“Thanks Turnip,” Darcy laughed wheeling her horse and starting back to the ranch. The longer she stayed on the Broken J, the harder it would be to leave. She wanted nothing more than to give in to her love for Blake, but all that remained unspoken between them was a gulf that neither one of them could traverse.
Blake spurred his horse into a gallop chasing after Darcy with a chuckle, the woman certainly learned fast. These past two weeks had been a wonderful reprieve, and he was grateful for his time with the woman he loved. His heart ached with the longing to tell her how he felt, but his confidence in God’s will held him back.
When the time came, he knew he would have to say good-bye to the girl who had risked it all to help him.
***
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Blake glared at his mother then shot his eyes back to the road once more. “Why didn’t she say good-bye?”
“I don’t know Blake,” Meg said softly taking his hand and placing a large envelope in it. “She gave this to me to give to you and just left.”
Blake felt like shouting. He felt like slamming his fist into something, or racing off after the girl, but slowly, he realized that if he did he would be no better than Pierce. He couldn’t keep Darcy with him and not tell her he loved her, and he couldn’t tell her he loved her until she was free from the burden she carried.
His heart seemed to compress inside him and he found it hard to catch his breath. Without another word he stepped off the front porch and stormed through the pasture headed toward the stream. He needed some place quiet to think and to read the letter, now crumpled in his grasp.
Blake dropped down onto the old log by the stream, jarring his leg and hissing at the pain that shot through him. Still it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
Slowly the young man turned the envelope in his hands, afraid to read it and desperate to see what it said at the same time.
Pulling a knife from his pocket he sliced open the seam and pulled out the folded pages. Flipping them open he began to read, hoping that somewhere Darcy would have explained why she hadn’t waited to say good-bye but had simply loaded up the car and gone.
Dear Turnip,
I’m sorry to leave you this way, but I couldn’t face you. I knew you would try to convince me to stay, but I need to work through some things on my own before I can be any kind of a friend to you.
I’m returning to Cheyenne where I’ve heard there are charitable organizations that can always use help. I’ve already applied at one of these charities and have been assured that I am welcome.
Perhaps, in time, I’ll go to visit my own family and try to make amends with them. I don’t know if they will ever accept me, but at least I can let them know that I’m alive, and that I have changed my ways. Perhaps it won’t be enough to gain their love, but I have to try.
Thank you for all you have done for me. I have never had a truer, more selfless friend. I know how hard it has been for you to settle back into your own life again with me there to remind you of what you have lost. Your heart was being a police officer and helping to bring peace and justice to those in need, but now you can become a rancher again.
I’ve seen how you love the Broken J, and how thankful your parents are to have you back with them. You have a big legacy to live up to, and there is no room for someone like me on that path.
I hope you’ll find a nice girl and settle down. Build that place of your own you like to talk about and have a passel of kids like the rest of your cousins. You have a good heart, and I will always love you for how you helped me get away from a life that led only to death.
Thank your family again for me. They were very kind in all things.
Good-bye Blake, live well.
Darcy Stanley.
Blake folded the pages neatly, tucking them back into the envelope as the first tears came. He knew this could happen, and yet he had let himself fall for the girl.
He had been a fool, yet he knew he couldn’t regret their time together. “God, I hope she finds what she is looking for,” Blake sighed lifting a stone and tossing it into the stream. He watched as the ripples spread out from the point of impact and realized that everything we do in this world created a ripple effect.
His time on the police force, though short lived, had touched many lives and hopefully made some difference.
He had petitioned Beckett not only to get Fred Withers out of lock up, but also to bring his parents in to testify against the others they knew who had broken the law. That family had gotten a second chance.
Then there were those who had been in danger because of the willful lawlessness of the Branson gang.
Pushing himself to his feet Blake made his way home. There was always work to be done on the ranch, and his father would be glad for his company. He had to let Darcy go, set her free and pray that somehow she would find her way back to him. Only God knew what the future held for the both of them.
Chapter 27
“Bar, where do you want me to put this new bedding,” Darcy asked, wiping her brow with the back of her arm. Though
