Olivia chewed on her bottom lip as she debated the wisdom of questioning Cora about her foster son’s faith. How would she know what to do if she didn’t ask?
“Cora, pardon me for this question. Is Adam a Christian?”
Cora looked startled at first before a sorrowful smile crossed her face. She pulled out the chair beside Olivia and sat.
“I thought you knew,” Cora said with a small sigh.
Olivia shook her head. “I didn’t want things to become awkward between me and him. But just now when I tried comforting him with words from the scripture as I saw how troubled he was, he rebuffed it. And it isn’t the first time he has done that.”
Cora lowered her head for some seconds. When she lifted it, there were tears in her eyes.
“Adam lost his faith in God when his parents were killed on that train that fateful day.”
Olivia paled.
Tears spilled down Cora’s face. “I will never forget how he clung to his mother that day, begging God to save her life. He dared God to bring his parents back to life if He truly existed. But you know God’s ways are not our ways. He has a purpose for everything. I tried to make Adam understand that after the funeral but he became more withdrawn.”
Olivia’s heart squeezed with pain for the hurting boy Adam had been.
“Adam changed from the gentle and sweet boy he was into this angry fellow who spoke with his fists. He got himself in so much trouble, Boone and I worried he might end up dead or in jail. But then the late sheriff took him in his wing and Adam finally settled down. We were happy he changed, but we didn’t know how much he would change. The late sheriff was a Christian, so we thought Adam would come back to his faith. He didn’t. Instead, he focused his life so much on the law, it became his whole being. And now, that’s all he believes in.”
Olivia wiped the tears she hadn’t known she was shedding. Poor Adam. Now she understood why the law meant everything to him. It wasn’t just about his parents’ death, as she had assumed. It was also about believing in something since he felt what he initially had faith in had failed him.
“And before you ask,” Cora went on, “We’ve all tried to get him to come back to God. We’ve talked until the cows came home, even invited preachers to speak to him. But when we saw we were losing him, as he kept on pulling away, looking for one excuse or the other to leave town, we stopped. We took to praying for him instead and chipping in how much God loves him whenever we can.”
“Thank you for telling me this, Cora. I understand him better now.”
Cora patted her hand. “I’m glad you understand. All Adam needs is prayers, patience, and love.”
Olivia offered her a small smile. Cora rose to put away the eggs while Olivia bowed her head in prayers for Adam. She begged God to intervene in his life.
He needs you now more than ever, Lord. If there’s ever a time for You to show him You exist and love him, it’s now. However, may Your will be done, Lord.
She had been afraid all this while about finding out that Adam didn’t believe in God. But now that she knew for a certain where his faith laid, she loved him even more. Her love for him made her determined to see that all will be well with them in the end.
Chapter 30
With eager hands, Adam tore open the letter waiting for him at the office. He hoped it was from his bosses giving him the go-ahead to make his arrests. He also hoped they would send some people down to assist him as no one could be trusted here. He had made it known to his bosses that the sheriff and his deputies were complacent.
Adam stared at the letter in disbelief when his eyes swiftly perused the contents. His eyes darkened as he slowly read the petition against him. The mayor, with the support of the people of Ruby Rock and the sheriff, had filed a petition against him. The letter complained about him badgering the townsfolk with questions and told him to desist from it.
What made Adam’s blood surge with fury was the information that a letter had been sent to the U.S. Marshal Service in Virginia requesting for another marshal as Adam was deemed incompetent by the mayor.
Adam’s features tensed with fury as he squeezed the letter in his rigid hand. The whole set up smelled of Gabe Winters and the sheriff. This was to stop him from further investigations and arrests.
They had another thing coming if they thought a petition against him would stop him from carrying out his job. He was sure the people of Ruby Rock had nothing to do with the petition. He didn’t think they were even aware of it as he would have heard about it before now.
“That cowardly mayor!” He threw the letter on the ground and strode out of the office. The mayor had no idea what was going on in the town. The old wizened man had been sick ever since Adam returned to the town. When he had gone to meet him to question him concerning the activities going on, Jeb Weller hadn’t been able to say much in between bouts of coughing.
So how dare he write a petition against him?
Adam crossed over to the next building, hoping the sheriff was in residence so he would have some words with him. A grimace crossed his face as he saw the empty jail. The place ought to be filled with the men breaking the law without a care in the world.
The deputies gave him a wary look when he walked into the office. Ignoring them, he walked straight to the sheriff’s office. He wasn’t surprised to see the older man’s leg crossed on the table.
“Well, if it isn’t the marshal.” Joe Tate’s voice tinged with mockery as he glared at Adam. “What brings you here this morning? Do you have more questions to ask or more unfounded accusations to throw about?”
With his face as if it was carved from a rock, Adam strode forward. “I saw your handwork, Joe. I’m here to tell you it won’t work.”
