As Time Goes By , livre ebook

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Cover photos © Jaimie Duplass, Robert Trawick and Oleg Prikhodko / iStockphoto
Cover by Terry Dugan Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota

AS TIME GOES BY
Copyright © 2007 by Lori Wick
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com


ISBN 978-0-7369-1946-3 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-7369-3122-9 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data


Wick, Lori.


As time goes by / Lori Wick,




p. cm. (The Californians: bk.2)
ISBN 1-56507-005-4
1. Title. 2. Series: Wick, Lori. Californians: bk 2.
PS 3573.I237A8 1992
813'.54 dc20
91-3144
CIP
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Dedication
I wish to dedicate this book to my sons, Timothy and Matthew.
Thank you for sledding, ball tag, cartoons in bed, and times of quiet play, so I’m free to write. You fill my life with love and joy, and I praise God that you are mine.
The Taylor and Donovan Families 1871
The Taylor Family
William Taylor
Wife: Mabel (May)
Children:
Jeffrey Taylor
Gilbert Taylor
Nathan Taylor
The Riggs Family
Marshall Riggs
Wife: Kaitlin Donovan Riggs
Extended Family:
Patrick Sean Donovan III
Marcail Donovan
The Bradford Family
Jake Bradford
Wife: Maryanne
Children:
Roberta (Bobbie)
Troy
Contents
Dedication
The Taylor and Donovan Families 1871
Prologue
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty
twenty-one
twenty-two
twenty-three
twenty-four
twenty-five
twenty-six
twenty-seven
twenty-eight
twenty-nine
thirty
thirty-one
thirty-two
thirty-three
thirty-four
thirty-five
thirty-six
thirty-seven
thirty-eight
thirty-nine
forty
forty-one
forty-two
forty-three
forty-four
epilogue
About the Author
Current Books by Lori Wick
Prologue
Santa Rosa, California December 1871

Jeffrey Taylor tiptoed up the back stairway of his house in stocking feet. His parents and brothers were all asleep and he stepped carefully along the upstairs hallway to avoid the reliable creaks and groans of the hardwood floor.
Once in his bedroom he lit the lantern and undressed for bed. The sights and sounds from the Christmas party he had just attended came back to him. Jeff knew everyone there, had grown up with most of them. They had laughed, sang, played games, and eaten for hours. And then the hostess’ face, Sylvia Weber, swam before his eyes.
"What’s the matter with you tonight, Jeff? You haven’t been very attentive this evening." Her voice was irritated and Jeff was quick to apologize.
"I’m sorry, I must be a little tired."
"I’ll forgive you," Sylvia said with a teasing light in her eyes, "if you come over right now and have one of these desserts I made."
Jeff had gone, telling himself to perk up, but Sylvia was right; he had been distracted the whole evening. It was almost a relief to leave.
He lay in bed now, stretched out flat almost six feet of him hands pillowing his head. His body was ready for sleep, but his mind, full of the day’s activities and conversations, was moving like a runaway stage. Earlier that day Jeff’s father, Bill Taylor, had talked with him. Bill informed Jeff that Jake Bradford had been in to mention that his daughter Roberta was coming back to town and looking for a job.
Roberta Bradford, "Bobbie" to most, was the answer to his parents’ prayers because she was an experienced shipping clerk and only needed the position temporarily until she got married.
Jeff had known they were going to be needing someone at the shipping office, owned and operated by the Taylor family, because his mother, May, was taking some time off.
Bill’s consultation with Jeff about hiring Roberta was far more than just professional courtesy over the fact that they would all be working together. Bill told Jeff outright that if he didn’t want Bobbie to work there, they would drop the whole idea. The reason for such words from father to son dated back five years.
Finally allowing the years in his mind to fall away, Jeff let his thoughts slip back to the summer of 1866, the summer when Jeffrey Taylor’s thoughtless actions hurt Bobbie Bradford enough to drive her from her family and home for over five years.
one

Santa Rosa, California
June 1866
S eventeen-year-old Jeff Taylor was not hearing one word of Pastor Keller’s sermon. While keeping his head totally still, he could shift his eyes until he had a perfect view of Sylvia Weber’s profile. Unfortunately he could also see Richard Black.
How dare Sylvia sit with Richard in church when only last night she had let Jeff hold her hand! The sight of them made Jeff fume, but his anger didn’t last. Sylvia smiled at him as soon as church was over, causing his irritation to immediately dissipate.
"We’re leaving, Jeff."
The words, spoken by his mother, came much too soon for Jeff’s tastes. Why, he had only had a few minutes to talk with his friends and no time to speak with Sylvia. She looked wonderful in a pale blue dress shot with flowers of dark blue, the perfect foil for her blonde hair and striking blue eyes.
Jeff wore a brooding look as he climbed into his folks’ wagon. He usually rode with Rigg, his 21-year-old brother, but today Rigg had stayed home with a summer cold.
Actually Rigg was his half-brother Marshall Riggs. Rigg had been a toddler when his father died and his mother married Bill Taylor. Bill and May had three more boys as the years went on: Jeffrey, Gilbert, who was 13, and Nathan, the youngest at ten.
A huge lunch of fried chicken and dumplings was enough to take Jeff’s mind from Sylvia for a few minutes that and the job his mother had given him of taking some soup up to Rigg. Rigg wasn’t really sick enough to stay in bed, but May had wanted him to and he had done so to please her.
"Ready for something to eat?"
"Sure." Rigg put aside his Bible and pushed up in bed. "Smells good."
"Chicken soup."
"How was church?"
"All right."
"You wouldn’t know it by your voice."
"Sylvia sat with Richard."
"So it’s Sylvia this month." Rigg’s voice was dry.
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Calm down, Jeff." The older man’s voice was gentle. "I’ve just noticed that you don’t stay interested in any one girl for very long."
"It’s different with Sylvia." Jeff spoke adamantly, a little too adamantly.
Rigg nodded sagely, wisely holding his peace. His food saved him from replying for a few minutes, and then he told Jeff that he needed to get some sleep so he could be at the store in the morning.
Jeff nearly accused Rigg of being married to the store that bore his name Riggs Mercantile. But the one time he had hinted at such a thing, Rigg gave him quite a tongue-lashing. He told Jeff flat-out that he wouldn’t know a day of hard work if it bit him in the seat of the pants.
Jeff had silently agreed with him but replied that these were his fun years. He would have to work the rest of his life, so why start now? Rigg, who had been working at the store since he was 14 and was in complete charge since he was 19, had only shaken his head and walked away.
Jeff consoled himself with the fact that he helped out at the shipping office from time to time. The fact that his ten-year-old and 13-year-old brothers did more work than he did was conveniently ignored as Jeff once again told himself that he would be working the rest of his life. At 17 you were supposed to enjoy life to its fullest.
Jeff was just leaving Rigg’s room when his mother called him from the kitchen.
"You have a visitor, Jeffrey."
Certain that Sylvia had come to apologize, Jeff flew down the stairs, only to find Pastor Keller waiting in the living room and talking with his father.
"Hello, Jeff," the pastor greeted him. "Sorry to intrude on your Sunday afternoon, but I have something I’d like to discuss with you."
"Sure." Jeff took a chair and gave the pastor his full attention.
"We’re planning an outing for the church. I think everyone will enjoy it. We’re going boating at the lagoon."
"Hey, that sounds great!"
"I was hoping you’d say that. We’re planning a little something special for the young people, though, and here’s where you come in. Right now there are 12 young people from 15 to 17, six boys and six girls. What I’d like to see you do is ask the six boys to invite the girls on this outing. We’ll have a picnic and some games before the boating, which isn’t scheduled until four in the afternoon. The date is three weeks from today."
Pastor Keller held out a piece of paper to Jeff, who took it and read in silence.


Jeffrey Taylor
Angie Stallsworth
Tom Freemont
Sylvia Weber
Richard Black
Roberta Bradford
Deacon Briggs
Kimberly Miller
Dan Walton
Dorothy Nelson
Jeremy Reeve
Lydia Caminiti

"You’re one of the older boys, Jeff, and I think a leader. I was hoping you could talk to the other fellows and ask them if they’d be willing to invite a girl from the list."
Pleased at b