Chapter 15

15

" A re you going to keep her?"

Ford Hansen sat in Travis's living room, staring at the man he'd taken under his wing more than ten years ago. Part of the reason he'd done it was because he wanted to give back to the community, part of it was because of Travis's aptitude, but most of it was because of his wife, Morgan. Actually, almost all the credit should go to Morgan. She had seen something in Ford that no one else had seen, or maybe, she'd just taken the time to draw out the best in him.

He could feel his lips wanting to turn up as he thought about his wife. They'd had more than two decades together and had raised four children. And he loved her more now than he did the day they got married. She was one of those people who did not just put on a show but was truly good from the inside out, truly beautiful in both places.

She'd given up a lucrative career because she hadn't wanted to violate her convictions. He could admire someone like that, and did.

And maybe, that had been God's plan all along, because ultimately, while Morgan was the vehicle that God used, it was God who would reach down for Ford and not allow him to give up on life and become a recluse after his accident.

He resisted the urge to scratch at his eye patch and waited while Travis thought.

"I guess I hadn't really thought I had any other choice," Travis said slowly, as though the idea of not keeping the baby had never dawned on him.

"If that's what you want."

"Maybe that's what I think I need to do," Travis said slowly, as though he were thinking about the words as they were coming out.

"If you think that's what God wants, that's what you need to do." That was always his advice. Sometimes he would tell people to read a certain passage, or passages, in the Bible, particularly if what they thought God wanted them to do violated Scripture. After all, God didn't take the trouble to write the Bible only to tell man to go against it. Therefore, if anyone thought that God was telling them to do something the Bible clearly said not to do, that man was wrong.

But sometimes there were cases where either option would be right from a biblical standpoint. It was at that point in time where a person had to pray, seek the Lord, and then make the choice that they thought God wanted.

"I could report it to authorities, but you know they're going to take the baby from me. And the mom clearly said that she wanted me to raise her."

"You do know people are going to assume that's your baby?"

"I know."

"And I've already heard rumors that they think it's Ellen's baby too. That…could negatively affect her."

"I know. Especially since she's already been here helping me."

Travis had told him that she'd helped him the first long night, and then she stopped in every day afterward. If he had a hard night, she'd watch the baby for a while so he could sleep. Or she'd tidy up his house or watch the baby so he could get some work done. She still had her own work to do, her dogs and her cows and the various things she did around town, but she always made time for Travis.

"I know you want to protect the mom. I know you felt like she was in some kind of danger, but this might be a hard thing for Ellen to shake if people believe she abandoned her own baby."

"I know. I've just not been answering those questions when people ask, because I don't want the fact that there was a baby dropped off here that we don't know who the mom is, that the baby is almost two months old, and have whoever that woman was afraid of tracking the baby down."

"I appreciate you being so protective of her. Someone might want to use the baby for ransom or to hold something over that woman's head. I don't know, but…she could be long gone by now, and Ellen is right here."

"I know. Ellen is…amazing. The best human I know."

"I always thought you…kind of liked her." That was putting things mildly. He always thought Travis had a huge, massive crush on Ellen. In fact, part of the reason Ford had sent him away when he did was because of Ellen's age, because Travis was an adult, and Ellen was only fourteen.

Four years between a couple wasn't much once they became adults, but an eighteen-year-old could not be hanging around a fourteen-year-old with romantic interest.

Travis knew it, but Ford also knew that sometimes teenage boys didn't always act with intelligence. Hormones could be a hard thing to fight.

And Ford didn't want to see Travis end up in prison or branded as a child molester, just because he'd fallen in love with a girl who was too young.

Ford had his suspicions that when Travis fell, it would be forever, and he'd been right about that. Goodness knew that there had never been anyone but Morgan for him. Not since she walked into his house and broke down all his walls, carried away his heart. Of course, with a woman like Morgan, he could trust her with his heart. She'd kept it safe all these years, raised his children, and stood beside him through everything. He would love her until he died.

"I more than kind of like her," Travis finally said, his eyes on the baby who slept cradled in his arms.

"Then it might be a good idea to marry her. She's already spending a lot of time here, helping you with the baby, and if you really don't want to let the baby story get out, that might be the best way to protect Ellen." Normally he wouldn't recommend a marriage happen that quickly, but Travis was as steady as they came. He'd grown as a person, as a businessman. His solid, consistent character had already been in place when he'd been a teenager. And Ellen had a heart of gold. Travis said she was the best human being he knew, and Ford couldn't disagree that she was a wonderful person, who would keep her word if she made vows.

"I didn't want to rush that. I've liked her since before you sent me away." Travis looked up, and for the first time, there was a little humor in his eyes. "Sometimes I wonder if you did that on purpose."

"I guess it's far enough in the past that I can admit that yes, I did."

"Thank you. I probably would have done something I shouldn't have if you hadn't."

"I know." Ford paused. "I don't think less of you. It just wasn't the right time."

"I know. I knew it then. But…" Travis's voice trailed off, and he never finished his thought. Ford could only imagine he was thinking something along the lines of Ellen had been someone he had never been able to resist. That she pulled him like she had a chain wrapped around him and he couldn't get away, could only go closer.

That was how Ford felt about Morgan. He'd like to think that was the way the best marriages were. But everyone had their own love story. It didn't necessarily follow the script. It just needed to be between two people who made vows and meant them. Because, as good as Morgan was, there had been times in their marriage where he hadn't liked her very much. There had probably been more times in their marriage when she hadn't liked him at all. But both of them had stuck with it, and both of them had been determined to see the best in the other.

He thought Travis could have a marriage like that with Ellen, and he had to admire the fact that Travis didn't want to rush it.

"I guess if there's one thing these last few years taught me, it's that…life is short. But at the same time, I've learned patience. Which seems to be a contradiction, but because life is short, you want to savor the things that are really meaningful."

Ford stared at him for a minute, wishing that he had had that kind of maturity at that young of an age. "You know, I think most of the time, people have a tendency to run ahead of God. I think you're on the right track, but I guess I would caution you to make sure that you don't wait too long and miss your opportunity."

To his surprise, Travis's lips pulled back in a slow grin. "That's something else I learned from you. At first, I was too brash, too hotheaded, but as I learned things, I had a tendency to become more deliberate, more thoughtful, slower, and… You know I screwed a few things up because I didn't move quick enough."

"There's a fine line. And maybe staying in touch with the Lord is one of the ways that you're able to walk that line."

"Knowing what God wants, and trying to do it?"

"Yeah. It's not always easy. And…" Ford paused for a second. He knew he was going to say something that maybe wasn't something that every Christian would agree with. But it was something that he felt. "Sometimes I think God just allows us to choose. There is no wrong answer, and He allows us to make the decision. I think maybe sometimes we sweat over decisions that we don't have to. Both are right, so both are good, and either would work."

"I don't know that I've ever thought about it like that before," Travis said.

"Yeah. And like I said, that might not be every decision, and it might not even be true. But whether you keep the baby, whether you give her away. Either one could be a right decision, right?"

"There is no biblical mandate that if somebody drops a baby off, I have to keep it."

"No. And maybe the mandate is to follow the rule of law, and that almost indicates that you should report that to authorities. Except… The mother gave you permission to keep it."

"Right. So either could be right."

"Yeah. I guess I'm just thinking you don't have to feel like you have to keep the baby. And if you think that's what God wants you to do, by all means. Do it. But don't feel guilty if you don't."

"Thank you. I maybe needed that permission. I hadn't even allowed myself to think that I might not keep her. A baby is a big responsibility."

"It is." Ford would know. He'd raised four children of his own with Morgan. He wouldn't go back and change it for the world. His children meant more to him than anything except for his wife and his Jesus. But it wasn't an easy task. Not even for just one child.

"I've been wondering how I can court Ellen the way she deserves, while still taking care of the baby."

Ford nodded, and then he decided to give his opinion on that as well. "Ellen deserves the world. She's a good woman. But… Sometimes the very best women just want you. They don't want all the bells and whistles, they don't want all those special things raining down on them, they just want you. Your time, your attention, you showing them by your words, deeds, actions, whatever it is that speaks to their love language, that she's important to you. And that you love her."

Travis listened. His eyes were narrowed a little, as though he were processing the words as Ford spoke. Travis always listened. That was part of what had made him such a good business protégé. And part of the reason he'd been so successful. He hadn't thought that he knew best, but he'd been willing to be humble and to learn.

He was doing that now, and Ford appreciated it and figured that whatever choice he made, he would be successful in that area of his life as well. After all, a man typically wasn't born a natural romantic.

"I think, I think a lot of times men get things backward. They do all of the pretty shows before the marriage, and then once they're married, they forget to romance their wife. They forget that she chose him, and he chose her, and it takes a certain amount of work to make a marriage relationship work. That after the vows are said is when the real work begins."

"The little bit that I've watched, TV would have us believe the exact opposite."

"Maybe that's why there are so many divorces in the world today." Ford knew that it wasn't that simple. It was mostly because character wasn't valued anymore. Because Christianity was on the decline in America. And what used to be social pressure to stay married had totally disintegrated, and now, anyone who tried to exert any pressure on someone to do right was called judgmental and wrong.

All the stigma of sinning had been removed, and now just like the Bible had predicted, wrong had become right, and right wrong.

Not for the first time, Ford wondered if it had been a smart idea to bring four children into the world, a world that was so twisted and messed up. But until the Lord came back, there was still hope for, if not the entire world, at least individuals. Maybe, maybe because he had brought his children into the world, there would be people who escape the fires of hell and find Jesus, and end up in heaven because of his children. He could only hope so.

That was the point of having children. There might be someone who was saved from the fires of hell because of his child. He was at the point where it could be his grandchildren who pointed someone to Jesus. There was no higher calling.

"Well, she's sleeping, and Ellen will be here soon, so I'm going to head out." They'd already talked about what he'd come to discuss, the investment of the Sweet View Ranch and Travis's exodus from his companies.

Travis had always said that he wanted to move back to Sweet Water and buy property. And he'd worked hard to make that happen. With their joint investment in the Sweet View Ranch, and with the way the Clyborne family was working on it, Travis should be set for life.

"It's always good to see you," Travis said, standing carefully, holding the baby gently so he didn't jerk her as he moved to his feet.

Ford bit back a smile and resisted the urge to scratch his eye patch again. "It's always good to see you too. You might not be working for me anymore, but I'd like to keep in touch, son."

Anytime he'd called Travis son, it had made the younger man beam. This was no exception.

"I can't thank you enough. I really can't."

"Thank Jesus. I am nothing without him."

"Same," Travis said.

Ford held out his hand, and by now, Travis was well used to the fact that he only had three digits on it and gripped it without a second look.

Ford took another peek at the baby and took his leave.

He had a feeling that everything was going to work out for Travis. But from experience, he was pretty sure it wasn't going to be easy.