Groom Wanted. Debra Ullrick

could you help me up, please?”

      Jake blinked. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” As soon as she was steady on her feet, he released her.

      “What just hit me, anyway?” Leah ran her hands over her skirt.

      “Meanie’s what hit you,” Abby said from behind Leah.

      Abby had Jake’s pet goat by the collar, yanking it away from her sister.

      “Meanie! How’d you get out?” Jake grabbed the goat’s collar and tugged her close to his leg. The animal stretched her head toward Leah and started gnawing on her skirt.

      Jake yanked the cloth from the nanny’s mouth and tapped her on the tip of the nose. “Stop that, you ornery old goat.” Meanie latched onto Jake’s fingers and shook her head fast and hard.

      Banjo barked and bit Meanie in the backside. The goat chomped down harder on Jake’s fingers. Jake struggled to pull them away while simultaneously holding the goat and knowing he looked like a blooming idiot. “Down, Banjo!”

      The dog immediately dropped onto his belly.

      Jake tugged, trying to free his now-throbbing fingers. One more yank and they were free. Shaking his hand, he glanced over at Leah. “Gonna hang that brother of yours. Should have never let Michael talk me into taking this goat off his hands.”

      Leah covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes crinkled into a smile.

      “Go ahead and laugh. We both know you want to.”

      Her laughter pealed across the farmyard. It only took a second before he and Abby joined her.

      With a hard jerk on his arm, Meanie broke free and took off in the direction of Mabel’s house. Banjo ran after her, nipping her heels and dodging the goat’s quick kicks.

      “Oh, no! Not again.” Jake darted after them, hollering over his shoulder, “See you ladies tomorrow. Got a dog to stop and a goat to catch.”

      Their laughter followed him.

      It took a quarter mile, but he finally caught up with Meanie and the dog, corralled them both and headed back to the house. He fully expected Leah and Abby to be gone, but they weren’t. Keeping a tight hold on Meanie, he walked up to Leah’s rig, panting from the exertion. “Something wrong?” he asked between gasps of breath. He struggled to keep the nanny from breaking free again.

      “You said you would see us tomorrow, but I can’t come by tomorrow.”

      “Won’t be here even if you did.”

      “Huh?” Leah tilted her head in that charming way of hers.

      “Guess Michael didn’t tell you, then.”

      “Tell me what?”

      “Starting tomorrow, I’ll be working for him.” He jerked on the goat’s collar to keep her under control.

      Leah’s eyes widened. “Y-you are?” She glanced around his spread and then turned her attention back onto him. “But who’s going to take care of your place?”

      “Only gonna work part-time, until Smokey gets back from taking care of his folks’ affairs and Michael feels comfortable leaving Selina home with the twins. Can you believe it? Michael. A father? To twins?”

      “It’s hard to picture Michael a father. But I’m so happy for my brother and Selina. It’s hilarious watching him with those babies. Every little whimper and he rushes to their cradles. Selina has to almost wrestle him to the ground to keep him from picking them up all the time. He’s paranoid to leave them and Selina alone.

      “Mother, Abby and I promised him we’d help, but with Lottie Lynn and Joseph Michael only a few days old, he doesn’t want to leave them or Selina. And if he does, it’s only for a minute or two. I can understand that.” She looked at Jake and her smile lit up her whole face. “I’m glad you’ll be at the ranch, though. It’ll be fun having you around.”

      Jake’s insides grinned at her announcement. Maybe being a hired hand on the Bowen ranch just might be a fun thing after all.

      Chapter Three

      Leah removed her coat and scarf, hung them up on a wooden coat tree near the front door of her house and looked around. Dinner was on the stove waiting to be heated, everything was sparkling clean and the laundry was finished. With Abby still outside and her mother only who knew where, the house was so quiet that the only sound she heard was the grandfather clock ticking. Knowing she was alone and that she wouldn’t have to wait until later to read her letters, her spirit skipped with excitement. She darted toward the stairs.

      “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Mother’s voice stopped her.

      Masking her disappointment for the delay in reading her posts, she put her reticule on the step and turned toward her mother. “Hi, Mother. Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

      “Of course you didn’t. I was in my room until I heard the front door. Did you have a nice time in town today?”

      “I had a wonderful time.” Soon Mother would know just how wonderful of a day Leah really did have. Right now, however, she had to keep that information tucked inside those hidden, secret compartments in her mind. When the time was right, she would tell Mother of her plans.

      Arm in arm they went to the living room and sat down. Mother crossed her legs in Leah’s direction. “Were you and Abby able to help Phoebe get everything finished for her wedding?”

      “Yes, we did. Oh, Mother, Phoebe’s gown is so pretty, and she looked so beautiful in it. Markus will absolutely love it.”

      “I’m sure he will. I wish you could find a nice man like Markus. Anyone caught your eye yet?” Eagerness and hope brightened her mother’s beautiful face.

      “No. Sorry, Mother. Not yet.” But hopefully someone will very soon. She thought of the letters sitting on the stairs, waiting for her and calling out to her to come read them.

      Mother patted her hand. “You will. God has someone special for you. I’m sure of it. When the time is right, He’ll bring the right man into your life. Unless He already has and you don’t know it yet.”

      She tilted her head and frowned. That same strand of hair that always seemed to escape its pins fell across her cheek. She reached up and curled it around her ear. “What do you mean? Do you have someone in mind?”

      Mother leaned forward. “Let’s just say I’ve been praying.” She reached for Leah’s hands and held them in her own, hands that were starting to show a few age spots and wrinkles. “Sweetheart, sometimes God places something right before our eyes but we don’t see it because we’re too busy looking somewhere else or for something else. Something that may or may not be God’s will for us.”

      Did her mother know about her plans? No, she couldn’t because only Abby, Jake and Selina knew, and none of them would have said anything to her. Of that she was certain. The need to know what her mother meant hovered inside her until she could no longer stand it. “What do you mean, Mother?”

      “I’m just saying that there are a lot of young men here who would make a wonderful husband.”

      That was true. But the problem was they lived here, not in New York.

      “What about Jake? You two seem to get along really well. You even entered the sack race at last year’s harvest party with him. He’s a nice man who loves the Lord. He’d make a wonderful husband.”

      Her eyes snapped to her mother’s. “Mother, Jake is a nice man, but he’s not the one for me.”

      “How do you know that?”

      “I just know. Well, Mother—” Leah rose “—I’m sorry to end this conversation, but I have some things I need to do.”

      The look on her mother’s face said Leah wasn’t fooling