Page 52 of The Rancher's Wedding

But he’s not in love with me. No, he’s in love with the person he thinks I am. Because I kept the secret for so long, I’ve managed to make him fall in love with somebody who doesn’t even exist—and I fear if I tell him the truth, he’ll realize that I’m not the woman he’s in love with.

Oh, it’s so complicated!

I need to tell him, and I want to tell him. I’m just waiting for the right time. It will happen soon, I know it. I just hope it happens before my father and Ethan try to come and get me.

And I hope against hope that Michael will understand, even if it means we have to start everything over.

I wish you were here to help, Megan. I wish I could be telling this to you in your ear instead of through mail. It’s very possible that, by the time you receive this, I’ve already told him. I should hope that’s the case.

However, it’s also possible at this point that, by the time you receive this, my father and Ethan will be on their way to me. It’s even possible that, as I write this, they’re heading my way.

I have faith, though. Our late afternoon tryst reignited my faith in the very idea that things will work out for the best. Even if I don’t understand exactly how that is.

If I truly have faith, then there should be nothing to be afraid of. I need to tell him. In fact, I will tell him right now. No more procrastinations: I’m going to go downstairs and tell Michael exactly who I am. And he will accept me for that.

No excuses this time, because I’m not scared. The moment I finish this letter, that’s when I’m going to tell him—and because I’m telling you, it means I will absolutely do it, or it will make me another liar.

So, I must tell him. There’s no reason not to.

I’m procrastinating, aren’t I? I’m using this very letter to keep from doing it.

Wish me luck, Megan. I will tell him right now.

Sincerely,

Estelle

Chapter Twenty-One

The letter felt like a contract for Estelle. Because she had written down that she was going to tell Michael, it would make her a liar if she did not. Unless, of course, she didn’t send it.

So, she put it in an envelope, addressed it, and added a stamp before heading downstairs and putting it in the mailbox, then wandering around the ranch to find Michael.

If she was being honest with herself, she’d admit that she was terrified of talking to him and having the conversation that she’d practiced with Orion. Orion was going to accept her no matter what she said.

She’d also had the conversation with Jacob, and that had put her completely on edge. At any point, he could tell Michael. Fortunately for her, they weren’t talking to each other very much these days.

It was going to be on her to tell him, which was both something of a relief, because it was in her control, and frightening, because it meant she was the one who had to do it.

But she’d promised Megan and she wasn’t one to break a promise to a friend.

Michael was with a cow among the herd, sitting on a stool beside a tree, milking her and talking to her in the process. His back was to Estelle, so she had a bit more time before he’d notice her, but she didn’t want to wait. She wanted to let it all out.

But then she started listening to his words, and they were a bit strange.

“I realize that I could be doing a better job understanding you.”

He was saying that to the cow?

“And I apologize for raising my voice the other day. You didn’t deserve that. Honestly, you’re family to me, and you’re just about the only family I’ve got left.”

If this cow was so special to Michael, Estelle wondered,why hasn’t he introduced me to her? Also, is it typical for a man to consider a cow family?

“You’re my brother,” Michael continued, “and I love you.”

Estelle was completely bewildered. Weren’t cows all female? And why was it that Michael could say he loved the cow but not her?

“I love you, too,” the cow replied in a deep, masculine voice that sounded an awful lot like…

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