The Rancher’s Leap of Faith (Preview)

Chapter One

Chicago, 1882

Mabel hurried to make the bed in the simple room she shared with her two younger siblings. 

“Mabel, hurry!” Roy’s frantic voice carried up the stairs to Mabel. She left the rest of her work and hurried down the stairs. It sounded like something was terribly wrong for her little brother to be yelling for her. 

She nearly stumbled on the last two as she rounded the corner and skidded to a stop in the kitchen. 

Roy was holding Ivy’s hand, a drop of blood on her finger. His blond hair fell over his forehead, little strands covering his blue eyes. His grey shirt’s sleeves were rolled up to his elbows as he stood protectively near Ivy’s side.

“What happened?” Mabel had instructed the two of them to get started with breakfast, a task they often handled. Even though Roy was only three years older than his ten-year-old sister, he was still a good supervisor and kept them both on task. Ivy and Roy were often mistaken for twins, on account of Ivy being tall for her age and Roy short for his.

“Ivy was cutting some onions and she slipped with the knife. I don’t think she’s hurt that bad.” Roy still looked to Mabel for reassurance. 

Her big blue eyes were full of tears, ready to spill over, and her blond hair was already braided into two pigtails, falling over her shoulders. Mabel always got them ready before sending them down for breakfast. Mabel hurried over and checked the tip of her sister’s finger. 

Thank goodness it wasn’t too deep. Just a scratch. 

“I think you’ll be fine. Why don’t you sit down and take care of that while I finish up here?” Mabel knew that most people who looked in on their little family and didn’t know their history thought she was the pair’s mother, seeing as they all looked so similar. 

Ivy nodded. Her big blue eyes were full of relief as she hurried over to the table and sank into a chair. Roy looked rather pale, gripping the side of the counter. 

“Maybe I can sit down, too?” he ventured. 

“Why not?” Mabel shook her head as she took over breakfast. She enjoyed letting her siblings have their moments of rest, fun, or just being children. Life hadn’t been easy on any of them lately. Since her father passed away, they were plunged into a life much more difficult than her siblings deserved. Reverend Alden and his wife, Missy, were nice people, she liked them well enough, but they weren’t family. 

Mabel had done her best for her siblings since the tragic death of their father and the loss of their home. It wasn’t much, but it had been the place they grew up. It all happened around a year ago, but the pain was still a fresh ache in her heart, being left to care for her siblings at only twenty years old

She finished breakfast faster than she expected, then dished up three plates and sat down with Roy and Ivy. 

“Let’s say grace,” she smiled at them both. Saying grace was important, as was thanking God for their food and everything else that they had. It might not be that much, but they did have what they needed and there were others out there who did not. 

Ivy and Roy bowed their heads, and Mabel said a simple prayer. She included the words she always did, asking for blessings and guidance for their little family. God had a plan for them. She had to believe that. 

Sometimes, she wondered if she had it wrong, why would God take everything from them when she, her siblings, and their parents had always done their best to be good people? They went to church on Sundays, prayed before every meal, and read their Bibles. When she let those thoughts creep in, she would push them back, reminding herself that God’s plans didn’t always make sense. That was what her mother used to say. 

The memory of her mother brought a pang of sadness. She’d passed away when Mabel was ten. The next few years had been devastating and even though she’d learned to live with the hole in her heart, she still felt sad every time she thought of all the years she hadn’t had her mother to share life with. 

She finished while her siblings were only half done with their food, and hurried about the kitchen. Mrs. Alden always asked that they must leave the kitchen cleaned up when they used it, and she tried to avoid reason for any dissension or disagreements with them. They’d done so much for her, Roy and Ivy. She’d never be able to repay them for their kindness. 

Roy and Ivy brought their dishes to her before rushing up the stairs to their shared room to get their things for school. The sun streaming in through the windows reminded Mabel they were running late. 

She gave the kitchen floor one last sweep before grabbing her shawl and wrapping it around her shoulders, meeting her siblings at the door. 

She smiled as the sun hit her face. The little things in life reminded her how much she had to be grateful for. She was thankful that the weather in Chicago was usually quite beautiful unless it was the winter. There was a certain attribute to the hustle and bustle of the street. People coming and going, opening their businesses for the day, rushing their kids to school. 

Ivy looked up at her with wide blue eyes. 

“Mabel, the teacher said I need my own writing slate if we can, I mean. If we can’t, I’ll tell him.” Ivy swallowed and Mabel forced a smile. She knew that her siblings worked as hard as anyone to adjust to their tight budget and circumstances. They deserved to have the proper materials to study in school, to learn, and to have shoes that didn’t have holes in them. 

It was hard to come up with the money to provide all of the necessities, and yet, she didn’t mind one bit. Today, she was relieved she had a nickel in her pocket. 

“Here you go,” she placed the shiny coin that Mrs. Lester had given her as a bonus the day before into Ivy’s hand. 

“Buy yourself a slate pencil, too, and bring me the change, okay?” 

Ivy nodded, but a look of doubt crept over her face. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Positive. Just learn with it, all right?” 

“Thank you.” Ivy wrapped her arms around Mabel’s waist, pressing her head to her chest. She was getting tall. Her blond hair came up to Mabel’s chin already. 

“You’re welcome. Now run along. Come by the shop after school.” 

Mabel watched as Roy and Ivy rushed toward the mercantile. The Union Square School was right beside it. The seamstress shop was another five-minute walk. She often wasn’t done with her work by the time they got out of school, but they would wait for her outside of the shop, doing their work as the evening rolled in. It was a routine that worked well for them, all of them making sacrifices when necessary to make things work. 

Even so, there were still many times when she prayed that God would show her their path forward, and more importantly, their path out of Chicago.

Chapter Two

Red Ridge Montana 

Graham stared down at the gravestone in front of him. 

Silas Thatcher.

His older brother had died too soon. He never imagined he’d lose his brother, not after everything else he’d lost in his life. He set down a single flower, a wildflower he’d picked on his way to visit his brother’s grave behind the church. Sometimes when he passed through town for supplies, he’d stop by, stare down at Silas’s resting place, and try to remember the good times, before heading home to Abel, his nephew, but now his son.

“Abel misses you. We all do. I talk to him about you every day.” Graham sighed as he turned and walked away, heading down the street toward home. He nearly ran into Jed as he turned the corner toward the last stretch of road before home. His dark brown hair was unruly and sticking out every which way. 

“Graham!” a grin lit up his face and his gray eyes crinkled at the corners “I was looking for you. Figured you were still in town.” 

“Yeah, got held up a bit. The grain took longer to unload than I anticipated.” He’d helped out transporting some grain for one of the men in town. It was an extra job that paid well and he couldn’t afford to turn it down. He wasn’t hurting for money; his ranch was doing well enough. But even still, he worried about relaxing. He had a boy to take care of now, on top of his normal responsibilities. 

“Staying away won’t keep you from having to deal with things.” Jed looked down at the road. 

“I know.” Graham quickened his pace alongside Jed. He’d hired Christine, a woman from town, to look after Abel for the day, but he couldn’t keep doing that. Abel needed security and routine. He needed to feel as if he could count on someone to watch him and be a part of his life. “I should be there with him, but I have so many other things going on with the ranch right now. There’s no way to have him with me all the time. I don’t know how Silas did it.” 

“You could get a wife.” Jed gave his friend a sly grin. 

“A wife?” Graham’s eyebrows shot up. 

“Yes, a wife. A young woman who wouldn’t be opposed to marrying a grumpy rancher, caring for Abel, and helping you around the ranch here and there. Haven’t you heard of the concept of marriage?” 

Graham flashed a smile

“Of course, I’ve heard of it. I just don’t think it’s for me.” In his twenty-seven years of life, he’d had a couple of different opportunities to settle down, but never found the right person. He figured that perhaps working hard and building his ranch was what he was supposed to do, as opposed to settling down with a family of his own. 

“Have you thought about what might be best for Abel? He could benefit from a woman in his life, someone to cook him meals every day, put him in bed, and take him to school.” 

Graham frowned. 

“Are you calling me a bad cook?” 

“You know what I’m talking about. Just think about it. It’s easy these days, you just put an ad in the paper, and you find yourself a wife that would suit your needs and everyone is happy.”

Graham shook his head. It couldn’t be that easy, and he couldn’t see it working out well. 

As the two men approached the ranch house, Abel slipped out the door and ran toward them, his sandy blond hair bouncing around his ears and his green eyes shining with excitement. Graham knelt to scoop him up, swinging him in a circle as he laughed. 

“Uncle Graham, you’re home!” he laughed as Graham set him down. Christine appeared in the doorway. She was in her thirties and a spinster from town. Rumor had it that she’d decided not to marry in order to care for her ailing father. He had a feeling that she would take an offer of marriage in an instant if he offered it to her, but he couldn’t possibly. He wasn’t sure that he’d ever be able to make a marriage work with someone in town he knew. He didn’t get along very well with any of the women in town, especially not in a spouse sort of way. 

He didn’t know why he was thinking about it anyway. He had no intentions of marrying, regardless of Jed’s suggestion. Getting close to people was only opening his heart to being broken. 

He’d already gone through unimaginable pain losing Silas. He wasn’t about to risk the same with losing a wife. 

Leading Abel up the porch, he grabbed his guitar which sat by the door, and settled into one of the chairs he kept outside while Abel sat cross-legged below, holding a penny candy in his fist that Graham had brought from town. 

Graham strummed a tune, thinking about how much his life had changed. Not all of it was bad. He had good moments, he just wished his life could be a string of good moments, and also that his brother was still there, to help him navigate life and to be a father to Abel. 

Chapter Three

Bride wanted. 

Hard-working, kind, and loving toward children. I have one child and a ranch in Montana. Please send a letter to the following address if interested. 

Mabel re-read the ad three times. The paper was worn and tearing just a bit at the corner where it had been folded. She stuffed it back into the pocket of her apron. She’d responded to the ad almost a week ago, the first time she’d seen it. 

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. She saw it and figured that perhaps it could be her next opportunity. Perhaps it was the sign from God she’d been praying for. The address of the town was familiar to her. Her father had mentioned it. He’d traveled quite a bit when he was young, and he’d spoken highly of Montana. Though the town had probably only been starting out with a couple of settlers when her father had been through there. 

She smiled at the idea of ending up in a place her father had lived as a young man. It felt as if it might be a connection to her family and past, without staying in the town where she’d known and lost them. 

Chicago wasn’t the same anymore, not since the loss of her parents. She kept expecting to see one of her parents walking down the street, or showing up at the door. 

There were so many times she’d shared moments with them in the streets, at a shop, or even with the revered and his wife. Now they were gone, but everything kept moving on without them. She thought it would be easier to start over somewhere new, somewhere that didn’t hold so many painful memories. 

They weren’t painful because they were bad. They were painful because they were so good, and she could never get them back. She could never have those experiences again. Never share a conversation with her mother or father, or see her father swing her brother and sister above his head when he got home from work. She loved every moment she’d had with her parents and mourned every single one she didn’t. 

Mabel straightened her shoulders as she quickened her pace to the post office. The train had come that morning with the new mail. She’d made herself wait until after she dropped her siblings off at school before going, so she wouldn’t look desperate demanding to see if there was a response to her letter. There were hundreds of women out there who would probably like the opportunity to go west and start over with a wealthy rancher and a life of adventure. That was not the reason that she was doing it. She only wanted a better life for her siblings. 

A life of security and happiness where they didn’t have to worry about the winter, or where they would sleep if something changed at the reverend’s house. She waited her turn in the line of people who were waiting for their mail at the post office. It seemed that everyone was hoping to get a letter from someone or another. 

When it was her turn, relief flooded her along with excitement when she spotted the simple white envelope with the Montana address.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, before scooping up the envelope and hurrying toward the seamstress shop. If she was lucky, Mrs. Lester wouldn’t be in yet, and she’d have some time alone to read it. 

If anyone knew to whom she was writing, they’d assume that she was interested for romantic reasons. That was the least of her concerns, she was only interested in what it would bring her and her siblings. Perhaps she could also bring value to the man looking for a wife. 

Graham Thatcher was his name. 

They could make a deal, to work together, for the sake of all the young lives involved. There was no sign of Mrs. Lester at the seamstress shop. Mabel let herself in and settled on her bench. She opened the white envelope and unfolded an equally plain piece of paper. 

Dear Miss Carrington,

Thank you for your letter. I think that you are exactly the type of woman I am looking for. I can’t commit to a relationship at the moment, a real one anyway, so it seems we align well in this aspect. I am agreeable to your two siblings. They could become good friends with my nephew. 

I’ve purchased tickets for you and your siblings. They are included in this letter, assuming you are agreeable to come straight away. I am looking forward to your response.

Mabel’s heart thundered in her chest. Was she ready to move to Montana? To give up everything and head out to the life she wanted?

Yes. She was ready. She had to be. This was their chance. 

—*—

“Are we almost there?” Ivy asked for the fiftieth time. 

“Almost.” Mabel stared out of the stagecoach window. It had been a long journey. She was ready to meet the husband she was supposed to marry, get to know the ranch where they would be living, and meet the little boy she’d be responsible for raising. There were a lot of changes, and she hadn’t had a moment to digest all of it until she was on the train. 

In the days following receiving Graham’s letter, she’d sold everything that was left of their more valuable belongings, including her father’s wagon, the horse that was their last animal, and some other things. 

The reverend and his wife were sorry to see them go, or at least that was what they said. Mabel would miss them. Mabel felt more certain than ever that she’d made the right choice, even though her nerves were making her doubt herself at every turn. 

The stagecoach bumped to a stop at a small post office. It was similar to the one back in Chicago, just a lot smaller. Mabel’s thoughts went to her father. 

He used to write letters to someone in this town. He used to say that it was a close friend of his, someone who had gotten him out of a lot of scrapes when they were younger. Mabel wondered if she would meet his friend and if maybe that friend would be willing to share stories of their friendship with her father. 

She hadn’t found any of those letters in her father’s belongings. Why had he gotten rid of them? 

Mabel stepped from the stagecoach. 

Pulling her siblings along with her, she got their cases from the men driving the stagecoach, and the three of them stood, waiting for someone to approach them. She had no idea what Graham looked like, or if he was even there. 

The rest of the passengers from the stagecoach soon left, heading off into town, or meeting with family and friends who had come to pick them up. Mabel frowned. She wasn’t sure what to do if Graham didn’t show up. 

“Do you think he’s coming, Mabel?” Ivy asked, looking up at her, her expression full of uncertainty. 

“Of course he is, Ivy. Don’t ask silly questions.” Roy hushed his sister, puffing out his chest and pulling his shoulders back. He was quickly growing into a young gentleman, and already very protective of his sisters. It was clear he was determined to put his best foot forward. His efforts made Mabel smile. He reminded her so much of their father. 

Two men across the street caught Mabel’s attention. They’d just pulled up in a wagon and were talking about something, one of them looked upset. He had wavy brown hair green eyes, and a sharp jaw. He was the type of man who was handsome enough to make women stop in their tracks and stare. 

The man at his side looked more boyish and laid back. He looked in her direction and his eyes met her gaze. He smiled and pointed while saying something to his friend. 

Could that be Graham? Or was he the stern, frowning one at the man’s side? The two men strode toward them. The shorter one was a stride ahead of the other. Dark blonde hair framed his face, poking out from under his hat, and his gray eyes lit up with warmth.

He looked kind enough. She was starting to hope that perhaps he was Graham. He looked like the type of man she could get along with. As he approached, he pulled his hat from his head and pressed it against his chest. The taller man had no hat, his brown hair was tousled, but also perfectly in place. An uncomfortable expression was plastered on his face, making Mabel unsure if he wanted to be there. 

“Good afternoon, ma’am. Can I ask if you are Miss Carrington?” The blonde-haired man asked, his friend still trailing behind a few steps.” The man’s crooked smile lit up his face as if he were about to tell a joke. She wondered if that was always his expression, so cheerful and inviting. 

“Yes, I am Miss Carrington. Are you Mr. Thatcher?” she asked, looking him up and down. For some reason, she had imagined something different—not in a good or bad way, just different. She wasn’t upset by him though. 

“No, I’m Jed. Graham’s best friend. Mr. Thatcher is here.” Jed turned around and motioned to the second man. There was no cheerful smile on his face. Only green eyes like emeralds that looked sorrowful and angry at the same time if that were possible. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Carrington.” He said. 

His words were nothing like the informal, happy tone of his letters. Perhaps he wrote differently than he spoke? 

Graham turned toward Ivy and Roy. “It’s a pleasure,” he said, extending his hand and shaking both of theirs one after another.

Roy and Ivy smiled up at him as if they already liked him, despite his cool demeanor. 

“I believe we need to find somewhere to talk,” Graham said. “There has been a terrible mix-up.”