Chapter Four
This was not the first impression Jed had imagined for himself.
He’d had plenty of time to think about what to say during his travels northwest. He’d even had advice given to him whenever a friendly group of wagonfolk allowed him to accompany them on their own journey.
The consensus had been to present himself as polite and humble, not necessarily weak in personal will, but he should highlight his capability to adapt to a new routine.
It seemed simple enough, a straightforward approach that would show him in the best possible light.
Then Jed came across Lila.
She couldn’t have been any older than a year, sobbing hysterically in what Jed could only describe as a makeshift tent of pine constructed well off the beaten path.
Her skin was startlingly pale, with hair and eyes as dark as the feathers of a raven.
A small basket had been tucked inside the little lean-to, and she was covered in a hand-made quilt colored a soft lilac hue that had earned her the nickname.
There was no sign of a note, though, nothing that could be used to track down whatever remnants of family had left her behind.
It took everything Jed had in him to repress his anger.
The poor child wasn’t the source of it, after all, and he needed her to trust him as he approached her.
With no siblings of his own, Jed wasn’t certain if he was speaking softly enough, or if he appeared too frightening.
But Lila didn’t seem to care; she’d crawled out of the tent and threw her arms immediately around his neck, and that’s where she’d stayed until he’d managed to make his way to Maeve’s cabin.
Maeve. That’s how the woman had introduced herself, after she’d already greeted him with the business end of a shotgun.
There was a part of him that ready to charge her down, too used to meeting challenge with even stronger force to consider that a lone woman might have reason to fear an unannounced stranger at her door in the dead of night.
He might’ve reacted rashly had Lila not been clinging to his side.
Once he’d made it clear that he meant Maeve no harm, she’d wasted little time getting the child something to eat.
With firelight quickly filling the little cabin, Jed could finally get a look at the woman who had nearly blown his head off.
Her hair was wild and tangled from an interrupted night’s sleep, sharply defined curls kinked like the twisting stems of ivy.
It may have been from the lighting, but her hair’s color reminded Jed of a good bottle of amber whiskey, with freckles dotting her face like bits of barrel char.
In stark contrast were her eyes: brilliantly blue, like the warmest spring sky.
Although they let off a distinct chill as she stared at him during Lila’s feeding. Jed did his best to ignore it, instead focusing on the stew the toddler had nearly polished off in the mere seconds she’d been given it.
“What you been calling her?”
Maeve’s words were like ice against Jed's skin. He really had made a poor first impression. “I figured Lila would work just fine, miss.” Jed scraped the spoon across the bottom of the bowl, giving the last little bit to the eager toddler. Her tiny hands grasped firmly around the spoon, and Jed opted to let her keep it. She seemed in much better spirits now, babbling happily with the spoon in hand. Some color had returned to her cheeks, and her stubby feet had enough energy to kick Jed’s overcoat onto the ground.
He couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
It immediately turned to a grimace as he met Maeve’s unyielding gaze.
“So,” she began.
“So…” he repeated.
The pair stared at each other for a long while, with only Lila’s cooing occasionally breaking the silence building between them.
Did she want him to say something? What was he even supposed to say?
He’d made his intent clear about becoming her husband, but it was obvious the situation had become far more complicated than that.
Jed’s gaze flickered toward Lila, then back to Maeve.
She wouldn’t force him to leave…would she?
Maeve crossed her arms loosely over her chest, having long since put the shotgun away.
Jed wasn’t certain that meant he’d completely earned her trust, though.
If anything, she was likely keeping it as far away from Lila as possible, lest one of them somehow manage to lose track of her.
Not that Jed was planning to do so. If Lila’s safety meant he’d have to give up on this prospect, so be it.
“So,” Maeve said once again.
Jed remained quiet this time, waiting to see if she’d continue.
Her fingers began tapping against the side of her arm, her jaw setting firmly as her gaze bore into his. Finally she let out a short breath, shifting the weight of her body from one leg to the other. “You talked to Sheriff Wright earlier, you said?”
Jed nodded slowly. “He pointed me toward yer cabin. Said you’d been the one who wrote the ad.
” He paused, then added with a furrow of his brow, “Or, no. There was a young lady with him that kept badgering me. Claimed she were the author herself, an’ she kept asking all sorts of questions.
Could barely get a word in during our conversation. ”
Something like a snort escaped from Maeve. “That’d be Sadie, alright.”
Another beat passed between them.
“What’d she think about you?” Maeve asked. “Once she were done ‘badgering’?”
Jed considered his next words carefully. “No offense, miss, but you don’t seem the type to be taking the word of a stranger.”
A wry smirk crossed Maeve’s lips. Her posture loosened considerably, and she gestured a hand toward Lila. “She can sleep with you on the couch. I’ll go dig up some blankets. My room’s got padlocks on it, y’hear?”
Jed nodded curtly.
“Right.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a tired sigh. “We’ll talk more when the sun’s up wit’ the rest of the world. I ain’t got the mind to be discussing no li'l girl’s fate right now.”
“I ain’t expecting you to raise her-” Jed started to say.
“You shouldn’t expect nothing from me,” Maeve cut him off, her tone sharp and full of warning. She murmured something angrily under her breath, leaving Jed to clench his teeth in the already familiar tension that formed between them. “Got too much to worry ‘bout, now I gotta fret over…”
Another sigh.
“You got yerself a horse, right?”
Jed nodded.
“Go stable it in the barn fer tonight. We’ll take it to my neighbor’s tomorrow, see if we can’t catch his sheriff brother.
” She put extra emphasis on the word ‘sheriff,’ as if daring Jed to try anything.
“I ain’t gonna be responsible fer some na?ve fool’s decision to drag a child out into the wild. ”
Jed glanced toward Lila, still sat on the armchair.
She’d fallen asleep at some point, having flopped over against the armchair with the spoon loosely dangling in her hand.
Gently, he removed the utensil from her grasp and stood, offering it toward Maeve with a dutiful nod.
“I’ll take care of ‘er ‘till arrangements can be made.”
Maeve eyed the spoon, snatching it out of his hand before he could blink. She pointed the curved end in his face, her eyes cold and voice challenging. “And what makes you think you’ve earned the right to be my husband?”
Jed stood his ground amidst the tension. “I don’t mean to be rude, miss, but yer friend mentioned I were the only man to ask about yer ad. It don’t sound to me like you got many options to choose from.”
Maeve’s hand remained steady.
Jed remained still.
Eventually, Maeve let the spoon drop to her side.
She gave Jed another once-over before moving toward the kitchen, setting the spoon near the sink before running a hand through her mess of hair.
“Go take care of yer horse. I’ll watch…” She seemed to wrestle between two options.
“I’ll watch Lila ‘till you get back. Then I’ll get them blankets. ”
Jed nodded.
“We’re leaving fer help first thing tomorrow,” Maeve warned. “Ain’t gonna be no sleeping-in at this here house.”
Jed nodded once more. He stood upright, lingering over Lila for a moment more before moving toward the front door. Half of him expected it to swing shut and lock behind him, but it remained partially ajar.
“She must have at least some trust in me, then,” Jed mumbled to himself.
That, or she was confident she could get her gun faster than he could return to the house.
***
“Ooh, goodness, she’s absolutely precious, Maeve!”
Jed winced, not entirely used to the high-pitched squeal of Maeve’s companion. ‘Sadie,’ he was certain she’d introduced herself as, the same woman he’d met yesterday afternoon who, if given the chance, would’ve talked both his ears off his head.
She was currently bouncing Lila on her lap with the silliest-looking smile on her face, sat in one of the only armchairs found in Mr. Wright’s cabin. Or ‘Samuel,’ as Maeve had called him when they had first arrived on his property.
He looked to have lived a similar life to Jed, sporting the same muscular frame needed for physical labor. His own short-cropped hair had been lightened from long hours spent under the sun, with a distinct wave-pattern that made it seem as if wind was blowing through it constantly.
The three of them had needed to pull a set of dining room chairs into the sitting room, crowding together to talk while Sadie continued to play with the toddler.
Jed resisted the urge to yawn. Maeve had been serious about leaving for her neighbor’s at first light, hitching up an old two-person wagon before setting off into the dawn for Samuel’s house.
Normally, Jed wouldn’t have minded rising so early; that was simply the life of a ranch hand, after all.
But the weeks of travel had completely ruined his sleep, and it would have been nice to catch up on some rest.
He held back another yawn. The last thing he needed was another reason for Maeve to dislike him.
She had tied her hair into a fish braid, leaning forward in her given chair while carefully listening to Samuel talk.
Her eyes were entirely fixed on him, seemingly determined to ignore the loud babbling from Lila and the delighted cooing of her lady friend.
Jed found his gaze wandering between the toddler and Samuel, then around the house, then back to Maeve briefly before hurriedly looking away.
He did not need Maeve catching him staring at her.
Samuel sighed, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms loosely over his chest. “An’ ye’re sure there weren’t a note of any sort left with ‘er, Mr. Mercer?”
“None I could make out in the dark,” Jed reaffirmed.
Samuel nodded, glancing Maeve’s way next. “Well, I can take her with us to town today, if that’’ll help. An’ have Joshua find some space at the orphanage?”
Sadie’s sharp inhale nearly caused Jed to jump out of his seat.
“What? No, you can’t! Ms. Miller hasn’t had a spare bed since the start of winter–she’ll send little Lila all across Wyoming!
” She scooped the toddler up into her arms and scurried to Maeve’s side, her lip stuck out in a dramatic pout.
“Maeve, look how cute she is! And she’s so young, too!
You wouldn’t force a baby this young to travel so much, would you? ”
It was the first time Jed had seen Maeve’s stony expression falter. She almost looked panicked, verbally stumbling over her words as she put together a reply.
“I–I can barely manage the ranch as is, Sadie. ‘Sides,” she added hastily, “them bandits ain’t gonna care that she’s young. That ain’t no life fer a li'l thing like her, always scared of what’s lurking in the dark.”
Jed’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly understanding his shotgun-to-the-face greeting last night. “Y’all are having bandit problems?”
Again, a brief flicker of anxiety crossed Maeve’s face.
“That’s the whole reason I wrote the advertisement in the paper,” Sadie stated matter-of-factly. She shifted Lila against her hip, staring Maeve down in an unflinching manner. “And I’ll tell you what, Maeve. Mr. Mercer here is the perfect man to be your husband.”
Maeve raised a brow. “Figured that out after yer li'l interrogation yesterday, did yah?”
Sadie nodded curtly. “You two will make a terrific team, I just know it. Strong enough to keep every monster and bandit far away from this sweet, precious angel.”
Before Jed could voice his own objections, he watched Samuel gently grasp Sadie’s free hand.
She let out an irritable huff, but gave it a visible squeeze regardless.
The level of comfort the two shared was…
surprising, to say the least. His heart panged, thinking briefly of Kathleen back in Cheyenne.
Did she wonder where he went? He hadn’t left her much time to say goodbye.
He hadn’t left her any time, really. Had she found someone better to build her life with?
“I ain’t gonna make y’all care fer this child,” Samuel emphasized. “But Sadie is right. I dunno if Ms. Miller’s gonna have space fer Lila. Not ‘till I talk with Joshua, anyway.”
Jed glanced Maeve’s way. She was visibly wrestling with her conscience, her arms crossed tightly, visibly fuming. After a long stretch of time, she finally let out a frustrated sigh and threw her hands up in the air.
“Alright, fine. Lila’ll stay wit’ me ‘till you come back wit’ news, Sam.”
Sadie let out a delighted squeal, squeezing Lila while Jed stuck a finger in his now-ringing ears.
“But yer gonna be the one caring fer her,” Maeve added, poking a threatening finger into Jed’s chest. “I didn’t sign up to be anyone’s mother. An’ don’t think that excludes yah from ranch work, got it?”
‘What kinda nonsense am I signing myself up for?’
He gave the question genuine thought. When he left Cheyenne, he’d been willing to do whatever it took to separate himself from his past. He had no choice but to work from the ground up, to rebuild everything after thirty years of life.
Of course he wanted a family, a future with a wife, with children, and land that his kin could inherit and foster long after he left for the Lord’s kingdom.
And, by all accounts, he was soon going to have all of those things, albeit in a rather unorthodox manner.
After a moment, he offered his reply in the form of a firm nod. This wasn’t the path he expected to find himself walking, but it was the one God had put him on.
‘Who am I to question what the Lord thinks I can handle, anyway?’