Page 41 of Chancing the Frontiersman's Heart
He pushed the door open slowly and stepped in. Dawn and Mary followed, closing the door behind them.
“Jared, can you—” Mrs. McFadin stopped in her tracks as she turned from a washbasin. The towel and the plate in her hand fell to the floor with a clatter. Her face crumpled as tears came to her eyes and her hand went to her mouth.
“Jacob!” Jemimah cheered as she charged toward them, her mending landing in the floor as well. She threw her arms around him in a hug while Jonah and Joseph came over, their jaws hanging open. When Jemimah relinquished Jacob and moved on to Dawn and Mary, Jonah took his turn. Each of the siblings embraced the prodigal son before also sharing a hug with Dawn and Mary.
Joseph even whisked Mary into his arms and twirled her about the room, eliciting girlish giggles. “Mary, you came to see us!”
Finally, Mrs. McFadin approached Jacob slowly, tears glistening on her cheeks. She placed a hand softly on his cheek. “You came back,” she whispered.
“I did.” Jacob nodded.
Mrs. McFadin wrapped her son in a hug. Her body shook as she shed her silent tears. When she pulled back, she graced him with another smile before turning to Dawn.
“And I brought my family,” Jacob added with a proud grin.
Mrs. McFadin hugged Dawn, squeezing her tightly. “I knew God would bring you all back to me. I knew it.”
Tears sprang into Dawn’s eyes as well, for this woman was not only praising her son’s return, but hers and Mary’s as well.
When Dawn had doubted that a single person could love her, that anyone could love Mary except for a blood relative, here was all the love in the world waiting for them. Not only did the connection flow between Dawn and Jacob and Mary, but it spread to Mrs. McFadin and Jacob’s brothers and sister as well, as expansive as the star-speckled sky outside the cabin. Never again would she or Mary want for love.
