Chapter Twenty-Seven
Maggie hurried through the front door ahead of Lydia, carrying a crooked wreath made from dried leaves and twigs, while Noah followed with a small wooden boat tucked carefully beneath one arm.
Their voices filled the parlor at once, breaking the silence Amy had endured since Caleb rode for Copper Bend.
“We made these at Lydia’s house,” Maggie announced as she crossed the room and lifted the wreath toward Amy.
Several leaves fell into Amy’s lap, though Maggie appeared too proud of her work to notice them.
“Noah said mine looked like a bird’s nest, so I told him birds know more about houses than he does. ”
Amy turned the wreath over in her hands, taking in the strips of ribbon and the twigs and blooms tied together with uneven knots. “Our front door shall be honored to have it.”
Maggie smiled widely and began explaining where each leaf had come from, while Noah waited beside the sofa with the patience of a boy who wanted praise but refused to ask for it.
Amy held out her hand for the boat. “May I see yours?” He passed it over with care. The bottom had been cut from a narrow piece of wood, and a scrap of cloth served as the sail.
“Mr. Whitcomb helped with the knifework,” Noah said. “He thinks it’ll float.”
“It looks strong enough to cross a whole pond.”
“We were going to try it in the creek tomorrow.”
The mention of the creek sent unease through Amy, though she kept her expression steady. Noah didn’t know what had happened there, and she saw no reason to let the poisoned water ruin the pleasure he had carried home right now.
“We’ll ask Caleb where the safest place would be,” she said.
Lydia removed her gloves and gave Amy a searching look before carrying a basket toward the table. “A wash basin may serve well enough. Noah believes risk improves an experiment, which sounds like the sort of idea men develop because women are forced to clean up after them.”
Noah frowned. “It’s only water.”
“That has been said before many household disasters.”
Amy smiled, though her attention drifted toward the window. The yard remained empty beneath the fading light. Caleb had been gone much longer than she’d expected.
Lydia noticed where she was looking. “Ranch work has never shown much respect for supper. Whatever kept him, I’m sure he’ll be home soon.”
“He should’ve returned by now.”
Lydia’s expression softened when she heard the worry Amy couldn’t quite keep from her voice. “Then give him a little longer before you decide something terrible has happened.”
Amy appreciated the reassurance, even though Lydia couldn’t know what had delayed him any more than she did.
Maggie climbed onto the sofa beside Amy and began describing the cakes Lydia had served after their crafts. Noah corrected every detail, while Lydia gathered the fallen leaves and shook her head as Maggie insisted she had eaten enough cake for three people. All the noise eased some of Amy’s worry.
During her first days at the ranch, the house had seemed filled with grief and suspicion.
Now Maggie leaned against her without fear, Noah trusted her with the boat he had built, and Lydia moved through the parlor with the ease of family.
The ranch had become Amy’s home even before she’d understood how deeply she had begun to love it.
Hoofbeats sounded in the yard.
Maggie slid from the sofa, and Noah rose with his boat clutched in his hands. Lydia moved toward the window and pulled back the curtain. “Caleb’s home.”
Relief flooded Amy, though it weakened as the front door opened. Caleb stepped inside with strain carved into his face. The control he usually carried had clearly begun to fray, leaving him grim enough that Maggie stopped short before reaching him.
His attention went straight to Amy. His gaze moved over her face and injured ankle, as though he needed to assure himself that she really hadn’t moved after he’d left.
Maggie caught his hand, her voice bright, but slightly cautious. “We made crafts! Mine is hanging on the door because it belongs to the house, and Noah made a boat that might sink.”
“It won’t sink,” Noah huffed.
Caleb glanced toward the wreath, though his thoughts seemed far from the parlor. He rested one hand on Maggie’s hair and managed a tired smile. “It brightens up the place.”
Noah watched him for a moment, his earlier excitement fading as he took in the dust on Caleb’s clothes and the exhaustion in his face. “Did something happen?”
Caleb’s gaze briefly found Amy’s before he looked back at the boy. “It’s been a long day. That’s all you need to worry about tonight.”
Noah didn’t look entirely convinced, but he nodded and hugged his boat to his chest. Amy suspected he recognized Caleb’s attempt to protect him from something while still having no idea what that something was.
“You two should get ready for bed,” Caleb told them.
Maggie frowned. “We haven’t had supper yet.”
Lydia took her hand. “You ate enough cake at my house to satisfy a ranch crew, though I’m sure I can find bread and milk for anyone who believes starvation is close at hand.”
Maggie considered the offer. “Can we eat upstairs?”
Amy nodded. “Noah can help you wash while Lydia prepares a tray.”
Noah took Maggie’s hand and led her toward the staircase, though he looked back at Caleb curiously before they disappeared past the landing.
Lydia waited until their footsteps faded. “Do you need me to stay?”
Caleb removed his hat and placed it on the table. “You’ve already done enough.”
“That wasn’t what I asked. I shall stay a while.”
Gratitude crossed his face, but he looked too exhausted to say as much.
“I’ll take their supper upstairs,” Lydia said, sparing him from answering. “Call me if you need me.” She went to the kitchen to put together the tray, leaving Amy and Caleb alone in the parlor.
He lowered himself into a chair near the fireplace and leaned forward with his forearms across his thighs. The posture reminded Amy of the way he had sat after losing the cattle, though the defeat in him had grown heavier.
She pushed herself upright, preparing herself to try and go to him.
Caleb noticed at once. “You should stay off that ankle.”
“I’ve stayed off it all day.”
“You’ll make it worse.”
“Then help me.” The request drew him across the room. Before he could do anything, though, Amy grabbed hold of his sleeve to keep him close. “What did Sheriff Boone say?”
Caleb sat beside her on the sofa, leaving more space between them than she wanted. “Doctor Harris will give him a statement, and Boone will send a deputy to collect the sack. It will prove somebody poisoned the water.”
“But it doesn’t prove who did it.”
His jaw clenched. “A man named Hollis Creed stopped me on the road.”
Amy’s frowned, running through the names of the people she’d heard of from town. “Who is that?”
“He works for a man called Calvin Dray. He’s a rich cattle broker who buys ranches after their owners have been driven close to ruin.” Caleb stared toward the fireplace. “Dray wants this land because of the creek rights and the grazing passage.”
“What did Creed tell you?”
“He warned me Dray would prefer to buy the ranch before worse accidents happened.”
Fear settled beneath Amy’s ribs. She understood the unspoken threat clearly. “Did you tell the sheriff?”
“I told him everything, but Boone needs proof connecting Dray to the attacks. Creed knows how far he can go without giving the law enough to hold him.”
“Russ may know ranchers who’ll speak against them.”
“That’s what I told Boone, though Dray has spent years frightening men into silence.” Caleb rose and crossed toward the fireplace. “Boone wants statements and patience while Dray tries to figure out how much damage we can survive.”
Amy watched his hand settle against the mantel. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He remained quiet until Lydia passed through the parlor carrying bread and milk.
She paused when she saw his face, then continued upstairs without offering another joke.
Once they were alone again, Caleb looked toward Amy.
“We can’t afford many more losses,” he said lowly.
“The cattle sale gave us enough money to repair the ranch, but sick stock will swallow most of it. Dray knows how far he needs to push.”
“This ranch isn’t for sale.”
“I agree…but that decision may be taken from us.”
The bitterness in his voice drove Amy to her feet. She still felt a jolt of pain in her ankle, though she continued moving until she stood next to him. “What happened to the man who believed hard work could solve anything?” she asked.
“He learned another man’s money can destroy years of work faster than he can rebuild it.”
“You haven’t lost yet.”
Caleb turned toward her, and the strain in his eyes made him look older. “Jonah trusted me to save this place. I gave him my word before he died, even though I still couldn’t forgive him, and I’ve spent every day since wondering whether he chose the wrong man.”
“He didn’t.”
“Creed was on our property before I realized it. Cattle are dying because I didn’t understand what was happening soon enough, and now he knows exactly where my family lives.”
Amy rested her hand against his arm. “None of that is your fault.”
“I stayed to protect them.” Caleb’s voice roughened as the control he had carried into the house began to break.
“Noah and Maggie have already lost their parents, and I may lose the home Jonah meant to leave them. I promised him I’d keep them safe, yet every choice I make seems to bring danger closer. ”
“And danger would have gotten here faster if you hadn’t stayed.”
He shook his head with irritation. “That won’t matter if Dray takes the ranch.”
“It matters to the children.”
Caleb shook his head again and looked away. “They need more than a man who keeps failing them.”
Amy moved closer, her hand tightening around his arm. “Then stop measuring everything you’ve done for them against what Dray has managed to destroy. You didn’t poison that creek, Caleb, and losing cattle doesn’t erase everything you’ve kept standing since you came home.”
His expression shifted, though the guilt still remained stronger than the hope. “I brought you into this too,” he murmured heavily. “Whatever you expected when you came here, it wasn’t to have someone threatening your home because you married me.”
“I stayed,” Amy reminded him. “I chose this home even after I understood what it required.”
“You didn’t know it would become dangerous.”
“I knew well that the West had its risks.”
Frustration flashed across Caleb’s face. “Hollis threatened worse accidents to come. I don’t know what he’ll do next, and I can’t keep all of you safe if Dray can reach the ranch whenever he chooses.”
“You can’t protect us by carrying every decision alone, either.”
“I’m trying to keep you from being hurt.”
“You’re pushing me away whenever you’re frightened.”
Caleb fell silent. Amy lifted her hand to his cheek, guiding his face toward hers. The pain in his eyes remained unguarded, stripped of the usual wit and stubborn certainty he relied on.
“This is our home,” she reminded him. “Noah and Maggie are our family, and whatever threatens this ranch is the responsibility of both of us. You don’t have to stand between me and every difficult thing.”
“I don’t know how to protect you any other way.”
“Trust me enough to stand beside you.”
Caleb closed his eyes, and he leaned his face into her palm before he seemed aware of the surrender. That small movement broke Amy’s heart a little.
“I spent years believing anyone who mattered would become another way to wound me,” he said softly. “Then you came here and made this house feel alive even before I understood how much I needed you.”
Amy’s throat ached. “You need me?”
Caleb’s eyes opened. Fear remained there, though affection had risen through it with a conviction he could no longer conceal. “More than I know how to explain.”
Amy’s breath caught in her throat. Caleb had spent so long holding some part of himself beyond her reach that hearing him admit he needed her left her unable to respond at first. She slid her hand from his cheek to the back of his neck, unwilling to let him retreat from what he had finally allowed her to see.
Amy stepped closer, until her skirts brushed his boots.
“Then let me help you fight for this place.”
Caleb covered her hand with his. “If anything happened to you—”
“We’ll be careful, and we’ll face it together.”
Caleb studied her face, searching for any hesitation. When he found none, his gaze lowered toward her mouth before returning to her eyes.
Amy’s pulse quickened as she understood what he wanted, and warmth spread through her when he remained still, leaving the choice with her.
After everything that had almost passed between them at the festival, she felt none of the uncertainty that had followed her home that night.
She wanted him to kiss her, and that realization brought a nervous flutter to her stomach, even as she leaned in closer.
Her fingers tightened gently on the back of his neck before she closed the last inches between them.
Caleb kissed her gently at first, as if he feared even this might ask too much, but that restraint faded when her fingers curled into his coat. His arm settled around her waist, holding her securely as the kiss deepened.
Amy felt the fear that had filled the parlor being carried away.
She had once imagined romance through polished declarations and carefully chosen settings, yet Caleb offered it in the honest way he held her, in every guarded feeling he finally allowed to reach her.
His kiss carried the relief of a man who had finally stopped fighting alone.