by Lydia Olson
“Luckily, I have a better lawyer, and though you’ve been quite good, in three days you’ll lose access to part of the waterway, and shortly after, you’ll have to sell off parts of your land.”
Jane knew that things were bad but hearing it spoken aloud made her nervous. Jane did not need much. She would happily live in a modest house. She’d learned long ago that money did not make people happy. She knew that this was not the case for Milton. He wasn’t a greedy man, but he’d worked hard to make the ranch successful.
It’s also the only thing he has left to remind him of his father, she reminded herself.
“That’s not going to happen,” Milton said. A slow smile unfurled on his own face. He looked as if he had a secret, but as far as Jane knew Milton was worried about Brandon, especially since they hadn’t heard from Matthew.
“It’ll happen,” Brandon assured them. “Unless you are willing to strike a deal.”
“A deal?” Milton repeated, keeping his voice even. Jane didn’t think any deal from Eimer would be acceptable. He had made no efforts to broker peace. He didn’t need to. He was winning, and unless they found some sort of information about his own wrong doings, he would likely win in court as well.
What’s changed? she wondered. Matthew had slowed Brandon down with countersuits, but Brandon was extremely wealthy, and he could afford to have his lawyer working for years on end.
“Yes,” Brandon said. “We are both businessmen, and it seems wasteful for us to continue going round and round. The only people doing well in that situation are the Wiley men.”
Milton said nothing. If at all possible, he tensed even further. It was almost as if he knew what was coming next.
“I’m not interested in any deal you want to make,” Milton stated.
Brandon laughed and shook his head. “I highly doubt that.”
“I want you out of my house,” Milton said. He moved away from Jane, moving her behind him and blocking her view of Brandon. Her fear increased ten-fold.
“I have a prior claim on Janie,” he said. “She was meant to be my wife.”
Bile rose in Jane’s throat, and she began to feel ill. She’d never been one to catch the vapors—she was made of stronger stuff—but as she began to understand what Brandon was suggesting, she started to feel her knees start to buckle.
“That was the past, and even if it weren’t, Jane isn’t a mule to be bartered.” Despite her own feelings, Jane was glad to hear Milton say that. She’d been struggling with the knowledge that her father had seen her as nothing more than something to sell. It was a difficult thing to get past, and she was grateful that her husband did not view her in the same manner.
“Don’t be such a romantic,” Brandon derided.
“Why do you even want to marry me?” Jane threw out. She was tired of this. She was done being a pawn in the game that the men in her life continued to play. “I’ll never love you.”
Brandon laughed. “You should know better than anyone that marriage has nothing to do with love.”
Jane didn’t say anything. She wanted to tell him that he was wrong. Her marriage was one built on love, respect, and trust, but she didn’t. She kept her thoughts to herself. She and Milton were closer than ever and growing more so every day. She felt like they were truly partners, but they’d yet to declare their love to one another.
“It doesn’t matter why you want to marry Jane,” Milton said. “She’s already married.”
“She doesn’t have to be,” Brandon said. “I’m sure that our lawyers can work something out.”
Milton snorted and shook his head. “No,” he said. Spots of color were starting to flare up on his cheeks, and Jane knew that despite his calm tone he was furious.
“You’d lose this ranch for a woman you barely know?” Brandon asked.
“I don’t plan on losing anything,” Milton said. He stepped toward Brandon. “Now get out of my house.”
Brandon’s eyes flashed, and Jane worried that his next move would be to throttle Milton. He looked like he was about to, but just as quickly as his face became angry, the anger went away, and he plastered a smile upon his face.
“Well,” he said, “I suppose I’ll just have to take everything I want from you.”
“You can take all the land you want,” Milton said. He walked toward Brandon until the two of them were nearly nose to nose. “But I can assure you that my wife will never belong to you.”
Brandon was breathing heavily, and Jane was sure that he was incredibly angry. She hated how her heart fluttered at Milton’s words. They caused a warmth to wash over her. Though his words were possessive, she liked them. In some ways, she did belong to Milton, and she hoped that he belonged to her.
“I’ll see you in court,” Brandon said. Her turned and walked to the door. It wasn’t until he left, and Jane stopped hearing the pounding of his boots on the porch that she felt that she could start to breathe again.
“Are you alright?” Milton asked. He reached out and drew her into his embrace. Jane allowed herself to melt into his arms. She wasn’t particularly upset. She couldn’t hate Brandon more if she tried, and his presence did nothing but vex her. Jane’s fear came from the idea of what he could do to Milton, not what he could do to her.
“I’m fine,” Jane reassured him. “Are you alright?”
Milton kissed her forehead. He did that often, and Jane wondered if he did it to calm her or himself.
After a long pause, Jane realized that Milton wasn’t alright. As the excitement of Brandon’s presence faded, Jane remembered how she was looking for Milton to see what the sheriff had to say.
“Have you heard from Matthew?” she asked.
Milton shook his head slightly. “No,” he said, “and I’m expected in court in three days.”
Jane inhaled sharply. Three days and no news.
She didn’t know much about the law, but she suspected that they were well and truly in trouble.
For just a split second, she wondered if she should have taken Brandon up on his offer. She wasn’t worried about being poor, but she could tell that Milton was.
Three days until everything comes crashing down around us.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The days passed quickly. While they were all waiting for Matthew to return from San Francisco, time seemed to move as slow as molasses. Matthew had held things up in court as best he could, but time had run out, and in a day, Milton would need to stand before a judge and plead his case. Matthew was still in California, so Milton had hired the only other lawyer in town—who, frankly, wasn’t nearly as good as the Wileys.
Milton rubbed a tired hand over his face. Yesterday, he’d spent the afternoon trying to come up with some sort of plan. He’d sell off the rest of his cattle, which would likely keep the ranch afloat for the next year. After that, he’d sell off the land that wasn’t tied to the part of the waterway he clearly owned. That wouldn’t leave a great deal of pasture, and Milton knew that they’d need to release many of the men he employed, including Hank.
That was worse than knowing that he’d barely be making enough to support his family. He’d be putting most of his men out. Sara and Hank would not be able to live on the land for free. He’d need to let Hank go and also charge him rent.
A sick, oily guilt developed in his stomach. In the past four weeks, he’d had to think of what would happen should he not be able to find any information on Brandon, but he’d never truly thought he would not be able to beat Brandon. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
Sitting at his large desk, he continued going over numbers and figures from the ranch until his eyes were starting to cross.
Two short knocks on his office door alerted him to his wife’s presence. He knew it was her because no one else except Hank would deem to try to speak to him while he was in his office. These days his wife was one of the only people who wanted to spend any time with him given the brusqueness of his personality.
“Come in,” he called. He shuffled h
is papers around. Jane was a smart woman, and one glance at the figures would tip her off to the dire straits they were about to experience.
Jane poked her head around the door. Her dark red braid fell across her shoulders. He could tell that she’d been baking. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat of the stove, and small curls framed her face. Her loveliness never stopped making his heart thunder in his chest.
“I wanted to see if you’d like to go for a ride this afternoon?” Jane asked. Her voice was high and chipper, and he knew that she was putting on a mask of happiness for his benefit. They hadn’t talked about Brandon’s visit, but Milton knew that Jane was likely still upset by it. After all, Brandon made it clear that he wanted her, and that he would do anything he could to have her.
“Thank you for the offer,” he said, “but I have a great deal of work to do.”
Jane said nothing. She simply pushed the door forward and walked further inside of the office. He noticed that she was carrying a picnic basket. He hadn’t seen that basket in weeks. It had been a long time since they had gone on a picnic lunch.
“I thought you might say that, so I brought a picnic. You can’t argue with taking a break to eat.”
Milton looked outside. His office faced the back gardens of the ranch. He could see the trees swaying in the wind. “It’s much too cold to be eating outdoors,” he told her practically. “We’ll both catch our death, and then, we will have even more problems.”
That didn’t seem to stop Jane. “We can eat in here. I brought a blanket.”
It was now that Milton saw the thick picnic blanket under her arms. It seemed that Jane was not going to take no for an answer, and honestly, Milton wasn’t sure that he wanted to deny her. He didn’t know how much longer they would be able to have such frivolous moments.
“Alright,” he said. He set down his quill, not caring that a small splattering of black ink started to spread across a blank piece of parchment. His stomach gave a small rumble, and Jane laughed.
“It seems that I came at just the right time,” she said.
Her smile was infectious, and despite his stress and gray mood, Milton couldn’t help but smile back. His wife was truly a force to be reckoned with.
She would have wilted as Brandon’s wife, he thought. He’d been thinking about that since Brandon demanded Jane be returned to him. Milton’s sweet, kind wife would have died being married to Brandon. He was the kind of man who snuffed out goodness instead of nurturing it.
“What did you bring?” he asked her. He could smell freshly baked bread, and what he thought might be some cured meat.
“Some meats and cheeses. Plus, I thought we could try a bit of the jam I canned a few weeks ago.”
Milton’s mouth watered. Jane was the best cook he knew. “I suppose I can take an hour or so off for lunch.”
Milton took the blanket from her and began spreading it out across the floor. It still smelt like the pasture grounds from the last time they had a picnic. He smiled as he recalled how simple things were then. Back then, he’d been struggling with his growing feelings for Jane. Now, he knew exactly how he felt.
“I’m glad,” Jane said. She sat down on the blanket, her skirts billowed around her. Milton sat next to her, watching as she unpacked the picnic. He tried not to laugh at the fact that they were sitting on the floor of his office when they could have been sitting at the table.
“I thought it would be nice to eat in here. More private.”
“Need a break from your family?” he asked.
“Desperately,” she agreed, her eyes comically wide.
Milton chuckled. He understood. He’d met a few times with her father to discuss things. The man could be overbearing on a good day and downright rude on a bad one.
“And,” she said, “I thought we might be able to talk about tomorrow.”
Milton sighed. “I’d prefer we didn’t.”
“Why not?” Jane asked.
“I need a moment of peace,” he told her honestly. Milton watched as she bit her lip, and he knew that while she might not broach the subject, he knew that she did not care for his answer.
“My father bought this ranch to get out of New Mexico,” he told her. He placed a piece of cheese in his mouth. The creamy flavor was delicious, and he realized how hungry he was. He appreciated how Jane looked out for him.
“Why?” she asked. “I mean as someone from New Mexico I agree that Colorado is a much prettier state.”
“My mother hated New Mexico,” he said. He popped another piece of cheese into his mouth. “She wanted to move to a bigger city.”
Jane raised her brow at his words, and he knew why. Denver was bigger than New Mexico, but it wasn’t the largest city, not even out west. Looking back, Milton saw the flaws in his father’s plan.
“Naturally, after a year or two here, she hated it,” Milton told her.
“Hated it? I can’t imagine that anyone could hate it here,” Jane responded.
Milton smiled. Thinking back to when he was worried that Jane might be like his mother felt ridiculous now. Jane was the antithesis to his mother.
“She did,” he said. “She wasn’t cut out for ranch life.”
“What happened to her?” Jane asked.
Milton laughed. He knew that Sara told Jane about his mother. She’d told Hank who’d cracked and told Milton. Hank swore up and down that Sara hadn’t gone into the specifics. Either way, Milton appreciated that Jane was open to hearing his story.
“She ran off with a man like Brandon Eimer,” Milton said.
Jane said nothing. She reached out and placed her soft, warm hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to be comforted by her.
“I’m sorry,” Jane said. “I know what it’s like to lose a mother. I can’t imagine what it would have felt like if she’d left me voluntarily.”
Milton shrugged. “We got by,” he said.
He didn’t love the pity in Jane’s eyes, but he was glad that he shared it with her. He wanted Jane to know everything about him.
“My father made the ranch a good home for me,” Milton said. And now I could lose it, he thought.
“We are going to get through this,” Jane affirmed.
Milton gave her a soft smile. He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be fine, but he didn’t have the energy for it. Not today, after he’d spent the morning trying to figure out how he would tell his men they would soon be without jobs.
“Let’s try that jam,” Milton said. He reached inside the picnic basket and pulled out the small jar she placed inside.
Jane gave him another smile before popping a piece of bread into her mouth. “I’m glad we are in this together,” she told him. “And I’m glad we are married.”
Milton reached out, ignoring the fact that she was chewing and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I’m glad you decided to answer that ad.”
And Milton truly was glad. No matter what happened, he’d found a happiness with Jane that couldn’t be replicated.
Maybe there are some things that money simply can’t buy, he thought.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jane shouldn’t have been so happy considering the circumstances. Brandon had come to the ranch threatening them just three days ago, and they were all due in court by noon today. The sheriff had called in a judge from New Mexico to come and hear the case, and he’d been delayed on his way.
Despite everything, Jane was the happiest she’d ever been in her entire life. She’d found someone who she loved, and who loved her. Milton hadn’t said it, but he’d shown her in a variety of different ways.
She smiled to herself as she tied a small ribbon around her throat. She wanted to look her best for their court day. She didn’t know what that would do, but she hoped that it might soften the judge toward them.
Jane sighed as she pinched her cheeks to give herself a little color. Staring in the mirror, she contemplated if there was anything else she could do to be helpful. Feeling hel
pless was the worst part of all this.
Over the last few days, Jane was able to focus on taking care of Milton. She made sure that he ate three meals a day, and that he didn’t work himself into the ground. It hadn’t been easy. He’d been up all night that first night going over and over figures in the darkness of his office.
He thought that he was keeping her in the dark about how dire things were, but Jane was a smart woman. She’d watched her father run the ranch for years, and she knew that without the land they had now they would have to sell off a great deal of the cattle. They might not have a great deal of financial problems yet, but they would have to lay people off soon.