Goodbye, Winding Path. Goodbye, Shallow Springs. Cadence was so heartbroken, she might have left the planet if it were possible.
But sitting right where she was, in her lovely little schoolhouse, the stove warming the air and Teddy now drawing on his slate, little legs swinging over the edge of his seat, Cadence knew she was finally home. There was no leaving Shallow Springs, no matter how badly her heart had taken a beating.
One day, perhaps she would find another man to love. One who would treat her right. There were plenty of them in the area—many more than there were women. If she did not find a husband, though, it would be no travesty.
She had her position at her schoolhouse, a career she loved. Life was the best it had been in many years.
Yes, Cadence was broken right then, but she would survive. She was no fool and knew by then that the human spirit could weather almost anything.
“Teddy.”
He looked up.
“The fire needs some more fuel, I think.” Cadence held out the half-finished letter.
Teddy eagerly jumped up and tossed it into the stove, where its burning let off a deep satisfaction.
Yes. Rain or shine, Shallow Springs was home.
As a bittersweet smile pulled at Cadence’s lips, a familiar figure passed by the window. Nat.
What was he doing in town so early?
“I will be right back,” Cadence said, quickly pulling on her coat. “If the students come in, tell them I said to take their seats and go over the math equations on the board.”
“I’m in charge?” Teddy asked.
Cadence was already out the door, her responsibilities as a schoolteacher forgotten for the moment. “Nat!”
He turned, squinting at first to see who had called his name, but then smiled and waved when he saw it was her. Cadence squared her shoulders against the cold and met him in the middle of the street.
“How you doing, Miss Cadence Hurley?” he jovially asked.
“Well. Thank you.” So, he did not know about what had transpired.
Apparently, despite the fact that Gemma loved to talk, she was good at keeping her friends’ heartbreaks quiet.
“I was just running to the store for some nails,” he explained. “Gotta patch up the chicken coop before snow comes.”
“Yes, that sounds like a good idea.” She tried on the most pleasant expression she could muster, but it did not fit well. “I am glad I saw you. When you leave town, will you please take Pip with you? He is in the sheriff’s stable.”
Nat’s face fell. “Course I can. Is something wrong with him?”
Cadence nervously looked at the hard, frozen dirt. “No, he is fine. I just will not need him anymore.”
“What if Beau can’t come and take you home today?”
This was more difficult than Cadence had predicted it would be. She kept her face flat. “I am not staying at the ranch anymore.”
“I know that. But isn’t he going to take you to the Creerys’, anyway?”
“Ah. No.” She cleared her throat, tried to latch her gaze on his once more, but failed.
The closest she could come to making eye contact with Nat was staring at his eyebrow.
“Huh. I know it’s close, but he could at least walk you there. Shoot, when I have myself a fiancée, I’m going to accompany her everywhere she goes.”
“You are a very sweet man, Nat. Now, about Pip. You will be able to take him back with you?”
“Sure will.” Nat’s brow bunched and he looked at Cadence in a new, more curious way. “Is everything all right?”
“All is wonderful.” She smiled big, the effort pulling at her heart and threatening to make it break all over again.
Nat frowned. “All right,” he sadly said.
He clearly did not believe her. Lying to such a good soul as Nat was already painful enough.
Sighing, Cadence looked over her shoulder. The rest of the children had still not arrived for school. There was a moment or two left to spare. Bracing herself, she let the truth spill.
“Beau and I will not be marrying after all. It turns out our engagement was a rather short one.”
Nat’s mouth fell open. “What? Why? When? I just talked to him this morning. He said...”
His exclamations petered off and Cadence allowed all the questions to dangle there. She had plenty of them herself and no answers to complement them.
Finally, his shoulders just sagged and, despite the cold, his face turned pink. “I’m sorry to hear that, Cadence,” he whispered.
The tenderness combined with the use of her first name made Cadence’s heart melt. “Thank you, Nat.”
He shook his head, confusion wrinkling his face. “I don’t understand it. I just saw Beau this morning and he didn’t say anything about this.”
“Well, now, would he?”
“No. I suppose he wouldn’t. Hmpf.” Nat crossed his arms and inspected her again. “Did he do something to you? Hurt you?”
Cadence stumbled over the words. “What? No… Not… It is a personal matter, Nat, but there is nothing to be alarmed over.”
His eyes narrowed, nostrils flared. With a step closer, he ducked his head and lowered his voice. “If he did do something to you...”
“He did not, Nat,” she earnestly said. “He changed his mind about our marriage, is all.” The last word caught and she had to stop talking, both because it was too hard and she did not want to reveal too much.
Nat worked his jaw around like he was chewing on that piece of information. “Huh. All right. Just know you can tell me anything you need to. Any time.”
“Thank you, Nat.” This time, her smile was real. Though Cadence herself had no interest in Nat, he was truly a wonderful man. One day, he would make a young woman very happy, indeed.
Cadence tried not to envy that future, hypothetical happiness.
“Are you going to stay?”
She clasped her hands together. Her gloves were in the schoolhouse and the morning wasn’t warming up any. “Yes. As of right now, I am.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.”
Behind Cadence, peals of laughter filled the air. She turned to see a group of girls going into the schoolhouse, tin lunch pails bouncing against their skirts.
“I should be going, Nat. Thank you for taking Pip.”
“Anytime.” Nat gave her a serious nod. “And, remember, anything you need...”
“I will,” she smiled. “Thank you once more.”
She hesitated. It was time to go, but now that Nat knew the truth, there was one more thing she wanted to ask of him.
“Do you suppose...”
He nodded. “What’s that?”
Cadence twisted the ring Beau had given her. Tugging it off was like snipping the last strand holding her to him. She did not want to do it, but she needed to.
Somehow, she got it off and into Nat’s waiting hand. “Give this to Beau, please.”
Nat looked so sad, Cadence almost couldn’t bear it. He was blinking and frowning, staring at the ring in his open hand like he was the one who’d just broken off an engagement.
“Sure thing,” Nat thickly said.
“Thank you,” Cadence whispered.
She had taken it off before, thinking wearing it wasn’t right, but there was a new finality to this time. The end had come.
It was too much. Before tears could have the chance to surface, Cadence turned and hurried back to the schoolhouse.
She lifted her chin as she walked. The pain would not get to her. She needed to focus on what was right and good. Running into Nat was one of those things. It reminded her that Shallow Springs truly was a good place to be. With friends here, there was no need for Beau.
On the other hand, it would be hard to get Beau off her mind if every other person she ran into reminded her of him. And then, there would be the matter of their directly crossing paths. How would she deal with that when the time came?
“Good morning, class,” she crisply
said as she entered the room.
“Good morning, Miss Hurley,” all the students sang.
Teddy jumped up from the chair behind the teacher’s desk like the seat of his pants was on fire and scurried back to his own spot.
Cadence pursed her lips and gave him a quick disapproving look, though she was laughing on the inside. Once more, a moment in the schoolhouse had managed to turn her mood around.
“I hope everyone has worked on the equations on the board,” she went on, going to the front of the class. “We are going to split into groups, mixing the different levels, so that we ensure everyone has a thorough understanding of the lesson.”
The young ones listened intently, even the littlest children, turning their expectant faces to Cadence and gripping their slate pencils tightly.
A sense of peace came over Cadence.
Life was often difficult and painful, but when one had a sense of purpose, anything could become easier.
Forget what was to come with Beau. Cadence’s life now had nothing to do with him. She was staying in Wyoming for herself, not for any man. She needed to make sure she never forgot that and she needed to begin the long, painful task of cleansing her heart of Beau Johnson.
Chapter Twenty-Six
26. Beau
Chapter twenty-six
Just to avoid people’s speculations, Beau lugged himself into the main house and to the supper table. He didn’t want to be there, not at all. The last thing he craved right then was being around others, but there just wasn’t a way around it. He’d missed the last few meals, settling with eating the paltry jerky and stale biscuits in his cabin, but the others were starting to ask him what was wrong. He couldn’t have that.
Show up. Talk some. Do his best to act like the old Beau. That’s all he had to do. With that done, he could head back out to the fields.
He’d taken watch over the cattle that day, enjoying ornery Samuel’s company for probably the first time ever. The weathered hand who watched the cattle with Beau had never talked much and that day, Beau could finally appreciate his silence. They’d rode alongside the herd all morning and afternoon, the sharp air and waving, dry grass their only companions. Every once in a while, unable to stop himself, Beau looked in the direction of town.
Each time, it was a punch in the gut.
By the time supper rolled around, he felt beat up, ready to close his eyes and just forget about everything that had happened in his whole life. The second he entered the dining room, though, he knew that wasn’t gonna happen.
Soon as everyone’s eyes fell on him, the volume dropped by half. Beau took a seat near the door, keeping his eyes down.
“You feeling all right?” Roe asked around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
“Course,” Beau muttered. “Pass the bread.”
The conversations picked back up, but he could still feel multiple eyes on him. Chancing a look up, Beau caught Gemma turning away from him, her pained expression clear. So, this was how it would be now. Gemma would treat him like he was a criminal. Right, then. Seeing as he deserved that attitude, it only made sense.
The door opened and the last few men, Mitch included, came and took their seats. The boss shot Beau a quick look, but said nothing, just laying his napkin across his lap and tucking in. Mitch had always been good at minding his own business.
“Beau, what happened between you and Miss Hurley?” someone suddenly asked. Beau didn’t see who, as his eyes were still on the table.
The room became deadly quiet. Beau felt his fingers tightening around his fork. Putting it down, he looked up and saw Germaine looking expectantly at him. Though the hand had been at the ranch almost as long as Beau, they’d never been that close.
“Let it be,” Mitch gruffly said. “It’s no one’s business.”
Eyes quickly darted to Beau before looking away. If there had been any question before, there no longer was. The whole ranch knew Beau and Cadence were done with each other.
The publicity of that made it all real in a new way. Beau’s stomach twisted and he pushed his plate away. He might never have a full appetite again.
Just as he stood up to leave, the door opened again and suddenly, Nat was there, his brows pushed together in irritation. Beau hadn’t even noticed the young fellow wasn’t already at the table.
“I want to talk to you.” Nat jabbed a finger at Beau.
“Nat,” Mitch sharply said.
Beau held his palm out. “It’s all right. I was just heading outside.”
Nat stood his ground, not moving when Beau tried to get through the doorway. Ignoring the aggression, Beau sidled his way into the hall, not surprised at all to hear Nat’s steps following behind him.
“What did you do to her?” Nat asked once they were on the porch, before the door was fully shut.
Beau gave him an even look. “Nothing. Let it be.”
Nat just scowled more. “It don’t look like nothing to me. Yesterday, you were engaged to the girl and today, you’re both walking around looking like someone died.”
Beau didn’t bother asking why Nat was so sure he was the one who had ended the engagement.
“I have work to do,” he just said.
“Here.” Nat pursed his lips like he tasted something sour as he dug into his pocket. “She wanted me to give you this.”
Beau’s heart nearly stopped at the sight of the ring. He’d almost forgotten he gave it to Cadence. Holding the cold band in his palm now, all the pain from the moment she’d walked out of the barn came back.
He didn’t want the darn thing. It belonged at the bottom of a well, where it wouldn’t be able to haunt anyone ever again.
“What happened, Beau?” Nat pressed, though his voice was softer this time. “I can help. I was just talking to Cadence—”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Beau snarled. “Now, I’m not going to tell you again. You need to mind your own business, Nathaniel.”
Nat’s cheeks flushed. “This is just like you, isn’t it? Turning and running when someone starts getting close. You know, I heard a couple of the men making a bet on you. They didn’t think you’d really go through with marrying Miss Hurley. They thought you were too much of a ‘lone wolf.’ That’s what they said. And I stood up for you, told them you weren’t as cold-hearted as they said. But now, I see maybe they were right after all.”
Beau’s face burned, but he didn’t know if it was from fury or embarrassment. He was just as bad as everyone figured he was. The thing was, he’d always thought he’d done a good job of hiding his shortcomings. As it turned out, everyone knew he was a fake.
“Step back,” he growled, pushing his way past Nat.
Before he could take more than a step, a heavy force hit his face and Beau stumbled back. Nat had punched him square in the jaw.
Beau blinked in shock, feeling the cold leakage of blood coming from the side of his mouth. He made no move to wipe it away.
“Lord almighty, what are you all doing?” someone shouted.
It was Jett, standing in the open doorway, gawking at them. Beau hadn’t even heard the door open.
Nat’s chest heaved, his fingers curling and uncurling. If Beau hadn’t known better, he would have figured Nat fancied Cadence himself, but he knew that wasn’t that case. Nat was just a kid with a good, protective heart. He was a million times better than Beau would ever be.
“Hey now, is there a fight going on out here?” someone asked.
Like that, the ranch hands were spilling out of the door and onto the porch, everyone but Mitch and the women there. They all started talking at once, asking questions.
“You broke a nice girl’s heart for no reason at all,” Nat quietly said, so low that no one but Beau heard it.
Anger hot as blue fire filled Beau, but his mind was still clear enough to see through the haze. Nat didn’t know this, but he was close to right. There was a reason and it could have been avoided. But Beau hadn’t done that.
Leaving things as they
were, he jumped down from the porch, taking off for he didn’t know where. It was the first time he hadn’t returned a punch and it made him wonder if he really knew himself as well as he hoped.
The sound of someone running up behind Beau didn’t deter him from the march across the grass.
Her Wild Journey (Seeing Ranch series) (A Western Historical Romance Book) Page 16
