Page 7 of A Cowboy's Convenient Marriage

Chapter 4

Cash stepped throughthe doorway of his aunt’s house. Even after two months, it didn’t feel like coming home. It felt...like a transition. Which was odd, because he had absolutely no intention of leaving.

His parents had taken the news of his firing as he thought they would. They believed him but were upset. But what was there to do?

The stance of the church made sense. They couldn’t even give the appearance of accepting the idea that he might be a child molester.

“Good evening, Aunt Karen,” he said as he stepped into the kitchen where she stood at the stove, humming as she stirred something that smelled amazing on the burner.

Aunt Karen had been ecstatic when he had come and settled down with her. She had been lonely since her husband died, and his presence had bolstered her spirits like nothing else. At least that’s what she said, and he believed it. She treated him like her very own son, and he wanted for nothing. In fact, he’d gained five pounds in the last two months. And that was after he’d lost ten from not eating from the stress of everything that had happened and the fact that his appetite had completely disappeared.

He still didn’t quite have it back, but he couldn’t insult his aunt by not eating the food she cooked.

“Good evening. How was work today?” his aunt asked as she continued to stir, although she beamed a smile at him and nodded at the table. “I set some mail there on the corner. It looked like junk mail to me, but I didn’t want to throw it away.”

It hadn’t taken the junk mail people very long to realize that he moved and to start sending him anything from credit card offers to extended warranty plans for a car he didn’t own.

“It was good. I sold four cars, and I have a couple coming in at seven o’clock tomorrow morning to buy another one.” They were serious; anyone who made an appointment for seven o’clock in the morning most likely was. Although he didn’t want to count that chicken before it hatched. Still, he was a much better used-car salesman than he ever dreamed he would be. He wasn’t sure whether people could see that he was honest and upright, or whether he just gave off that vibe, or whether God was just blessing him. Maybe a combination of all of that. Whatever it was, he was the top salesman from the last ten years, even outdoing his uncle’s previous records.

“That’s amazing. I’m so happy to hear it. Jake would have been thrilled. He would have had so much to talk to you about.”

Cash nodded absentmindedly as he picked up the mail on the edge of the table. Aunt Karen had gone on about how much Uncle Jake would have loved him. And he had to agree, it was too bad their families lived so far apart while he was growing up. Uncle Jake sounded like a really wonderful person, and Cash had liked him the few times he met. But distance had precluded them having any kind of great relationship. That, and the fact that Cash, sure that he had been called to preach, was not the slightest bit interested in being a used-car salesman.

Things did change though, and oddly, he had a gut feeling that he was exactly where he was supposed to be. Even though he had never pictured himself doing what he was doing and didn’t particularly like it. Although, there was a certain satisfaction in being proficient at something, and he definitely felt good when he matched people up with a car that was perfect for them.

“I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning, so I won’t have any lunch for you,” Aunt Karen said as she turned the burner off and set the pot to the side.

“That’s fine. You don’t need to make a hot lunch for me and bring it in to the dealership every day.”

“I always did that for Jake, and he claimed that was part of the reason why he was so good at selling cars. No other used-car salesman was ever fed as well as he was.”

Cash huffed out a little laugh and walked over to the stove, holding the mail in one hand while he put an arm around Aunt Karen.

“I believe it. Your food is the best in three counties. And quite possibly in the entire West.” Not that he had ever tasted anything outside of Sweet Water, North Dakota, west of the Mississippi. Still, her food rivaled anything he’d eaten back east as well.

“Do go on,” Aunt Karen said, giggling like she was twenty years younger than what she was and laying a hand on his shoulder. “I just appreciate you being here. You completely change the atmosphere of my home. I had been thinking about selling it and moving to a senior living facility. I’m so glad I didn’t.” She sighed. “It was hard enough to think about parting from the house. But the car dealership was Jake’s legacy, and I’m so happy to see it thriving again. People need honest used-car salesmen.”

Cash was as honest as he could be. He didn’t know how to be any other way. The idea of not telling people the truth about what they were buying was something he couldn’t stomach at all. There was no way he could lie to someone in order to benefit himself.

He pictured his old church and the girl who was even now spreading lies about him, telling people that he’d done things with her that he most definitely had not. He didn’t understand. Didn’t understand how people could live to...bring someone else down? Make themselves look better? He didn’t know how that would make Zoe look better, but...it seemed like her lie was designed just to hurt him, and that made it all that much worse. After all, he’d never done anything unkind to Zoe or to her family. Or to anyone else that he could think of. So why would she be so determined to destroy him?

That was one of the lingering questions he couldn’t answer. He didn’t know. He didn’t understand that mindset. The sense of wanting to hurt another human.

Still, he knew there was a part of him that still hadn’t healed or recovered from the way his entire church had just dropped him like he was toxic waste.

They were Christians; they were supposed to love. He knew they weren’t perfect. No Christian was. Still, he expected some kind of compassion out of them. But he hadn’t heard from anyone. They had all acted like they had been exceptionally relieved that he was not only leaving the church but leaving the state.

He tried not to think about it, because he could feel a root of bitterness taking hold in his heart. He knew Hebrews chapter twelve warned about that, but so far, he hadn’t figured out how he could kill that root.

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