Free Belonging by Robin Lee Hatcher Page A

color matched her eyes to perfection, making them seem even bigger and brighter.
    It bothered Colin that he was so aware of her appearance. It wasn’t like him to notice. It was better to resist such thoughts, about any woman. Better for him, better for his daughter. Allowing a female past the barriers he’d constructed would put the careful order of his life—his and Charity’s—in jeopardy.
    They made the rest of their way to church in silence, and as soon as they arrived at the entrance to the narthex, Colin went to look for Charity, the perfect excuse to separate himself from Felicia’s company. By the time he and his daughter entered the sanctuary, he saw Felicia was seated with Ann Dowd and her family.
    Good. He didn’t want the gossips to have a heyday because he and Miss Kristoffersen had happened to walk to church together this morning.
    Colin and Charity took their usual place in the last pew. He hadn’t always sat at the back of the church. That started after Margaret died. Back then, he hadn’t wanted to be surrounded by people. He’d wanted to be able to leave at any time. He’d wanted to avoid more words of sympathy from well-meaning folks. Now he stayed in the last pew out of habit. Or maybe he stayed because he didn’t want others to guess how little confidence he had in the messages given by Reverend Hightower.
    For instance, all things didn’t work together for good, not even for those who loved God. They never had. They never would. Hard things befell people, good people, and changed their lives for theworse. That’s how it had been throughout the history of mankind, and no nice religious platitudes would change that fact.
    Colin wondered if his wife could look down from heaven and see him. He wondered if she could read his thoughts as he sat there in that pew. He hoped not. Heaven was supposed to be a place where sorrow and sighing didn’t exist.
    If he even still believed in heaven. He wasn’t sure he did, wasn’t sure he didn’t.
    The pump organ at the front of the church bellowed a few opening chords, and the congregation rose to their feet, hymnals in hand. Colin stood and joined in the singing, but only for the sake of his daughter and the promise he’d made to her mother.

    At the outdoor picnic that followed the Sunday service, Felicia was introduced to so many people that it left her head spinning with names and faces. Her cheeks hurt from smiling for such a long time, but she couldn’t stop, even if she wanted to. Her heart was too filled with joy. For the first time in her life, she felt she’d found a place to belong. The fear that had dogged her heels on her way to Frenchman’s Bluff was gone.
    Felicia was particularly glad to see so many of her students, most of whom she’d met in their homes over the past two days. Some were shy. Some were bold. Some were short and slight, others tall and broad. They were the children of the shopkeepers in town and the children of the farmers and ranchers who worked the land beyond the borders of Frenchman’s Bluff. The youngest was six, the oldest fifteen, and she thought it possible that she loved each and every one of them already.
    After the tables had been weighed down with the offerings of the womenfolk, Walter Swanson took a moment to officiallyintroduce Felicia and welcome her into their midst. Then Reverend Hightower said a blessing over the food. Following the “Amen,” others quickly moved to get in line to fill their plates, but before Felicia could do the same, Iona Bryant told her to sit down on one of the blankets.
    “Let someone else bring you food,” the woman added. “You’re our guest of honor.”
    Felicia felt a flush of pleasure warm her cheeks. Truly, she’d never been this spoiled nor felt this welcome anywhere. Still, she wasn’t sure she wanted others to think she expected to be waited on. But before she could protest, she saw Charity hurrying toward her, holding a plate with both hands, mouth skewed in