When their Worlds Collide (Preview)

Chapter One

“I am mighty sorry that you aren’t in town yet to help me with the wedding preparations, but I promise you that I am doing the very best that I can. The chapel in town can take us on May the fifteenth, and if that is acceptable to you, I will go ahead and ask them to reserve it for us. I would be more than happy to host the reception at my house… although I suppose it will soon be your house, too, which makes me happier than anything. Write soon, love, David.”

Emily Wright hugged the letter that she had just finished reading to her chest and collapsed backward onto the bed, sighing loudly and contentedly. “Isn’t he just a dream, Kerrie? I simply cannot believe that I was lucky enough to meet him the day that he came into town to get that feed for his cows. If I hadn’t been coming out of Mrs. Abernathy’s fabric store that very second, I never would have run into him, and now we wouldn’t be getting married! What a complete and utter tragedy that would be!”

Kerrie Wright, her sister, nodded along with everything that she was saying, but to be honest, she was getting very tired of hearing about David Collins. Emily had talked of little else since they had met, and ever since he had proposed to her, it had only been more talk. Kerrie was usually happy to talk about romance and men. Still, recently, all the David talk was just getting to be a little too much.

However, as Kerrie didn’t want to disappoint her sister, she decided to stay relatively silent and just let Emily chatter away. While she continued speaking, Kerrie played with her long light brown hair, which she decided, was in need of a bit of trim. Their mother, Mary, used to cut her hair quite regularly, but ever since Mary and their father Daniel had passed away, Kerrie just hadn’t felt up to it.

She looked in the mirror to her right and began imagining how much length she would take off from her locks. As she looked, however, a thought popped into her mind.

Am I even pretty enough to get a man like David to marry me? Maybe part of the reason why I’m so bitter about having to hear about him all the time from Emily is because I’m jealous of her. No, that can’t be. Even if I were to never find a husband, I would still have a very happy, fulfilled life.

That thought made Kerrie smile, and if there was one thing to know about her, it was how much her smile lit up her face. Kerrie was quite a slim young woman with a slender face and almond-shaped gray eyes. She’d always considered herself to be less beautiful than her older sister. Emily had much darker, almost black-brown hair and eyes so blue they looked like the ocean. Emily was also a little bit shorter than Kerrie; whereas Emily was around average height at 5’7” tall, Kerrie was 5’9”. She’d often been teased by boys and girls alike at her school for being such a ‘bean pole,’ as they called her. It was one of her biggest insecurities, in addition to what she considered to be her ‘buck’ teeth. In reality, Kerrie had only slightly larger front teeth, and they suited her smile beautifully. 

“Kerrie? Did you hear what I asked you?” Emily’s question pierced Kerrie’s daze, and she snapped back to reality.

“Sorry, I didn’t,” Kerrie admitted, turning to face her sister. Emily had her hands on her hips and was looking at her with a very displeased look on her face.

“I said, we have that extra fabric from when Mama made the quilt for Mrs. Potter’s new baby. Of that fabric, would you prefer the green or the blue for your dress for the wedding?” Emily asked her, reaching under the bed to pull out the fabric.

“Hmmm…” Kerrie responded, allowing herself a moment to decide. “Will you be buying a new dress, or will you be wearing your good yellow one?”

Emily froze with her hand reached under the bed. Then, she slowly pulled it out and turned around to look her sister in the eye.

“I’m sorry,” she clarified, “did you just ask me if I was going to wear that same old yellow dress that I’ve had for over ten years to my wedding? In what world would I want to do that?”

Kerrie threw her hands up in front of her defensively. “I don’t know! I thought you might want to save a bit of money for the meal, so I just wanted to check. If you’re buying a dress that isn’t yellow, then I’ll make a dress out of the blue one.”

“Good,” Emily said decidedly. She turned back around and continued rummaging under the bed. “I was hoping you’d say that because you look so much prettier in that color.”

Emily finally located the fabrics that she was looking for and pulled them out from beneath the bed. She rummaged through them, tossing aside a brown one, a white one, and a grey one before finally locating the green and blue ones. She got to her feet, encouraged Kerrie to do the same, and then held the fabrics up to her sister.

“What are you doing?” Kerrie asked. “I thought you said you wanted me to use the blue one?”

“I do,” Emily said, pulling the green one away and giving the blue fabric pride of place on Kerrie’s chest. “I just wanted to make doubly sure of that.”

Emily’s concentrated look then broke; she looked up at Kerrie and grinned at her, handing her the fabric. “Here you go! Make the prettiest dress that you can out of this!”

Kerrie laughed. “I will do my best, which will certainly be better than what you could do. By the way, I take it that I am traveling on my own out to Green River for the wedding? Will I stay with you and David while I am in town, or should I save up for a room at the inn?”

Kerrie wasn’t sure if she even should have asked to stay with her sister and her soon-to-be brother-in-law, but she thought she might as well. David lived two hundred and seventy miles from the girls’ home in Cheyenne in the smaller town of Green River. Emily was going to be moving out to be with him in about a week, while Kerrie was going to be staying behind. Although she was only twenty years old, Kerrie was certain that she would be able to run the family’s house by herself. It was not a farm but rather a smaller house closer to the edge of the city. Kerrie’s father had been a banker, so he had needed to be close to his work, which was why they lived so close to town. Daniel’s banking job was also the reason that the house was already paid off, which Kerrie was very grateful for. She was not sure how she would have been able to maintain the house if he hadn’t already paid for it.

As Kerrie thought about that now, she also thought of the awful night that her parents had been killed. They had gone out to a party at a friend’s house that was a fifteen-minute carriage ride away. When they’d left the house, they looked the happiest that Kerrie or Emily had seen them be in a long time.

“We’ll be home by ten,” Mary had said to her daughters, giving them each a hug and a kiss before they’d left.

“But if we’re a few minutes late, don’t wait up for us, all right, Mamas?” Daniel called to the girls, laughing at his own joke. 

“That sounds splendid,” Kerrie had encouraged the both of them. “Have a wonderful time, and please give the Franklins our very best.” 

Emily and Kerrie had bid their parents farewell, and that was the last time they’d seen them alive. It had started raining a couple of hours after they’d left, and that rain had turned into a thunderstorm. Kerrie and Emily had anxiously awaited their parents’ arrival at ten pm. When they hadn’t shown up by eleven-thirty, they decided to go looking for them. Each girl had mounted one of their horses and rode out into the rain, doing everything they could to see through the inky blackness of the night. They took the same route that they knew their parents would have, and when they came upon their overturned carriage, the girls knew immediately what had happened. Both Mary and Daniel were killed instantly, leaving the two girls with only each other as company for the rest of their lives.

But now that Emily was leaving to go be with David, Kerrie was beginning to get anxious. As she gently fingered the fabric for her dress on her lap, Kerrie’s thoughts went to what it would be like to be in Cheyenne all by herself.

“Emily,” she called her sister’s attention to her, “do you think that the school might mind if I took over your position after you’re gone? I don’t know how else I’m going to make money, and I can teach pretty well.”

Emily stopped going over David’s letter for the fifth time and looked at her sister with concern on her face. “Of course you can, Kerrie. You’re incredibly smart, and I know that could give you some good money, but is that really what you want to do with your life? I thought you said that you never had the patience for children?”

Kerrie nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, that’s true, but it wouldn’t have to be a permanent position. Just something to get me started after you go. Once I’ve got that little bit of money, maybe I can figure out what I want to do with myself.”

Emily rose from her bed and came to sit on Kerrie’s bed beside her. She put her arm around her and hugged her. “You know, as we get closer and closer to the time that I’m meant to go and live with David, the more and more I’m beginning to worry about you being here all by yourself. It’s not because I’m worried about how you’ll do- I know how you’re going to do, and you’ll do wonderfully. You’ve always said you wanted to be a city woman who wears fancy dresses and goes to the theatre by herself, so maybe you’ll be able to do that! What I’m worried about is that you and I have both led fairly… sheltered lives so far, Kerrie. I’m concerned that the ‘out of the ordinary’ things that you want to do after I’m gone might not work out as you hope. That wouldn’t be any of your fault, though. It would just be because you haven’t had any experience with them.”

“I know, I know,” Kerrie responded, mildly annoyed by her sister’s concern. “But this is what I’ve always wanted, Emily. I’ve longed to be an independent woman living in a city for a long time. Now that you are going off to live with David, I’m finally going to have the chance to do that.”

“Of course,” Emily said supportively. She took her arm from around Kerrie and held her hand instead. “It’s just… you and I are still adjusting to Mama and Papa not being here, and now you’ll have to adjust to me being gone as well. I just hate the thought of leaving you so completely and so suddenly.”

Kerrie’s instincts were telling her to get defensive and tell Emily off, but she knew that wouldn’t do them any good. Emily was right about pretty much everything, and Kerrie had to remind herself that any comments that were rubbing her the wrong way were coming from a place of love. 

Kerrie sighed and patted Emily’s knee. “I suppose you’re right, Em. I really want to be independent… but I am still relying on you for a great many things. Including being my very best friend!”

The two young women chuckled and then were silent for a minute. It seemed that neither of them knew what to say about the predicament that they were in. As they sat there, Kerrie thought more about what Emily had said and wondered what they could really do about it at this point. 

I want Emily to go off and be happy with David, and I also want to be an independent woman. But am I ready for it? Will I really want to be living on my own all the time, or will I miss my sister too much? I would feel like a fool if I had to end up moving to Green River because I missed her too much… but she’s my only family. Whatever shall I do?

Chapter Two

On the singular main street in Green River, Wyoming, Henderson Hughes sat at his desk in the small bank. It had been very quiet inside the bank today, which wasn’t unusual considering the fact that it was a Friday. Fridays in Green River were reserved for doing as few chores as possible and waiting for the day to be done so that the restful weekend might come just a little bit faster. This was, of course, only for the folks who worked jobs in town. For the farmers, Friday was just a day like any other.

For Henderson, however, the weekend was shorter. He had decided about six months ago that the bank should stay open on Saturdays so that people might have a chance to come in and do some banking when they weren’t working. However, when he asked his employees if anyone would mind taking on Saturday work for a bit of extra money, no one volunteered. Now Henderson found himself looking forward to yet another day of working on his own. It was not an exciting job, to say the least, but Henderson felt very lucky to have had it. He knew first-hand how awful it was to be without employment, and so he made sure that he worked as hard as he could every minute he was at the bank.

Around four pm, Henderson was neck-deep in recording deposits and withdrawals from the week when he heard the scrape and groan the door made when it was pulled open. He looked up from behind his work and saw Sheriff Ulysses Bane’s signature black leather hat with the eagle feather in it. He cleared himself a hole in his paperwork and stood up to greet the sheriff.

“Oh, sit down, sit down,” the sheriff said as soon as he saw him. “No need to stand upon occasion for me. I just came for a talk.”

Henderson chuckled and took his seat once more. “If you say so, Sheriff. But you’d better watch out; if you keep telling me to be at ease around you, you never know what I might end up telling you.”

The sheriff chuckled. Sheriff Bane was in his early fifties, but one wouldn’t have been able to tell from looking at him. He was a traditionally good-looking man who had long, thick black hair without a hint of grey. His eyes were brown, and he was a good bit taller than Henderson was. He had a welcoming smile and was usually an amiable man unless you were a miner just passing through town. Then, he didn’t have the time of day for you.

Henderson, on the other hand, looked a good deal older than twenty-seven. Although his hair was still the same blonde that it had been in his youth and his blue eyes still shone out from beneath his bushy eyebrows, his face told another story. Henderson had not lived an easy life, and so his face was a bit more hardened than some of the other men his age in town. There were worry lines dancing across his forehead, and the beginnings of crow’s feet were even peeking out at the edges of his eyes. 

In spite of these details, however, Henderson was still quite an attractive man. He had a square face and a trim physique, and unbeknownst to him, many of the young women in town thought that he was nice to look at. Henderson, however, paid little attention to this. He was a hardworking man who wanted nothing more in life than to have a good career and a steady income. He had no time for romance.

“Well, Hughes, I’m not sure that would much matter,” the sheriff said, pulling up a chair and sitting in front of his desk. He was now sitting right in front of one of only two windows in the bank. When the gentle breeze hit him, he sighed contentedly, leaned back, put his hands behind his head and his feet up on the desk. “Even if you were to start spilling your guts to me, I don’t think you would have very many secrets to tell me. I have a feeling that outside of this bank, you live a fairly quiet life. Would I be safe in saying that?”

Henderson nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely, sir. The life that I lead is precisely what it looks like. In that case, how about you tell me a few things that I might not know are going on in town?”

The sheriff looked out the window for a moment, thinking. Henderson followed his gaze and was delighted to see that the tree outside the window had a few songbirds in it. They were softly chirping away as the two men watched them.

“To tell you the truth,” the sheriff said, “there isn’t much to tell. It’s the same as it always is- everyone who lives here full time is very well-behaved and respectful. But anyone who comes to town who is ‘just passing through’ is a pain in my neck.”

The wind blew a little harder through the window and rustled some of Henderson’s papers. He quickly grabbed the rock paperweight that he kept on the corner of his desk for occasions such as this one and put it on the top of the biggest pile. However, the wind had other ideas- it continued blowing and knocked a few papers off of other piles and onto the floor. Both men immediately got up and began collecting the papers.

“I don’t think we can say that everyone who passes through Green River is bad news though, sheriff.” Henderson reminded him as he quickly grabbed the drifting papers so that they didn’t get too much more out of order. “There have been many families who have stopped and stayed at the inn on their way to Rock Springs and James town. What about them?”

The sheriff handed the last few leaflets to Henderson, and then the two men returned to their seats. The sheriff resumed his relaxed position with his feet up on the desk, and Henderson went about re-sorting the papers into their piles. This time, he grabbed his ink well and a few other heavier items to put one on top of each of the piles.

“I suppose that’s true,” the sheriff said reluctantly. “But Hughes, you’ve got a pretty cushy job here at the bank. None of the new visitors to town ever really come in here, and they’re even less likely to come in here and try to shoot at you.”

Henderson raised his finger to stop the sheriff. “Now hold on. Don’t forget that there have been three separate occasions where-”

“Someone from out of town has come in here and tried to rob the bank with guns a-blazing, I know,” the sheriff finished for him, raising his hands like Henderson was holding a gun to him right now. “But Hughes, those were three very minor occasions, and it was only ever one desperate man who was trying to rob you. Try being out on the main street with a whole gang of them surrounding you with more than one gun each.”

Henderson chuckled. “I suppose you’re right about that. But still, those robberies were not something I’d ever like to repeat.”

Just then, the scraping and groaning sound happened again, and both men looked up and back towards the door just in time to see David Collins cross over the threshold. He waved warmly to both men, and they greeted him back. David was Henderson’s best friend, but the two couldn’t have been more dissimilar. David was extremely tall, and he had such a welcoming face that he looked like he could make friends with just about anyone. He had dark brown curly hair and rosy cheeks that made perfect apples when he smiled. He was in even better shape than Henderson was as he was a rancher who was on his feet doing chores all day, and he dressed in whatever was the cleanest in his closet. Today, it was a dark brown button-up shirt with black pants and a green vest. He wore his signature leather belt around his waist that had a clasp in the shape of a running horse. His favorite hat sat upon his head, and it was clear to Henderson that he had not heeded his advice about getting it fixed before it fell apart much more- it was now even more ratty looking.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen!” David said, taking off his hat and tipping it to them. “Isn’t it just the finest day that you’ve ever seen?”

Both the sheriff and Henderson sighed but then responded warmly to him. 

“I’d say this is the nicest day we’ve had in a long time, Collins,” the sheriff agreed. “But I’m sure it must seem even lovelier to you because of the imminent arrival of a certain young woman.”

David chuckled and nodded as he came to pull up a chair in front of Henderson’s desk, just as the sheriff had.

“You have an excellent memory, Sheriff. I’m not sure that you would have been able to remember that if you didn’t, as I most certainly have not been talking about Emily non-stop since we met!” David was kidding, of course, but he also wasn’t, in a way. David had met Emily Wright when he’d taken a trip to Cheyenne to purchase some supplies for his ranch. The two had immediately fallen for each other, and Henderson had to hear every last detail about it.

“Would you still like some help at the house when I’m done here tonight?” Henderson asked his friend.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” David said gratefully. He looked down at his vest and started scraping at a bit of food that had dribbled onto it and then looked up at Henderson sheepishly. “You uh… you have a way of making sure everything looks well and proper for a lady. No matter how hard I try, I can never make it look as good as you do!”

David was absolutely right. He was a hard worker and a great man, but he was not well-skilled when it came to maintaining his home. Henderson, on the other hand, was meticulous when it came to cleaning, tidying, and other housework. His parents had passed away when he was fourteen, so he had to learn how to take care of himself quite quickly. 

“Of course,” Henderson said good-naturedly. “I’d be happy to come out and give you a hand.”

Although Henderson had a tendency to be quite strait-laced and tolerated little of what he referred to as ‘foolishness,’ he’d always had a soft spot for David. Their parents had been friends before they were born, and when it turned out that they’d both had boys, the two were fast friends. Henderson couldn’t remember a time when David hadn’t been a part of his life, and it was David who had rescued him a number of times during their childhood. After Henderson’s parents died, David immediately asked his parents if they could employ him for a little while so that he could both learn a few skills and have some money. When David’s parents agreed, and Henderson came to work with them, it was then, especially that an unbreakable bond formed between the two men. A few years later, when the bank was opening up in town, David said he knew the man who was building the bank and would put in a good word for Henderson. That was what had gotten him the job, and Henderson had worked hard to make that job last and evolve over the years. He credited David for all of the good things that had happened in his life.

And so, now that David had found a woman who made him the happiest he’d ever been, Henderson could not have been more excited for him. He was a little bit disappointed for his best friend to be losing his freedom, in a way, but in another way, he knew it would be good for David. While Henderson was a fiercely independent man who was able to fully take care of himself on his own, David required some more assistance. Henderson had been over to his house many times to try and teach him how to do a few basic household tasks, but he was utterly useless when it came to that sort of thing. Having a woman like Emily around would make a world of difference- she could tend to the household tasks while David competently managed the farm. That would give Henderson a lot more time on his hands.

“Thank you kindly,” David said very sincerely. “Now, could I ask you two fellows about something else that’s been plaguing my mind recently?”

Henderson and the sheriff looked at each other, nodded, and then Sheriff Bane said, “Go right ahead, Collins. What’s on your mind?”

“You see, Emily’s parents died quite soon after we started courting,” David explained solemnly. “It was very sudden; they died in a carriage accident. But ever since then, it’s just been Emily and her sister Kerrie, fending for themselves. Now that Emily and I are getting married, I’m concerned that she will have a hard time being away from her sister. Kerrie has decided to stay in Cheyenne in their parent’s house, but I have a feeling that Emily won’t be too happy without her. Do… do you think that I should invite Kerrie to come and stay with us?”

Immediately, Henderson pulled out the book where he took down all of his notes whenever a customer of the bank had a question about their finances.

“Well… let’s take a look,” he muttered.  “Your monthly income will support you and Emily well for the foreseeable future. But would it be beneficial for you to have an extra set of hands around the house or on the farm? If… what did you say her name was? Catherine?”

“Kerrie,” David said, “with a ‘K.’”

Henderson knitted his eyebrows together. “That’s a very unusual name. I haven’t heard it or seen it spelled like that with any girl from these parts.”

“More unusual than Henderson?” David asked him with an amused smirk on his face and his arms crossed on his chest.

Henderson’s eyes narrowed. “It’s a family name, and you know it. Anyhow. Kerrie will cost you… this much extra a month, roughly, for food and other essentials. However, if she’s helping you out on the farm, she could help bring in an extra… this much, so that brings us to-”

“Henderson,” David interrupted him, “I was asking about that from an… emotional perspective, not a financial one. I’m worried that Emily will be unhappy if her sister isn’t here and a lot more worried about her. But if it turns out I need a cost/benefit analysis for it, I’ll be sure to ask you for your notes.”

Henderson blinked at David, dumbfounded. “Oh. Of… of course. Emotionally speaking…”

Henderson had no idea what to suggest. He wasn’t very talented when it came to interpersonal matters, mostly because he didn’t have very much experience in that area. He was a man who liked to keep to himself, and the only people who he really spent any time with were sitting right in front of him now. 

“I think that it might be worth it to offer for the sister to come and stay with you,” Sheriff Bane replied, coming to Henderson’s rescue. Henderson gave him a grateful nod, which Sheriff Bane acknowledged. “When Dorothy and I married, one of the best things that I did was invite her mother and her aunt to come and stay with us. It got our marriage off on the right foot, and they were two of the loveliest women I’d ever had the pleasure of getting to know.”

Henderson looked at the sheriff, mildly surprised. He hadn’t ever heard the man get this… sentimental about anything related to his family in… well, ever. 

“That’s… that’s awfully nice, Sheriff,” David replied, sounding as shocked as Henderson was. “You know, I think that’s a good idea. I doubt that she is going to stay with us forever, and maybe she’ll meet a nice fellow here in town. That man might even be you, Henderson! Why don’t you come on over when the girls get here, and we can introduce you?”

Henderson’s eyes widened, and he felt his throat beginning to close up. The thought of having to talk to a woman, especially one who David thought might be a good option for a wife, terrified Henderson. He’d never even so much as asked a girl to dance at any of the town dances. He preferred to stay to the side of the room and watch everyone, not get right in the middle of everything. 

“Absolutely not,” Henderson said outright. “I have no interest in becoming romantically involved with anyone right now. Have you forgotten how close I am to being asked to manage the bank they’re building in Granger? They’ve been consulting with me for months, and I think once they realize the kind of man they’re going to need to run that bank, they’re going to come crawling to me.”

David sighed, and for a moment, Henderson thought he looked seriously disappointed. He gave him an encouraging smile, but Henderson could still tell he was worried about him. “I know. I was only hoping that maybe if you found a nice lady to settle down with, especially one who was the sister of my soon-to-be wife, you might think about staying in town for just a little bit longer. Don’t want to lose you, that’s all.”

Now Henderson was even more surprised. David was a very open, emotional guy, but he hadn’t ever admitted something like this to Henderson. The fact that he and the sheriff were both starting to open up a bit more made Henderson uncomfortable. 

Are they going to start expecting me to do the same? What’s going to happen if I don’t tell them all the things that they’re telling me and each other? 

But before Henderson could worry too much more about it, the sheriff interrupted his thoughts.

“Well, I think you’ve got your answer there then, Collins,” Sheriff Bane said, slapping his knees and standing up. “If you think that bringing her sister here will keep Emily happy, you go on ahead and get that spare room of yours set up for her. And we’ll see what we can do about getting Hughes here set up with her… I’m sure that he’ll be much more open to the thought of it if she turns out to be real pretty.”

The sheriff and David laughed, but Henderson was unmoved. David looked over at him and then patted his shoulder.

“Only kidding, Pa,” David joked. “I’ll meet you at my house when you’re done here, and I’ll send you home with a chicken as thanks.”

“Sounds good,” Henderson agreed. “I won’t stay after we’re closed to finish up the work I wanted to get done. It can wait until tomorrow.”

David cocked his head to the side and gave Henderson a funny look. “Tomorrow? But tomorrow is- Oh, right. You went mad and decided to keep this place open on Saturdays. Well, you made that bed, and now you’ve got to sit in it.”

Henderson chuckled and bid the two men farewell for now. After they were gone, he sat at his desk and looked out the window for a moment. As he watched a few tumbleweeds rolled down the main street, he sighed.

Come on, Pa. You don’t always have to be such a stick in the mud. Why don’t you wait and see what this sister is going to be like and then make your decision about her? David has done so much good for you in your life that you can at least let him think you’re considering courting that lady. What’s the harm in that?

Chapter Three

Three days after the girls spoke about the potential dresses for Emily’s wedding, Emily came bounding into the sewing room where Kerrie was diligently working away on hers. 

“Kerrie!” she cried, stopping herself in the doorway with one hand on the frame and the other waving another letter above her head. “You’ll never believe what David just offered!”

Kerrie finished the stitch she was working on and then looked up at her sister patiently. “What is it?”

Emily brought the letter down so that she could read it. “My dearest Emily. Before I respond to everything that you included in your last letter, I wanted to ask you something. However, before I ask it, I do not want this question to make you or your sister feel pressured. I am simply asking because I am ashamed that I did not think to ask this sooner- Would your sister like to come and stay with us when you come to move here so that we can be married? I know that Kerrie is an independent young woman, which is especially admirable considering that she is only twenty years old. However, I thought it might be nice for the two of you to be together for at least a little longer, especially considering the recent passing of your parents. My best friend Henderson and I worked yesterday to prepare the spare room for her, on the off chance that you are happy with this suggestion. Please let me know what you think.”

When she finished reading, Emily looked up at Kerrie with excitement in her eyes. “Isn’t that a wonderful offer? What do you think about it?”

Kerrie was so surprised that she didn’t know what to say at first. But she knew that she had to say something, or else Emily’s excitement would quickly dissipate. “Wow! That is… that is certainly a kind offer. David’s generosity has impressed me once again.”

Emily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Yes, yes, David is very nice and good, but we already knew that. What do you think about his offer?”

Kerrie took in a breath and opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. She liked the idea of coming with Emily to Green River because then she would be with her sister. However, she also felt like it would be taking a step backward. She would be moving to a small town, she would now be living with her sister and her brother-in-law, and she would have to rely on both of them to support her. 

Emily must have been able to read the look on her face because the next moment, she was standing in front of her, taking both of her hands. “I know how you must be feeling, Kerrie, and I know how badly you want to be independent. But I think that it is very important for the two of us to stick together, especially right now. When you get married or find your true path in life, you can go off and forget about me, but for the time being, it would be so nice if we could be together for just a little longer. You’re the dearest thing in the world to me, and if you were to come with me to Green River, I know that it would make me feel so much more at home. But, if you decide that you want to stay here, I support you in that, too.”

Kerrie gave her sister a warm smile and squeezed her hands. “How are you always able to tell exactly what I’m thinking?”

Emily chuckled. “I’m afraid it is because our minds are too similar. I often think the same thing when you’re able to tell me exactly what I’m feeling!”

Both women laughed and then became quiet once more. Kerrie quickly thought over her options in her head- she could stay here in Cheyenne alone with her sister’s teaching job and live in their childhood home. If she were to do that, it would be her first step towards becoming truly independent and discovering who she wanted to be in life. However, it could also mean being horribly homesick for her sister’s company and feeling so utterly alone that it might end up causing her to regress. Either that or she would go out for David and Emily’s wedding and just never come back to Cheyenne. The other option was to go to Green River with Emily and live with her and David for a short while. If she were to go with her sister, it would mean that she wouldn’t be at all independent. Still, it might allow her to grow even more as a person because she would feel emotionally supported. However, it would also mean trying to take care of selling their home in the next week. That would be a great stress, but not an insurmountable challenge. 

As Kerrie pondered her options, it became clear that there was a superior choice. She sighed when she came to that conclusion, but she finally looked at her sister with a big grin on her face.

“Well, Emily, you’ve won me over,” Kerrie said. “I’d be glad to come with you to Green River.”

Emily gasped. “Really? Oh, Kerrie, you’ve made me so happy!”

The young dark-haired woman positively jumped on her sister and gave her the biggest hug. Kerrie started laughing, and then Emily followed a moment later.

“Yes, I’d be happy to come,” Kerrie told her sister as she slowly pried herself off of her. “It isn’t what we’d planned for, but I think it might end up being better for me. I can build my skills while I’m living with you and David, and then when I feel ready enough to go off on my own, I can leave Green River!”

Emily nodded so hard that Kerrie thought for a moment that her head might come off. “Yes, exactly! If you come to Green River, David and I can be around all the time for as little or as much support as you need. And then when you’re ready, I suppose you can go off on your own.”

Kerrie chuckled and put the dress she had been working on to the side. She knew now that Emily was excited about something there was no way she would get any more work done for the rest of the afternoon.

“Also,” Emily said in a mischievous tone, “I didn’t mention this before because I didn’t want you to feel like I was pressuring you, but David does have a very handsome friend who he mentioned in his letter. A very handsome single friend.”

Kerrie raised her eyebrows at her sister. “Emily, are you trying to tell me that you’d rather marry this friend of David’s than David himself?”

Emily gave Kerrie a dirty look. “No, silly, I meant for you! Wouldn’t it be remarkable if we were to get to Green River and you discover that David’s best friend is the man that you were destined to be with?”

“Emily,” Kerrie said, trying to stop her sister from getting carried away. “I only just said that I would come to Green River, and now you’re trying to tell me that I should get married while I’m at it? I thought part of the reason why we were making this decision was because I was a bit too young to be making too many huge life decisions?”

Emily sat on the floor in front of her sister and put her chin in her hands, looking up at her as though she were a child. “Yes, yes, I know, I know. But when it comes to love, it doesn’t really matter how old you are. All that matters is that you find the right person to be with and that they make you the happiest you’ve ever been!”

Kerrie scoffed and tucked her sewing needle, thread and bobbin back into her wicker sewing basket. It had been her mother’s before her and her grandmother’s before that. The top was embroidered in the Berlin wool work style. It had a deep maroon background with pinkish-yellow leaves of three flowers. The inside was lined with beautiful white horsehair that had been so well-kept by the three generations of women that if you didn’t know how old it was, you might have thought that it was made just the other day. It had gone from Mary to Kerrie because although Emily would have taken good care of it, too, she didn’t do nearly as much sewing as her sister did. Although Kerrie only gently teased Emily about her atrocious sewing skills, it was true: she really was a terrible seamstress.

“Emily,” Kerrie said seriously, reaching past her to put the sewing kit on the desk behind her sister. “I know that you are only trying to encourage me, but I’m afraid I must remind you how unsure I am about so many things in my life right now. I know that you’re only four years older than me, and so this is probably a little hard to understand, but I simply could not handle the pressure of being matched up right now. I need time and space to figure out who I am going to be in this world, and that includes finding who I want to share my life with.”

Emily sighed but nodded at her younger sister. “I know, I know, and I won’t try anything once we get to Green River, I promise. It’s just that this Henderson fellow sounds so nice and-”

“I’m sorry, did you say Henderson?” Kerrie interrupted her.

“Yes?” Emily said, pulling the letter out of her pocket and taking a look over it again. Kerrie watched her eyes scrolling down the page until she landed on the line that she had wanted to find. “Henderson Hughes, that’s the name of his best friend.”

Now, Kerrie was truly surprised. “Oh. I was going to ask if he was related to the Hendersons next door, but… that’s his first name?”

“That’s just what I thought when I read it too, but I’m sure it must be a… family name or something like that,” Emily assured her. She folded the letter up and returned it to her pocket.

“Regardless of his name,” Kerrie continued, “I appreciate you saying that you won’t try to set us up. I am, however, excited to come with you to Green River! I suppose I should start packing right this minute, shouldn’t I?”

Emily nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely! And I suppose that I should speak with Mr. Evans to see about getting this house sold in a hurry. It will break my heart to leave this place and all the memories we made here… but we must keep looking forward. And for now, let’s focus on getting you all packed up!”

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“When their Worlds Collide” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

Since the recent unexpected death of their parents, the sisters Kerrie and Emily Wright have been each other’s everything. The girls have only ever known life in the big city of Cheyenne and although they have always felt at home there, they are both ready for a change. While Emily wants to move to Green River to marry David, the man that she loves, Kerrie longs to see the world and grow as a person and has little desire to stay in a small town. However, after both sisters realize that being apart is the worst thing right now, Kerrie decides to follow her sister to her new life. Upon their arrival, she bumps into Henderson, who will unexpectedly spark intense emotions within her. Will the adventure she seeks come in the form of a heartwarming love, or will she regret this decision?

Henderson Hughes has lived in Green River his whole life but has always dreamed of bigger and better places. He’s fully focused on moving forward in his work and he has completely forsaken romantic relationships. When his friend encourages Henderson to spend time with his soon-to-be wife and her sister, who are new in town, Kerrie and Henderson’s worlds collide, making him doubt his own thoughts. Can he handle the vivid emotions born without warning, or will he choose to run away from them?

To their surprise, Kerrie and Henderson soon discover their shared love for personal growth, life in the big city, and the fact that neither of them wants to engage in any sort of romantic relationship. When their perspective changes, turning their friendship into something more, will they be brave enough to admit it? Will they manage to break down each other’s walls, or will their ego rob them of a happy future together?

“When their Worlds Collide” is a historical western romance novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

Get your copy from Amazon!