Page 92 of The Rancher's Wedding

“Morning, Estelle,” Megan said, cracking four eggs, one at a time, onto the pan, and letting them sit for a moment, while she returned to the potato slices, sitting in another pan of sizzling oil. Megan jostled the potatoes around a bit, then pulled one out, blew on it, and tasted it. “Just a little bit longer,” she said.

Estelle sat down at the table. “Megan,” she began, “do you ever wonder ‘What if?’”

“Like ‘What if you’d never answered the ad?’,” Megan said, “is that the kind of thing you’re saying.”

“Yeah,” Estelle said, still taking in the smells of Megan’s breakfast, getting stronger by the minute. “There are so many things that had to happen for us to end up right here right now. What if just one of them hadn’t happened?”

Megan flipped the potatoes around once more, then poured them onto a plate. “Sometimes, but then I stop myself.”

“How?” Estelle asked.

“Well,” Megan said, “I tell myself that I’m just worrying. That’s all it is. Except normally you worry about what might happen. But when you play ‘What if?’, you’re worrying about what’s already worked out perfectly. ‘What if I’d never met Jacob?’ I might ask myself. Except I did meet him. So what’s even the point of the question?”

Megan had a point. Estelle was worried about something that had already happened and turned into better than anything she could ever imagine.

“If you want something to worry about,” Megan said, “I’m sure you could find something. But why look to the past to be worried? Worry about the future.”

Except Estelle wasn’t worried about the future. Not at all. Of course, the future wasn’t written and anything could happen. It was true that life had a way of traveling in ups and downs, but none of that mattered to Estelle so long as she had Michael. And if she had Megan and Jacob on top of that, so much the better.

Perhaps it was her confidence in the future that made her have to look to the past to find something to concern her.

Michael came in from outside with his brother, snow on their coats, which they dusted off as they stepped into the house.

“Smells wonderful,” Michael said.

“And feels a lot warmer than out there,” Jacob said. He sat at the table and watched his wife, still as in love as the day he’d met her. In fact, Estelle had a feeling that he loved her even more than he had that day. He knew her better and, through the letters, he’d fallen completely head over heels. And once she moved to the ranch, it seemed as though Jacob never wanted to be without her, even for a day.

As for Estelle, she looked at her husband, the man who taught her what it meant to truly love somebody. He was the only person she’d ever met who never for a second underestimated her and always encouraged her to push just a little bit harder. Everything she knew about how to run the farm she’d learned from him, but more than that, she became a different person because of him. She was now the person she always wished she could be.

And Michael was the husband she never believed she could have.

Megan put their plates in front of them, then handed out silverware.

“Bon appétit!” she said, sitting down next to her husband, across from Estelle.

The food was delicious as always and the four of them ensured there was nothing left over.

“What are we doing today?” Megan asked.

“With the snow, it’s probably best that we start bringing the cattle inside for the winter,” Michael said. “We don’t want them getting cold out there.”

Estelle knew right away what that would entail. She’d get to ride Orion, leading the cattle and keeping her eye out for snakes or anything else that could spook the cows. Michael and the dogs would circle them, keeping them in a tight herd so they’d be easier to control.

Megan and Jacob would also help. When Megan married Jacob, Michael picked up two new horses for them as wedding gifts. Jacob’s had a beautiful silver coat and, as a result, he named the horse Steel. Megan’s was white and would likely blend in with the snow. She named hers Angel.

While Estelle led, Megan and Angel would bring up the rear and Jacob and Steel would look for stragglers, bringing them back in with the herd.

Estelle thought back to her childhood, where she’d spend every day playing with her best friend. It felt like her adulthood was much the same. Yes, working on the ranch was work, and important work at that with little room for error, but it was so much fun that it still felt like play to Estelle.

“Better get started with that,” Michael said.

***

Estelle sat on Orion out in the cold, wearing her thick coat and feeling her cheeks getting rosey. She let out a breath and saw it dissipate into the air.

The cows were all grouped up and Jacob stood at the gate.

“Are we ready?” he asked.

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