Page 2 of A Steadfast Heart
When the main door opened again, a young lady sailed in, her dress dripping with lace and her sleeves puffed all the way to the elbow. A river of blonde curls flowed from under her ribbon- and feather-decked bonnet that wouldn’t last ten seconds in the Wyoming wind. She was young. The youthful look of her face hit him hard in the solar plexus and made him feel older than his thirty-three years.
Thiswas Leona?
Drew rose to his feet. “Leona.” He moved toward her, but she held up a hand to stop him.
His pulse pounded in his temples at the gesture. They’d never met before, but he’d expected a warmer welcome than this.
She stood there, and he did too. He could feel a muscle ticking in his cheek. “Is there a problem?”
“I didn’t think you would actually show up, thought surely when you saw my house you’d turn around and leave.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He could feel his temper sparking like flint against tinder. They had an agreement. Surely she wasn’t backing out now. He’d come hundreds of miles. He’d spent time writing her those letters. Told the kids he was bringing home a wife.
The society miss looked past him to that cracked back door. “You can come out now.” Several young ladies dressed just as lavishly entered the room, smothering their giggles behind pristine white gloves. Their stares and obvious amusement pricked his skin with heat.
Miss Fitzsimmons turned back to him. “Your letters have provided the best entertainment of the year for myself and my friends.”
His temper flashed so hot it robbed him of words. Maybe Merritt sensed it. She sidled close, hovering behind his elbow. “That’s a very cruel trick to play on another.” She sounded like the schoolmarm she was, her voice snappy and commanding.
“You didn’t really think that someone in my position would accept a proposal from some two-bit rancher, did you?”
The longer he looked at her, the more she came to resemble his late wife. The disdain in the curl of her lip. The glittering ugliness in her eyes, judging him.
He felt sick. “I didn’t think much on it, as you didn’t tell me of your position.”
Her blue eyes widened in exaggerated shock. “Didn’t I? How careless of me. Here, take your letter with you. And a word of advice, if you should try this again. Next time, put a little romance in your proposal. Not that it would have mattered in this case, of course, but no woman wants to be married just to look after a bunch of brats.”
He opened his mouth to respond, to blast her with words she surely deserved. Miss Fitzsimmons had played a vicious joke. He should speak to her father, should?—
He forced his whirling thoughts to steady. He didn’t want one more thing to do with this young woman who played with the emotions of others. Jagged breaths cut like glass inside him. There was nothing left for him here. He left the house to echoes of laughter, Merritt beside him.
It was cooler outside, but the fresh air did nothing to dampen his anger.
They crossed the park before they sank onto a bench out of sight from the house. Merritt reached for his hand. “If you ask me, this was a lucky escape. Imagine. Some poor man is going to end up married to her.”
Drew laughed bitterly. “I pity him.”
“You have other replies to your ad.”
“I do.” And he’d burn them just as soon as he got home. There had to be some other way to get his kids some schooling. He’d rather they grow up ignorant than be exposed to what that “lady” would teach them. Or any city woman like her. He should’ve known better. Hadn’t his doomed marriage to Amanda taught him anything?
The brightness of Merritt’s joy with her new husband had blinded him. Convinced him that a mail-order relationship might work. That and the feeling he was failing his children.
“It would take a while to choose another candidate though.” Merritt bit her lip. “Meanwhile, Nick can help with the kids’ schooling. It’s worked okay so far.”
Sure it had. If you definedokayas Nick spending an hour or so each evening tutoring his nephew and nieces after putting in a full day on his own homestead. An hour divided between three kids, no less. Drew’s youngest brother looked more tired every day.
Ed tried to pick up some of Nick’s work, but the land agent would be inspecting his property at the end of May to make sure he had complied with the Homestead Act. If he didn’t meet the requirements to prove up his land—namely, build a structure to live in—he would lose it.
And Isaac. Drew’s chest tightened. Isaac had returned to the ranch months ago without his badge and without the confidence that had been such a part of him since they were kids. If it hadn’t been for the McGraw jawline, Drew almost wouldn’t have recognized him.
And their neighbor, Heath Quade, was waiting in the wings, ready to snatch their land out from under them.
Drew swallowed the bitter taste of failure. Some job he was doing of keeping the family ranch going. If they didn’t prove up the homesteads, he might even lose the land that Pa left him.
And now he’d failed in finding his kids a new ma.
They made their way back to the cable car, then to the train station. He left Merritt in the waiting area, then approached the ticket counter. Changing his tickets to an earlier departure date only required a minor fee, but the station agent refused to refund his money for the ticket that his bride would have used. He crumpled the useless piece of paper in with his final letter and his ad, then left the wadded-up mass on the counter. A gust of wind picked it up and carried it away.
