The Bride’s Secret_A Western Romance Story Page 9

  If she was an outlaw, she would have shot Max already. She could have done it from a good distance with no worries about missing. Everyone in the rodeo would lift her up on their shoulders and carry her around, praising her like some kind of god. No one liked Max. She didn’t want to deal with him anymore, either. However, she wasn’t an outlaw. She was a sharp shooting performer in a traveling rodeo show and just wanted to settle down and start a family.

  Thinking about starting a family brought Sam to her mind. He was older than her, she could see that. He had to be at least ten years older, if not more. Yet it didn’t matter to her. His age only meant that he was wiser than her, that he would protect her and guide her. She wanted a man who would lift up her spirits and love her like a man should love a woman.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself, stopping to sit on the trunk of a large tree that had fallen over. She shivered, though she wasn’t cold. Her heartbeat sped up. She pulled in a deep breath and held it. It didn’t make her heart slow down. She let the air out of her lungs slowly. She reached up and pushed both hands through her hair, bending at the waist.

  Emily fought back the tears that once more threatened to fall. She looked up at the sky.

  “God,” she prayed. “I don’t know what to do. You have blessed me in so many ways, giving me the talents I have. I thank you for that. But right now, I’m… I’m just… Oh, God, I need Your help. I need a sign. Send me a sign that everything will be all right. I don’t know if I’ll even recognize it as a sign but I’ll sure try. Please, God, help me.”

  She ended the prayer in her head, suddenly feeling a sense of energy. She stood up and went over the tree trunk to the other side so she could continue walking in what she hoped was a straight line.

  Emily walked until she ran out of woods. A clearing came up on her. She looked to her left, which she assumed was the direction of Wickenburg. It would be on the other side of the woods that surrounded the clearing. She looked to her right, noticing the high mountains in the back, looking like a painting in the sky.

  “This would be the perfect spot to watch the sunrise,” she murmured to herself. She stepped out into the clearing and a flock of birds lifted up from the middle of it, jetting across the sky randomly but as quickly as they could. She watched them, wondering how her light step could have alerted them to her presence. She walked into the middle of the overgrown field. The grass and weeds were just a little over her waist. She lifted both hands out to the sides and brushed her palms over the tops of the swaying grass. She was glad she had her boots and breeches on now. Her legs would be getting cut if she was wearing a dress, even a long one. In addition, there was no telling what kind of animal might be in there.

  She suddenly thought of snakes and became instantly paranoid. She pulled her arms back to her sides and began to jog through the grass. Her boots didn’t make that any easier.

  Once she was close to the other side, she slowed down until she was walking out of the clearing and back into the woods.

  The ground began to slant upward. She stood at the bottom of the hill, trying to decide if she had walked far enough. She didn’t know how long it had been but if it was too long, Ryan would come looking for her. If she didn’t make the showing, they would all come looking for her. Sam would find out and be sick with worry.

  She smiled. One day and she knew he would be sick with worry.

  The instant connection was not something she was used to. It had never happened to her before.

  She stopped again, and sat on a flat piece of shale coming out of the ground. She pulled one leg up to loosen her boot and then pull it off.

  The instant relief from being freed from the boot made her foot tingle. She rubbed it, wincing at the sharp pains that tickled the inside of her foot. When she was satisfied it felt better, she pushed her foot back into the boot. It no longer felt free and refreshed. She pulled off the other boot and repeated the process, wincing again as the pins and needles filled her foot and her calf.

  She pulled her boot back on and set out walking again.

  She should turn around, she knew, but she didn’t want to. The last thing she wanted to do was to go back the hostile environment she’d just left behind. She should have told Sam, she scolded herself. She should have told him everything. Maybe he could have helped. It was obvious to her that his feelings for her were quite strong. She could see it written on his face and see it in his eyes. She wondered if he could see the same in hers. She felt like finding him and asking him to run away with her. However, she couldn’t do that. She would be leaving her mother and brother behind. Her brother might end up in prison doing hard labor and her mother would be on her own. How would Emily feel then?

  “Like a big sack of manure,” she said out loud, answering her own question.

  She looked up at the sky, wondering how much time she had before the show was to start. She was still debating with herself whether she wanted to go or not.

  Her attention was diverted when a squirrel raced up a tree, perching on a limb and looking down at her.

  “Well, what do you have to say about it?” she asked the squirrel. The animal tilted its little head to the left and then the right. “You’re not being helpful if you’re trying to give me directions, little squirrel. I don’t know if I’m lost yet. I haven’t turned around and tried to go back. Do you have any suggestions? Advice? Ideas?”

  She gazed up at the animal, which didn’t seem in the least afraid of her. She took a step closer and noticed there was a hole in the tree just above the branch the squirrel was sitting on. “You’ve got a family in there, don’t you, little squirrel? Well, I’m not going to harm them. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  The squirrel gazed at her and, as if understanding her, turned and scooted into the hole, its bushy tail disappearing in a matter of moments.

  Emily didn’t think she’d seen a squirrel quite that small and brave before. It wasn’t like she could reach up ten feet and snatch the babies out of the hole. She wouldn’t even if she was tall enough. However, that squirrel was going to make sure if she suddenly grew ten feet, it was going to attack.

  As it was, she wasn’t. She watched the hole for a few more moments to see if the squirrel would come back out. She enjoyed conversing with it. It didn’t talk back to her.

  When the squirrel didn’t appear, Emily walked past the tree, sure she would remember it if she saw it again.

  She turned around and looked behind her. A sense of regret washed over her. She should never have walked this far. She looked up at the sun in the sky. It had to be time for the show. If she wasn’t already late.

  She stood still, staring out in front of her, thinking. She wanted to tell Max to go to Hell and go find Sam. She wanted to tell Sam everything and see if he could be of any help. She looked to her right and her left. She hadn’t turned around, she figured, so Wickenburg had to be to her right. If she’d walked a straight line. If she didn’t....

  Well, then she was officially lost.

  She turned in a slow circle, realizing that by turning and looking in all directions, she lost all sense of where she’d just been. “Turning around” was going to be much harder than she thought.

  She reasoned that she might need to continue walking the way she was. Eventually she was bound to come upon someone. People and houses dotted the hills and mountains around her. Some people owned an entire mountain. Others owned several businesses and rental homes in the larger cities. These were the people who built a cabin in the middle of the woods and surrounded themselves with nature. She was going to come upon someone like that, she was sure.

  She kept walking, keeping her pace slow so her boots wouldn’t affect her feet any more than they already had. She focused her eyes on the woods around her, looking past the trees for anything that looked man-made and kept walking and walking.

  Finally, she spotted something in the distance that had to be a house. A nervous excitement split through her. She hoped
the residents were friendly people.

  Maybe there would be someone living there who wore the same size shoes.

  She was dying to take her boots off.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE WOMAN IN THE COTTAGE

  THE WOMAN IN THE COTTAGE

  Rachel sifted through the dirt around her beans, covering roots and adjusting limbs. She picked a few ripe beans and dropped them down in her basket. She moved from one side of the garden aisle to the other, looking for good, fresh string beans. The next row over was peas. She liked the fresh string beans and pea pods. They looked like they were very cozy in their little pods.

  “Excuse me?” She heard a voice in the distance. She looked up and saw a woman approaching the house. She looked like she was in pain.

  She was reminded of when her husband had come to Wickenburg. He’d fallen down a ravine and gotten severely hurt. He’d caught an infection, was broken up in so many ways. However, she tended to him and prayed a lot. He’d fully recovered and was working that day at the Campbell house, helping to repair a porch step.

  She lifted one hand in greeting.

  “Hello!” she called out. “Come on over. What are you doing in the woods? Are you all right?”

  Rachel met Emily halfway so that only a fence separated them.

  “I’m all right, thank you. My name is Emily Whittaker. I’m with the rodeo that’s in town.”

  “Oh, yes,” Rachel’s smile was wide and friendly. She gestured to the gate of the fence. “I think I saw you yesterday.”

  Emily frowned in confusion. “What do you mean, either you saw me or you didn’t.”

  “I meant nothing by it, dear,” Rachel said. “I saw you out walking down the street with your mother. Has she come out of her shell to look at the bright sun and blue sky? She seems like one of the types who should join a secretary’s club or a sewing circle.”

  Rachel opened the gate and let Emily through. “I… I didn’t think anyone saw us. It was so late at night. I mean, there were a few people out but no one I recognized.”

  Rachel gave her a warm, friendly smile. “Well, I was one of those people. I’m Rachel.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, too. Would you like to come in for some tea and pastries? I’ve got some fresh baked cookies, too. And my tea is kept in the icebox so it’s cold.”

  Emily nodded, putting one hand on her grumbling stomach. “I am hungry. Thank you. But what I really need to do is change out of these boots. I should never have gone for a walk in the woods with these on but…” she trailed off, looking ashamed.

  Rachel shook her head, looking down at Emily’s shoes. “No, don’t be embarrassed, my dear. I think we might have something you can use. What size are your feet?”

  “They’re a size 7.”

  Rachel grinned wide. “Same as me!”

  Emily raised her eyebrows. “What a coincidence!”

  “My mother used to say there were no such things as coincidences,” Rachel said, going around her and taking her arm to turn her around. “Come on in the house.”

  Once they were inside, and Emily was seated, she pulled the first boot off. She couldn’t help making a hissing sound as she pulled it off. Her entire foot hurt from the ankle to the heel to the toes. She wiggled her toes a little.

  “Well, at least they work,” she giggled. “I didn’t fall one time while I was walking through the woods.”

  “That’s good, Emily.” Rachel laughed with her. She watched Emily take the other boot off and wiggle her other toes, wincing the whole time. She didn’t want to laugh at the girl, but walking through the woods in boots was the absolute wrong thing to do. “So tell me.”

  Before she could ask the question, Emily put her hand up to stop her. “You want to know why I was walking through the woods in boots. It was obviously a spontaneous trip, so you are wondering what happened to make me leave like that.”

  Rachel just smiled at her without answering.

  “I’ll tell you why. But first, I think you mentioned something about fresh baked cookies?”

  “Ahhh,” Rachel went in the kitchen and returned with a container of fresh chocolate cookies. Each one had a sugary bit of frosting on the top. “My brother and I used to love these as children. They are my grandmother’s recipe. Please do try one. Help yourself.”

  She set the container down next to Emily on the couch. “Let me go get you some refreshing tea. Then I’ll go search for some shoes that are better for hikes than for anything else.

  “Oh thank you. I do appreciate it.” She watched her new friend leave, rubbing her aching foot. She looked around at the interior of the house. It was decorated for a single woman with a keen sense of style and fashion. There were cute knick knacks, plenty of ceramic cats and other things associated with cats.

  “Do you have a cat?” Emily called out.

  Rachel came back with the tea. She set it on the end table. “What did you ask me?”

  “I was wondering if you had a cat. All of this cat stuff everywhere. It’s all beautiful, don’t get me wrong. I’m just wondering because if you love cats it would seem silly not to have one.”

  Both women laughed. “I think you have a valid point. And yes. I do have a cat. Just one. He lives outside. Only comes in when he feels like it. Let me go get you some shoes to wear. If you like, I’ll just take you into Wickenburg or back to the rodeo site.”

  “I’ll go to Wickenburg with you. But I don’t want to go now. Do you mind if I just sit here and rest for a while?”

  “No, of course not. I’m glad you weren’t hurt. My husband came to me out of the woods and he was very hurt. I nursed him back to health and we got married.” She smiled.

  Emily noticed the happy, calm look on the woman’s face. She was envious. She hadn’t felt peace and contentment for long enough for her face to reflect it in years. She watched Rachel move back through the hallway and disappear in one of the rooms.

  She was out in no time, bringing back a small pair of white shoes that looked very comfortable.

  “These are lovely. Where did you get them?”

  “My husband bought them from a traveling merchant a few months back.”

  Rachel came over to the couch and sat down next to Emily. She leaned forward and put the shoes on the floor next to Emily’s feet. “They look like they will fit you just fine,” she said.

  “They do,” Emily said, nodding. “And they look so comfortable. Thank you, Rachel. I will return them as soon as I can.”

  Rachel shook her head. “You can keep them if you like.”

  Emily smiled. “That’s very generous of you. But I don’t need them. I have all the shoes I need. I just wore the wrong ones this time.”

  “All right then. I won’t need them for some time, so whenever you get around to returning them is fine.”

  Rachel settled back against the couch as her new friend tried on one of the shoes.

  “It fits perfect!” Emily exclaimed, giving Rachel a big smile.

  “I’m so glad,” Rachel smiled back. Emily pulled the shoe back off and set it down beside her.

  “I’m not going to put them on yet. My feet need to be free of restraint for a little while.”

  “That’s perfectly fine,” Rachel replied. “Aren’t people going to be worried about you? Don’t you have a show today?”

  Emily sighed, sitting back against the couch. She would go through the whole story with this woman living in a cottage in the middle of the woods. Who knew if she ever talked to anyone at all, except her husband? Emily supposed she could ask, but would it be impolite to do so? “I do have a show today,” she finally replied. “But I think it’s already started.”

  Rachel began to push herself off the couch and onto her feet. Emily took her arm before she could stand.

  “It’s okay, Rachel. I’m not going.”

  The woman looked at Emily, confused. “What? Why?”

  “It’s a complicated, long
story.”

  Rachel gave her a gentle smile. “Do you have a condensed version?”

  Emily giggled. “Well, I suppose I could tell you the short story, but you’ll miss a lot of important facts.”

  “I don’t need to know all of your business, my dear. I just want you to get whatever is burdening you off your back.”

  Emily looked at Rachel’s kind face. She had Irish features, just like Sam. Emily wondered how many Irish people were in town and whether they were all related. She wasn’t going to ask. That would be too curious for her. Rachel was obviously a caring individual. She looked honest to Emily.

  “Well, let’s see. There’s a man in town that I saw at my first show yesterday morning. He came to see me after the show. My brother got mad and started a fight with him and I do truly fear there is a vendetta against him and that he might get hurt.”

  “Not by the men of Wickenburg,” Rachel assured her. “The men here are good men. Gentlemen. They wouldn’t hurt anyone without reason. Certainly not kill them. Trust me. I know. I know everyone in Wickenburg.”

  “Even though you live all the way out here?”

  Rachel grinned. “Even though I live all the way out here.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Since you came through the woods from the Celebration Place, you don’t know how close we are to Wickenburg.”

  Emily nodded. “That’s good. I’m glad to hear it. My brother. He gets in fights. He doesn’t have much self-control. He’ll turn on someone in a heartbeat. I don’t know why he’s like that. Our parents weren’t like that. We travel with our mother, you know. If it wasn’t for her being with us sometimes, I wonder if both Ryan and I would still be alive. Especially after I decided I wanted to leave. I started telling him and Max constantly. I want to get out. I want to leave the rodeo. And they say I am acting selfishly.”