She frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
His eyes filled with sadness. “It was a while ago. Me, Aiden and Mara just rolled up our sleeves and got on with the work.”
“Aiden is your brother’s name?”
“He’s my older brother.” Brodie grinned. “He’s the quiet, stong type. You know, the kind that likes to boss people around, but doesn’t make too much fuss about it.”
“And your sister?”
“Mara? She just got married.”
“Really!”
“Mara and Paton have a little girl, too. Paton’s daughter from a previous marriage.” He glanced at her. “I’ll tell you more about that later. Paton and Grace have settled into married life nicely. Ranch living seems to suit them. And, needless to say, Mara is real happy.” He grinned. “She loves Paton. And she’s a fine mother to Grace.”
Bethany’s heart warmed just listening to Brodie.
“That’s what I call a happy ending,” she said brightly.
“It sure is.”
By the look in his eyes, and the glow of delight on his face, she could tell that the Cameron ranch was a place of happiness and joy.
“Also, we have an aunt who lives with us. Aunt Edith came to the ranch to attend a wedding that didn’t take place.”
Feeling instantly confused, Bethany squinted at Brodie.
He sighed. “Before she met Paton, Mara was engaged to a young man in town. But, for one reason or another, he decided to break the engagement and leave town.” Brodie dragged in a deep breath. His jaw tightened and she sensed a great tension in him. “I was not impressed with that.” There was indignation in his voice. Obviously this was an old wound which still hurt. “Eventually it all worked out fine in the end. But it was hard on Mara. Edith came for a wedding that never happened and decided to stay. She keeps us all on our toes. She rules the ranch house with a firm hand.”
Bethany didn’t press him for more details. Judging by the smile on his lips he loved his aunt every bit as much as he loved his siblings.
They both fell into silence for a while. As was her custom when she came to the pool, Bethany dipped her hand into the water. It chilled her fingers instantly, but she loved the sensation of running her hand through the mountain-fresh water.
She realized that, now he’d shared some of his past with her, he might want to know more about her life. She wondered how much she was willing to share. Bethany had already told Brodie about Richard. And he’d met Noah and seen the life she’d built for herself here in the valley. How much more did he need to know?
As if he was reading her mind he said: “I detect a Boston accent in you voice.”
She was momentarily taken aback. “How do you know that?”
“We have a ranch hand who came from there. He speaks just like you.”
“You’re saying I talk like someone who works with cattle?” she asked trying to sound light-hearted. She glared at him with pretend outrage. “I don’t know what to make of that, Brodie.” She suppressed a laugh and waited for his reaction.
Brodie’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean it that way,.” He sounded genuinely shocked.
Bethany threw her head back and laughed. “I’m just joking.” Brodie looked instantly relieved. She calmed herself for a moment. “But you’re right. I am from Boston.”
His gaze held her expectantly. “When did you leave?”
Bethany hesitated and asked herself if she should answer that question. She and Brodie were both entering dangerous territory. They were sharing their personal histories with each other. Did that mean they were becoming more than just good friends? More than temporary allies?
After all, if he thought of himself as someone who was just passing through, someone who’d helped her and would quickly move on, why would he be interested in the details of her past life? Wasn’t he just someone who’d assisted her in her moment of need?
Immediately she cast that thought aside. Of course he was more than that. Brodie had already shown her that he had a good heart. That he could be trusted. He’d shown a natural concern for her which truly touched her heart. That was more than enough for her to feel comfortable opening up a little more of her past to him.
“I was born in Boston. My parents passed when I was young. I lived with my aunt. I met Richard soon after he qualified as a doctor.”
“Your husband was a doctor?” Brodie asked almost disbelievingly.
She’d been prepared for that reaction so she simply nodded and continued. “We married soon after the war started. Richard went south and spent the war years tending to the sick and injured.”
Brodie’s brows furrowed. “That must have been hard. For you and for Richard.”
“It was. I stayed in Boston. I only saw Ricard when he came home on leave. But that wasn’t very often. I had Noah and, after that, he became the focus of my life.” She smiled, recalling moments of joy. “Whenever Richard came home we were a family again. Those were the good times.” She sighed heavily, feeling her heart sink with the painful memories. “But they were always too short. Richard was never home enough.”
Bethany paused, wondering how much more she could tell Brodie. She recalled the terrible loneliness she’d felt; how she’d missed Richard with all her heart; how she’d worried constantly, hoping he would not come to harm.
“The war did terrible things to so many men and women,” Brodie said quietly. “Aiden and I were never involved. But I met men who’d been to the war. They talked of how awful it was.”
Bethany knew exactly what Brodie was talking about. The horrors of the war were unimaginable. “Every time Richard came home, he was different. He changed over the years.”
“In what way?”
Bethany had asked herself that question so many times. “First he he was sad about the terrible suffering he witnessed. Then, gradually that anger was replaced by bitterness and finally a hatred for the life back east.”
It was true.
Bethany rested her gaze on the shimmering waters of the pool. Her mind drifted back to earlier days; distant times.
When she’d married Richard, her new husband had been full of enthusiasm for life and excitement about the future. He’d been passionate about medicine and had great plans for the coming years with Bethany and Noah. Richard had loved Noah greatly. But Bethany had seen the pain Richard had felt every time he’d had to leave his new-found family happiness and go back to the war.
The year the war ended, Richard returned to Boston. Bethany had assumed he would resume his medical career. That he would find employment in one of the hospitals.
But Richard had been changed by the war. During the many quiet and intense conversations she’d had with him, Bethany had come to know that the man she had married was no longer the same.
Months passed. Richard declined a post at a local hospital. More and more he began to talk of taking Bethany and Noah and leaving for the west. He’d met men who’d told him that peace and prosperity could be found on the frontier. And Richard had believed their stories.
One day he came to Bethany and announced that he was taking her and Noah west. Bethany had questioned Richard’s decision, but he had been adamant. He told Bethany that any chance of happiness lay in the west.
So, they had packed the necessary belongings and traveled by wagon, finally settling in Billings. Richard established a local medical practice. They had found a pleasant home, complete with picket fence, on the outskirts of town.
Bethany had believed that she and Richard had found a place where they could both be happy. But it was not to be.
Increasingly, Richard showed evidence that his enthusiasm for medicine had dimmed. One day he told her that he would never forget the suffering he’d witnessed and how he had felt powerless to alleviate it. His faith in the Lord had also been shaken by the war. Bethany’s faith was the only thing which saw her through that difficult time. Bethany tried everything she could to soften Richard’s pain, but to no avail. He had b
ecome a tortured being.
Then, one day, Richard announced he was going on a journey and that he would return soon. He would travel to the mountains, seeking rest and renewal for himself. Bethany considered it a good idea, but she was filled with worry during the many weeks of Richard’s absence. There had been nights when, lying alone in bed, she had feared the worst. She had wondered if she would ever see her husband again.
Finally, one day in April two years ago, Richard had come back to Bethany and Noah who was now five years old. When she’d seen her husband he had seemed like a man reborn. After hugging Bethany and Noah, Richard had looked at her, his eyes shining with joy. He’d declared that he had found the perfect place for them all. A safe place, sheltered from the terrible dangers of the world. It was to be a place where they could all find perfect happiness as a family without interference from anyone else.
That night, as she’d listened to Richard describe the valley, Bethany’s heart had sank. Although Richard claimed that the cabin he’d built in the hidden mountain valley would be sufficient for their needs, Bethany couldn’t help having doubts of her own. Richard, always persuasive, had answered all Bethany’s objections. In many ways, he had regained his old former ways which included a passionate ability to win Bethany over to his own ideas.
Bethany loved Richard.
Despite all their difficulties, nothing had lessened her feelings for her beloved husband. The Lord had brought him into her life and she was determined to be a loyal and dutiful wife to him.
So she, Noah and Richard had left Billings and traveled to the mountains near a little town called Inspiration. The journey into the mountain was arduous, but Richard seemed to know exactly where he was going. Traveling by horse, and with their belongings packed on mules, they had reached the entrance to the crevasse. Once through the narrow passageway, they’d emerged into the valley.
Bethany gasped with amazement when she saw the valley for the first time. It seemed like a dream; a perfect place laid by careful, gentle hands onto the mountain by the Lord. A place, she’d told herself, which matched every part of Richard’s enthusiastic descriptions.
The cabin had been there, already constructed. And it was on that first day that she had met Nate, the mountain man who had become Richard’s elderly mentor and who had helped Richard learn the ways of the mountain. With Nate’s help, the Hoxton family had settled into life in the valley.
Bethany and Richard had spent the first few wonderful days making the cabin feel like a home. They also explored the valley, enjoying the beauty of their very own refuge, hidden away from the prying eyes of a world upon which Richard had turned his back. Noah had found the entire experience exciting and had taken to his new adventurous life as only a child could do.
And then, one day a few weeks after their arrival, had come the greatest surprise of all. Bethany had awakened one morning to hear the sounds of horses. She knew the noise weren’t coming from their own stock, corralled at the rear of the cabin.
Stepping outside, with Richard by her side, Bethany had gasped when she had seen a multitude of wild horses, of all colors and types, gathered around the waterfall near the cabin.
This had been Richard’s great secret. Over the next few weeks, horses came and went into the valley. Finally, with Nate’s help, she and Richard had captured one of the horses, a beautiful stallion, glowing with health. It was a prized possession. Richard had taken the horse to the nearby town and traded it for goods he and his family would need. And so it had begun.
On the way back from that trip, Richard had been caught in a storm. Days after arriving back at the cabin he had succumbed to a deadly fever. Richard had been laid to rest near the cabin, on a small rise overlooking his beloved valley.
And on that day, Bethany’s world had closed in upon her. She had been inconsolable. But she had made up her mind that grief would not overcome her. Faith in the Lord had guided her through those dark days. She had to be strong, for Noah and for herself.
All of this ran through her mind as she gazed at the shimmering depths of the pool.
Suddenly, a sharp crack echoed out across the valley. Birds rose into the air, panicked by the sound.
“What was that?” Bethany demanded.
Brodie’s head twisted and he pointed in the direction of the cabin. “That was a gunshot.”
Then, a cry ripped the air. A child’s cry! Bethany’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach. “That was Noah.”
The scream continued for a long moment, high-pitched and awful.
Bethany stood and grasped the collar of her coat, feeling terror twist in her gut. She exchanged one disbelieving look with Brodie. They both raced back in the direction of the cabin. Bethany’s heart was pounding as terrifying images flashed into her mind.
Arriving at the cabin her worst fears were confirmed when she saw a tiny figure lying on the ground. “Noah!” she screamed.
Alongside Noah, Nate squatted, his hand behind Noah’s head. Bethany and Brodie’s horses halted and they leapt down. She ran to Noah and kneeled down next to her son.
Nate’s eyes were wide with horror.
Bethany saw a rifle lying next to Noah. Filled with a fear which almost overwhelmed her, Bethany examined Noah. When she saw his chest rise and fall, she lifted up her heart and thanked the Lord for saving him. Noah was alive! Brodie was standing next to her. She gave him one look of uncomprehending relief. Brodie looked down at her, grim-faced.
“What happened, Nate?” Bethany demanded.
“He was standing behind me, and I leaned my rifle against that barrel. I was busy getting ready to cut some wood. Next thing I knew, there was a shot and I saw Noah fall down. He’d taken the rifle and fired it all on his own.”
“I told you I didn’t want him using that rifle!” Bethany yelled.
“I’m sorry, Bethany,” Nate said weakly.
Noah looked up at Bethany. “Ma?”
“Where does it hurt, Noah?” she asked breathlessly.
“My shoulder,” Noah groaned. He wasn’t moving much and was clearly in pain.
“Let’s get him inside the cabin,” Brodie suggested.
Between him and Nate they carefully lifted Noah up and carried him slowly into the cabin. They took Noah to his bedroom and gently laid him out on the bed. The boy groaned as he settled on top of the blankets. Bethany told Nate and Brodie that she wanted to attend to Noah on her own. Both men left the bedroom.
Once she was alone with Noah, Bethany set about examining him for any wound. Richard had taught Bethany useful ways of examining injuries. Noah grunted when Bethany touched his right shoulder.
Noah’s eyes widened. “That hurts, ma.”
“Don’t you worry. I’ll fix you up. You’ll be fine.”
“I wish pa was here to help,” Noah said.
Bethany masked her features, eager that Noah wouldn’t see the hurt his words had caused. It wasn’t his fault. She felt the same. She wished her husband was here to heal Noah. But, in his absence, she would do the job herself.
And with that, she set about helping Noah as best she could.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“How did it happen?” Brodie asked Nate. Both men were standing outside the cabin waiting for Bethany to come and tell them if Noah was going to be okay.
Nate picked up the rifle from the ground. “As I said. I put the rifle here and turned my back on Noah. Next thing I knew I heard a shot. Then I looked and he was on the ground.”
Brodie took the rifle. It was an older model, one he hadn’t seen before. It was heavy, and definitely not the kind of gun used to teach young men how to shoot. Especially boys as young as Noah. There was a way to teach boys how to shoot. It didn’t involve handing them an ancient rifle that looked like it had seen better days.
“You’re saying Noah took this and fired it.”
“Reckon so.”
“Why would he do that?”
Nate frowned. “Can’t figure it out. I’ve been teaching Noah
how to hunt and trap. Maybe a few times I’ve let him try out holding a rifle. But I’ve never let him fire it. I wouldn’t do anything as foolish as that.”
“Bethany told Noah not to pick up a gun. I don’t think he’d disobey her without good reason.” Brodie felt the weight of the rifle. “You’re lucky he’s still alive. Noah must have felt like he was being kicked by a mule. You need to be more careful, old-timer.”
“Who are you calling old-timer?” Nate scowled. His voice shook with anger.
Seeing the mountain man’s reaction, Brodie felt a tinge of regret. The last thing he wanted to do was insult the man. Bethany trusted Nate. They were friends and Brodie knew he didn’t have the right to step between them.
“How old is this thing?” Brodie asked sharply holding up the rifle.
Nate grabbed at the rifle and wrenched it out of Brodie’s hands. “Don’t matter how old it is. This here rifle has kept me alive for years. I trust this with my life.”
“And Noah’s life, too?”
Nate brows furrowed into deep ridges. “What are you getting at?”
“Like I said. Bethany told you to be careful with guns when you’re around Noah.”
Nate’s grizzled features twisted. “I am!” he grunted. He was getting angry, Brodie told himself. But he wanted to know why Nate had been so careless around Noah. Something had made Noah pick up the gun and fire it.
The way Bethany had described Nate, she thought of him like a grandfather figure. She trusted him, but Brodie was troubled. There was something about Nate which didn’t feel right. He’d felt it this morning when Nate had arrived at the cabin.
Nate took a step toward Brodie. Beneath hooded brows, his eyes were blazing with sudden fury. “If you want to make accusations against me, Cameron, then go ahead.”
Brodie shook his head. “It ain’t like that, Nate. I saw the way you looked at me this morning.” Now it was Brodie’s turn to do some staring. “You don’t like me very much, do you?”
The corners of Nate’s mouth turned down. He forced a smile across his thick lips. “I reckoned I was all kind and courteous to you yesterday. Wasn’t that enough?”
Montana Mountain Valley Bride (Western Romance) Page 9