken Bow for a late-afternoon lunch,” Norah said. “I’m not really hungry.”

      “Well, I am,” Mason said. “I’ve been out on the range all day, and I didn’t take time to eat. I’ll rustle up something and you can eat with me. Let me show you to a bedroom.”

      Carrying her bag, he went down the hall ahead of her and opened a door into a small room that was sparsely furnished with a bed, dresser, two chairs and a table.

      “I don’t have company often,” he apologized, “so the bed isn’t ready for sleeping. There are sheets and pillowcases in the dresser. A neighbor comes in once a month to clean the house, and she was here last week, so the room should be all right.”

      “I’ll be fine,” Norah assured him. “If I’d realized how far it was to the ranch, I’d have stayed in Broken Bow. I’m sorry to impose on you.”

      “No bother!” he assured her. “If you can manage tonight, we’ll make better arrangements tomorrow. The bathroom’s across the hall. Come into the kitchen when you’re ready.”

      He went out and closed the door and Norah stood in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do. She’d be spending the night unchaperoned in the house with Mason King. Norah wasn’t a prude, but Mason was a stranger to her—a man she’d contacted a month ago on the Internet. Norah had counted on finding a motel where she could spend the night. She hadn’t realized how sparsely settled Nebraska’s Sand Hills were, and she’d arrived at the Flying K ranch before she found a motel. There wasn’t anything else to do but to make the best of an awkward situation.

      After living all of her life surrounded by family, what had prompted her to strike out on her own to cook for a rehabilitation organization experimenting in equine therapy for children with special needs? Sam might have been right—maybe she was a foolish old maid.

      She hung her jacket on a clothing rack in the corner of the room and took a set of sheets, pillowcases and a blanket from the dresser. The linens felt cold and she laid them on the bed. She’d make the bed later.

      A tantalizing scent of cooking beef welcomed her return to the kitchen. “Anything I can do to help?” she offered.

      “It’s all ready,” Mason said. “I use the microwave a lot.” The two plates he placed on the wooden table held steaks and baked potatoes. He took a loaf of bread, a carton of butter and a deli container of coleslaw from the refrigerator.

      “Think this is enough to hold you until morning?”

      “More than enough.”

      Mason pulled out a chair for Norah, sat opposite her and bowed his head. “God, thank You for giving Norah a safe journey. We ask Your guidance for this project we’re undertaking. Thanks for the food and bless it to our body’s use. Amen.”

      Mason’s prayer, indicating a deep spiritual devotion, set Norah’s mind at ease about the propriety of spending the night in his home. She settled back to enjoy her meal.

      “I don’t know why you advertised for a cook,” she said. “This food is delicious.”

      “I can’t run a cattle ranch and cook for a bunch of kids. Besides, I’m a meat-and-potatoes guy. Anything else is beyond me. My friends Doug and Sheila Johnson live on my other ranch, and they invite me for a good meal about every week. I eat out whenever I go to town, but the rest of the time I just get by.”

      After they’d eaten, refusing Norah’s offer of help, Mason efficiently cleared the table and put their dishes and utensils in the dishwasher.

      “The days are still cool, so I like a fire in the evenings.” He turned the lounge chair to face the fireplace, placed another comfortable chair beside it for Norah and held a match to the stacked wood.

      “Let’s sit and relax while we get acquainted.”

      “That’s a good idea. I’m not an impulsive person, so I even surprised myself when I accepted this job without learning more about what I was getting into.”

      Nodding, Mason answered, “I’m sometimes impulsive, too. For instance, I bought a dude ranch, the Bar 8, which adjoins my property, about four years ago. I operated it as a dude ranch for two summers, which was nothing but an aggravation to me. I couldn’t find good help, and I was spending time entertaining city people when I should have been taking care of my cattle.”

      One of the logs crumbled and sparks wafted up the chimney. A puff of smoke fanned out into the room, and Mason rearranged the firewood with a poker.

      “I’d already listed the property for sale,” Mason continued, “when Horses and Healing, a Christian group of therapists in Omaha, contacted me, asking to use the ranch for a pilot project in equine therapy for children with special needs. They offered a good rent for the summer months, and when I learned my only obligation was to provide horses and a cook for the riders and volunteers, I temporarily took the property off the market. When you answered my ad and said that you’d taken care of your handicapped brother, I figured you’d relate to the children and not find it difficult to work with them.”

      “Because of my experience with Billy, I’m very interested in any program designed to make life better for children with special needs. I was at loose ends after my father and brother both died this past winter. When I saw your ad, I felt it was the place for me. I needed a job, and since I’d managed our home after my mother died twenty-five years ago, I felt I was qualified.”

      “I’m sure you are, and it’ll be a pleasure to have you here,” Mason said. “If we can make a difference in the lives of a few children, it’ll be worth the work. And we’ll also be serving Jesus, for He said, ‘Whatever you’ve done for one of these little ones, you’ve done to me.”’

      “I believe that, too. I’ve been thinking of the summer’s work as a ministry rather than a job.”

      If it was too late to realize her goal of serving as an overseas missionary, would this short-term position, helping children with handicaps, compensate for her lost dream? Surely a few months away from familiar surroundings would be an opportunity to assess her future options and decide how to achieve reconciliation with her family.

      Chapter Two

      Although he’d had a long, hard day, Mason mused before the fire for more than an hour after Norah went to bed. The pleasant murmur of her velvet voice revolved over and over in his mind, a comforting sound that had wiggled its way into the loneliness of his heart. This was the first time a woman had spent the night in his home since his wife had died years ago, a few hours after she’d delivered their stillborn child.

      Mason had longed for children, and the possibility of remarriage had often crossed his mind. He’d stopped mourning his young wife long ago, and he would have married if only he’d found a woman to spark his interest. For a few years, he’d considered getting married just so he could have a family, СКАЧАТЬ