Chapter Eight
Luke’s Ranch — The next day
“Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of a new day. Please give us the strength and wisdom to navigate the challenges ahead. Help us to be a source of kindness and support to those we meet, and to find joy in the blessings that come our way. Amen.” As they held hands, Madelaine smiled at Belle and Simon, who were kneeling on top of the bed, both praying with her.
After what all three of them had witnessed the night before, she was even more adamant to reinforce their belief in the good of God. So, they’d purposefully decided to start the new day on a good note and to forget about what had happened the night before.
It was still very early, and it was extra cold this morning, but by the time Madelaine walked into the kitchen, the fire in the hearth was already lit, and the kitchen felt warm and cozy.
Given the early hour, Belle and Simon were still a little sleepy, hovering near the fireplace.
Every morning since their arrival, Evelyn had made it a point to heat up a pot of milk for the children, adding a little honey and cinnamon to the mix.
At the same time, she brewed a large pot of coffee for the adults, and Madelaine appreciated this gesture greatly.
“I prayed for you last night,” she said to Evelyn. “For you, Caleb, and for Luke.”
“I prayed for you, too!” Evelyn exclaimed, visibly moved by Madelaine’s admission. “I want to apologize for what happened yesterday. That was very uncharacteristic of him.”
Madelaine waved her hand and shook her head. “Don’t mention it.” She went to grab a sleepy Belle and placed her into the highchair Caleb had made especially for her, then Evelyn handed her the cup of warm milk.
“Now be careful, Belle. Drink it in slow sips, until it’s not too hot anymore,” Evelyn said, tousling Belle’s wild, curly bed-hair. “After breakfast, we’ll go and braid your hair and put a nice big bow in it. Would you like that, darling?”
Belle made an excited screeching sound and crunched her nose before she stared at Evelyn with wide blue eyes.
Meanwhile, Simon climbed onto his grown-up chair and kneeled on the seat to gain a bit of height.
When Evelyn handed him his warm milk, he gifted her with the most admiring smile.
Madelaine almost put her hand over her chest when she saw it.
“Luke isn’t normally like that,” Evelyn continued quietly while pouring steaming hot coffee into two mugs. She handed Madelaine one of them. “He’s a good man. Please don’t take his outburst the wrong way. It wasn’t against you,” she said.
“I haven’t,” Madelaine reassured her.
“Well, in that case, let’s begin this day with love and gratitude,” Evelyn said as she rolled up her sleeves. Madelaine did the same, and after both women had tied their aprons around their waists, they began to make breakfast.
It was quite remarkable how easily everyone had settled into their routine at Luke’s ranch in one week. Getting a lot of attention from every single person working there, Simon and Belle were happy and content in their new surroundings, quickly becoming favorites among the staff and ranch hands.
Not wanting to feel like a burden, Madelaine had immersed herself in a lot of chores the minute she was told that she was well enough to leave the bed.
She began helping out in the kitchen and the stables, checking on Tinsel and all the other resident horses as well. She and Alvarez, who very much had a heart of gold and a great love for horses, had long and interesting conversations about ways to improve the barn and stables for the animals.
However, Madelaine’s favorite people on the ranch were Evelyn and Caleb.
Those two were not only caring, hardworking, and loyal to each other as well as Luke, but they were also hilariously funny and made each day extra special.
It was an absolute joy to be around them, and Evelyn was fast becoming Madelaine’s best friend.
Not to mention that Evelyn was amazing with the two little ones, and it was somewhat surprising that she didn’t have a whole gaggle of children of her own.
“May I ask you a question?” Madelaine asked while she kneaded the dough for the dinner rolls for later. She was covered in flour almost all the way up to her elbows.
Evelyn looked up at her with a smile. “Of course. What is it?”
Madelaine stopped for a moment, glancing at Evelyn nervously. Maybe she was overstepping her welcome if she started probing for answers which weren’t hers to know.
“You can ask me anything, Maddie. Just say it.”
Madelaine looked back at Belle and Simon, both contentedly sipping their warm milk. Their glowing cheeks were red from the heat, and their eyes sparkled as they enjoyed the extra spice and honey.
“Well… I see you with the children, and I was wondering… why don’t you have any of your own?”
Evelyn’s beaming smile instantly vanished. As soon as Madelaine saw the pained expression on her friend’s face, she wanted to slap herself. “Oh no, I’m so sorry! Please forgive me, Evelyn! I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business…”
Evelyn shook her head and held up a hand to stop Madelaine’s flow of words. Madelaine could clearly see her friend’s inner turmoil even before Evelyn looked at her with sad eyes.
“I can’t bear children,” she whispered, lowering her head as if she were ashamed.
Madelaine gasped in shock. “Caleb and I have tried to conceive since we got married eight years ago, but it just hasn’t happened for us.
Truthfully, I think I am barren. I think I won’t be able to give him children of his own. ” Her voice broke.
Madelaine turned toward her and pulled her into a tight hug—doughy hands and all.
“Please forgive me, Evelyn! I should have never asked. I feel horrible that I made you feel this way.”
“It’s not your fault. I always wanted children, and we dreamed of having a whole lot of them. Apparently, God has other plans for us,” Evelyn said softly.
Both women held each other for several heartbeats, sharing a silent moment. Infertility wasn’t something women liked to talk about. It was a shameful topic for any woman who was unable to continue their family’s lineage.
It was most unfortunate that in this very moment, a certain handsome face decided to show up in her thoughts, just as she’d decided not to think about him anymore.
Luke.
Madelaine couldn’t help the tiny flutter inside her stomach.
On paper, he appeared to be everything a woman could want.
He was strong, capable, and reliable, not to mention handsome, but Madelaine didn’t want to feel any of those things right now.
Especially in this moment, much less after everything that happened just yesterday.
Granted, Luke had been very kind to them, bringing them to his house and allowing them to stay.
He was probably Madelaine’s best bet in helping her with her problems. But she was also a little scared of him.
As the town’s sheriff, he was a figure of authority, and Madelaine was all too aware of the lies she’d been telling him and everybody else about her apparent memory loss.
“These two are so very precious,” Evelyn said then with a warm smile on her face, as she looked at Belle and Simon. All the sadness was gone from her eyes, although Madelaine still felt a little guilty.
“They truly are. They really seem happy here. This house is so huge, they’d never have to leave and still never get bored,” Madelaine said, glad to change the subject.
“Yes. That’s true,” Evelyn confirmed as she fried up some bacon slices.
“Luke built this one, after the loss of his family. Maybe he’d hoped to have a new one sometime in the future. When he’s healed,” she said. When she saw Madelaine's surprised expression, she added, “He had a wife, Isabelle, and two small children. John and Elise.”
Madelaine gasped in shock, hiding her open mouth behind her hand. “Had?” she asked. “What happened to them?”
Evelyn averted her eyes, and Madelaine saw her blinking away tears.
Finally, Evelyn turned around and looked directly at her.
“They were murdered on the ranch, while Luke was at work in town. The men who did it burned the old house down. Luke has been trying to solve their murders for years now. That’s why he’s always gone. ”
Madelaine felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped all over her.
Slowly realizing the horror of what Luke must have been through, his outburst from last night made sense to her, now.
Luke was not an irrational man, after all, and although she didn’t like the fact that he was denying God, instead of finding solace in Him, she understood.
Sadly, all too well. It was heartbreaking.
“Does he have any idea who’s responsible?” she asked tentatively.
Evelyn shook her head and shrugged at the same time. “We don’t know. Apparently, a gang of horse thieves has been terrorizing the region for years, and Luke thinks that they might have been the culprits. In fact, he is almost certain of it. All the horses in the barn were gone.”
Madelaine struggled to process the news, especially the part about the gang of horse thieves, which left a bitter taste in her mouth. She’d long suspected Phineas of being involved with horse theft, despite not having any real proof of it, but Evelyn kept talking.
“This happened five years ago on Christmas Eve. You might have heard about it. It was in all the newspapers.”
“I do remember the talk in town about the tragedy, but I didn’t know the details,” she said truthfully.
“It broke Luke. He tries to stay strong on the outside, but something inside of him died with them that day. I do believe that’s the reason he’s changed so much. He is trying everything to find the men who did this to him.”
Then her eyes shot up to Madelaine. “You remember this?” she asked.
Not thinking straight, Madelaine nodded before she could stop herself. “Yes. It was all over the newspapers, and…” She didn’t finish the sentence when she realized what she had just done.
“What else do you remember?” Evelyn asked, staring at her with a hopeful expression. “Do you remember anything from back home? About your family? Your parents? Doctor McPhearson told me to keep asking questions about your life, because it could jog your memory.”
When Madelaine just stared at her with wide eyes, not answering, Evelyn shrunk into herself. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t pressure you,” she said.
Madelaine closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
This was her friend, and she was lying straight to her face.
Worse, she now knew about Luke’s terrible history, and she had lied to a man who had lost his entire family.
If he found out, Luke would most certainly throw her out of his house immediately.
The betrayal would be too great for a man who was as heartbroken as Luke obviously was.
Madelaine couldn’t bear the thought of doing that to him.
If she lost his support and respect, Madelaine had no idea how she would—or could—proceed with her search for Timothy, and with her plan to get rid of Phineas and his men, to claim her ranch back. She hated the fact that this was purely for her own selfish reasons.
She had gotten herself into a real mess. She felt horrible as a person. She felt horrible as a friend.
And she felt horrible in the eyes of God. She’d lost count of how often she’d silently prayed to Him today, asking for His forgiveness and grace, and she feared that He might no longer be listening.
In this moment, Madelaine had no idea how she would or could ever find a way out of this unscathed. The more time progressed, and the longer the lie lingered, the more her soul was drifting to a darker side she didn’t feel she belonged to, and that scared her to her bones.