A Wild Rose for the Beastly Rancher (Preview)

Chapter One

Eleanor Blackwood took a deep breath, putting pen to paper but still not finding the words to tell her family she was leaving.

It’s going to be dawn in a matter of a few hours. I have to be gone before they wake.

She tried to start the letter several times, but with each new blot of ink, she became more unsure of herself and the life she was leaving behind. For as long as she could remember, her parents had cared for her. They gave her a good life in Philadelphia, even if their expectations of her always felt a little too high.

Mama,

Please don’t be mad at me. You and Papa have given me the best a girl could ever hope for, but I long for something else. For freedom. For a life not tied to a future husband who would choose to love another. I know that we had our argument about this, but please, believe me when I tell you that leaving isn’t just the result of that fight, but also of something bigger than me. Something I feel called to do.

I’m going west. I want to see the world, and I think that would be a good way to do it. I will send you dried samples of all the new plants I encounter so you might see me well and continuing to pursue my passion in botany.

I will write as soon as I am settled.

With all my love,

Eleanor

Perhaps it was a conversation that should be had in person, but if she tried, she’d never leave Philadelphia. Her parents would somehow convince her to stay, convince her that the marriage they arranged was worth putting up with the heartache her ex-fiancé thrust on her.

She put the pen down and stared at the letter, considering just for a moment about what it would look like to see it go up in flames. There was a little voice in the back of her mind that told her what she was doing was beyond reason, but there was a bigger part of her that feared if she didn’t leave that night, she would be stuck in the same life as always, waiting for the day when she finally found a man to marry and started a family.

It was expected of her. It was what her parents prayed for at church each Sunday.

And it was what she was sure would bore her to death.

Steeling her nerve, Eleanor folded the letter in half, sealing it with wax and dipping her little signet ring into the cooling blob.

Please forgive me.

She left the letter on her writing desk. One of her maids would discover it in the morning when they came to wake her for breakfast only to find that she wasn’t there.

Eleanor grabbed her bag and double checked it, making sure her field guide was tucked safely in there. It was a fresh one, no plants recorded yet, but she was eager to fill it as her journey progressed.

As she snatched the paper with the teaching job circled, all she could do was hope that nobody woke.

She went to the door handle, giving it a slight twist only to be met with the same resistance she had faced since she told Mama what Samuel had done. Papa had been the one to order it, but Mama had been his faithful accomplice, turning the key in the lock, leaving Eleanor to “come to her senses about the marriage” though she knew that meant nothing.

She didn’t want to be trapped in a marriage like her parents’. Mama was so stifled by Papa, forced to do everything that he asked of her without stopping to question if it was the right thing to do.

Even though Eleanor loved Mama dearly, she could only save one of them.

Eleanor went to the writing desk, rummaging around in the back of the drawer until she found the secret panel. With her nail slipping into the small crack, she pried it loose, pulling out the carving of the key she had made a long time ago.

It wasn’t the first time she had been locked in her room, but it would be the last.

After the previous punishment, Eleanor had stolen the key from Mama and carved one of her own. Now, as she slipped it into the lock, turning it, she was never more pleased with herself. The lock clicked open.

For a moment, she stood there listening to the sound of feet creaking on the wood, but there was none.

One of the beauties of Papa underestimating her was that he rarely had someone sit outside her door on the days she was locked away.

Her footsteps whispered over the floorboards. She stopped, pressing close to the wall as the light from a candle passed by downstairs, illuminating the front hall for a moment before disappearing around a corner.

With a sigh of relief, she continued down the stairs, skipping the step that creaked and hurrying down to the bottom. Her heart slammed against her ribs in an erratic rhythm as she eased open the door and slipped out into the chilly winter night.

The promise of spring was around the corner though. It might be a matter of days before the plants started peeking up through the dirt. She’d be able to study their entire growth cycle.

The thought brought lightness to her feet as she hefted her bag higher on her shoulder before pulling on her mittens. Eleanor moved quickly down the front steps, turning back just long enough to look at the house.

“I promise I’ll come back to visit one day,” she whispered.

And then she heard the steps behind her. Thundering down the staircase, shouts of her name followed.

With her heart in her throat, she took off running. She couldn’t waste time looking over her shoulder to see who was behind her, which servant had noticed she escaped that dreadful room.

Blood rushed in her ears as she skidded around a corner, wishing the streets were full so she could get lost in the crowd.

“Eleanor! Come back!” a voice called.

They’ll have to drag me back there and lock the door better this time if they plan on keeping me.

Without slowing, she turned another corner, slipping down an alley. Her lungs burned with the effort, each breath she drew in feeling like she was breathing fire.

I can’t stop now. I should lose them soon.

She burst out of one alley and turned down another. Her legs screamed in protest, her bag bouncing against her back. Eleanor hiked her skirts, her breath coming in short bursts as she turned down another street.

It was only once she was sure that she was no longer followed, a peek over her shoulder showing nothing but an empty street, that she felt safe enough to slow down.

As she walked down the street, heading to the stagecoach station, she let out a deep breath, some of the tension in her chest finally easing. It had been living there too long, since the day she saw Samuel kissing Emily Akerly behind the church.

“You should go find Samuel,” Mama said, smiling as she stepped out of church and into the bright winter sun, the rays reflecting off the snow, shining bright and making the world seem magical. “Invite him to lunch.” 

It was times like those when Eleanor almost believed in God the same way her parents did—wholly and without a doubt.

Eleanor nodded and took off around the corner of the church, wondering if Samuel had already gone to fetch his family’s carriage. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She was going to get to spend the afternoon with him, which was more time than they had spent together in a while. Samuel was always busy learning the banking business from his father, and Eleanor was trying to prepare all the linens she would need for their future home. She wanted them to be perfectly embroidered with little plants along the hems, simple and beautiful.

She turned the corner of the church, but he wasn’t there. She glanced past the carriages and wagons, looking down the street.

There. A flash of his light brown hair as he walked down the street and disappeared behind the general store.

Eleanor jogged after him, eager to catch him before he got busy. His ability to work hard and help others was one of the things Eleanor loved most about her fiancé.

She smiled and nodded to several of the people she passed on her way down the street, rounding the corner of the general store in a rush, only to come to a screeching halt.

It felt like the ground was opening up beneath her.

Samuel Brown. Engaged to her. Kissing Emily Akerly.

“Samuel?” Eleanor asked, her voice breaking slightly.

He jerked away from Emily, turning to face Eleanor, his cheeks burning bright red and shame in his eyes as he reached for her. “It’s not what you think it is.”

Tears burned in the corners of Eleanor’s vision as her heart broke. “I know exactly what this is. The end of our engagement. Enjoy your life, Samuel.”

Eleanor didn’t hesitate; she took off running.      

Even now, a lump lodged in her throat at the memory, but she swallowed it down, fighting the life she thought she would have into a locked box in the corner of her mind where it belonged.

Thankfully, the engagement was over now. She wouldn’t have to see Samuel or Emily again. Eleanor was free to move on with her life, and right now that meant going to the station in the middle of the night and heading inside to buy a ticket.

She walked to the teller, pulling out a bit of the money she had saved. It wasn’t much, but it should be enough to get her started in another place.

The teller looked up from behind the paper he was reading, his heels dropping off the counter and down to the floor. “Hello.”

“Hello.” Eleanor slid the money across the counter, pulling out the paper and checked the name of the town once more, wanting to make sure she got it right. “One ticket to Riverside please.”

His eyebrows climbed but he took the money. “Name?”

“Elle North,” she said, not wanting to use her real name for the ticket. Her family would come looking for her and she wanted to make sure she was a good distance away.

I need to do this. One day, that will make sense to Mama and Papa.

He nodded and filled out the ticket, tearing it out of the book and handing it to her. “The stagecoach doesn’t leave for another five hours yet, but you’re welcome to wait on one of the benches there if you’d like.”

She looked around the station. It wasn’t quite empty, two other people sleeping on the benches. “Thank you.”

With ticket in hand, she went to find a bench near one of the big windows that overlooked the snow outside. Some was falling in small flakes, soft and fluffy. Eleanor set her bag down by her feet and reached inside, pulling out one of the books she had on botany and beginning to read, though she had turned the worn pages hundreds of times already.

As the morning light started to fill the sky, anticipation bubbled within her.

This was her chance at freedom, and she wasn’t going to squander it.

Chapter Two

The glass shattering was nothing new, but Jacob Whitaker wished the children from town would wait until the morning to break the panes with the rocks they threw. There was little he liked less than trying to see broken glass with the light from an oil lamp.

“Oh no! You hit the window,” one of the children outside hissed, his voice distant. “You were only supposed to hit the house.”

“Run before he gets up!” another said, his voice louder than the first.

There was a series of laughter that slowly faded, plunging the house into blissful silence once more.

Groaning, he laid in bed for a moment longer, staring at the ceiling. Then, he got up and lit up his oil lamp, slipping into the thick-soled slippers beside his bed.

Jacob padded out into the sitting room, holding the lamp high. Sure enough, the window that had been broken this time was the one beside the couch. It would cost more than he wanted to replace it, but there wouldn’t be a dime seen from any of the children’s parents.

No, they never believed their children snuck out at night and delighted in throwing things at his home.

Jacob sighed and put the lamp on the small table beside the couch, using the dim lighting to find his broom and dustpan, pushing the couch out to sweep behind it. Once the shards had been swept up and picked from the cushions, he sat down at the kitchen table.

Sunlight started to peek through the windows.

At least they waited until it was nearly morning this time.

Jacob got to work patching the window with a bit of wood to keep the draft out until he could get the glass order. Which would mean another trip down from the hills and into Riverside. It wasn’t a long trip, maybe a half hour’s walk at most, but he liked being on the outskirts of town. He liked avoiding the people there and what they said about him.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, starting to peek through the trees, Jacob got up and got ready for the day before heading out to the barn.

Thomas Holloway was already waiting there for him, leaning against the barn with a cup of coffee in his hand, glancing up at the dark clouds trailing across the sky. “Looks like we’re going to have another round of snow coming in.”

“It’s getting late in the season for that.” Jacob opened the barn doors, the corner of his mouth twitching as he took in the horses eager to be turned out for the day.

“It is, but those clouds look heavy.” Thomas followed him in, going to the set of doors between the sections housing the horses and the pregnant cows, easing it open. “You mind coming over and helping me patch part of the roof? The wind we got last night took some of the shingles off. I’ve got to go in town to pick the new ones up. Georgie had some last time I was at the store.”

“Can do.” Jacob started opening the stalls, watching the horses trot out into the snow-dusted pasture. “Do you mind ordering me another piece of glass while you’re there?”

“You know, it might do you good to head into town. You don’t even go to church anymore.”

Jacob motioned to the scars marring his skin. “Scaring the children isn’t worth it.”

“Their parents should teach them to mind their own business then.” Thomas shrugged, grabbing a bag of feed and starting to fill feeders for the cows, though the rest of the herd was out and grazing. “She looks like it’s only going to be a couple of weeks at most before the new calf is here.”

Jacob was grateful for the change in subject. While he knew that the scars shouldn’t hold him back, there was a reason the lone mirror in his house was covered. Why he avoided glancing at his reflection in the windows.

“It shouldn’t be long now. The other two won’t be soon behind her. I didn’t think I was going to have three of them ready this early in the season, but there’s no controlling nature.” Jacob reached over the stall door, rubbing the cow’s head.

“There isn’t.” Thomas emptied one bag of feed before hauling another onto his shoulder. “You should come to town with me.”

And there it is. Again. The third time this week that he wants me to go to town with him.

“I have things I need to take care of around here, but I’ll meet you at your ranch this afternoon. It should give the sun some time to melt the last of the ice on the roof.”

Jacob raked a hand through his hair.

I won’t be able to avoid going to town much longer. My hair is getting shaggy.

Thomas sighed and finished with the other bag of food. Jacob took it and tucked it back in the supply room, coming back out to find Thomas leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I don’t need another lecture, so if you’re about to start one, I would suggest taking it elsewhere.” Jacob kept his tone light. He knew his friend was just trying to look out for him, but it was time he stopped. Life was comfortable the way it was. Jacob didn’t need more than what he had.

Smirking, Thomas followed him out of the barn and to the chicken coop. “I think one of these days, a lecture is going to be just the thing you need to change your mind.”

“I doubt it. Life is easier like this, Thomas. You hear what they say about me in town, and more importantly, you hear what they say about you.”

“I don’t care what they say about me.” Thomas tossed feed to the chickens to keep them busy while Jacob collected the eggs. “And you shouldn’t care what they say about you either.”

“Haven’t you heard?” Jacob asked, his tone just a little bitter. “Even God turned his back on me according to them. It’s why I have the scars, why I had such a horrible accident.”

“You saved a girl from a bear attack.” Thomas gave him a flat look. “You would think that they’d take a moment to think about what a miracle that is.”

Jacob shrugged, plucking the last egg out of the nesting box and gingerly placing it into the basket. “There is no changing their minds, but if I stay out of town, at least I don’t have to hear all the things they want to say about me.”

“One of these days, someone is going to make you want to come back to the world of the living. You’re going to meet someone who is going to make you feel like waking up.” Thomas chuckled, tucking his hands in his pockets as they left the coop. “I don’t know how you’re going to meet that woman since you refuse to leave the ranch and the woods, but one day it’s going to happen.”

“A woman would take one look at me and run the other way. Likely screaming.”

“I’m not going to lie to you, the scars are jarring and someone is probably going to take a second to take them in, but the right woman isn’t going to care.” Thomas latched the coop behind them before going to open the small door that would allow the chickens out into the yard.

Jacob smiled as the chickens all marched out, squawking at each other and pecking the ground. Thankfully it was a warm enough day for them to be out and enjoying the sun, the fresh scent of spring on the wind. It was right around the corner and would be there before they knew it.

“The right woman for me is only a figment of your imagination,” Jacob said, eyeing the horses as they ran around the pasture, their manes swishing in the wind and fur looking glossy beneath the sun.

“I know one is out there for you. She’s going to see the scars, hear what you did to earn them, and she’s not going to think it’s a curse like the people in Riverside seem to think. She’s going to see the man you are.”

“You live in a fantasy world.” Jacob shook his head, staring off into the distance, glancing at the trees that lined three sides of his property, the ones at the back the thickest and leading into the woods. “The pigs should be coming in from the woods later this week.”

“I’ll be here to help, but I can promise you now that I’m going to try and convince you to come with me to town again.”

“Is there ever a time when you don’t try?” Jacob rolled his eyes, gaze moving to the cows in the biggest pasture near the woods.

Though the children in town liked to throw things at his property, they left the animals alone, thankfully.

Thomas shrugged, walking to the row of trees to the left of the property that separated their land. “I don’t know. I think you need someone to remind you that there are things in life that are worth living for.”

Jacob gave Thomas half of the eggs. “Thank you for helping today. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“That’s a dismissal if I’ve ever heard on, but mark my words, one of these days, you’re going to get really tired of being alone.”

What Jacob didn’t say as Thomas walked back to his own ranch was that he already was tired of it all.

However, there was no changing it. Thomas’ hope was wasted on him.

Jacob could hardly be the man another dreamed of, and he certainly wasn’t going to be convinced that there were things in life worth living for.

It was simply better to get through the day and hope that when your time came, the end was quick.

He learned that long ago, and there was no changing his mind.

Chapter Three

Eleanor pressed close to the foggy glass, looking out at the snow glistening on the ground, the first little dots of green plants starting to poke up along the edges of the road where the snow had melted away.

There were several other people on the stagecoach with her, but they were all sleeping. How they could do that with the rocking and rolling of the wheels over the snow, she didn’t know. Though she had been able to get some sleep on the way from Philadelphia to Montana Territory, it had been nearly impossible to get more once she learned they were less than a day from Riverside.

Hopefully the teaching job is still open.

It had taken days to travel this far, through light snowstorms and sunshine-filled mornings, but it had been a journey Eleanor knew she would never forget.

“Have you gotten any sleep since yesterday?” a soft voice asked, the woman beside her opening her eyes, her husband still sleeping with his head on her shoulder.

Eleanor smiled, happy to have someone to talk to. She and Natalia had been sitting beside each other for the last two stops, and though Chuck never had much to say when he was awake, Natalia was warm and friendly.

“No.” Eleanor glanced back out the window. “I don’t think I could sleep this close to Riverside.”

“You’re so young.” Natalia shifted beside her. “There’s a whole world waiting for you, and you’re just ready to go after it. I wish I had your bravery when I was young.”

“Nineteen isn’t that young.” Eleanor shrugged, settling back in her seat.

Outside, the sun was sinking closer to the horizon, streaks of pink and orange painting themselves across the sky.

“It’s young.” Natalia smiled and reached out to pat her leg. “We’re going to be in Clifford. It’s about an hour away from Riverside by horse. If there’s anything you ever need, you can come and see us.”

“Thank you.” Eleanor’s brows pulled together as something big moved between trees on one side of the road. “I think there’s something out there.”

Natalia leaned over her, squinting and looking out into the growing darkness. “I don’t see anything. Might have just been the shadows moving or a deer.”

Eleanor let out an easy laugh, reaching for the sand dollar-shaped pendant hanging beneath her dress. It was small and gold, given to her years ago by her grandmother.

“My grandmère always told me to travel,” Eleanor said, rubbing the pendant. “She gave me this from one of her travels. Said it would be my guide. I used to think I was never going to leave home, and then I put the necklace on one day and it reminded me who Grandmère thought I could be.”

“It’s a beautiful necklace.” Natalia leaned closer to take a look. “She was French?”

“Moved here from Paris when she was a young girl. She wasn’t supposed to stay here long, but when she met my grandfather, she knew she was never going to leave.”

Natalia shifted back in her seat, adjusting Chuck’s head to a more comfortable position. “Have you been to Paris?”

“Not yet. Maybe one day, but I don’t think there would be much there for me. I don’t like cities much, I think. I mean, I’ve lived in one and I never liked it much, but I could get to Riverside and dislike that too.” Eleanor bit the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know if I’m making the right choice.”

“Nobody can tell you if it is or isn’t. You’re going to have to figure that out for yourself as time goes on.” Natalia took her hand and squeezed it tight. “And you said the other day that you have a family who loves you. If things don’t work out like you think they will, you can always go home again.”

“You do have a point.” Eleanor smiled and squeezed her hand back. “Thank you for saying that. I think I needed to hear it.”

Something in the corner of her eye moved. She turned her attention to the window, but there was nothing there. Still, she couldn’t shake the tightness in her chest and the feeling of being watched as the stagecoach approached a bend in the road.

“Bandits!” the driver shouted.

It was too late though. Men dressed in all black rode out of the tree line, overwhelming the stagecoach in seconds. People forced the doors open and jumped out. Eleanor hurried out too, but she came face to face with a towering man standing in her way.

“Pretty necklace you’ve got there,” the man said, a slight drawl to his words as he reached for the gold chain around her neck.

Eleanor smacked his hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

The man chuckled, stepping closer to her. “Feisty. You’re not going to be that way for long. You’re going to hand over that necklace, and then you’re going to show me what else you have.”

“Leave me alone!” she screamed, her jaw dropping when the first gunshot ripped through the air, Chuck falling to the ground, Natalia shrieking like an animal dying before she turned and ran.

Eleanor looked at the man in front of her once more, trying to find an opening. There was one to the right if she could get around him. She wanted to get her bag, but with people screaming and running, it wasn’t going to be possible. Not with the men cornering the travelers and rifling through the bags. Eleanor glanced at the opening again, taking a step backward when the man tried to get closer to her. She could get to the woods and once she was far enough, she could hide before circling back.

The man reached for her, but she ducked quick, taking off sprinting for the trees. A gunshot echoed out behind her, followed by another.

Time seemed to slow around her, but she forced herself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Her chest ached, and she couldn’t see anything with the darkness setting in around her. The screams in the distance grew fainter before they stopped altogether. Tears tracked down her cheeks, but she had to keep going.

She kept running, pushing herself until it felt like her body was going to give out beneath her. Each breath felt like fire as the night grew colder.

And then the ground dropped away from under her feet.

Eleanor went tumbling down the side of a hill,      sharp rocks digging through her coat.

As she hit the bottom, her head collided with a rock, plunging the world around her into a dark void.