It took him a moment to catch up to her abrupt change in subject. Why was she asking about his family’s land? “You’d have to ask Dad.”
“You mean you don’t knowwhyyour father bought up all that land?” Her tone was sharp. Her chin tipped up.
Who was the instigator now?
“I suppose it was because he needed it for the farm. He and his friend Fred Owens are wheat farmers. They wanted to grow enough wheat to feed Montana and a few other states.”
“But why so much land?”
This conversation was far from the lighthearted banter they shared when she walked in. He didn’t much care for it. “It takes a lot of acreage to produce a lot of wheat. And it takes a lot of wheat to produce flour.” He met her disapproving gaze without flinching. “Is it the wheat you object to, or the land being farmed?”
Ellie brushed at her skirt. “I disapprove of private land ownership. Especially in vast quantities. Land such as there is out here should be open to the public, for all to enjoy.”
“Then where would you get your bread? Or don’t you eat bread?” Carter shook his head.
She looked ready to throw something at him. “Of courseI eat bread. Honestly, Mr. Brunswick you are one of the most difficult men I’ve ever met. I’m trying to have a simple conversation about the land, and you try to make it about me. I am not the focus of this discussion.”
He pondered that. “You could be. I have a few questions I’d love to ask.”
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I want to know about the land.”
“Then come out to the farm after church Sunday, and you can talk to my dad over dinner. I’m sure he’d love to meet you and answer your questions.” Carter could see it now. That would liven up the dinner table for sure. “You might even come to like me after all.”
“I assure you, Mr. Brunswick, that will never happen.” She rose from her seat and headed for the door.
“Ellie!”
She turned and glared at him.
Whatwasit about that glare that tickled him? “I just wanted to say that it’s not a good idea to say never. I find when I do that, it’s almost like a challenge for God to show me that I’m not the One in control.”
Her eyes snapped as a frown covered her face. “First, Mr. Brunswick, I would have to believe that God took an interest in mankind for that comment to mean anything to me. Second, Iamin control of my destiny and the choices I make, whether you are or not.”
Ouch. He shouldn’t have been so flippant. Her anger at God was palpable. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased like I did.”
She met his gaze and held it for several seconds. “No, you shouldn’t have.”
Eleanor got on her bicycle and rode as fast as she could back to the Ashbury house. Her hands trembled and her insides felt all flipped upside down. What was the matter with her? Better still, what was the matter withhim? How dare he make comments about God being in control and never say never? She’d never heard of anything so ludicrous. She didn’t even know what to believe about God anymore.
God seemed,ifHe did exist, to hold His creation in complete disregard. Why would Eleanor want to have a relationship with a God who let her mother suffer and die?
Just like God, Carter Brunswick both attracted and repelled her. As a child, she’d felt so drawn to God and wanted to know more about Him. But now ...
It was as if God was dangerous.
Carter had the same effect on her. He screamed of danger. Why, she didn’t know. But she couldn’t allow herself to be attracted to him. No matter how much he drew her in.
Neither Carter Brunswick nor God had a place in her life.
A shiver raced up her spine and she almost fell off her bike. Slowing to a stop, she took a couple deep breaths. What was wrong with her? Everything had been unbalanced for days.
Eleanor got off the bike and walked beside it. No sense taking a tumble. It was a perfect summer day. She took a deep breath of mountain air—it seemed fresher than any she’d ever known. Chicago air had been full of coal smoke and odors too numerous to count. New York wasn’t much better.
But here, the entire sky suggested a purity that couldn’tbe had anywhere else. And why? Because man had not been allowed to spoil it with overpopulation and large processing plants or factories. There had to be a way to keep men from coming here to tear apart the land and ruin what was so naturally stunning.
Her mother’s voice echoed in her mind.“God made the world perfect and beautiful. It is manwho has wreaked destruction upon it. Man, who destroys itto serve his purposes. God gave the earth over toman to be tended in a loving and productive manner, not to damage it beyond use and then move onto the next place and do the same.”
Mother had loved Father’s conservationist beliefs. She wanted mankind to be taught to nurture and care for the land. She wanted to see the earth thrive and blossom as it surely had in the Garden of Eden. Mother believed that man could co-exist with creation, but only by drawing closer to God to better understand Him.
