by Lydia Olson
“I’m fine, thank you,” she said. Jane removed some imaginary lint from her dress. She didn’t care that this man, whom she did not know, had overheard a personal conversation. “I don’t think we’ve met. Who are you?”
Jane knew that she wasn’t being very kind, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to know who was on her property.
“I’m so sorry,” the man said. He took off his hat. “I’m Matthew Wiley ma’am.”
“Matthew?” Jane’s eyes grew big. “Sara’s brother?”
He laughed slightly and nodded. “Indeed.”
“I thought you were in New Mexico,” Jane said.
“I was,” he told her. “I’m only here for a short time.” He looked slightly uncomfortable by her line of questioning, and Jane felt bad. She was simply surprised to see Matthew Wiley on her doorstep, considering that no one had told her that they were expecting him.
“Well, please come in,” Jane invited. “I’m sure that you are tired after your journey.”
Matthew gave her a small smile. “May I ask who that man was?”
Jane tensed. She’d briefly forgot about Brandon. Now, she remembered what she’d been concerned about.
“He’s a rather unsavory family friend,” she said. “And I would very much appreciate if you didn’t mention his presence to Milton. He tends to worry.”
Matthew gave her a wide smile. “You don’t have to worry one bit about telling tales out of turn. I’ve been friends with Milton for most of our lives. I know how he’s liable to make a mountain out of a molehill.”
Jane smiled at Matthew. He was exactly as she had pictured him. He was jovial and kind, and she knew immediately that she was going to be glad for his presence.
“Come on inside,” she said. “Your sister is here, and I’m sure that she is going to be very excited to see you.”
Matthew released a small groan. “I didn’t expect to face the firing squad right away.”
Jane laughed as she led him into the house. Maybe he will help break the tension inside, she thought. At this point, she was glad for any potential help that she could get.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Milton wasn’t surprised by much, but he was surprised to see George Parrish walking toward him. George rarely left the house. Heck, he hardly came out of his room except to take meals. When he did interact with Milton or Jane, he was taciturn and rude.
“Mr. Parrish,” Milton greeted his father-in-law with a short nod of his head. He wasn’t sure what else to do or say. George was as prickly as a cactus. Milton had never been good with people, but he felt especially discomfited with Jane’s family.
“You’ve got a great many horses,” George remarked.
Milton was in the barn mucking out the stalls. Normally, Jane helped him with the horse work, but she had so much on her plate that Milton suggested she focus on the house. He missed her presence. These days there seemed to never be a single moment where they could be alone with together. In fact, they hadn’t spent any time alone since that night under the stars, and Milton missed his wife.
“I enjoy riding,” Milton told George. He wasn’t trying to be terse with the older man, but he didn’t care to speak to him if he didn’t need to. He didn’t like the way George treated Jane. He expected her to wait on him hand and foot while he critiqued everything that she did. It took everything in Milton to not say anything.
“Jane enjoys horses. We didn’t have enough for her to have her own,” George replied. He got a faraway look in his eyes, and Milton wondered if George regretted not being able to provide Jane with the things she wanted as a girl.
“She has a horse here,” Milton said. “We go riding often.”
George made a sound of agreement in the back of his throat. George walked further into the barn. The light hit George’s face, and Milton could see the purple circles under his eyes. Milton wondered if George was well.
“You shouldn’t treat Jane the way that you do,” Milton said. “I know that she married without your permission, but she’s a good woman, and she wants to help you.”
“Are you telling me how to treat my own daughter?” George asked. His voice was hard, and Milton knew he had crossed a line. He didn’t care, though. He’d had enough. He wanted Jane to be happy, and he knew that she could not be if the situation with her family continued.
“I’m telling you how you will treat my wife,” Milton said.
For a moment the two men stood facing one another. Their eyes were both hard and clashing. The tension mounted between George and Milton, and Milton wondered which one of them would cave first.
Milton sighed. He didn’t want to argue with George. The only person that would get hurt in a war between the two men was Jane, and Milton was determined to keep that from happening. “You should be proud of Jane,” Milton said. He was the one who broke the silence between them. “She’s a good woman.”
“I know that,” George said.
“Then, you should stop being so angry with her.”
“She disobeyed me.”
Milton sighed. He wasn’t a father. He couldn’t understand the anger that George was feeling, but he also couldn’t allow things to continue as they were. He needed to figure out how to cool George’s anger. It wouldn’t solve all of their problems, but it could ease things in the household.
Kate is not something that I can help with, Milton thought. His sister-in-law was like a rattlesnake slithering through grass. When left alone she slinked along, but when confronted, she bit. He could see why Jane sometimes just gave in to her.
“What is done is done,” Milton said philosophically. “And if you are going to live in my house, then you need to find a way to be kinder.”
George said nothing, and for a moment, Milton wondered if he had taken things a touch too far. Milton had done business with a great many men. He knew how to broker a good deal, including with the most difficult of men. But this wasn’t a deal. This was family, and it required a delicate hand.
“I’m glad to see that Jane found a man to take care of her,” George said.
Milton raised a brow. He had not been expecting any sort of compliment from George. “Jane doesn’t need anyone to take care of her, but she’s my wife, and I’ll protect her from anyone who means her harm. Even you.”
“You care about her,” George said.
“Of course, I do,” Milton responded. “She’s my wife.”
Milton knew that George was hinting at something else, but he wasn’t going to tell his father-in-law that he had fallen in love with his wife.
“When I met Jane’s mother, Amelia, I was completely enraptured by her,” George said. He had a small, sad smile on his face. At this point, Milton had stopped working. He was interested to hear more about Jane’s mother, especially from someone who had known her as a woman. Children had different views of their mother than others did.
“Jane speaks of her mother often. She misses her.”
“I do too,” George said. “She was a good woman.”
Milton could tell that George was done talking. He wanted to press further, but he didn’t. George was entitled to keeping his memories to himself. As he stood before him, Milton realized that George wasn’t necessarily a bad man. He was misguided and grieving. It didn’t excuse his behavior, but it explained some things to Milton.
“How did you lose your ranch?” Milton asked. He knew that he should simply leave well enough alone, but he couldn’t. Jane was worried that her father was lying to her, and Milton knew that she would never push him on it. It wasn’t Jane’s personality.
George tensed at the question. “I told Jane,” George said. “I took out too much credit on the land…”
“What did Kate mean when she said that our marriage caused you to lose the ranch?”
Before George could say anything, someone else walked into the barn. Milton’s back was to the door, but he could hear the sound of footsteps. They sounded heavy, so Milton knew that they weren’t fro
m Sara, Jane, or Kate.
“I knew I’d find you in this barn,” a deep voice said. “You practically live in here.”
Milton turned. He was surprised to see his best friend, Matthew, standing in front of the barn door.
“What in the world are you doing here?” Milton asked. He walked toward his friend gripping his hand tightly.
“I got your letters,” he said. “I thought it would be better for me to head back here. After all, I needed to meet your new wife.”
Milton smiled. He was shocked to see Matthew, but he was glad for it.
“Mr. Parrish,” Milton said, “meet Matthew Wiley. He’s a lawyer and close friend.”
“Well,” George said. “It seems that you have a great deal of work to complete.”
Milton said nothing as he watched George walk swiftly out of the barn. Milton knew that George wasn’t leaving because he wanted to give him and Matthew time to talk. He was likely grateful for the fact that he had a reprieve from the line of questioning that Milton embarked on. He was going to let it go. For now, at least.
I’ll discover your secrets, Parrish, Milton thought before turning his attention back to his friend.
“Who was that?” Matthew asked.
“My father-in-law?”
Matthew’s eyes grew wide. “He’s living on the ranch?”
Milton nodded. “As is Jane’s sister—Kate. You’ll meet her later. Be on your guard around her. She bites.”
Matthew laughed.
“I didn’t expect for you to come here after my letter,” Milton said.
He’d written Matthew only a little over a week ago. After meeting with Brandon, he felt as if he needed to talk to his friend. He was worried that Brandon wasn’t as neighborly as he pretended to be. The man made his skin crawl. The only other lawyer that Milton knew was actually representing Brandon, so he had reached out to his friend.
“New Mexico was boring me and like I said, I wanted to meet your wife.”
Milton worried that there was more to it than that. Matthew was known for getting bored, which had been why he left Denver in the first place.
“Where you able to get any information from your father about Brandon Eimer?” Milton wrote to Matthew, hoping that he might be able to get some sort of information about Eimer. He’d heard from men in town that Eimer was not well-liked. He threw money around town and treated people like they were beneath him. A carpenter told Milton that Brandon refused to pay him for working on his house because he had not liked the work. It turned Milton’s stomach to know that Brandon treated people this way.
Milton wanted Brandon out of Denver, and he’d do whatever he could to make that happen.
“Not much information,” Matthew reported. “Pa doesn’t really know why Brandon is so interested in buying the plot of land next to yours.”
Milton sighed and ran a hand through his hand. He was frustrated. He didn’t trust Brandon so close to his family.
“Don’t worry,” Matthew said. He pressed a heavy hand on Milton’s shoulder. “We will get to the bottom of things.”
“I hope so,” Milton said. “And I hope that we take care of things soon. I’ve got quite a few problems here.”
Matthew laughed. “Married life suits you well.”
“What makes you think that?” Milton wondered what everyone was seeing in him today that made them comment on the state of his marriage.
Matthew shrugged. “You just seem different. Livelier.”
Milton said nothing. The last time he had seen Matthew he was a single man. At the time, he hadn’t realized that he might not be as happy as he thought. Jane brought a lot into his life, and he would never forget that. Even when things got difficult, he was glad that Jane was in his life.
“Having the extra support on the ranch is better than I thought,” Milton said.
Matthew raised an eyebrow, and Milton knew that he saw right through his carefully chosen words.
“Anyway,” Milton said, “I’m glad you are here. I could use someone to help me find out what Brandon actually is doing in Denver.”
Matthew nodded. “Give me a week, and I’m sure that we’ll have enough information about this man to get him out of town if that’s what you want.”
That made Milton feel good because he did want Brandon gone. He wanted him gone as soon as possible.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Who was that young man?” Kate asked. Jane jumped as her sister walked up behind her. Jane was pickling some of the last fruits and vegetables that the small garden behind the house yielded. With winter coming, she wanted to have plenty of food on hand. Milton told her that it often stormed something fierce in Denver, so Jane had been preparing for that time.
“That was Matthew,” Jane said. Her mind was so full of everything that had happened that morning, she didn’t think much about why her sister was asking about Matthew. Brandon’s presence threw her off, and she couldn’t quite calm herself.
“And who exactly is this Matthew?” Kate asked.
“A friend of Milton’s.” Jane wasn’t in the mood to play fifty questions with Kate.
“That’s all you’ll tell me?” Kate asked.
Jane dropped the lid for her jar on the countertop. “What information would you like?” Jane asked. Kate looked taken aback by her tone. Jane was frustrated. She was angry at her family for hiding things from her. She was tired of all the surprises, and she was especially tired of her sister not helping around the house.
“Is your attitude because Brandon Eimer was on the porch this morning?”
Jane’s heart dropped to the floor. Wherever Kate had been this afternoon, she had seen Brandon and Matthew.
“Were you spying on me?” Jane asked.
Kate didn’t have the good sense to look put out by the suggestion, so Jane knew that her sister had indeed been spying on her. Jane took a deep breath. She was moments away from losing her temper, which was not going to make the situation any better.
She and Kate had never been particularly close, but these days, Kate’s behavior bothered her more than usual.
“Does your husband know that you are entertaining your former fiancé?” Kate asked.
“I was never engaged to Brandon, nor would I ever have been under any circumstances,” Jane tartly reminded her sister. She didn’t know why she felt the need to explain herself. She hadn’t done anything untoward.
Except lie to your husband, she thought. Guilt tied a knot in her stomach. It made her feel ill. She’d vowed to be honest with Milton about Brandon, but now that she knew that he’d gone to see the older man, she worried that his anger would be explosive when he discovered she hadn’t told him everything.
“Father promised you to Brandon, and you broke that promise. You’re the reason that misfortune has befallen us …”
“Father did that without my permission,” Jane reminded her sister. She thought that her sister would respect her choices. Kate never would have allowed someone to make a decision like that for her.
“He’s not your father,” Kate said. Her voice was full of malice. “He took you in after your mother died. You should have been grateful, but instead, you ruined our lives.” Kate was practically shrieking at this point, and Jane noticed that Sara was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her mouth open in shock at Kate’s tone.
“You’ve always been hateful!” Jane said. “You’re just jealous that I’m married and have my own house while you are on your way to being a poor, old maid.”
Kate snickered. Jane wanted to take the words back the moment they left her lips, but she couldn’t. She’d never stood up to Kate, and she had finally hit her breaking point.
“Both of you stop it right now.” The deep, booming voice of their father broke through their argument. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. His eyes were narrowed as he watched the two of them fight.
“Oh,” Kate said, “now you want to tell us what to do? How interesting.”
“Perhaps we need should all take a deep breath and have a snack,” Sara suggested.
Kate turned on her, her dark braid swinging around as she did so. “How about you go off and clean something. That’s your job isn’t it?”
Jane had enough. “If you continue to speak this way, you’ll be free to find somewhere else to live.”
Kate looked as if she wanted to wring Jane’s neck. Jane was sure that if her sister didn’t depend on her for food and shelter, she might have, but instead, Kate turned on her heel and stormed out of the kitchen.