Chapter 2
Josh gripped the reins, the leather taut against his calloused palms as he thought about the way Catherine’s face had crumpled at his mother’s words.
The color that had been painted across her cheeks in broad brush strokes had vanished the moment she realized Thomas was gone.
The truth still cut like a blade, even a week later.
His best friend, the man he had grown up with, laughed with, and built dreams with, was gone.
It had happened in a heartbeat. They never should have gone out.
They should have heeded the dark storm clouds, but neither of them expected such a violent storm, and the slick patches of mud were impossible to see.
Josh squeezed his eyes shut against the memory of that awful night.
But the nightmare was not over. Now Catherine Morgan was here in Eagle Ridge, nearly a widow if she had arrived a fortnight sooner.
He glanced to his right and saw that the woman his best friend had intended to marry was still pale and trembling, even though she attempted to mask it.
Josh had to assume her whole world had tilted on its head, and facing such uncertainty had to be nothing short of terrifying.
He had seen that terror flash in her hazel-brown eyes.
His gut roiled. She was not the sturdy frontier bride Thomas had described.
He had described someone full of grit and ready for ranch life, but Catherine Morgan was not that.
Truth be told, Josh did not know what Catherine was.
As far as he could tell, she was a mystery that had washed up on his doorstep, and out on the frontier, mysteries often led to trouble.
Josh tried to think of something to say that would get her talking.
He remembered hefting her travel bag into the wagon and noting how meager the load was.
Everything she owned had fit into that leather bag.
He cleared his throat, hoping he did not sound as awkward as he felt.
“I noticed you travel light, Miss Morgan.”
“Please call me Catherine,” she corrected, smoothing the fabric of her skirt over her knees. “I suppose… I didn’t need much,” she answered with a shrug that suggested she did not want to further the conversation. Josh nodded stiffly.
Thankfully, his mother filled the growing silence. “Long journey from Chicago, I reckon. I can’t imagine how long you were cooped up inside that train for. I would have lost my mind halfway to Tuesday,” she said, her tone warm but probing. No doubt, she was curious about Catherine, too.
Catherine nodded, her hands folding tightly in her lap, her gaze down. “Yes, ma’am. The train was crowded with lots of people heading west, but I managed well enough, I suppose. I didn’t mind traveling if it meant I could be with…” She trailed off as if saying Thomas’s name pained her.
“Must have been quite the change, leaving the city behind,” Josh said, flicking the reins to guide the horses as they turned left onto a well-traveled dirt road leading into the countryside.
He glanced at her, noting the way her eyes scanned the fading town with a haunted expression, as if she were afraid something or someone might leap out at her.
“What brought you to answer Thomas’s ad?
” Maybe he was digging too quickly, but something in his gut didn’t feel right. What was this woman’s story?
Her lips parted, then closed, her gaze dropping to her hands. “I wanted a fresh start,” she answered carefully. “I wanted the chance to build something new with someone, and Thomas promised me that.”
Irene tilted her head. “And you had no family back east to keep you there? Surely there are bachelors in Chicago. Maybe not as charming or as rugged as our boys, but in a pinch, I think they would do just fine.” The older woman winked, trying to add levity to her pointed question, but it still seemed to hit hard.
Catherine’s fingers twitched, yet her voice was surprisingly steady. “No, ma’am. I was on my own.”
Josh frowned as her vague answers stirred unease in his already coiled stomach.
She was hiding something, that much was clear, but the exhaustion on her face and the wariness in her posture made him hold his tongue.
Prying further would accomplish nothing.
Maybe what he needed was to win her good graces.
After all, he wouldn’t be telling his secrets to total strangers, either, especially if it felt like an interrogation.
“I saw you admiring our church,” he said. “Thomas loved that church. He said he could not wait to bring you there and show you off to the congregation.”
Catherine’s eyes glistened as she looked up and met his gaze.
Her cheeks colored as she blinked back tears that threatened to spill.
Josh felt his chest tighten at the sight of her emotions welling to the surface.
Perhaps she was hiding something, but there was no denying the affection she held in her heart for Josh’s best friend, even though she had never met the man.
“He wrote about it,” she whispered, her voice choked with emotion she was trying, but failing, to rein in.
“Said the pastor’s sermons were like poetry. ”
“Pastor Cartwright’s got a way with words, that’s for certain,” Irene agreed. “You’ll meet him soon enough. He’s been a comfort to us since Thomas’s passing and is no stranger to our home.”
The prairie opened before them, cattle grazing in the distance, their lowing a soft hum beneath the wind.
Soon, the McKenna ranch house came into view, constructed of sturdy wood and outfitted with a wide porch.
It was a home built with his father’s hands, the dream of housing generations of McKenna children.
Josh’s chest ached as memories of Thomas raced through his mind.
He remembered countless boyhood pranks and late-night talks in which he had helped pull Thomas through the dark days following Mary’s death.
Thomas truly was like the brother he had never had.
“Josh, you ought to tell Catherine about the time Thomas tried to rope a calf and ended up flat on his back,” Irene prompted with a mischievous spark.
Despite the ache still throbbing in his chest, Josh chuckled, a smile lingering on his lips as the moment replayed in his mind. “Poor fool thought he was a born cowboy. I never let him live it down. Gave him grief until…” He trailed off, frowning at what he had been about to say.
Understanding washed over Catherine’s face.
A moment later, her lips curved into a small, tentative smile, as if she were trying to lighten the mood.
“He did not mention that particular incident in his letters,” she said, her voice softened by amusement.
“He made the ranching lifestyle sound so… heroic.”
“Oh, it’s heroic, all right,” Josh said, grinning. “It’s heroic when you’re wrestling a steer in a blizzard or fixing a fence in a downpour.”
Her laugh was soft, almost startled, as if she had not expected to find humor on some prairie road.
Josh’s heart stirred, guilt nipping at its edges.
Mary’s face flashed in his mind, haunting him with that radiant smile that had wrapped him around her pinky.
He could nearly feel her gentle touch, the ripple of goosebumps along his skin a testament to the ghost of her presence.
Oh, how he missed her. The emptiness left by her death was not just a hollowness in his chest but one that went deeper, as if his soul had gone up to heaven the second she graced God’s kingdom.
He had promised her he would find happiness again.
He had vowed that his life would not end with hers.
It had been her dying wish that he move on and continue living.
Still, this pull he felt toward Catherine felt like a betrayal.
How could he ever stop loving a woman who had given him everything?
So he tamped down the confusing swell of emotions, not wanting to decipher what might be lurking beneath the dark waters.
They rode in amicable silence for the remainder of the journey, the afternoon sun warming their skin.
As the wagon pulled up before the ranch house, Josh turned to Catherine, his topaz-blue eyes steady as he spoke.
“Thomas chose you, Catherine. Whatever brought you here, you are under our protection now. That’s a promise. ”
Her gaze met his, searching with the weariness of someone who found it hard to trust others. After a moment, she nodded. “Thank you, Josh,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “And I am… grateful.”
Josh nodded in response before he climbed down, offering his hand. As Catherine took it, he made a silent vow in Thomas’s memory. “I won’t fail you, brother. I’ll see to it that she is taken care of.”