Orphan Train Romance 1 - 5 (44 page)

“I have come to care for you very much. In fact, I love you.  Will you marry me and be a mother to Sage?”

Katrina now hesitated, not sure she heard him correctly. 

“You don’t have to answer now. You can think about it,” Luke stammered, afraid she was going to immediately turn him down, but his heart lifted when he saw her smile at him.

“I don’t have to think about it.  I would be honored to marry you and be a mother to Sage,” Katrina said, accepting his proposal. 

Luke breathed a sigh of relief and swept her into his arms.  “I love you so much.  You have brought so much to my life since you arrived.  The smartest thing I ever did was bring you here to teach.”

“Can I continue to teach?”  Katrina asked. “I would like to finish the year out, at least.”

“How about we marry at Christmas time?”  Luke suggested.  “You can keep teaching as long as you want.”

“I think I would like to just finish the school year out.  I know of a woman I went to college with, when I got my teaching certificate.  She is not happy with her current job and would probably like to come here and teach.”

“That sounds like a good plan to me,” Luke agreed.  He cupped her face with his calloused hands and brushed a lock of stray hair from her face.  He then leaned down and placed his mouth on hers.  In his kiss, he let her know that his heart had chosen hers.  The feelings and the love he had for her was as powerful as he had ever felt for anyone. 

1 Year Later

It was the evening of Thanksgiving Day and all the ranch hands and their families had left for the evening, thanking the Bridgers for the wonderful meal that had been prepared.  Katrina sat down on a sofa in the great room and sighed with relief.  It had been great to be with everyone, but she was exhausted from being on her feet all day.  Anna and Serena had tried to get her to slow down since she had just given birth to a baby a few weeks ago, but Katrina had insisted she needed to do her part.

She looked around the room at her family.  Luke was standing by the fireplace talking to Alex.  Of course, they were talking about ranch news.  Luke had their new daughter, Emma, tucked in the corner of his arm.  Sage had received her new sister.  He looked at her and gave her a smile meant just for her, letting her know of his love for her.  Sage laid down on the sofa and placed her head in Katrina’s lap.  She brushed some hair away from the girl’s face and then started to rub her back in comfort. 

Anna came in the room carrying her son, Matthew.  He was over a year old and was walking all over the place.  Katrina knew that Anna spent much of her time chasing after him.  Alex had already given his son his first horseback ride, teaching him the importance of horses and the ranch.

Serena was sitting on the other sofa next to Paul.  Their baby boy had been born at the beginning of summer.  They had named him Benjamin after the boy they had found and cared for on the cattle drive right after their marriage. 

Things hadn’t been perfect, of course.  Life wasn’t meant to be that way.  Right after their wedding in December, one of the hired hands had lost his life in a blizzard that had lasted almost five days.  The snow from this blizzard almost buried them in the main ranch house.   They had lost a lot of cattle because the winter had been so bad.  But the men had worked hard during the spring and summer, and even though they hadn’t totally recouped the money that they lost from the cattle that had died, they recovered enough to make it through this winter.

Her friend from school, Valerie, had come to teach in the Big Spring Ranch School.  Katrina had insisted the cabin that had been meant for her to use be repaired so Valerie would have her own home, although she was spending the night with them because of the Thanksgiving holiday.  She was a great teacher and the children loved her.  She had brought a little brother with her because their parents were dead and Valerie was raising him.  The little cabin was perfect for both of them.

Katrina’s thoughts strayed to her wedding day with Luke.  It had been held right after Christmas and was the best day of her life.  It had been held in this room they were sitting in right now. Only the family and a few friends had been present.  Luckily, the weather had been mild and the preacher from town was able to come out with his wife to perform the ceremony.

That evening, Sage spent the night with Serena and Paul in their cabin so Katrina and Luke could have some time to themselves. 

“I have something to give you,” Luke said to Katrina.  She saw that he was holding a small box. 

“What’s this?” She asked as she accepted the gift.

“A tradition,” Luke replied.  Katrina felt a little confused at his answer.  “Open it and then I will explain.”

She lifted the lid off of the small white box.  Inside was the most beautiful piece of jewelry that she had ever seen, and she had seen quite a bit with the jewelry Mrs. Porter had always worn.  It was a cameo set in a light green stone.  There was white-laced stone around its edges.  It hung on a beautiful fine gold chain. 

“It’s beautiful,” Katrina breathed as she lifted it out of its box.  “Can you help me put it on?”

She lifted her mass of hair out of the way while Luke clumsily clasped the necklace around her neck.  “I will treasure this always, thank you.”

Katrina gave her new husband a hug and he gently kissed her.  They had gotten quite close to each other in the few weeks after Thanksgiving.  A closeness had developed between them that she had never dared hope she would ever have with someone.

“Why is this a tradition?” She was finally able to ask after the kiss Luke gave her.

“My father gave my mother a cameo when they were married.  It was something she wore whenever there was something important happening.  Alex gave Anna one on their wedding night and Paul gave Serena one a few weeks after their wedding.  For some reason I never gave Pamela one. It just never crossed my mind, I guess.  But now, I am just keeping tradition,” Luke smiled at her.  “I want to give this to you as a symbol of my love for you.”

Katrina smiled to herself as she remembered that night.  To her, it was the most perfect night as they started their lives together.  She glanced at Luke again and noticed that he was looking at her with a certain expression on his face which she saw often.  He would look at her intently, but with a tender expression, as if he wanted her to know everything that was inside of him, but didn’t know how to say it.  But she knew what he wanted to say, because she felt the same way for him. 

THE END

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Sierra Collingsworth Newby sat in her family attorney’s office with four of her siblings.  They were waiting for their youngest brother to arrive.  It was the day after their father’s funeral and Mr. Anderson had requested that they all meet with him for the reading of the will.  It had been a very stressful week since the small plane accident that had killed their father, Richard Collingsworth.

She looked around Mr. Anderson’s office.  Sheridan, her eldest brother, was standing by the window, tapping his foot with impatience.  Sierra knew he was irritated because Spencer was late for the meeting.  Spencer was always late to everything.  Sierra had learned to just accept that trait in her brother, but for some reason Sheridan took it personally when Spencer didn’t do whatever Sheridan thought he should. 

Sierra felt a hand grasp her own and turned to her sister who was sitting next to her.  Stephanie was about 16 months younger than her own 30 years, and the only sister she was close to.  Stephanie looked sad and, given the circumstances, Sierra would have thought the tears in her sister’s eyes were from the death of their father, but she knew that something else was going on to cause some of the sadness.  Sierra squeezed her hand in response and then looked at her two other sisters.

Sadie and Stella were sitting together, but their bodies were turned away from each other.  Sierra shook her head slightly at the sight, knowing that Sadie had never got along with Stella.  Sadie had always been reserved and was not close to anyone in the family.  She was also tapping her fingers on her leg, showing some of the same impatience Sheridan was displaying. 

Stella and Spencer were twins and the youngest in the family.  Stella had come from Los Angeles for the funeral.  She was an assistant to a sous chef at a five star restaurant.  Spencer lived in New York and had just started a new job at an advertising company, his third job change in the last two years. 

Sierra closed her eyes, wishing this meeting was over.  She did not understand why the attorney could not have just met with Sheridan alone.  He was likely the one who would inherit the Majestic Mountain Ranch anyway.   Even though Sierra lived on the family ranch with her twin daughters and helped wherever she was needed, she had always known that Sheridan would inherit the ranch since he was the oldest son.  The other siblings would not get anything other than a small amount of money.

She heard some sounds outside the office and Spencer burst into the room in his usual style.  She smiled at him as he greeted everyone in his cheerful way, ignoring the fact that he was late, and disregarding the somber reason they were all gathered together.

“Now that you are all here, we can get started,” Mr. Anderson said as Spencer took a seat on the other side of Sierra.  The attorney shuffled some papers as if looking for something specific.  When he found what he wanted, he continued. “I am sure you all know why you are here…”

“I don’t,” Sadie interrupted Mr. Anderson.  “I am sure everything is going to Sheridan.  I don’t think we all needed to be here to hear that.”

“Don’t be rude, Sadie,” Stella admonished her older sister. “Maybe there will be something.”

“Your father insisted that things be handled in this way,” Mr. Anderson broke in before Sadie could say anything else.  “If you will allow me to proceed, you will understand in a moment.”

The attorney looked around the room as if daring anyone to comment and smiled slightly when they were all silent.  He stood and handed each one of them a letter.  When Sierra received hers, she saw her name written in her father’s hurried handwriting.

“Your father has requested that you each read your letters when you are alone.  Please do not open them here. 

“Now for the reading of the will.  I will not read it directly, but you will each get a copy and if you need help understanding any of it, please make an appointment with me and allow me to explain it to you.  Please save any questions you may have until I am finished.

“I will summarize the main part of the will.  To each of Richard Collingsworth’s living children, Sheridan, Sierra, Stephanie, Sadie, Stella and Spencer, he is leaving the amount of $500,000 each.”

Sierra narrowed her eyes at the attorney, wondering if she had heard the amount correctly.  She heard gasps around the room.  Everyone was surprised at hearing that the estate had this much money to be given to each of them.

Mr. Anderson cleared his throat and continued.  “In order to receive your inheritance, each of you will need to agree to spend a period of six months on the Majestic Mountain Ranch.  All of you must agree on the six months and live there together during the same period of time.  After the six months are up, if any of you wish to leave and go back to your previous lives, you will be free to do so.  The six months must be accomplished within a year of your father’s death.

“If any of you choose to not spend the six months on the ranch, your share of the inheritance will be given to a charity that your father has specified.  None of the inheritance you will be given will need to be used to run the ranch.  Money has been set aside for this purpose.

“Jed and Kathy Wilson, the caretakers of the ranch, will be given some money as well.  They also are given the option of staying in the home they have been living in on the ranch until they choose to leave.

“Now, do any of you have any questions?”

Link to “Colorado Dreams”