A Love to Treasure Read online

  MARIE BOLDEN MIGHT BE LEARNING MORE THAN SHE’S TEACHING

  Wealthy, privileged Marie Bolden lives a life of comfort. So her father can’t understand why she’d leave her family in North Carolina to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. After all, there couldn’t possibly be anything to capture her interest in isolated Cades Cove, Tennessee. Except for the mysterious Daniel Watson.

  Daniel is a jack of all trades. He’s a farmer, a rancher—and possibly a moonshiner. But he is not a believer. And that makes him the wrong man for Marie. Yet their affection for each other cannot be denied. When Marie is suddenly kidnapped, Daniel must turn to God for help before he loses the only love he’s ever known.

  “Oh, here’s my grandson to meet you already,” Mrs. Turner said. “Come in, Daniel, and meet the new schoolteacher, Marie Bolden.”

  He was more handsome than she’d noticed at the rodeo. His reddish-brown hair had a tendency to curl. His eyes were clear and steady, and he towered over her by several inches, so she knew he must be six feet tall or more, with shoulders that were firm and well-balanced. No wonder he had captured her attention when she’d observed him riding a bucking bronco at the fair in Canaan. His was a striking face, framed by thick hair, with the cheekbones finely cut, a thin, slightly Roman nose, a firm chin and intensely blue eyes.

  When she’d accepted this job in Cades Cove, she knew that meeting him was inevitable. She had dreaded the meeting, but had also looked forward to seeing him again. This first meeting hadn’t been a disappointment.

  He shook her hand, saying, “Most of the schoolmarms we’ve had in the Cove have been men or middle-aged women. It’s high time the school authorities hired a woman who’s easy on the eyes. Welcome to Cades Cove, Miss Bolden.”

  IRENE BRAND

  has been publishing inspirational fiction since 1984. She has already published, or is under contract for, fifty titles of inspirational romances. She’s had two novellas published, as well as three nonfiction books.

  She’s been a member of RWA since 1986. Irene was a public school teacher for twenty-three years until she retired in 1989 to devote full time to writing. She’s received the Excellence in Inspirational Romance Writing Award, 1986, Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference, the Koala Award for Quality Christian Writing, CWFI, 1991, the JUG (Just Uncommonly Good Writing) Award, West Virginia Writers, 1999, the First Runner-Up in the category of ARTS, West Virginia Women’s Commission, 2001 and the First-Place Award, 2001 Celebrate Women Award, given by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, West Virginia.

  Irene is active in her local church, serving currently as an adult Sunday school teacher, choir director and pianist. A native West Virginian, Irene holds an AB degree in secondary education and a master’s degree in history from Marshall University. She’s married to Rod Brand (no children), and their travels include thirty-five foreign countries and all fifty states of the United States.

  Irene Brand

  A Love

  to

  Treasure

  To my niece, Catherine Yauger, who is more

  like a sister, and to her nephew, David Yauger

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  August 1899

  For the first time in her life, Marie Bolden was disregarding her father’s wishes. Despite the fact that Vance Bolden was her stepfather, there had always been a close bond between the two of them. In fact, she felt as close to Vance as she did her biological mother, Evelyn. So when Vance said, “Marie, I do not want you to take that teaching job in Cades Cove,” Marie was miserable when she had to answer, “But I can’t go back on my word now. I’ve already signed the contract.”

  “Which you shouldn’t have done without discussing it with your mother and me,” he retorted.

  Marie held to her decision. “If you didn’t want me to teach school, why did you send me to college in Columbia?”

  “As you well know, I didn’t approve of that, either, but you and your mother ganged up on me, and I finally agreed. Regardless, I thought when you finished school, you’d come home, marry one of the fine young men in this area and produce some grandchildren for Evelyn and me to enjoy in our old age.”

  Feeling terrible that she and her father were arguing, but determined to pursue her calling, Marie continued, “Did you think I would spend those two years of hard study at the women’s seminary learning to teach and not put my knowledge to practical use?”

  Vance shook his head angrily. “I expected you to graduate with honors, as you did, then marry a good man and start raising a family. I’d like to have some grandchildren before I get too old to enjoy them. Obviously, your brother doesn’t intend to marry.”

  “Oh, don’t give up on Earl yet. Just because he’s been living in the mountains with the Cherokee doesn’t mean that he’ll never marry. He just wants to live the life of a hermit for a few years.” Earl had gone to the mountains upon returning from fighting in Cuba, where he’d contracted malaria. With their various herbs, the medicine men had cured him. “I think he’s already learned that living alone in a log cabin isn’t very pleasant. At least the last time I saw him, he indicated that he’ll probably get married someday—when the right woman comes along.”

  “I hope so,” Vance said, “as long as he doesn’t marry a Cherokee. I want him to come home and take over our property here in Canaan when I get too old to manage it on my own.”

  Although Marie held her stepfather in high regard, as far as she was concerned, his bias against the Native Americans was a flaw in his character. Marie knew that this prejudice could be traced to the War Between the States, when the Cherokee nation had sided with the Union rather than the Confederacy. But that war had ended a long time ago. Still, when she considered the suffering Vance and other Southerners had endured during those years, she understood his sentiments, even if she didn’t agree with them.

  Grinning, she asked, “With all the trouble we’ve caused you, have you ever been sorry you rescued our mother?” Vance had found their pregnant mother afloat in the Atlantic, then later married her and adopted Marie and Earl as his own.

  “Don’t joke about a thing like that. You know how much I love your mother. I’ll admit it was a marriage of convenience at first, but it didn’t take long for me to realize she was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Besides, you can’t doubt that I love you and Earl.”

  Marie put her arm around her father’s waist and hugged him. “And we love you.”

  “Then will you give up this crazy idea of teaching school in Cades Cove? With all those bootleggers, renegade Cherokees and who knows who else living there, it’s not safe for you to live in that area.”

  “I’m sorry to go against your wishes, Dad, but I’ve agreed to teach in the Cove, and I’m going. You seem to think that I’ve accepted this teaching position just to irritate you. That isn’t true. I believe that I can make a difference in the lives of the children. It’s such an isolated place that many people avoid settling in the area, but I know the children who live there need an education. I feel it is my responsibility to work with them. Surely you would expect me to use my education.”

  “I expected you to teach here in Canaan, if you just had to teach.”

  “There isn’t an opening for a teacher here,” Marie said patiently, as if they h
adn’t had this conversation several other times. “I’m fortunate to find a place to teach anywhere, because many areas still prefer to have a male teacher. I feel that I’ve been called to teach, somewhat like Mother was called to be a missionary in this country.”

  “There are times when it pays to be a stepfather,” Vance said peevishly. “At least you can’t claim you got your stubbornness from me.”

  Laughing, Marie put her arms around his waist. “It’s a good thing Mother didn’t hear that comment, unless you think I inherited that trait from my biological father.”

  She paused a moment, thinking about the father she’d never seen, a man who had drowned before he could start his missionary work in the United States. According to her mother, Marie had inherited many of his physical characteristics—straight brown hair, clear and steady eyes, a firm mouth and a strong chin. The last time she’d seen her twin brother, Earl, they still bore a remarkable resemblance to one another, so she supposed she would readily recognize him if they met again after all this time.

  “You know I love your mother devotedly, so don’t try to change the subject,” Vance said. “My objection is that Cades Cove is no place for a young unmarried woman to live. It has the reputation of being a wild area. Evelyn and I will be worried about you. It still isn’t too late to change your mind.”

  “Oh, I’ll get along fine.” Patting him on the shoulder, she continued, “Remember I’ve had parents who taught me to be self-reliant. I haven’t found a man yet that I want to marry, so I’m going to try teaching school for one season. If I’m a failure, then I may look around for a husband, but I suppose you’ll want to investigate his background before you’ll let me marry him.”

  Even without having him look into the background of Daniel Watson, she knew that neither of her parents would approve of a marriage to him.

  “Very funny,” Vance said. “But, if you’re determined to have your way, I’m going to take you to Cades Cove, and if I don’t consider it a good place for you, you’ll have to come home.”

  Marie shook her head, stood on tiptoes and kissed him. “You know I’ve already given my word and I’m obligated to teach in the Cove. Besides, I’ll be staying in the home of Lena Turner. She’s the sister of our pastor’s wife and has a good reputation. She’ll advise me on what to do and what not to do.”

  “Just the same, I’m going with you to look over the situation. I’ll take my saddle horse, too, and we’ll take your horse and you can keep the buggy. If school teaching up there is like it is here, you’ll probably be expected to visit the parents, and you’ll need some transportation. I’ll arrange with your landlady to pay for the keep of the horse.”

  Laughing, Marie started up the steps to her bedroom to finish packing. Now that the time had come to leave, she was reluctant to say goodbye to her parents. She sat down and looked out her bedroom window toward the village of Canaan, but her mind was elsewhere. She apparently had inherited the wanderlust of her parents, who had been shipwrecked along the Atlantic Coast near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1875, when her father had been drowned. Vance Bolden had rescued her mother, Evelyn, and had assisted her in giving birth to twins while a horrific storm blasted the coast.

  Soon afterward, Vance had married Evelyn, taking her and her newborn babes on the long wagon journey from Charleston to the mountains of North Carolina. Sometimes she wondered what kind of life she would have had if Vance hadn’t adopted them. Because he’d been such a good father, and because he had paid for her education, it was stressful to be making a move of which he didn’t approve.

  It was true that she felt a divine calling to teach in Cades Cove, but she was glad she’d experienced the urge to move there before she met Daniel Watson. After seeing him, she wondered if she had an ulterior motive in wanting to work in the Cove. What would her father say if he knew that a suspected bootlegger was one of the main reasons she was looking forward to teaching in an isolated area of the state?

  Marie had never met a man who’d interested her romantically until she’d encountered Daniel. She hadn’t even spoken to him, but after seeing him once, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Since she’d always kept rigid control over her emotions, it annoyed her that her thoughts had strayed to him often after she’d seen him for the first time riding a bucking bronco.

  For years the town of Canaan had sponsored a rodeo to celebrate the Fourth of July, and hundreds of people attended the special event. Daniel had received the highest award by riding a bronco that was reputed to have killed a couple of riders in the past. The crowd had waited spellbound as the horse threw rider after rider and trampled on one man before he could reach the safety zone. Daniel was the last rider, and he’d actually seemed to enjoy the antics of the animal, which had bucked and cavorted all over the field trying to rid himself of the human who stuck to him like a leech. Rather than being thrown, Daniel had walked away with a trophy and a cash award, too, smiling and waving to the onlookers as though the masterful riding was all in a day’s work.

  She’d wondered who he was and asked a neighbor, Mary Tyler, who sat beside her. “Oh, that’s Daniel Watson,” Mary answered.

  Marie decided that she must look puzzled, because Mary said, “Surely you’ve heard of him!”

  “I don’t think so. Remember, I’ve been attending school for a couple of years in South Carolina, and I don’t know everyone now as I did when I was a child. Does Daniel live in this area?”

  “Yes, as a boy he stayed with his grandmother, Lena Turner, who lives in Cades Cove, northwest of here. Daniel inherited a farm there after he returned from the Spanish-American War.” The woman leaned close to Marie and whispered, “I understand he makes and sells moonshine. That’s the way a lot of families in the Cove make their living, or so I’ve heard.”

  “Oh!” Marie said in dismay. “I’m going to board with Mrs. Turner when I start teaching in Cades Cove. She was recommended highly by one of Mother’s friends who has relatives living in the area. I didn’t doubt that it was a good place for me to board when I made arrangements to live with her. Now I’m not so sure.”

  “You have no reason to fret about it. Mrs. Turner is a fine woman,” Mary said. “You couldn’t find any better place to live. I’m sure she doesn’t approve of what her grandson is doing.”

  Marie laughed softly. “I hope Father doesn’t hear about her grandson’s reputation, for he’s already opposed to my teaching school in the Cove. Regardless, I’m not going to back out now. Apparently it isn’t easy to find a teacher for the area. No doubt that’s the reason the job was available.”

  “I didn’t mean to give the area a bad reputation,” Mary said. “Most of the people in the Cove are Christians and good law-abiding citizens, and there are several churches in that area. As far as that’s concerned, Daniel Watson is well thought of. It’s just hearsay that he owns a moonshine still, so it may not be true. Besides, many people don’t think it’s a crime to make liquor and distribute it. Not that I believe it’s all right, because you know my family are teetotalers, but those folks consider it a crop to sell, like vegetables or grains of any kind.”

  “It’s certainly a crime in our household, so I hope Father doesn’t realize that there’s any connection between my landlady and the Cove’s bootlegger.”

  “It’s my opinion that Cades Cove has gotten its tarnished reputation from a few hoodlums who get in trouble and go to a place called Chestnut Flats to hide from the authorities. For the most part, the people who live there are God-fearing, reputable citizens. Just go to the Cove with an open mind, and you’ll get along fine.”

  After her talk with Mary, Marie climbed the small hill behind their brick home, where she had not only a good view of Canaan, but also of the hills beyond the village. Somehow she sensed that this move to Cades Cove was going to be the breaking point between her and the home she’d known all of her life. Of course, she’d be
coming home often, but still, she was making a break with the past. She would no longer be Vance and Evelyn’s “little” girl, for she was going out on her own, and it was a parting that touched her heart.

  “God,” she whispered, “I pray for Your guidance. I’m afraid of the future, and I’m sad to let go of the past. Should I have been satisfied to stay here in my parents’ home until I became a married woman? I know I’ll make mistakes, but grant me the guidance I need in this venture into the future.”

  * * *

  The next morning, after kissing her mother goodbye, Marie sat beside her father in the buggy and, with anticipation and excitement, started off on the new venture. His riding horse was tied to the rear of the buggy, for he would return home on his horse and leave the buggy for Marie to ride back and forth to the school in Cades Cove. The offer of the teaching job had come so suddenly that she hadn’t had the opportunity to learn much about the area where she’d be living. The man who was supposed to teach that year had supposedly found a better position and his resignation left a vacancy, so Marie had been offered the job. She’d only had a week’s notice, and although she didn’t want her parents to suspect it, she was somewhat apprehensive about taking the job.

  “Tell me something about Cades Cove, Dad,” she said. “What can I expect? I understand that I’ll only have about fifteen or twenty students of all ages, so I packed only the books I thought I’d need to get started. Mother said you would bring supplies to me if I can’t get away to visit you.”

  “Yes, I will. If you’re determined to do this,” he said grumpily, “I want you to be the best teacher you possibly can be. It’s said that there are about a hundred people living in the Cove, although some of them are transients. They just stay for a month or two, then travel on westward to greener pastures.”

  “Mrs. Turner doesn’t have any children in the school, but she’s interested in the education of the young people in the area. She’s the former schoolteacher, but she’s in her seventies and decided the students needed some ‘new blood,’ as she said when she visited us in town. I just hope I turn out to be a good teacher.”