Chapter Twelve
“There you go.” Mrs. Mason handed him a steaming mug. “Cocoa. That will get you warm.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Mason.” Travis managed a smile as he shivered. “That’s very kind.”
Mrs. Mason gave him a smile in return before handing the other mug to Anna. Then she stoked the fire, making sparks fly as the logs shifted.
“I’ll go and heat up some soup,” she said. “You two need some nourishment after that.”
“There’s no need…” Anna began, but the older woman cut her off.
“There is plenty of need, my dear! You need to warm up, and just sitting in front of the fire isn’t enough. Now all you need to do is wait here and try to dry off.” She touched Anna’s wet head. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a while before you are dry.”
Anna wrinkled her nose, and Travis hid his smile behind his mug as he took a sip.
It felt like they were children being fussed over by their mother after being caught in a storm.
At least they were warm now, except for their soaked clothes sticking to them.
Mrs. Mason had provided them with blankets and hot drinks and had stoked the fire.
Travis was beginning to feel the warmth seep into his bones, much to his relief.
He thought he wasn’t going to get warm again.
“Now you two stay here and don’t move,” Mrs. Mason ordered, moving toward the door. “I’ll bring you some food, and then you two are going to get to bed. They should be warm and prepared by the time you’ve finished eating.”
“You don’t need to go to all this trouble, Mrs. Mason,” Anna told her.
Mrs. Mason sighed and gave Anna an affectionate smile.
“For you, my dear, I’m glad to do it.”
And with that, she left the room. Travis raised his eyebrows.
“She’s very… forceful, isn’t she?”
“You don’t argue with Mrs. Mason when she’s made up her mind,” Anna remarked, cupping her hands around her own mug. “And, for now, I don’t care. I feel better knowing someone’s taking care of me.”
“Are you sure you don’t want someone to send for the doctor? You did go down pretty hard, and I’m sure I saw your head bounce off the ground.”
Travis didn’t want to think about how scared he was when he saw Anna fall in the mud. It had tightened in his stomach, and he had felt panic building. He didn’t care to go through that again. He felt such relief when Anna was up and moving around as if she hadn’t almost been crushed by her horse.
Anna shook her head, sipping her drink as she stretched her stockinged feet out from under the blanket toward the roaring fire.
“I’ll be fine. I’m not bleeding, just sore. I’ll just get some sleep, and I’ll be fine.”
“What if you have a head injury?” Travis asked. “And you were very lucky not to have your leg crushed by your horse.”
Anna shrugged.
“I got out of it with some bumps and bruises, but that’s a part of being a rancher. You have falls, but you have to get up again. I presume that’s what happens when you’re a lumberjack as well. You have to keep going even after falling down.”
“But as a lumberjack, you also have the added danger of dropping an axe or saw blade and hope that you don’t land on top of it in the process.”
“Is that common?”
“Which part?”
“Falling on an axe or saw blade?”
Travis shuddered, recalling the last time it had happened. He often had nightmares about that moment, and it always left him in a cold sweat.
“A friend of mine fell from twenty feet, dropping his axe in the process. It almost went through him when he landed on it. Needless to say, he didn’t survive.”
Her eyes widened, her mouth dropping open.
“What? That actually happened?”
“I’m afraid so. You take your life into your own hands when you’re cutting down trees, especially if you’re at a certain height. I’ve heard of men being crushed by the falling trees as well.”
Anna was still staring at him in horror. Travis cleared his throat.
“It’s a rare thing, though. As long as you know what you’re doing, you won’t get hurt. But you need to know your limit so you don’t get hurt.”
“I do know what my limit is. I’ve been hurt worse than that.” She rolled up her sleeve and showed a scar along the inside of her arm. “I fell off my horse when I was ten and ripped myself up on barbed wire. I had to have fifty stitches in my arm.”
Travis winced.
“I was lucky. Another inch over, and I would’ve bled out right there.” Anna tucked her arm back into the blanket, holding her mug with two hands again. “I’ve not broken my leg since I was four. Again, falling off a horse.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be on a horse if you keep falling off it.”
“It’s an occupational hazard when you’re a rancher. It would be extremely difficult to get around without riding.”
“You could just walk,” Travis suggested.
That made her laugh.
“Not when there is large acreage. You don’t want to take three days going from one side to the other, depending on how large the ranch is. But it’s part of the lifestyle. Even if you’re an accomplished rider, you’re going to get into some accidents.”
Travis mulled that over. He could ride, and he knew the dangers that came with it. Anna wasn’t going to change her ways, so he had to accept that.
She was tough, he could admit that. And Travis saw how she handled the herd despite the fall. She didn’t let it bother her, and the cattle eventually listened to her. She didn’t need to say anything, and they followed her lead.
He hoped he could be like that one day.
He sat forward in his chair to get closer to the fire.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked again. “I know I keep asking, but…”
“Travis, I’m perfectly fine.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m going to be bruised tomorrow, and very sore, but it’s nothing I haven’t had before.”
“You make it sound like it’s a regular thing to get hurt.”
“If you don’t get hurt being a rancher, then you’re clearly doing it wrong. That’s what Pa used to say.”
A slight sadness washed over her face, but then it was gone very quickly. Travis knew she missed her father. They hadn’t talked much about him, just in passing, but it was clear Anna adored the man who raised her. Travis had a feeling that his father-in-law would’ve been proud of his daughter.
“Anyway,” Anna said, clearing her throat as she shifted awkwardly in her chair. “Thank you, Travis.”
“For what?”
“For helping me when you did. I thought I could handle it myself and… well, evidently, I couldn’t. I actually needed help.” She shook her head. “I don’t like needing help. It makes me feel like I can’t do anything.”
“You don’t need to feel like that,” Travis said gently. “It’s perfectly normal to want to do things independently. And perfectly normal to need help from time to time.”
“So, I shouldn’t be embarrassed about it?”
He smiled. “From what I’ve seen in the short time I’ve been here, you’ve been handling things very well. Better than I thought when you said you lived on a ranch.”
She arched an eyebrow at him in bemusement.
“Did you think that I wasn’t capable, then?”
“Not like that. I just thought you were… exaggerating, if that makes sense.” He shifted in his chair.
“Sorry, but that was my first impression. However, I see it differently now. You’re very strong, and you know what is needed.
There’s a confidence about you that shows just how much this place means to you. ”
She nodded.
“That’s exactly it. This place is my home. I was born here, and I would like to die here. That’s not going to be taken away from me.”
“Even the issue of a male relative inheriting the ranch?”
“Not even that.”
Travis smiled. Anna knew exactly what she wanted, and she wasn’t about to let it get away from her. She was steadfast in her choices. And he could see why she would want to keep the ranch. Seeing her working on it told Travis everything he needed to know about his wife.
“You don’t need to be ashamed about asking for help when it comes to me,” he said, watching Anna’s face as she looked up at him. “I’m your husband now. I know it’s only on paper and it doesn’t mean much, but that means I’m an equal partner to you.”
Anna frowned, her expression now suspicious.
“Are you saying you want to run the ranch?”
“Not like that,” Travis reiterated quickly. “Just know that you can look to me for help. If you need anything, just ask. I might not be as experienced as everyone else, but I’ll be right there to get what you need. I’d do the same if the roles were reversed.”
“Would you?”
“Of course. My parents told me when I was growing up that marriage is about two people looking after each other. If one person is doing all the work, then it’s not a marriage, it’s slavery.
” He tilted his head to one side as he tried to remember.
“Or something along those lines. I was about five when Mama told me that, so I can’t be exactly sure. ”
Anna was silent for so long that Travis thought she wasn’t going to answer. Then she sat back and sipped her cocoa, staring into the fire as she wriggled her toes toward it.
“I never thought about it like that,” she said finally. “I wasn’t even thinking about marriage. The ranch was the only thing in my life. The thought of finding a husband was daunting to me. I didn’t want to be seen as a meal ticket, someone to take money from and take over when it’s all mine.”
“I’m sure there are plenty of men who wouldn’t think that way.”
Anna shook her head.
“There were plenty in Vernon who made it clear they would take over everything. I even had someone saying that I couldn’t possibly work on a ranch when I should be inside making sure their bellies were full and the like. I told him where to go.”
“What about when your father died? Did you have any offers?”
“No.”
Travis blinked.
“Really?”
“Because nobody knew about it. I made sure nobody was aware of the stipulation Pa put on me.” Anna shuddered.
“I wasn’t about to have everyone harassing me about it when all I wanted was to be left alone.
The only ones who know about this condition are Connor, Edwin, and you. Oh, and Mrs. Mason as well.”
Travis was surprised at that. Although he could see why some men would want to marry Anna if it meant getting ownership of a ranch.
It was thriving, and from what Anna had said, it was doing very well.
They handled their money well, and that would make anyone’s eyes water.
Men would want to get their hands on the ranch itself for the money, pushing Anna aside. Not that she would allow it.
But he couldn’t understand why nobody would want to marry Anna for her alone. She was beautiful, intelligent, and fiery. She had a quick wit, was a hard worker, and she could be soft and kind at the same time. She was, in Travis’s opinion, an ideal wife.
“It’s been more difficult than I care to admit,” Anna said, staring into the flames.
Her hair was out of its braid, and strands were falling across her face.
“Pa was the one who kept everything going. He loved this place and knew what was needed to keep it going. I tried to emulate him as much as I could. Little did I know I’d have to contend with cousin Edwin. ”
“He’s not letting this go, is he?”
Anna looked away.
“He’s taken to the bottle since Pa died. I understand he’s grieving, but since I told him I was married, and he wasn’t going to get the ranch anymore, it’s gotten worse. I feel like it’s my fault that he’s turned into a drunk.”
“No, it’s not.” Travis shook his head. “He’s the one responsible for putting drink into his body.
He can grieve as he wants, but I think this was meant to be a celebration that went to his head.
He wanted the ranch for himself and didn’t think you’d get a husband within a month.
Now that he’s lost the ranch, he’s fuming. ”
Anna was silent, as if taking it all in. Travis could see the sadness washing over her, sipping at her cocoa as she tried to mull over what he said.
“I still feel responsible.” She stared into the distance, not really seeming to see anything. “Pa wanted me to look after him because he couldn’t cope on his own, but I feel like I’m minding him as if he’s a child.”
“Why don’t you dismiss him? He’s always drunk, and he’s belligerent.”
“I can’t. It says in the will that if I manage to take over the ranch, Edwin would have a job for life, and the cottage as his own. I couldn’t get rid of him if I tried.”
Travis frowned. He had heard of things like that in wills, but Anna’s father had to know his nephew was not right for the job as a ranch hand.
“Maybe you can get around it?” he suggested. “Perhaps find a way to say that he needs to be doing something else that isn’t working on this place. He’s going to get himself, or others, into serious trouble if he doesn’t get himself together.”
“I’ve been tempted to do it,” Anna admitted. “I just don’t know how. And Edwin is going to make things very difficult if I try to force him out.”
“Let him. He can throw a temper tantrum. You need to focus on what’s important.”
They stared at each other, and Travis was sure he heard a crackling in the air. It might’ve come from the fireplace, but he had a feeling it was from between him and Anna. Especially when she looked at him with those beautiful eyes.
The moment was broken when there was a clinking of china, and Mrs. Mason entered, carrying a tray with two steaming bowls, along with slices of bread piled on a plate.
“There you two go,” she said, placing the tray on the coffee table between them. “Get that soup into you both. And the water’s hot now, Anna. You can have a bath once you’ve eaten, if you wish.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Mason.” Anna glanced at Travis. “Unless you want a bath first.”
He smiled at her.
“Ladies first. I don’t mind waiting.”
She blinked at him, and then blushed rosily as she shifted forward to grab a bowl and spoon. Mrs. Mason smirked and left the room. Travis wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw the cook hiding a smile before she disappeared from sight.