The Rancher’s Second Chance Bride

by Maya Stirling

  During the meal there, she'd caught Reese glancing at her from time to time. He'd been real attentive to her, making little jokes, telling her about things that had happened during the time she'd been gone. She'd delighted in his attention, enjoying the way he'd spoken to her. She'd seen his genuine interest in her. And that had made her think. It had made her realize one thing. Even if it was Reese who was trying to come back into her life, the man she had once felt so much about, she wasn't ready to pick up where she and Reese had left off. It was too soon. She'd only just come back to Inspiration. She was still trying to come to terms with the passing of her parents.

  Honora hoped Reese understood that. Judging by his reaction when they'd spoken on the way back to the ranch, she wasn't convinced he would be able to keep his promise. She could see how much Reese wanted to be with her. There was an intensity in the way he looked at her which occasionally made her recall how good it had felt to be with him. The coming days would be a test. She'd see soon enough whether Reese would be able to keep his distance.

  Honora gazed around the yard and beyond to the darkness of the fields. There was no-one around at the moment. She felt a pleasant sense of being alone. At moments like this, near the end of the day, she liked to lift her heart up to God and thank him for the graces he'd bestowed upon her. Thank Him for giving her the strength the face the trials of the day. And that had most certainly been the case today. She closed her eyes and prayed silently.

  When she opened her eyes, a movement over by the stable caught Honora's eye. She was sure she'd seen a figure there. Someone had disappeared quickly into the shadows, just as Honora had looked in their direction. She felt a chill, as if sensing that something wasn't right. She stood and peered into the gloom, trying to make out who could be there. She called out. "Hello. Who's there?"

  There was no response. If it had been one of the ranch hands, surely he would have made himself known. Fear curled in Honora's middle as she took one step down onto the dirt of the yard. There was a deathly silence in the yard. Something definitely didn't feel right, she told herself.

  Then she heard a sudden sound coming from the stable. The distressed neighing of horses rang out, cutting sharply through the night air. Honora froze. The horses would only do that if they were disturbed by something. Or someone. She thought about going into the house and calling for help. But she rejected that idea. She stepped back onto the porch and picked up the shotgun Rufus had left behind.

  Honora started toward the stable. Maybe it was one of the ranch hands, she said to herself, knowing in her bones that it wouldn't be. They sometimes had to deal with thieves. And rustlers were a common problem on the ranch. But, it wasn't often that trouble came anywhere near the ranch house.

  More distressed sounds came from inside the stable. Honora strode purposefully toward the stable, lifting the shotgun, readying herself. She knew how to handle a gun, having learned how to fire one years before. But, she'd never shot at anyone. And never would. But it was useful for putting people off causing trouble.

  Honora reached the open doors of the stable and paused. She could hear movements coming from inside the stable. Light flickered against the doors. Honora's chest tightened. She dashed forward, lifting the gun, ready to use it. She peered into the stable. An exclamation of horror caught in her throat. She saw glowing light in one corner of the stable.

  Fire!

  Then there was a sudden movement. A man, dressed in dark clothing, moved quickly toward a door at the rear of the stable. She couldn't see his face, but she reacted instinctively. She lifted the shotgun. "Stop where you are," she yelled. "Don't move, or I'll shoot." The truth was she didn't want to fire the gun anywhere near the horses. Or the man. This wasn't about killing someone. It was about scaring them enough so they would give themselves up.

  Through one of the empty stalls, she saw the flickering flames of the fire. The man, whoever he was, had set a fire and was now trying to escape. Honora could hardly believe what she was looking at.

  There was a sudden movement. She called out again. But the man didn't stop. He was determined to reach the door. He crashed against the wooden door, thrusting it open to the night. Honora raced around to the outside of the stable. She saw a figure racing off into the dark. Honora aimed high above the running figure and fired the gun. The man crashed to the ground, obviously thinking the shot had been aimed at him. But then, realizing he hadn't been hit, he stood up quickly and ran toward a horse which had been left waiting near a tree.

  To her left, Honora saw the door to the bunkhouse open. Figures came running out, brought by the sound of gunfire. Honora called out to the men. "Fire in the stable." Instantly, men started toward the stable while Honora raced toward the man who'd leaped onto his horse. She knew he was going to get away. The man pulled hard on the reins and his mount raced off into the darkness. Honora heard the pounding of hooves and knew the man was getting away.

  One of the ranch hands came up to her. "I'll go after him," he exclaimed.

  Honora shook her head. "No point. We need to get that fire out. And move the horses." She started back toward the stable. "Get all the men you can."

  The ranch house door opened. Rufus and Mabel came running out. They reached the stable at the same time as Honora.

  "What happened?" Mabel cried, gazing inside the stable.

  "Someone tried to burn down the stable," Honora explained. Inside the stable, ranch hands were already throwing water on the fire. A few hands were moving the distressed horse out of their stalls and out onto the yard.

  "Who would do such a thing?" Mabel exclaimed.

  "I don't know," Honora replied. "But, whoever it was, he won't be coming back in a hurry."

  Rufus ran into the stable and started helping the ranch hands. The fire hadn't caught. They'd stopped it in time to prevent something truly terrible from happening. By the time the fire was finally put out, Honora could see that the only damage caused had been to one of the stalls. It wasn't too serious.

  Mabel started to lead Honora back toward the ranch house. "You shouldn't have put yourself at risk like that," she said.

  "There was no other choice. I had to act quickly or else the stable would have burned down," Honora explained.

  Mabel frowned. "Promise me you won't act so rashly in the future," she said.

  Honora reached the porch and placed the shotgun down onto the bench. She gazed at her aunt, seeing the genuine worry in Mabel's eyes. "I promise I'll call for help next time," she accepted. "If I have the time."

  "I can't think why anyone would want to do such a thing," Mabel said.

  Honora thought for a few moments. It was as if someone had wanted to send a message to the Ferguson ranch. And she had a pretty good idea of who that person might be.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Reese heard about the trouble at the Ferguson ranch early the next morning over breakfast. News traveled fast amongst ranch hands. Micah told Reese he'd heard from one of the hands that someone, an outsider, had tried to start a fire at the Ferguson place. Fire was just about the most dangerous thing in these parts. It could bring ruin to a ranch owner.

  Tentatively, Reese had asked whether Honora had been involved. No-one knew quite how she had been caught up. There weren't enough details. All that mattered was that she hadn't suffered any harm. Reese had done his best to mask his concern, but he'd been sure his brothers and his parents had noticed the pale color of his face as he ate his breakfast.

  Reese left the Buchanan ranch house soon after breakfast and made his way into Inspiration. He intended to get the facts from the one person who would be able to give them to him. Sheriff Nathan Cameron. The town was quiet this early in the morning. Stores were still closed, but the jailhouse was open twenty-four hours a day. Reese went inside and found one of the deputies on duty, and no sign of Nathan. He was yet to arrive for his day's shift. That meant one thing, as far as Reese was concerned. A visit to the Cameron residence.

  As he left the jailhouse a
nd mounted his horse, Reese knew there might be a complication if he visited the Camerons. Sophie, determined matchmaker and the woman who'd help his brothers find wives, would no doubt be interested in what had happened during the visit to Zane and Johanna. He wondered how she would react if he told her that he'd promised to stay well away from the woman he'd once thought to make his wife. The woman who, apparently, didn't want him anymore. Just thinking about that made the twisting ache inside Reese start all over again.

  Reese rode slowly, heading across the main drag. As he entered the street where the Cameron house was located he could see their house up ahead. Nathan's horse was tied up to the hitching rail in front of the house. Drawing up in front of the house and dismounting, Reese told himself maybe he could get through this ordeal. Perhaps he could just be selective with the truth. Even as he told himself that, he knew that Nathan had a wife who was well capable of extracting the truth from anyone. Sophie had clever ways of making people reveal their secrets. That was why she was so good at arranging marriage, he told himself.

  Reese knocked on the front door. It was opened by Nathan. The tall, muscular sheriff was already wearing his work clothes. A neat waistcoat with a shiny badge; jeans and well-polished boots. "Reese," Nathan exclaimed, obviously surprised by the early morning visitor. "What're you doing here at this time?"

  "Can I come in?" Reese asked.

  Nathan stepped back from the door and gestured. "Sure. Come on in."

  Reese removed his hat and entered. Nathan's wife, Sophie emerged from the kitchen to the right. She wiped her hands on her apron and smiled at Reese. "Morning," she announced. "You hungry? Got some breakfast here if you want it," she said pointing into the kitchen.

  Reese inhaled, smelling some mighty tempting food. "No thanks, Sophie," he said. Reese pointed at Nathan. "Just came to have a word with Nathan."

  "It's not about what happened up at the Ferguson place, is it?" Sophie asked glancing at Nathan.

  Nathan smiled. "Now, what did I tell you, Sophie. I don't want you getting concerned about that. I've heard what went on, and I'm planning on going out there this morning." Nathan looked at Reese. "You want, we can talk on the way over to the office."

  Reese started to follow Nathan to the front door. Undeterred, Sophie moved toward Reese. "How did your visit to Zane's place go? Did you meet Honora?" Sophie asked wide-eyed with curiosity.

  Reese shifted awkwardly on his heels. "It went fine, Sophie," he replied. "Just fine."

  She seemed disappointed by that response. He saw her frown. "You don't sound so sure, Reese." She squinted at him. "There wasn't some kind of a problem," she asked. "You'd tell me if there was, wouldn't you?"

  Reese stared at her a moment, trying to make sure his features didn't even betray a hint of what had occurred between him and Honora. Reese sighed. It felt bad hiding the truth from Sophie. He knew how much she wanted him and Honora to get back together again. He figured if she knew the facts, she might be spurred onto taking some action to remedy the situation. Reese didn't want any of that. Not for now, at least. He'd given his word and he was determined to keep it. Even if it hurt him to do so. And it surely did hurt, he reflected as he smiled at Sophie.

  "Honora and I are still the best of friends, Sophie," he explained. "We've known each other too long for it to be any other way. But, she's been through a lot recently, what with losing her parents, and all. I just want to make sure she's happy," he concluded.

  Sophie smiled sympathetically. He hoped it didn't sound too cryptic. And he hoped it wouldn't trigger in Sophie the desire to dig even deeper. For the moment, it would be best if things were left well enough alone.

  "You coming?" Nathan asked. Sophie glanced at Reese. "I'm glad you both had a nice time, Reese," she said. There was a wistful, even wise tone to Sophie's voice. Reese knew he hadn't fooled her. Not one bit.

  He followed Nathan out of the house. They both mounted and started up the street, slowly, so they could talk.

  "Tell me what happened," Reese said.

  Nathan frowned. "Seems some critter tried to set fire to the stable. Maybe that wasn't all he planned on burning. Luckily, someone was on hand to put a stop to it."

  "Honora?" Reese asked.

  Nathan grinned. "So, you heard."

  "It's all the talk with the ranch hands," Reese said. "Is she okay?"

  Nathan nodded. "She's fine." Reese felt relief sweep through him. "She chased the guy. Tried to stop him. But he kept on running. Got clean away. The hands put the fire out in time. None of the horses was hurt."

  "But, why would someone do that?" Reese speculated. "If they wanted to steal horses, they could have just done that without setting a fire."

  Nathan nodded. "Looks like it was meant to send a message. Scare the folks up at the ranch."

  That struck dread into Reese. He thought about how Honora must have felt when she'd been forced to deal with the situation. He knew she was a strong character. He'd seen plenty of evidence of that yesterday. But, putting herself in danger was a whole different matter, he told himself. Hadn't she realized she could have gotten herself hurt?

  'Who'd want to send a message?" Reese asked.

  Nathan looked at Reese and lifted a brow. "Who do you think?"

  Reese sighed. "Calhoun," he said in a heavy voice. "He was out at the ranch yesterday. Causing trouble, as usual."

  Nathan's interest flared. "He was? Doing what?"

  Reese frowned. "Making offers to buy the place."

  "Why would he want to do that?" Nathan asked. "Hasn't he got enough in this town?"

  "Seems like he's the type who's never satisfied," Reese observed. "You know what he wants with my family. Taking the ranch would be a dream come true for him."

  Nathan grinned. "But my wife is doing a fine job helping your family out on that score, isn't she?"

  Reese nodded. "She sure is. And we're mighty grateful for everything she's done getting wives for the Buchanan clan."

  "And what about you and Honora?" Nathan asked abruptly.

  It caught Reese off guard. He paused before replying. "Honora and I are good friends," he announced slowly.

  Nathan straightened in his saddle and gave Reese a puzzled look. "What does that mean?" he asked incredulously. "I thought you two were a certain wedding."

  Reese glanced at Nathan. "Appearances can be deceiving," he said. "As I said. For now, we're just good friends."

  "That sounds ominous," Nathan exclaimed. "I'm beginning to understand some of the things Sophie's been saying."

  Reese frowned. "What's she been talking about."

  "She's worried that Honora has cooled on you," Nathan said. "The fact that you didn't ask her to marry her before her parents took her to San Francisco seems to have changed how she feels about you. Now that she's back, she might just try and keep her distance from you. Keep you at arms length, so to speak."

  Reese was startled. "Sophie said all that?" he ejaculated.

  Nathan nodded and sighed. "My beautiful wife spends a whole lot of time thinking about other people and their affairs of the heart."

  "I can see she does," Reese replied barely able to contain his astonishment that Sophie could be so perceptive. Nathan sounded proud of his wife's abilities. Reese had to admit they were impressive. Now he understood why she had been so sympathetic to him back at the house. She already knew that things weren't so good between Reese and Honora.

  So, now that everyone knew what was going on, Reese asked himself what he could do about the situation. Just thinking about Honora being in danger made him worry. It was more than worry, he told himself. If anything happened to her, Reese knew he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He'd known Honora too long to just give in so easily. But, he didn't want to break that promise.