Chapter 5 #2
Jace tried to look away from Dianne’s compelling eyes, but the darkness of her look trapped him.
He felt her desperation clear down to his boots, as Chet would often say.
He held back a sigh. Of course, he wouldn’t leave her stranded.
It went way beyond his sense of being a decent man.
Who would have thought Bart and his wife would be going away?
Just when Jace needed them. He tried for an encouraging smile, but it must’ve looked more like a grimace.
Words were needed, though he seemed incapable of getting any intelligent sound from his mouth.
Bart reached for another biscuit. The movement jerked Jace from his stall.
“Guess we’ll move on to the next way station, then.”
Relief melted Dianne’s face into soft lines.
Dawn and Bart looked at each other. Then the man spoke. “Might find the place crowded.”
“And not very friendly,” Dawn added.
“Guess we’ll figure out what to do as we go along.” Jace’s words offered little reassurance to anyone, including himself.
The meal ended. Dawn waved away Dianne’s offer to help with dishes. “You have miles to travel.”
“So do you.”
“But I travel with Bart. Travel is part of my enjoyment.”
Dianne’s chuckle suggested she understood. “I remember those days.”
The women shared a look carrying more meaning than any words they spoke.
Only because Jace watched Dianne did he catch the flicker of pain cross her face.
She was hurting. Well, of course, she was.
Losing her father and husband. She hadn’t said what happened to her mother—and then being disappointed by the changed circumstances of her hope for a home in the West. Not that it was his fault.
At least not everything. Besides, the home was still there.
All he had to do was get her there—or at least to the next way station—then it would be out of his hands.
“We shall be on our way.” His announcement perhaps sounded more abrupt than he meant. But if he wanted to return the wagon, hunt some meat for supper, and enjoy his solitude in the cabin, he needed to hurry.
She thanked Dawn and Bart for the meal and instructed Eddie to do so as well.
The boy murmured the words, barely lifting his chin.
Strange. He hadn’t been the least bit shy around Jace, which somehow made Jace stand a few inches taller.
No doubt, the boy recognized that Jace was good.
He shrank back to his original height as he admitted he wasn’t always such, and he currently lived that knowledge.
He added his thanks and shepherded the two outside, loaded them into the wagon, tied Sam up again, and headed down the trail.
Dianne seemed disinclined to talk, and Jace couldn’t think of anything to say. Telling her she’d be fine at the next way station was premature. Telling her everything would work out was difficult to be certain of. Except—
“I remember something Chet said shortly after he took me home.” Home? Hadn’t he decided against that? If she noticed the slip, she didn’t mention it. “I was perhaps a bit difficult.”
She might have snorted, but he let it go.
“You gotta remember, I’d lost my entire family. It was hard.”
Her warm hand rested momentarily on his. “I’m sure it was.”
“I might have been a tiny bit uncooperative.” He drawled out the word though, in truth, he’d been defiant. “When Chet asked me to do something, I sometimes refused to do as he said.”
“Really? I would have never guessed.”
No need to acknowledge her sarcasm.
“He didn’t get angry. He simply shook his head.
‘Boy, a chip on your shoulder becomes a heavy load.’ To which I’d grunt.
” His smile in her direction was self-mocking.
“But the thing that stayed with me and persuaded me to change my attitude was when he found a lost kitten. That thing was so wild. I figured we might as well let it go fend for itself. But Chet didn’t give up until it became a real pet.
The only thing he ever said about it was, ‘The little critter recognized it could fight forever and always be unhappy, or it could accept the offer of more.’ I guess it was another way of saying ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. ’”
Her look was steady and challenging.
He couldn’t turn away.
She nodded. “And here you are doing the same thing. Refusing his help, his gift.”
No need to ask what she meant. But she didn’t understand why he must leave the ranch. Besides— “The ranch is yours. Make it the home you want.”
She huffed around and faced ahead; her hands clenched into angry balls. “You are such a stubborn man.”
The words sliced through him…an echo of Chet’s last words to him. Wearing his heavy load of guilt, he slouched over the horses and stared at their twitching tails. It was ten miles to the next way station. The longest ten miles he’d ever traveled.
Dianne’s head fell forward. She tipped forward.
He caught her shoulder and pushed her back. “Whoa. No falling.”
Cloudy, sleep-drugged eyes regarded him. Then she jolted upright and shrugged from his touch. He curled his fingers as his hand dropped to his side.
His insides coiled as well. He hadn’t meant to offend her. Only keep her safe. But the urge to pull her to his side so she could rest was a surprise. Not one he welcomed any more than she did.
She glanced back at Eddie, who lay spread eagle in the back, his eyes closed and his mouth open. Then she sat up as straight as a pole. “I’m awake now.”
“We’ll soon come to the next station. If I remember, it’s just around that bend.” He nodded in the direction they were going. “Guess I don’t need to tell you that’s where we’re going. There’s only one trail, and we’re on it.”
“The road to Golden Valley. I was led to believe it was a decent one.”
He grinned. “Let me guess. Someone—likely someone at the stagecoach office said…” He puffed out his chest and lowered his voice in imitation of how he thought they’d sound. “Why it’s the best road west of Fort Macleod. Can’t go wrong taking the coach. Best road, I tell ya. Best road.”
Laughter burst from her—trilling like a happy bird. She wiped her eyes and shook her head. “I take it you’ve heard the spiel because that’s almost exactly what I was told. Not to worry about my safety, he said.” She laughed again. “And I believed him.”
Her amusement ended on a sigh. “Not that I had much choice. How else was I to get to Chet’s place?” With sober dark eyes, she held his gaze. “I only wish I could have gotten here before he passed…or at least to say goodbye as he was laid away.”
When she dashed a tear from her eyes, he ground his teeth. Maybe if she’d arrived sooner, he might have acted differently and been willing to stay at the ranch to keep her company.
You can do that now. Stay at the ranch with her.
It was tempting but impossible. If she learned the truth about Chet’s death, she’d not want anything to do with him. She’d certainly not want him on the ranch. Or even want to be in his company.