The Rancher’s Devout Bride

by Maya Stirling

  Jake moved closer. "You won't be safe, Emma. Take it from me. This isn't a good place for a solitary woman with two children."

  "I can take care of them," she declared. Then she added: "I have until now." Not for the first time, he thought her choice of words seemed odd. There was something here he wasn't seeing, Jake told himself. An undeclared truth.

  All morning he'd been trying to make sense of this beautiful woman and the children who were in her charge. Emma seemed awfully young to have had two children of that age. He figured she was in her early twenties. Six or seven years younger than him. He just couldn't figure it out. Until now, he'd told himself it was none of his business. But, she was about to do something foolish, and his conscience wouldn't allow that to happen. Not without doing whatever he could to persuade her otherwise.

  "I told you, we'll be fine," Emma said and tried to move past him. Jake took her hand gently in his grasp. The feel of her soft skin triggered an instantaneous reaction in him. One he fought hard to ignore. And failed.

  Emma's mouth opened, but he noticed she did nothing to take her hand away from his. They exchanged a look that lingered a while.

  "You have to listen to me, Emma," Jake pleaded quietly. "You can't stay here. It's not safe."

  She sighed. "Thanks to Vance, I've got no choice."

  Jake thought for a moment. An idea flickered into life. His mind drifted back to his conversation with her on the porch. "Come to Inspiration," he murmured.

  Her brows shot up in a line. "What?"

  "Come with Grace and me. We're leaving now. And we'll be in Inspiration before sundown."

  Emma's eyes narrowed. "I can't do that."

  "Why not?"

  Her eyes searched for an answer. "We don't have any horses."

  Jake laughed quietly. "I'll take care of that with Dan. He's got horse flesh to spare. If the price is right, Dan will give us what we need."

  "I hardly know you and your sister," she objected.

  He narrowed his gaze intently at her. "And you don't think you can trust us?"

  Emma sighed and shook her head. "I know you've been helpful to us, this morning." She groaned quietly and glanced at the children. He saw her brows furrow as she turned back to him. Her gaze softened, a mixture of confusion and curiosity filling her eyes. "Why would you do this?"

  Jake glanced back at the children. "For them." He turned to Emma. "And for you?" he added softly.

  He saw her cheeks flush and she turned her head away from him. "It's a long journey," she objected.

  Jake shook his head. "Not that long. And once you get to Inspiration, there's a train line. From there, you can easily get to Helena." He paused before adding. "Or anywhere else you and the children want to go to." He asked himself why she wouldn't have taken the train instead of the stagecoach when she and the children had left Billings. Did that suggest there had been some urgency to her departure?

  He saw her interest perk up. Her gazed steadied as she weighed up the options. For the first time since they'd met, hope shimmered in her green eyes. Seeing that expression lifted Jake's own spirits no end. Even if he still didn't know her full story, the fact that she was thinking of accepting his offer made the sunshine seem brighter. Made the cool air beneath the overhanging branches feel even more pleasant. In fact, every time he was with this woman, for some reason he couldn't figure out, he felt somehow different.

  He'd only known her a few hours, and already she was affecting him more than anyone else he'd ever met. Was that the reason why he was willing to take her to Inspiration? Were his motives mere selfishness? He cast that thought aside when he heard the giggling of the children. He looked over at them. They looked happily oblivious to the problem.

  No. It was more than simple selfish interest, Jake told himself. He knew he had a duty to this woman and those children. He'd always been brought up to do what was right. That was the Buchanan way. And this felt more than right. It was downright necessary.

  Emma's lips pursed thoughtfully. And then, with one more glance at the children, she nodded. "We'll come with you."

  Jake felt his heart leap. "Good. You want to tell the driver yourself? Or can I do it?"

  Emma shook her head. "I'll tell the driver," she declared evenly.

  Emma strode across to the children. Jake followed by her side. Bethany and Clara stood, almost as if they expected some kind of important announcement.

  "Girls. Mr Buchanan here has kindly offered to help us get to a nearby town," Emma told them. "It will involve riding on horseback with him and his sister."

  The eyes of each of the girls widened and they turned excitedly to one another. Jake had wondered how they would take the news. Judging by their expressions, it seemed like they approved.

  Bethany looked the most excited. "Do we get to ride a horse each?"

  Emma nodded and turned to Jake. "I'm assuming we can work that out," she said inquiringly to him.

  Jake smiled. "We'll figure something out."

  "I'm not sure I like horses too much," Clara said, frowning.

  Emma bent down and took Clara's hands, squeezing them gently. "Mr Buchanan is an expert on horses," she said. "Isn't that right, Jake?" Emma added, glancing at him.

  Jake shrugged. "I hope I've learned something after all these years ranching," he replied jokingly. "Otherwise I don't think I'll live it down. If it ever becomes known to the men I work with, you understand," he said winking at the girls.

  His light-hearted remark made the girls and Emma smile. Then they packed the blanket in their small bag and followed him back through the thicket of trees and up the slope. Reaching the top, they crossed the trail and halted at the stagecoach.

  The driver strode quickly around the horses and glared at Emma. "What's the idea keeping us waiting like this?" he demanded.

  Jake stepped forward. "There's been a change of plan. Miss Dunbar and the children are accompanying us to Inspiration."

  Vance swaggered to the driver's side. He glowered at Emma. "Is that wise, Miss Dunbar? I mean you hardly know this man. And you're prepared to go all the way to his hometown?"

  From behind Vance, Jake saw Grace advance toward the stagecoach, leading her horse by the reins. "I think I can vouch for the good character of my brother," Grace declared.

  Startled, Vance twisted and peered at Grace. "Indeed," he exclaimed sarcastically. He rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

  Emma strode forward and faced Vance. "I know what I'm doing," she told him. Leaning closer, her brows furrowed. "And the real reason I'm doing it," she breathed. Vance's features paled visibly as his gaze met the determined features of the woman who had refused to be intimidated by him.

  "Well, if you're sure that's what you want, we best be getting going," the driver said patting Vance on the shoulder.

  With one last look, Vance strode to the stagecoach door and heaved his bulk inside, slamming the door behind him. The driver leaped up onto the seat, took the reins and started the stagecoach moving. As the coach passed them, wheels rolling noisily, horses' hooves pounding on the hard dirt track, Jake caught a glimpse of Vance sitting stiffly inside the cabin, his gaze resolutely avoiding them. Seemed like the man's pride had been wounded, Jake told himself. Maybe Vance had too much pride to begin with, anyway.

  They all stood and watched the stagecoach disappear around the bend in the trail. A long, heavy silence descended upon the yard. The enormity of what he'd done hit Jake with full force. He saw Grace looking at him. There was that look again, he told himself. The one his sister gave him whenever she could hardly believe what he'd done.

  And what was that exactly?

  He'd done nothing less than accept full responsibility for the safe passage of a beautiful woman and two sweet children all the way to Inspiration.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  They left the staging station a short while later, heading northwest along a trail that Jake told Emma he knew like the back of his hand. He explained this was the route they'd u
sed to bring the cattle to the buying station where they'd been sold to eager dealers. On the way back to Inspiration, Grace and Jake had taken a detour, as was their custom, to pay a visit to Dan at the stagecoach station. Seemed like this was a regular trail for the Buchanans whenever they took cattle to sell. Dan was a close friend to the family. That explained Jake's friendly demeanor toward the old man back at the station.

  The trail cut through a range of hills and then up onto a plateau which took them across a series of sloping rangelands. Every once in a while, their route took them through some narrow passes and alongside fast flowing rivers. The day had remained bright and sunny, and the air was clean and refreshing. Emma had thought the journey would be hard, but it had turned out to be quite the opposite. A delight in so many ways. After the difficulties of the last days, and especially the awful stagecoach ride, it felt good to be out in the free and open Montana landscape.

  Back at the station, Dan had provided two horses, a dappled brown mare and a smaller horse upon which was packed the belongings for Emma and the children. Jake had claimed the mare, trailing the smaller horse behind him, and given his own mount to Emma. She was currently sitting on the horse with Bethany. Riding alongside her was Grace and Clara. It seemed like a neat arrangement, Emma told herself. Even if it meant they'd had to make extra stops to give the horses some respite.

  For the children, the ride northwards had turned into a grand adventure. They could hardly contain their excitement. They squealed every time they saw something that caught their attention. Whether it was birds or animals, or an unusual feature of the landscape, nothing escaped the girls' eager scrutiny.

  Emma was secretly glad that the girls had seemed to put the disappointment of Billings behind them. It was the least they deserved. And they had kept their promise to Emma. There had been no talk of the reason why she and the children were out here. The last place she would ever have imagined ending up. Montana frontier territory.

  She tried not to think about the future. All that mattered was that they were going somewhere which might provide them with a temporary safety. A chance to regroup and consider their options.

  As far as Jake and Grace were concerned, they appeared to be enjoying the journey almost as much as the girls. Both Jake and Grace explained things about the countryside to the girls in a way which told Emma that brother and sister were getting a simple pleasure out of the whole experience.

  Maybe it was a pleasing change for their usual routine, she speculated. Or perhaps they were just going out of their way to be polite, Emma told herself. She'd noticed that neither Jake nor Grace had asked any probing questions. Maybe they weren't interested. Or perhaps, they were just going through the motions, doing what they thought was right, and trying to keep their distance.

  In the middle of the afternoon, Jake announced they were going to stop and give the horses some rest by the side of a river. They all dismounted and tied their horses to trees alongside the river. A blanket was spread out on the flat grass and Grace and Emma unpacked some food from the bag on the spare horse. Jake brewed some coffee and everyone tucked into the makeshift feast. Watching the girls wolfing down the jerky and bread Dan had provided, Emma concluded that the fresh Montana air was good for their appetites. They hadn't shown this much willingness to eat since before the arrival at Billings.

  After they'd eaten, the girls raced off to play by the side of the river. Emma made sure she gave them strict instructions to stay well away from the water. The last thing she needed was for them to be sitting on horseback, soaking wet, for the remainder of the journey.

  While Jake busied himself with the horses, Grace and Emma wandered off toward the river. Partly so Emma could keep a close eye on the girls, but also because she wanted to chat with Grace. Maybe even find out a little more about Grace's handsome brother, Emma told herself.

  Emma sat down by the riverbank and Grace took her place alongside her. The voluminous dresses of both women splayed out around them as they made themselves comfortable. Excited squealing from the girls drew Emma's attention away from Grace for a moment. As she glanced further down the riverbank, Emma couldn't help noticing that Jake's attention was on the girls. Expert in the perils of the outdoors, he'd no doubt want to make sure they were safe.

  Noticing where Emma was looking, Grace smiled. "My brother likes to take care of people. Make sure they stay out of trouble. That's the kind of man he is." Grace laughed. "Although, sometimes, he drives me crazy. But, I guess you've noticed that already."

  Emma shook her head. "I'd say the opposite, in fact. You two look like two peas in a pod."

  Grace ran a hand across her brown hair which was neatly tied back in a bun. "What you mean is we're typical brother and sister. Guess it comes from living on the ranch. Family has always been important to us. My mama made sure of that."

  "Jake told me that your pa died a while back," Emma offered softly.

  Grace's expression softened. "Four years ago, now." She smiled sadly. "Seems like yesterday," she added in a wistful voice. "We all miss him. But our faith pulled us through. And the help of others."

  Emma thought about how her own faith had seen her through difficult times. And how it had led her to this place. "I'm sure it did," Emma consoled. "You have other family near Inspiration?"

  Grace nodded and smiled. "My father's brother Caleb owns a ranch north of Inspiration. Works it with his four sons. And with plenty of helping hands from their wives, I might add," she stated, quirking a brow. "When pa died, Caleb insisted we all move to Inspiration. We used to live near Helena. It was a big change for us. Caleb helped us buy the ranch." Grace leaned back, resting her palms on the soft grass. "But, I think it has all been for the best." She grinned, brightening suddenly. "My older sister got married, last year."

  "That's wonderful," Emma exclaimed. And she meant it. Finding love was always the best way to overcome the hardships of life. Even though she hadn't found love herself, Emma had seen enough of it in the world to know it had the power to change lives for the better.

  "Abigail and Noah are real happy. They live on Noah's ranch," Grace explained. "It's close to ours. In fact, we're really neighbors. We see them all the time." Grace smiled. "And, what's really exciting is that Abigail's expecting in a few months."

  Emma grinned. "That's such happy news. Your mother must be excited."

  Grace nodded. "She sure is. Can't wait to become a grandma."

  The sound of a heavy splash came from down the river. Screams rose into the air. Instantly Emma's mind was possessed with one thought. The girls in danger.

  Emma looked up, feeling a sudden panic take hold of her. She was almost ready to stand, in case she needed to act. But, upon looking more closely, she saw that one of the girls had thrown a large, broken-off tree branch into the water.

  Emma sighed, feeling the tension ease out of her body. She looked over and saw that Jake was heading quickly toward the two girls. Obviously he shared her concern about Bethany and Clara's wild antics. Nothing needed saying. Jake wouldn't let anything happen to them. Emma was already sure of that.

  Grace's gaze followed Emma's. "See? My brother likes protecting. He's always been that way."

  "He's been so helpful today," Emma said. "I don't even know how to start thanking him." She peered at Grace. "And you, Grace. You didn't have to do all this for us."

  Grace shrugged. Modesty came easily to this young woman, Emma told herself. "It's the least we can do. We were heading home, anyway."

  "Speaking of home, what's Inspiration like?" Emma asked.

  "Truthfully?" Grace asked.

  Emma nodded. For a moment, she wondered if Grace was going to confess some terrible secret about the little town.