An Encounter of Courageous Hearts: A Historical Western Romance Book Read online

  She stood, walked over and closed the curtains. There wasn’t much space between her home and her neighbor’s home. She wouldn’t want anyone peeking into her kitchen, or her living room for that matter.

  Once that was done, it was time to prepare for bed. She let her routines carry her through her chores and at last slipped underneath the blankets into her bed. Tomorrow was another day. It would probably be very similar to today, but she knew that each day bore new possibilities and every day should be given a chance.

  Chapter 2

  Nick set the last bundle of feed on the wagon and then climbed up into the driver’s seat. He had been out on the ranch since early morning and was looking forward to getting home and having some coffee and a little time to relax.

  “Come on boys!” he called to his two dogs, Buddy and Storm. They were his two constant companions. They were almost better than having ranch hands. While they couldn’t really help much with chores, they were nice company to have around and they did a good job of guarding the ranch and ranch animals.

  Buddy was a tall, red, sleek hound dog with long ears. When anything was amiss his booming half - bark, half - howl was enough to scare anyone out of their wits. He was a long – legged goof at times and bounced around like a puppy whenever Nick had been away for a while and then returned home. He acted like a lunatic, wagging his whole body and running in ever-widening circles in his excitement to see his master.

  Storm was a small collie type dog, intense and dedicated to the farm animals. He was ferocious with predators and gentle with the cows, gladly herding them into the barn for milking. His coat was a mixture of white and black that swirled together like a storm cloud, thus giving him his name.

  Nick had followed Ginger and Daniel out to Missouri two years after they left. There was nothing for him in the city that he really wanted and he missed his sister.

  He knew nothing about ranching when he arrived but got a job working for an older rancher a few miles out of Cattle lake. He was a quick learner and took to ranch life quickly. He loved working with the horses most of all. There were things that he loved about it and things that he hated. But in time he was ready for his own homestead and staked a claim on the land adjacent to his sister’s land.

  He looked up at the sky. It was late afternoon and it looked like there was a rainstorm brewing. He gave a little smile. He loved rain and storms. It was always nice to just sit in front of the fireplace with his dogs’ company and enjoy an early evening over a cup of coffee.

  He tapped the reins against the horses’ backs, urging them to go a little faster. They were eager to get back to the barn and their feed and didn’t wait for a second invitation to hurry.

  As he approached the house, he scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. There were two riders on their horses in front of the barn. As Nick pulled up, they turned to him.

  Nick recognized them as the deputies from town.

  “Howdy, what’s going on?” Nick called as he pulled the horses to a stop and leaped down to the ground.

  “Nick! Thank goodness we found you. We were about to give up.”

  Nick’s heart fell into his stomach and he felt the worry fill his mind. “What’s going on?” It was a strange thing for them to come looking for him on his ranch. They all knew each other but Nick didn’t have a lot to do with the deputies.

  “There’s been an accident,” one of the deputies said with a grim look towards his partner. Nick’s breath caught.

  “With who? Is Ginger okay?” As his last family, Ginger was the first person to pop into mind. He hurriedly began to unhitch the team.

  “She’s okay,” the deputies exchanged glances again and Nick clenched his jaw.

  “What’s going on? Just tell me.”

  “I’m sorry to tell you this but Daniel is dead, and Ginger is at the doctor’s clinic. She was hurt in the accident. Just a broken leg, it looks like.” The deputy bearing the news refused to meet Nick’s gaze.

  Nick slipped the last of the harness off of the horses. He pulled one of them hastily into the barn and then into its stall before hurrying back with a saddle for the second one. In a few minutes, he was mounted and ready to go.

  “Come on, you can tell me about it on the way.”

  The deputies nodded and the three of them set off at a brisk pace toward town.

  “They were coming back from Lansburgh as far as we can tell. The team of horses got spooked and they couldn’t control them. The pin must have snapped. The whole wheel of the carriage in front came off. Daniel was caught under the wagon and died in the accident.”

  Nick let the news wash over him, fighting to stay calm. Daniel may not have been family by blood, but he had been as good as family to Nick as his sister’s husband.

  “What about the children?”

  “They were in the accident too but as far as we can tell they are just a little bruised and scared.”

  A wave of relief washed over Nick. If something had happened to either Freddy or Lydia… They were so young and hadn’t had a chance at life yet. “Thank goodness they are okay. Do you know any details on how it happened?”

  “We’re not exactly sure, we came to get you as soon as we could.”

  “You’re sure that Daniel is…dead?” When the deputies nodded in unison, Nick knew that they were telling the truth. There was nothing that he could do to change it now. His brother-in-law was dead.

  He was sure that Ginger was going to be devastated. They had been married for 10 years and yet he had seen few people as infatuated as Ginger was with Daniel. It was never easy to lose someone that you loved. They both knew that from experience.

  There were times when Nick thought their family was cursed. It seemed that they were losing each other one by one. If it continued this way, there would be one of them left and then none. Nick hoped that he was wrong.

  But they had already lost both of their parents and now they had lost Daniel.

  The doctor’s home came into view and Nick jumped from his horse before the animal had come to a full stop. He had to make sure his sister was all right.

  He had to see with his own eyes that she was alive and unharmed. He knocked on the doctor's door and almost burst in without invitation when it took longer than a few moments for it to open. When it did, a solemn-looking Doc stared at him with sympathy in his eyes.

  “Right this way,” the doctor led him through the parlor and down the hall to the bedroom at the back of the house.

  It wasn’t the first time that Nick had been to the doctor’s home. He was the only doctor for miles around. No one in town cared that he ran his clinic out of his home. They were lucky to have a doctor who had actually studied medicine.

  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.

&nb
sp; “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 had 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.