A Love to Heal the Broken Rancher (Preview)

Chapter One

“We don’t have much time,” Elsa Whitfield said as she slid onto the bench beside Nathan Cross, giving him a smile though the familiar butterflies in her stomach didn’t erupt at the sight of him.

For nearly six months they had been meeting in public, appearing just to be two friends, whispering about their future while they walked through town. Nobody was the wiser.

Especially not her father, who forbid the courtship, thankfully.

Nathan smiled and took her hand, sneaking a quick kiss to the back of it. “I’ve missed you. It’s been nearly a week since you were able to sneak away last.”

Nearly a week since you told me I had to leave my sisters to fend for themselves if we got married.

“Father doesn’t like me spending time with you.” Elsa wasn’t sure she enjoyed spending time with Nathan as much as she used to either.

The love she felt for him was waning, but surely that was just a part of relationships. People’s love ebbed and flowed but it wasn’t always consistent.

How could it be?

“Your father has never liked me. A smith’s son is never going to be good enough for one of his daughters.” His words were bitter. “This is why I tell you that you should leave them behind. We’re more than enough for each other.”

“And I told you that I can’t leave my sisters with him. He’s a monster.” Elsa considered pulling her hand away, but his grip tightened around it, holding her captive as if he could read her mind.

Nathan smiled, holding onto her hand for a moment longer before one of the busybodies in town came walking. He looked like he wanted to say something, his mouth opening and closing until Mrs. Barker turned the corner and disappeared.

Elsa took his hand once more because she didn’t know what to do. Not when he was looking at her with the specific look he got when he was up to something.

“I want to get married.” Nathan grinned as he looked at Elsa with hope in his eyes.

She was at a loss for words. Each time she thought she formed a response, the words died on her lips. While this was everything that she should want, there was a feeling in the bottom of her stomach that left her a little queasy.

When Elsa tried to open her mouth, she found she couldn’t. Her lips remained pressed together as she looked at the man she loved. If she were to marry him, then she would be forced to leave her sisters in the questionable hands of their father.

They wouldn’t have her to protect him from the worst of his wrath.

Elsa’s hands trembled in her lap. She tried to disguise the trembling in the soft pleats of her skirts. “I’m—I—Well—”

Nathan took her hands in his, his calloused thumbs smoothing over her knuckles. His deep brown eyes, nearly the same color as the dirt outside the front steps of his father’s mercantile, made her heart melt just a little.

Still, there was a voice in the back of her mind reminding her of Clara and Savannah. Her sisters were too young to be left alone with their father. He would be as cruel to them as he had been to Elsa.

“Say that you wish to marry me too, Elsa. You know that we’d be happy together.”

She didn’t know that though.

Their courtship remained a secret in town, hidden from those around them. They only met in public places, and never for more than a few moments at times. Enough to be considered acquaintances, but not enough for anyone to accuse them of impropriety.

At least, she hoped that was the case. If it wasn’t, her father would’ve berated her when he found out. She was certain of it.

“I know that we could be, but I have to be at home to care for my sisters. You know that. I could hardly abandon them.” Elsa pulled her hands away and folded them in her lap, looking down at the pleats in her pale blue skirt. When she looked at Nathan once more, there was a deep line between his eyebrows.

The look in his eyes was cold. A tingle ran through her body, but she tried to sit taller, putting on a show of not being afraid of what was to come next for her life.

He scowled and leaned back on the bench, glowering at the road in front of them. “I cannot be the only one thinking of you and your future, but it seems that you wish for it to be that way. When are you going to start thinking about your life and what you deserve?”

She recoiled, trying to process the cutting bite of his tone. The man sitting in front of her was not the one she had fallen in love with. The Nathan she knew would never ask her to abandon her sisters. He wouldn’t speak to her in such a tone. He had always been softspoken and kind.

But now, that man seemed to fade into the distance like nothing more than a faint memory.

It seems I’ll not be married to Nathan the way I’ve dreamed of.

“Nathan, you know that it is far more complicated than you make it seem. Father doesn’t like you. It’s the reason why we’ve kept this courtship a secret it in the first place.”

“It can hardly be considered a secret when we only meet around the public. Even if he hasn’t confirmed it, there must be rumors.” Nathan pursed his lips and shook his head. “He surely knows about it. You would just rather pretend that he doesn’t because then he can keep you under his control where he thinks you belong.”

She stiffened and stared at him, equal parts insulted and annoyed. How dare he.

“I belong to nobody’s control but my own.” Elsa took his hand and tugged it when he looked away from her. “I love you, but I cannot marry you. Not when it would mean leaving my sisters behind with my father.”

Even telling Nathan that she loved him felt like a lie. She stopped loving him the moment he suggested leaving her sisters behind. She couldn’t love a man who didn’t see the importance of her family.

Though, she had to admit that their relationship had been shifting for quite some time. She thought it normal that two people had quarrels the longer they had been together.

But the ones she faced with him had to do with how much time she spent with her sisters. Those arguments always left a bad taste in her mouth. Now, she was seeing them all come to fruition.

Nathan gaped at her. For just a moment, she considered rescinding her words. Perhaps telling him that she just needed time to think, maybe convince him that they would need to take her sisters.

But he would never understand.

She could see it in his eyes. She could see it each time they spoke of the future, and she mentioned her sisters, though the pieces of the puzzle only came together now.

Elsa and Nathan would never have the future she dreamed of.

Tears stung her eyes as she stood, turning and fleeing down the street and to the bank where her father worked. She took a moment outside to dry the tears that threatened to spill over before opening the door and walking inside. She nodded to several of the men there before continuing down the hall to her father’s office.

She knocked at the door, and he looked up from the papers in front of him. “Father, you said you wished for me to stop by with your food this evening. I was wondering if there was anything you wished for me to prepare?”

“Fetch a plate from the inn. Marie is likely making roast. I could smell it when I walked by only a while ago. Bring that and then return home. Your sisters will need food as well.”

Elsa nodded and stepped out of his office. It was perhaps the nicest thing he had said to her through the last week, and she wasn’t about to take that for granted. It meant that he would be in a good mood when he returned home that evening.

She strode into the inn and went to find Marie in the dining hall, but as she did, it felt as if she was being watched. A shiver crawled up her spine and when she turned to see who was watching her, several people dropped their heads.

Why were they staring at me?

Marie gave her a bright smile as she wiped her hands on her apron. “Good afternoon, Elsa. I suppose you are here for a plate for your father?”

“Please.” Elsa pulled a couple coins from her pocket and pressed them into Marie’s palm.

“I’ll throw in a couple small pastries for you and your sisters.” Marie gave her a pitying look before disappearing through the swinging door and into the back.

When Marie came back it was with a small butcher paper wrapped package and a plate of food covered with a white lid. She smiled and handed both to Elsa before turning and talking to some of the other people flagging her down at one of the tables.

Elsa shuffled through the inn, trying to make sure she didn’t drop the food. As she walked down the street, a couple of people looked at her before whispering to the people beside them.

What on earth is going on?

After dropping the plate off to her father without so much as a word, she went home to her sisters, already trying to steel herself against whatever mood her father would be in when he got home.

Please, God, allow tonight to be peaceful.

***

“Elsa!” Her father shouted, the front door slamming and sending Elsa’s heart racing.

Please. No.

For the last few weeks, she had done everything she could to keep her father’s rage at a minimum. She was home before him each day. She made sure dinner was on the table and the house was clean.

Even when her sisters seemed determined to leave a mess in their wake, not realizing the hellfire it would bring, she made sure there wasn’t a hair out of line that could bother their father.

The last thing she needed was to give him one more reason to hate her.

“Elsa! Get down here this instant!” His voice boomed through the house, making her stomach flip upside down and tie itself tight into knots.

She sprang from where she sat on the bed doing the mending and rushed down the stairs, coming to a stop in front of her father.

Edward Whitfield paced across the hall for a moment with his hands clasped behind his back. When he stopped in front of her, there was a dark look in his eyes that had her wanting to take a step back.

If she did that, then the punishment would be worse. She knew it. She had seen the look in his eyes before.

It was the kind that made her blood run cold. There was no warmth in those eyes, but rather the absence of light. When he looked at her, it was like she was staring into a dark pit and hoping that something didn’t reach out of the abyss and drag her under.

She didn’t think that there was a time in her life when he had ever loved her. Maybe when her mother was alive, he was better at hiding his disdain.

Though, after her mother passed, things were never the same.

“You’ve ruined yourself!” He raised his hand as if to strike her but held himself back. “Cannot mar that pretty face for your wedding day. Your looks are the only thing you have left.”

Elsa’s mouth ran dry. “Fa—Father, I haven’t ruined myself.”

“Nathan. Cross.” He accentuated the name, his beady eyes narrowing and staring straight through her. “The entire town knows you have allowed that snivelling little swine to ruin you. He’s been telling everyone that will listen that you’ve fallen into his bed and are now refusing to be wed.”

A foul taste rose in the back of her mouth. Her stomach dropped to her feet and her entire body vibrated. She fought to keep her hands loose at her sides, but with the way they were trembling, she couldn’t.

“I did no such thing!” Elsa gripped her skirts so tight her knuckles hurt. “I would never. Father, please, you must believe me.”

Her voice was nothing more than a broken cry, like a child begging for forgiveness. Though, she had done nothing wrong.

Nathan betrayed her. He took her good name, and he ruined it simply because she wouldn’t marry him.

Because she wouldn’t abandon her family to be with him.

Because their relationship lost the attraction it once had and try as she might to love him with her entire heart, it never felt like it quite connected.

But her father didn’t care about the truth. All he ever cared about was punishing Elsa for her transgressions.

“All I believe is that my child has ruined herself and now she will be married to a man I cannot stand.” Edward glared down at her, one eyebrow arching like he dared her to speak.

She shrunk back on herself. There wasn’t a word she would be able to say to make him believe her. Not when Nathan had already worked his way through the town. As she forced out a slow breath, trying to ease the tightness in her chest, she heard her sisters whispering at the top of the stairs.

For them I have to try and make Father see the truth.

“I will not be marrying him.” Elsa held her head high, feeling defiant for the first time in her life. “I may have had a courtship with him, but we only met in public where others could see us. We were careful to only appear as acquaintances. And when he proposed to me this morning, I told him that we would not marry. It’s why he has spread this horrid rumor through town. He is nothing to me, Father.”

Please, God, let him see that I’m telling the truth. Please allow me to stay with my sisters where I can protect them.

She forced the words out and they were easier than expected. Nathan had seemed like everything to her at one point. His proposal had been the final nail in their coffin, and though there were still feelings that lingered, his betrayal ensured she would never return to him.

The rumors Nathan spread around town were a knife to her chest. He plunged it deep by asking her to abandon her sisters and then he twisted it.

And now, she was forced to pick up the pieces. Nathan could no longer hold meaning in her life. No feelings of love—no matter how broken-hearted she felt—could remain.

Not if she was going to convince her father to allow her to remain unmarried.

Edward slammed his fist down on the hall table. “Enough of your lies!”

Elsa shrunk in around herself. “Father, please, you have to believe me.”

“You are an embarrassment to this family and no daughter of mine. If you won’t marry the Cross boy to fix the damage you’ve done to this family, then you will return to your room, pack, and be out of this house within the hour.”

Her eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath, but there was a steely look of determination in his eyes. There would be no more arguing.

He had made his decision and if she continued fighting, her sisters would suffer the consequences, as they had before when Elsa pushed him too far.

For a long moment, she couldn’t do anything. Her feet were rooted to the ground and a tight hand clamped around Elsa’s lungs, forcing the air from them no matter how many deep breaths she took.

This was it. This was the moment when her life changed.

Elsa fought the urge to fall to her knees and beg him to allow her to stay. He wouldn’t care if she did. Instead, she would find a way to rescue her sisters from his grasp. They would all be better for it, even if it was hard to see the way forward at that moment.

She turned and hurried up the stairs, knowing he would make good of his promise of only giving her an hour to gather her belongings.

Clara stood at the top of the stairs with Savannah right behind her. Both wore equally shocked expressions, their mouths hanging open. Savannah’s eyes watered.

Elsa’s heart dropped to her feet. She tried to find the words to tell them that all would be well in time, but she couldn’t lie to them. There was no telling when she would be able to send for them, but she would work until she could. She would ensure that they wouldn’t have to spend the rest of their lives with their brute of a father presiding over them if it was the last thing she did.

“Elsa, you cannot leave,” Clara said, her voice breaking. “You must stay with us. Father doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He can’t force you to leave.”

“He can turn me onto the streets if he wishes.” Elsa pulled Savannah into a tight hug, kissing the top of her youngest sister’s head, her ashy brown hair smelling like sunshine and soap. “I have brought shame to the family.”

“You haven’t done anything!” Clara put her hands on her hips, looking older than her eighteen years. “Elsa, you can’t leave us. Please. Don’t go. Don’t leave us with him.”

Elsa forced a smile for the sake of her younger sisters. “I will only be a letter away and when I’m settled, I’ll write to you both. We will all be together again, I promise.”

If Father allows it.

“And where will you go in the meantime?” Clara followed Elsa into the bedroom and sat on the edge of Elsa’s bed.
Elsa shrugged and pulled her dresses from the wardrobe, sorting through them and finding the most practical ones that could fit into the bag she would have to carry. “I’ll go to Aunt Georgia’s.”

“She has ten children and can hardly handle another mouth to feed.”

“I’ll send some letters and find somewhere else to call home.” Elsa kissed Clara’s forehead. “You’re going to put on a brave face and take care of Savannah.”

“You will send for us, won’t you?”

“As soon as I’m settled.”

No matter what Elsa did next, she wouldn’t leave her sisters to suffer at their father’s hands for long.
One way or another, she would save them all.

Chapter Two

Jake stared out the window, sucking in a sharp breath.

When Sam said that he was going to find Jake a wife, he hadn’t thought his friend serious. Not in the slightest. He thought that it was simply another threat from Sam, who seemed to be perpetually convinced that Jake would spend the rest of his life alone. With Jake’s fractured ribs and the broken leg, a wife had seemed like Sam’s perfect solution to Jake’s problems at the ranch.

Jake still had his doubts.

Jake hissed at the pulling of his ribs and glowered at his wrapped leg. It would only be a few more weeks until he could be out of bed and moving around.

Sam shoved the door open and strode in with the young woman behind him. “As I was saying, the ranch has several horses and cattle, and while you wouldn’t need to assist with them in any way, there are several chores around the house that Jake can no longer do as he is bed-bound.”

Lydia Munroe’s blue eyes widened, her blond eyebrows climbing up her forehead as she looked around the home. When her gaze landed on Jake, she took a step back and clutched her bag tight.

Jake sighed and shifted against the pillows, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible. “Hello, Miss Munroe, it’s nice to meet you.”

Miss Munroe forced a smile, but her gaze continued to dart around the house, looking down the hall where there was a single bedroom. The sitting room and kitchen were all one room.

She looked like she couldn’t decide whether she was going to run or not.

Jake wouldn’t blame her if she ran. He knew his house was more suited to a bachelor than a family. He liked it that way. It was small. Easy to take care of. He could devote more of his time to ranch if he didn’t have to spend an eternity cleaning.

“Mr. Dawson.” Miss Munroe paused, her lips pressing together in a thin line. “This is a… charming house you have.”
“Thank you.” He shifted on the couch, leaning forward just enough to adjust the pillows behind him once more. “How were your travels?”

She let out a slow breath before shaking her head. “I apologize, but I cannot care for you or a ranch of this size. It’s too much, and it is not what I came to Sagebrush for.”

Sam’s mouth drops open before it snapped shut. “I will take you back to town then, if that is what you wish.”
“Yes.” Miss Munroe hoisted her bag a little higher and Sam, seeing her discomfort, took it and slung it over his shoulder. “Thank you. If you would be so kind as to walk with me to the boarding house, I’ll be able to see myself off from there.”

Jake smothered a grin. He knew this plan of Sam’s would never work.

He had been alone his entire life, and he would continue to be that way. God proved that to him time and time again.

***

Sam returned as the sun was sinking down over the horizon. He stepped into the kitchen and scowled at the potatoes in the basket on the counter. “I’m sorry. I thought that she would be happy to stay and help. After all, you were willing to marry her.”

“Only because I didn’t think it would work out.” Jake smirked and leaned back against the pillows, leaving his book spread open on his chest.

“She seemed perfect in the few letters we exchanged. I thought she would want to come here, and once she met you, would be pleased to continue with the marriage.”

Jake snorted. “Did you see the way she looked around the house?”

“Well, perhaps if you had a house that matched your station in life that wouldn’t have driven her away.”

“Perhaps, but there is little point in having a big house when I’m the only one to fill it. I don’t need a lot of room.” Jake winced as the pillow beneath his leg shifted. “Will you fix this before you begin dinner? The elevation isn’t right.”

“I’m going to find you someone who’s willing to come out here and care for you while I oversee the ranch.”

“It’s been nearly a fortnight already.” Jake gritted his teeth as Sam lifted the broken leg long enough to adjust the pillows. “I wish you would just leave me to my own devices.”

“You would starve. And you can hardly get to the outhouse on your own.”

“But I can.” Jake nodded to the crutches leaning against the far wall. “I have those and though it may be slow going, I’ll improve.”

“Unless you fall over in the middle of a storm and then you’ll have nobody to come help you. You’re just going to be there, in the mud, in the thunder and the lightning, and then you’re going to wish that you had allowed me to find someone to help you.”

“Don’t need to get married to have that kind of help.”

“Yes, but who else is going to be able to tolerate you for the next few weeks until you can move around confidently on your own?”

Jake scowled as his leg was put back down. “I don’t think I’m horrible.”

“You’re difficult at the best of times,” scoffed Sam.

Sam returned to the kitchen and chopped up some potatoes before tossing them in the pan with a chunk of smoked pork. The pan sizzled, the scent of bacon fat filling the room. “I wish you could spend just one day taking care of you… to see how difficult you truly are.”

“You’re the difficult one. Had I known that you were going to barge in on all the aspects of my life, I might have packed up the ranch and moved once you took the neighboring plot.” Jake’s tone was teasing as he glanced at his friend.

He didn’t have many friends in town, preferring to keep most of them at a distance despite living in Sagebrush since he was sixteen. Eight years later and he was still living past the edge of the small town.

Sam hummed as he finished making dinner and plated it up. It was half-burned and choking it down was a task, but Jake did it, grateful that at least he had Sam to rely on.

“How’s Marta been?” Jake asked as he shifted to sit up a little taller, hissing when his ribs stretched a little too much.

“Desolate.” Sam scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I’m starting to think that if we don’t have a child soon, she may never recover. And then I received a letter from one of my aunts. My cousin is due to arrive in the morning.”

Jake’s eyebrows pulled together. “I thought your family all lived in the city?”

“They do. Elsa’s been having problems with her father. She went to stay with my aunt for a few nights, and I got a letter from Elsa asking if she could come and stay with me and Marta, which is going to be difficult. With Marta’s mood as of late, due to losing the last pregnancy, I don’t wish to put more stress on her, but Marta insisted that we tell Elsa to come and stay with us.”

“Hopefully that goes well for you.”

“You know, maybe I’ll speak with Elsa about coming to care for you. Though she is young and unmarried, and after what has happened in her lifetime, I doubt that she will be looking to become engaged while she’s here.”

“She coming from a rough life?”

“Yeah. Not a good one. She’s been through a lot in her time. Her mother died young. And her father is not the sort of man you want to anger. Wild and wicked temper. My mother was never supported their marriage.” Sam shrugged and leaned back in the kitchen chair, crossing one ankle over the other. “You’ll like Elsa. She’s twenty. Spent her entire life in Red Rock. Fierce too. If I were you, I’d avoid getting on her bad side when you meet her.”

Jake chuckled, wincing when even that hurt him. “I’ll be sure to avoid that.”

“As you should.” Sam stood up and gave Jake a light squeeze on the shoulder. “I’ll be by in the morning.”

“I’m certain I can survive on my own ‘til then.”

“Are you sure that you don’t want me to move you to the bed? You would likely be more comfortable.”

“Couch is good.” Jake picked up his book from where it had fallen to the side and opened it back up. “Will you move the candle over so I can blow it out when I’m ready to sleep?”

Sam sighed and put the candle and the oil lamp both on the table, moving the little table closer. “I’ll try to find someone to stay with you, so you don’t have to be alone.”

“Sam, I’m fine.”

Sam fixed him with a stern look. “You don’t have to pretend that you’re fine with being alone when we both know you hate it. You haven’t been the same since Mrs. Willow died a couple years ago.”

Jake’s throat thickened and he tried to clear it. No matter what he seemed to do, the lump lodged there wouldn’t clear. “I know. I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life, as I’ve told you before, but there are other matters I’ve got to concern myself with right now.”

Sam pulled on his jacket and opened the door, letting in the cool night air. “I’m going to begin the hunt again for someone to help you.”

With a nod, Jake settled in for the night, pretending to read until Sam left and closed the door behind him.
And then when he was alone, all he could do was wish that he wasn’t.