One Last Letter

by Pema Donyo

  “Oh, and I insult you?”

  “I never said that.”

  “You barely know him.”

  “I know he has never done anything to disprove his character. His respectable breeding came before him, but he has lived up to it as an honest man.”

  He scowled. “You think I don’t know I still belong with the ranch hands?” He reached out to place his hands on the railing, spaced on either side of Evelyn’s head. She stood there, pinned underneath him, as still as a train track. “New money’s never been accepted in this traditional town. It doesn’t matter how much wealth I earned in California. I’ll never reach the social standing of an old family like Cooper’s.”

  His breath came out in hard puffs of air. Her honeysuckle scent overwhelmed him now.

  She overwhelmed him.

  She prodded his chest, her index finger jabbing out her anger against him. “You do not insult Breighton and the entire town of Hamilton. You have no right. Just because someone is from an established family does not mean they discriminate.”

  “Reckon you’re lying.” He leaned closer, his lips gravitating toward hers.

  “I am not!” She stamped her foot. “I do not discriminate!” But as soon as the words left her mouth, the color drained from her face and all the fire faded out.

  “Yes, you did.” He leaned closer still, until a simple turn of his head would have landed her lips on his. “The reason you rejected me the first time was because I wasn’t from your social class.”

  Her voice became quiet. “I thought I could pursue a career. But then the ranch needed help, and I thought . . .”

  “You thought marrying someone wealthy was your only choice.”

  Evelyn nibbled her lower lip. “I . . . I was so young . . . I was not thinking straight,” she managed finally. Her shoulders slumped in a sign of defeat.

  He remained silent, his breath mingling with hers as the warm air circulated between their lips. The cold darkness after sunset meant he could see her breath in puffs of air. The cloud of warm breath mixed with the unspoken words floating between them.

  “You say you miss me. You say you made a mistake.” His voice lowered, barely above a whisper.

  “I did miss you.”

  “But just reckon—just reckon if you could go back to that moment before you ended us, if I’d told you to run away with me to California . . .”

  “We cannot repeat the past, Jesse.”

  “I’m not asking for a repeat. I’m asking for an answer. Would you have gone with me?”

  Silence hung over them like a veil. Her eyes clouded over, making her expression unreadable. Seconds ticked by. With each moment, his anger gave way to acceptance.

  Finally, Evelyn tore her eyes away from his and stared down at the laces of her shoes. “I need to go back to the house.” She pushed against him to get out of his hold, and he stepped back, dropping his arms at the unexpected contact.

  He watched her run back to the house, as far away from him as she could. Her black high-top shoes pattered against the wooden floorboards of her porch as she hurried away.

  He started to walk after her, but paused when he passed by the tree. An envelope lay in the tree’s knothole, but not his own. The letter he’d written to her was gone, replaced by a new one. He swallowed hard. Probably a letter informing her secret admirer that he had to stop writing to her.

  He picked it up, nevertheless, and brought it to his room. He paused in the hallway when he passed by her door, dying to knock and talk to her again. He ignored the urge instead, and picked up his pace to reach the end of the hallway.

  As soon as he’d entered his room, he tore open the envelope and set the letter down on the desk. He lit a nearby candle, and read the letter.

  Dearest,

  I must admit, I still love receiving your letters. You are very bad, indeed, for I am already courting a man named John Cooper. You may know him? Tall, well-spoken, extremely persistent. Of course you know him. You cannot argue with the persistence part I added in there. I think even you would find the description accurate. You, my admirer, seem to look past all my flaws, and for that I am grateful. I am grateful you have started writing to me again. How one would ever think of marrying me, I’ll never understand. But I have given you my permission to court me and my permission still stands.

  Love,

  Evelyn

  Jesse furrowed his brow. Permission? She has to be joking, of course.

  He dropped the letter on the desk. It didn’t matter. The contents of the letter were as he’d feared. She wanted him to stop writing to her. She’d only penned the letter to inform her admirer that she was in love with John Cooper.

  His mind drifted back to the image of her slamming the porch door shut behind her. She’d shut the door on him, as well.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Annie powdered her nose for the fifteenth time that hour. She scrutinized herself in her vanity, admiring her work. “I swear, the moment Jesse Greenwood walked through that general store door and into my life, I knew it was love.”

  Evelyn smoothed out her dress, creasing away the wrinkles. Annie would never stop talking about him. “Do not be too hasty to label your feelings as love.”

  Her friend whirled around and clasped her hands below her chin. She could practically see the stars shining in her eyes.

  “I know you two used to carry on a relationship, but that was more than seven years ago, Evelyn. It is all right, isn’t it? I know he has not asked to court me for certain, but he did suddenly invite me to the wedding as if emotion had seized his throat and his wonderful lips burst out the words his beating heart was dying to express!” Annie flung her arms out, nearly hitting the vanity mirror and causing Evelyn to flinch.

  She thought back to his words from the other night. When he’d cornered her against the corral, pinning her beneath him—

  Evelyn flushed, and stamped out the inner yearning she felt inside. “We were together so long ago. I’m with John now. If Jesse spends time with you, it is none of my business anymore.”

  But Annie paid no attention to Evelyn’s words. She carried on, preoccupied with her future life. “It’s only a hope that he’ll court me, of course. But I believe he will. No, I know he will!” Annie’s eyes were alight with excitement. “I think he invited me to the wedding today as a precursor of what’s to come.”

  “What’s to come?”

  “Why, the wedding between Jesse and me, of course! This is a prediction of our own impending marriage.”

  The years had changed Evelyn, but not Annie Inglewood. She was just as much of a hopeless romantic as she was at sixteen. “I know we do not usually agree on matters, but you should be practical.”

  “But I am a woman in love! How could I possibly be practical?”

  Evelyn smiled in spite of herself. “Wedding, hmm? You never spoke of him like this before he left for California.”

  “Oh, but haven’t you noticed how incredibly handsome he’s become?” Annie’s lips parted, and Evelyn was afraid she would start drooling. “I always thought he was good-looking, but you were with him at the time.” Annie unclasped her hands to place them on her cheeks. “I will never flirt with him if you want him. Just say the word, and I will drop all feelings for him without so much as a second glance.”

  Then it is not love, Evelyn wanted to add. You should not be able to let him go so easily. “I did not know you were soft on him, even then.”

  Annie batted her lashes. “I didn’t know either. Maybe that’s the nature of love. It just emerges all of a sudden and takes you by surprise when you least expect it. You think your life is going one way, you think you’re going to settle with someone, and then suddenly love turns your life in a different direction.”

  Seeing her friend so happy once more gave her joy, even if the cause didn’t.

  Jesse’s words had repeated themselves in her head since he’d said them: Reckon if you could go back, go back to that moment . . .

  She’d
replayed the scenario like a guitarist who only knew one song. What would she have chosen? Would she have left her home behind?

  “Though I must say, I can’t imagine Loretta not being with Preston.” Annie huffed. “The two are inseparable, always have been. If I were her and being forced to marry someone I didn’t love, I’d clean run away!”

  “Would you?” She raised a brow in Annie’s direction. “You could give up your family and your friends and your home?”

  Annie gave her a condescending look, as if Evelyn was an idiot. When she spoke, however, her voice was gentle, emphasizing each word. “No place can be a home without love.”

  There was a sharp rap from the front door. Annie looked into the vanity one last time before opening the door and smiling at the men on the other side. “Why, Mr. Cooper!” Her voice lowered. “And hello, Mr. Greenwood.”

  Evelyn rose from the bed, feeling so plain next to Annie. Her friend was decked out in the latest fashion she’d whipped up for herself.

  Evelyn nearly stopped at the sight before her. She’d never seen Jesse in a suit before. His white shirt didn’t have a speck of dirt; she’d never seen his clothes without some dust on them. Even his coat looked new, and the fancy dress shoes beneath his dress pants were shined to perfection.

  Suddenly she wished more than anything that she had spent more time fixing herself up in front of the vanity mirror.

  She felt a hand link with hers. “You look beautiful, Evelyn.” John gave her an appreciative look up and down. She felt more violated than flattered.

  “You look lovely, Annie.” Evelyn turned her head at Jesse’s compliment to her best friend. Her jaw clenched. Why should she care what he thought of Annie?

  Annie fanned herself with her hand and began batting her lashes as if she was competing with someone for most blinks in a second. “Why, thank you, Jesse Greenwood. You look dashing as well, if I dare say so myself.”

  Oh, she dared all right. Evelyn felt the back of her eyes sting as she watched him offer his arm to Annie and lead them outside to his buggy. He held out his hand as a balance before she climbed inside, and she placed her palm in his to take a seat. She noticed the smug smile on Annie’s face as she sat inside the buggy.

  “Evelyn, is something the matter?” John’s forehead creased as he studied her expression, all the while tugging her forward, out the door and to his own horse and buggy.

  She managed a weak smile. “Oh, nothing. Just thinking of the wedding, that is all.” She followed John outside, her arm still wrapped around his. When had Jesse ever offered his hand to her? She’d always been the one reaching for his hand, making an effort to close the distance between them. All Annie had to do was bat her eyes and suddenly he was slipping his arm around her?

  The ride to the church was the longest of Evelyn’s life. The entire time, she watched Annie lean her head against Jesse’s shoulder, her arm tucked around his. Evelyn had never seen her so suddenly enamored with a man. None of her previous infatuations had been this strong.

  Jesse did nothing to push her off. Her head just rested there, nestled in the crevice between his shoulder and neck. The two looked like a classic couple from a novel, the beautiful romantic redhead and the rough cowboy. A novel that Evelyn had no place in.

  She pursed her lips. “Annie’s and Jesse’s behavior is hardly proper. They are not even formally courting.”

  John ignored her comment, his hands gripped on the reins. She had dropped her arm from his at this point.

  “Out in the open like that,” she continued. She lifted her chin. “They should be ashamed of themselves, really. If Annie’s mother could see her—”

  “Why do you care about Annie and Jesse?” John turned to Evelyn again. He tried to pat her hand, but she instead drew her arms tighter against herself. He sighed. “I do not know what is making you upset today. We should enjoy the wedding, should we not? We will be the groom and bride soon enough.”

  Evelyn felt fear stir inside her. He hinted too much at marriage. No, they weren’t even hints. He basically declared their marriage as an inevitable occurrence when he hadn’t even properly asked. She swallowed hard. “We should talk about something else.”

  “All right.” John began another tirade about the history of Hamilton’s roads, and she felt herself lose interest once again. He wouldn’t ask her opinion anyway. John was an honest and respectable man, she firmly believed so. But he wasn’t very interested in what she had to say.

  She wasn’t particularly interested in his words either. No, the scene before her was much more engrossing. Her gaze drifted back to Jesse and Annie. She tried not to think about how much his arm around Annie’s bothered her.

  She especially tried not to think about Jesse’s arm being around hers instead.

  • • •

  Jesse helped Annie out of the buggy. One of her legs dangled as she stepped out of the carriage, hesitating over whether or not to step down. To his surprise, she skipped over one of the steps and fell forward. He caught her at the last moment with both arms.

  She smiled up at him, but he furrowed his brow. Why had she tripped on purpose? “Be careful.”

  “You seem awfully concerned for my safety, Mr. Greenwood.” Annie threw her curls back, the long, red waves falling over one of her shoulders. She did the fast blinking thing again. Maybe she did have something in her eye.

  Before he could reply, John Cooper’s voice boomed out from the next buggy. “Good catch, Mr. Greenwood!”

  He looked over at John and immediately wished he hadn’t. John kissed Evelyn’s hand as she stepped out. Her cheeks flushed the prettiest of pink shades as John slipped his arm in hers. Whatever she said about his character, Jesse couldn’t help comparing his treatment of her to a farmer possessive of an expensive animal. He treated her like his property more than his sweetheart.

  “Mr. Greenwood seems not only useful at catching cattle—he’s skilled at catching women as well.” John grinned from ear to ear, as if he’d just told some great joke. Annie immediately started squealing with laughter.

  Jesse came up with a million insulting replies as he ignored John and turned in the direction of the church.

  The area in front of the building was filled with a heap of people. He hadn’t realized Loretta invited so many. Billowing dresses and tailored coats filled every nook and cranny. He recognized a handful of people, some from the ranch and some of Loretta’s friends. But the rest of the faces were a mystery to him. It looked like she’d invited all of Hamilton and Harleigh.

  During the ceremony, he and Annie found their seats in the pew directly behind Evelyn and John. Evelyn had piled her dark hair into a high bun at the top of her head. She wore a blue dress, nearly black in the darkness of the church, but a vibrant navy blue in the light.

  Jesse tried to keep his eyes off the back of her neck during the entire ceremony and focus on Loretta, but his eyes were unable to remain on the groom and bride for long. What was she thinking? Was she considering marriage with John? But the sight of her soft black curls wouldn’t tell him what she was planning. He wished more than anything to know her thoughts.

  When the ceremony finished, he finally pulled his eyes away from her long enough to study Loretta and Preston. They’d spruced themselves up, that was certain. Loretta had pulled her hair into an elegant loose bun at the nape of her neck, and even Preston looked sharp in his wedding suit.

  But not everything was different. Jesse had never seen a gaze filled with more love than the way Preston gazed at Loretta. He frowned—he’d nearly split them apart. His sister didn’t deserve a man from a higher social standing; she deserved the man who had captured her heart.

  The bride and groom were the first to walk down the aisle. The crowd stood up from the pews and started forward, all desperate to catch the bride’s colorful bouquet. Loretta laughed and threw the collection of bright flowers high into the air. She’d thrown it far, nearly back toward the altar. Jesse watched the flowers fly over his own he
ad and behind him into—

  His heart lurched.

  Evelyn held up the bouquet high in the air, a wide smile on her face. She waved it in the air, and several groans were heard from both sides of the pews. Others around her congratulated her, and even Annie leaned over to whisper something in her ear. Whatever Annie said, it made her laugh. She was positively radiant as she held the flowers in her hands.

  Then John gripped her arm tightly against him. Evelyn squirmed away at first, then stood still as he maintained the steel hold. Her shoulders drooped, and the bouquet hung at her side without the enthusiasm she’d possessed only moments ago.

  Jesse set his jaw. John didn’t love her. Not like he did, anyway. Why couldn’t she see that?

  Avoiding John and Evelyn proved to be easy enough after the wedding. The entire crowd that had squeezed into the church was more than grateful to be back in the open air. Couples of all ages danced in the center of a ring that had formed in the clearing. The saloon, alarmingly close to the church, served to make his fellow ranch hands louder and rowdier than normal. Young children played a game under the supervision of some of their parents. Everywhere he looked, there was a group of people laughing and talking, still high off the happiness of the wedding.

  Annie found no shortage of folks to introduce him to. Every conversation she dragged him into was the same. After introducing him first, she would gush to her friends how handsome he was, as if he weren’t standing right next to her.

  He was glad when she pulled him away from the girls. She picked up two sarsaparillas from a nearby counter and handed one to him. He wouldn’t have minded some whiskey right then, but he popped the top off the sarsaparilla anyway and took a long sip.

  “So . . .” Annie’s finger twirled around one of the loose strawberry curls that fell from her bun. “How’s your stay in Hamilton been so far, Mr. Greenwood?”

  “Call me Jesse.” He tried to focus his eyes on her, but just like during the ceremony, he found his eyes scanning the crowd for a glimpse of dark hair and a blue dress. “Hamilton’s the same as I remember.”