by Sarah Banks
“And yet you ride Bandit?”
He laughed and repeated, “And yet I ride Bandit. Even though it was a nearby herd that led me to him, he wasn’t apart of them and it’s not natural for a horse to be a lone creature. I meant to sell him like the others when the time came but I couldn’t. He’s a good horse and somewhere along the way he became my horse.”
“And if you ever decide to rob banks you’ll have a fast accomplice with a successful history,” Jane teased.
He chuckled.
She made herself repeat her earlier question because besides wanting to know everything about him, she really wanted to know the answer. “Have you ever been married?”
He didn’t look at her, but he did answer. “No. Came close once but it didn’t work out.”
She closed her eyes. She felt a pang of jealousy for the woman he had almost married. Why her and not Jane?
“Aren’t you going to ask why not?”
Jane opened her eyes and Gabriel was looking at her with a teasing half smile that she tried to return. “I wasn’t going to no, but if you want to answer anyway…”
Gabriel smiled. “It was simple really. She changed her mind when she realized that me, Brandon and Thea came as a package deal. She didn’t have any interest in raising someone else’s children and I refused to give them up. They were only nine at the time. She married someone else the following year.”
It was then that Jane knew she had fallen head over heels for this man. This man who wanted nothing to do with a mail order bride from Tumbury, who caught and tamed wild horses, who took care of his siblings when their mother abandoned them and put them in front of even his own happiness.
He looked at her. “Any more questions?”
She could only stare at him with her recent revelation freezing her tongue. She loved him.
“Jane?”
“Y-yes,” she finally stuttered.
He raised an eyebrow in askance.
“What’s your middle name?”
“Aaron,” he replied and then he kissed her.
Chapter Nine
“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said pulling back, breathing heavily. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“You don’t have to take all the blame, I kissed you back.”
“Jane,” he whispered, his hand cupped her jaw and his thumb caressed her cheek. She felt herself leaning into him but fought not to close her eyes. She didn’t want to miss a moment. But whatever else he was going to say, he didn’t. His eyes dropped to her lips but he made no other move toward her so this time, she kissed him.
When they pulled apart the second time, they were both breathing heavily. “That time was one hundred percent my fault,” she said, giving him a shy smile. “I kissed you.”
He didn’t smile back, instead he jumped to his feet and all of the sudden Jane felt very vulnerable.
She slowly came to her feet and collected her soap, brush and towel, remembered to put out the lamp herself this time and walked to his horse where he was already mounted. Not quite meeting his eyes she took his hand. It was a silent ride home. Gabriel didn’t hold her as tightly as before and didn’t take the longer, more scenic way they had come. In a few short minutes she was back on the porch.
“Be ready to leave by seven-thirty. You’ll be early but that way I can take you into town with Brandon and Thea and they can say their goodbyes before school.” Without another word he rode onto the barn.
Jane made her way slowly into the house. Brandon was sawing logs as usual. She quietly checked in on Thea. Her little face lay sweetly on her pillow, her fist tucked under her chin, her hair in braids that she had done herself. Jane quietly closed the door and went into Gabriel’s room. Leaving her robe at the end of the bed she slipped underneath the covers, burying her nose in the pillow that still carried Gabriel’s scent.
She couldn’t believe her time in Dalton was at an end. She thought when she had boarded the train and then the stagecoach to become a mail order bride that she would live here forever. Instead, she found a man who wasn’t looking for a bride and no intention of getting hitched, two mischievous but lovable children and a place she knew she could live happily ever after with horses and hot springs and three people she couldn’t help but love. But she had to face facts. She couldn’t make Gabriel fall in love with her, let alone marry her.
She didn’t sleep a wink but also didn’t get out of bed until after she heard everyone else moving about. She slowly made the bed, dressed, taking more time to style her hair suitably for a long day of travel and brushed her teeth. She made sure she packed all of her belongings before going into the main room.
She forced a smile to her lips, greeting them, “Good morning.”
Breakfast was a quieter affair than usual. There was nothing extra to put on their porridge and everyone except Gabriel was doing more staring than eating until finally Gabriel pushed back his chair with a sigh. “Well, if no one else is going to eat, we might as well get going.”
Jane started to clear the table but Gabriel’s voice stopped her.
“Leave them.”
“But they’ll get all—”
“Leave them,” he repeated, more firmly this time, and Jane set the dishes back down. If he wanted to come home at the end of the day to porridge glued to the bowls then fine by her.
She grabbed her things, ignored his outstretched hand to take her bag and swept outside. She stopped before the wagon that already sat waiting. It appeared he couldn’t wait to get rid of her.
She looked at him over her shoulder. “I can walk just fine.”
“I said I’d take you and I will. I need something from the mercantile anyway,” he mumbled.
“But—” Brandon started.
Gabriel shook his head and motioned him into the wagon. Thea followed and Jane tossed her bag into the back of the wagon. She once again ignored Gabriel’s hand and hauled herself up into the front of the wagon. She may be a cripple but she wasn’t helpless!
“You don’t need to make this difficult,” Gabriel mumbled from behind her before walking in front of the horses to the other side of the wagon.
“I’m not making this difficult, you’re making this difficult!” She returned, achieving nothing but unsettling the horses which Gabriel quickly got back under control as he sat beside her.
“Is something wrong?” Thea asked from behind them.
Jane turned to her. “No darling, nothing’s wrong. I apologize for my tone. I didn’t sleep well. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep on the stage,” she said, trying to smile. “Settle back in.”
Thea didn’t look convinced but she sat back and Gabriel tightened his hands on the reins and directed the horses forward.
Jane enjoyed the wagon ride much more than she had the five-mile walk. When she wasn’t in pain and concentrating on every agonizing step, she was able to look up and see more of the beauty surrounding Dalton. They passed an enclosure of horses including two colts. She wanted to ask Gabriel if they were his, but she was still too put out with him. They also passed fields of wildflowers and went across a bridge over a babbling brook she didn’t even remember seeing let alone walking over last time.
It had been the longest walk of her life three days ago but the return wagon ride passed by in a blink of an eye. Before she knew it the town of Dalton was coming into view and they were pulling up in front of the mercantile close to where the stage had let her off.
This time she waited until Gabriel came around and helped her down. Jane caught his eye before he lifted her down. “I’m sorry Gabriel,” she said quietly.
He settled her on her feet in front of him, his hands lingering a moment longer on her hips than necessary and replied, “So am I.”
When he dropped his hands, Jane turned away. She felt like crying but distracted herself by trying to reach her bag over the edge of the wagon, but it had shifted just out of reach. Gabriel reached over her and easily retrieved it, handing it to her.
“Thank
you,” she murmured and turned to the children setting the bag at her feet. “Well, I guess this is goodbye.”
Thea burst into tears and ran into her arms.
“Oh Thea,” Jane said helplessly, hugging her tightly. She pressed her lips to the girl’s hair. “Please don’t cry Thea. Please. You’re breaking my heart.”
They were drawing some attention but Jane didn’t care. She loved this little girl and her brothers. And she would never see them again.
Finally Gabriel pulled Thea from her arms. “Come along Thea.”
“Promise you’ll write,” Thea hiccupped.
“I promise. And promise you’ll write back.”
“My handwriting isn’t very good but I will, I promise.”
“I left copies of the recipe for the hair conditioner and a few other recipes on Gabriel’s nightstand. Maybe once your brother forgets the incident he’ll let you back in the kitchen again one day and you can try your hand at them. I’m sure you’ll be great.”
Thea gave a watery laugh and glanced at her older brother. “Maybe.”
Jane turned to Brandon.
“Goodbye Jane.”
“Goodbye Brandon.” She was surprised he let her hug him, however brief.
“I’m sorry about everything,” he mumbled right before he pulled away.
“Don’t be, I’m not,” she whispered back.
“Off to school with you two now or you’ll be late,” Gabriel said.
Brandon nodded and pulled Thea along, quiet sobs mixed with hiccups trailing in her wake. Jane bit her lip and turned her own watery eyes to Gabriel who stood watching her. She would not cry, she told herself. She could cry later. But not now.
Gabriel tried to hand her a little money for the return trip.
“I have enough,” she protested, pushing the money back toward him but he insisted.
They didn’t hug, they didn’t even shake hands. It was almost as if the kiss, or kisses rather, had never taken place last night. He took a step back, and then another. “Take care of yourself Jane.”
She nodded and swallowed and not trusting her voice, gave him a little wave as she watched him return to the wagon and drive away without looking back, leaving her alone. He had said he needed something from the mercantile but either he forgot or changed his mind because he was headed back the way they just came.
She watched until the wagon disappeared from sight and then she moved out of the road and sat on the bench to await the stagecoach. It was hours before it was scheduled to arrive. She opened her carpetbag to put away the money he had given her. She found an unfamiliar plain, cloth bag inside, opened it up and laughed. It was filled with ham and apples. Someone had packed her a lunch. Probably Thea but it could have been Brandon or Gabriel. There wasn’t a note. Whoever it had been, the gesture was very sweet.
Jane put away the money, closed her bag and sat back on the bench awaiting the stagecoach that would take her away from where she wanted to be the most.
Chapter Ten
Sometime between eating an apple, walking up and down the main street of Dalton twice and sitting on the bench waiting for the stage to appear Jane decided that she wasn’t leaving town just yet. She wanted just a few more days. She would catch Monday’s coach instead. There could be no harm in just a few extra days.
Decision made she headed toward the mercantile when she heard the stagecoach approaching in the distance but it hadn’t yet turned the bend.
“Miss, the stage is coming. It’s fast. If you leave now, you’ll miss it!” Called the man she had been sharing a bench with for the past half hour.
“Oh, I’m not catching the stage today,” she told him with a wide smile. She gave him a wave and ducked inside the mercantile, a bell cheerily ringing overhead. The floor rumbled underneath her feet as the stagecoach arrived and there was shouting as unloading and loading began.
Jane made her way to the back of the store, away from the windows after refusing assistance from a balding man in his early 40s. He had tired eyes and a kind smile. “No thank you,” she said and began looking through piles of fabric, not letting herself look out the window to the stage that she should be boarding this very moment.
She nervously hummed to herself and even after hearing the commotion of the stage leaving, continued to look through the store’s wares. Only fifteen minutes after she was certain the stage had left did she allow herself to look toward the windows and there was only an empty street. Jane smiled.
She wouldn’t go home quite yet. Knowing Gabriel with his fast horses, he’d probably try to catch up to the stage somehow and get her on it and out of his life for good. She would go but not today. Monday, she promised herself. Just three more days to make a few more memories that she would treasure for a lifetime and then she would return to her normal, dull, lonely life.
Just as she was about to leave the store a woman’s voice called out to her. “I thought I knew everyone in Dalton,” the voice called sweetly and Jane looked up to see a woman moving away from a set of stairs that led to the mercantile owner’s personal quarters above. She was stunningly beautiful with her black hair, porcelain skin, blue eyes and equally beautiful blue dress to match. Jane fought the urge to smooth her own plain calico dress and touch her hair she had pinned tightly underneath her bonnet.
“I’m Jane,” she said, stepping forward to introduce herself.
“And I’m Christina. My husband and I own the mercantile.”
Jane offered her hand for a brief handshake. Christina’s hands were silky smooth and free of calluses that dotted her own palms.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m just visiting your lovely town,” she said, feeling awkward under the woman’s close perusal of her from head to toe.
Christina wrinkled her nose when Jane had said lovely town but quickly smoothed it.
“Yes, I thought I saw you earlier with Gabriel and his two,” she waved her hands as if looking for the correct word.
“Siblings,” Jane filled in.
“Yes.”
“They are lovely children,” Jane said.
Christina didn’t say anything.
Jane was filled with a sense of dread. She somehow knew this woman and yet she didn’t know how although she had a suspicion that she didn’t want to explore at the moment.
“I’m Gabriel’s cousin, visiting from back east,” she blurted out.
“I see,” Christina said, and Jane knew the other woman didn’t quite believe her. Plus Jane knew she wasn’t a good liar. She’d have to rehearse her tale of missing the stagecoach over the next few hours or Gabriel would never believe her.
“I leave on Monday,” she added unnecessarily. She glanced at the door behind the woman leading to the street and freedom.
“Oh. Well that’s good then.”
“Well, it was nice to meet you,” Jane lied, stepping away. Apparently she was in a lying mood today. “I’d best be going or I’ll be late.” Another lie. But she was getting better at it, she thought with a smile to herself.
Jane managed to escape the mercantile and quickly continued down the street. She entered a small coffee shop she had passed by several times on her walk around town earlier. The smells emitting from inside were heavenly, the smell of freshly ground coffee and sugary-sweet pastries.
She ordered coffee and two pastries when she couldn’t quite decide between them with the money Gabriel had given her. She sat near a window, people-watching and enjoying every last crumb of her fare until it came close to the time when the children would be done with school.
She made her way to the schoolhouse, deposited her bag underneath a large oak tree and sat on the swing hanging from one of its largest branches. She pumped her legs and leaned back as the swing flew higher and higher through the air. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so carefree.
Soon children were coming out of the schoolhouse in waves and Thea ran straight toward her. “Jane!” She called excitedly.
Jane used her good leg to skid t
o a stop and stood as Thea launched herself into her arms almost knocking them both to the ground.
Thea pulled back apologetically, righting them both. “You’re still here! I saw you out the window. I almost got my knuckles rapped for not paying attention.”
“Yep, I missed my stage. So I guess I’m your guest for just a few days more. I’ll catch Monday’s stage.”
“You missed the stage?” Thea repeated. She exchanged looks with her brother and then threw her head back and laughed.
“It’s true,” Jane insisted, her fingers crossed behind her back.
“Oh I believe you but I don’t think Gabriel will.”
Brandon collected her bag and Jane linked arms with Thea and they began walking in the direction of home.
Thea pulled to a stop and looked at Jane with worried eyes. “But your leg. We don’t have the wagon.”
“It’s alright,” Jane insisted. “I can walk. It hasn’t been paining me much at all these past few days. We’ll go slow and maybe we can stop for a short break somewhere along the way. Come on.” She tugged on Thea’s arm.
They stopped for a break at the bridge they had crossed earlier that morning in the wagon. Jane and Thea sat on the edge dangling their feet several feet above the water while Brandon hiked down to the water and skipped stones. Then he switched to throwing larger rocks from the bank, trying to make a splash large enough to reach their feet. He didn’t succeed but he seemed to take great pleasure in trying while she and Thea squealed with laughter every time the water threatened to splash their skirts.
When it was time to continue on Brandon hiked back up the slope and pulled her to her feet. “Have you ever been fishing?” He asked.
“Never. You?”
“Gabriel takes me when he has time.” His unspoken words told her that it wasn’t nearly enough.
“That means you have two poles then,” Jane said. “Maybe we can go this weekend. You can teach me how to fish.”
