by Bobbi Smith
"Or until it's sold, you say?" he repeated.
"That's right."
Cole nodded, hoping he'd get lucky and she'd sell the place. Hell, he was tempted to buy it himself. "Have you heard anything more from her?"
"No, I haven't heard anything new. You know Louis Hayden, the foreman at the Lazy S, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Well, Louie's the one who wired Jenny about Paul's death the day they found him. He received a message back from her saying that she was on her way home. From what I understand, she could possibly be here tomorrow, depending on connections. I don't think Louie's heard anything more from her since that first telegram, but you might want to check with him and see. In fact, it would be good if you could just step in and take over at the ranch right now. I'm sure the men are concerned about what's going to happen next. You could set their minds at ease."
"I'll head back out there today. Did Paul have enough cash set aside to meet payroll?" If he was going to reassure the ranch hands, he wanted to be certain of his facts.
"From what I understand, he has some money in the bank to cover expenses."
"Good."
"As soon as Jenny gets back in town, we'll set up a meeting for the official reading of the will."
"Thanks, Andrew."
Cole stood to go. They shook hands, and he left the office. His mood was black as he contemplated what to do next. He had told the lawyer that he was going to ride out to the Lazy S, and he would, eventually, but first, right now, he needed a good stiff drink. It didn't matter that it was only ten o'clock in the morning. He strode toward the High Time Saloon.
The High Time was relatively quiet, and Cole was glad. He walked straight up to the bar.
"Whiskey," he told Dan, the bartender.
"I heard the news about Paul Sullivan," Dan said as he set a tumbler before Cole and poured him a healthy serving of liquor. "That's a damned shame. He was a good man."
"Yes, he was," Cole agreed. He lifted the glass and took a deep drink. The liquor burned all the way down, but he was glad for its power.
"Anybody know how it happened?"
"Riding accident," Cole answered. "His horse came back without him, so some of the hands went out to search for him. They found him up in a high pasture. It looked like he'd been thrown."
"I'm sorry." Dan was sincere. "I know you two were friends."
"We were." Cole took another swallow.
"What's going to happen out at the ranch?"
"It's going to depend on what Jenny wants to do." His tone was flat, emotionless.
"So she'll be coming back to Durango?" Dan was curious.
"For a while at least." He didn't want to see Jenny or to have anything to do with her, but he had no choice if he wanted to help his friend.
Jenny-
It had been two years since he'd suffered the humiliation of her walking out on him as he stood waiting at the altar. She hadn't been back home in all that time, and he hadn't missed her.
Cole drained his glass as painful memories of that day threatened to surface. He fought them down, determined to handle Jenny's return just as he'd handled all the other hard times that came his way. She meant nothing to him anymore. She hadn't since that night when he'd discovered she'd left town without a word. When she finally showed up again, he would make her an offer for the ranch and send her packing back East just as fast as he could.
"You want another drink?" Dan asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"No," Cole answered, but truth be told, he did. In fact, he would like to stay right there in the bar and drink for the rest of the day and night. But he wouldn't. He denied himself. Paul had entrusted the future of the Lazy S to him. Cole knew how much the ranch had meant to his friend, and he would not let him down.
Cole paid his bill and rode for the Lazy S.
Cole stood over Paul's grave, staring down at the headstone that marked his friend's passing.
"Frances told me you were here," Louie Hayden said as he came up behind him. "Is everything all right?"
Cole cast a quick glance his way, a bit startled to find the ranch foreman there. He had been so deeply lost in thought that he hadn't heard him approach, and that was unusual for him.
"I met with Andrew Marsden this morning."
"What did he want?" Louie was curious about what had transpired. He'd heard the lawyer mention at Paul's funeral that he needed to speak with Cole in private.
"Paul had made some changes in his will."
"He did?"
"Yes. He named me the executor."
"That only makes sense." Louie nodded and smiled in sad understanding. "You were one of the few people Paul trusted-one of the few he knew he could always count on."
"He was a good friend."
"And you were a good friend to him," the older man told him.
They fell silent, remembering the man they were both going to miss.
"That means you're in charge now, right?"
"That's what Marsden told me until Jenny turns twenty-five or marries or decides to sell the place, whichever comes first."
"What do you plan to do?" Louie asked. "Things haven't been good around here, you know, ever since the blizzard. I didn't think it could get much worse after Paul lost so much of his fortune that winter and had to struggle so hard just to keep things going, but then we had that rustling - 'Course you know about that. All the area ranches have been hit at one time or another, and now, on top of it all, Paul's dead."
"It has been rough here, but I want to keep the Lazy S going," Cole answered firmly, though he knew Louie was right. Things hadn't been good there for quite a while. "This ranch was Paul's life."
"You're right. The man worked night and day trying to make this place a success."
"He was proud of it. There's no doubt about that, but in the long run, a lot is going to depend on Jenny." Cole's tone turned cold as he spoke. "If she wants to sell, I'll buy the place."
"That'd be the best thing that could happen." Louie was hopeful. Everyone respected and admired Cole's business sense. He'd turned the Branding Iron into one of the best spreads in the area. If anyone could make the Lazy S a paying proposition again, it was Cole.
"We'll have to wait and see what happens when she gets here. Have you heard anything more from her?"
"No. Last I heard, she said she'd be arriving in Durango on tomorrow afternoon's train. It's going to be hard for her, coming home this way, but there was no easy way to give her the bad news with her living so far away," Louie said. He and his wife, Frances, who was cook and housekeeper on the Lazy S, both loved Jenny. They'd worked on the ranch for years and had watched her grow up. Louie could just imagine how distraught she'd been when she'd gotten the wire he'd sent notifying her of her father's death. "I planned on going into town to meet her, unless you want to do it, being executor and all."
"No, that's all right. You go on ahead," Cole told him. "I've got to ride back to the Branding Iron tonight to check on things there, but I'll make it a point to come back over here tomorrow so I can speak with Jenny."
"Does she know you're in charge?"
"According to Marsden, Paul did not tell her what he'd done in the will, so I'll have to tell her when I see her."
"What if she doesn't want to sell? What if she decides she wants to try to run the ranch herself?"
"Since she hasn't bothered to come back once since she went East, I don't think that will be a problem. There's nothing left to hold her here now that her father's dead."
"What should I tell the men? They've been a little uneasy about what might happen. They're wanting to know if they're going to have jobs come the first of the month."
"Tell them they're still on the payroll until they hear different from me," Cole said with authority, taking charge just as Paul had intended.
"Why don't you come with me and tell them yourself? They'll be glad to hear the news that you're in charge." Cole was a man they could all believe in and trust. As much as Cole
might resent the burden of taking over, Louie knew that Paul had done the right thing.
"All right. I'll be along in a minute and meet you there."
Louie walked off, and Cole was left alone with his thoughts once again. He remained at the graveside, mourning his friend's passing, wishing things could have been different, but promising to deal with everything the best he could even Jenny. It was what Paul had wanted him to do, so he would do it.
Cole looked down one last time at the grave, then turned and walked away. He strode toward the house, ready to talk to the men and take care of ranch business.
"We're almost there. Are you going to be all right?" Evelyn asked Jenny as the Denver & Rio Grande train slowed and headed into the Durango station.
Jenny looked at her aunt, her expression strained. "I'm going to try..."
Jenny fell silent. She was home. At last, she was home. In her heart, though, her home and her father were synonymous. She couldn't imagine returning to the Lazy S and her father not being there. She didn't know if she could bear it.
Her father was gone dead and she'd never had the chance to tell him she loved him. She'd never had the chance to say good-bye.
Anger suddenly flared within Jenny.
How dare he go and die on her!
Jenny embraced the emotion. The heat of her out rage was far better than the bottomless sense of emptiness and loneliness that had filled her ever since she'd received Louie's telegram. If she was angry, she could handle what was to come. If she was angry, she could cope with the loss that could never be restored.
How dare he have a riding accident! He was an excellent horseman.
The thought that he'd been killed while out riding was just too hard to accept. When she'd first received the wire from Louie, she hadn't believed it, but now, as they drew ever closer to Durango and to the ranch, there could be no hiding from it any longer. She had to face the reality of her situation she had to face the truth, whether she wanted to or not.
Her father was dead.
"I'll be with you every moment, darling," Evelyn promised. She was devoted to her niece and thankful that they'd had these last few years to grow closer. She knew Jenny would need all her love and support to get through the heartbreak and devastation of her unexpected loss.
Jenny gave her aunt a grateful look and then turned to look out the window as the train finally came to a full stop. The trip home had seemed to last an eternity. There had been moments crossing the plains when she'd wondered if they'd ever get there, but now it was over. They had arrived in Durango.
The sight of the familiar surroundings suddenly left Jenny aching for the past for the warmth of her fa ther's embrace for the security of a loving home for her lost innocence.
She was home-
At long last, she was home
Jenny swallowed tightly and struggled for control.
"We're here," she said in a pained voice.
Evelyn said nothing but reached out and took her niece's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Jenny stared intently out the window, searching the crowd gathered at the station for some sign of her father. Logically, she knew he wouldn't be there. Logically, she knew she would never see him again. But there were moments in life when the heart and soul ignored logic. For just an instant longer, she allowed herself to pretend that he might be there.
And then she saw Louie.
Louie was the one who had come for her.
Louie was there waiting for her not her father.
Her father would not he coming for her not today, and not ever again.
The pain in Jenny's heart as she finally accepted the brutal truth was devastating. She longed for the anger that had sustained her moments earlier, but could find no trace of it. There was only deep, abiding sorrow in her soul.
Evelyn knew what Jenny was feeling. She, too, had been brokenhearted at the news of her brother's death. "Do you see anyone from the ranch?"
"Yes-Louie's here." Her words were choked.
"Are you ready?"
Jenny only nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more. She stood and started from the rail car. Evelyn gathered her few belongings and followed.
The conductor was waiting to help them descend from the car, and Jenny allowed him to assist her. He handed her down, and Jenny stepped out onto the platform.
She was home. She was in Durango.
She was unprepared for the rush of memories that returned as she looked around the station. The last time she was there had been on the night of her "wedding," when she'd left town quickly and quietly on the late train. Images of all that had happened that day surged in her thoughts-visions of Cole-first, the way he'd looked standing so tall and proud before the minister in church waiting to marry her, and then later, the way he'd looked so dark and dangerous when he'd stalked from her hotel room and never looked back. She remembered her father's confusion over her refusal to go through with the wedding, and his anger over her desire to go back East to school. Ultimately, though, she remembered how he had supported her decision to leave. She'd known that he'd disapproved of what she wanted to do, but he hadn't stood in her way. He had loved her enough to let her go.
Jenny glanced nervously around the crowded station, dreading the possibility that Cole might have come with Louie to meet her train. She wasn't ready to see Cole Randall, and she truly hoped that she would never have to. Only when she saw that the ranch foreman was making his way through the crowd alone did relief sweep through her.
"Louie-" She went to greet the older man and was swept into a warm bear hug.
"Jenny, girl, it's good you're home," he said, his voice tight with heartfelt emotion.
Jenny clung to his strength and support. Louie and Frances had always been there for her. They were like family to her, and she hugged him tight. "I've missed you."
"We've been missing you, too. I wanted you to come back home, but not..." Louie stopped himself from saying like this.
"I know, I know." Her words were tortured as she drew away, wiping at the tears that could no longer be denied.
"Hello, Louie," Evelyn said as she came to join them.
"It's good to see you again, ma'am."
`Evelyn' will do just fine," she said with a gentle smile.
"Yes, ma'am," he told her. "I've got the buckboard tied up right out front. You go ahead out while I get your bags. I'll meet you there."
Jenny and Evelyn made their way to the front of the station to wait for him.
"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Evelyn asked Jenny as they stood by the buckboard.
"I wish there was something that would help, but I know there isn't. It's just so hard-with Papa not being here, and I keep remembering..."
"Remembering what, dear?"
"My last day in town. I know how badly I disappointed Papa. He did so want me to marry Cole."
"Do you think you'll see Cole again? Is he still in the area?"
"From the few times Papa mentioned him when he came East to visit, I think Cole's doing fine on the Branding Iron. I doubt if I'll see him again, though, and I really don't want to." She had not had any contact with him since that fateful day so long ago and didn't relish the thought of a reunion with him.
Her aunt nodded. "I understand. Things are difficult enough as it is."
Louie rejoined them then and loaded their luggage in the back of the buckboard. He helped them in and then climbed up, too, and took the reins. They moved off through the streets of town, heading for the Lazy S - heading for home.
The trip to the ranch was long, but Jenny didn't notice. She was too enthralled by the beauty of her surroundings, and she found herself wondering how she could have stayed away so long.
"I didn't realize how much I missed home," Jenny said, her heart swelling with the absolute magnificence of the mountains.
"I wondered why you didn't come back sooner," Louie remarked. "And so did your father."
She cringed inwardly at his words. "I g
uess I needed to see more of the world, so I could better appreciate what I had. I'm just sorry it took this to make me realize it."
"Don't feel guilty. We can never know what's going to happen in life. Your father wanted only your happiness. You meant the world to him," Evelyn offered. "He loved you, and you loved him."
"Louie..." Jenny was suddenly very serious.
The foreman glanced at her, hearing the change in her voice and wondering at it.
"What happened that day? How did Papa die? I know you said it was a riding accident, but he was such a good rider.... It just doesn't make sense that he'd be thrown and"
"No, it doesn't make much sense, horseman that he was, but when his mount came back to the house without him, me and the boys went out looking for him right away. We figured we'd find him walking back and probably cussing and spitting mad. We thought we'd get a good laugh out of it. We were all set to give him a bad time...." He paused as he remembered that terrible day.
"Where did you find him?"
"It took us a while, but we finally found him near the creek in the high pasture."
Jenny shivered at the thought of her beloved father dying that way all alone with no one to help him. "It's good that you were able to find him at all."
"We buried him with your mother," he offered, not really wanting to talk about it, but knowing that she needed to know all that had happened.
"Thank you, Louie. I don't know what I would have done without you."
They fell silent, each lost deep in thought.
Jenny was dreading returning to the empty house and seeing the last and final proof of her father's death his grave.
Evelyn was wondering what her niece was going to do now that she was owner of the ranch. Jenny loved living in the East. No doubt she would sell the Lazy S as quickly as possible, so they could return to the lives they'd been leading before Paul's deadly accident.
Louie was worried about what was going to happen when Jenny discovered that Cole was running the ranch-with her father's blessing. Their past history was going to make any kind of relationship between them difficult, to say the least. He just hoped they could work things out, so the ranch didn't suffer. Lord knows, things had been rough enough on the Lazy S lately. They didn't need any more trouble.
