Change of Heart, Page 3

  The snow was getting heavier; they had to get moving. Jase took a few steps toward Marietta and Zack intending to attempt to hurry them along, but when he saw them cuddling and comforting each other, he knew he couldn’t rob them of the time they needed, no matter how important it was for him to get to his meeting.

  Another hour passed before Marietta and Zack were ready to leave. Their grief had consumed them so completely they hadn’t noticed it had been snowing.

  “Are you sure you’re ready to go?” Jase asked as he helped Marietta into the buckboard.

  She looked longingly at her sister’s grave. “I’ll never be ready to leave, and I can’t stand to stay another minute.” She gave him a painful look. “Does that make any sense?”

  He lifted one corner of his mouth and touched her snow-speckled auburn hair as he stared into the most beautiful emerald eyes he’d ever seen. “It makes perfect sense.”

  He helped Zack into the rig, mounted the carriage and put the horse in motion. Three miles into their return trip, the wind began to whip the snow into a storm as thick as pudding.

  “We’re going to have to find a place to wait out the storm,” he told Marietta.

  Her face turned as white as the snowflakes on her cheeks. “Where?”

  “If I haven’t gotten us steered off course, I believe there’s a shack about a hundred feet that way,” he said, pointing.

  “A shack? For the three of us? Alone?”

  Her shocked reaction at the impropriety of their being alone would have made him smile if the circumstances hadn’t been so grave. “I’m afraid we either take shelter in the shack, or we risk our lives heading to Jackson’s or the fort.”

  Marietta looked down at her nephew who’d huddled between them when the wind began to blow harder. “We can’t risk Zack’s life. We have no choice.”

  “No, we don’t.” Jase couldn’t help but notice the fear in her eyes. As he looked away, he decided the last thing she needed was more suffering, and the last thing he needed was another delay in reaching his meeting at Red Rock Junction.

  He glanced again at Marietta’s frightened face and found himself wanting to hold and comfort her. He wanted to ease the pain in her heart and erase the fear in her eyes.

  Yet he couldn’t help being angry with her for stealing his time. She’d asked him to take her west to Clint and Kathy’s graves when he should have been riding east to Red Rock Junction to meet with the group of land speculators.

  He closed his eyes and cursed his unfortunate circumstances. When he opened them again, he headed into the thickness of the storm hoping he could find his way to the safety of the secluded shack. The lives of two other people depended on him completely.

  Chapter Three

  Snow stung Marietta’s eyes. Wind-driven, individually innocent flakes felt like pin pricks in her cheeks.

  Zack snuggled close and covered his face with his hands.

  Marietta saw no sign of a cabin.

  Jase guided the horse through the storm as though he knew exactly where he was going, but did he? Marietta couldn’t imagine any man could be ingrained enough in his surroundings to find his way in white blindness to a specific destination. All she could do was hope he did indeed have them heading in the right direction.

  A few minutes later the cabin came into view. Jase pulled up in front of it, got down from his seat, and secured the rig. He went immediately to Zack and Marietta and helped them out of the carriage. The three of them rushed into the cabin.

  Jase lifted Zack into his arms. “Are you all right, partner?”

  “I’m cold, Jase, and I’m hungry.” He rubbed a hand over his eye which was still puffy from all the crying he’d done earlier.

  “I’m hungry too, and so is your aunt. Aren’t you, Miss Randolf?” He looked down at Marietta, his eyes filled with worry.

  “I’m frozen and famished.” She looked from Jase to Zack. “But we can take care of both of those problems.”

  Jase set Zack down. “In due time. I’ll light a fire which will quickly warm the shack, but it may take me a while to find game in this storm.”

  “No need to wait until you fetch us game to eat, Mr. Kent. I have supplies in my bags,” Marietta said. “Not a lot, but I do have fixings for biscuits and some jerky as well.”

  Jase’s brows lifted. “You do?”

  “Yes. I bought supplies before we left the Missouri. I wanted to be prepared on the trail to Fort Kearney in case we had unexpected trouble. Fortunately, nothing went wrong, and we had plenty to eat along the way.”

  “I’m impressed to find a city woman well prepared for wilderness travel.” Was that true admiration she saw in his eyes?

  She waved away his compliment and pretended she didn’t enjoy his flattery a bit more than she should have. “If you’ll bring in the bags, Mr. Kent, we’ll have more clothing for warmth, food and perhaps Zack even has a toy or two among his belongings.”

  “I do,” Zack said, “but I’m too cold to play.”

  “There are blankets on the bunks over there,” Jase said, pointing toward the north wall as he looked at Marietta. “You’ll find a few extra in the closet next to the fireplace. Wrap the boy so he doesn’t get any colder, and wrap yourself as well. I’ll bring in the bags and put the horse in the lean-to. When I finish, I’ll lay a fire.”

  “All right, Mr. Kent.”

  Marietta took Zack’s hand and led him to the bunks. She pulled off his boots and helped him get under the blanket. While Jase went about his chores, she found extra blankets and put them over Zack.

  She knelt next to his bed and rubbed her hand over his curly blonde hair. “Is that better, honey?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Are we going to be all right?”

  “I think so.”

  “When I got icy cold, I thought maybe Ma was coming to take me with her like I asked. When people die, they get very cold, don’t they?”

  “Yes, they do, but your ma can’t come to take you away, Zack.”

  “Are you sure? You asked Ma to take you. If she could take a grown person with her, couldn’t she take a little boy?”

  Marietta bit back a tear and caressed Zack’s hair again. “When people grieve, they sometimes say silly, impossible things. I asked Kathy to take me with her because it’s difficult for me to be without her, but she can’t really take me to where she is.”

  “I love Ma,” Zack said slowly, “but I don’t want to die, Aunt Marietta.”

  She took him into her arms and squeezed him tightly. “Neither do I, darling. We’re going to be fine.” She let him go and pulled the blankets up to his chin. “You rest now. I’m going to start laying the fire. Soon it will be warm as July in here.” She kissed his cheek and touched his hair. “You’ll see, Zack. We’ll be fine.”

  He nodded and closed his eyes.

  She went to the hearth and took kindling from the box near the fireplace. She put it in the firebox and lit it with matches she found on the mantel. The dry wood burst into flames, and Marietta added larger pieces of kindling. When she felt the door open behind her, she turned and looked at Jase. He’d brought in the bags while she took care of Zack, and now he was returning from stabling for the horse.

  “You’ve started the fire,” he said, coming to her. He crouched down beside her and took a small log from the wood box to lie in the flames. “Very nice, Miss Randolf.”

  His compliment and the warm look in his gaze toasted her insides, and all remnants of the chill within her were gone.

  She looked into the flames. “I love the glow of a fire.”

  “It beautifies everything around it.”

  She glanced at her surroundings and smiled at Jase. “You’re right. It even makes this humble home attractive.”

  He took her hand and stood, helping her to her feet. “I brought a bucket of fresh water in from the well. If you’d like to see to those biscuits you promised, I’ll check on Zack.”
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  “Sounds good, Mr. Kent. I’m surprised to learn this place has a well. I thought we might have to melt snow for our water.”

  “We needed a well to water the livestock we run in this pasture. Sometimes in July or August the streams dry up.”

  “This is your cabin?”

  “Yes. It’s at the far end of my property, near the Morgan holdings. I put the shack up for protection from sudden storms we might experience when we’re working the cattle here. It’s come in handy many times.” He stopped talking and grinned at her. “Now, how about those biscuits? I’m hungry.”

  She returned his smile. “I’ll have them ready before you know it.”

  He nodded and went to see to Zack.

  Marietta worked quickly to prepare their modest meal. She was grateful to find all the utensils she needed to make a proper batch of biscuits. Soon the aroma of fresh bread filled the tiny home, and the three of them enjoyed a pleasant meal.

  After they’d eaten, Jase took his gun and went to find fresh game. He tied a rope to a post on the lean-to outside the shack and held on to it as he went into the storm. It would be his lifeline to the cabin. He’d told Marietta, men got lost in blinding snowstorms and died if they weren’t careful.

  With Jase gone and Zack content to play with the few toys he had in his bag, Marietta took a book from her belongings and began to read. When an hour had passed, she went to the one window of the cabin and peered out. Jase was nowhere in sight, but neither was anything else. The storm was thick and blinding, and Marietta began to worry. What if Jase got lost? What if he never came back? Another hour passed, and her worries turned into extreme fear.

  Thirty minutes later Jase finally returned with two rabbits.

  “It looks like we’ll have something real tasty to go with the rest of those biscuits,” he told her pleasantly.

  Thank God he was safe, but did he have to bring rabbits for their supper? Marietta knew she should be grateful for the food--rabbit was definitely better than jerky--but she’d eaten rabbit nearly everyday on the trail from the Missouri River, and she was tired of it.

  “That’s wonderful, Jase,” she said, rising from the floor where she’d been reading. “I’ll help you clean them.”

  ~ * ~

  Over the next two days, Jase and Marietta spent time reading and discussing the books she’d brought with her from Chicago. Such activities helped the time to pass bearably. She was amazed by his interest in literature. She’d never dreamed a rancher would enjoy books as much as Jase did.

  On the afternoon of the third day, the storm had calmed, but it was still not safe to travel. Marietta stood by the window and gazed into the whiteness with Jase standing close behind her.

  “Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?” she asked drearily.

  He placed his hand on her shoulder. “It won’t be long now, Miss Randolf. You’ll see.”

  “I don’t know,” she said hopelessly. “Things have been pretty bleak lately. Two months ago, except for missing Kathy, I was one of the happiest women in Chicago. I had a good job at the library, and I had access to all the social activities a woman could want.” She glanced up at Jase. “Mother always told us social activities defined a woman’s purpose in life.” She looked outside once more. “Good advice is the one thing Mother left us before she died. I’ve always acted on what she raised us to believe, and I was happy to live as she’d said I should. But now…”

  He squeezed her shoulder.

  She found the gesture comforting. He’d comforted her often in the last two days.

  She turned and looked up at him. “Everything in my life has changed. Sometimes, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Will I ever know the happiness and contentment I knew before I lost my Kathy, my love and my life?”

  He touched her cheek with his fingers. “It may take a while, but I have no doubt you’ll be happy again, Miss Randolf,” he said gently. “In a few weeks you’ll be back in Chicago and everything will begin to return to normal. You’ve just got to hold on a while longer and set aside these hopeless feelings as best you can.”

  “No you don’t understand.” She stepped away and wrung her hands. “It isn’t only the difficulties I’m facing here and now which have me upset. My life in Chicago is as dead as my sister. A week before I got word of Kathy’s death, I was fired from my job at the library. My employer has a sister who was recently widowed and needed a job, and since she has three children and I had none, she got my job.” She glanced at Zack. “Now I have a boy to raise myself and no job to support him or me,” she said, looking up at him.

  He rubbed his hand over his dark, unshaven cheek. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m counting on my aunt to take us in while I look for another job.”

  “Do you have sufficient money to tide you over until you find work?”

  Marietta shook her head. “I used every cent I had left to make this trip, but a lack of money isn’t the worst of my worries. I’m confident I’ll acquire another job. I’m a skilled woman, and Chicago has much to offer. What frightens me most is my total unfamiliarity with being a mother. Mr. Kent, how will I ever be able to give Zack the motherly care he needs? I don’t even know how to be his aunt. Though I’m quite fond of him because he is a part of Kathy, I barely know the boy.”

  Jase touched her chin and smiled softly at her. “You’re already mothering him, Miss Randolf. I’ve watched the two of you the last few days. You knew how to calm him when he fretted, you fed him when he was hungry, cuddled him while he slept and kissed him and tucked him in. I heard you pray with him too.” He touched her hair and drew back his hand. “Don’t say you don’t know how to be a mother. Whether you realize it or not, you’re a gentle mother and a loving woman. Zack is very lucky to have you.”

  She gazed into the softness of his eyes and wondered how a man who had led such a hard life had managed to have a gentle soul.

  “You’re kind, Mr. Kent. Sweet…gentle…kind.”

  He reached toward her, almost touched her cheek with his palm.

  Suddenly, she realized they were much too close.

  “I’d... I’d better make fresh biscuits. I’m sure Zack is hungry again.”

  ~ * ~

  The sun shone brightly the next day, but the ride in the buckboard back to the fort was a rough one. Snow drifts fought the carriage every foot of the way. Dusk set in as Fort Kearney came into view.

  Will Carson rode out to meet them outside the fort. “Thank the sweet Lord you’ve returned safely,” he exclaimed. “Amy has been beside herself worrying you’d all perished in the storm.”

  “We took shelter in the shack near the edge of my property line.” Jase gave Marietta a quick look before he turned his attention back to Will. “It was a rough few days, but we made out all right.”

  “That’s good news, Jase,” Will said. “You’d best take Miss Randolf and Zack straight to Amy. She’ll want to feed them and clean them up and fuss over them. You know how she is.”

  Jase smiled. “It’s been my pleasure to be fussed over by your lovely wife myself a few times.”

  “And don’t think I’ve forgotten it, Jase.”

  The two men laughed at their secret joke, then Will’s expression sobered, and he focused on Marietta. “Miss Randolf, I’m afraid we’ve got some bad news for you.”

  Her heart nearly stopped, and she swallowed hard. Bad news? Was there any other kind? “What is it, Lt. Carson?”

  “When the sky turned gray and it looked to start snowing, Jackson and his party decided to leave for the Missouri River at once. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until the next stage comes through before you can return home. That’ll be near the end of December.”

  Marietta’s head began to spin, and she felt herself slump into Jase. An arm circled her just before everything went black.

  Chapter Four

  Jase pressed Marietta close to him.

  “Maybe I was too rough with the news,” Will said.

/>   “Is she dead?” Zack asked from his place in the back of the buckboard.

  Jase turned around. “No, son, she’s not dead. She just fainted.”

  “Why?” Zack craned his body to get a better look at his aunt.

  “Because Lt. Carson gave her some bad news. He told her you’ve lost your ride to the Missouri River, and you’ll have to wait several weeks for the next stage.”

  Zack stroked Marietta’s cheek with his tiny hand and gazed down at her. “I hope she’s all right.” He lifted his eyes to look at Jase and added, “But it isn’t bad news to me. It means we can stay longer with you.”

  He gazed at the beautiful woman wrapped in his arm and remembered the dozens of times her loveliness had stolen his breath during their confinement. “We’d better get Miss Randolf inside so Amy can take care of her,” Jase said, ignoring Zack’s conclusion. As he put the horse in motion, he tried to determine just what his own reaction was to Marietta’s news.

  Zack was happy to stay on in Nebraska, but the news of her delayed return had snuffed the breath out of Marietta. What did Will’s proclamation do to him?

  With Marietta pressed close to his heart, Jase was torn between hope that he’d have a chance to spend more time with the lovely lady and the resentment he felt toward her because her lingering at the Morgan burial site had caused him to miss his meeting.

  It occurred to him then that perhaps the meeting hadn’t taken place. If the storm had been as bad at Red Rock Junction as it was in the Fort Kearney area, no one would have been able to attend the meeting. The thought comforted Jase. Maybe his opportunity hadn’t been lost after all.

  Marietta stirred and moaned.

  “Is she all right?” Zack asked as he continued to watch his aunt attentively.

  “She’s all right, Zack,” Jase replied. “I told you she just fainted. She’s probably exhausted. She’s been through more than most women could take these last weeks.”