Forever by Your Side (Willamette Brides #3) - Tracie Peterson Page 0,99
think about. Your father told me how to be saved, and I had been considering it long and hard. As I lay there, I recalled a verse from Psalm twenty-seven. It was one your father read on that first day at breakfast. It said, ‘Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.’ Then I remembered another verse your father had shared with me when I asked him how I could be saved. The one you shared with me.”
“You did?” Connie felt her heart skip a beat. Now that she had feelings for him, the only thing that had stood between them was his unwillingness to believe in God and accept Jesus as his own.
“I don’t know where it’s found, but it said that if I would confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, I’d be saved.”
“Yes. Romans ten, verse nine.” Connie couldn’t keep the joy from her voice. “And did you?”
He grinned. “I did.”
Connie wrapped her arms around him once again. This time Tom moaned. She pulled back. “Did I hurt you?”
“My arm was grazed by a bullet. The doctor said it was fine, but it hurts when you grab me.”
“I’m so sorry, Tom. I’m just so happy.”
“It’s all right. I like it when you hug me.”
“I’ll be more careful.” She put her arms around his waist this time and laid her head on his chest. “I love you.” Then she did what she would never have thought to do before. She lifted her head and raised up on tiptoes. “I love you more than life.” She kissed him on the lips with great tenderness.
When she pulled away, she smiled, but Tom’s eyes were closed, and he was sinking down even as she held him. Thankfully, the chair was right there. Connie helped him sink down into it.
“I kiss you, and you faint.” She shook her head and smiled. “But at least I kissed you.”
“Thank you, Rosy, for helping me with Tom.” Connie tucked the blanket around him and smiled. “He’s a good patient with proper incentive.”
Rosy chuckled. “It will be good for me to take care of someone. I am a great nurse.”
Tom looked at Connie and shook his head. “I don’t need a nurse.”
“You passed out, and if I hadn’t been able to commandeer a couple of soldiers to carry you over here, you’d still be sitting in Clint’s kitchen.”
“I just got dizzy. And besides, you kissed me. It shocked my system.”
Connie laughed and brought him some hot tea to drink. “This is my mother’s favorite tea for headaches. I’m hoping it will ease your misery. The army doctor told me you wouldn’t take laudanum.”
“It makes me want to sleep. I had it once when I was suffering from pneumonia. I was pretty sick. The doctor dosed me up, and I think I slept the better part of three weeks. They kept waking me up to roll me into different positions and make me cough. Then they’d give me more medicine, and back to sleep I went.”
“That’s terrible, but it was probably because you were a difficult patient.” Connie looked at Rosy. “I’ll be back as soon as I telegraph my parents and let them know we’re all okay. I sent Isaac for more blankets. He should be back soon.”
As if summoned, Isaac waltzed in with a stack of blankets. “Here they are, just as you ordered, sister.”
“That will be perfect.” Connie grabbed one and unfolded it. “We don’t want Tom catching a chill. I was just about to head out and telegraph Mama and Papa.”
“No need. I already sent one. Colonel Bedford sends his compliments. We had a long talk about everything you told me. He’s releasing Sam. In fact, he’s turned the Indians over to the Indian Legislature to be dealt with. Since there was no real uprising, they aren’t concerned with imposing martial law or anything like that. However, they’re going to leave a company of soldiers here to help enforce whatever the Legislature decides. They’ve also let Washington know that they’ll need to send someone to replace Singleton as Indian agent.”
Connie placed the blanket over Tom. “Too bad you’ve already got a job.”
Tom frowned. “After all this is dealt with, I don’t know that I will. I can’t imagine they’ll want us to stick around. We might only remind the Indians