“I think you’re right, Mr. Fitzpatrick. Even if it comes to nothing, and I pray it does, it would be better for the family if I reported it now. I’ll go see Sheriff Coolidge as soon as I finish with breakfast.”
Even with this declaration, Mark lost his appetite. Just thinking of ways George Winn could come after him or his family made him sick to his stomach, and within a matter of minutes, he excused himself from the table and walked out the front door.
Mark had not even reached the stables when someone yelled his name.
“Mr. Flint! Mr. Flint!” Jack James was running down the path near the house toward Mark. A part of Mark thought about ignoring the young man and continuing with his own errand, but then he thought of what Layla would want him to do. She would encourage him to at least stop and see what Jack wanted.
Thinking of Layla’s sweet smile, Mark halted, looking at Jack. The young man was breathless when he stopped in front of Mark and immediately took off his white hat to fan his face with it.
“Mr. Flint,” Jack gasped as he tried to gulp in big breaths of fresh air.
“Yes,” Mark said evenly. It was still relatively early this Wednesday morning, and the sun was doing its best to peek around a cluster of low-lying gray clouds, but it was losing the battle. Mark tugged his woolen jacket more tightly around him as he waited for Jack to pull himself together.
“Thank you for waiting, Mr. Flint,” Jack said. His big blue eyes were wide and hopeful. Mark thought Jack looked younger than ever at this moment, and he felt sorry for him.
“It’s fine, Jack. What can I do for you?” Mark asked, uncrossing his arms and letting them fall loosely at his sides.
“I wanted to apologize, Mr. Flint. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry.”
Mark didn’t hear the rest. As soon as Jack said ‘sorry’, all Mark could picture was his wonderful son, Heath, sitting at the other end of the table and saying,Saw-we, Dada.His heart thudded in response, and he shook his head.
“Jack, I appreciate the apology. I know how a young man is prone to making mistakes from time to time. The fact that you came back here and apologized shows a lot of courage, and I respect that.” Mark thought of how Layla would want him to forgive Jack and bring him back into the fold. He recalled the story of Joseph and his brothers. Layla had told Mark that forgiveness was powerful and that it was pleasing to the Lord when a person could move past their grievances and find it in their heart to accept others, even when they were flawed. This was always something Mark struggled with. But now, he wanted to do the Christian thing. He wanted to make peace with the situation, and the only way to do that was to forgive Jack completely. “If you want to stick around and do some work today, that’d be fine with me. I’m headed into town, and we could use your set of hands around here.”
“Really, Mr. Flint?” Jack’s eyebrows rose as he asked earnestly.
“Yeah,” Mark replied. “You go on and head over to the cow barn. Milk the cows and then find Billy. He’ll let you know what needs to be done after that.”
“Thanks, Boss,” Jack said joyfully as he plopped his big white hat back on top of his head. “I’ll get right to it.” Jack loped off in the direction of the cow barn.
Time to see the sheriff,Mark thought, and he walked stoutly into the stables in search of Felix.
***
“These last few days have been exhausting,” Emmett said, and Mark gave him a cynical smile.
“You can say that again,” Mark replied. He gazed into the fire, perplexed as he remembered how these last couple of days had been more eventful than he could have ever imagined.
“And the sheriff said he’d investigate the situation with George Winn?” Layla asked timidly. She, too, stared at the glowing fire, but she didn’t seem as settled by all that had happened that day as Mark did.
“He did,” Mark said. He had already told Layla all about his trip into town and his conversation with the sheriff.
The deputy had arrived halfway through the conversation, and he had shown a particular interest. He’d told Mark they would keep their eyes and ears open. The deputy pledged to speak to Mr. Calhoun that afternoon, just to make sure he heard that side of the story from the store owner. While Mark had included details about Mr. Calhoun, he did not mention Jack by name. He said George Winn had paid off one of his ranch hands and left it at that. Mark hoped that they could start afresh by showing the young man forgiveness and giving him back his job. Telling the sheriff about his involvement with the matter might darken this new deal. Mark was somewhat satisfied with the resolution and wondered why Layla was still so concerned with the matter.
“Well, I’m beat,” Emmett said as he rose from his seat. He took a moment to stretch his arms over his head before smiling. “I’m heading to bed. You kids don’t stay up too late now.”
“That’s fine, Papa. Have a pleasant sleep,” Layla said kindly.
“Good night, Mr. Fitzpatrick,” Mark added.
“G’night,” Emmett said and shuffled off toward his room.
As soon as Mark heard Emmett’s door close, he turned to Layla. She was staring into the fire and sitting stiffly in her chair. “Layla,” Mark whispered, placing a hand on her forearm.
She twisted to look back at him. “Yes, Mark?”
“I wanted to tell you about something else that happened today,” Mark said slowly, watching her face to see how she would react to him bringing her more news.
Her calm demeanor disappeared, and a worried expression took its place. Mark was quick to soothe her.
