A lot of western towns had people who had barely practiced medicine and whose advice could often be as harmful as it might be helpful.
Nick didn’t hesitate and hurried into the bedroom. Ginger was lying on the bed, her cheeks as white as the sheet around her. Her left leg was encased in white bandages and was hanging from a sling attached to the ceiling. She had a small cut on her forehead and bandages on her arms. It was obvious that she was in a great deal of pain.
Lydia and Freddy were sitting together on a large overstuffed chair in the corner holding each other’s hands. Their eyes were swollen and red and they had shocked looks on their faces as if they had just seen the worst possible horror in the world. Nick was certain that they had.
Ginger reached out her hand toward him and Nick wasted no time in taking it. He squeezed her cool fingers between his.
“Ginger… thank God you’re all right.” His words came out as a raspy breath. He was so relieved that he was shaking.
Taking care of his family was one of the most important things to him and yet it seemed there were situations in which the best intentions to protect could do nothing.
“I’m all right, but Daniel…” Ginger’s words cut out and she burst into tears, sobs shaking her body as she trembled with sadness.
“I know. I know. They told me.” Nick cleared his throat and fought tears of his own. Men don’t cry. He tried to repeat the words to himself a couple of times, but a mist still formed in his eyes.
“He’s gone, Nick. I- how am I going to keep going without him?”
Nick shook his head and squeezed his sister’s hand. “I’m going to take care of you Ginger. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
“Don’t say that, Nick. You have your own ranch to take care of. You can’t just leave it and it’s too much for you to take care of our ranch too. But how can I do it? Daniel took care of so much… and now my leg is broken.”
“I don’t know what we are going to do, but we will figure it out. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or the kids. Everything will be all right.”
Ginger nodded and relaxed against the back of the bed, but her face was still pinched with worry and pain.
“I’m going to let you rest and get the children home. I’ll ask the doctor when I can take you home. Everything’s going to be fine. Don’t worry. I will take care of them until you can again.”
Ginger nodded again and her eyes shut for a moment. Nick could see how tired she was. He motioned to Lydia and Freddy who came reluctantly, gazing back at their mother as if they were worried it would be the last time they ever saw her.
Once they’d stepped outside of the room, Nick knelt down to the children’s level.
“Uncle Nick, is mama going to be okay?” Lydia looked up at him with big brown eyes swimming with tears.
“What about papa? They left him there under the wagon. They didn’t take him out. He was getting smashed. Are you going to get him out?” Two large tears rolled down Freddy’s little cheeks and his chin trembled.
“Whoa, whoa, slow down. One at a time. Lydia, your mother is going to be just fine. Between all of us, we are going to take care of her.” Nick squeezed one of Lydia’s shoulders and then turned to Freddy. “Freddy, your pa is in a very special place right now. One day you will understand. He can’t be here with us anymore because he is with God in a beautiful garden.”
Nick’s throat constricted again; he hadn’t planned to have to talk with Freddy about what happened to his pa here in the doctor’s home. He wasn’t sure that anyone could ever be prepared for that kind of talk and yet, here he was.
“Are we going to live with you now?” Lydia was speaking again. While she didn’t look completely opposed to the idea, she didn’t look necessarily excited about it either.
“No, no, no. You will still live with your mama. I don’t know when or how that is going to happen, but soon, you will be back at home. But I am going to take you with me for now so your mama can rest and get better, okay?”
Nick stood up and took each child’s hand in his and led them out of the doctor’s house. “Wait here,” he turned from the children and slipped back inside the doctor’s house.
He nearly ran into the old man on his way in. “Is everything all right, Nick?”
“Yes, yes. I just… I’m taking the kids. When can I come back for Ginger?”
The doctor pushed his glasses back up on his nose. “She has a broken leg. It's in traction now and in the morning we will set the bone and put a cast on her leg. Other than that she is emotionally and physically exhausted. And she is dealing with a lot of grief and pain. She is going to require a lot of care, Nick. She should be able to go home in a couple of days after some rest. But I suggest you bring the wagon and that you get someone to come out and help care for her.”
Nick nodded. “Thank you, doc. I think we will do fine. I’ll be back tomorrow to see her again. I’ll bring whatever I owe you for her care. You’re sure that Daniel was too far gone?” Nick knew that he had already asked, but he wanted to be completely sure.
“Yes, I saw him. He didn’t suffer. He most likely passed on impact. At least there’s that,” he added, shaking his head sadly and pushing his spectacles up on his nose.
Nick nodded and shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you doc. See you tomorrow.”
When Nick got back outside, the deputies that had come to get him earlier were standing there talking with the children.
He wasn’t sure what they were saying since they were down in the street but the children looked happy. They were even smiling a little.
“Everyone all right?” Nick asked as he approached.
“The deputy was showing us his pistol.” Freddy excitedly pointed to the shiny weapon that was now in the deputy’s holster.
“I see. Would the two of you mind running along and waiting for me near the horse? I have something I need to talk to the deputies about.”
Lydia and Freddy nodded and scurried off to where the horse was tied. They began petting its nose and talking to it. Nick watched them go until he was certain they were out of hearing distance.
“I need to see the wagon from the accident. I need to understand how that happened.”
The deputy shrugged. “It was pretty straightforward. It was an accident. The wagon came apart and spooked the horses. The front wheels and axle seem to have come off.”
“I just want to see what happened for myself. Daniel has been driving that wagon around these parts for years. He knew his horses. He took good care of his wagon. I don’t understand how this could have happened.”
“What are you saying?” The deputy narrowed his eyes.
Nick felt uneasy about how the accident had occurred. And he knew Daniel. There had never been someone who was more careful with his horses, equipment, or his family.
The deputy shifted from foot to foot and stared at Nick as if trying to decide what to say. “If you insist you can look at the wagon. I’ll humor you just because you’re family, but it’s a waste of time,” he finally conceded.
“Fine, I’ll be around tomorrow early morning. I’m sorry, but I just like to understand things. This is my family I’m talking about.”
The deputy shrugged and said, “See you in the morning then.” He turned and walked away, leaving Nick and the children watching him go.
Nick walked over to the children and untied the horse.
“Ok, who is gonna ride in front and who’s gonna ride in back?” Nick asked, turning to the children.
“I want to ride in front,” Freddy said as he was boosted up into the saddle. “Can I hold the reins?” he asked.
Nick climbed up into the saddle and settled Freddy in his lap and then helped Lydia up behind him.
“Ok big man, you steer us home, Mr. Freddy,” Nick said, handing the reins to the boy.
Chapter 3
Lana rubbed her eyes as she tried to focus on the stack of papers in front of her. Checking everyone’s work ha
d once been a pleasant and restful part of the day, but now it was one of the most nerve-wracking parts. There was too much time to think and she always felt anxious that Henry would come to bother her again.
He had started to try and talk to her more and more these days. He never seemed to know when to stop. She had begged him to leave her alone and yet he was always stopping by to chat with her.
Lana thought that he should know that they were over forever, but he still seemed to think there was a chance for them to get back together.
As she checked the last answer on the last sheet, she breathed a sigh of relief. Henry hadn’t shown up today and she was done with yet another day of teaching.
Lana saw things in chunks of time in order to give herself inspiration. She always looked forward to the next piece of time in her life. At this moment, that was the break from teaching that was coming up.
She gathered up her books and papers and then hurried out of the schoolhouse. She seemed to always be the last one out of the building and because of this, she was responsible for leaving it closed up for the day. She fumbled at the door since her hands were so full, trying to pull it closed and hold the books at the same time.
“May I help you with that?” The low voice made her jump and her books and papers tumbled to the ground.
Lana spun around to find Henry standing much too close for comfort. “Henry, what are you doing here?”
Lana made no attempt to keep the hostility from her voice. She did not care if Henry knew that he was the last person that she wanted to see or talk to.
“I needed to speak to you. After our conversation before, I just can’t stop thinking about you.”
Lana strangled a groan. Why couldn’t Henry just move on? Where they were right now was his fault and yet, he acted as if she was being unfair to him with her decisions.
“I don’t have time for this. I need to get home. I have already made myself clear.” Lana avoided meeting his gaze. She didn’t need to be reminded of the time she had wasted with Henry and she didn’t need old feelings being brought up. She had managed to avoid him for practically two weeks now. It was just misfortune that he had managed to catch her leaving the school.
“Here.” Henry had gathered up half of her things before she could and handed them to her. Having no choice but to do so, Lana took them from him firmly. “Please, Lana, just talk to me for a second.”
“Henry, what is it that I have to tell you to get you to leave me alone?”
“I just want you to hear me out. If you don’t like what I have to say, I will stop bothering you.”
Henry’s promise sounded good enough, but Lana was slow to believe it. “I have heard you out countless times before. What will make this time any different?”
“I need to explain what happened.”
Lana fought back another groan of frustration. “You’ve explained multiple times and I have told you multiple times that I don’t care what your explanation is.”
“I love you, Lana. I just can’t lose you.” For a moment, Lana almost believed him. His voice sounded sincere and his expression seemed hurt, in a way haunted. “Remember we were going to get married? I still want to marry you. It was just a moment of indiscretion. Can’t you just overlook it?”
“You know, I used to think that it was true that you loved me, but if you really did, you wouldn’t have been with other women. I want to get one thing clear, Henry. You had your chance. You threw that chance in the trash. If you can’t commit to one woman you can’t expect any woman to commit to you.” Lana held her hand up to keep him from saying anything further. “I want you to stay away from me. Stop trying to convince me to come back. Stop trying to talk to me and stop pretending we have anything left between us.”
Before Henry had the chance to say anything further, Lana turned and walked away. She kept her shoulders straight and strong, determined not to let their conversation affect her.
There was a certain freedom in telling Henry exactly what she thought of him and what she expected. She had restrained herself for so long, trying to be the better person, but that had obviously been a mistake.
Lana glanced at the post office as she passed it. She wasn’t expecting another letter from Ginger for at least another week.
“Miss Lana! Miss Lana, please wait!” The sound of the old man from the post office calling her name made her turn.
He was hurrying out of the office after her, waving a letter in his hand. Lana turned and walked back toward him.
“Why didn’t you stop by? You almost always do,” the older man said through puffs of breath.
“I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting anything this morning.” Lana wanted to laugh at the irony that on the one day she hadn’t stopped she had received an unexpected letter.
“Here, this came in this morning. It’s a telegram. I figured you would want it right away.”
“Thank you.” Lana gave the older man’s hand a squeeze as he handed her the telegram. “I really appreciate it.”
He nodded and then turned back to the post office, hobbling back at a slower pace now that he wasn’t in a hurry to get to her.
Lana watched him go until he had disappeared inside and then looked down at the envelope curiously. ‘To Lana Smith from Ginger Merriweather’ was scribbled across the folded paper.
She usually didn’t get more than one letter from Ginger every three to four weeks; it was strange to get one so soon after the last. And it was definitely unusual to get a telegram.
She opened the telegram hurriedly, her curiosity as to what had caused the change in timing making her anxious.
As she read the telegram her heart fell into her stomach. There had been an accident. Ginger’s husband, Daniel, had died and Ginger had a broken leg. She had never met Daniel, but Ginger’s letters had been full of nothing but good things about him and her love for him.
What really made her head swim was the last three lines of the letter.
I know that this is too much to ask, but if you would consider coming I would greatly appreciate your help at this time. I could provide a place for you to stay and of course, there is plenty of food and everything you would need on the ranch. I am afraid to go on alone and you are the closest thing I have to family besides my husband and brother. And my brother will try to do everything alone but I know he can’t.
I anxiously await your response,
Love, Ginger
Her friend was asking her to move out west to Missouri. It was understandable, considering the circumstances, but could she?
Lana’s life had always been in the city. She had grown up here with her parents. She had buried her parents here. Her job was here. Her history was here.
She had never considered going to live out west. Despite all the stories she had heard about the fortunes that people found out west, she had always thought that it was an adventure for others.
She couldn’t possibly leave everything she knew for a new life. She folded the telegram up and tucked it between her books, quickening her pace back home. She would have to think about Ginger’s request. If she went, it would be one of the most frightening things she had ever done. And yet, if she refused, what kind of a friend would she be? With a broken leg, two children, and a ranch to care for Ginger was surely struggling.
---*---
Lana stared out the window of her little townhouse. Ginger’s request had not let her mind rest in peace since she had read it. She was now imagining the way she could get west and what she would do with her home or the school class she was responsible for.
An Endless Love to Remember: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 32