by Lydia Olson
“I don’t care to talk,” she shouted. She was wearing a nice dress of purple, and it looked nearly black in the darkness. Her fair skin glowed in the moonlight, and though Milton didn’t have a good look at her, he was sure that she looked as beautiful as ever.
“Jane!” he hollered again.
He closed the distance between the two of them. When he did, he reached out and grabbed her by the arm, slowing her down. Milton was angry. The moonlight highlighted the trail of tears that had fallen down her cheeks. It was clear that her sister’s words upset her greatly, and Milton didn’t like it.
“I’m so sorry Milton,” she said. Her voice quivered just a bit as she spoke. “I should have warned you. Kate and my father … they both know how to cut a person to the quick.”
Milton shook his head. It was just like Jane to worry about others’ feelings over her own. “It’s fine,” he said.
Milton didn’t care what George or Kate Parrish thought of him. They’d be guests in his home until he could find a better solution.
The quicker the better, he thought as he looked at his wife’s tear-stained face. It seemed like the two of them couldn’t find a little bit of peace for themselves. And on top of that, Milton did not like what Brandon had said to him that afternoon.
“It’s not fine,” Jane said fiercely. “They should be grateful that you’ve allowed them to come here.”
Milton didn’t disagree, but he didn’t see the Parrish family changing their attitudes anytime soon.
“I understand your father’s upset,” Milton said, and in some ways he did. If he had a daughter and she ran off to marry a stranger without his permission, Milton couldn’t say he wouldn’t be incensed.
“He has no reason to be upset,” Jane said. “Especially considering that he’s not being truthful with us.”
“What?” Milton asked. His mind went back to the dining room table. Kate implied that the reason they lost the ranch was Milton and Jane’s fault. Milton hadn’t understood why, and it seemed that Jane also didn’t understand either.
That bothered Milton more than Jane’s behavior. He didn’t like liars, and he didn’t care to have one living in his house.
“He told me that he lost the ranch after making some bad decisions, but Kate suggested that there may be more to it than that.” The frustration was clear on Jane’s face.
“Why would he lie?” Milton asked. “He seemed pretty straightforward with how he spoke earlier.” Milton couldn’t stop a small chuckle from escaping as he remembered the beet red color of George’s face. He didn’t enjoy seeing Jane upset, but he wasn’t exactly upset to see George put in his place. Jane hadn’t said a lot about her family, but he knew from what she did say that they hadn’t always treated her with the respect and kindness that she deserved.
“I don’t know,” Jane said. “There are many things my father’s done in the past few months that I never though him capable of.”
“What do you mean?” Milton asked.
Jane shook her head. “Kate is probably lying,” she said. It was clear to him that she wanted to change the subject, and he let her. If he pushed, he worried that he would push her away. Even after Brandon suggested that there was something for Milton to know about, Milton made the decision not to pressure Jane.
She’ll come to me in due time, he thought.
“Does your sister have a history of telling tall tales?” he asked.
Jane released a small snort. She walked toward a hay pile and took a seat. Milton walked toward her and took a seat beside her. “Kate hates me,” she said. The sadness crept back into her voice, and Milton knew instantly that the relationship between Kate and Jane was a complex one. He didn’t have siblings, and for once, he was glad about it.
“I’m sure she doesn’t hate you,” Milton said. He wasn’t actually sure of anything. He didn’t know Kate, and from what he did know, she wasn’t an easy person to get along with. Hank had said as much when he talked to Milton.
“She’s been angry with me since we were children. I thought that things would get better between us, but they never did,” she said.
Milton reached out and cupped Jane’s hand. Her skin was smooth and soft. Her fingertips were cold, and he wanted to ask her to go back inside before she got a chill, but he didn’t. It was nice to just sit outside and be together. Milton suspected that they wouldn’t have a great deal of alone time moving forward.
“Why are you so kind?” Milton asked.
“What?” Jane asked. She laughed just slightly.
“Despite your family’s ungratefulness, you opened our home to them.”
“You opened your home to us,” Jane said.
Milton shook his head. Jane was a good person, and he was determined to protect that. He squeezed her hand slightly. George and Kate were going to make things difficult in their household, but Milton and Jane would weather it together. Of that he was sure.
“I would do anything for you,” Milton said. The words slipped out before he could stop them. Jane’s eyes were completely wide, and for a moment Milton worried that he had overstepped his boundaries. They were married, but they were still getting to know one another. He worried that he might scare her with his intensity.
Instead, Jane reached up and placed a hand on his cheek. “You’re the kindest man I’ve ever known,” Jane said.
“I’m not sure about that,” Milton said. He did not set out to hurt people, but he also wasn’t kind. Milton looked out for those in his circle, but he couldn’t care less about others. Jane was the one who exuded kindness. Not him.
Still, as he looked deep into her eyes, hers were so blue that they reminded Milton of the sky. He was sure that he could fall deeply into them and happily stay there forever.
“Jane …” a lump formed in his throat, and he wasn’t sure what to say. He swallowed deeply as Jane’s eyes began to flutter closed, and before Milton could stop himself, he was leaning closer to her.
He could smell the scent of jasmine on her skin, and the apple on her breath. She must have eaten some fruit as she prepared jam this afternoon. He wondered if her lips would taste like apples as well.
“We should head back inside,” Jane said, breaking the moment.
He nodded and helped her to her feet.
He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. He heard her release a small sigh. “Thank you,” she said.
Milton didn’t respond. He didn’t think he could. Tonight, he was coming to the realization that he was in love with his wife.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jane released a heavy sigh as she cleared away the breakfast dishes. Things were tense in the house. Her family had been on the ranch for a little over a week, and things were no better than they had been that very first day.
“Where’s your sister?” Sara asked quietly as she helped Jane clean.
Jane simply shrugged. After taking her meal, Kate left. She didn’t offer to help around the house or the ranch, so Jane was not sure what exactly she was doing all day long. For Jane’s part, she was exhausted. Between taking care of her father and sister, the house, and the chores on the ranch she felt herself starting to crack around the edges.
Luckily, she had Sara. If she didn’t have someone to confide in, then she was sure she would have ended up in the mad house, which Jane was sure was what her sister was determined to accomplish.
“Things have not gotten any better,” Jane admitted. “I’m starting to think that having them come here was a huge mistake.” She felt guilty for even speaking those words, but they were true.
Sara placed her hand on Jane’s shoulder. It was a comforting gesture of friendship, and she was grateful for it. Milton was trying his best to ease tensions in the house, but he wasn’t making headway.
Jane’s father barely spoke, and when he did, it was only to lob insults at Milton or voice his displeasure. Luckily for Jane, Milton was not a man who took offense easily. Like Jane, these days he simply grinned and bore his father-
in-law’s contempt and his sister-in-law’s laziness.
“Where would they have gone without you?” Sara asked.
The was the question Jane turned over and over in her mind. She knew that her father and sister could not live with her and Milton indefinitely, but she could not see any other options. Where else would they go?
“You’d think they’d be more grateful,” Jane grumbled, as she dried one of the pots.
Sara shrugged. “Families are complicated.”
“Yours is wonderful,” Jane reminded her. They truly were. Serena had come to the ranch last week bringing some swaths of fabric for Kate and Jane to look at for new dresses. Jane thought that Kate might take to Serena, but she hadn’t. Her sister seemed determined to hate everything and anything associated with her new home.
“Mine has its problems,” Sara assured her. “Namely, my brother.”
“Matthew?” Milton mentioned Matthew a few times, but Jane knew so little about her husband’s dearest friend.
“My father wants Matthew to take over his business, but Matthew is determined to make a life elsewhere. Drives all of us completely batty.”
Jane smiled but said nothing. She would take those types of problems over the ones she currently had any day of the week.
“Kate and your father will come around,” Sara said. Her tone was kind.
“I hope so,” Jane told her friend. “Because I’m not sure how much more of this I can expect Milton to take.”
That was what bothered Jane more than anything. The way her family was treating her husband was not right. They could treat her however they wanted—Lord knew that they always had. But Milton showed them kindness by allowing them into his home, and Jane felt that the least they could do was not constantly find fault with everything they did.
A sharp knock on the front door dragged Jane away from her thoughts. “Who could that be?” she asked.
Sara shrugged slightly. Her eyebrows knit together as the sharp knock sounded for a second time. “Are y’all expecting someone?”
The ranch didn’t generally get visitors—at least not ones who weren’t previously invited.
“I’m not,” Jane said. She grabbed a dish towel and wiped the soap suds from her hands. Then, she undid the apron she’d covered her dress with. Today, she was wearing a new dress she’d ordered in town. It was a simple dress of pink linen, but she adored it. It was the first new dress she had in years.
“Perhaps Milton is expecting someone. I know he’s been meeting with some men in town about acquiring more land.”
Jane threw her apron on the back of one of the chairs as she walked toward the door. She couldn’t imagine why one of Milton’s business associates might be calling on them so early, and why Milton hadn’t made her aware to prepare for guests.
Sighing once more, she wrapped her hand around the door and wrenched it open, only to receive the shock of a lifetime.
Standing before her dressed in a black suit was Brandon Eimer. Jane’s heart stopped, and she was sure that she was dreaming. Why would Brandon be at the ranch? There was no reason for it.
Unless Kate or my father saw him and alerted him to my presence.
Jane did not think that was the case. Neither her father nor her sister had left the ranch; at least they hadn’t as far as she knew.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in, Janie?” Brandon asked.
The nickname made her skin crawl. It suggested a level of familiarity between the two of them that never existed. Brandon was never more to Jane than her father’s business partner. She never thought of him as a potential match. She never even considered such nonsense.
Jane stepped outside and shut the door. Her eyes searched the area, and she prayed that no one was close enough to hear her conversation with Brandon. Milton was finally starting to truly trust her, and she did not want that ruined because of Brandon. She meant to tell Milton about Brandon, but in the aftermath of her family’s arrival, she hadn’t seen the point.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I heard that you live here now,” he said. His voice was jovial as if they were old friends catching up.
“I do,” Jane said. She crossed her arms over her chest. “And I’d like you to get off of my property.”
“And why would I do such a thing?” Brandon’s eyes were twinkling. It made Jane’s stomach turn. He was enjoying upsetting her. She took a deep breath. The air was chilly, and she used it to calm her shot nerves.
“You have no reason to be on my porch,” Jane said. “Now, I would appreciate it if you would leave.”
Jane didn’t expect Brandon to comply, but she also didn’t expect that he would laugh in her face. “I have plenty of reasons to be on your porch. I’ve got business with both your father and your husband.”
“What do you mean? How do you know my husband?” Jane knew that Brandon and her father had done business in the past. It was why her father wanted to marry her off to him in the first place. She didn’t know that Milton and Brandon had any sort of past interaction.
Why didn’t Milton tell me that he met with Brandon? Jane wondered. She started to get a sick feeling in her stomach. She thought that things between her and Milton were going well. She thought they were finally moving past initial distrust toward companionship. Perhaps not.
“Your husband didn’t tell you?” Brandon asked. “We had a lovely chat on my new land last week. He’s quite a rancher, that husband of yours.”
Jane said nothing. She could tell that Brandon was trying to bait her. She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming. She did not wish to bring any attention to herself and Brandon. In fact, she wanted him gone as soon as possible.
Brandon reached out and touched a small piece of hair that had fallen across her cheek. “You shouldn’t have crossed me,” Brandon said. His voice was low, and Jane started to think she should have said something to Sara.
Brandon wouldn’t hurt me, would he? Jane wasn’t sure. Jane moved away from him. She wanted as much space between her and Brandon Eimer as possible.
“You should leave,” she said. “Now.”
Brandon said nothing. His dark eyes looked her up and down. It was almost as if he assessed her for weaknesses. She wondered what he would find.
“You should ask your father what happens to people who don’t give me what I want,” he sneered. All veneer of cordiality was gone as he taunted her.
“What did you do to my father?” Jane stepped toward him before she could stop herself.
Brandon smiled at her. “You should ask your father,” he said. “I would hate to get involved in a family matter.”
Jane could tell that he could tell that he was enjoying the power he had over her. She opened her mouth to tell Brandon what she thought of him, but the sound of shoes coming up the stairs made her pause.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be talking to a lady in such a manner,” a masculine voice suggested.
Brandon turned sharply, raising an eyebrow at the intruder. Jane had no idea who this young, dark-haired young man was, and while she was grateful to not be alone with Brandon any longer, she wondered who exactly had come to her rescue.
“If I see a lady, I’ll be sure to treat her with the respect that she’s due,” Brandon disparaged as he looked down his nose at Jane.
She would have been offended if she cared one bit about what Brandon thought. She didn’t. What she cared about was getting him as far away from her as possible.
“I don’t know who you are, sir, but you need to leave this place at once,” the young man warned. He was tall and slender, but much younger than Brandon. His eyes narrowed on the older man, and Jane got the sense that he would be more than happy to defend her honor should he be called to do so. She wracked her mind to try and think who this man could possibly be.
Brandon pursed his lips, and for a moment Jane thought that he would argue. But he didn’t. He placed his hat on his head and gave her a curt nod. “I’ll be seeing y
ou soon, Miss Parrish,” he said.
“It’s Mrs. Brennan,” Jane corrected. She knew that this would cause Brandon to be angrier with her, but she didn’t care. She would tell Milton about his visit and end all the power that he felt he had over her.
Brandon gave her a long last look, but he took his leave. His heavy boots clanged going down the stairs. Jane held her breath as she watched him get on his horse. It wasn’t until he’d ridden through the gates that she allowed herself to release a breath of relief.
“Are you okay ma’am?” the man asked her.
She turned toward him. She was sure, now that she was able to get a better look at his face, that she’d never seen him before. He was dressed nicely in a gray suit with a clean pressed shirt. His clothing looked expensive and well-made.
