A Love Defying The Odds (Historical Western Romance)

by Cassidy Hanton

  “First, I couldn’t very well have Miss Jones travel out to the ranch unaccompanied, not after what I’ve put her through. Second, Mother, you have some fences to mend and this trip might be just the right time.”

  “Me? What do I have to apologize for? I’ve done nothing wrong!” she argued, pressing a hand to her heart.

  “We did not treat Miss Jones as respectfully as we should have. I’ve worked my fingers to the bone to make it up to her, and now you need to do your part.” Matthew pulled the wagon team over to the side of the wide road and set the brake, then jumped down from the seat.

  “Good day, Miss Jones!” he said brightly, trying to ignore the look of trepidation on Lucy’s face. He knew her eyes had alighted on his mother and he could only guess what kind of expression she wore. “Are you ready for an adventure?”

  “I think so! But only if ‘adventure’ is just your way of saying ‘a nice long trip where nothing terrible or too exciting happens!’” Lucy teased. “I understood why I might need some warmer clothes and sturdier skirts, but a medical kit? Iodine pills? I could faint just from thinking about needing those!”

  “Oh, you’ll find that you shouldn’t need those things. But it’s better to be prepared!” Matthew held out his arm for Lucy to take then picked up her carpetbag in the other. He moved for Lucy to step up onto the wagon sit so as to sit beside him, but his mother hadn’t moved from her place.

  “It’s all right,” Lucy said, ignoring his mother’s cold shoulder, “I think the bed of the wagon might be more comfortable anyway.”

  “Nonsense,” Matthew replied, looking directly at his mother and gritting his teeth as he spoke. “It’s been so long since you’ve been out to the ranch that you’ll want to sit here where the view is better. All the cattle that are making the trip have been brought in close to the house, so it’s quite a sight to behold!”

  Matthew and Lucy stood in silence, waiting. Finally, Mrs. Miller gave in and slid over to the farthest end of the board, making room for Lucy in between her and her son.

  “There now! All set?” Matthew asked, and Lucy simply nodded. Genevieve didn’t say a word.

  “Mother, I told Lucy yesterday all about the supplies you and Gertie had worked up,” Matthew said once they’d set out. “Why don’t you tell her what all you’ve put aside?”

  Mrs. Miller didn’t answer for some time, but then thought better of her rudeness. Still, her tone was clipped and unwelcoming when she explained all they’d done.

  “There’s various smoked meats and pickled fish, corn meal for bread and oats for flapjacks, jams and other fruit preserves, honey, and plenty of chicory for our breakfasts,” Mrs. Miller said, then listed a good number of other items they’d spent weeks preparing.

  “My goodness, I had no idea! I’m sorry that I didn’t realize or I would have told Matthew I should be of a help!” Lucy said, genuinely sorry that she’d left the work for others.

  “That’s… that’s all right, we managed it,” Mrs. Miller said, though she was pleasantly surprised by Lucy’s remorse.

  “Well, I’m sure there will be plenty of work to do each day, and even more once the journey is over. I’ll be sure to make up for my slothfulness at those times!” Lucy turned to Matthew with a question about something she saw off in the distance, and Mrs. Miller smiled slightly to herself.

  By the next morning, the preparations had already been underway since before sunrise. Wagons were loaded, horses were saddled, and the team of drivers who’d signed on only for this trip shook hands with the regulars from the ranch.

  Lucy dove in to help serve the breakfast, carrying plates with Susanna and Constance just as fast as Gertie could fill them. Once all the mouths were fed, it was time to heap the dishes back in the washtub and set everything to rights in the kitchen.

  “What will we be doing on the drive?” Lucy asked the others while they toiled.

  “Miss Lucy, the drive ain’t the most fun you’ll have on a ranch, I promise you that! But we’ll still find ways to bide our time,” Gertie explained. “There’s meals to cook each day, washing to do when we find a creek, mending that has to be done when a drover wears a hole in the seat of his britches—”

  At the sound of the girls’ embarrassed snickers, Gertie launched into a story from one drive in which a cowhand had gotten his foot caught in the stirrup of his saddle. He’d been dragged a decent length before anyone could help him, and when he finally did stop, his pants were split in two.

  “Lawd, when that poor boy stood up he was more blood and brambles than skin and bone, but dontcha know he was more worried about showing his backside than the cuts all up and down his body!” Gertie paused to laugh and the girls joined in, prompting Mrs. Miller to step into the kitchen.

  “What’s going on? We have a lot to do this morning!” she said crossly before whipping out of the room.

  The kitchen went quiet for a moment as the boisterous laughter died down almost immediately. The maids looked truly chastised, but Gertie broke the silence.

  “Don’t pay her no mind,” she whispered conspiratorially. “She’s just putting on with a guilty conscience and don’t have half a mind what to do about it.”

  “What do you mean?” Lucy asked when she noticed Susanna and Constance looking up at her from their downcast eyes.

  “Child, she ain’t been the same since that fussin’ when you left,” Gertie explained, still keeping to just above a whisper. “She knows she was at fault for encouraging Mr. Matthew to not believe you none, and now she feels just awful. She’s just too proud to say so.”

  “Well, I certainly didn’t aim to upset her,” Lucy said sadly. “Maybe in time she’ll come to think of me as she once did?”

  “Don’t fret, Miss Lucy!” Susanna said, patting her shoulder tenderly. “We’ve all known how you were wronged! It will just take her time to remember it, too.”

  “It helped that Miss Gertie gave Mr. Matthew the what for after you were gone!” Constance said, hiding her laugh behind her hand.

  Lucy’s eyes went wide with disbelief. She looked to Gertie, who merely shrugged.

  “I just reminded that boy what kind of man his daddy expected him to be, that’s all,” she said. “The rest was all him, comin’ to his senses the way he did. And it’s a good thing, too, ‘cause I was already thinkin’ on takin’ my fryin’ pan to the side of his noggin!”

  The four of them laughed then headed out to see what needed to be done with the wagons. Before too long, the entire ranch was ready to roll out.

  Lucy’s excitement began to wane while Tuckerrise was still visible behind them. She’d known the journey would involve endless miles of wide-open space while jostling back and forth in the wagon. She’d even known she may be tossed sideways every time the enormous wheel rolled over a rut in the road or a stone.

  Most of all, she’d expected that she would see very little of Matthew, as he’d be busy with the hundred or so head of cattle that meandered along in front of them.

  No, it was the utter uselessness that bored Lucy. She’d expected to have so much work to do, but instead found herself only reclining on the hay as the wagon pitched this way and that. It was impossible to even sleep with the movement of the wagon, so there was nothing to do but watch the swaying grasses move beneath the wheels. Every so often, a cow meandered away from the long line of clusters that spread out in front of and behind the women’s wagon, and it was exciting briefly when a drover gave chase and led it back to the herd.

  Otherwise, there was nothing to see but empty, open prairie.

  Just when Lucy thought she’d cry from the boredom, a rider doubled-back on his horse to tell them it was time.

  “Time for what?” Lucy asked Gertie, who pulled on the reins expertly and led their team of horses off to the side of the group.

  “Time for the midday meal,” Gertie explained. “We got to get set up over here, and then the men will come back in packs of three or four to eat up. They’ll go back to tending th
e herd, and then another group will come get their grub.”

  “Oh, so they’ll eat in shifts? Like during the harvest on some of the other farms? I’ve read about that in a storybook I shared with the children once,” Lucy asked. Gertie nodded, and together they climbed down and got ready to lay out a meal.

  The first groups to arrive were boisterous and giddy at the sensation of being out of the saddle. They ate standing up or squatted with their legs tucked underneath them, letting their knees bend. A few men even lay face-down on the ground to eat, stretching their backs and necks and letting their hats shield their heads completely from the sun.

  Eventually Matthew appeared with two of the newcomers who signed on only for the drive. They chatted amiably as they approached, obviously having made fast acquaintances.

  “So, isn’t this the most exciting thing?” Matthew asked as he came closer to Lucy and gratefully took the tin plate she offered. He laughed when he saw the look of surprise she’d been trying to conceal. “I’m only having fun at you. I know this is more boring than watching paint dry on a barn!”

  Lucy laughed along and nodded. “Yes, I did think there would be a lot more for me to do… not that I’m complaining about riding along in the wagon while you men have to race about on horses!”

  “There will be a few more chores for all of us each evening when we make camp for the night. We have to put up our sleeping tents and see what needs washing or mending, but we also have to get the fires going. That’s a good deal of work.”

  “The fires?” Lucy asked. “Will it be that cold at night?”

  “Sure,” Matthew answered. “It can get to where you feel the chill in your bones, but really the fires help keep coyotes and wolves from coming after the cattle.”

  “Well, here’s to a completely boring trip with no danger to bring on the excitement!” Lucy said brightly, lifting her mug of water to clink it against the side of Matthew’s. He laughed, finished his plate, and headed back to the herd after telling her he would look for her that evening.

  After the last of the drovers had come through their line and Gertie, Susanna, and Constance began to put away the supplies, Lucy looked around with concern.

  “Where’s Mrs. Miller? She and Mrs. Dowling haven’t come through to eat yet!” she said, trying to see off in the distance where the other covered wagon stood waiting.

  “Mrs. Dowling came through a bit ago,” Constance offered. “She said she would bring a plate to Mrs. Miller, but the woman had said she wasn’t hungry.”

  “Nonsense!” Lucy argued, fuming. “She didn’t eat at breakfast today, either, and I think I know exactly why. Gertie, hand me that plate, if you please.”

  Lucy poured out some of the beans that they’d cooked just that morning at the ranch, then reached for some of the salted crackers from the great barrel they’d brought with them. She filled the plate then put one of the apples in her pocket to carry along. She took the cup of water that Gertie wordlessly held out to her and marched off towards the other wagon.

  Epilogue

  When Lucy reached the wagon, she found Mrs. Dowling, who’d signed on to help with the second wagon when her husband signed on to ride with the herd, standing off to the side by herself. She brightened slightly when Lucy approached, and Lucy knew it was because Mrs. Miller must not be very good company at the moment.

  “Mrs. Miller? I’ve brought you a plate,” Lucy said evenly in a tone that was neither disgruntled nor lively.

  Genevieve looked at it from where she sat on the wagon seat and turned away. “I’m not hungry.”

  “Well, you have to eat. You didn’t eat before we left and now you’ve missed the midday meal. Unless there’s some ailment troubling you, you must have something in you before we can continue on.” Lucy thrust the plate and cup in Mrs. Miller’s direction, but she didn’t move to take it.

  “Mrs. Miller,” Lucy said, sighing and putting the meal on the seat, “you’re going to have to talk to me some time. It might as well be right now.”

  Mrs. Miller turned sharply and looked down at her, but she had nothing to say. Lucy stared back at her, unwavering, until the older woman’s resolve began to break.

  “I just don’t know what to say,” she began, but then she stopped.

  “And how long will that go on? Are you never going to speak to me again? Are you never going to eat another meal?” Lucy asked, gesturing to the chuck wagon that waited on the nearby rise. “It will be a very sad, lonely, and strange existence for you then.”

  Mrs. Miller still didn’t speak up, so Lucy continued, her hands planted on her hips.

  “I’m very sorry that you’ve become cross with me, but I intend to marry your son. I have fallen in love with him, and I’ve been able to forgive him for his wrongs. I hope he will forgive me for being so demanding these last few weeks, but I had to guard my heart against further pain, the kind of pain you’re still determined to cause me. But know that I will be marrying him, regardless of what you might think of me, and it might make for a very cold home and hearth if you refuse to speak to me for the rest of your life.”

  Mrs. Miller sat with her hands folded in her lap, but Lucy could see the whites of her knuckles where the woman was twisting her hands with worry. She kept her lips pressed together in a painfully thin line, still refusing to say anything.

  Lucy started to head back to the others, but Mrs. Miller cried out, “Wait! Don’t go!”

  She scrambled down as well as her age would allow and hurried around the team in front, then swept Lucy into her arms.

  “You’re right, of course you’re right!” the woman cried, her tears hitting Lucy’s shoulders and staining the cotton of her blouse. “I’ve been so ashamed, I didn’t know what to say! I was horrible to think that you might have had anything to do with Matthew coming to harm, but I couldn’t face the truth!”

  “What truth do you mean?” Lucy asked, her arms going around Mrs. Miller as well.

  The older woman stepped back and wiped at her eyes. “The truth that my husband’s own brother has been plotting to destroy us, all for some land! I knew not that he wanted property of his own! If he’d but said so, I would have gladly deeded him part of the property to thank him for all the years he’d worked alongside both my Jacob and Matthew.”

  Genevieve pulled her handkerchief out from her sleeve and wiped at her nose. She shook her head and added, “It was so much easier to believe you’d plotted with that awful outlaw than to see the truth: John killed my husband and sought to steal Matthew’s birthright.”

  She hugged Lucy one more time and whispered, “Can you ever forgive me? Please let my soul have this one measure of peace!”

  “Of course I forgive you,” she answered, hugging Matthew’s mother close. “I know how much you love your son, and you would do anything for him. But please know that I love him dearly as well, and I, too, will do anything for him. You will never have reason to doubt my words or my actions.”

  A short while later, Lucy was returning to the chuck wagon when someone came up behind her and grabbed her arm. She stifled a scream and was glad she’d done so when she turned to see Matthew’s smiling face.

  “Is that true?” he said, taking in her look of confusion and grinning sheepishly.

  “Is what true?” Lucy asked, pressing her other hand to her racing heart.

  “Is it true that you aim to marry me?”

  Lucy watched as Matthew struggled to keep his composure, only to dissolve in a brief fit of joyful laughter as the words escaped him.

  “Well, if you’ll have me, that is. I’ve been known to run in some very rough circles, and I can’t say that my parentage is the most reputable,” she answered lightly, while also trying to remind him who she really was.

  “Miss Jones, if you can overlook the fact that I killed your pa and blamed you for my problems, I don’t give two hoots about anyone’s reputation! As I told you once before, I will be the happiest man in the West if you’ll be my wife!”

>   “Only the West?” Lucy asked, wide-eyed. “I believe once before you told me you would be the happiest man on Earth! I suppose I’ve dropped in your esteem?”

  “Not a bit, ma’am!” Matthew joked back, tipping his hat. “If anything, I’m the one who has to worry about what you think of me. I do remember saying this much, though, I’ll spend the rest of my life making up to you for my wrongs.”

  Lucy’s expression softened, and she stepped closer, close enough to press her hand to Matthew’s sun-kissed cheek. He covered her hand with his own as she did so, then turned to brush his lips against her palm.

  “That’s enough of that talk,” she said quietly. “Forgiven and forgotten, and never to be spoken of again.” She smiled through her tears then swatted Matthew’s arm with the dishtowel she pulled from the band of her apron. “But let’s hurry up and get these old cows to market so we can have a wedding when we get back!”