Page 40 of The Rancher's Wedding

He looked her straight in the eyes, their lips nearly touching, and Estelle wondered if—hoped, really—he would cover the remaining distance and let her have another kiss.

Perhaps he was going to, but the band finished their song and Michael let his hold on her loosen as he took a step back.

“You know, Michael,” Estelle said, “you lied to me.”

He looked shocked, taken aback. “What?” he asked. “How?”

She smiled. “You’re actually quite a wonderful dancer.”

“Oh,” he said, smiling back. “So are you.”

“Come on,” Estelle said. “Let’s go see what else there is to do here.”

She had a smile on her face because she was happy, but she was still anxious. Estelle had jokingly called Michael a liar, but she knew, deep down, that she was the real liar.

Chapter Fifteen

The rooster crowed at dawn and Estelle wanted to stay in bed. The riding had finally caught up to her; her body was sore. Additionally, they had come back late from the town fair and she could have used a couple more hours of beauty sleep.

Still, seeing the sunlight pass over the mountains through her windows, along with the majesty of all the open land, made her sure that this life she had chosen was the one she wanted to live. Her body may have been a bit slow to get up, but she remained excited about the day ahead of her, working on the ranch.

She went downstairs to start work on breakfast and managed to put together a pretty good meal, if she said so herself, of fresh eggs and potatoes. Michael arrived at the table just as she finished.

“Mornin’,” he said. “Smells good.”

“Thank you.” Estelle put his breakfast on a plate and handed it to him.

“Good, hearty meal, and we’re going to need it today.”

She sat down beside him and began eating. “Why is that?”

“Well, Winston McClelland said he was in need of some meat, so we’re gonna need to get it to him.”

Estelle felt the air leave her body. She’d performed many of the duties at the ranch, but she hadn’t yet had to kill any of the animals. She knew it was part of life on the ranch, but it didn’t mean she had to like it.

“So, do we have to… take their lives?” Estelle asked.

“No,” Michael said. “We just do what’s known as a cattle drive. We get a bunch of them and lead them to Winston’s. He takes care of the rest.”

It still didn’t sit completely well with Estelle.

“Look, Estelle, you need to understand that we all need to eat. Part of our job here is to give all the animals as good a life as we can. If they were out in the wild, they’d be killed in unimaginable ways by wolves or cougars, if they didn’t starve to death first.”

“I know that,” Estelle admitted. “I just don’t much like it.”

***

Winston had requested nine cattle, so that was what Estelle and Michael brought together. With the assistance of Daisy and Buckley, the Australian Shepherds, as well as Buttercup and Orion, the two horses, they headed toward town, circling the cows and keeping them in a tight group, carefully ensuring they all stayed in their place and none of them got spooked.

It wasn’t far to the town circle, perhaps a mile or so, but the short ride filled Estelle with dread. Still, she had a job to do and she knew that not every job on the ranch would be glamorous. She shoveled the horse manure and she was leading the cattle to the butcher. It was work, and it was the price she had to pay in order to live this life.

She looked at the cattle, moving in their small herd, occasionally offering a soft “moo” as they walked as if they had all the time in the world. Each one of them would feed dozens of people. In a perfect world, they could just live like people and die when it was their time, but that wasn’t the world she lived in.

Estelle rode up next to one of the cows and patted it on the head. She could almost see it smile at her, lifting its nose in the air and closing its eyes.

Perhaps they were off to a better place, just like humans. These were good cows and deserved a heaven all their own, with sunny day after sunny day and all the grass they could graze. That thought comforted Estelle and, despite the chore, she felt a smile creep across her face as she wiped away a tear.

A bush up ahead, maybe thirty yards or so, shook a bit. Estelle thought it might have been the wind, but it was too isolated.

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