An Enduring Love to Heal Her: A Historical Western Romance Book

by Lorelei Brogan

  She tried to remember the man’s instructions and they served her well. It didn’t take her too long to reach the fork in the road where the twins had dropped them off for the barn dance a few weeks ago. From there, Emilia knew how to get to Derek’s ranch.

  After all, she had gone there to accuse him of telling everyone about her father. She realized that she still didn’t know who was responsible for that. It couldn’t have possibly been her aunt. When she got back, she intended on finding out who it was.

  Emilia pushed her horse forward in determination. If it wasn’t Lily’s life on the line, she would be steering clear of Derek’s ranch. She hoped it wouldn’t be too awkward between them. After all, she had told him that she loved him, and he hadn’t returned her feelings. She hoped that they would be able to set their differences aside to help Lily. There would be plenty of time for them to talk about their misunderstandings when all of this was behind them.

  Chapter 28

  When Derek finally saw the Carsons’ ranch, he began to feel nervous. Nearly an hour ago, at the saloon, he had felt confident that he would know exactly what to say to Emilia, but now he wasn’t feeling so certain.

  As soon as he got close to the cabin, he knew something was wrong. George had told him the night before that he was coming to help out on the Carson farm. Derek would have volunteered to help, too, if it hadn’t been so important to him to get to the bottom of Emilia’s situation with her father’s history.

  He wondered why George was helping in the first place. While his friend would often come along with Derek when he was doing work, this was the first time that George had volunteered alone.

  Derek had a feeling that it had to do with his recent interest in Lily. Before Derek could knock on the cabin door, it flew open. Eddy was standing there, a hopeful look on his face. “Did you find her? Did the sheriff find her yet?”

  “Find who? What are you talking about?” Derek had no idea who even needed finding, but by the worry on Eddy’s face, he knew that whatever was going on, it was serious.

  “Oh.” Eddy took a step back, his face falling. “I thought that maybe George sent you.”

  “Where is George? Why isn’t he here? Who is missing?”

  “Lily’s missing. She left this morning and George said that he was going with the sheriff and the deputies to find her.”

  “Where did she go? Why would she go anywhere by herself? I’m sorry, I’m just confused. I came to see Emilia, is she here?”

  Eddy shook his head with vigor. “She went to town. She said she was looking for someone who might know where Lily went or something like that.”

  “I thought you just said that George went after Lily. How could he do that if you guys didn’t know where she went?”

  Eddy looked about as frustrated and Derek felt, and explained everything from the beginning. When he was finished, Derek realized just how much he had missed. Usually, days on the Carson farm were not this interesting or eventful.

  “Should I go after them? How long ago did they leave? Did Lily go to Bransford all alone?”

  “They left several hours ago. Emilia should be back soon, if you want to wait for her.” Eddy motioned to the parlor.

  Derek took a seat uncomfortably. He wasn’t used to just sitting in the parlor. Usually he spent his time on the Carson ranch outside, doing chores or fixing something, coming in only for a meal in the kitchen.

  “So, why are you looking for Emilia?” Eddy was sitting across from him, staring him down like a protective little brother. Derek didn’t blame him. He liked that someone was looking out for Emilia’s best interests.

  “Some stuff I need to talk to her about.”

  “Do you like her?” Eddy’s eyes were full of innocence and intensity.

  Derek stalled as he tried to think of the right answer. He wasn’t sure he was prepared to talk about his feelings with Emilia’s little cousin.

  “I suppose I do like her,” he finally said cautiously.

  “Do you like her in a lovey kind of way? Or just a like brother kind of way?” Eddy continued staring at him inquisitively and for some reason, his gaze made Derek uncomfortable.

  He had never imagined he would feel so scrutinized by a ten-year-old whom he had taught most of what he knew, but here he was.

  “I think I might like her in a love kind of way.” Derek admitted.

  “Oh, I think that’s good. I think she likes you like that, too.”

  “Really? Why do you think so?” Suddenly, Derek was interested in what Eddy had to say. After all, Eddy lived with Emilia, so he must know what he was talking about.

  “I just think that. She watches you sometimes. And when she does, she smiles and her eyes get all sparkly and soft.”

  “She does?” Derek didn’t want to sound too eager, but it was interesting to hear.

  “I’m sure she’ll be glad you came to visit her.”

  Derek nodded. “What do you think is taking her so long?”

  Eddy shrugged. “I don’t know. Ma asked her to come right back if she found anything. Maybe she decided not to.” Eddy’s explanation made a lot of sense, but still, Derek wasn’t ready to leave yet.

  If he left, he might miss her as she was coming back home, and then where would he be?

  He would just stick around and wait for a while longer and hope that she showed up. He stood from the chair and began to pace back and forth.

  “Derek! It’s good to see you. I trust that since you’re here, you’re not out with George and the boys have filled you in.” Carolyn was standing at the entrance of the parlor, looking sadder than Derek had ever seen her before.

  Her eyes were red and puffy, with dark circles beneath them. Her messy hair was sticking out everywhere, and she looked as if she hadn’t been able to pull herself together.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Carson. I just heard the news, or I certainly would have gone with George and the rest of the men.”

  “It’s not your fault. Did you come here to see Emilia?”

  “Yes, do you know when she’ll be back?”

  “No, I don’t. She should have been back an hour ago, but I suppose whatever she went to do is taking longer than she planned. I’m starting to get worried about her.”

  “Do you know what she was going to do?”

  “I don’t know exactly. She said something about maybe Lily going somewhere else. She said there was someone in town who might know where she had gone. Maybe she remembered something Lily said. But whatever it was, it probably led to nothing or she would have come back with news, wouldn’t she have? Surely, she wouldn’t have gone to look for her by herself, would she?”

  Derek could tell that Carolyn was looking for someone to calm her down and assure her that it was going to be all right. She was clearly frightened and trying to keep herself from panicking.

  He crossed the room and put his hand on Mrs. Carson’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, ma’am. I am sure that both Lily and Emilia will come back safely, sooner or later. I will go see if I can track them down. Things are going to work out.”

  Derek promised himself silently that he would make sure of it, no matter what happened. “I’ll go and see if I can track her down. I’m sure she talked with someone in town, and if I ask around, I can figure it out. Don’t worry.”

  Chapter 29

  Emilia pulled her horse to an abrupt halt outside of Derek’s cabin. She didn’t want to go on this journey alone. She didn’t want to risk herself, along with Lily. She just hoped Derek would be there. Sloppily, she tied the horse’s reins around the post by the porch and rushed up the steps.

  “Derek!” she called as she pounded on the door.

  After several moments with no answer, she began to pace on the porch. Where was he? Or why wasn’t he answering her?

  Could it be that he was hiding inside and not wanting to talk to her? No, he wasn’t that kind of person. If he so much as thought that she might be in trouble, he would come out.

  Indecisively, she b
it her lower lip. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t wait here for him. Every single minute that she waited was another minute that Lily got further away.

  She glanced up at the sky. It was getting stormier and darker. She wasn’t sure what worried her more, the clouds or the time of day.

  Emilia tried the door of the cabin and it opened easily. She would leave Derek a note and hope that he found it in time to come and help her. Hopefully, he’d come home sooner than later.

  She found some paper and a pencil and then scrawled out her words quickly, not wanting to lose any more time.

  Derek,

  I’ve gone to Eagleton. I talked with a lady in town and she is sure that’s where Lily is headed. I really need your help, I’m all alone. Please, let us put any misunderstandings to one side while we find my cousin. I don’t really want to go alone so I came looking for you, but I’m afraid to wait any longer. I know it’s a dangerous road to travel alone and that’s why I’m going. Lily is out there alone and we can’t let anything happen to her.

  Come as soon as you can,

  Emilia

  Satisfied, she set the note on the little table that had caught her eye as soon as she had entered the cabin. She hoped Derek would forgive her for coming into the house uninvited.

  She looked back once to make sure the note was visible and then slipped outside. In her hurry, she nearly ran into a ranch hand who was coming around the corner of the house.

  “E-excuse me, I’m sorry. I was looking for Derek and—” Emilia stopped talking, unsure of what she could say to explain her uninvited presence in Derek’s cabin.

  This ranch hand must think that she had been robbing something, or doing some other nefarious activity.

  “You’re looking for Derek? Aren’t you the Carson girl’s cousin?”

  Emilia nodded, not sure what this man was leading to.

  “I’m surprised you’d want anything to do with Derek. I mean, I’ve always thought of him as a nice fellow, but he’s certainly not done right by you.”

  “What do you mean?” Emilia felt nervous as the minutes slipped by, but she felt as if she had to hear what this man had to say.

  “I mean, after he went and told everyone in town about what happened to your father, why in heaven’s name would you be looking for him?”

  “He didn’t tell anyone about my father. That was someone else.”

  “Is that what he told you?” Sympathy played on the man’s face, making Emilia that much more curious about what was going on here.

  “Yes, he said he didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “Well, I’ll be. I’m not a man to stir up trouble, miss, but you should know the truth. Derek was sitting in the saloon, drinking, telling your story to everyone who would listen and then some.”

  “You must be mistaken.” Emilia shook her head, but her confidence was beginning to slip. Could what this man was saying be true? “He promised he had nothing to do with it.”

  The ranch hand shook his head. “I’m sorry, miss, but I was there. It was Derek, all right. I don’t know why he lied to you. I’ve never seen him drinking like that before. He was acting awfully strange but it was him, all right.”

  “Thank you for telling me. I have to go now.” Emilia felt a bit numb. What was going on? And why had Derek lied? And why had he told the town her secret in the first place?

  “Good day, miss.” The ranch hand tipped his hat to her and then went on his way.

  Emilia hurried to her horse and mounted, turned, and began her ride down the little road that led to the fork where she would turn towards the town that Lily was headed to.

  She tried to block out the information she had learned about Derek and focus on what was at hand, but to little avail.

  Her heart leaped with both hope and anger as she spotted Derek’s familiar figure riding up the road.

  “Derek! Derek, thank goodness you’re here!” Emilia called before they were even close enough to talk face to face.

  “Something wrong?” Derek asked, pulling his horse to a stop. Emilia noticed it was a different horse than the one he usually rode, and his hair was combed a bit differently. His eyes looked wild. She wondered what had happened to his horse. She had never seen him on a different one.

  She would have asked him about it, if she hadn’t been in the utmost hurry to be out of there.

  “Lily’s been taken. We need to find her. The sheriff and George went after her, but they’re going the wrong direction. Will you help me? We have no time to spare.”

  “I’d like to, but I can’t.” Derek’s voice was cold and unattached. Emilia stared at him as if he were a different person.

  “What do you mean, you can’t? I know things have been… at odds between us, but I am pleading for your help. She could be in grave danger.”

  “I would love to, but I have a train to catch. I’m going back to Ohio.”

  “What?” Emilia’s heart beat quickly in her chest, threatening to break free of its cage.

  “I decided that I need to go back and be with my family, where I belong. Janie helped me see that.”

  “Janie?” Emilia felt even sicker than she had before. She had assumed that after what Janie had done to Derek, he would want nothing to do with her, but apparently, she’d been wrong.

  “Yes, Janie. I talked with her the other day, and it seems that we still have a lot of things in common. I asked her to go back to Ohio with me, and she agreed. I’m sorry… Emilia.”

  The way he said her name was unfeeling, almost as if he didn’t care a single bit about her. Emilia wondered how the man in front of her could possibly be Derek. How had his personality changed overnight?

  How could she have fallen in love with a man capable of such coldness?

  “I don’t understand. I thought that you and Janie… were no longer together.”

  Derek nodded, as if he was thinking about it. “We weren’t, but over the last few weeks, I realized what a mistake I made to let her go. I’m just making that right.”

  “What’s wrong with you? This isn’t like you at all.” Emilia wasn’t sure why she even said the words. Of course, this was Derek. Maybe this was the real Derek, the man he kept hidden behind his kind deeds and words.

  “Of course, this is me, Emilia. See, there are a lot of things I haven’t told you about. One of them is, that I’m not as nice as I seem. Of course, I don’t often show that to people because they wouldn’t like me as much, but it doesn’t matter now since I’ll probably never see anyone in this town again.”

  “What about Lily? You care about the Carson family, don’t you? Don’t you care that she’s in danger? There are Indians, bandits, and who knows what else. We have to find her before dark.” Emilia’s voice had become more of a plea.

  A loud clap of thunder sounded in the distance, making Emilia jump slightly. A soft sprinkling of rain began to fall and their horses stomped at the ground, impatiently.

  “I know that you think I care about the Carson family, but I don’t. They are a simple way to fill my time when I am bored. I’m sorry you were misled.”

  Emilia would have insisted that he was lying or that something was making him talk this way, but she could tell he meant every single word.