Last Promise (21 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

“We will be leaving day after tomorrow,” Mary Ann's father told her.

Knowing it was hopeless for her to reason with him, Mary Ann had stopped trying. Now that Luke hated her she might as well go back to England. Even if her father left without her she didn't think she could bear staying here and seeing Luke frequently. It would be easier to forget him if she went back to England.

* * *

Mary Ann had another sleepless night. She only had one more day to try to explain to Luke and ask his forgiveness. If he wouldn't talk to her, she would at least have the opportunity to say good-bye to Victoria and Promise. She wanted to thank them for their friendship while she was here.

The next morning George escorted Mary Ann to the McBride ranch and arranged to come back for her in a few hours after he had a chance to check on the progress at his new ranch.

“Mary Ann, what a lovely surprise,” Victoria said when she opened the door.

“I do apologize for coming unannounced, but my uncle was going to the ranch so I asked him to bring me here. He will pick me up in a couple of hours. I hope you don't mind.” It was the first time Mary Ann had smiled in days. Every time she came to the McBride ranch she couldn't help but be cheered by the love she felt in the home.

“Mind? Of course not! I'm delighted to see you. Let me get Promise from the kitchen. We were just getting ready to make some pies.”

“I brought some teacakes,” Mary Ann said, handing Victoria the basket she was carrying.

“How thoughtful, I will make some tea.”

When Victoria walked out of the room Mary Ann had time to look around the parlor. It was a warm, inviting room with oversize chairs that spoke to the large masculine men in the home, but they were softened by the colorful needlepoint pillows lending a feminine touch. Promise's painting of the family was the focal point hanging over the massive stone fireplace. But Mary Ann was drawn to the painting of the three brothers. The men were so similar in appearance with their dark weathered skin and their square McBride jawline, but it was Luke's blue eyes that jumped off the canvas. On her previous trips to the ranch she'd never had a chance to really study the painting. She stared at Luke until she heard Victoria and Promise walking down the hall.

The women sat in the parlor and chatted for over an hour and finally Mary Ann disclosed the reason for her visit. “One of the reasons I came by was to say good-bye. We are leaving tomorrow.”

Victoria noticed Mary Ann kept looking out the window as though she was waiting on something. It could be her uncle, of course, but she had a feeling she was hoping Luke would walk through that door. “Your father hasn't changed his mind?”

“No, he hasn't. But it is probably for the best. I won't be coming back.”

“Does this mean you will definitely marry Mr. Stafford?” Promise asked.

Mary Ann couldn't begin to discuss that subject without tearing up. “It seems so.”

Victoria exchanged a glance with Promise. “We hate to hear that, we were hoping that your father would have a change of heart.”

“I'm afraid that's not possible.” Mary Ann had avoided the other reason she came to the ranch long enough. “I also wanted to see Luke. I need to apologize to him.”

“Mary Ann, the men are out on the range moving cattle and they won't be back for a few weeks at least. We were doing some baking for the cook to take food out to them.”

Mary Ann was disappointed, but she tried to hide her feelings “I didn't realize they stayed on the range that long.”

“When I first came here, I remember Jake telling me he could stay on horseback for two weeks and never reach the western boundary,” Promise told her.

“I had no idea the ranch was so large. Have you ever wanted to go with them and sleep out on the range?” Mary Ann thought the prospect of sleeping around a campfire with the right man sounded romantic. She'd never experienced such a thing.

“I came here with Jake on a cattle drive with twenty-five hundred head of longhorns. I think I prefer the comfort of my own bed,” Promise responded.

Victoria and Promise shared their stories of how they arrived at the McBride ranch. By comparison Mary Ann thought her story seemed rather dull. How she wished she could live on a ranch like this with a husband she loved and one who loved her. She could envision herself growing old here with her children and grandchildren. She wasn't so naïve as to think that this life came without hardships, but with a strong man by your side it was sure to be an interesting life.

“I'm sorry I won't be able to say good-bye to Luke . . .” She hesitated, trying to control her emotions. She would never see Luke again, and now it seemed so final. She didn't think she could feel worse than the night she saw Luke kissing Sally, but she was wrong.

“Let's go to Colt's office. You can use his desk to write Luke a note and tell him what you wanted to say,” Victoria suggested.

* * *

“Mind if we join you?” Colt asked Luke.

Luke already had a fire going and was making some coffee. He enjoyed being out on the range and sleeping under the stars. It gave him time to think and put life into perspective. He'd spent a few nights off by himself away from the rest of the men so he didn't mind having the company of his brothers. “I'll make more coffee.”

“Good. Jake shot dinner,” Colt told him. Colt had given Luke some time alone since he understood that was what he needed. As much as Colt missed his wife and boys, he was happy to have the chance to be alone with his brothers. It reminded him of when they were young and they would spend time on the range with their father. Those were special memories that he enjoyed sharing with his brothers and he wanted to make more memories with them. It also gave them time to talk about the things men like to talk about without boring the women.

After they ate dinner they placed their bedrolls around the fire and Colt pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his saddlebag. He filled their cups and they settled around the fire and drank their whiskey.

“How do you like being out on the range again?” Jake asked Luke.

“I love it. I've really missed this place.” He thought he might miss his rambling ways when he came home, but he didn't. It was the exact opposite, he loved being with his brothers, and he was crazy about his sisters-in-law and nephews. He'd forgotten how women made a house a real home. He questioned his sanity for leaving home in the first place. In his estimation Colt was the smart one for realizing early on in life what was important.

Colt was thrilled to be out here with his brothers, he had dreamed of this for ten years and he thanked God that his prayers came true. “I've never been as happy on the ranch as I am right now,” he said in a rare expression of his feelings.

“You have a lot to be happy about with that wife of yours and those boys,” Luke said. He glanced at Jake. “When are you going to catch up?”

Jake chuckled. “I'm working as hard as I can, we want some kids. At least I've got the wife now. The other part is easy and fun trying. Now what you need is to get a wife of your own, you're way behind, little brother.”

Luke didn't smile. “That's going to be a long way off.”

“I had thought there might be something happening between you and Mary Ann,” Colt commented, trying to crack the door.

“You mean before she failed to mention her fiancé?” Luke replied.

Jake looked at Colt and arched his brow. “Yeah, that was sort of a surprise.”

Colt saw his opportunity. “Victoria told me that Mary Ann's father arranged the marriage. Mary Ann told her he wouldn't take no for an answer.”

“I'm sure Mary Ann agrees with the arrangement or she would say no,” Luke said.

“She told Victoria this is not what she wants. And from what George said, her father doesn't seem like a man that takes no for an answer. George thinks Hardwicke is in financial difficulty and Stafford is a wealthy man. Hardwicke's estates may be in jeopardy.”

“His daughter is being sold? Is that what you are saying?” Luke asked.

“I doubt they look at it like that, but I guess you could put it that way. Love doesn't enter into the equation,” Colt said.

“What's the going price to sell your daughter to the highest bidder?” Luke asked.

Hearing the anger in Luke's question, Colt tried to explain. “Stafford has the money and Mary Ann's father has the title and land. The practice is accepted there.”

“You know, Luke, you're a wealthy man now,” Jake added.

Luke heard the underlying message in his brother's comment. “The difference is I don't plan on buying a wife.” Luke couldn't believe a man would force his daughter to marry a man she didn't love just for money. Mary Ann had to be in agreement with this scheme.

“Luke, I think her father knows how to exert his power to bend Mary Ann to his will,” Colt said.

“That may be, but she still failed to mention the situation,” Luke said.

Colt had no response to that fact. He didn't know why she didn't tell him about Stafford. But he did know his brother, and he knew this situation was gnawing at him, so he said the only thing that came to mind. “You two didn't really spend all that much time with each other before you left for Arizona.”

Luke had told himself the same thing. She'd been on his mind from the first day he saw her, so it may have distorted his perception of the situation. It wasn't long after they cooked together that night that Arina came to town and she had occupied most of his time. But after he kissed Mary Ann at the dance, she might have said something then about her fiancé. She had been every bit as passionate as he was, but still she didn't think to mention there was another man with whom she might be sharing such passion. He asked himself what he would have done if she had told him she had a fiancé. If she'd been honest, he wanted to think he might have given Stafford a run for his money. By not telling him, he felt she played him for a fool. It might be unfair to compare her to Arina, but to his way of thinking, both of them deceived men.

“This is just about the same place I camped out with T. J. and Tate before I married Victoria. Young Tate informed me I needed Victoria,” Colt said, remembering the last night Tate was alive. Tate was shot and killed that night. Colt had given the young man a job two years before his death and he thought of Tate as a son. He'd even named his youngest son after him.

Luke and Jake smiled. They knew what that young man meant to their brother. “What do you mean he told you that you needed Victoria?” Luke asked.

“He pestered me to death that night asking me if I intended to marry Victoria. I'll never forget he said I needed more in my life than the ranch. He was a smart kid. Cade and Cody were crazy about him.”

Luke and Jake had never heard Colt talk so much about Tate. They took that as a good sign as it'd taken Colt a long time to come to terms with his death. Maybe he could speak about Tate now without the painful memory of the night he was killed.

“The first time Tate saw Victoria I thought he was going to trip over his tongue.” Colt recalled the memory that he'd tucked away for a long time. He smiled to himself remembering how Tate couldn't even speak when he first saw Victoria. “He followed her around like a little puppy.”

Luke could appreciate how the young man felt. He felt the same way when Mary Ann got off that stagecoach. If she'd spoken to him, he wasn't sure he could have responded. No matter what happened in the future, he knew seeing Mary Ann in that pink hat was one memory that would always remain with him.

Seeing his brother was in such a talkative mood, Jake asked, “Did you know from the start Victoria was the one for you?”

“When I saw her in St. Louis the first time I felt like I'd been kicked by a bull,” he recalled. “It took me a while after she came here before I admitted how I felt about her. It took Tate pointing out that I was going to lose her if I didn't do something about my feelings.”

Jake laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Not only did I think Promise was the most beautiful woman I ever saw, but she was unconscious and drenched to the bone. There were only men on the trail drive and not a town in sight, so I had to undress her.”

“Are we supposed to feel sorry for you?” Colt asked.

“Yeah, you are. All she had was this flimsy stuff, like those things in Mary Ann's shop,” Jake said grinning. “It took a lot of self-control for a man that had been looking at grimy men and smelly cattle for over a month.”

Luke didn't know Jake had also been in Mary Ann's shop. “You've been shopping for Promise in Mary Ann's shop?”

“I bought her some perfume, but I haven't given it to her yet. It's a surprise, so don't mention it.” He looked at Colt. “I gather you bought more than perfume.”

“Yeah, women like that stuff from France,” Colt said.

“Did you see those corsets? I'll bet the women from L. B.'s will be shopping there,” Jake said.

“It wouldn't surprise me,” Colt agreed.

Luke had been successful trying to forget it'd be Stafford seeing Mary Ann in those corsets and flimsy camisoles. But his brothers kept bringing up the subject. “I imagine when Mary Ann leaves town George will close the shop. She'll probably take all that stuff to England with her and wear it for Stafford.” He didn't intend to say that last part aloud. His blood nearly came to a boil over the thought.

“‘
Under love's heavy burden do I sink
, '” Colt quoted.

“What the heck does that mean?” Luke asked.