Montana Bound: A Sweet Mail Order Bride Historical (Mail Order Bride Journeys Book 2) (5 page)

CHAPTER 6

As she emerged from the house, she saw Owen standing beside the two closely matched pinto horses that he had saddled up. Both were chestnut with white patches, one with a blaze of white down its nose. Owen was standing beside them waiting for her. She smiled and waved at him, and felt her heart warmed by the handsome smile that he returned to her.

“I think I’ll have you ride Butterfly here,” he said while gesturing toward the horse with the blaze across the face, “she is a well broke horse with a calm disposition. She’ll take good care of you. Max here is only green broke and can be kind of nervous and high strung. I wouldn’t want you to take any chances with him.”

“This mare will be perfect!” Grace grinned while rubbing her hand across the horse’s shoulder. The horse let out a quiet, contented neigh.

Owen stepped around as Grace placed a foot into the stirrup, and she felt his strong hands encircle themselves around her waist. He lifted her effortlessly as she kicked her free leg over the saddle, making it easy to get into a comfortable riding position. It gave her a sense of security to have Owen around. She had no doubt about his ability to protect her, should the need arise.

“It doesn’t get too hot here this time of the year, but I attached a canteen with fresh water to your saddle for you to drink from if you get thirsty. There is a creek along the way that the horses can drink from.” Owen said as he mounted his own horse. Once in the saddle, he gave his horse a squeeze of his thighs, and the horse instantly began to walk forward. She did likewise and rode up alongside of him.

Grace reached around the side and then slightly behind her and found the canteen hanging from a lanyard attached to the saddle. She was thankful that her host had the foresight to prepare, the thought had never crossed her mind, excited as she was to be going out for a ride. There would be no need to bring any food along. They would only be gone for a few hours and would eat when they got back.

The two began to ride across away across an open grass field. It felt great to be riding a horse again, but as she had not ridden in a while she did find that she was a bit nervous. She was glad that Owen had chosen the horse that he did for her. The other horse was much more spirited, and Owen had to check the horse with the reins frequently to keep it from taking off across the fields, eager as it was to stretch its legs. Her horse was the perfect picture of calmness and serenity, completely content to take the trail at a leisurely pace.

“I can see what you mean about that horse being spirited. I would have been exhausted by the time we got back if I had him.” Grace laughed.

“I like it that there is some spark in him. Usually though, if I ride alone I’ll take him to this field and run him around a bit to wear him out. I guess he has gotten used to it and thinks that he should be running now. He is not usually this ill-mannered.” Owen said, as he again checked the horse with the reins, who responded in kind with a snort, letting everyone know of his dissatisfaction.

The pair made their way across the field and circled through the opening between two patches of trees. Ahead a road was visible, that Grace assumed was the same road that she had traveled with Constance when they arrived at the farm. As they neared the road, Owen gestured down the road to their right.

“Cutting across the fields and through those trees cuts about 15 minutes off the ride time to town. The wagon can’t be able to make it though, so I usually just throw on a couple of saddle bags and ride into town if I can get away with it.” Owen said.

“That makes sense. If you have anything big to pick-up, you just can’t take the shortcut then.” Grace answered.

“Yep.” Owen answered, as he gave his horse a snicker and began to ride across the road.

The breeze had picked up since earlier that morning, but the sun had risen more and warmed the air so that it was a pleasing mix of sunshine and cooling breeze. Grace listened to the sounds of the birds and squirrels, as they continued to ride. Montana was so unlike the east-coast. It was so wild, so untouched by man. It gave her a sense of serenity.

As they rode along, they came to a dry creek bed and Owen pulled his horse to a stop. Pointing down the creek bed, he told her, “If you are interested, there are some pretty nice views to see if we follow this creek bed. We’ll get back a little later though.”

Good! I am really not ready for this ride to end soon.
Grace thought to herself as Owen waited for her response. “That is fine with me, I’m having fun.”

Signaling to his horse to turn onto the creek bed, they started off again. The creek wound through the countryside, which Grace found disorienting. She was glad that Constance had the common sense to insist that she not go out alone. She surely would have gotten lost if she had. Having Owen with her made her feel safe, and she was able to relax and enjoy it more.

Each bend in the creek revealed another beautiful scene. The raw beauty of the land took her breath away. She wished she knew was more artistic, because she would have loved to paint the landscape while it was fresh in her mind, so she could hold on to it forever.

“I don’t think I could ever get used to the view here.” Grace admitted, after the two riders had stopped to observe a mule deer and her fawns traveling across a small patch of open ground between two stands of trees. “Between the landscape itself, and the animals that inhabit it, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect place on the planet.”

Owen laughed. “You surprise me, Miss Russell.”

“How so?” Graces asked, interested in what Owen was thinking.

“Well, I’ve met few women that have moved here from out east, that have had any real appreciation how beautiful it is here. Most of them do nothing but complain about how hard life is here.” Owen answered.

“Really?” Grace asked, surprised. “Is it really that much harder than anywhere else? I’d imagine that aside from not having nearby conveniences, life for a woman here is much the same as anywhere else.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, regardless of where you live, a woman has to keep up the home, and provide warm meals for the family. Life doesn’t amount to much more than that.”

“That doesn’t sound like much to look forward to.” Owen said. “When I marry, my wife will be happier than that. She’ll be rewarded by a loving, loyal husband, for all of her labors. She would never go unappreciated.”

“Awww. How romantic. Any woman would be lucky to have you for a husband.” Grace regretted speaking the words as soon as they came out of her mouth. She wasn’t normally so forward. Owen didn’t seem to notice though, much to Grace’s relief.

A short time later, Owen turned his horse from the creek bed and began to head along a tree-line in the direction that Grace assumed would be toward the house.

“Just ahead is a place I’d like to show you.” Owen said. As they circled around a large boulder, Owen pointed across a meadow toward a patch of trees. “We’ll stop right over there.”

The horses seemed to recognize the spot also. They both let out a few snorts and picked up their pace a bit, until they had traveled across the meadow to the spot that Owen had pointed to. Once they arrived, Owen hopped off his horse and came around to help Grace down.

“We’ll sit down in the shade to cool off and rest a bit.” Owen suggested as he approached Grace, still sitting in her saddle. “Put your arm around my shoulder and I’ll help you down.”

Grace was happy to be out of the saddle, even though she was enjoying the ride. She was beginning to get stiff. The opportunity to walk around a bit and stretch her legs brought welcome relief. They led the horses to a small stream which flowed in the direction of the dry creek bed. Once the horses had their fill, Owen tied both off, with their leads loose enough that they were able to reach the ground to nibble on the grasses.

Owen placed his hand onto the small of her back and began to lead her a short distance away from the horses. They arrived at the spot he had in mind, and Owen removed his hand, too soon in Grace’s opinion. Following his lead, Grace took a seat beside him on a fallen log.

“What a beautiful spot!” Grace exclaimed as she looked out toward the mountains, partly obstructed by low clouds. Just peaking over them, far to the north, she could see snow-capped peaks that were not visible before. A small stand of apple trees, still heavy with their bright red fruit, stood in stark contrast against the green backdrop created by the pines that covered the foothills beyond.

“Sometimes if you are lucky, and quiet enough, you can see deer and an occasional elk or moose, come along and eat fruit off the ground or the lower branches of the trees.” Owen said.

“Maybe we can pick a few so I can bake a pie later. I imagine the apples must be delicious. I can smell them from here!” Grace said, breathing in the sweet fragrance of the apples.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to compliment you on that scent that you are wearing. I’ve been enjoying it the entire ride, at least every time that I happened to find myself downwind of you.” Then with a wink, he added, “Which I might have made sure to have been most of the ride.”

Grace laughed. “Thank you. It was given to me by my mother.”

“You must miss her. How did she feel about your traveling out here alone?” Owen asked.

Grace shifted in her seat. After taking a deep breath, she answered, “I do miss her a lot. She would not have approved of my moving out here, but I didn’t have any choice. She died about a year ago.”

“Oh, no. I am so sorry.” Owen said, his thoughts accusing him of speaking out of turn. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.” Grace said, staring at her lap. “I don’t talk about her often. I guess it’s just easier to try not to think about her.”

“What about your father?” Owen asked.

“Never got to know him. I was raised by my mother alone. She told me that he died when I was a baby, but I’ve never really believed that story.” Grace answered.

“I am really sorry. Is that why you came out here then?” Owen asked. “To get a fresh start.”

“Sort of.” Grace hesitated. “We didn’t have a lot, growing up. My mother did as well as she could for me, but it was all she could do most of the time just to provide for our basic needs. Toward the end, after she got sick, she worried a lot about what would become of me, when she would pass. I didn’t want to add to her stress, so when a local guy proposed to me, I accepted, though I really was not that eager to marry him.”

“So what happened? Did you end up marrying him?” Owen asked.

“Nope. In the end, he ended up leaving me standing at the altar. I guess he wasn’t any more eager to marry me than I was to marry him. I was just glad that my mother wasn’t around to see it. It would have broken her heart.”

“I can imagine. But it sounds like it was for the best for you.” Owen said. “How did you end up engaged to the guy from here then?”

After my fiancé walked out on me, I was in a desperate situation. My mother had not left me much when she died, and I could only earn enough just to feed myself. I didn’t know what to do, until I stumbled upon a marriage journal. I ended up responding to an advertisement in it. I figured that it was a means to an end, and that if I worked hard to be the best wife that I could be, then we could both be happy. Well, you know how that turned out.”

Owen became quiet, and Grace wondered if she had shared too much with him. She always felt that she had a difficult time stopping herself before she said too much, but it felt good to be unburdening herself with Owen. He listened, when most men would have changed the subject. Now she was not sure. His silence could be taken either way.

“I come here sometimes when I want time alone to think.” Owen said, the uncomfortable silence finally broken. For a moment, Grace thought he was changing the subject, but as he spoke, his expression gave the impression that he was somewhere far away, that he had something serious on his mind. “I found this spot shortly after we arrived here, and I’ve been here many times since.”

Grace didn’t say anything, but turned to face him so he would know that he had her undivided attention. She sensed that he had more on his mind, and that he wanted to share it with her. He sat silent for a time, staring at his boots. Her heart ached, she recognized the pain that he felt, as the same pain she experienced when she thought about her mother.

“I completely understand how you feel.” Owen said, and then as if anticipating the questions on her mind. “I knew my father, early on. He abandoned my mother, and my sister and I, for a woman that he met in a saloon. I haven’t seen him since, and never want to again. He left my mother with nothing, and we struggled through life because of it. She died, I believe of a broken heart. I was only 15. She lived long enough to see my sister get married, but died shortly after. I was not of age yet, so my sister and her husband took me in with them, and we moved to Montana. He had big plans to find gold, but he didn’t make it long enough to have a fighting chance. It’s been my sister and I for most of the time since we arrived here.”

“I’m sorry. Nobody should have to live through that.” Grace felt her heart breaking. He said that he understood, and she now knew that was not just his way of being polite. He was a kindred soul, who had experienced much the same pain in life as she had. She was just glad that he had his sister to help him through it.