An Encounter of Courageous Hearts: A Historical Western Romance Book

by Lorelei Brogan

  The place was torn apart. The figurines and knick-knacks that had been on the mantle were scattered, some broken, across the floor.

  The chairs had been turned over and even the ashes from the fireplace were strewn about.

  Lana went into the kitchen to find the china they had smashed on the floor and the other dishes tossed about along with the chairs and the pots and pans. This hadn’t been a dog or some accident. Someone had done this on purpose, as if they were searching for something.

  Lana turned to Nick who had been picking a few things up, trying to right the place, even though Lana was certain that it would take a good amount of time to put the house back in order.

  “Wh- what happened here?”

  “I don’t know,” Nick’s tone was low, full of worry and anger, “Help me pick some of it up before Ginger gets in here.”

  Lana nodded and hurried into the parlor beside him, grabbing several broken things and dumping them into a crate that had been sitting there for wood.

  “Do you think that it could have to do with Daniel? Have you found anything out yet?”

  “Whoever did this, means business. Just let me handle it… please.”

  Lana’s heart filled with concern. She couldn’t just stand by while someone came after Ginger and the children. “Maybe if we knew the truth, we could figure out who is responsible and what they want.”

  Nick nodded, “I will. Just let me handle it, okay?”

  Lana dumped more broken stuff into the crate, then stood up. “I want to help. I care about Ginger too and keeping her safe. I’m sure there has to be something I can do. I can ask more questions around town.”

  “No!” The forcefulness in Nick’s voice startled Lana and she took a step back as he took one towards her. “I need you to stay out of this. Look at this place. This was obviously a message. These people are not fooling around, and I don’t need you to become their next target.”

  “I wouldn’t be a target. I might find something out. Why don’t you want me to help?”

  “Because you’re closer to Ginger than I am. If you draw attention to yourself, you are drawing attention to her. Don’t you understand that? You need to take a step back.”

  “No, you have been treating me like I don’t know anything from the moment I arrived. But I do know things and I can help. I can tell that you are worried about whatever this is. Please, just let me help.”

  Nick threw his hands up in the air as if he was giving up. “Fine, if there is something that you can help with, I will let you know. But you need to stay low. Don’t ask questions. Don’t trust people.”

  “Have you found out anything else about Daniel?”

  “Apparently he owed money to a man named Jake Gold. But it’s not much to go on. Derek’s been poking around at the saloon. Hopefully, he’ll turn something up soon. Right now, we need to focus on keeping Ginger, the children, and ourselves safe.”

  Nick continued to pick things up and Lana realized the conversation was over.

  She wasn’t sure that she was satisfied with what her part would be in this, but she knew she would have to be. At least Nick had somewhat consented to let her help, even if that was in a very small way.

  Despite their efforts, after fifteen minutes you could still tell that something had happened in the cabin. But they couldn’t keep Ginger, Lydia or Freddy out any longer.

  Lana watched as Nick talked with Ginger in hushed tones. She wondered what excuse he was giving for the torn apart cabin.

  Whatever it was, Ginger looked as if she believed it and didn’t even seem as upset and Lana would have expected her to be.

  Even though they had picked up a considerable bit of the big stuff, the cabin was clearly still a mess. Lana knew she had her work cut out for her. As soon as Nick left, she set to work.

  Chapter 19

  “Ginger! Come out here a second.” Daniel’s voice was filled with excitement as it filtered into the cabin from outside.

  Ginger wiped her hands on her apron and hurried outside. Nearly as soon as she did, Daniel was there in front of her, taking her hand and pulling her toward the barn.

  “Slow down, I can’t walk as fast as you anymore,” Ginger said with a giggle. She put a hand on her growing belly. They were expecting their first child soon.

  “Look, we finished it!” Daniel motioned to the pasture fence that made a neat circle around a big portion of pasture. “Just imagine it filled with calves!”

  “It looks wonderful.” Ginger leaned in and gave Daniel a hug, the best she could around her belly. She looked over his shoulder and offered a beaming smile to Nick. “Thank you for helping us with this.”

  Nick pushed his hat a little tighter onto his head, “No problem; anytime.”

  Ginger knew that Nick was having a hard time adjusting to life in the west, but he had such a knack for it. Eric didn’t stop raving about his work in town and he had certainly proved his abilities with his work on their fence.

  “Just imagine, one day we’ll be sitting on that porch there in front of the cabin. We will have gray hair and be watching our grandchildren romp here with the new cattle behind this fence. This is where it all starts.”

  Ginger looked up at Daniel with love bubbling inside of her chest. “You know, that sounds like a perfect picture.”

  Ginger sighed as old memories washed over her. She cherished each and every one. She knew that she could no longer make new ones and it made the old ones that much more valuable.

  She had convinced Lana to let her go outside for a little stroll, if she could call it that. Hobbling along with the help of her crutch and the pasture fence wasn’t exactly the sort of walk she liked taking but it beat lying cooped up in bed all day.

  Ginger took careful steps, leaning on her crutch as she went. She was so tired of the cumbersome cast on her leg and her inability to be useful. She was ready to walk again and to help with things around the ranch, but she was held back by her leg. The crutch caused her arm to ache when she walked for very long so she kept her outings to a minimum.

  With every pain it caused her and every inconvenience, memories from the accident came to mind. If only she could go back and warn Daniel that the horses would be spooked if they went out.

  She wished that they could have had the chance to live that scene he had talked about. Growing old together had been a dream that they’d believed in, almost counted on. Now nothing seemed certain.

  Ginger placed her hand on her stomach. She remembered how it had felt to be heavy with child, the two of them anxious to meet the tiny baby that would be Lydia.

  If only she could go back to those times! They had been so happy, so in love. Tears dripped down Ginger’s face as she remembered. She wondered if Daniel was watching her from heaven. She was sure that’s where he would have gone.

  Regardless of anything anyone might think of Daniel, she knew that he’d had a good heart and pure intentions.

  Ginger wiped a hand against her cheeks; it came away moist. She turned and started back toward the house. She had thought about abandoning this ranch, going back to the city to a place where she knew how to get by alone. But that would be wrong. She and Daniel had made plans for this ranch.

  She was going to keep it going for as long as she could out of respect to him.

  “How are you feeling?” Lana’s voice interrupted her journey. As much as Ginger appreciated Lana’s care, whenever she was offered help with simple things, she felt worse about her situation. She couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without people worrying about her.

  “I’m fine, just…it’s a lot to take in, you know? I guess I am still getting used to Daniel being gone. It doesn’t hit you at first.” Ginger had felt sad, devastated on those first couple of days.

  But then her moments had become blurred bits of activity and time passed quickly. Now it was as if Daniel’s absence was hitting her all over again. She expected to see him riding home with a full wagon of hay or coming into the cabin asking where
dinner was.

  With every expectation came disappointment and fresh remembrance that he was gone forever.

  “I know what you mean. I know it isn’t anything the same, but when I lost my parents…it was a long process to be able to live again.”

  “Do you think it’s going to get easier? The children have stopped asking for now, but I know it’s hard for them too.”

  Lana looked thoughtful for a moment, “Yeah, the other day Freddy said he thought he saw his pa at church.”

  Ginger’s heart panged with an ache, “They shouldn’t have had to lose him so young. I just keep asking myself what happened, what went wrong.”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Ginger. Whatever happened it wasn’t your fault. You can’t possibly think that it was.”

  Ginger moved slowly across the parlor and lowered herself into one of the chairs. “I don’t think it’s my fault, but I can’t help but think that I might have been able to do something to stop it.”

  Lana reached out and squeezed Ginger’s hand and their gazes met. “Ginger, we can only change our own actions and reactions. We can only influence those around us or what they do. We can’t make their choices for them or keep them safe. You are not responsible for anything that happened. All you are responsible for is making sure that your children are raised well, and you just have to do the best that you can.”

  Ginger knew that Lana was right, but there was still that little ache deep inside. She hoped that one day she would be able to move on and accept that Daniel was gone because of an accident and no one could have changed that, no matter how much they wanted to.

  “I’m going to get us some lunch made, okay? Let me know if you need anything.”

  Ginger nodded and watched Lana disappear into the kitchen. Her friend coming all the way out to Missouri to help her had been such a blessing. When she felt like this would be impossible or when she was anxious over her children, Lana was there to help.

  She knew that Nick had his concerns and she knew this life was a hard adjustment for Lana. But Lana hadn’t complained but instead had pushed through everything. Ginger limped her way back to the house and sat in the overstuffed chair in the parlor.

  A faint smile touched Ginger’s lips as she remembered her own introduction to the west. While her parents hadn’t been as wealthy or involved with society as Lana’s had, the move to the west had been hard for her at first.

  She had never had experience with gardens, chicken, children or farming. Daniel had treated her with patience and kindness, teaching her everything she needed to know, and he had tried not to tease her too much when she was afraid of new things.

  When Nick had followed her a year later, she had begun to feel like this place really could be her home forever.

  She wondered what their parents would think of them now. She could only hope that they would be proud, knowing both of their children had created lives for themselves and had stuck together.

  Ginger adjusted herself and leaned her head back on the chair. She needed to close her eyes and rest for a moment.

  She wasn’t sure why, but during the last couple of weeks she had started to feel exhausted all the time, despite the fact that she wasn’t doing much. In fact, she almost always felt ready for a rest or a nap.

  As she listened to Lana hum in the kitchen, she was fairly certain that her family would get on without her for a short time.

  Chapter 20

  Lana glanced into the parlor once more. It seemed that Ginger had fallen asleep. It wasn’t a first. In fact, more often than not it seemed that Ginger was resting. It was a good thing; the doctor had said that Ginger needed plenty of rest to heal quicker.

  A knock at the door made Lana hurry through the parlor. She hadn’t meant to wake Ginger, but either her passing through the room or the sound of the knock did.

  Lana threw the door open to find Christy standing there, a basket in her hands full of apples.

  “I do hope I’m not intruding, I thought I’d bring some apples by for Ginger,” she said smiling brightly and looking around behind Lana for Ginger.

  “Come in, come in!” Ginger called from behind Lana.

  Lana led Christy into the parlor and took a seat across from Ginger and her friend. She knew that what she was about to do was probably a terrible idea, but she had to try.

  Ever since they’d found the cabin torn apart, Lana had been itching to find some answers. She couldn’t exactly go traipsing into town all alone, but Christy knew this town.

  Nick had mentioned a Jake Gold. Maybe, if Daniel had owed this man money, he lived in town. Would it hurt to ask Christy if she knew him?

  Lana could practically hear Nick’s voice in her head telling her to stay out of it, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t just Ginger and the children on the line, but herself too.

  Ginger and Christy talked about children and the crops and about some woman who had missed the service on Sunday. When Lana saw the appropriate opening, she spoke.

  “I was at the general store the other day, and someone mentioned a Jake Gold. Do either of you know who he is?”

  Both of the women turned to look at her. There was a confused look on their faces. Lana knew now that her question probably sounded awkward and out of place.

  “I-um, I mean, there are a lot of Jakes in town. I think I know a handful of them. Why do you ask?”

  “There are a lot? I mean it’s a pretty small town.” Lana didn’t know what to say as to why she was asking. She knew she couldn’t tell the truth. She hadn’t really thought this through and now that she did, she realized it was a very bad idea, but there was no backing up now.

  “There is, I mean there’s the Jake that owns the fruit farm over the hill,” Ginger’s face scrunched as if she was thinking.

  “And there’s a Jake that works at the wood mill,” Christy added.

  “And Jake at the general store,” Ginger added.

  “So, do you guys know all these people? How long have they been in town? Are they rich?”

  Ginger giggled. “Why so many questions? Are you looking for a husband with the name Jake?” The two women started laughing together, and though Lana attempted to appear she was joining in, she really wanted them to answer.

  “No, I’m just curious. You know, since I’ll probably be living here for a long time, I want to get to know the people in town more. I remembered a Jake from the general store and I heard someone talking about a Jake Gold. It was just a question.”

  “Oh, Jake from the general store,” Christy turned to her with a smile. “I have to feel bad for the poor man. It must be hard living with the problems he has with his speech.”

  Ginger nodded as if agreeing. “I know. I am glad he found a place in our town though. I know not all places are as inviting.”

  “How long ago did he move here?” Lana pulled her memory of Jake from the general store into her mind. There had been something about him that had felt off. He had stared at her and used the strangest sentences to say things. But Nick had mentioned that he had a problem speaking and she’d accredited it to that.

  “I think he came around six months ago. He apparently lost his family and so then he needed a job and the Franks gave him one at the general store. It can be hard to talk to him sometimes, but he is a nice man,” Ginger said. “I don’t remember his last name though. I guess he was just Jake to me.”