Page 564 of Conveniently Wed
Evidently the saddlebags were filled with something fairly heavy, because Dave dropped them beside his feet and pulled them as close as possible.
“I’d made a good bit of money that night from the other men, so I took the gold to Denver and, after having it assayed, turned it into cash, which I deposited into a new account at Capital Bank of Denver. While I was in town, I met a rancher from western Oklahoma. He was looking for cowboys. I made a split-second decision to go with him and try out ranching. Too many people in Colorado were unhappy with me. I got out while the getting was good. Best decision I ever made.”
This was some tale. “How so?”
“I really enjoyed ranching. The hard work was good for me, and I felt better about myself because I was making my way honestly. Both the rancher and his foreman really took to me. We became good friends. That old rancher gave me the best gift I’d ever received. He told me about Jesus, and I chose to give my life to Him. The rancher and his foreman and I had Bible studytogether every evening. Those two men helped me begin to grow toward the man I want to be for the rest of my life.”
Franklin relaxed again. “That’s good news. I’m a Christian myself.”
“Then you will understand why I want to see your wife.” Dave took a deep breath and stood up. “I’m on a pilgrimage to make restitution to every person I can find that I had wronged.” He picked up the saddlebags. “All the money I got for the gold I won from Mike Sullivan is in these. $254,000.”
Franklin quickly arose. “Incash?”
“Every bit of it.” Dave smiled. “I haven’t let these saddlebags out of my sight since I withdrew the funds from the bank and headed this way.”
A whistle burst forth from Franklin. “That’s quite a story.”
“It’s all true.”
“Why didn’t you just come out here the day you arrived?” He really wanted to know where he’d been all this time.
“I was looking for Mike Sullivan. Since I met him at a poker table in a saloon, figured that’s where I’d find him. I stayed in the background, watching and listening. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, since I was carrying so much cash.” He glanced down at the saddlebags. “After visiting a different saloon each night, I made discreet inquiries and found out about him being murdered and you later marrying his widow.”
Franklin had watched every expression and gesture the man made. He couldn’t detect any indication the man was lying. Dave had kept eye contact through the whole recitation. No reason not to trust him.
“I’ll introduce you to my wife, and we’ll need to get that into the bank as soon as possible.”
The story almost knocked him off kilter...and the money for Lorinda. Although most men would take control of their wives’money when they married, he had no plans to. It belonged to Lorinda and Michael, fair and square.
This brought him face to face with what a disservice he had done to her. She had a real need, and he’d talked her into this marriage of convenience. What would she do now that she didn’t need his money...or protection?
If he didn’t give her the option to stay with him or go, his treatment of her bordered on abuse of power. He used his money and power to talk her into marrying him for protection and a way to give her son a good life. He felt like less of a man because of it. And he was beginning to believe God wasn’t pleased with him as well.
Last night when he was reading his Bible, he found verses in the seventh chapter of First Corinthians that made him uncomfortable.The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
These words cut straight through him like a sword of truth. He had been defrauding his wife even while in his thoughts he lusted after her, but still he withheld his love. Their marriage could not be what it should be unless he gave her the opportunity to decide for herself whether she wanted to leave him and get the marriage annulled or come together as a husband and wife should with love.
Dear Lord, what am I to do? I can’t find the words I need to make this right. Please help me be able to express this to Lorinda without hurting her, but also allowing her the freedom to choose to stay or to go.Every one of those words hurt as if it was a thrust of a blade into his heart.
Could his life be more complicated? He didn’t see how.
34
While Franklin and his cowhands drove the last of the cattle down from the high pastures to the paddocks close to the barn, frustration tied his guts into knots. He couldn’t line up his feelings with the scripture he’d been meditating on. He was breaking the implied command in that scripture as surely as if he would break the law if he took his gun and robbed a bank. He couldn’t see any way there could be a good outcome from this.
Yesterday, after Dave Jefferson left without the saddlebags full of money, Franklin took Lorinda into Breckenridge to meet with the banker. Of the five bankers in Breckenridge, Franklin trusted William Henry the most. He was the epitome of discretion. No one else in town would know about the fortune they deposited in Lorinda’s private account.
Afterward, he took his wife to the Occidental House hotel for dinner. Mrs. Almeda Peabody owned and managed this most prestigious eating establishment in town. All through the meal, he and Lorinda kept a pleasant conversation going. At the time, he was trying to work out in his head how to bring up the subject of him giving her a choice about whether to stay married or have the marriage annulled.
How could he risk it? If she chose to leave him, some part of his heart would die. She could meet a man who would love her and have a normal marriage. A deep ache invaded his whole body just thinking about her going.
Franklin didn’t have a problem with her past, even though from the few things she had told him some of it had to be bad. Nothing she had ever done could change his love for her. But even considering her marrying another man brought up pain that was much stronger than when Marvin convinced Miriam to leave him. He couldn’t allow pictures of what she would look like in another man’s arms to sneak into his mind. When they did, white-hot anger coursed through him. He would want to knock the man out and carry her off like some caveman. He could even feel the sensations he would experience with her sitting in front of him on Major’s back. After all, the memories of the time she did were alive and well.
And he would spend the rest of his life in love with another man’s wife. That couldn’t be any better than continuing the relationship as it was. He hadn’t found any way they both would be in a better situation if she left him. But if he gave her the choice, she might leave.
If he didn’t make that offer, the reality was that he was keeping her in bondage as surely as if he locked her in a jail cell. Franklin tried to pray, but somehow, it felt as if the Lord had moved a long ways from him. No peace. No soft-spoken word in his heart. He was utterly alone in this dilemma...except for Lorinda. And they had made a binding agreement for a marriage without intimacy. But now he longed for that intimacy...and abiding love.
While he and the men stocked feeding stations around the pasture, Franklin’s mind often wandered. His foreman had to ask questions more than once before they penetrated Franklin’s thoughts. Thomas must think Franklin had lost all his marbles.
