Chapter One
Pony Creek Ranch — Nebraska
“Do you see that?” Ellen asked as she stepped through the double doors out onto the porch, shielding her green eyes against the low afternoon sun.
“See what?” Sadie asked without taking her eyes off the ledger. She sat at her father’s old oak desk, going over the numbers for the last quarter. They looked mighty good. She’d once again managed to increase her profit by a significant margin.
“The rider!” Ellen exclaimed as she turned around to her best friend, brushing some loose blonde strands behind her ear. “You’re having a visitor!” she added with a pointed glance when Sadie finally looked up. Seeing the mighty dust cloud following a fast-galloping horse, Sadie raised her eyebrows.
“Who is that? And why is he riding as if he’s being chased?” she asked.
“No idea,” Ellen commented with a shrug. “Should we be worried?” The young women exchanged wide-eyed glances, but then they heard Daniel—the foreman—step out in front of the large ranch house.
“Are you expecting a visitor, Sadie?” he asked.
Looking over to him, Sadie saw that he was carrying his rifle. She smiled. He was always a step ahead.
“No,” was her simple answer, so Daniel cocked his gun.
Being as wealthy as Sadie was, she’d learned from a young age that the perks always came with drawbacks—people wanted her money, her time, and her land. The way this rider raced down the long winding road toward the ranch house, he probably wanted all three of those things.
Two more ranch hands stepped out and positioned themselves on either side of Daniel, their hands securely resting on their revolvers.
Despite the peculiar situation, Ellen leaned closer to Sadie and hooked their arms.
“Doesn’t he look so dapper, the way he’s standing there?” Ellen murmured to Sadie with a wide grin. Sadie rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile.
She knew who Ellen was talking about, because Ellen had been infatuated with Daniel since she’d been five, when she’d watched him successfully break in a small bucking horse as a scrawny nine-year-old with a mop of brown curly hair and mysterious hazel eyes.
At least, that’s what Ellen had told Sadie that day.
Daniel had fallen just as hard for Ellen when she’d come to him afterwards, handing him a single, slightly wilted purple flower.
However, despite their obvious love for each other, they still hadn’t tied the knot, which Sadie couldn’t understand at all. After all these years, they hadn’t even admitted their feelings to each other. It was utterly peculiar, but Sadie didn’t want to get involved. That was between them.
She looked back at the rider.
Her shoulders sank when she finally recognized the man. It filled her with dread. She hadn’t seen her uncle in half a decade. Walter Nielsen wasn’t a very nice man, and she mostly remembered that she really didn’t like him all that much. What did he want all of a sudden?
“No need to worry, Dan!” she called out to her foreman and the two ranch hands.
“It’s just my uncle.” The ranch hands both nodded and left, though Daniel stayed a little longer.
He knew all about their family history, particularly about all the trouble with Walter, and he’d openly told Sadie that he didn’t like him.
“I’ll stay close by,” he called back to her.
“Call me if you need me.” With that, he turned and walked away, though not very far.
Sadie was so very grateful. She, Ellen, and Daniel had grown up together and since Sadie’s parents’ untimely death three years ago, these two had become her family.
Both were like the siblings she’d never had.
Walter pulled so hard on the reins to get his horse to stop, it reared up right in front of the porch where Sadie and Ellen were standing and released a distressed squeal.
The poor animal foamed at the mouth and was clearly worn out, yet her uncle didn’t even care to lead it to the large water trough a couple of feet away.
Instead, he dismounted, jerked the heavily breathing horse along by the reins, and tied it closer to the steps leading up the porch. Sadie ground her teeth.
One thing that wouldn’t be tolerated around here was animal abuse, and she knew that Daniel, who was watching the whole thing, was just waiting to tend to the horse as soon as Walter left it.
“Niece!” Walter called out to Sadie as he raced up the stairs in his cream-colored suit.
After that hellish ride, it looked a little dusty.
He pulled off his hat and patted himself to get the dirt off.
“I need to have a word with you!” he said with a stern voice.
No hello. No how are you? Just the demanding tone he talked to her with. That man had no manners.
Sadie watched as he combed his long fingers through his oily black hair before he put his hat back on. He still looked unhealthily gaunt, exactly as she remembered.
“Nice to see you, too,” she replied with a single raised eyebrow. “It’s been a while. What brings you here?”
“Do you really need to ask?” he scoffed at her as he stepped closer.
“Whatever could be the reason for me coming to this wretched place, hm?” He towered over Sadie and Ellen, who was still holding onto her arm, and stared at his niece with his beady black-looking eyes.
“Why did I need to find out about Ned’s death through strangers?
You don’t think it’s rude not to share your parents’ deaths with me? ” He was yelling now.
Sadie thought about her parents every single day, but being so brutally reminded of the cruelest time of her life felt like a slap in the face.
Having to think about her parents’ fatal accident was still so painful it took her breath away.
She blinked rapidly to get rid of the sudden moisture in her eyes. Ellen gently squeezed her arm.
Sadie was also shocked at his accusation about not contacting him. She clearly remembered sending him a telegram informing him of his brother’s accident and subsequent death.
“I notified you,” she replied calmly after she’d steadied her composure. “You must have not gotten my telegram. I sent it to your last known address.”
He scoffed again and shook his head.
“Don’t lie!” he shouted. “You clearly did not, or I would have learned about it sooner!” he spoke to her in a derogatory manner, looking down his long nose at her.
The audacity of that man! At twenty-five years old, Sadie was clearly no longer a child and wouldn’t be spoken to like this. Instead of answering, she just raised her chin and looked him square in the eyes. His unjust insults didn’t deserve a reply.
“Either way, doesn’t matter now, niece,” he continued dismissively as he straightened to his full height.
He was at least a foot taller than Sadie and had no problem with staring at everything right over her head.
“I’m here now, so things will change around here once I get my bearings.
Where is your father’s safe? I need to see all the books and ledgers so I can start taking care of things.
From what I can see, this place is falling apart. You clearly need my help.”
Ellen and Sadie exchanged another look.
“What are you talking about?” Sadie exclaimed.
She was almost amused. The ranch house had been painted just last year and everything looked pristine.
“Everything is very well taken care of and nothing is ‘falling apart’!” she replied matter-of-factly.
Not to mention that Sadie herself had increased business revenue by well over fifty percent since she’d fully taken over her father’s ranch.
Her father, Ned Nielsen, had built everything from scratch and worked his way up to become one of the most successful and recognized horse breeders, covering a large region in the western territories.
He’d taught Sadie from the young age of seven every single detail of how to run the ranch, so she’d been well prepared on the business side of things.
“Hm,” was all he said as he tapped his nose with his finger.
“We’ll see about that. And once we are married, there won’t be any more of this galivanting around, either.
” He twirled his finger around in a circle to include her and Ellen.
Both women looked at each other, perturbed. The man spoke in riddles.
“Once we are married? Whatever are you talking about?” Sadie asked again.
Her urge to laugh at his ridiculous statements was overwhelming, but in the back of her head an unknown fear crept up her spine.
She was an adult, so she couldn’t be forced into that kind of thing, could she?
If this was true, then what could she do to stop it?
There was no way that she would ever degrade herself to that level. He was her uncle, for crying out loud. That was not only wrong, it was disgusting.
Sadie shook her head. She’d had enough. He needed to be stopped.
“I’m sorry to inform you, but I’m already married,” she blurted out before she could stop herself. Spewing lies wasn’t something she usually did, but she was desperate to stop her uncle from spinning his insane story any further.
Ellen kept a straight face, but the fingernails digging into Sadie’s arm gave away her shock. It mirrored Sadie’s own.
Walter paused and stared at Sadie with open curiosity. His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as he leaned down, way too close to her face. His disgusting breath stank of alcohol and something rotten and it hit her so bad, she had to take a step back.
“I don’t believe you,” he replied through gritted teeth. “When was your wedding day? What’s his name?” Sadie’s cheeks burned. What now? Ellen’s hands grabbed her arm tighter, encouraging her to keep going.
“You don’t know him,” Sadie lied with a shrug, trying to appear nonchalant. “He’s not from around here.”
“And where is this mysterious husband of yours right now?” Walter demanded to know, dramatically looking around. “I would love to have a word with him.”