A Constant Love (The Hope of Cheyenne #1)

Chapter 8

8

Everyone came together on the last day of June and gathered at the Aldrich ranch. The cowboys had been bringing in cattle all week and collecting them in two of three fenced-off pastures. The fences were a new, extra investment by Mrs. Aldrich that had come after hearing some encouragement for getting away from open range management of her cattle. Open range was still popular for the summer months, but after the blizzards had killed so many, folks were beginning to see value in fencing in cattle closer to home for the winter.

The herds were amassed to rest in the Aldrich pastures where they were counted and left to graze. It was strange to see such small herds, but Micah knew in time they would expand again, though maybe never to the extent they once existed. Before the bad winter, all three families represented had owned thousands of head, but now between the Aldrichs and Johnsons there probably weren’t even a thousand total.

On Sunday, they held a church service and sang hymns before Mrs. Aldrich fed them breakfast and then explained what she and Rich hoped to accomplish in the next few days. Everyone was eager to get the work done by the Fourth of July. The celebrations in Cheyenne were nothing to be missed. After one final prayer, the cows and calves were separated, and the real work began, despite it being the Sabbath.

Micah found the work healing in a way. He hadn’t done this kind of work since losing his father, and with each new task he remembered some incident or story that had taken place with his father. Dad loved roundup. He was far more social than Micah. Micah always figured it was due to having grown up by himself, without siblings or next-door neighbors. Life on a ranch was a different thing. Life on a Wyoming Territory ranch was even more isolated than that of the ranch life he’d known in Texas.

Mother had worried about him when they’d first come to Wyoming. She had overseen his schooling and felt that perhaps she hadn’t the wherewithal to teach him properly, so she enrolled Micah in Mr. Decker’s School for Boys in Cheyenne. He boarded there during the week and came home on weekends. Frank Jr. attended as well. Both hated it.

It wasn’t a lack of ability on Micah’s part. He had graduated at fifteen having excelled in every subject. Micah’s mother wanted him to be able to attend college and insisted he be allowed at least a year back east to make up his own mind about furthering his education. After a year, Micah came home to stay. He remembered telling his mother that his heart just wasn’t in it. He longed for home and for the ranch life that he’d grown up with. She had understood. How he missed her.

“You’ve certainly accomplished a lot, Micah,” Mrs. Aldrich said bringing him a glass of iced tea as he finished for the day.

“That was the goal, wasn’t it?” He gave her a smile and then drank down the tea without pausing for a breath.

He handed her back the glass, then caught sight of a carriage coming down the drive. As the conveyance drew near, Micah could see it was Lewis Bradley. Charlotte wasn’t going to like this one bit.

“I hope there won’t be trouble,” Micah said, nodding. He knew from the things Charlotte and her mother had said that Bradley still figured he held a claim on Charlotte.

“There had better not be,” Mrs. Aldrich said. “I’ll go warn Charlotte. She’s in the house helping Nora.”

Micah nodded and watched as the older woman skirted the main area of work and hurried to the house via the back door. As Bradley brought his team to a stop, Micah figured he’d stall the man by seeing what he wanted.

“Afternoon, Lewis. What brings you out here?” Micah asked as Bradley set the brake and climbed down.

“I’ve come to see my fiancée, if you must know. I heard the roundup was taking place and thought I might offer my assistance.”

Micah’s lips curled the tiniest bit. “You can help me castrate calves. I have quite a few to do.”

Lewis Bradley scowled. “I hardly think so.”

“Why not? You want to be helpful, and I have a way for you to do that.”

“I’m not a rancher,” he said, lowering his voice. “I meant that maybe I could help with something else. Maybe bookwork. As a lawyer, I’m quite adept with ledgers and such.”

“Since you’re not a rancher,” Micah began, “I’ll fill you in on the fact that there’s not a lot of bookwork going on at this point. Right now, we are focused on judging the health of each calf, branding them, castrating the males, and dehorning. There are a few other odds and ends, and we are keeping count and making a few notes—at least someone is, but most of the labor is physical. Sorry.”

“Lewis, what are you doing here?” Charlotte asked as she joined them. Her tone betrayed exasperation.

The shorter man turned rather quickly away from Micah. No doubt he was happy not to have to speak further on the matter of working the roundup.

“I wanted to see you. To talk to you.” He glanced Micah’s way. “Privately.”

“Lewis, I realize you aren’t all that familiar with roundups, but this isn’t the time for private conversations. I have far too much work to help with.”

“I thought perhaps I could help. Maybe we could work together and talk while we did ... whatever it is you’d be doing.”

“I was going to help with dehorning. Feel free to join me, but you’ll need to lose that fancy coat and tie and roll up the sleeves on that equally fancy shirt. You are hardly dressed for roundup, Lewis.”

“He thought you might have bookwork for him to do,” Micah couldn’t help throwing out.

Charlotte looked at Lewis with an expression of disbelief. “Bookwork? We’re not running a school for the calves.”

“I know that, but I figured there was an accounting of things.”

She nodded. “There is, but it’s done quickly and without much fuss. I’ll go over the numbers later. The point is to get all this work done in a matter of a few days so that we can all go into town and enjoy the Fourth of July festivities.”

“Look, can’t we talk alone somewhere?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I don’t have the time, Lewis.” Charlotte shook her head. She waved her hand across the large area where cowboys were continuing to move the calves along. “Just look around. I’ve got no time for you.”

“You never seem to have any time for me, and you’re my betrothed.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “I’m your nothing, Lewis. Whatever arrangement you had with my father is done. He’s dead.”

Charlotte’s tone was one that Micah recognized. She was about to explode, and if Lewis Bradley knew what was good for him, he’d back off.

“That very well may be, Charlotte, but we are still engaged to be married.”

Apparently, he didn’t know what was good for him.

Charlotte raised her hand and pointed her index finger at him as if she were admonishing a child. “You have no right to say that. I am not your betrothed, and we are not engaged. I never agreed to such a thing, and I am fully of age. I have my own legal rights, even as a woman.”

“But you know what your father expected of you, and he told me that you had agreed.”

“Well, I did not.”

Micah stepped back and leaned against the corral fence. Charlotte could be quite a force to reckon with. He grinned and noticed a few of the other cowboys had stopped to watch.

Charlotte continued to waggle her finger at Lewis. “You and my father may have had business, Lewis Bradley, but I never agreed to it, never signed any contract, and won’t be signing anything now.” Her voice rose in volume as if to make sure he could hear clearly. “I do not intend to marry you now or ever, so please stop telling people that we’re engaged. We are not.”

“I could sue for breach of contract.”

“Your love runs so deep, Mr. Bradley.”

He looked momentarily confused and then nodded. “But it does, Charlotte. That’s why it hurts me so much that you would refuse me.”

“I’m sorry that you’re hurt, but such is the situation. I’m not changing my mind. I’ve never been interested in marrying you, and I never will be.”

“Never is a very conclusive attitude to take. I think you should reconsider.” Bradley’s expression changed to a stern look. “You might believe you don’t love me, but you can learn, and in time we could be a great team together.”

“No, Lewis. No. I will not marry you.” She finally lowered her arm and shook her head. “Now please go home. You are neither needed here nor wanted.”

Lewis stepped toward her. Micah thought he looked like he might grab Charlotte, so he pushed off the fence and put himself between them.

“You heard her. Get out of here.”

“I see you’re reduced to cowhand, Mr. Hamilton. I suppose that’s all you’re good for after letting a good ranch fall to pieces.”

Micah raised back his arm to punch Lewis Bradley in the face, but Charlotte wedged herself between the two men and took hold of Micah’s arm.

“He’s not worth it, Micah.” She turned to Lewis. “As for you, you should know that Micah’s ranch is doing just fine. He has over two hundred cow-calf pairs that are running with Aldrich cattle. So now, if there’s nothing more, I’m going to tell you once again to go. After that, I’ll have you removed, and I don’t think you want the embarrassment of that. There’s really no need for such a scene, is there, Lewis?”

He looked at her with great contempt. Micah was amazed at how Charlotte stood her ground in the face of such blatant hate. The man looked murderous, and Micah found himself taking hold of Charlotte and moving her protectively to his side.

Lewis Bradley glanced around. There were quite a few strong, healthy cowboys who had stopped work to come see what the trouble might be. He raised his chin as if to snub them all, then stomped off to his carriage. In its current position, Bradley couldn’t just strike the horses and race off down the drive; he needed to get the team turned in the small area and then go. It wasn’t easy, and with each new maneuver, Micah could see a little bit more frustration overcome Bradley’s facade of calm.

Finally, the horses were turned, and Lewis Bradley snapped the lines. The team headed off down the drive, and the cowboys went back to work. Micah started to leave as well but paused to shake his head at Charlotte.

“You didn’t need to lie to Bradley about my cattle.”

She smiled. “I didn’t. You told us to run your remaining herd with ours, and we did. There were about one hundred cows left and again that many steers. Most of those cows gave birth to healthy calves. We lost a few. We sent the males to market and bred the cows again. A good number of the calves born this year are from your herd. And quite a few of the heifers being bred this year are yours. I have a full accounting in the ledger we kept for you.”

Micah shook his head. “Not mine. You kept them alive and did all the work when I fell to pieces. I don’t deserve to have them. You keep them.”

“No. No, I won’t. Those cattle are now your responsibility, Micah Hamilton. If they die because you don’t take care of them, then so be it. I have my hands full with Aldrich cattle now. Unless, of course, you’d like to consider a merger. Aldrich and Hamilton Cattle Company. I think it has a nice ring to it. Or perhaps the Hamilton and Aldrich Cattle Company.”

Micah looked at her for a long moment. Her blond hair had been carefully braided and pinned up earlier in the morning, and now wisps of it had worked their way out to frame around her face. Micah had always loved the way her blue eyes seemed to spark fire when she was angry ... like when dealing with Lewis Bradley. They were still aglow as she addressed her thoughts for the future.

He couldn’t help but smile. He and Frank Jr. had often laughed or made light of her anger when she was a little girl. It would be easy enough to do that now, but Micah really had no desire to argue with her. He was still in shock that he had so many cattle still alive.

“I don’t know why you’re smiling, Micah Hamilton. You have a lot of work to get caught up on. Our cattle may go back to feeding together on open range, but you’re not going to sit out another winter.”

Micah met her gaze. “No, ma’am. I won’t be sitting out another winter.”

She gave a nod and drew a deep breath. “Better start making plans for the future, Micah.”

That night after everyone was fed, some of the cowboys brought out their musical instruments and began to play around the campfire. The music was a pleasant surprise. Micah hadn’t expected it, nor had he anticipated the way it would speak to his soul. Most of the songs the boys played were either folk songs or hymns. It suited the warm summer night.

Mrs. Aldrich had invited him to take a bed in the guest room, but Micah preferred the idea of sleeping out under the stars, the way he had done when he and Dad had worked roundups in the past. There was a comfort and familiarity with doing it now that left Micah thinking of things he’d pushed aside since the day he’d found his father dead.

No one here, save Charlotte and Mrs. Aldrich, knew his dad had killed himself. So many times Micah had wanted to shout out the truth when someone offered their condolences, but instead he just nodded and told them thanks. It was hard to hear how sorry complete strangers were when Micah knew the comment was nothing more than words. They had no idea. They didn’t know the sorrow or the shame that haunted Micah every step of the day.

He swallowed hard and gritted his teeth, staring up at the starry skies. Until a few weeks ago, when these thoughts came Micah numbed the pain with alcohol and then went to sleep. He couldn’t do that anymore. His conscience wouldn’t let him. He knew it was wrong. Knew there was no comfort to be had in liquor and certainly no loss of guilt.

Would these feelings of guilt ever leave him?

He had left his father alone with two dead men whom they both loved and cared for. Micah had left him there to watch over the bodies after seeing so much of his herd dead. He wondered at what point his father, in contemplation of the deaths, had decided to join them. What had caused him to finally give up hope? Why had he ended his life?

So many times Micah had pondered that question and demanded answers. Of course, none ever came. Dad wasn’t there to confront, and God wasn’t speaking out about the matter.

Micah closed his eyes as if he could close out the thoughts as well. He could still see his father’s body lying ready for burial in the barn. He could still see that empty grave. A grave he’d dug by hand in the frozen ground.

He had wanted to throw himself into that grave. He had prayed that God would strike him dead in punishment for somehow failing to know what his father would do. Yet still he lived, and now he had a future to plan. A future he had long given up on but needed to reclaim.

Charlotte stood at her bedroom window in the dark. Somewhere out there, Micah was sleeping. She couldn’t help thinking about him ... about how much she had wanted to tell Lewis that she intended to marry only one man, and that man was Micah Hamilton.

She sighed and enjoyed the breeze that blew through her open window. The night had cooled considerably and felt so nice.

The memory of what Lewis had said about his arrangements with her father came to mind and ruined the moment. She had no real understanding of what he and her father had agreed on. The painful memory of that last fight overshadowed any memories of previous discussions of the matter that might have had more details.

She regretted that last conversation with all her heart. She’d hurt her father ... a man she loved so dearly.

She hugged her arms to her body. How she would give anything to be able to take back the awful things she’d said. How she wished she could undo the past and bring her father and brother back to them alive and well. Despite her mother’s reassurances, she’d gladly marry Lewis Bradley if it meant they might be returned to them.

Well, maybe not gladly, but she’d do the deed if it could bring her loved ones back. Still, that wasn’t possible, and the very orderly side of her nature told her to stop even considering such things because they could never happen and were a waste of time.

She sighed long and loud as Lewis Bradley’s intrusion came again to mind. Would he cause some sort of legal trouble for them? She supposed it might be worth a trip to town to talk to the family lawyer, Clarence Higgins. Maybe she could just hunt him down when they went for Fourth of July. It would probably put Mother’s mind at ease if they did so.

Charlotte made her way to bed and threw her lightweight robe across the foot of the bed. She knelt to begin her prayers and let go another sigh as she glanced toward the ceiling.

“God, I’m going to need a lot of help in all of this.”