Page 67 of The Rancher's Wedding

“I am, yes,” she said, “but I actually didn’t know many people there.” She struggled to keep talking without revealing the fear that echoed in her mind, telling her to get out of town and back to the farm as soon as she could. “It’s not like it is here,” she continued. “Not everybody knows each other.”

“Oh, of course,” Calvin said. “Still, it was pretty nifty, I thought. We don’t get too many visitors around these parts. What are the odds that we have one from the same city as the newest member of our little town?”

Estelle forced a small laugh. “It’s a funny world, isn’t it?”

“It certainly is. Maybe you’ll run into him and he can catch you up on what’s been happening over there since you’d left.”

In that instant, Estelle realized there wasn’t anything she planned on getting from the store that she couldn’t live without for at least a few days. There was only one thing on her mind and that was doing what she could to get out of town and back to the ranch as soon as possible.

“Oh my,” Estelle said, “I just remembered that I’ve forgotten to feed the dogs this morning. They can get aggressive when they’re hungry and you wouldn’t want them getting into the chicken pen like that.”

“No, you certainly wouldn’t.” He seemed a bit disoriented by her sudden urgency and unclear how to respond.

“I apologize I can’t stay and talk some more, but I should go take care of that. Have a wonderful day, Calvin.”

“Uh, right. You, too, Estelle. Say hello to Michael for me.”

“Of course,” she said as she walked off toward the horse posts, glad she had taken Orion rather than walked.

***

The ride back was frantic. If she hurried, perhaps she could get back before Michael left on the cattle drive. But she felt as though she couldn’t get Orion to run fast enough.Why, she thought,didn’t I just tell him? I could have told him before I even arrived or even shortly thereafter. I knew this day would come, why didn’t I let him know?

She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, but they didn’t manage to do much more than provide a few seconds of distraction. Even mentally insisting that it was going to go okay and that Michael was still at the house didn’t seem to help.

As long as he’s home, it’s all going to be fine, right? Michael won’t leave me. I don’t think he will, anyway. He’d support me and defend me against Ethan. But what if that’s not enough? He can handle horses and farming, but what does he know about people like Ethan and my father? It’s a completely different world than what he’s used to. He can’t just make his way out of it through hard work like he usually does.

The beautiful day which she had awoken to was now wasted on her. The cool, early breeze barely even registered on her skin as her mind was preoccupied with getting back to the ranch and falling into Michael’s arms, apologizing and hoping that he could help.

When she made it back to the ranch, she couldn’t find Michael anywhere. He wasn’t in the house or the barn or the stables, or even on the fields.

She ran up to Jacob’s cabin and knocked on the door, frantic and out of breath.

“Jacob?” she said through the door. “Jacob!”

He opened the door. “Estelle? Is everything okay?”

“No, Michael’s gone!”

Jacob nodded. “Right. He said he was heading out over to Salt Lake.”

“Salt Lake? Where is that? When will he be back? When did he leave? I need him, Jacob!” All the words seemed to come out at once, with one sentence merging into the next, not giving Jacob a chance to respond.

“He probably left before sunup this morning, but he’ll be back soon enough. Just a few days usually.” He paused and looked at her. “Estelle, are you okay?”

She had to fight the tears in her eyes.

“Estelle,” Jacob said, “I need you to calm down just long enough to tell me what’s going on. Deep breath and one word at a time.”

She took his advice and allowed herself a few seconds to center her mind before responding. “It’s Ethan. I think he’s come to town.”

“Ethan?”

“The man I was supposed to marry.”

“Oh,” Jacob said.

“I don’t know it’s him,” she said. “It’s a stranger from Philadelphia, but it’s got to be either him or my father. Whichever one it is, though, I need Michael here. I don’t want them to take me away. By the time he comes back, I could be halfway to Philadelphia.”

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