Two weeks later Luke McCain and Ellie Palmer pulled up their horses near the town of Bright Water. The big man was unfailingly kind but Ellie still had moments when she felt uneasy around him. Luke had grown out his sideburns and a long mustache that fell almost to his jaw. His clothes showed frequent mending and he wore a ragged blanket coat. He looked so much like the Earl Bantry that Ellie remembered that she constantly had to remind herself that Bantry was dead. She had even seen his grave and it had been a comfort to look at the plain wooden marker with his name and the date of his death.
Luke's son Mark had accompanied the marshal when he took Ellie to the cemetery, and although the boy was polite, she sensed a reserve in him. Well, she couldn't blame him. She had tried to kill his father and the love between them was almost tangible, like the love she had for Johnny. Ellie had moved to a new town so that she could claim her husband was the father of her baby. The thought of Earl Bantry never entered her head when she looked at her boy. As far as she was concerned, Bantry was only Johnny's father in the most physical sense and nothing of his spirit could ever touch her son.
She frowned. "Lucas, can I ask you a personal question?"
"You can always ask." He smiled. "I don't promise to answer."
"What was your wife like?" Ellie saw that Luke was taken aback and she said slowly, "I mean, can you see her in your son, Mark? Is your boy like his mother in any way?"
Realization dawned in Luke's eyes and he considered the question carefully. "I think every parent gives something to their child." Ellie's eyes fell and Luke went on. "Sometimes it might just be a talent of some kind. In your son's case, he may be good at something that you wouldn't know anything about, and that might come from Earl Bantry." The big man said reassuringly, "It doesn't mean he'll turn out badly. Remember Proverbs 22:6? Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
"You have no idea what a comfort that particular Bible verse is to me," sighed Ellie. "But you didn't answer my question."
"Is Mark like his mother?" Luke got a far-away look in his eyes. "I'll never forget the first time Margaret agreed to step out with me. I took her for a buggy ride. I didn't have a buggy, but I wanted to make a good impression on her." The emotion in his voice when he said his lost wife's name made Ellie's eyes sting. He smiled a little. "I was pretty wild in my younger days and I was determined to show her I could be respectable. I worked for the town doctor for two days fixing his leaky roof so I could borrow his buggy for one afternoon. When I drove up in that buggy she was watching for me and she ran out before I even stopped. I felt like the luckiest man in the world. Everybody loved Margaret. There was a quality about her. She always wanted to help...everything. Anyone who was hurt, or sick, or grieving, just naturally found their way to her house. She was always mending broken wings."
"She sounds like a very special person," said Ellie softly.
"She was so small I felt like a big oaf the first time I tried to talk to her but she was so kind and gentle she knew just what to say to put me at my ease. Well, we went out riding in the buggy and I admit I was thinking of stealing a kiss." Luke chuckled. "And then Margaret just exploded with some language I never heard from a lady before and jumped right out of the buggy. There was a man about to pitch a sack of kittens in a pond and she blessed him out so much I don't think he's gotten over it yet. Then she had me take her home so she could take care of the kittens." Luke's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "She apologized for ruining our afternoon, but that's when I fell in love with her. Desperately and hopelessly…" He fell silent for so long that Ellie wondered if he meant to go on. Finally he said, "Mark is like that. If someone's in trouble, my boy is right there trying to help. I've seen him pretty mad at the person causing the trouble. He's even lost his temper with me when he thinks I'm not doing right by someone! I've done my best to raise him up right, and I try to set him a good example. He's a fine boy but I've had good material to work with and I know that comes from his mother."
"I hope I can do as well with my boy." Now Ellie was the one in tears. "Do you really think you can get him back?"
"I promised Mark I would," said Luke. "I wouldn't dare face my son again if I came home and you didn't have your boy."