ROMANCE: Mail Order Bride: A Sheriff's Bride (A Clean Christian Inspirational Historical Western Romance) (New Adult Short Stories)

by Nathan Adams

  When Cole called for a break, Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, but her relief was short lived when she realized she still had lunch to prepare. By the time the sun had begun to set, her hands were cracked and bloodied, her back felt as though it had been whipped, her legs were cramping, and her muscles screamed with pain. Yet, still there was more work to be done and Rachel would not allow herself to ask for rest.

  In her mind’s eye she saw the look on Cole’s face when he had examined her hands and she was desperate to prove him wrong. She was desperate to show him that a privileged young socialite could be more than just her fickle upbringing. It was more than just Cole however; Rachel had something to prove to herself as well. She had made a decision that had turned her life upside down. Now she had a duty to live it to the fullest and prove to herself that she was strong enough to survive that decision.

  It was closing in on midnight when Rachel finally made it back to her bed. Her body was screaming with pain and there was nothing she could do to ease the discomfort. She collapsed onto her bed without bothering to take off her clothes and mentally prepared herself for the fact that she would have to do it all again tomorrow.

  Chapter Five

  Three weeks had passed since Rachel found herself in Montana, and already, a number of changes had transformed her into someone she barely recognized. Her skin was at least two shades darker, her hair had lost its silky sheen, her skin was cracked and blistered, and there always some part of her body that complained with pain.

  Rachel was not so stubborn that she ignored the good that came long after three weeks of hard labour. She was stronger; she could see the proof in her muscled arms and her lean physique. This strength had resulted in an awareness of her body and she was starting to see the benefits of an active lifestyle. Day by day she noticed that her limbs became less sore and she was more able to tolerate the strain of her duties.

  Still, despite the progress she had made, it felt as though she could no nothing right.

  She was not a natural rider and the horses seemed to be able to sense it. Aware of her inexperience, they cantered where they pleased, ignoring her prods and commands. Cleaning out the stables was a messy ordeal and a strain on her back but she did it without complaint. Even cooking posed an unexpected difficulty. There were a number of different vegetables that Cole grew himself that Rachel could use for meals, but there was little seasoning to be found and very few ways of making the meals interesting.

  Twice a day, she would trudge down to the river and fill two large pails with water so that she could boil it for drinking. Washing the clothes turned out to be a much longer process than she had anticipated. It required great strength and resilience to be able to scrub out the dirt and dust of a full day’s work.

  Working the fields was perhaps the biggest challenge she had to endure. She hated raking the land, especially because the horses seemed unwilling to move whenever she was in command. She wasted a great deal of time, standing in the sun, trying to coax them forward. Cole was a silent teacher. He led by example and if Rachel missed something he would continue on anyway. His answers to her questions were short and sometimes confusing, but pride stopped her from asking again.

  Jane was an impatient teacher who was prone to giggling fits and sly insults when Rachel made a mistake or did something she shouldn’t have. The other ranch hands that Cole hired had no time to teach her at all, and so Rachel had to be alert and watchful if she expected to pick anything up in time to make herself useful.

  Rachel also learned that she had to watch out for the rattlesnakes that slid between the rocks on the outskirts of the ranch. She had been warned about how dangerous they were and she kept her eyes open every time she made a trip to the river and back.

  The one good thing about her long hours and constant work was that she had no time to doubt her decision in coming to Montana. There was no free time left in the day to fall back into thoughts of worry and regret. By the time she got back to her room at the close of the day, she was so exhausted that she never needed any help to try to sleep anymore. She just did, the moment her head hit the hard mattress beneath her.

  The one thing besides her daily chores that did occupy her thoughts was her reclusive future husband. He had not broached the topic of their marriage since the day she had asked him when it would take place. He had told her that they would go down to the courthouse when he found some free time, but after a few weeks on the ranch, Rachel was beginning to believe that free time was just an old luxury that had no place in her new life anymore.

  It was coming upon four weeks when Rachel entered the stables one night pulling Silver along in her wake. The horse appeared as tired as she was as Rachel walked her into her stall and closed the door behind her. It was only then that she realized that Cole was standing just behind her, tending to Canter and Callie.

  “I didn’t see you there,” she said lamely.

  Cole didn’t respond. It was as though he refused to partake in any conversation that wasn’t entirely necessary. Rachel had grown up in a society that required idle chatter to fill the gaps in conversation, and so she felt obligated to attempt to talk to him, even though she had nothing to say.

  “How was your day?” Rachel asked taking another stab at it.

  Cole fixed her with his cool blue-eyed gaze. “The same,” he replied shortly.

  Rachel felt her patience slip away as she took a step toward him. “Don’t you think it would be nice to ask me how my day was?” she asked him.

  She saw a glimmer of surprise flit across his eyes but his expression never changed. He looked at her calmly and continued to brush down his mare. “Not really.”

  “Why not?” Rachel demanded.

  “Because I know how your day went,” Cole replied. “So what’s the point in asking?”

  “Because I’m to be your wife. We should share these things with one another,” Rachel said, struggling to put up an argument that Cole could not refute.

  He looked at her with confusion. “Why?”

  Rachel sighed in frustration. “It would be nice if we could share a conversation at some point, to get to know each other better.”

  Cole seemed to consider this, but Rachel was never quite sure precisely what he was thinking. The only thing she was left with was her assumptions and the hope that perhaps they were right.

  “If you like,” he said unexpectedly.

  Rachel paused for a moment, losing her train of thought. “If I like what?” she asked.

  “If you like, we could have a conversation,” Cole said. “We’re here now.”

  “Oh,” Rachel said taken back. “Oh.”

  Cole raised his eyebrows at her.

  Rachel smiled. “I’m sorry, that took me off guard a little bit. I do have things I’d like to talk about.”

  “Alright,” Cole said.

  “Have you always lived on this ranch?” Rachel asked tentatively.

  “My whole life,” Cole replied. “I was born in the back room. Jane was born in yours.”

  “So your father was a rancher?”

  “As far as I know my whole family were ranchers.”

  “And do you like it?” Rachel asked, hoping that didn’t sound like a stupid question.

  Cole paused for a moment before he answered. It was obvious that he had never thought about it before. “It’s my life. I don’t like or dislike it. It’s just what I do.”

  “And Jane?” Rachel asked. “Will she take it over one day?”

  “I hope so,” Cole answered.

  “Really?” Rachel said before she could stop herself.

  “You sound surprised by that,” Cole said.

  “I just- it’s a harsh life for a woman.”

  “It’s a harsh life for anyone, man or woman,” Cole said. “At least this will be hers and she won’t have to depend on nobody.”

  Rachel nodded as she moved opposite Cole, until Callie’s long nose was between them. She reached up and stroked the horse right betwee
n the eyes like she had seen Jane do. “You know I was a little shocked when I first came here,” she admitted.

  “About?”

  “Just the harshness of life,” Rachel explained softly. “I was so caught up in the difficulties of it that I failed to see the beauty. There’s something lovely about life here. It is difficult, and it’s wild, and harsh, but there’s nothing insincere about it.” Rachel broke off her strange explanation and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t think that made very much sense.”

  “No,” Cole said looking her straight in the eye. “It made sense to me.”

  Rachel smiled. In that moment, she thought she saw Cole’s eyes soften, as though he were warming towards her. It was the closest thing to a smile she could hope for and that filled her with some measure of hope.

  Caught up in that fleeting moment of connection, Rachel’s hand dropped from Callie’s nose and the horse butted her head against Rachel in reminder. Smiling, Rachel resumed her stroking.

  “She likes you,” Cole said.

  “She might be the only one,” Rachel sighed. “The other horses are weary of me at best.”

  “That’s because they sense you’re uncomfortable around them,” Cole told her.

  “Well it’s hard not to be,” Rachel said. “They’re gigantic.”

  “They’re gentle giants if you know how to treat ‘em,” Cole said. “They just need to get to know you.”

  “All the same, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to ride without a saddle like you and Jane do.”

  “That’s what my wife told me when she first came to this ranch,” Cole said. “And within six months she had proved herself wrong.”

  “What was she like, your wife?” Rachel asked.

  Immediately, she regretted asking the question. She saw a hood fall over Cole’s eyes and the rigidity slipped back into his posture. “She was fearless,” he said shortly. Then he put down the brush, stroked the horse gently and walked away. Rachel thought he would leave without another word, but he stopped abruptly at the stable doors and turned around.

  “Goodnight Rachel,” he said with a tip of head.

  “Goodnight Cole,” Rachel whispered back.

  Chapter Six

  “Please, Canter,” Rachel begged as she tried to cajole the horse into moving.

  The sun was hot against her back, and sweat had matted the hair to her forehead. She was hungry, tired, and angry all at the same time. She had burned breakfast that morning, and while walking up from the river she had come across a rattlesnake. She had been so terrified that she had stumbled backwards and the bucket of water she had been carrying tipped backwards onto her.

  Getting back to the ranch late had pushed back all her work for the day which meant when she finally got to the field with Canter, the sun was at its worst. The horse seemed as tired as she was and he had walked on half-heartedly before finally stopping in his tracks and refusing to budge.

  “Canter!” Rachel all but yelled. “You have to move.”

  She gave the horse a nudge but she might as well not have touched him at all for all the good it did. Frustrated and exhausted, Rachel sunk onto the muddy ground without worrying about her clothes and rested her head on her knees.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Cole’s voice was sharp as he entered the field on foot “You’re supposed to be working that animal.”

  “That is what I am trying to do,” Rachel bit back. “He refuses to move.”

  “Course he does,” Cole said. “It’s hot and he’s lazy. Your job is to keep him moving.”

  “Funny,” Rachel snapped. “You didn’t mention the specifics of my job when you put an ad in the paper asking for a wife.”

  Cole stared at her for a moment. “I’m a rancher, and everyone knows what is expected of a rancher’s wife. If you expected to be sitting pretty up in that house with maids and houseboys at your beck and call then you made a big mistake in coming here. But that ain’t on me; that was your choice. If you’re too weak to handle this kind of life then-

  “Weak?” Rachel interrupted fiercely as she rose from the ground, mud and muck staining her trousers. “Weak? I have been here every single day working just as hard as you have, trying to contribute as much as I can with the experience I have, with no help and no kind word to be had from you.”

  “I wasn’t aware you were looking for praise,” Cole said mockingly.

  “Not praise,” Rachel said indignantly. “I was looking for some sort of encouragement, some small sign that I was doing alright, that I was of some help, no matter how small. I just wanted to be of use, I wanted to live a life of use, that’s why I came here in the first place.”

  “I don’t have time to hold your hand and pat you on the back every step of the way,” Cole said tonelessly.

  “Then you have completely missed the point of marriage,” Rachel snapped as she stormed of the field. She kept walking without direction until she realized she didn’t know where she was going. She stopped short and took a moment to calm down before she headed toward the house.

  Sick of always being mired in mud and dirt, Rachel changed her clothes and lay flat on her bed as she stared up at the roof. After two minutes had passed her by, she came to the realization that she had lost the ability to sit still. Sighing, she remembered that the clothes were on the line to dry so she decided to go and check on them. She had almost reached the back of the house when a sound caught her attention and she stood in place trying to catch it.

  She took a few steps closer and realized that it was Jane’s voice and she seemed to be talking to someone. Rachel edged closer and she saw that Jane was sitting on the steps of the back porch with her back to Rachel. She tried to look for whomever Jane seemed to be talking to but no one seemed to be around. It was only after a moment that Rachel realized that Jane was talking to someone who wasn’t there.

  “I rode Silver again today,” Jane said to the wind. “I know why you loved her so much. She’s such a good horse; I don’t even have to give her commands. It’s like she knows where I want to go. Sometimes I ride her through the footpaths between the hills and when we reach the other side, she runs and I feel as though I’m flying.”

  “Dad’s told me not to do that but I can’t help it. When I grow up I’m gonna buy a whole load of horses. I’m gonna buy twenty, even thirty horses, and I’m gonna let them have the run of the place. I’ve picked out names for some of them. I like Eagle for a boy and Storm for a girl. I think I might name one of them after you… but it’ll have to be a really beautiful one. I think –

  Jane’s words stopped short as Rachel’s foot found a creaky floorboard. She flipped around and caught Rachel only a few feet away as her eyes narrowed immediately. “How long were you there?” she asked accusingly.

  “I’m sorry Jane,” Rachel said quickly. “I didn’t mean –

  “Liar,” Jane yelled as she jumped to her feet. “I don’t know why you’re here. I wish you’d just go back to where you came from.”

  Jane turned back around, jumped over the steps in front of her and raced off in the direction of the mountains. Rachel rushed to the door and stared off after her, wondering if she should stay where she was or follow after her. After a second’s hesitation, she rushed down the three rickety stairs and ran after Jane.

  For a moment she thought she had lost the child but then she found Jane sitting in a corner, surrounded by rock and rough-looking plants that had no beauty to them. She waited until her breathing had slowed, and then she approached Jane slowly, hoping she wouldn’t bolt.

  “Jane,” Rachel started slowly.

  “Leave me alone,” Jane replied harshly.

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Rachel said imploringly. “I just am having a really bad day and I came back to the house to be alone.”

  Jane just sat there, staring into the distance with her blue eyes that perfectly resembled her father’s, and said nothing. Rachel moved closer tentatively and lowered herself into a sitting
position beside Jane. Much to her relief, the girl stayed seated and did not move away.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” Rachel asked.

  She saw a flicker of curiosity pass across Jane’s face but Rachel knew she would never admit to it. Encouraged, Rachel continued. “I used to have a sister.”

  Jane’s face snapped up to meet her own. “You did?” she asked breaking her self-imposed silence.

  “Yes,” Rachel nodded. “She was a little older than me, and she died when I was about your age.”

  Jane’s eyes softened. “How?”

  “She got very sick,” Rachel explained. “And there was nothing the doctors could do about it.”

  “Oh,” Jane said, sounding genuinely sad for her.

  “We were very close and when she died, I was inconsolable. You see we were never very close with our parents. They looked like us and talked like us, but they were different. So we clung to each other for love and comfort and support. And when Alice died, I felt as though I had lost my family. I felt completely and utterly alone. But you know the one thing that helped me? Even after she was gone, I still kept talking to her as though she were still with me,” Rachel confided.

  Jane looked at her sharply, and slowly realization dawned. “Did that help you?” she asked in a low voice.

  “It did at the time,” Rachel nodded. “Very much.”

  “Do you still talk to your sister?”

  “Not anymore,” Rachel admitted. “My mother caught me one day and it upset her very much. So I stopped, but I never stopped being lonely.”

  “Is that why you came here?” Jane asked suddenly.

  Rachel smiled sadly. “I suppose it is.”

  Jane nodded and for the first time since Rachel had met her, she looked like a little girl, a little girl who had the weight of the world on her shoulders.