by Jillian Hart
But first, her letter. With her pen loaded, she set it on the page to write.
Finn,
I know you are concerned for me and feel associating with you might not be in my best interests. I appreciate your concern. It tells me you are still the McKaslin boy I remember, kind to all, liked by everyone before you started spending time with people who weren't good for you. I am certain that part of you is still there, for good is never truly lost. So you will simply have to endure my friendship, as I like to write letters and you are too far away to stop me.
She drew a smiling face so he knew she was smiling as she wrote. She chronicled the changes on the farm since she'd last written.
The fluffy yellow chicks have tripled in size and are gangling instead of cute, the way they used to be, but always funny. Pa built a summer enclosure for them to scratch in and chase after bugs. They dash around after a prize bug, so focused they run into the screen fencing and each other, bounce off and keep going. The baby calves have grown, too, adorable with their big brown eyes and curiosity. The kittens have taken over the barn, sliding down the remains of last harvest's haystacks like otters at play.
She added a few anecdotes from Edward's latest exploits and the news of the Range Riders in town and the sheriff's arrest. Lila's pa's horses and delivery wagon were returned. Some of Lorenzo's cattle were recovered. Several townspeople who'd been threatened and intimidated by Dobbs had come forward. Good news, all in all.
She signed the letter with a flourish, addressed the envelope and went to dig for her stash of pennies hidden in the room she shared with her sisters. She would stop by the post office on her way to Lila's. That way the letter could go out on the afternoon train.
"The bread is ready." Her sister Beatrice sailed into the shanty. "Don't worry, I'll get the dough kneaded and in the oven. You go have a great time with your friends."
"Thanks." She went in search of her Sunday calico and her shoes. Hopefulness filled her heart. Her and Finn's story wasn't over yet.
"
Lila waited for the dust from the teamster's wagon to clear before she stepped off the boardwalk and crossed the busy Friday afternoon street. It had been three weeks, almost four, since the sheriff's arrest. Dobbs had been replaced by Clint Kramer, who had been sheriff before he'd lost the rigged election. The Range Riders had hunted down the remnants of Slim and Olly's gang, two of which had fled when Cheevers had been shot and the others had been out setting up to rob the nearby logging company's considerable payroll. Peace and order had returned to Angel Falls. The only thing missing was the gigantic piece of her heart Burke had taken with him.
"Lila, how's the new job?"
She stepped up onto the boardwalk and glanced around. Recognizing the older man seated on a cart pulled by a donkey, she broke into a grin. "Perfectly, Mr. Grummel. How's Mrs. Grummel?"
"Wishing she didn't live next door to that stepmother of yours." He hollered over the clatter of another teamster's loaded wagon rumbling by. "Do you know what business is going in across the street? I heard the storefront was rented but not by who."
"I have no idea." Lila shifted the bakery box she carried to her other hand. "I didn't even know it was rented."
"These days everything changes." Mr. Grummel shook his head. "Nothing stays the same. People come, people go. Oy."
"Have a good afternoon!" She called before the donkey took him out of talking range. Mr. Grummel's hat tipped in answer and his cart rolled away.
She spun on her heels to face the mercantile. The harvest window display Eunice had set up was quite effective. Canning jars and lids, big kettles and drying screens, knives and peelers and a pretty assortment of kitchenware.
Her hand hesitated on the door handle. On the other side of the glass midway through the store she caught sight of her father. Eunice fussed with his hat, tugging as if at a stray thread, perhaps talking about the steps necessary to mend it, a look of adoration plain on her face. A look of contentment on his.
Lila turned the knob, the bell chimed and she crossed the threshold into the store.
"Lila!" Lark bolted out from behind the counter, arms wide and leaped into a quick hug. She rocked back on her heels, bursting with pleasure and flicked a braid behind her shoulders. "Lila, I'm doing real well taking your place. Eunice is letting me post all the sales to the accounts."
"Good job." The store looked the same, but different. Better, brighter and she could still picture her mother at the fabric counter, chatting with customers as she cheerfully measured out bolts of colorful fabrics.
"There's my girl." Pa came over, pride showing. "Cora Sims was just in telling us what fine work you are doing for her."
"Yes," Eunice agreed. "I told her it was the way you were raised. Hard work, lots of discipline. You've made yourself a fine reputation, Lila, but remember, you can come back anytime."
"Thank you." She was content with her decisions. She was her own woman. With a start, she remembered the time. "I'm in a rush. I need to pick up some berries for my sewing circle this afternoon."
"I'll get them." Eunice paraded over to the buckets of fresh blueberries and chose the nicest one.
"I'll put it on your account!" Lark rushed to pick up a pen and ink it.
"I've got deliveries to make," Pa said, giving her nose a tweak. "Don't forget to visit your old man more often."
"How about I come over for Sunday sup per?"
"That would be just fine." Pa nodded, cleared his throat and ambled away.
"I'll make pot roast," Eunice decided, "and my sourdough biscuits you like so well."
"I'll forward to it." Lila took the pail of berries, waved goodbye and pushed out onto the street. She was late, late, late. Her friends would be arriving any minute.
As she hurried down the blocks and neared Cora's dress shop, a pretty little buggy pulled to a stop. She recognized the mare, Miss Bradshaw, being tied to the hitching post.
"It's Meredith!" Lila squealed as she spotted her dear friend, lifted her skirts with her free hand and raced in a very unladylike manner, weaving around perfectly innocent pedestrians on the boardwalk. Oh, how she'd missed her friend!
"Surprise!" The willowy blonde in a fashionable cotton print dress pushed away from the post and came running. The jaunty tilt of her hat brim flapped slightly with her gait as she flung her arms wide. "It's so good to see you!"
Lila set the box and pail on the bench outside the dress shop so her arms were free. They met in the middle of the boardwalk, hugged and hopped up and down in their excitement. They caught hold of hands, the way they used to do when they were little schoolgirls. "You look wonderful, Meredith. You're positively glowing."
"I'm happy." Joy lit her up, making her lovelier than ever. An engagement ring sparkled on her finger, a beautiful diamond and emerald setting which suited her perfectly. "I blame Shane for it. My happiness is entirely his fault."
"Is he still training your father's horses?"
"Yes. Pa is pleased with his work, and you know my mother. She can't stop fawning over poor Shane. I think he drives out to visit me on the weekends just to escape her flattery." Meredith laughed, her bliss contagious. "I don't see an engagement ring, so Burke hasn't returned to town to propose?"
"Pro-pose?" she sputtered at the notion. Her happiness at seeing her friend evaporated. The misery of losing Burke and the anguish of missing him through the past three, almost four weeks seized her again. In truth, she did not even know if he lived. She tried to smile, tried to keep her heartbreak hidden. "No, Burke was never seriou
s about me. I told you that in my letters."
"Yes, but the heart follows its own path." Meredith gently squeezed Lila's hand, her understanding and support unshakable.
"Meredith! It's Meredith!" Fiona leaped from the wagon seat while it was still creeping up to the boardwalk, leaving her grandmother and her husband behind with a wave. The horses sped along again as she squealed up the step. "You came! You're really here!"
"I couldn't stay away. I missed you all so much!" Meredith laughed, and Lila did, too, as Fiona set down her sewing basket and caught them both. They circled into a three-person hug, skirts swishing together, arms tangling right along with their peals of laughter.
"Let me in!" Kate bounded up, dropped her sewing basket and joined in the squealing and the hugging. "Meredith, this is the best surprise ever. Are you staying in town over the weekend?"
"Yes. I have to squeeze in all the time I can with my friends while I'm here. Letters are great, but they aren't the same as being here with you. Kate, what is going on with you? You haven't written me hardly at all."
"I have a letter right here. I finally got to town to mail it, but now you're here so you may as well take it with you." Kate pulled an envelope from her skirt pocket and her gaze landed on someone else hurrying up the boardwalk toward them.
Lila glanced over her shoulder. "Scarlet!"
"Ooh! I had hoped you would be here, Meredith!" Her red curls bounced as she set her sewing basket alongside the others. "I loved your last letter about all your little students. They are so funny."
"And fun. I love being a teacher, but I've missed my friends." Meredith reached out to bring Scarlet into the hugging circle. "My next job must not be so far away."
"It's fine to be your own woman," Lila spoke up, "but life is better when you are close to your friends."
"Exactly." They all harmonized, glad to be all together again.
"Hey, is there room for me?" A shy, soft-noted voice asked.
"Ruby." Lila let go of Meredith, breaking apart the circle to make a space. "There's always plenty of room for you."
"Always," everyone chimed.
Ruby flushed prettily, not used to so much attention, and joined them. She was such a pretty person no one noticed the careful patches on the elbows and skirt of her red calico dress. "And to think I almost didn't come. Meredith, I would have been terribly upset to have missed seeing you."
"Is there a problem at home?" Scarlet asked.
"Only of the wild animal kind. I've been run ragged trying to keep the jackrabbits out of the garden," Ruby explained with good humor. "If I don't keep an eye out, they are nibbling on my carrots. Pa took pity on me and agreed to pay the neighbor girl to chase away the bunnies while I'm gone."
Across the street, Lorenzo Davis caught the gentle sound, stopped in his tracks and turned toward them. His gaze landed on Ruby and only on Ruby. His wide shoulders straightened and his chiseled face became dreamy. No one else noticed, just Lila. She wondered if a romance between the two of them was in the future.
"We have rabbit problems, too!" Earlee squeezed into the circle, shaking Lila from her thoughts.
"Hey, you aren't even late," Fiona said in her gentle manner. "For once. I'm shocked."
"No one is more shocked than me." Earlee's gold curls glinted in the sunshine. "Lately I have been so busy with the house and the farm, I don't know if I'm coming or going."
"You should have been named "Late' instead of "Earlee,"" Kate quipped and they all laughed together, just like old times, like the schoolgirls they used to be.
So much in life changed. Little girls grew up, they became young ladies who found jobs, married or helped support their families. They were all finding their way in the world, but she knew the best things in life stayed the same. Their friendship was stitched together with the thread of love, a bond too strong to break.
"Come inside," she said. "I don't want to waste a single moment of our time together."
The sun brightened, as if even God agreed. They broke apart and gathered up their sewing baskets. Their merry chatter rose like lark song as Lila retrieved the cookies and blueberries and led the way.
"
"I don't think the doc was right." Jeremiah Kane pushed his chair away from his desk. The scrape of wooden chair legs against the oak floor echoed in the Helena office that headquartered the territorial Range Riders. Jeremiah rose to his impressive six foot plus height. "You aren't ready to come back, Hannigan. You can't use your arm."
"If I can stand, I can work." Burke leaned back in the corner chair, stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles. He wasn't intimidated one bit. "Sure, my arm is in a sling. It's not my shooting arm."
"That's not the point." Jeremiah cornered his desk, came to the front of it and leaned against it. He folded his arms over his chest, a casual stance, but there was nothing casual about his glare. "You push yourself too hard, Burke."
"I have a lot to make up for. What I did was wrong. I was coerced, I was forced, but I still did it." He was a man, unbowed, not that kid who had been frightened into submission. That didn't erase the past. The thing is, the past felt more distant, as if it truly were in the past. "You know it, Jeremiah. You were the first man I shot."
"You shot many, but you did your best to wound, not kill. Not many outlaws take up that philosophy. That says something, too." He paused a moment. The front door swung open, voices rose and fell near the entrance, and the door closed again. They were alone. "I understand why you are driven, but maybe it's time to ask yourself one question. When is it enough? How do you know when you have paid your debt?"
"Never." The answer nearly choked him. He wanted it to be different, but wanting didn't make it so. Reality was reality and no amount of wishing could change it. How could he let go of what he'd done? "What I took can't be replaced. I caused harm. I took a life."
"That's true. But you've spent almost a decade stopping harm, stopping criminals." Jeremiah, tough as nails, boomed out the words as if with anger, but there was no true anger in them. "Think of all the harm you stopped from happening. The justice you helped to find for honest folks who were victimized. You saved countless lives by getting violent outlaws behind bars before they could hurt anyone else."
"It doesn't feel like enough." But he wanted it to be. He ached with the wish down to the marrow of his bones.
"It is. I've spoken with the governor and you are officially pardoned. Your debt to this territory is paid in full." Jeremiah softened, a rare show of emotion. "Maybe it's time to forgive yourself. I have, the government has and I'm reckoning even God has."
He thought of Lila kneeling in the wagon at his side, coming back from Slim and Cheever's hideout. She'd hardly blinked an eye when he'd told her his story. He'd been so sure she would hate him, that she would never understand, that she would see what he saw in himself.
"You are no longer that scared kid. You were never like Cheever. You were a good kid in a bad situation, but you grew up and you rectified what you could of your mistakes. You've made a difference. No one could have done more." Jeremiah shoved off the desk. "It's time to let you go. It's been an honor serving with you."
"Go?" They were letting him off the hook, just like that?
"You are free to be whatever you want. A farmer, a shopkeeper, a railroad worker." Jeremiah held out his hand, palm up. "Son, I'm going to need your badge."
His badge. He pulled it off his s
hirt and ran his thumb over the raised shield. He traced the rifle and horse imbedded in the silver. Those symbols had come to mean protection and commitment and duty. The raised words above proudly proclaimed, Montana Territorial Range Rider.
It was his identity, all he had wanted to be as a boy. He could still remember the feel of the splintered fence against his palms as he stared between the boards in the orphanage yard, watching strong, impressive men ride by on their fine horses. The Range Riders had been briefly in that town, but the impression they'd made remained.
"I want to keep it." He couldn't give up this life he'd earned, the job God had led him to. Besides, he had nowhere to go, nothing else he wanted to be.
"I'm glad you feel that way." Jeremiah almost smiled, a rare show of mirth. "I hear from the boys you found yourself a pretty little calico in Angel Falls."
"I did." Lila's beautiful image washed into his mind like a cool splash of water on a hot July day. Her soft oval face, her cinnamon-brown hair, her green-and-blue eyes shimmering with love for him.
Have You forgiven me, Lord? The prayer rose up straight from his soul. Are You really giving me a chance?
"As it turns out, we are making a few changes around here." Jeremiah opened his top desk drawer and pulled out a shining new key. "The governor has decided he wants a branch in Angel Falls. The railroad has brought more population into that area and a lot of crime has followed. We need someone to run that office. Are you interested?"
Chapter Nineteen
A new day's sunshine cheerfully sparkled on the windows of Cora's dress shop. Lila considered the display she'd just arranged, adjusted the angle of the darling straw bonnet and plumped the silk ribbon bow. There. The pretty, summery dress Cora had designed as a sample draped perfectly, surrounded by lovely coordinating accessories. That ought to have passersby stopping in their tracks to take a look.