Rosie thought about that for a moment. “Can we really make it so?”
“I married your brother, and that makes us sisters-in-law. Even though Tommy is gone, it doesn’t change how I feel about you.” Emma gave her a smile. Emma always had the kindest smile, and she liked to laugh. At least, she did before Tommy died. Rosie hadn’t heard her laugh very much since then.
Rosie returned the smile and gave a nod. “We will always be sisters. No matter what.”
“Will you be staying for supper, Mr. Benton?” Faith Cooper asked as Colton came downstairs.
“No, I’m having dinner elsewhere, but thank you for asking. I should have made it clear earlier. I know you like to have a count prior to lunch.”
“It’s quite all right. I know it’s usually the exception when you dine with us.” She reached into her apron pocket. “This just arrived before you came downstairs. I was waiting for my husband to return and bring it up.”
She handed him a letter. It was from Walter. Colton took the envelope. “Thank you, I suppose I should read this before heading out.”
“And I need to get back to tending supper.” She departed without another word, leaving Colton to contemplate the letter.
He made his way into the front sitting room, where a couple of the boarders were occupying themselves with a game of chess.
“Evenin’, Benton,” one of the men said, giving him a glance.
“Good evening to you both. Just going to sit a moment and read my letter.” Colton hoped the explanation would discourage further conversation. It did.
He opened the envelope and pulled the two-page letter out. Walter talked first of a meeting he and Ernest had attended regarding their plans to build an entire city block in Dallas. The details were as unimportant to Colton as Mrs. Cooper’s grocery list, and so he only scanned the details. It was the second page that seemed devoted to him.
You must get Emma to marry you. There is far too much at stake, and you owe the family this sacrifice, especiallysince it was you who allowed Thomas to change his will. If I were able to do the deed myself, I would, knowing that without control of our own family’s railroad we cannot determine the future. Now that Ernest and I have moved forward with our plans, we need to sell as soon as possible, for as much money as possible. We’re leaving this matter entirely in your hands—you have our proxies—but we need for you to be swift to a conclusion. Use everything at your disposal—even threaten her relationship with Rose, if need be—but marry her before you return.
The last line was more upsetting to Colton than he’d anticipated. He didn’t want Emma to ever believe that he sought her as a wife because of business. He cared too much for her to let that ever be the reason.
He folded the letter and put it in his pocket. A sense of uncertainty imposed itself upon him. How was he supposed to move forward? He truly cared for Emma and was doing his best to be there for her, to listen to her when she talked. The thing was, she wasn’t always one for deep conversations. Her new trend toward sober reflections and a desire to right the wrongs of the past also tended to make her turn inward. Her boisterousness was gone. It was as if her wedding day had wiped away all the years of self-focus and playful antics. Colton supposed that was only right; she was in her late twenties, and most women her age were already married with children of their own. Still, while he enjoyed this more insightful Emma, he also found her to be more selective with sharing her thoughts.
Colton frowned. He would just have to be more open with his own thoughts, perhaps. Maybe it was time to tell her how he felt.
“Bad news, Benton?”
He looked up at the man who’d addressed him. “No, just business.” He got to his feet and headed for the door.
But it wasn’t just business.
On Saturday, it turned out to be such a nice day that Emma decided to take Rosie to the ranch. Emma wanted to let her experience the place where she had grown up. Rosie was always talking about horses and chickens. She had a fascination with both, and often spoke of wanting to have some chickens.
Mrs. Olson had agreed it would be easy enough to keep a few, so Emma thought she might ask her father to give up a few of his laying hens. Of course, she’d need to create a coop, but for the time being, they had a small shed with an attached one-room apartment that the previous owner had given over to the gardener. Maybe they could turn the shed portion into a coop with a little fenced area for the chickens. Emma would have to speak to the Vogels about who might be available to hire to build it. They seemed to know who was reliable and who wasn’t. Maybe they could even suggest a gardener, since the grass was already green and growing.
The trip to the Johnson ranch was quite a distance, and even though things were much more settled in the area, there was still the occasional outlaw or ruffian who caused problems. Because of this, Emma asked Colton to come with them. He readily agreed, much to her surprise.
“What else do I have to do on such a fine Saturday?” he had replied.
Now as they approached the ranch, Emma’s joy was replaced by a wave of regret. She had been here the previous September for her father’s wedding and even stayed in her childhood room. Initially, when Emma had heard about herfather remarrying, she’d felt indifferent to the matter. Traveling back for the wedding was done more for Tommy than for herself.
She had wanted to give Tommy time with his dying father, for one thing. Lawrence Benton had a bad heart that was progressively getting worse. The doctor had told his sons that it was just a matter of time. Tommy wanted to avoid his father’s death bed all together, but Emma had told him of her regret regarding her mother and encouraged him to do otherwise. They could still have plenty of fun together. And in a way, she had hoped facing his father would mature him a bit more.
She had become engaged thinking Tommy would be less inclined to going out on the town and flirting with other women, but apparently that hadn’t been the case. After all, there had been Stella. She pushed that thought aside. Tommy’s infidelity hurt her terribly, but she didn’t want to think about it. He was gone, and there was no sense holding his sins against him.
The trip to Cheyenne the previous year had come on a whim, but in the back of her mind, Emma had been somewhat troubled at the idea of her father taking another wife. Her mother hadn’t even been gone a year. How could he consider such a thing? Truthfully, a part of her had hoped to change her father’s mind about marrying their neighbor. But from the moment she’d arrived and met Lucille Aldrich again, Emma had found an unexpected comfort in the woman. She’d been her mother’s best friend, and Emma could still call to mind times when they had shared canning and roundup. The two women had been inseparable, helping each other until both were weary enough to drop. They shared stories and laughter in a way that Emma envied.
“This is so beautiful,” Rosie said, craning her neck to take in everything at once.
“It represents a lot of hard work. When we first arrived, there wasn’t any house or other buildings.” Emma remembered it as if it were yesterday.
“Where did you live?”
