“But why would He listen to me?”
“Why would He listen to me?” Emma Jane smiled gently. “That’s the wonderful thing about the Lord. He doesn’t distinguish people between social standing, ability, goodness, any of that. He loves us, each and every one of us, just as we are.”
She could tell that Jasper was struggling to process her words. How had he gone to church all these years and not realized this about the Lord? Then she thought about the other girls in church and her own family. Not all of them seemed to be living in the truth they’d been taught. And, if she was honest with herself, it was only her recent friendship with Mary that taught her that the Lord loved her just as she was. Emma Jane had always tried to be good enough to win the Lord’s approval.
“I struggled with that idea myself,” Emma Jane confessed, noting that Jasper still appeared to be befuddled by what she was saying. “I used to try my best to be good and follow all the rules, thinking that if I were good enough, I would be worthy. But Mary loved me in my darkest moment, when I was probably the least worthy of love. If a person could do that for me, how much more so could God?”
Jasper nodded slowly, but his furrowed brow and pursed lips told her that he still didn’t fully comprehend her words. It would be easy to wonder why, but instead, she focused on her gratitude that her husband was finally trying to understand.
With the Lord’s help, perhaps they could find their way.
“Well,” Emma Jane said, giving Jasper’s hand a final squeeze before going over to the cookies. “I suppose I should try one of these cookies before you eat them all.”
She gave him a soft smile, hoping he understood that she was giving him space to work out his own relationship with God. When she first began helping Pastor Lassiter with his mission to the less fortunate in Leadville, he’d cautioned her not to push too hard in encouraging others to follow Christ. If a person pushed too hard, it had the opposite effect.
“They’re good cookies,” Jasper said, reaching for another as Emma Jane sat down next to him.
Emma Jane took a bite, then gave him a sly look. “Not as good as mine.”
Jasper snatched the cookie out of her hand. “You don’t deserve it if you can’t appreciate it.”
“Hey!” She gave him a stern look and retrieved her prize. “Just because mine are better doesn’t mean I can’t eat someone else’s.”
A wide grin filled Jasper’s face, and the jovial man everyone liked, the one she wished would make an appearance more often, returned.
“I suppose. But you know this means you’re going to have to bake me some when we get home.”
She gave him a look of what she hoped to be mock horror. “And intrude on the servants’ domain?”
“I’ll distract Mother.” Jasper winked, but something in his eyes dimmed.
He looked away from her, and she followed his gaze to the snow pelting the window.
“You’re worried about getting home, aren’t you?” Emma Jane said quietly, reaching for his free hand.
He let her take it, though his fingers remained limp, not participating in the gesture.
For a few moments, the only sounds in the room were the crackling fire and the wind’s mournful cry.
Then Jasper spoke. “Getting home isn’t the problem. Making sure the bandits don’t get there first is.”
* * *
Jasper wished he could have taken back his words to Emma Jane the second he noticed the lines furrowing her forehead.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” Jasper said, staring at the cookie still in his hand. Suddenly, it seemed as unpalatable as a rock.
“Why?” Emma Jane lowered her gaze to meet his, drawing him away from his cookie and into the swirling blue depths, the brown flecks mesmerizing him.
Jasper shook his head. “I don’t want you to be worried about what’s going to happen to us.”
He was doing enough worrying for both of them. And now that the baby was in the picture, he had one more life counting on him to get them through safely.
Which made this situation even more difficult. Trapped in this place, there was nothing he could do to keep them safe but hope the bandits would remain snowed in longer than they were. Emma Jane would probably say that he should pray, but he wasn’t sure what good it would do.
Once again, Emma Jane squeezed his hand, the one he’d left carelessly on the table, not realizing how easy it would be for Emma Jane to touch him. And how desperately he wanted her to.
One more distraction he hoped wouldn’t interfere with his ability to keep them safe.
“Everything will be all right.” Her voice was low and gentle, and if there weren’t so many facts that said otherwise, he might have believed her.
Jasper gave a noncommittal murmur, wishing he had something to say that wouldn’t provoke an argument.
“It will be,” Emma Jane said, her voice filled with a passion he’d never seen in her before. “You mustn’t lose hope. Think of all the hopeless situations we’ve been in together over the past few weeks—being trapped in the mine, kidnapped by bandits... And here we are, safe.”
He looked over at her, unable to fathom the optimism coming from her. “I seem to remember a girl sobbing her eyes out at the church picnic because her life seemed so hopeless.”
And then she did a remarkable thing. Emma Jane smiled. “That’s true. I did. And Mary encouraged me, telling me not to lose hope because it would be all right. And it has been. Which is why I can have hope now.”
They had one of the most notorious gangs in the region wanting them dead. Emma Jane might believe that the bandits
