The women sat in the parlor and chatted for over an hour and finally Mary Ann disclosed the reason for her visit. “One of the reasons I came by was to say good-bye. We are leaving tomorrow.”
Victoria noticed Mary Ann kept looking out the window as though she was waiting on something. It could be her uncle, of course, but she had a feeling she was hoping Luke would walk through that door. “Your father hasn’t changed his mind?”
“No, he hasn’t. But it is probably for the best. I won’t be coming back.”
“Does this mean you will definitely marry Mr. Stafford?” Promise asked.
Mary Ann couldn’t begin to discuss that subject without tearing up. “It seems so.”
Victoria exchanged a glance with Promise. “We hate to hear that, we were hoping that your father would have a change of heart.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Mary Ann had avoided the other reason she came to the ranch long enough. “I also wanted to see Luke. I need to apologize to him.”
“Mary Ann, the men are out on the range moving cattle and they won’t be back for a few weeks at least. We were doing some baking for the cook to take food out to them.”
Mary Ann was disappointed, but she tried to hide her feelings “I didn’t realize they stayed on the range that long.”
“When I first came here, I remember Jake telling me he could stay on horseback for two weeks and never reach the western boundary,” Promise told her.
“I had no idea the ranch was so large. Have you ever wanted to go with them and sleep out on the range?” Mary Ann thought the prospect of sleeping around a campfire with the right man sounded romantic. She’d never experienced such a thing.
“I came here with Jake on a cattle drive with twenty-five hundred head of longhorns. I think I prefer the comfort of my own bed,” Promise responded.
Victoria and Promise shared their stories of how they arrived at the McBride ranch. By comparison Mary Ann thought her story seemed rather dull. How she wished she could live on a ranch like this with a husband she loved and one who loved her. She could envision herself growing old here with her children and grandchildren. She wasn’t so naïve as to think that this life came without hardships, but with a strong man by your side it was sure to be an interesting life.
“I’m sorry I won’t be able to say good-bye to Luke . . .” She hesitated, trying to control her emotions. She would never see Luke again, and now it seemed so final. She didn’t think she could feel worse than the night she saw Luke kissing Sally, but she was wrong.
“Let’s go to Colt’s office. You can use his desk to write Luke a note and tell him what you wanted to say,” Victoria suggested.
* * *
“Mind if we join you?” Colt asked Luke.
Luke already had a fire going and was making some coffee. He enjoyed being out on the range and sleeping under the stars. It gave him time to think and put life into perspective. He’d spent a few nights off by himself away from the rest of the men so he didn’t mind having the company of his brothers. “I’ll make more coffee.”
“Good. Jake shot dinner,” Colt told him. Colt had given Luke some time alone since he understood that was what he needed. As much as Colt missed his wife and boys, he was happy to have the chance to be alone with his brothers. It reminded him of when they were young and they would spend time on the range with their father. Those were special memories that he enjoyed sharing with his brothers and he wanted to make more memories with them. It also gave them time to talk about the things men like to talk about without boring the women.
After they ate dinner they placed their bedrolls around the fire and Colt pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his saddlebag. He filled their cups and they settled around the fire and drank their whiskey.
“How do you like being out on the range again?” Jake asked Luke.
“I love it. I’ve really missed this place.” He thought he might miss his rambling ways when he came home, but he didn’t. It was the exact opposite, he loved being with his brothers, and he was crazy about his sisters-in-law and nephews. He’d forgotten how women made a house a real home. He questioned his sanity for leaving home in the first place. In his estimation Colt was the smart one for realizing early on in life what was important.
Colt was thrilled to be out here with his brothers, he had dreamed of this for ten years and he thanked God that his prayers came true. “I’ve never been as happy on the ranch as I am right now,” he said in a rare expression of his feelings.
“You have a lot to be happy about with that wife of yours and those boys,” Luke said. He glanced at Jake. “When are you going to catch up?”
Jake chuckled. “I’m working as hard as I can, we want some kids. At least I’ve got the wife now. The other part is easy and fun trying. Now what you need is to get a wife of your own, you’re way behind, little brother.”
Luke didn’t smile. “That’s going to be a long way off.”
“I had thought there might be something happening between you and Mary Ann,” Colt commented, trying to crack the door.
“You mean before she failed to mention her fiancé?” Luke replied.
Jake looked at Colt and arched his brow. “Yeah, that was sort of a surprise.”
Colt saw his opportunity. “Victoria told me that Mary Ann’s father arranged the marriage. Mary Ann told her he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“I’m sure Mary Ann agrees with the arrangement or she would say no,” Luke said.
“She told Victoria this is not what she wants. And from what George said, her father doesn’t seem like a man that takes no for an answer. George thinks Hardwicke is in financial difficulty and Stafford is a wealthy man. Hardwicke’s estates may be in jeopardy.”
“His daughter is being sold? Is that what you are saying?” Luke asked.
“I doubt they look at it like that, but I guess you could put it that way. Love doesn’t enter into the equation,” Colt said.
“What’s the going price to sell your daughter to the highest bidder?” Luke asked.
Hearing the anger in Luke’s question, Colt tried to explain. “Stafford has the money and Mary Ann’s father has the title and land. The practice is accepted there.”
“You know, Luke, you’re a wealthy man now,” Jake added.
Luke heard the underlying message in his brother’s comment. “The difference is I don’t plan on buying a wife.” Luke couldn’t believe a man would force his daughter to marry a man she didn’t love just for money. Mary Ann had to be in agreement with this scheme.
“Luke, I think her father knows how to exert his power to bend Mary Ann to his will,” Colt said.
“That may be, but she still failed to mention the situation,” Luke said.
Colt had no response to that fact. He didn’t know why she didn’t tell him about Stafford. But he did know his brother, and he knew this situation was gnawing at him, so he said the only thing that came to mind. “You two didn’t really spend all that much time with each other before you left for Arizona.”
Luke had told himself the same thing. She’d been on his mind from the first day he saw her, so it may have distorted his perception of the situation. It wasn’t long after they cooked together that night that Arina came to town and she had occupied most of his time. But after he kissed Mary Ann at the dance, she might have said something then about her fiancé. She had been every bit as passionate as he was, but still she didn’t think to mention there was another man with whom she might be sharing such passion. He asked himself what he would have done if she had told him she had a fiancé. If she’d been honest, he wanted to think he might have given Stafford a run for his money. By not telling him, he felt she played him for a fool. It might be unfair to compare her to Arina, but to his way of thinking, both of them deceived men.
“This is just about the same place I camped out with T. J. and Tate before I married Victoria. Young Tate informed me I needed Victoria,” Colt said, remembering the last night Tate
was alive. Tate was shot and killed that night. Colt had given the young man a job two years before his death and he thought of Tate as a son. He’d even named his youngest son after him.
Luke and Jake smiled. They knew what that young man meant to their brother. “What do you mean he told you that you needed Victoria?” Luke asked.
“He pestered me to death that night asking me if I intended to marry Victoria. I’ll never forget he said I needed more in my life than the ranch. He was a smart kid. Cade and Cody were crazy about him.”
Luke and Jake had never heard Colt talk so much about Tate. They took that as a good sign as it’d taken Colt a long time to come to terms with his death. Maybe he could speak about Tate now without the painful memory of the night he was killed.
“The first time Tate saw Victoria I thought he was going to trip over his tongue.” Colt recalled the memory that he’d tucked away for a long time. He smiled to himself remembering how Tate couldn’t even speak when he first saw Victoria. “He followed her around like a little puppy.”
Luke could appreciate how the young man felt. He felt the same way when Mary Ann got off that stagecoach. If she’d spoken to him, he wasn’t sure he could have responded. No matter what happened in the future, he knew seeing Mary Ann in that pink hat was one memory that would always remain with him.
Seeing his brother was in such a talkative mood, Jake asked, “Did you know from the start Victoria was the one for you?”
“When I saw her in St. Louis the first time I felt like I’d been kicked by a bull,” he recalled. “It took me a while after she came here before I admitted how I felt about her. It took Tate pointing out that I was going to lose her if I didn’t do something about my feelings.”
Jake laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Not only did I think Promise was the most beautiful woman I ever saw, but she was unconscious and drenched to the bone. There were only men on the trail drive and not a town in sight, so I had to undress her.”
“Are we supposed to feel sorry for you?” Colt asked.
“Yeah, you are. All she had was this flimsy stuff, like those things in Mary Ann’s shop,” Jake said grinning. “It took a lot of self-control for a man that had been looking at grimy men and smelly cattle for over a month.”
Luke didn’t know Jake had also been in Mary Ann’s shop. “You’ve been shopping for Promise in Mary Ann’s shop?”
“I bought her some perfume, but I haven’t given it to her yet. It’s a surprise, so don’t mention it.” He looked at Colt. “I gather you bought more than perfume.”
“Yeah, women like that stuff from France,” Colt said.
“Did you see those corsets? I’ll bet the women from L. B.’s will be shopping there,” Jake said.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Colt agreed.
Luke had been successful trying to forget it’d be Stafford seeing Mary Ann in those corsets and flimsy camisoles. But his brothers kept bringing up the subject. “I imagine when Mary Ann leaves town George will close the shop. She’ll probably take all that stuff to England with her and wear it for Stafford.” He didn’t intend to say that last part aloud. His blood nearly came to a boil over the thought.
“‘ Under love’s heavy burden do I sink, ’” Colt quoted.
“What the heck does that mean?” Luke asked.
“Shakespeare?” Jake asked.
“Yep,” Colt answered.
“Maybe Luke should read some Shakespeare,” Jake said.
“Yep.”
“I’m not sinking under anything,” Luke informed them. “I don’t need to read Shakespeare. I don’t want a wife.”
Colt and Jake exchanged a glance, and Jake said, “I think little brother protests too much.”
* * *
“Where have you been?” Hardwicke asked Mary Ann when she returned to the hotel later that day.
“Saying good-bye to friends.”
“If you’ve been with that man . . . ” Hardwicke started, but Mary Ann interrupted him.
“Father, I’ve not been with any man!”
“Don’t get any ideas about staying with him unless you want to see him in an early grave. Those men who are traveling with me are more than willing to eliminate your friend.” Hardwicke wasn’t about to let her ruin everything he’d gone through to take her back to England. George had told him that she cared for that barbarian, but there was no way he would allow his daughter to give herself to such a man. With Stafford she would have everything she would want. She would have a life of privilege, not one of lack. And more importantly, the future of the estates would be secure.
She didn’t question her father’s candor, she knew he would have no problem removing any problem standing in his way and that included Luke. “I am going back with you; there is no need to concern yourself.”
“Just remember what I said.”
Mary Ann turned her back on him and walked to her shop. While she was disheartened she didn’t get to see Luke to say what she held in her heart, she was relieved he was so far away that her father’s men wouldn’t find him. They would leave in the morning and she wouldn’t worry over Luke’s safety.
She looked around her shop one last time. Her uncle told her to leave it as it was if she didn’t want to pack everything up. George didn’t know if he would keep the shop open, but he didn’t want her to have additional worries. She thought it would be nice for the ladies in town if he kept it open. Perhaps if Luke saw the shop open, he would think of her occasionally.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The team of horses covered the miles at a pace that didn’t seem possible. Mary Ann didn’t remember time going by as rapidly when she was traveling to Wyoming. She knew what was waiting for her once she reached England, and all the praying in the world wasn’t going to make time stand still. She was wedged between her father and Edmund for hours on end, but fortunately they didn’t include her in their conversations. It was the same way her father treated her mother, as if she never said a word that he wanted to hear. Mary Ann didn’t care that they didn’t converse with her, she had nothing to say to them. Most of the hours were spent with her eyes closed and her mind on one thing: Luke. The stagecoach driver said they would reach the way station in Missouri before dusk. She looked forward to spending the night there since that was where the station keeper’s wife, Lillian, taught her to make biscuits. Luke had loved her biscuits. Thinking of the way he’d devoured them made her smile. She wished she was back in Wyoming making lots of biscuits for him.
The stage pulled to a stop and Mary Ann hurried inside without waiting for the men. Lillian greeted her warmly as if they were old friends.
Lillian hugged Mary Ann, delighted to see the young woman again. “Why honey, I didn’t expect to see you again.”
“I’m traveling with my father. He came from England to take me home.” Mary Ann didn’t hesitate to be truthful with Lillian. She was an older woman with a warm and generous way about her and Mary Ann trusted her from the moment she met her.
Lillian could see the sadness on Mary Ann’s face. “Don’t you want to go back to England?”
Hardwicke and Stafford chose that moment to walk through the door and Mary Ann didn’t respond. She introduced them to Lillian, and while they were polite to her they didn’t take time for conversation. The stagecoach driver, the two detectives, and Lillian’s husband, Henry, came inside after seeing to the horses. Her father asked Henry to show them to their quarters as though he was staying at the grandest hotel in New York. Mary Ann was surprised Henry didn’t laugh, but she heard him explain that the men would be sharing a room for the night. It was a small station, but no other travelers were expected, so Mary Ann would have a little space to herself. Mary Ann helped Lillian prepare the meal and told her how successful her biscuits were in Wyoming. It was a relief for her to have a woman to talk with after the long days in the stagecoach in silence.
“It’s such a joy to have you to visit with again,” Lillian told her. “You remind me
so much of my daughter.”
“I didn’t know you had a daughter. Does she live in Missouri?”
“She died a few years back, but I’d like to think she would be as lovely as you had she lived.”
Mary Ann walked over and put her arms around her. “I’m sorry. With you for a mother I’m sure she would have been wonderful.” Mary Ann had thought a lot about Lillian on her way to Wyoming. She was the first woman who had spent time with her during her journey. She’d been touched by Lillian’s generous spirit and how she treated the travelers like long-lost relatives. Her life wasn’t an easy one out here in this desolate place, yet she glowed with an inner joy. The dress Lillian was wearing was threadbare like the one she was wearing before, and she had none of the feminine frills women so enjoyed. Even her home was drab, certainly compared to the McBride parlor. There were no handmade pillows in cheery colors, no paintings adorning the walls, and no lamps with beautifully painted globes on the tabletops. The only colorful thing in the room was a handmade quilt made by Lillian’s mother. Lillian told her there was not enough money for such extravagances. “I brought you something.” Mary Ann walked to the little room that held her luggage. When she returned to the front room she placed a valise on the table.
“Here you go, open it,” Mary Ann said.
Lillian looked at her quizzically. “The valise?”
Mary Ann opened the valise for her. “Yes, everything in there is for you.”
Tears filled Lillian’s eyes as she looked at the contents inside the piece of luggage. “All of this is for me?”
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