his relief, Calder seemed to understand completely.
"I've had some of those same questions. Were you settled
with Marc's answers, or do you still have questions?"
"I have questions, but not about the sermon," Dakota
said, realizing as he did so that he was not very comfortable
admitting this.
"About what?"
Dakota answered with his eyes on his plate. "Prayer."
Calder could see that he would need to go easy. He
simply said, "If I can help, I'd be glad to."
"Thank you."
The men went on eating, Calder almost absentmindedly
assisting the girls before asking Dakota a general question.
The men talked easily about their jobs, neither showing
111
outward appearances of stress.
When do I let things ride, and when do I push a little? It was
a question Calder wrestled with all through the conversation.
The meal ended, and Dakota even helped him clean
the kitchen, but the subject of Dakota's questions on prayer
did not come up again.
^-SrS-
How
do I really know You hear me when I pray? Dakota
asked the Lord not long after the meal. I know what Slater
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and Desmond have said, and at first I felt that You heard me, but
right now I'm not so sure.
Dakota stood at the window in his room, barely keeping
himself from pacing. Things had not gone as he had hoped.
He had wanted to ask Calder where this doubt was coming
from and where the answer could be found, but Calder had
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the girls to handle, and Dakota also knew the women
would be back at any time, since the doctor had only half
the day at home.
"I can't believe You would save me like You did and
then hide from me," Dakota now whispered toward the
glass, his heart aching to be heard and to know he wasn't
alone. "If You're listening, God, I need some answers. I
need to know that this is real." Tears clogged Dakota's
throat, and he didn't try to keep praying, not even in his
heart. He didn't believe it was right to throw a challenge at
God's feet, but he couldn't think of anything else to do or
say. If only he knew where to look in the Bible for answers.
A noise coming from the kitchen beyond his closed door
drew his attention. It sounded as though the women were
back. The trained gentleman in him immediately sensed
they might need help unloading the wagon. Glad to leave
his tortured thoughts behind, Dakota went to investigate.
^"3'9r
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Dakota couldn't have said where Thursday went, but
Friday arrived in a flurry of activity. He'd been up and
dressed only a short time when he heard Darvi's and
Merry's voices in the kitchen. The little girls chimed in
from time to time, but the moving of chairs and other
activity made it sound as if spring cleaning had arrived on
September 1. Dakota stepped out to find just that. All the
curtains were off the windows, and Darvi was elbow-deep
in a sudsy tub, a tub of rinse water at her side.
"Good morning," Merry greeted him, setting a plate of
food on the table. "How about some breakfast?"
A Texas Sky 63
"Thank you," Dakota replied, trying not to stare at the
chaos around him.
"Sorry about the mess. I made the mistake of saying mat
I never got to my spring cleaning. Now Darvi's on a mission."
Dakota sat down to a high stack of griddle cakes, bacon,
and hot coffee, a smile on his face.
"Trust me when I tell you that this is a feast, and
114
washing or no washing, this beats where I usually eat"
"Where do you usually eat?" Darvi asked in genuine
interest
"On the trail. The first three things the Rangers want to
know is whether you can ride, shoot, and cook."
"If s Koda!" one of the twins suddenly declared from
the doorway, charging in to climb onto the chair next to his.
"All right, let me see," Dakota ordered before looking at
her eye. "Ah, no scar. This must be Filar."
That little girl smiled at him in pleasure and then settled
in to watch him eat. Dakota talked to her some, but she
would have occasional bouts of shyness and not answer.
The scene changed entirely when Vivian showed up. The
second twin looked surprised to be left out of the pleasure
of watching Dakota, and with a little frown at her sister,
Vivian pushed into the chair next to her in order to glue her
eyes on their guest.
"What are you two doing?" their mother finally turned
from the dishes she was washing to ask.
"Watching Koda."
115
This stopped Merry entirely. "What did you say, Filar?"
The little girl had no idea what she was referring to, so
she just looked at her. Merry tried Dakota.
"What did she call you?"
"Koda."
Merry's mouth dropped open in an unfeminine way,
her head shaking in bewilderment.
"It doesn't matter," Dakota assured her. "I don't mind
in the least."
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"Girls," she began anyway, "I want you to call Mr.
Rawlings by his name."
Their little heads bobbed just before Vivian turned to
speak to him.
"Koda?"
"Yes, Vivian."
Merry's mouth was opening to scold her when Darvi's
laughter rang out.
"Darvi! Do not laugh at this."
116
"I can't help it! They're so sincere."
Merry saw that she was right and gave up. It was not
the way she wanted the girls to address adults, but she
decided against fighting this particular battle.
Having finished his breakfast, Dakota suddenly stood
and spoke. "Here, Darvi, let me get that"
"Oh, thank you."
Dakota took the heavy basket of wet curtains from her
hands, thanked Merry for breakfast, and followed Darvi
outside. He half-expected the girls to follow but soon
found himself alone with Darvi at the clothesline. She
plucked fabric from the basket, pegging the curtains carefully
in the sun, Dakota moving with her.
"Dakota?" she said softly after a few minutes.
"Yeah?"
"Did you mean it when you said your time is your own
right now?"
"Yes, I did."
Darvi looked at him before going back to work.
"Is it going to interfere with any of your plans if we stay
117
until Monday?"
"Not in the least."
"Do you mean that?" Darvi turned to him with such
hope on her face that Dakota was amazed.
"Certainly. We can stay longer if you like."
"I would like to," she said as she went back to the
clothes basket, "but I think company can get old very fast.
ATexasSky 65
I don't want to wear out my welcome, but I do want to stay
through the weekend. If s rather important to me."
"Thaf s fine. Do you mind my asking why you want to
stay?"
br />
Darvi hesitated. This was so new to her, and she was
sure if he asked her any difficult questions, she would
make a complete mess of things. However, the man beside
her was waiting. Seeing no help for it, she admitted, "I
want to go to church with Calder and Merry."
Darvi had all she could do to keep her mouth shut when
Dakota said, "111 join you if you don't mind."
118
Dakota saw the surprise in her eyes, but the twins came
looking for them just then and neither one had time to say
another word. Less than an hour later Dakota left for town.
Darvi didn't wait five minutes before telling Merry what he
had said.
%r%r
Calder knotted his tie on Sunday morning, not quite
able to grasp the last few days. He couldn't think of the last
time he'd been so busy. Merry and the girls were having
the time of their lives with their guests, but Calder had
delivered four babies, wrapped broken bones, patched
split heads, and all this among his other duties. He was
starting to think the people of Stillwater were on some type
of mission, one that would let them visit their doctor on a
regular basis. Calder thought he would be ill as well if they
kept it up, and all of mis knowing that Darvi and Dakota
were leaving the next day.
Dakota had even come into town and stopped at
119
Calder's office, but he'd been with a patient and had two
more waiting. The big Ranger had not looked put out, but
Calder had been frustrated by it all.
There was a time when I begged You for a successful practice,
Lord, and now I'm complaining. Please help me to enjoy the time
I have with these folks and leave the rest to You.
66 lori wick
"Papa?" a little voice called from outside the door.
"Come in."
Calder listened to his daughter try before he stepped
over and opened the door.
"Mama says eat"
"Okay, Viv. 111 be right down."
Vivian waited for him, and when they both gained the
kitchen, Calder was pleased to see that neither Darvi nor
Dakota had come in yet. He didn't want to miss any more
time with them. In less than five minutes everyone was
gathered, and they sat down as a group. Calder prayed,
and to his amazement, Dakota had a question as soon as he
120
was finished.
"Do you ever worry that God isn't hearing you,
Calder?"
"I haven't for a long time, but I used to."
"What changed for you?"
"Something my father said. He asked me if God's Word
was true or not. It forced me to evaluate what I believe, and
the truth is, I believe every word of the Bible. With that in
mind, I looked at the different people who were devoted to
prayer, including Jesus Christ I know I can follow their
lead."
"Where did you find those examples in the Bible?"
"I have some verses written in the front of my Bible that might help. Would you like me to copy them for you?"
"I would, thank you."
"Have you spent much time reading the Bible, Mr.
Rawlings?" Merry asked.
"Just recently I have. I'm afraid that not all of it makes
sense to me."
"I don't think anyone would claim to understand all of
it," Merry added with a smile. "If he did, I'm not sure I
121
would believe him."
Darvi was careful not to look at Merry, but she was
nearly falling into her plate to listen to this exchange. Realizing
she was staring at Dakota, she forced herself to eat
A Texas Sky 67
From there the time simply sped away. Everyone was
barely finished when Merry said they were running late,
and before Darvi knew it, she was sitting in church, the
Scott family to the left of her and Dakota on their other
side.
Some of the songs were familiar, but the sermon was
something she'd never heard before or even considered.
The pastor told them, with verses to support it, that God
had not only saved man, but saved him with a plan. God
had good works for His children to do, and His will was
evident on every page of the Bible.
Darvi was still thinking about the sermon when she
walked absentmindedly out the church door. She had told
Merry she wanted a moment alone at the wagon. She was
122
nearly half a block down the boardwalk when a male voice
stopped her.
"Well, hello."
Pulled from her musings, Darvi turned to find two men
leaning against the side of a building, both dressed in
denim, dean shirts, hats, and boots. There was nothing disreputable
about them; indeed, they were clean-shaven and
well pressed, but Darvi thought it rude to address her
without an introduction. Her chin went into the air, but
they only smiled, pushed away from the wall, and started
to move toward her.
"Been to church, have you?"
"You, sir," she began, but stopped before starting the
set-down she was ready to give him, not certain her old tactics
were a good idea.
"Sir?" The man who was fairer-haired spoke again.
"Did you call me sir? Oh, I like that."
"And I'd like it if you'd move on and leave the lady
alone."
Neither man looked particular guilty or intimidated by
123
the large, dark man who appeared behind the woman, his
entire face visible above her head, but neither did they
want to tangle with him. Pretty as the woman was, the
68 lori wick
dark, intense eyes of the man who shadowed her were a
little more than they bargained for.
Watching them walk away, Darvi stood very still. She
could tell she was shaking a little and wasn't up to facing
Dakota. He didn't know this. Only a moment passed
before he stepped around and faced her. Darvi made herself
look up.
"Are you all right?"
"I think so," she said with more bravado than she felt.
"What did they want?"
"I don't know."
"But they wouldn't move on when you told them to."
"I didn't tell them to move on."
Dakota's brows rose on this. "Why is that?"
Darvi's face filled with frustration before she answered.
124
"I don't know! I'm a different person now, Dakota, and I
don't think I'm supposed to talk to people that way."
Dakota's eyes narrowed, his own temper rising.
"Let me get this straight. You didn't want to hurt their
feelings?"
Darvi scowled at him but didn't answer. Seeing the
upset and confusion in her eyes, Dakota softened. He
spoke quietly, his voice compassionate.
"Unless I miss my guess, Darvi, you and I have had a
recent change in our lives."
The strawberry blonde nodded.
"If yours is anything like mine, right now you don't
know which way is up."
"That about explains it. It's been wonderful," she was
swift to add, "but I'
m so unsure about so many things."
Dakota saw that Calder was headed their way. He gave
him a quick wave and turned Darvi back toward the
church. As he hoped, Calder only waved back and turned
himself, giving them a moment alone.
"No matter what changes have occurred, Darvi, God
125
wants us to keep using our heads. I refuse to believe mat
A Texas Sty 69
there's some verse in Scripture that says once you accept
Christ, you have to let men accost you."
"No, I don't suppose it does say that, but my tongue's
been getting me into trouble for a long time."
"Nevertheless, you know what appropriate attention is
and what it is not If you wanted those men out of your
face, you had every right to tell them."
"But I was angry, and I didn't want to blast them with
my temper."
"Thaf s wise of you, but you can still tell someone, quite
firmly, I might add, that you don't wish to speak to him."
Darvi stopped and looked up at him.
"I'm not going to argue with you, but I'm going to have
to think on that"
"Thaf s fair enough," Dakota agreed. "What did you
think of the sermon?"
Darvi sighed. "Wow."
126
"I know what you mean."
"I just never thought about God having a plan for us.
Did you?"
"Not personally, no. My parents taught my brothers and
me to believe there was a God, but if s only recently that I
considered the fact that God has thoughts of me or that He
would want a relationship with me. If s a little more than I
can take sometimes."
Darvi was still framing a reply when Calder pulled up
with the wagon. The whole family was already on board,
and the girls tried to climb onto both of them the moment
they were seated. Darvi ended up holding the Bibles, and
Dakota took both girls on his lap.
"Koda?"
"Yes?"
But that was all Filar wanted to say. She laid her head
against him, and Dakota held her close. Vivian spent the
whole ride looking up into his face but didn't care to talk
either. The girls gave him such a longing for Laura
Peterson, his brother's young sister-in-law, that Dakota
127
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determined to visit Slater right away. He was thinking
about how he could do this when Darvi shifted beside him,
and he was reminded of his present job. Working not to let
his emotions take over but not quite making it, Dakota's
thoughts were very determined.
I'll get Darvi off safely, and then I'll make my way home. I'll