Page 12 of The Rancher's Wedding

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“Who’s that?”

As they walked out of the house, Megan pointed to a small log cabin off in the distance and the silhouette of a man looking through the window at them.

“That’s my brother,” Michael said. “Jacob.”

“Can we meet him?” Megan asked.

Michael paused, uncertain of how to respond. It was a fair question, but the answer was a bit more complicated than it seemed.

“We can try,” he said. He began walking toward the cabin, taking an easy stride partially because he didn’t want to rush the women in their boots and dresses, but mostly because he felt nervous about introducing anybody to Jacob.

“I feel as though I must warn you,” Michael said, “Jacob is a little distant. He’s not the most friendly of people.”

“How do you mean?” Estelle asked. “Is he dangerous?”

“No, no… nothing like that. Just he doesn’t usually like visitors. He was perfectly fine before, a little shy maybe, but we had a bit of an incident a few years ago together and he never fully recovered.”

“What happened?” Estelle asked.

He sighed. It wasn’t a story he had any desire to get into, especially not now. “An incident,” he said, “where he nearly died. But that there’s the past and life’s gotta move on, you hear what I’m saying?”

They nodded, but didn’t seem fully satisfied with his answer.

“I’d still like to meet him,” Megan said. “Maybe if we go over there and introduce ourselves, he’ll come out of his shell a little bit.”

“I don’t think so. Like I said, he doesn’t usually like visitors.” It was something of a white lie for Michael. In reality, there hadn’t actually been any visitors, not since they’d first built the ranch with the help of the town.

The truth was that Jacob didn’t likeMichaelvisiting him. And Michael didn’t want any drama to break out, not while he was still making first impressions on Estelle.

“I’d like to meet him,” Estelle announced. “If I’m going to be living here, I feel like I must introduce myself.”

“I came all the way here,” Megan said. “I may as well meet the whole family.”

It seemed like the women weren’t going to take no for an answer.

“Okay.” Michael wiped his brow and turned back toward the cabin. “Let’s go meet Jacob,” he said.

Michael hadn’t actually stepped foot inside the cabin in months, not that he could remember. He’d leave food outside the door several times a day, as was part of his routine because he believed that, one day, his brother would return as the man he remembered and loved. All of his other loved ones had left this earth, but Jacob remained. He just refused to be loved.

Michael reached the top of the path and stood in front of his brother’s door. He had seen Jacob’s face poking through the window, so there wasn’t any reason to make their presence known, but Michael knocked on the door anyway.

“Jacob?” Michael said. “I have some people I’d like you to meet.”

He’d always spoken to Jacob through the door when he dropped off food, pretending that everything was okay between them and offering a friendly voice in an effort to lure Jacob out. He hoped that one day Jacob would respond with more than a few words, but it hadn’t happened yet. Michael was running out of hope.

The door creaked open and Jacob, unshaven and disheveled, stood on the other side.

“Hello,” Jacob said, his voice scratchy and weak, but with a hint of surprise.

“This is Megan and Estelle,” Michael said. “I’ve told you all about them, but here they are, finally here after a long train ride.”

“Pleasure,” Jacob said. When, for a second, he locked eyes with Megan, he averted his gaze and blushed, looking down. Michael saw the unmistakable beginnings of a genuine smile on Jacob’s face.

And Michael smiled back.

Then he looked at Megan and, could it be? He saw the same glimmer of excitement on her face, though she didn’t make any effort to hide her smile.

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