Stained Snow

by Brown, Fallon

  He let her pull him up from the table. She was right. He was tired. If he wanted to be able to give her the life she deserved with him, he needed to get his strength back.

  Epilogue

  Barnes Ranch, Colorado

  March 29, 1889

  William stepped out of the barn and looked up toward the house. It had finally warmed up and Maggie had the windows and door open, letting the house air out after a long winter. A smile spread across his face, and he headed up that way. He still walked with a limp. He accepted that wasn’t going to go away. His chest had ached through most of the winter, but he’d been able to work. He’d been able to sleep with Maggie again. He’d been there when she gave birth to their child.

  Warmth spread through him. He couldn’t believe he’d ever thought to ride away from it all. He couldn’t think of anywhere more important than being beside her. They still had dinner with her pa in the main house, even though they made their home in their own cabin.

  He stepped inside and breathed in the aroma of beef and cooking vegetables over the fire. She had a bundle in one arm, bouncing it as she stirred the stew in the pot. William’s smile grew wider as he moved over to Maggie. “Let me have her,” he murmured.

  Maggie smiled gratefully and handed the infant over. William pulled the blanket away from the baby’s face and looked at her for a minute. She made a cooing sound, a few bubbles blowing past her lips.

  Almost two years ago he’d been happy with his wife and son on his own ranch. When he’d lost them, he never thought he’d have happiness again. Here it was, though, staring him right in the face.

  He’d lost everything to his brother less than two years ago. Now everything that mattered to him was right here. He couldn’t shake the thought it had to be a dream. He feared he would wake up one day, and it would all be gone again. Every morning he woke up and found Maggie still sleeping beside him, their daughter in the cradle beside their bed, he had to convince himself he wasn’t still dreaming.

  “Pa brought a letter when he came back from town this morning,” she said, as she turned from the fireplace.

  “He said something about that. Where is it?”

  She pulled it out of her apron. “I held onto it for you.”

  He shifted the baby in his arms and took the envelope from her before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. He pulled the letter out, scanning the date, almost three weeks ago, and the first lines. “Ma sends her love. She says she’ll be down for a visit as soon as the trails clear.”

  Maggie laughed. “I know. I read it.”

  He scanned a few more lines then stopped and read the last one again. “Adam’s working at the ranch?”

  Maggie nodded. “We got another letter from him, too. His people didn’t accept him, so he didn’t stay for too long. Patrick was perfectly willing to give him a job at his ranch.”

  “Good. I hope he finds his place. I thought maybe he’d come back sometime, though.”

  She moved over to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Maybe he will. You can read the letter if you’d like.”

  “Later.” He held onto her for another moment. “Right now I’m happy with my girls. Right where I am.” The baby cooed, and his smile widened even more. “Even Anna agrees it’s the right place to be.”

  Maggie laughed and shifted so she could kiss him. She jumped back as the scent of burning stew reached both of them.

  Now, William laughed and nuzzled his daughter’s cheek. If this was a dream, no matter how messy it could be, he hoped he would never wake up from it.

  Read on for an excerpt from Stained by Ashes, coming Spring/Summer 2016

  Leah sat in the corner of the wagon as her father picked up the reins and started the team out of the yard. The hot sun beat down on her, and she was sure her curls would be wilting by the time they reached town even with the hat she wore. She wouldn’t complain though. She could have stayed in the coolness of the house, but then she’d have felt even more of a prisoner. She was getting what she wanted.

  The trip was spent mostly in silence. Her father and oldest brother murmured between them. She only caught snatches of the conversation, as they talked about this meeting and the coming battle with the homesteaders. She didn’t understand why it even had to come to that. There was plenty of land out there. Didn’t they have plenty to spare? What was a few acres? She thought of their neighbors to the southwest. She liked going out to visit them, even though her father would have a fit if he knew. They weren’t enemies, she couldn’t see the young family like that, but she couldn’t make her father see it.

  If this battle did come, blood would be shed. Was it really worth it?

  Leah glanced over at Barrett. His usual smile still hadn’t returned. That made her uneasy. It seemed no matter what happened, he could lighten the mood. He caught her looking, and a ghost of that smile came out, but he didn’t say a word. They both knew what life would be like if they voiced any disagreement with their father’s plans.

  Leah had barely sat for a week the first time she had turned away a suitor without even letting him in the house. Much like the first time she’d slipped away from one of her many lessons he’d subjected her to. Piano, needlework, and so many other things she was supposed to know as a ‘lady’. How she hated that term.

  The edge of town came into view, and she straightened in the bed of the wagon. “Remember, Barrett, you are to stay with your sister,” their father said as he drove the wagon down the street.

  “I will, Father.”

  Lord, she was tired of being treated like a child, or worse, a doll. “We’re in town, Pa. Nothing’s going to happen to me here.”

  “You never know what some of these people will do to get at me.” He made the word sound like they were actually less than that. He pulled the wagon to a stop across from the saloon. “Keep an eye on your sister, Barrett,” he said after tying the reins to the hitching rail. “If anything happens, it is on your head.”

  “Yes, Father.”

  It surprised her no one else heard the tension in his voice. It appeared to only be her as the other two men started across the street. “It wasn’t my idea for you to stay with me. I don’t care if you go off to do what you want.”

  He shook his head after a moment. “It’s better if I just stay with you.” He pushed his hat back on his head and smiled at her. “Can’t leave you for these heathens after all.”

  “Heathens?” she asked, scoffing. “Now, you sound like Pa.”

  “Please, Leah, I suffer enough insults from Louis.” He jumped down from the wagon and held out a hand to her. Once her feet were on the ground, he gave a little bow. “Where to first, Milady?”

  The corners of her mouth tugged up into a smile. She was about to respond when the rattle of chains distracted her. A wagon came down the street, with just one man on the seat. He was older, and she could remember seeing him around town before even though she couldn’t recall his name now. The man riding on horseback beside him really caught her attention.

  He rode tall in the saddle, his eyes trained forward. She couldn’t make out many of his features from this distance, but she had the urge to move closer to him. Barrett rested his hand on her shoulder before she could.

  “Stay away from that one, sister. Father would never let that match happen.”

  “Why not? He’s been so desperate for me to marry.”

  He nodded at the men as they passed. “Not only is he Patrick Bailey’s newest ranch hand, he’s a half-breed. He’d never let it happen.”

  His words had her stomach dropping even as her mind didn’t quite want to process them. “Half-breed? What-?”

  “He has family at the Wind River Reservation. Father will not allow it, you have to know that.”

  “That’s the third time you’ve said that, like you think I actually have an interest in him,” she said but didn’t meet his eyes.

  “I’m not blind, sister. Now, where do you want to go first?”

  Acknow
ledgments

  As always, I have to thank Kat Morissey for being my first reader, for loving my characters as much as I do, and sometimes even more than I initially did(*cough*Adam*cough*). Thanks for helping me dig deeper into this story and the characters and bring it from what it was to what it is now.

  Also, big thanks to Shan Burton for pointing out the weaker moments and helping me strengthen them. And I think I did finally exterminate most of those dastardly “though”s.

  Thanks should also go to my stepdad. Without him, I never would have watched my first western, which lead me to reading pretty much every one I could get my hands on: in the school library, the public library, and the bookstore. And without which, I never would have written one.

  And to Cory, Hayleigh, and Nathan: I know I often get swept away into the world of my stories, but you keep me grounded. Thank you for that, too.

  About the Author

  Fallon Brown was born and raised in a tiny town in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania. At one time, she dreamed of having a cabin in the woods or mountains where she could be left alone to write. Instead she spent three years studying psychology before realizing that wasn't for her. She now lives outside of a slightly larger small town in the same corner of her home state with her husband, two children, dog, and cat.

  She spends her days interfering in the lives of fictional characters while trying to keep a semblance of a clean house. Often the clean house bit fails