by Lydia Olson
“He came to me a month ago,” James said.
“And?” Matthew leaned forward. He was eager at the thought of getting more information.
“I told him the land wasn’t for sale. He wasn’t happy to hear that,” James said.
Helen walked back into the kitchen carrying a decanter of whiskey. “Pa isn’t telling you the entire story,” she said.
James’ eyes hardened at his daughter’s words. “Eimer made threats.”
“What type of threats?”
James released a sardonic laugh. “The usual. He promised to destroy the ranch if I didn’t do what he wanted.”
Milton was surprised at how nonchalant James was acting. He was an old man without sons. Brandon’s offer would have looked mighty tempting, especially since Helen didn’t seem to be marrying anytime soon.
“I heard you got yourself into a little dust-up with Eimer,” Helen said. She placed four glasses of whiskey on the table. “Serena Wiley’s been talking all about it.”
This time, Matthew scowled. His youngest sister wasn’t always known for her tact, so Milton could just imagine what she was saying.
“That why you’re here?” James asked.
Milton nodded. “He’s claiming rights to the waterway. Says he owns part of it and all the land near it. Not having access to that land would mean I’d lose grazing pastures.”
James nodded. He knew what Milton was leaving unspoken. Losing those pastures would cause him to lose a great deal of money. Money he needed to keep the ranch afloat.
“I wish I could help you more, but Eimer made threats weeks ago and has yet to do anything,” James said with a small shrug.
Milton felt his heart sink. It seemed that Stephen had overshot the mark. James didn’t have anything to share.
“Thank you for your time,” Milton said. He shot his whiskey back, finishing it in one gulp.
“I’ll see you both out,” Helen said.
She rose from her seat, signaling that it was time to go. Milton and Matthew tipped their hats at James before following Helen out.
She walked them all the way to their horses, which Milton thought odd, before turning to them, her face pale and drawn. “What pa doesn’t know is Eimer’s been stealing cattle from us.”
“What?” Matthew asked, his tone incredulous.
“We’ve lost nearly a dozen heads since he made his threat. Our foreman and I decided to keep it secret. Pa’s health hasn’t been good and …”
Milton placed a hand on Helen’s shoulder. “You don’t have to say more.” He understood what it was like to try and keep some semblance of normalcy for a dying parent.
“Please tell us, though,” Matthew said. “You need to tell us everything.”
Helen looked scared the same way Stephen did, and Milton couldn’t help but wonder how Eimer managed to create so much fear in those around him.
“I don’t know how he’s doing it, and I can’t prove it,” Helen said. “But I suspect he’s got help. A friend told me that her pa’s been threatened into running some below-board errands for Eimer. Seems he’s doing his best to get the whole town under his thumb.”
Milton released a heavy breath. He hadn’t been sure what he would discover when he came to James Hays’s ranch, but he’d not been expecting to learn that Eimer was blackmailing half of the town.
“Thank you for this,” Milton told Helen.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure how helpful I’ve been, but hopefully, you can use it to rid this town of that pest once and for all.”
That’s what Milton planned to do.
Chapter Thirty-One
Milton and Matthew returned past their normal suppertime and promptly went into Milton’s office and closed the door with barely a word to anyone. Jane tried not to feel wounded about it. She pressed her fingers to her lips as she recalled the feeling of Milton’s mouth on her own. She’d worried that he would blame her for the events that were unfolding around them, but last night, he hadn’t seemed to.
“What do you think they are in there talking about?” Sara worried. All day she, Kate, and Jane had been discussing the events of the night before. Sara could hardly believe it when Jane told her. She’d offered to speak to her father, but Jane convinced her not to. She didn’t think that Sara would be able to get any more information out of her father than Matthew had.
“Probably what happened this afternoon,” Kate said. She’d been more pleasant over the past day. She would still throw her occasional barb, but it didn’t stick as hard as it normally would. “I’m guessing things didn’t go too well.”
Jane said nothing. She continued scrubbing the kitchen. That was how she spent the entire day. Cleaning kept her mind off their problems. She worried that if she stopped moving the guilt would crush her.
“We don’t know that,” Jane said. She scrubbed the kettle that she kept on the stove polishing it until it shined so brightly that Jane could see her face reflected on its surface. She fretted that things hadn’t turned out well, especially since Milton didn’t stop to say anything.
“I think they would have said something if Brandon was no longer someone we needed to worry about,” Kate said. She raised an eyebrow in Jane’s direction, challenging her assessment.
Jane felt as if she were going insane. “I’m going to go and see what they would like to have for supper,” she announced.
She dropped the rag down on the counter. She couldn’t clean anything else, so she needed to find another way to keep her mind off things.
“Maybe you should leave them be,” Sara said, her voice laced with concern. “I’ve learned that it’s best to keep myself out of men’s business when they aren’t ready to talk.”
Jane said nothing. She simply kept walking toward Milton’s office. Some part of her knew that he might be angry at her for interrupting, but she couldn’t just sit on her backside hoping to learn some news.
Standing at the door, Jane wondered for a moment if this was such a good idea.
Milton isn’t angry with you, she reminded herself. He’s probably hungry after such a long day at work.
Jane took in a deep breath, raised her hand, and knocked on Milton’s office door. She waited outside. Her heart beat heavily against her chest as she waited to see exactly how Milton would respond to her interrupting his meeting.
The door opened slowly. “Jane?” Matthew said, distracted.
Jane fixed a cheerful smile on her face. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say or do. She had expected Milton to open the door, but she could only see Matthew.
Jane kept smiling. “I just wanted to ask if you both want supper?”
Matthew gave her his usual kind smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, which lacked their usual sparkle. Jane knew then that something was wrong.
“Y’all go ahead and eat. Just leave us some plates, and we will help ourselves later.”
Jane opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t get the words out before Matthew closed the door again. It wasn’t a rude gesture, but it was distinctly definitive.
Jane felt tears well up in her eyes. Last night, Milton gave her the sweetest kiss on her lips and assured her that they would get through things together. Not even a day had passed, and it seemed like things were not on that track at all.
“You shouldn’t take it so personally,” her father said. Jane turned around so quickly her skirt swung out around her and brushed against the door.
She hadn’t seen her father since last night when he’d told them his thoughts on Brandon, and they hadn’t been alone with one another since he told her about the deal he made with Brandon.
“What are you talking about?” Jane asked. She did not want her father to see her like this. It was bad enough that she felt guilt over what she brought into her life, but she also knew that none of this would be happening if not for her father’s greed.
“Men like to handle things themselves,” he told her. “Milton will come to you when he needs hel
p.”
“You don’t know men like Milton,” Jane said. “He’s not like you.” Jane couldn’t help the sarcasm in her voice.
Her father sighed, tipping his head as he gazed at her. “Janie?”
Jane said nothing. “I don’t want to talk to you about my relationship with Milton.” That relationship felt sacred to Jane. She wanted to protect Milton, and she wasn’t yet sure that she could trust her father. He’d lost the ranch, but with Brandon in town, she wasn’t sure that her father wouldn’t try to contact him without her knowledge. She hated that she couldn’t trust her own father not to betray her if Brandon made him a better offer. The thought made her sick.
“I’m not trying to upset you further, Jane,” her father said. He released a heavy sigh. Jane felt badly. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t stop fear from taking root inside of her. She was tired of feeling guilty for the actions of others. She wasn’t being kind to her father, but he’d brought it upon himself.
“You were willing to sell me to a man who you knew was no good at all so that you could get rid of the ranch,” Jane said. Her voice rose, and she felt her bottom lip trembling as she glared at him. He’d been her hero for so long. It was difficult to admit to herself that he was just a man who’d made some terrible decisions.
“I made an awful mistake,” her father said. “If I could take it back …”
“Do you feel that badly because you now know that what you did was terrible? Would you feel so terrible if you were safely seated on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange?” Jane’s voice was loud enough that she’d draw the attention of everyone in the house if she weren’t careful.
Her father said nothing. He simply stared sadly at her. His brown eyes, which were usually filled with warmth, now looked dull and tired. Jane knew that she needed to stop and find a way to forgive him, but she didn’t know if she could.
“Jane?” Kate called, her heels sounding on the floor as she came toward Milton’s office.
“Don’t you defend him!” Jane said passionately. “He’s the reason you are destitute, and why your mother’s farm now belongs to the bank.”
Kate said nothing. Jane knew that she was acting irrationally, but all the events of the past few days were starting to catch up to her. She felt like she couldn’t even breathe as her grief and guilt pressed down upon her.
“Why don’t you let me get you some tea?” Sara said, joining them from the kitchen. She came forward and took Jane by the shoulders.
Jane nodded. She wanted to be away from her family for just a while, and she wanted to be away from Milton and Matthew. She’d barely slept last night, and between her sleeplessness and Brandon Eimer’s hijinks, she felt overwhelmed.
“Come on,” Sara said. “You need rest and a nice, hot cup of tea.”
Jane allowed her friend to lead her out of the room. She knew that what Sara said was true. She’d allowed her emotions to get the best of her, but she couldn’t keep them quietly to herself.
Pressing her hand to her cheeks, she felt wetness. She’d been crying and hadn’t even realized it. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her voice was trembling as she tried to keep everything inside.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Sara said. “It was only a matter of time before everything came crashing down on you.”
Jane made a sound that might have been an attempt at laughter, but there was no mirth in her voice—only sadness.
“This isn’t what was supposed to happen,” she said, her voice quaking. “I mean, I have a wonderful husband … one I have brought nothing but trouble to.”
Sara gave her a sympathetic smile as they reached Jane’s room. “Give things a chance to work themselves out,” she counseled.
Jane just felt miserably sad and didn’t know what to do. She had wanted to see Milton for her own selfish reasons. She hoped he would make everything better for her on his return today, just like he had the night before.
“I can tell you with absolute certainty that this is not the worst trouble that Milton and Matthew have been involved in,” Sara said softly.
“Milton never mentioned someone trying to take his land,” Jane said, raising a wounded gaze to Sara.
Sara sighed. She guided Jane over to her bed. “You should lie down,” she suggested.
Jane listened to her, but she knew she couldn’t rest. There were many things that needed to be done before supper would be ready. She started to tell Sara just that.
“None of that,” Sara said firmly. “You are going to rest.”
“But Sara—”
Sara shook her head. “You are always taking care of everyone on this ranch. I noticed how well you and Kate are getting along today, and I’m sure a lot of that has to do with you.”
Jane said nothing. Having Kate on her side today actually felt good. It had been the one bit of happiness in an otherwise bleak day. She’d tried hard to only look on the bright side, and not having to constantly argue with her sister was a welcome reprieve.
“Milton didn’t want to speak with me,” Jane said bleakly. “Yesterday, he told me that we would solve this together. Now, he’s not even talking about it.”
Sara sat on the edge of the bed and placed a comforting hand on Jane’s shoulder. “Don’t give up on Milton,” she said. “I think I told you that the very first day we met.”
Jane smiled at the memory. “You did,” she said. “But now things are different. What if Milton changed his mind?”
Sara shook her head. “I don’t think so. Life is full of problems,” she said. “Marriages have bumps in the road, too This is just one of them, but things have a way of working out.”
Jane hoped so, but she wasn’t so sure. “What if Milton is only keeping me here out of a sense of obligation?” she asked. It was a thought that had been eating away at her and one she did not want to give voice to even now. Last night between them was magical. She still flushed at the thought of Milton’s lips on hers.
“Milton isn’t doing that,” Sara said. “He and my brother have a way of keeping everyone out when they have their heads together on something.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Eventually, they resurface and realize that they can’t solve their problems without a bit of female interference.”
Jane smiled; she appreciated Sara trying to take her mind off things, especially because it was working.
“It’s not just him,” Jane said. “My father—”
“Has some serious explaining to do,” Sara said sternly. “And you get to be upset and grieve, but just know that you have a family here, and we will always protect you.”
Tears welled anew in Jane’s eyes, but this time it was because of the kindness of Sara’s words and not because of her heartbreak.
A short knock on her door drew their attention. “Jane?” Milton’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.
Sara gave her a wide grin. “See?” she said. “They always come around.”
Jane said nothing, but she was glad to know that her friend was right. She needed Milton, and she didn’t know just how much until he wasn’t there.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Be nice,” Sara said to Milton as she walked out of the room. He shot her a startled look. He certainly did not need a warning to be nice to his wife.
Maybe you do, he thought as he walked into his wife’s room. This was the second time in just a week that Jane had been distraught, and the second time that he came to see her after the fact. I should be the person she runs to, Milton thought, not the person who runs after her.
“Hello,” Jane greeted him, her voice soft.
“Evening.”
Milton hated how formal things between them felt. Last night they’d shared their first kiss. It was something that Milton thought about all day, even as things went from bad to worse regarding the water rights.
“I’m sorry,” Jane said.
“For what?” Milton’s brow wrinkled in confusion. He couldn’t imagine what she had to feel sorr
y for. None of this was her fault. Brandon might be in town because of Jane, but Milton knew that men like Brandon would always do whatever they could to get what they wanted. Eventually, Brandon would have tried to harm someone else. He might have even come to Denver to steal land for some other reason. Brandon Eimer was a bad man, but that had nothing to do with Jane.
“For bringing all of this craziness down around us. First, my father, who is a criminal. Then my sister, who is not the easiest person in the world to get along with. They invade your home, and now, Brandon is trying to take your land. It’s all an absolute nightmare.”