Micah’s jaw tightened, but Ellie didn’t fear his anger. She’d come to recognize it always seemed directed at men who’d hurt women. “What did your mother do?”
“My grandfather still wasn’t a kind man, and she didn’t want to go home. She managed to find work as a cook and a laundress in the mining town where she’d grown up, but eventually the couple who owned the restaurant she worked in retired and moved back East. No one else would hire her, as virtually everyone else in town had ties to the mine and was afraid hiring her would mean their loved one would lose their job.”
“Why would they lose their job?”
Aah, the crux of all her and her mother’s woes. “My grandfather had a need for control which rivaled anyone you’d ever met. He wanted us back under his roof, but he hated us at the same time.”
Micah’s brows furrowed, and Ellie anticipated the question coming next as he put the pieces together. “Wait, wasn’t it your father who left you the trust when he died?”
Ellie sighed. “No, I lied and said it was my father because Brent believed it was. He’d been working in one of the mines, I guess, and the rumor mill isn’t all that accurate. Whether he believed I was my mother and didn’t think to do the math on my age or if he didn’t care, I don’t know. I never corrected him. Something in me needed to grasp the tiniest bit of control on my own life, It was the last thing I had left. When you showed up in the mine, I didn’t know if I could trust any of you yet, and it kind of slipped out in my confusion.”
She bit her bottom lip, nervous as to how he’d react to her falsehood. Would he write her off entirely or understand the duress she’d been under?
“Understandable, sorry to interrupt.” His navy eyes studied her without judgement, something she was wholly unfamiliar with for most of her life. “Go on.”
She continued with her story, telling him all about how word had spread like wildfire of the terms of her trust once Grandfather died, something she still questioned as to how it happened. Percival was the only one she knew beyond his lawyers who’d have known, but there could’ve been others.
She’d been unable to leave the house, as much a gilded prison as it had ever been, as executives and miners alike all tried to come on to her. She didn’t feel safe for a single moment in the months following his death. It shouldn’t have surprised anyone that she was kidnapped by Brent and his friends on her way to meet another one of the mine executive’s daughters for tea - or so she thought.
“I should’ve known,” she said with a scoff. “Amy had never asked me over before. The note she allegedly sent said she was so sorry about all I’d been going through and she wanted to give me a few fun hours. I was so starved for any sort of relationship or communication at that point, I didn’t even consider the letter might be fake.” Friendship had never been something Grandfather allowed or encouraged for her, nor was it offered due to her parentage, so any sort of relationship with other young women in town felt like being offered water in the middle of the desert.
“Brent was lying in wait for you,” Micah said understandingly. “You couldn’t have known.”
“No, but looking back it feels obvious. I was the illegitimate child of Grandfather’s wayward daughter. They’d barely even looked my way, much less invited me to any sort of gathering.” She sighed as the front door to the clinic opened once more and the smell of roast chicken and fresh bread wafted inside.
Pastor Jim’s voice, a little less jovial than normal, sounded. “I’ve got lunch! Callie’s right behind me.” He stepped through the door to the patient room and stopped with a raised brow. “I should’ve known you’d be here, Micah. I thought we discussedyou weren’t to come here without Callie or myself present. I trust you, and so does Callie, but we do have Ellie’s reputation to think about.” Ellie had no doubt if the pastor’s hands weren’t full of food, he’d have crossed his arms over his chest.
He wasn’t stern with his speech, but he was correct. Micah looked a little like a dog who’d been tapped with a rolled up newspaper. “I knew you two were coming, but I let my impatience get the better of me. Do I need to leave?”
Jim gestured to the bed. “That’s up to Ellie, I reckon.”
“No, he can stay. I promise, he was never anything but a gentleman.” He had been. Despite her difficulty trusting men in general, the men here in Cloverdale and on the Sutton ranch had been nothing but kind to her. Jim had been kind as well, sitting and talking with her often when Callie was busy with other patients. “Is that from Rosie’s Cafe?” Her mouth watered, her body still craving full meals after all the weight she’d lost.
“Sure is, and I think she threw in some chocolate cake for ya to boot.” Jim grimaced jokingly. “She never does that for me.”
As always, Rosie sent plenty of food to feed an army, so Ellie offered her leftovers to Micah as the two of them and Pastor Jim talked. Micah asked him questions about his sermon that morning on Scripture from Micah’s namesake book of the Bible. “Micah,” Ellie asked as she finished her slice of bread and the last of her beans and roasted potatoes. “You and all your brothers have biblical names, but you’ve told me your father wasn’t any more religious than my grandfather. How did that happen?”
Micah smiled softly, the pain in his eyes breaking Ellie’s heart. “Our mama loved the Lord more than anyone else I’ve ever met, and she trusted He’d guide us even when she was gone. We’ve all had our doubts, and sometimes mine still feel big enough to bury me, but she figured we could always come back to our namesakes for answers if nothing else.”
An understatement, for sure. Sometimes, his doubts over what the Lord had allowed in their lives felt harder to summit than the tallest mountain. “I don’t reckon I’ve looked into Micah all that much, though I’ve heard Jim preach on him a few times - like today.”
Pastor Jim grinned wide, and Micah knew he thrived under these situations. “We all have our doubts, son. Do you want to know why I love the story of Micah?”
If he was honest, Micah hadn’t paid much attention to the service that morning, anxious to get to Ellie and make sure she was all right after being left alone. Now, he was distracted by all she’d told him about her childhood. What kind of grandfather would treat his granddaughter that way? What possible motive would he have for leaving her the money with such an impossible stipulation?
Sensing he needed to respond, Micah shook the distraction free. “Why’s that?”
Lip quirked in a knowing smile, Jim continued. “Micah was a prophet during a time of great injustice and unrighteousness. The Lord was angry at the people, and Micah had to communicate the judgement to come. Despite it, he also shared the hope of the coming Messiah. He had every reason to doubt, yet instead he used his anger to fuel his faith in the Lord and bring the promise of greater tomorrows.”
“Even when it felt hopeless,” Ellie whispered. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”
She had every reason to question, and Micah opened his mouth to reassure her when Pastor Jim beat him to the punch. “Of course, you aren’t, dear one. None of us are. It’s only throughthe Lord God and His Holy Spirit we can possibly keep our eyes fixed on the things above outlined in Colossians chapter three. ‘Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.’” Jim winked at Ellie. “I’ve failed over and over with this particular goal, but God has been faithful to bring me back every time.”
The way Ellie asked questions of Jim, the way she listened with such reverence and curiosity, it convicted Micah regarding his often wandering thoughts during the service. “Ellie, were you ever able to attend church in California?” She spoke as though she had some understanding of faith, but it was a young one at best. Ellie blushed, and Micah immediately regretted the question. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“No, you didn’t,” she said quickly. “I…my tutor back in my grandfather's house was a Christian. She reminds me a little of how you describe your mother, actually. She couldn’t teach me too much about the Bible since Grandfather thought it all a waste of time, but she did manage to work Bible stories into our literacy lessons when she could. She even shared about it with my mother, though I’ve always wondered if Mama accepted Jesus before she died.”
“You know,” Pastor Jim said. “There’s been more than one occasion in my life where I’ve been fascinated by the ability of plants to put down roots in awful conditions. Sure, we do our best to take care of them, but how often have you seen a plant sprouting up from gravel or even growing from the waste of an animal?”
