Chapter Four
Hope took a breath as Ethan Blake walked towards her.
He was certainly more handsome than she had dared to hope.
But it was not his broad shoulders, nor the shaggy dark hair beneath his hat that drew her to him.
Instead, it was the warmth in his green eyes that made her feel at ease.
Ever since she had responded to the advertisement, she had dreamed of this moment, and now it was finally here.
“Ethan Blake?” she asked, managing a smile as she extended a shaky hand. “I’m Hope Caldwell-” She paused and frowned at the look on his face. “Did I say something wrong?”
“I’m not Ethan,” he explained, his dark eyebrows furrowing into a scowl. “He couldn’t come. There was a family emergency.”
“Oh,” Hope managed, a sinking feeling settling inside her.
She felt like a cake that collapsed the moment it was removed from the oven.
All her anxious energy drained from her, and she suddenly felt too exhausted to remain standing.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hope said once she realized the man was still staring at her.
“He’s asked me to take you down to his ranch,” the man explained, glancing at a group of laughing women.
She could tell he wasn’t comfortable with all the movement and noise, and she wondered if this was the reason for his surly expression.
“So I’ll still get to meet Ethan today?” she asked.
The man nodded. “My wagon is across the road,” he said abruptly, in a barely audible mutter.
Hope hurried across the busy road to keep up with him, her shorter legs having to take twice the steps he did.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I’ve just realized I didn’t ask your name.”
“Jackson Hale,” he said, holding out a large hand for her to take.
She placed her hand in his and stared up at him, her mouth open slightly as she wondered what he was doing.
He flicked his head at the wagon next to her, and she realized he meant her to climb up.
“Oh, my apologies,” she muttered, her face hot with embarrassment as he helped her into it.
Earlier, when she had thought him Ethan Blake, his green eyes had calmed her, but now his very presence flustered her. It was bad enough having to deal with one strange man, let alone two!
Jackson mounted the wagon next to her and flicked the reins sharply.
“It was a long journey from Kansas,” Hope said stiffly. “I fear I won’t be able to sleep at night without the roar of a train or the clopping of horses now.”
Jackson nodded at her, as if to acknowledge she had spoken, but he didn’t comment.
She looked around to distract herself, noticing how different Virginia City felt from her hometown.
Narrow streets wound between crooked wooden storefronts and freight wagons, the mountain town much quieter and rougher in character than the loud, dust-choked Dodge City.
“Do you also run a ranch?” Hope asked to ease the silence.
“Mm,” Jackson replied. “It’s either ranching or mining out here.”
“I see. And what kinds of animals do you have on your ranch?” Hope asked, grateful for a response.
“All sorts,” Jackson replied shortly as he eased the wagon onto the open road, the town falling away behind them.
Jackson’s distant gaze told her he was barely even listening. He clearly had more important things to worry about, and her continual questions were only annoying him. She didn’t know this man, and apart from giving her a ride to Ethan, he had no obligation to her.
Hope thought he was one of those rare men who was perfectly content with his own company and the silence of nature.
Anything (and anyone) else was clearly unwelcome.
With his strong jawline and muscular frame, she was sure he must have had his fair share of young women who would happily marry him.
When she was standing at the bottom of the staircase in the boardinghouse, Hope had even seen some of the women there practically swoon over Jackson when he’d walked in.
Yet Jackson didn’t seem to return their interest. In fact, he’d barely noticed them at all.
Hope leaned back on the hard wooden bench, secretly relieved that she didn’t have to make any more conversation. She could reserve the last of her energy for meeting Ethan, rather than using it on someone who wasn’t interested in her.
Her mind drifted to Ethan and her stomach twisted with nerves again.
Was he also like his friend Jackson? Was he quiet and reserved, or charming and social?
What was Ethan expecting from the marriage?
Hope sat bolt upright as her mind started to spin.
She thought of how some of the women in the boardinghouse had talked late into the night about things that had made her blush.
Hope closed her eyes and willed the images away.
“You’re missing the view,” Jackson said, his voice so gentle she almost didn’t hear it over the clatter of the wagon.
Hope opened her eyes and instantly smiled.
The view had opened up into a wide valley side of pale grass dotted with patches of yellow and purple wildflowers on one side.
Somewhere close by, an unseen river rushed and roared between a line of cottonwoods.
On the other side, a dark mountain range dusted with lingering snow made her shiver whenever their road wound through its shadow.
The wagon suddenly jolted as one of the wheels hit a rut in the road, and Hope lurched sideways, her hand grasping at Jackson’s forearm to stop herself from falling.
“I’m sorry!” she gasped in embarrassment as she tried to reposition herself on the bench.
“Your hands are cold,” he said. “Didn’t you bring a proper coat?”
“I thought since it was spring, I wouldn’t need one,” Hope muttered, trying to hide the shiver in her frame.
Jackson grunted in response, tossing her a woolen blanket from the back of the wagon.
She opened it up and realized it was Jackson’s coat, feeling her cheeks heat again.
She was annoyed with herself for being so sensitive.
Dealing with rowdy cowboys every day at the boarding house had often exposed her to plenty of teasing, and comments bawdy enough to make an old woman blush, but Hope had believed herself immune.
Was it because Jackson didn’t seem to care in the slightest that he unnerved her?
“Your future husband’s ranch is on the right,” Jackson spoke suddenly, wrenching Hope from her thoughts.
As the wagon rounded the bend, two ranches spread out across the valley below.
The ranch to the right stood on open grassland and was more exposed beneath the mountains, with scattered fences, a lean barn, and thin trails of smoke rising from the modest house.
It was immense compared to the meager home she had grown up in on the edge of Dodge City.
She barely glanced at the ranch on the left.
All of Hope’s fears dissolved as she stared out at the vast valley. Of all the places in the world to start again, she felt certain in her heart that she had chosen the best one.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
It took another thirty minutes to descend into the valley and reach Ethan’s house. Hope hopped off the wagon right away, not waiting for Jackson’s helping hand. She didn’t want to be bright red when she met her fiancé.
“I’ll just go in and let Ethan know you’re here,” Jackson said, disappearing into the house.
Hope waited on the porch, her stomach in knots and her palms sweaty. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself.
“Jackson, you’re back already,” she heard a man say from within the house. “Thank goodness she’s not with you!” he gushed, the relief audible in his voice.
“Ethan-” Jackson attempted to cut him off.
“I can’t marry her, Jackson,” Ethan said. “It would’ve been awkward to tell her that in person.”
Hope gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. It was not that she was trying to listen in on their private conversation, but Ethan was simply speaking so loudly!
“What did you just say?” Jackson asked, his voice clipped.
“It’s Clara,” Ethan continued. “She’s so much worse. Ma and Pa are too old to care for her. They can’t spare me.”
“Spare you?” Jackson repeated. Hope thought he was trying to keep his voice low, but his anger sounded like it was made that difficult. “You summoned Hope here as a wife, Ethan. You can’t just send her back.”
“She’ll have to go back,” Ethan said. “There’s nothing for it. I can’t be married now.”
“She can help you with Clara, Ethan,” Jackson said. “You’re not thinking this through.”
“I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about this,” Ethan snapped.
“I told you not to order a wife!” Jackson reminded him. “You’re not ready for this level of commitment.”
“Like you can talk, Jackson,” Ethan scoffed. “You can barely commit to your ranch dog!”
“Which is exactly why I didn’t order a bride from Kansas!” Jackson blurted loudly.
“Why are you so upset?” Ethan said.
“How could I not be?” Jackson argued. “This woman came here expecting a marriage. You can’t just post her back like a hat that doesn’t fit!”
A hat that didn’t fit. Hope had never been one of those women to think highly of herself, but she also did not think so lowly of herself that she could simply be returned like a defective purchase.
What would the women back at the boardinghouse say?
And if she could find her way back to Dodge City, what would be waiting for her there?
Dread filled her, and it felt as though the ground beneath her feet was falling away.
Hope clasped her hand to her mouth to try and stifle the sobs that raked through her exhausted body and mind. Rising panic, along with the sting of utter rejection, overwhelmed her thoughts and left her feeling more vulnerable than she ever had before.
“Oh, you’ve been thinking on that one for a while, haven’t you?” Ethan grumbled, chuckling coldly. “I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”
“Ethan, you have no idea-” Jackson stopped abruptly.
“What’s that?” Ethan asked.
“She’s here, you fool,” Jackson said flatly. “I tried to warn you.”
“Here!” Ethan exploded.
Hope was sitting on the porch bench and sobbing into her handkerchief when the two men exited the house and stopped in front of her.
“Is she unwell? What did you do to her?” Ethan demanded.
“Me?” Jackson complained.
“Ms. Caldwell,” Ethan said, extending a hand. “I’m Ethan Blake. I’m very sorry that this is how we get to meet.”
Hope tried to stop crying, doing her best to dry her face. She tried to stand up and felt her knees shaking beneath her skirts. She took Ethan’s hand with trembling fingers and shook it.
“I’m sorry for upsetting you, dear Hope,” Ethan said, his large brown eyes warm and friendly.
His hair was golden with a reddish glint, and his smile was amicable and inviting. He radiated genuine warmth, and Hope knew she could’ve loved him easily. Jackson stood like a brooding dark cloud next to Ethan, shaking his head and clenching his jaw every time Ethan spoke.
“You see, Hope, my sister Clara is very ill. It started a week ago, and I’d hoped she would improve, but she had only gotten worse,” Ethan explained gently.
The tears started again. How could she begrudge a man who cared so lovingly for his family some understanding? Her brother had not even been able to give up drink or cards for her, yet here Ethan stood willing to change the entire course of his life to care for his sister and elderly parents.
“Hope,” Ethan soothed, “please don’t cry!”
Before she knew it, she was wailing in a most unladylike fashion, but she couldn’t help it. Hope felt as though she had been presented with a true opportunity at happiness, only to have it cruelly snatched from her before she had ever truly held it.
Once again, she was confronted with a bitter truth that left her cold: she was not blessed with a life where she could trust anyone but herself.
Even a person as kind as Ethan had disappointed her, which made her think she was the real problem.
After all, she had not been strong enough to help her own brother.
She had run from him when he needed her most, so it was no wonder that someone like Ethan wouldn’t want to marry her.
This was her punishment.