A Long Way to Love: A Historical Western Romance Book

by Lorelei Brogan

  He didn’t know if he should feel good about that or worried about it. The thing that made him feel the worst was that he didn’t know if she felt remotely the same way about him. He did know that Elise would never use him the way Veronica had. She would never take advantage of him. But that meant very little. Trusting his heart to someone, giving away that sort of trust and confidence was dangerous, and Ronan wasn’t sure it was a good idea to do it, even with someone as kind as Elise.

  He sighed. Things had gotten so complicated. He’d never thought that this would happen when he had insisted on taking Elise to California.

  Ronan shook his head and sat down in a seat in the parlor. He was ready to go to sleep for the night. As soon as supper was over, and he’d finished some chores with Jorge, he was going to get some rest. Everything would probably seem better in the morning.

  ***

  Over the next week, Ronan fell into a routine with Elise. They would walk to work together in the morning. Sometimes, Jorge would go with them, and other times he would stay back at the ranch.

  Ronan enjoyed the days when it was just him and Elise much more than the days when Jorge would go with them. He liked his friend’s company, and he didn’t mind some conversation. But the conversations he shared with Elise when they were alone were some of the most meaningful.

  Ronan stared out at the river. He was starting to get accustomed to his routine at the wood mill. The monotonous part of it was still the same. Even so, it was nice to know what to expect, and the other men who worked there weren’t all that bad.

  Ronan wondered what it would be like to stay in Las Cruces and live there long term. He didn’t know if he would be able to get accustomed to it or not.

  For now, he was going to do his best because that was what he needed to do to get them to California faster. He was trying his best to stay focused on their goal and not think about the things that were a distraction. Like the fact that he was starting to love Elise strongly. He wanted to protect her and be there for her, not just to get her to California, but forever. He just wished he could get up the courage to tell her that.

  Chapter 34

  Elise set a large stack of dishes in the basin to soak. She had been at the diner since dawn. It had gotten a lot easier to work in the kitchen. She enjoyed it. Meg always knew how to carry on a good conversation, and between the two of them, they managed to take care of all the work quickly.

  Elise had learned that Meg wanted to start her own diner. Elise wasn’t sure if that was possible, and she was certain that if it were possible, it would be hard. But if there was anyone who Elise thought could do it, that would be Meg.

  Elise smiled at the thought of Meg running a diner and telling everyone what to do. She looked up and saw the position of the sun. It was close to lunchtime. Maybe Ronan would be there soon.

  “Why do you look so anxious?” Meg asked Elise.

  Elise shook her head. “I’m not anxious.”

  “Yes, you are. You keep glancing down the road.”

  “I was just wondering if Ronan was planning on coming to eat his afternoon meal here. That’s all.”

  Meg shook her head. The look on her face was clear.

  “What?” Elise demanded indignantly.

  “Nothing, it’s just, you clearly love that man. Why haven’t you told him yet?”

  “I will soon.” Elise did plan on it. She had been thinking about it all morning.

  “You should follow your heart and tell him how you feel.”

  “How did you know that your husband loved you?” Elise asked. She had noticed the way that Meg talked about her husband. She always mentioned the sweet things that they did for each other in their relationship. Elise had decided that if she was going to marry, she wanted to feel how Meg did about her husband. She was starting to wonder if she felt that way toward Ronan.

  “I just knew. It was this special feeling deep down that I felt every single time that he was near. I can’t describe it. Just tell him, Elise. Stop torturing yourself.”

  Elise grinned. Meg was right. She needed to tell Ronan, sooner rather than later.

  “I’m going to step out for a break, all right? Maybe Ronan is outside and got distracted.” Elise and Meg had agreed that if one needed a break, the other would take care of things if possible. With two cooks in the back, it was a fairly easy job as long as it wasn’t during one of the day’s main meal times. For today, they had just finished up the lunch hour.

  “All right. It’s kind of slow in here anyway.” Meg gave her a friendly smile. Elise waved slightly and headed outside. It was nice to get out for a little while after working all morning. She stretched her back and rolled her shoulders, trying to dispel the aches from standing and carrying dishes around.

  Her eyes landed on a small road that led behind the diner. It went further into town through the mazes of homes and buildings. Curiosity got the best of Elise, and she figured that it couldn’t hurt to explore for a moment.

  Elise walked around the side of the diner. Las Cruces was a much bigger town than any Elise had ever seen. It had big buildings and rows and rows of houses and businesses. She found herself walking down one street and following it while she ran her eyes over every single building on the way.

  When she realized she had strayed further than intended, she headed down a second street that was smaller than the last, doing her best to find her way back to the diner. She shouldn’t have gone off the main street. Ever since she had arrived, she hadn’t had enough time to explore with all the work she was doing.

  She felt a nervous chill run up her spine. She was all alone. The road she was walking down was a narrow one, mostly with the backs of buildings against it. It suddenly occurred to her that this might not be the safest place to walk. She was suddenly very aware of how alone she truly was and how dangerous this could be.

  When Elise looked up and saw a figure ahead of her, she felt relief. But her relief only lasted for a few seconds. The person in front of her wasn’t just any person or a stranger she didn’t know. It was Hank.

  As soon as the fact registered in her mind, she turned and ran in the other direction. She could hear his footsteps behind her, catching up as she went.

  When his arms went around her, and his hand went over her mouth, she tried to scream, but it was no use. She tried to do what Ronan had taught her, but her opponent was too strong, and no matter how much she struggled or shoved, she had no leverage. She hated the feeling of not being able to move.

  She tried to scream again, but his hand was pressed so hard against her mouth that no sound escaped.

  “Woah, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to take you somewhere where we can talk.”

  Elise didn’t stop struggling. But the more she tried, the tighter his arms were.

  “Stop, so I can let go.” Hank’s voice was quiet and demanding, and it sent chills down Elise’s back.

  She forced herself to calm down. Her limbs were shaking, and the fear in her heart was palpable.

  “That’s better. Now, I will take my hand off your mouth, but I have my pistol here. If you try to scream, you will have to worry about treating an injury while we talk. I suggest you keep quiet. Do you understand?”

  Elise nodded against his hand, and he slowly removed it. She was grateful to be able to breathe normally and not have his skin against hers again.

  “What do you want, Hank? I didn’t do anything to you.” Elise fought to keep her voice at a low volume. All she wanted to do was scream and beg for help. But she felt the pistol he’d spoken about pressed against her back, right above her hands, which he had tied tightly together.

  Elise could hardly move them at all; she wondered if she could use Ronan’s technique for that. But she wasn’t about to try in front of Hank. She needed to wait until she was alone.

  “Let’s just say I need you for some motivation. I am sure that once Ronan finds out that I have you, he is going to be more cooperative for the plan I have in m
ind for him.”

  “What are you going to do to him?” Elise heard the tremble in her voice. “How did you even get away from the Indians?”

  “Oh, so you saw me with them? My plan is none of your business. As for the Indians, I agreed to hand you over when I was done with you both. But it doesn’t matter. They let me go because I paid them a large amount of money. Soon, I will hand you over to them too, and they will be even more grateful to me.”

  “I know that you and Ronan have a history together, but why can’t you just let it go and move on? What is the point of messing with him? Wouldn’t it be safe for you to get far away from him and the sheriff’s law enforcement that I am sure Las Cruces has?”

  Elise didn’t know if her words would have any effect, but if there was the slightest chance that she could convince Hank to give up on whatever he had planned, she was going to try and do it.

  “You are quite naïve, aren’t you? Don’t you worry your pretty little head about my intentions. You’ll find out about them soon enough.”

  Elise swallowed hard. How had she ended up here? If only she hadn’t left the diner. She fought tears as Hank led her away and wondered if she would ever see Ronan again. For that matter, she wondered if she would ever see Jorge, Anita, or Meg again. She was starting to fear that the answer might be no.

  Chapter 35

  Ronan whistled a tune as he walked down the road. He was looking forward to getting something to eat at the diner and seeing Elise before the end of the day. He’d told her he would be coming by. He’d meant to go earlier, but the day got away from him.

  He hurried his pace, anxious to get there.

  When he arrived at the diner, he was surprised not to see Elise. She had mentioned she usually was the one checking on customers and bringing them their food.

  Ronan sat down at one of the empty tables. Maybe coming late had been a good thing since there didn’t seem to be many people right then. After several long minutes, a young woman approached him. She looked older than Elise.

  “You must be Ronan; Elise was quite anxious for you to arrive. Did you see her outside?” the young woman asked.

  “Outside? What do you mean?”

  “She said she was going to take a break and make sure you weren’t outside.”

  “When was that?” Ronan’s heart started beating faster, and his back pricked with anxiety. He hadn’t seen Elise outside, and it wouldn’t make sense for her to head home or anything like that. Why wasn’t she in the restaurant? She wasn’t one to not care for her job. She’d mentioned many times how important her job was to her.

  “That was nearly forty minutes ago. I did expect her to come back by now. Most of the time she only takes five-minute breaks or less.” The woman’s eyebrows knit together. “I’m Meg, by the way. I don’t know if Elise mentioned me.”

  “She did. She talks about you a lot.” Ronan stood from the table. “I am going to go out there and find her. I don’t think it is normal for her to disappear for so long.”

  Meg nodded. “Now that you mention it, I am worried about her. But I don’t think she would have gone far, and besides, even though it’s a big town, I don’t believe it is that dangerous.”

  Ronan listened to Meg absentmindedly. Maybe it wasn’t a dangerous town normally, but they’d made a very smart criminal quite angry with them, and even though the Indians would be kept at bay by the town, it was very possible that Hank could have followed them in later under the cover of darkness.

  Ronan hurried outside and spotted Elise’s footprints right away. The road was dusty, and it hadn’t rained. It also appeared that no one else had walked that way after Elise had.

  He followed the footprints. They led down one road, and after a good ten-minute walk, they turned and headed down another in the direction of the diner. The further he followed the tracks, the more uneasy he became. He had no idea what was going on, but he did know that wherever Elise was, it probably wasn’t good. When he spotted markings in the dust that looked like a struggle had happened, his heart sank.

  “Looking for someone?” a deep voice said from behind him.

  Ronan’s shoulders stiffened, and he drew in a sharp breath. He knew that voice. He would know it anywhere. He spun around, gluing his eyes to Hank, who was standing a short distance away. Ronan pulled out his pistol, pointing it at the man who he had vowed to put behind bars.

  “You won’t shoot me. If you do, you will never see the woman you love again.”

  “What did you do to her? If you hurt her … I swear I will–”

  “You’ll what? It’s not like you can do much from where you are standing.” Hank sneered.

  “I can, and I will. If you hurt her, I will have no reason to leave you alive. I will kill you.”

  Hank shook his head. “You jump to conclusions much too quickly. I don’t need to hurt Elise. I simply want you to do something for me to get her back. Consider it a favor. Then in return, I’ll give you back the girl.”

  Ronan clenched his jaw. “What favor?” he bit out.

  “I need your help getting someone out of jail. See, I was trying to think of the best way to exact my revenge on you and Elise for your terrible hospitality during our time together, and then I heard that a good friend of mine was arrested in this town.”

  “What does this have to do with me?” Ronan asked, “Or Elise, for that matter. She has nothing to do with any of this. Let her go and deal with me. You don’t have to involve her in this.”

  “Actually, I do. She is a big part of this because she is important to you. Surely you can understand that.”

  Ronan fought the urge to shoot the man. He knew that if he gave in to what he wanted to do, he would regret it. Elise’s best chance was if he listened to Hank and tried to find a way to outsmart him.

  “What it has to do with you is that you have the connections to get him out of jail. You could break him out, tell the sheriff you are taking him somewhere else; I don’t care really. The thing is, I want my friend out of jail, and you want Elise back. It is pretty simple.”

  “That’s what you want?” Ronan wanted to make sure he understood Hank’s terms one hundred percent.

  “Yes. Oh, and some horses and supplies to leave town. Surely, you know about getting those. It can be quite difficult, don’t you think?” Hank’s eyes gleamed, and Ronan’s anger flared.

  “Where do you want to meet?”

  “We will meet in the clearing that is directly behind the saloon. It’s about thirty feet into the woods. I’ll be waiting there. If you contact the sheriff, I’ll not be there at the meeting, and believe me, I will know because I have friends everywhere in this town.”

  Ronan put his pistol away and watched Hank leave. He hated to watch Hank walk away, but he had no choice. He needed to come up with a way and fast to convince Hank that he had his friend and make a clean getaway with Elise and whichever criminal Hank was trying to free. Ronan thought carefully about his next action. He needed to go and talk with a friend.

  ***

  As soon as Ronan saw the person he wanted leaving the sheriff’s office, he pushed away from the building he’d been leaning on. He hoped that Hank’s supposed friends wouldn’t report him being near the sheriff’s office as talking with the sheriff.

  While Ronan knew he couldn’t have the sheriff help him, he still needed help and access to the sheriff’s office. It was the only way he could get access to the criminal.

  Once the deputy that Ronan was watching turned off the main road, Ronan hurried behind him, trying to discreetly catch up. Deputy Benjamin was a friend of Ronan’s, well, an acquaintance anyway. The last time Ronan had been in Las Cruces, he’d done a job with Benjamin, and they had gotten along well.