by Lydia Olson
Thinking about it made Jane’s shoulders slump. She knew that they would have to lay off Hank and Sara, and the thought caused her spirits to drop. If the thought of such a thing caused her so much distress, she could only imagine how it made Milton feel.
Jane closed her eyes for a moment as she contemplated what they might be able to do next. She wasn’t sure of the solution, but she knew that there had to be one. Jane couldn’t fathom living in a world where someone as awful as Brandon Eimer won while someone as good as Milton lost.
Standing up from her vanity, Jane brushed the wrinkles out of her dress. It was a deep navy velvet dress. Much too fancy for court. It was a fabric Serena had convinced her to purchase weeks ago. The dress had come in last week. Jane planned to wear it during the holiday celebrations, but she knew that they likely wouldn’t be having any sort of large celebration.
Jane walked out of her room. There was a sense of foreboding in the house. Milton left the ranch early in the morning to go into town. With Matthew still in California he needed to procure a lawyer. She knew that he had been waiting in the hopes of Matthew miraculously showing up, and while Jane appreciated the loyalty he showed to his friend, she worried that by not having another lawyer on hand they would lose before they could even have a chance.
“Janie?”
As Jane walked into the kitchen, she was surprised to see her father sitting at the kitchen table nursing what appeared to be a cup of chicory coffee. She wanted to scold him for that—coffee would soon be a luxury they might not be able to afford—but she decided to say nothing.
“I thought you would be in town with everyone else,” he said.
“Everyone else?” Jane asked. She had spent the early morning in her room. Her exhaustion had overtaken her, and she couldn’t quite get herself out of bed. Milton had sneaked into her room and kissed her cheek before he left for town. She smiled as she recalled his soft voice in her ear, and the warmth of his lips on her skin.
“Hank took Sara and Kate into town. Kate was rather frantic about getting there before the trial began,” her father said.
“You decided not to go?” she asked. She wasn’t shocked. Her father was keen to avoid being part of this situation in all ways possible. She understood why. He was worried that Brandon would spill the beans about the illegal dealings that the two of them were working on together.
“I don’t think I can offer much help,” he said. “Plus, I wanted to make sure that you weren’t alone.”
Normally, that might have made Jane’s heart soar. She’d only ever wanted her father’s love, and even just half a year ago, she would have been so pleased to know that he cared about her enough to stay behind during something so important. Now, it didn’t do much for her. After all, he was the reason for all of this.
“I’m sure that I’ll be fine,” Jane said. “I’ll have one of the men hitch up the wagon and take me into town.”
Jane’s father said nothing, but she could tell by the hard press of his lips that he didn’t like her answer. The problem was that Jane no longer cared if he liked her ideas or not.
“Have you eaten?” Jane asked. She started pulling out some bread and cheese. Her stomach was in knots, and she didn’t know if she could stomach even the slightest morsel of food, but she was going to try anyway. It wouldn’t do well for her to pass out in the middle of the court room.
“I have,” he said. “Your friend Sara was kind enough to make me a delightful breakfast this morning.”
“Yes,” Jane said, “Sara is a very kind woman. It’s too bad that we will soon have to leave her without a job and a home.”
Her father sighed. “Jane if there was something, I could do …”
“You could speak your truth against Brandon,” she said. It was the first time Jane had made the suggestion. Her father knew firsthand about Brandon’s illegal dealings. He could save them all by offering that information to the judge. The only problem was that he would have to tell the judge all about his own illegal dealings. Her father was not a selfless enough man to sacrifice himself to save the entire ranch, and that made her angrier than ever.
“You know I can’t do that Janie,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Because I’d be in a cell right next to Brandon,” he told her, “and I don’t think I would survive such an experience.”
Looking at her father, she couldn’t ignore what he was saying. He’d lost a great deal of weight since he’d been on the ranch. His normally bulbous stomach had shrunk, and his eyes appeared slightly sunken in his face.
Jane might be angry with him, but he was the only parent she had left, Kate too, and she did not want him going away. Not permanently.
Jane was lost in her own thoughts. Some part of her had hoped that her father might swoop in at the last minute and save all of them, but she realized now how completely unrealistic that was.
“Janie?” her father said. The softness in his voice caught her attention. George Parrish was never a soft-spoken man.
“Yes?” she asked.
“I’m happy that you’ve found Milton.”
Whatever she expected to hear, it wasn’t that. Jane thought that he might ask her when she was going to leave or ask her what was going to happen to him and Kate when they eventually needed to sell off parts of the ranch.
“What?” Jane asked. “I thought you hated Milton.”
Her father gave her a small, sad smile and shook his head. “I never hated Milton,” he said. “I was simply worried about what your marriage to him might bring down upon all of our heads.”
“You brought Brandon into our lives,” she reminded him.
He nodded. “I know that.”
It was the first time that he’d acknowledged that what he’d done was wrong without trying to make excuses for why he had done it.
“I had always wanted you and Kate to find true love. I was lucky enough to be blessed with it twice, and it was something that I always wanted for the both of you. It’s why I never pushed or pressured either of you into finding a husband.”
Jane wanted to remind him that he had pushed her, but she didn’t. She wanted to give him a chance to speak. They rarely talked openly and honestly with one another, and if Jane were honest, it was something that she craved desperately.
“I think I did find true love,” Jane said. “So maybe I should be thanking you.”
Her father snorted and shook his head. “You shouldn’t thank me for anything. I’m gladder than you could know that you married Milton and not someone else. You never should have had to subject yourself to such danger.”
She could see the remorse in his eyes, and while it didn’t temper her anger completely, it did remind her that her father still loved her, and she loved him.
Jane reached out and grabbed her father by the hand. His skin was dry and wrinkled. His eyes connected with hers and she could see the remnants of tears that would never fall. Her father was not a man prone to showing his softer side. In fact, this was the softest she’d ever seen him in her entire life.
“Kate will be married soon,” he said. Her gave her a sad smile. “And then it’ll just be me, a lonely old man with no one.”
“I don’t know if there’s a single man on the face of Earth to keep up with Kate,” Jane said with a smile on her face. Her sister was not someone who’d ever expressed much interest in marriage.
Her father chuckled. “I received a letter a few days ago asking for your sister’s hand,” he said.
“What?” Jane was incredulous. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. “From whom?”
Her father released a bit of a dry chuckle. He shook his head. “I think I’ll let your sister tell you.”
Jane’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t have been more shocked if he had kicked her in the gut. “So, Kate has accepted?” she asked. She couldn’t have been more shocked. She hadn’t seen too much of her sister in the last few days as she prepared for the court case to finally go
before the judge, but she assumed that she would know if she’d had some sort of gentleman caller.
“She has,” her father said. “She’s actually thrilled about things.”
Jane could have been knocked over by the lightest of feathers her shock was so great. She wondered who her sister would soon be marrying. Jane wracked her brain, but she couldn’t think of a single man she’d seen in her sister’s presence these past few weeks outside of Milton, Matthew, and Hank.
“I suppose I’ll have to offer her my congratulations when she deems it time to tell me about her engagement.”
Her father chuckled, and she smiled. It felt nice to have a few minutes of lightheartedness between the two of them.
“I should probably get into town,” Jane said. “The trial is slated to start at noon, and I don’t want to miss any of it. Milton needs me there … for support.” Jane tacked that last bit on for her father’s sake. In truth, she could offer nothing but support, which frustrated her to no end.
“How about I take you,” he offered.
For a moment Jane did not want to take him up on his offer, but she knew that he was extending an olive branch to her.
“That would be nice,” Jane said. She gave him a small smile.
Jane went to get her coat. The air was chilly, and though her dress had sleeves that came down to her wrists she knew that they would not protect her against the chill.
Jane also took that time to say a little prayer for her husband and the ranch. She prayed that they would all come through the next few hours intact, and that God would intervene on their behalf. It was the only thing that she could think might save them at this point.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“You have to go to the pub,” Kate Parrish said. She rushed inside of one of the local barrister offices with Sara, Serena, and Hank in tow. Milton couldn’t have been more shocked to see the four of them.
“What are you doing here?” Milton asked. He had not told anyone where they could find him. He’d been too busy meeting with his replacement lawyer and shoring up his own case. He’d been hoping that Matthew would pull through, and he waited until the very last moment to give up hope.
“I can’t believe that you would go off and find yourself another lawyer,” a deep voice said.
Milton almost cursed aloud. He jumped up from his seat in the barrister’s waiting room. The last hope on his list had been out to lunch, and he was waiting until he returned fuming the entire time.
“What are you doing here?” Milton asked. He knew that he should have been thanking his lucky stars that Matthew was standing before him, but he was too shocked to do anything other than stare at his friend with his mouth wide open.
“I got your letter,” Matthew said. “I got on the first train I could.”
Milton was shocked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He laughed and ran a hand over his face. He was glad to know that he would have a lawyer through all of this, and that his best friend would be by his side; however, he didn’t think that Matthew was going to be able to do much for them.
“It would have been nice to know that you received any of the letters I sent you,” Milton said. His tone was a little brusque, but he couldn’t help it. He was irritated that his friend waited until the very last minute to make his appearance.
Matthew gave a small shrug. “I was busy trying to get some information on Mr. Eimer,” he said. “I didn’t want to send any information until I had something.”
Milton said nothing. It made sense to him, but he would have appreciated some sort of communication. Matthew had been his only hope.
“Tell him Matthew,” Kate said. Milton watched as she nudged him in the side. “Stop dragging all of this out.”
“Dragging out what?” Milton’s head was starting to pound. He’d barely slept last night as he’d been tossing and turning thinking about everything that was going to happen today. He hadn’t slept well in the past few weeks, and in some ways, he was glad that things were almost over. He knew that he wasn’t going to win his case, and that he would lose his ranch, but he would be glad for it to be over. He was determined to win back his land, one way or another.
“I was able to find three men who are willing to speak out against Brandon,” Matthew said. A slow grin spread over his face. Milton had thought he had definitely run out of hope. Even when he saw Matthew in the doorway, he hadn’t thought that his friend would be able to help save him. Now, Milton was starting to see a fresh glimmer of hope again.
“Three?” Milton asked. He was shocked. He couldn’t even get his own father-in-law to speak out against Brandon.
“Three,” Matthew confirmed. He seemed incredibly pleased with himself, and Milton couldn’t blame him. They’d thought that going to San Francisco to find anyone to speak out against Brandon would have been like finding a needle in a haystack.
Milton sighed with relief.
“This doesn’t mean you’ll win,” Matthew said, his voice firm.
Milton pursed his lips. This was the first time in weeks that he felt true hope. He knew they still had an uphill battle. After all, legally, Milton didn’t own the waterways that were on the farthest edge of his land. Technically, his cattle did cross over into Brandon’s land. But if they were able to discredit Brandon, they might be able to give the judge something bigger to deal with.
“I’m aware,” Milton said. “It’s just good to know that there’s a chance.”
Matthew nodded swiftly, making it clear that he understood.
“Where are the men?” Milton asked.
“Off at the pub,” Matthew said.
Milton groaned. He couldn’t believe that Matthew left their only hopes in one of the local pubs. Not only did he not want them drunk in front of the judge, but he also didn’t want them running into Brandon. Brandon had a way of bending people to his will. If he found those men before they were able to go before the judge, then they could end up right where they started.
“Don’t look so dour,” Matthew said. “Serena’s husband is watching them.”
Milton said nothing. He simply shook his head. It seemed that everyone around him knew of Matthew’s plan. It made him slightly irate, but he could forgive everyone if they won.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Kate said. Milton raised an eyebrow at her words. He didn’t know that Kate cared. They hadn’t had more than one or two interactions since she arrived.
“We need to get to the courthouse,” Matthew said. “It’s nearly noon, and we don’t want to be late. It wouldn’t look good for us.”
Milton nodded and grabbed the jacket he’d left on the back of the chair.
I can’t wait to see the look on Eimer’s face when he realizes that three of his bad deeds will be coming back to haunt him, Milton thought to himself as he started for the courthouse, feeling almost jaunty for the first time in recent memory.
***
Walking into the courthouse felt better than Milton ever thought, considering that Matthew had three men in tow who were ready and willing to testify about Brandon’s criminal, dishonest deeds.
The courthouse was buzzing with activity. “Why are there so many people here?” Milton asked.
He had never seen the courthouse so packed before. Not that he spent much time in the courthouse, but the fact that there were people standing against the walls seemed odd to him.
Serena looked down, staring at her shoes with great attention.
“Spit it out,” Sara said. Milton noticed that Sara was much snappier than normal. Even Hank couldn’t control the quickness of her temper.
“Brandon has been telling the whole town to come see your humiliation this entire week,” Serena said. Her cheeks turned dark red as she spoke, and she could not look him in the eyes.
“How awful,” Kate said. She was being much more cordial to Milton, and he thought it was odd.
“Brandon is the only one who is going to be embarrassed,” Matthew said.
Milton di
dn’t pay him any attention. His eyes were roaming around as he tried to find Jane. He’d left her at home this morning. He wanted her to rest. Those dark circles had just started to fade from her lovely face. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from walking into her room as the sun started to rise to softly kiss against her lovely lips.
Without Jane, Milton was sure that the last few weeks would have crushed him.
Or I’d be in the clink for roughing up Brandon, Milton thought.
Jane, in a dark blue dress, caught his eye immediately. Her red hair was like a flame in the crowd, and he immediately stepped away from the group to speak to his wife.
“We aren’t late, are we?” Jane asked.