by Ciara Knight
He pulled the reins and the team of horses slowed to a stop. The afternoon sun reflected off the pond near the perimeter fence and a warm breeze swept between the canyons. The howl of roaming dogs sounded in the distance. But still, John did not speak.
She grabbed his hand. “John, please. Tell me what’s weighing so heavy on your mind.”
“I’m gonna lose it. All of it. Again.”
It was as she had feared, but she couldn’t show how much this scared her. “No. That won’t happen. We’ll fight to keep this land. We’ll figure out how to get enough water for the cattle, even if Mr. Wilson won’t share with us.”
“It isn’t that he won’t share. He’s selling to Salter. Salter will own all the land surrounding us. He’ll squeeze us dry until we're forced to sell as well. His fences will keep the Texans from using our land, and our own cattle will suffer. There’s nothing we can do.”
“Listen, even if Salter does buy Mr. Wilson’s land, we’ll still have time. There will be enough water for our own cattle this year, even if we can’t bring in the business from Texas. Yes, we’ll have a smaller herd to sell, but we can cut costs. I can find work in town—”
“No, never.” John gripped the reins with such force it frightened her. He’d always been so gentle, so kind. The only other time she’d seen him so angry and bitter was when Salter tried to threaten her into being his wife.
“I am stronger than you think,” Adelaide said. “Laura might have fallen into the wrong kind of work, and she might have not been strong enough to walk away, to try to rebuild her life, God rest her soul, but I am. I’ve been through worse than this. I saw my father get shot haggling over a painting. Then my mother married a man who tried to mold me into a useless socialite, and worst of all, marry me off to Horst, a man that would have beaten me into submission. I’ve been without a real home since the day my mother remarried. I had a roof over my head and friends who cared for me, but it wasn’t the same. So, there is no way I’m going to let the one place on this planet I feel like I finally belong fall apart. Do you understand me, John Rivers? I won’t let it happen.”
John kept his gaze fixed straight ahead and snapped the reins. “You have to go back to your family. You’re married now, so that beast in Boston can’t touch you. I know your mother and stepfather have money, so you’ll be safe there. I won’t let you suffer here. Winter will be brutal, and I won’t watch you wither away and die. I won’t be my pa. I’ll figure something out and send for you in the spring.”
“John,” she pleaded, but he shook his head. She knew he wouldn’t listen to reason, but she wouldn't keep quiet. Not about this. “I won’t leave. Nothing will convince me. I know I can make it through the winter and help you save this place. You’ll have to drag me screaming to the train station if you really want me to leave.”
“If that’s what it takes.” John drew the buggy to a stop outside their home. His home. He'd never thought of it as theirs, had he?
“It’ll take a lot more than that. You listen to me, John Rivers. I’m your wife and I’m not leaving.” She flung herself from the wagon, tripped over her skirts and landed with her palms against the front steps. He jumped down and was at her side in an instant to help her up, but she shoved him away. Anger flooded her at his willingness to send her away so quickly. She stomped up the steps and flung the door open, startling Stella and Billy.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Stella rose from the arm chair and set her knitting to the side.
Adelaide opened her mouth, but closed it again, afraid she’d spit fire. In all her life, she’d never been so mad. “John…he’s an idiot. A no good, lousy excuse for a husband who turns his back on his wife at the first sign of trouble.” She stomped her foot and planted her hands on her hips.
John entered, closing the door behind him. The determination had drained from his body, his skin pale, his back hunched over in defeat.
Stella rounded the kitchen table, but remained a few steps away. “What happened?”
Her emotions crested and before she could stop them, everything tumbled out. Tears pooled in her eyes as her throat tightened. “He’s sending me away,” she managed before running into the bedroom. She slammed the door and landed face down on the bed. Crying wasn’t going to help anything, and she hated herself for it, but still the tears poured down her face. She sobbed at the feeling of rejection from the one man in the world she thought would be her future, her everything.
Faint mumbling seeped underneath the door and she forced herself to calm enough to listen.
“…the hell you doing to that poor girl?" Stella said. "You marry her, keep her at arm’s length for weeks, then finally bed her, and now you're sending her away? You’re a monster.”
Stella’s words scorched her insides, but she felt relieved the older woman was coming to her defense. Maybe she could talk some sense into that thick skull of his.
“I don’t have a choice. You both should leave, too.”
“I never thought I’d see you turn tail and run. You're a better man than that,” Billy said, his tone deeper than normal.
“I’m not running. And I sure as heck ain’t giving up without a fight. I plan on keeping my land, but I won’t have all of you suffer in the meantime.”
“That sounds like running to me.” Stella’s voice sounded impatient and harsh.
She heard a heavy sigh then John said, “I’m gonna go get to work with the men. I’ll sleep in the bunkhouse tonight. It's best since I’m probably not welcome in my bed tonight.”
"And rightly so," Stella snapped.
She longed to be in his arms again, to share what they had last night, but she couldn’t be with him right now. Not when he was turning his back on her.
The front door creaked open. “Stella, I need your help," John said. "You're the only one that can convince Adelaide to go back home. I promise when I can sort things out here, I’ll bring her back.”
“You’re making a mistake, John. You love that woman, and it’s gonna tear you both apart to let her go.”
“You’re right. I do love her. But that’s why I have to send her away.”
The door shut with a thud.
He loved her? He hadn’t told her that, but she’d hoped. With each day that passed, her love for him grew stronger and stronger. She’d never felt this way about a man before, and she didn’t want to let him go.
Adelaide curled into herself, not wanting to deal with the world. She had no desire to go work, paint, or even admire the beauty of this land. Not today. She had to figure out how to stay, how to make John realize he was wrong.
She lay on the bed for hours, eventually dozing off only to wake to the muted light of dusk. Her head ached from crying and her heart felt heavy in her chest. At least he hadn’t tied her to the buckboard and driven her straight to the train station.
A knock sounded at the door and Adelaide rose, checking her face in the small mirror on the dresser. She looked ragged and her eyes were swollen. “Come in.”
Stella entered with a tray of food. “I see you’re awake now.”
“I’m not hungry, but thank you.”
The older woman sighed. “You need to keep up your strength or that man of yours will actually have a reason to send you away.” Stella placed the small tray on the bed then took both of Adelaide’s arms. “Oh, child, I’m so sorry. I’ll do everything I can to fight for you to stay.”
“I know you will,” Adelaide whispered, unable to find the energy to speak.
“Here. This arrived for you today. One of the men brought it back from town for you.” Stella handed her an envelope.
“Thanks.”
“Well, eat up. You need your strength to take on John. He can be bull-headed, especially when he thinks he’s right.”
“He’s not,” Adelaide countered.
“You and I know that, darling. The problem is getting him to see it. The man wouldn’t see what's good for him if it came up and smacked him in the face,” Stella
mumbled as she left, closing the door behind her.
Alone in her room, she could hear the men returning from their long day with the herd. John would be with them, but she didn’t want to face him right now. If only he would wake in the morning with the realization he was wrong. But she wasn't holding out much hope. She’d have to make him understand that they would be better off together. That nothing else mattered in the world. She would rather die of starvation by his side than to leave him. Nothing would ever make her want to abandon him.
She plopped onto the bed and took a sip of lemonade before opening the small envelope. It was a telegram from her stepfather.
Tingling heat covered her skin as she read his message.
Mother is beside herself.
Heard about marriage.
We’ll be there soon to get you.
You’ll be a widow.
Adelaide gasped and clutched the telegram to her chest. No, he wouldn’t do that, would he? Yes, he would. She’d seen the man’s ruthlessness before. He usually reserved it for his business dealings, until he’d demanded she marry that despicable man in Boston without concern for what her life would be like. It was just business to him, another transaction. He only saw her as a tool to further his endeavors. And once she was gone, he could parade around with her beautiful mother on his arm. Not to mention her grandparents' inheritance.
Her hands trembled, her chest tightened and her pulse beat against her neck. She couldn’t let this happen. She couldn’t let John die because of her.
Dread coated her, making her blood run cold. John wanted her to leave, and he was going to get his wish. She knew their relationship would never be the same. They’d never be able to return to those sweet moments they’d shared. But it would be worth it if it kept him alive.
She'd have to travel to Maryland immediately, try to head off her stepfather before he could make the trip west. Somehow, some way she’d convince him to stay away from Montana, and away from John.
Chapter Eleven
John shoved a pitchfork into a pile of hay and tossed it over his shoulder into the stall. Clementine neighed her protest at the intrusion and pounded her hoof twice. The way he wanted to pound Salter. How could he have been so stupid, thinking he’d have a chance at beating the man? Salter had won every match they’d ever fought. The man always got what he wanted, but he wouldn’t get Adelaide. John would make sure his wife was back in Maryland before Salter knew she had left.
Heat seared his skin as if he’d stepped straight into hell, which he had. Salter’s hell. The man possessed great skill at criminal accomplishments with no consequences.
The barn door opened, but John continued working despite the muscles tugging with protest between his shoulders.
“You know you pay men to do that,” Billy said.
John didn’t respond, he just tossed another load of hay over his shoulder. Sweat poured down his temple and his eyes stung, but still he didn’t hesitate.
The crunch of hay under Billy’s boots echoed through the barn. “Besides, you keep swingin’ that ’round reckless like that and you’re gonna puncture an eye or somethin’.”
“I’ll be fine,” John snipped.
“I’m not worried about you, but Clementine over there is a little frightened.”
Sweat dripped into John’s eyes, forcing him to halt his attack on the hay and wipe his face. Billy didn’t miss the opportunity and grabbed the fork. “Think I’ll be moving this away before I speak my mind. The missus would be mighty upset if you impaled me with it.”
John kicked the barn wall, cracking the board.
Billy huffed. “Now that you can fix. You did this to yourself you know.”
John rounded on him, fire in his belly and words burning his tongue. “I did this? Are you insane? That scoundrel has bested us again. How does a ruthless coward with no morals keep winning?”
Billy sat on the edge of a barrel. “Go ahead and let the anger go. We both know that’s the only way you’re gonna start to wise up.”
John wanted to ride out to Salter’s ranch and put a bullet in him, but he’d never make it past the front gate. He’d learned that after his sister’s death. “He took my sister, now he’s taking my wife.”
“No, you’re giving her away,” Bill said.
“I’m sending her home where she’ll be safe and taken care of. We both know Salter’s the devil. He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. Adelaide won’t be safe here.”
Billy removed his hat and set it in his lap. “You’re probably right about that.”
“Then why are you trying to convince me to let her stay?”
“I’m not.”
John collapsed onto a crate that creaked under his weight. “You just said—”
“I just said she won’t be safe here, but neither will you. If this turns ugly, and you know it will, this homestead and everyone on it won’t be safe.”
Coyotes howled their agreement, a screeching sound that always unnerved John, especially when they really got caterwauling. “What are you saying?”
Billy stood and placed a hand on John’s sweat-soaked shirt. “I’m saying you need to think about leaving.”
John shot up, knocking Billy off balance. John grabbed the man before he fell and then stared him down. “This is my land and Salter’s got no right to it. I’m not some coward. I’ll stay until I’m marched off this land by the law, or they carry my body away.”
“So you’ll stay until your dying breath.”
“Yes,” John said with determination.
Billy rubbed his jaw. “You’ll die for your land and take everyone with you, just like your pa.”
“That’s not fair. This isn’t the same. My father worked the land even when it was failing. Storms, drought, everything mother nature could breathe onto the land, she did.
“Isn’t Salter doing the same thing? Throwing everything he can at you until he chokes the life out of this place? Once he does, then what? What will you do, John? And what happens if Adelaide’s family doesn’t protect her? What if she’s punished for running away from her promise to marry that man back east? How will you feel when you walk off your land for the last time and you’re alone?”
Billy’s words cracked the mirage of truth and it shattered, but even then, he couldn’t see another option. He had to keep his land or lose everything.
For hours, Billy continued to council John on the merits of an honest retreat opposed to a criminal ending, or death. They spoke well into the night, until John could barely walk to the bunkhouse. He collapsed onto his bunch, but despite his exhaustion, the constant turmoil in his thoughts, kept him awake.
The men roused before sunup and began their chores. The morning air sent a chill through John’s spine. Was he doing the right thing? He’d spent all night thinking about what Billy had preached. Sometime in the darkness of night, as he lay on his cot near the wood stove, he realized Billy had a point.
The thought of sending Adelaide back to the family who had tried to force her to marry a monster concerned him just as much as her staying here while he fought for his land. Perhaps she was better off with him, where he could make sure she was safe. He could give up the idea of being a rancher. It was pretty much all he knew but he could find work elsewhere. Even if he wasn’t rich, they could make a living. He wouldn’t hold onto the land until he killed his entire family, like his pa had. He didn’t blame his pa for thinking a man was only worth the land he owned. John had thought the same until he'd met Adelaide. But he wouldn’t repeat his pa’s mistakes. He couldn’t choose his land over his wife. If he had to sell to Salter and move back to Texas to work for someone else, then that was what he’d do.
John splashed water on his face and changed his clothes, before heading to the house.
Stella stood in wait at the front porch and ushered him inside the house. “Well, it’s about time you came up to the house. I thought you might be avoiding us or something.” Stella wiped her hand on a rag and placed
a plate of food on the table for him.
“I think I was, but it’s time for me to face things.”
Stella smiled. “Glad you came to your senses. I knew you would.” Her welcoming smile made him realize how much he’d miss her if they had to sell and move away. Perhaps they could go to Texas with him and Adelaide.
His bedroom door swung open and Adelaide stepped into the room, bags in hand. “I’m ready.”
John stared at the suitcase and satchel in disbelief, not knowing what to say. The last time he saw her, she’d sworn to never leave. Had she changed her mind after what he'd said?
“Adelaide, I’m sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. You’re doing what you believe is best.” She stood with her back straight and her nose high, the way she had on that long ride to the homestead the day she arrived.
John approached her, but she slid away like a frightened calf. “Listen, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Everything I said, I only meant to protect you.”
“I understand.” She headed for the door. “Thank you for being such a good hostess, Stella. I'll always appreciate my time here.”
The finality in her voice nailed a spike through his heart. It sounded as if she was leaving forever, not just until he could straighten things out. He had to do something, to make her see that this was only temporary at best, that they were meant to be together. “Adelaide, I was wrong.”
She stopped for a moment then continued toward the door. “No, John. You were right. It’s time for me to go.” She marched outside, leaving them behind.
“John, you need to fight to keep her. That girl doesn't want to go, I know it, but I’m not sure what’s going on.”
“I can’t make her stay if she doesn’t want to. Maybe she realized how hard it would be and decided to go home. Her family has plenty of money.”
“Weren't you listening to me, Johnathon Rivers? Haven't you learned anything about her since she got here. That don’t add up. Now, I don’t know what’s goin’ on in that pretty head of hers, but you need to find out.”
“What do you want me to do, hog-tie her to the bed?”