She quickly said, “When we had our near collision yesterday, you took me by surprise. After the tragedy on the Elk, I expected that you’d return within days. But after two weeks, I began to believe that you weren’t returning at all.”
Jake said, “That’s what everyone seemed to believe. Or worse.”
“I know. But when I saw you yesterday, I didn’t want to delay your visit to the sheriff. Then I knew you’d have to return to the ranch, so I hoped to see you this morning. I was helping my father and brothers in the store just to keep an eye on the street because I thought you’d want to come into town this morning.”
“Well, you found me, Sara. What did you need to tell me? Is it about Kay or my father?”
She seemed befuddled by his question, so after a short delay, she slowly shook her head before replying, "I can understand why you might be curious about Kay, and I don’t know anything about your father other than the gossip. But I wanted to talk to you about something else.”
“And that is?”
“When I thought you would be coming back, I wanted to stake my claim as soon as you arrived.”
Jake blinked then asked, “Stake your claim for what? We don’t have any gold or silver on the ranch.”
Sara laughed before replying, “Not gold or silver, Jake. I wanted to stake my claim for you. I lost you once before to my sister, and I didn’t want it to happen again.”
Jake didn’t know how to respond to Sara’s declaration. It wasn’t that he wasn’t pleased. After all, he’d talked to his mother last night about Sara and had continued to think about her when he returned to the house. He simply couldn’t imagine that she didn’t have a fiancé, or at least a boyfriend.
Sara let another thirty seconds of silence pass before she said, “I’m not Kay, Jake. I’m not coy and flirty, and I’m not as fully figured, either. But as you noticed, I’m a blunt and outspoken young woman. I say what’s on my mind, but I’m not afraid to admit it when I’m wrong. Ever since you started visiting Kay, you have been on my mind, and I wanted to tell you, but you were entranced by my more mature sister. When you enlisted, I was heartbroken but happy that you hadn’t married Kay. Now that you’ve returned, will you start courting me?”
Jake had been close to answering when she added her second wave of startling sentences and had to take another ten seconds to let it smash into the shores of his mind then recede.
He looked into her intense blue eyes and smiled before he said, “I’m leaving to find my father, Sara. But when I return, you will be the only woman I’ll even think of visiting.”
She grinned as she said, “Good. I was worried that I might scare you away with my fierce nature. After I heard that you had returned, I set my trap. When I left the house this morning, I put on my most alluring dress and brushed my hair to offset my harsh nature. My mother noticed and already knew why I had chosen this dress.”
Jake was startled again before he quickly asked, “Your mother is alive? That’s wonderful news. I was going to ask you about her but didn’t want to get you upset.”
Sara tilted her head slightly before asking, “Why are you surprised to learn that my mother is still alive?”
It was Jake’s turn to be confused as he replied, “She was so sick before I left, that I expected she wouldn’t last for three months.”
“Who told you my mother was ill? I can’t recall the last time my mother even had a summer cold. She bore four children and helped each of us through all of our childhood diseases yet never came down with any of them. You met my mother, so why would you believe she wasn’t well?”
“I didn’t talk to her that often, but when I asked Kay to elope, she said she couldn’t leave Fort Benton because your mother was deathly ill, and she had to take care of you and your brothers. That’s why I enlisted.”
Sara stared wide-eyed at Jake for a few seconds before she snapped, “Now I understand everything! She never told me about your plans to elope. She said that you and your father had a big argument and that you were joining the army. If I’d known that you’d asked her and she’d come up with that excuse, I would have begged you to wait until I was at least sixteen.”
Jake’s eyebrows rose as he said, “She seemed to be so distraught about your mother that I never even questioned what she told me. Why would she lie to me?”
“Let me think about it for a little bit.”
As Sara lapsed into silence, Jake tried to recall Kay’s reaction when he’d told her he was leaving and wanted to take her with him. She’d been shocked initially, but it was the reaction he’d expected. But then she’d asked him if he could return to the ranch and apologize to his father and he had replied that his mind was made up. He said that he was going to take the money out of his bank account and make his own way.
As he continued to let the memories reveal themselves, one that he’d almost forgotten returned. She’d asked him how much money he had in his own account. At the time, it was almost four hundred dollars, which he believed was more than enough to get a good start. After he told her, she asked him again if he could return to the ranch and his father’s good graces. But after Jake’s
