1. Auld Lang Syne
Chapter 1
Memory Creek Ranch, California, October 1887
I’m stumped. I don’t know what to do about this situation, but I must make a decision soon.
“I’ve got something for you,” Riley called, stomping the dust from his boots. Smiling, he pushed open the backdoor screen, slipped through, and clicked it shut before the lazy fall flies could sneak in. “It’s a letter.”
Andi wiped her hands on her apron and shoved back a stubborn lock of dark, sweaty hair. Late summer heat had continued into October, settling over Memory Creek in a stifling cloud. “Who on earth would send me a letter?”
Riley shrugged. “I have no idea. Your name is scrawled across the envelope, but nothing else. I was on my way out of town when Toby Wright waved me down. He was getting ready to ride out to our ranch and seemed happy to save himself a trip in this blistering heat.”
“I don’t blame him,” Andi said. “What does the letter say?”
“Andi!” Riley looked hurt. “I wouldn’t open your private correspondence. All I know is that it has no stamp, so it’s more like a message than a true letter.” He held it out.
“I thought Toby worked for Sam Blake,” Andi said, accepting the envelope. She jammed it into her apron pocket. “I didn’t know he ran errands too.”
Riley chuckled. “Anything for a dime.”
“Did you pay Toby?” Andi asked, aghast. “He didn’t carry that message far enough to earn a penny, much less a whole dime.”
“We would’ve given him a much larger tip if he’d ridden all the way out here,” Riley countered. He pointed at her apron pocket. “Aren’t you going to read it?”
“I will when I get a chance to sit down.” She swiped a dish towel across a plate and stacked it with the others. “I’m still wiping the noon dishes, and I have no idea what to prepare for supper.”
Like always.
Andi’s housekeeping and cooking skills had taken a nosedive when baby Jared entered their lives three months ago. Since her skills were already hovering near rock bottom, this new low was indeed dark.
A high, insistent wail broke through Andi’s distressing thoughts about supper. The baby was awake and hungry.
“I’ll tackle these dishes, sweetheart,” Riley offered. “You take care of our precious son.”
“Thanks.” Andi gave her husband a grateful smile and vanished out of the kitchen as fast as her legs could carry her. At last! I can rock Jared and read. Her fingers brushed against the envelope in her apron pocket.
By the time she’d changed Jared, fed him, and settled him on her lap to rock back to sleep, Andi’s curiosity had risen sky high. She pulled out the envelope and studied the handwriting.
Mrs. Andrea Prescott
Odd, she mused. It was a man’s bold script, and it looked familiar. She couldn’t place it, though. Anyway, what man would be writing to her?
Only one way to find out, I reckon. She tore the envelope open and unfolded a single sheet of thick, creamy stationery.
Andi,
If you and Riley could make time during the next few days to come to town, I would very much like to see you. I am in Fresno visiting my folks for two weeks, and then I will be gone again.
I remain, as always, your friend,
Cory
Andi caught her breath. Cory Blake!
She had not seen Cory for over two years, not since she and Lucy had been rescued from Procopio’s outlaw camp. Cory had wanted to see Andi then too. Their meeting had been awkward, and then he vanished.
“Where has he been all this time?” she wondered.
Jared squirmed, yanking Andi from her musings. She set aside the letter and lifted the baby over her shoulder to pat his back.
“Where has who been?” Riley asked, joining her. He held out his arms, and Andi gratefully handed over the baby.
“Cory. He’s back in town.” Puzzled by this unusual request, she looked up into Riley’s face. “He wants to see us.” She crumpled the letter into a wad and let it fall from her fingers. “Oh, Riley! What should we do?”
Chapter 2
Two years earlier, Fresno, California, May 1885
Seventeen-year-old Andi Carter swung out of her saddle and dropped to the dusty ground beside her chocolate palomino. “Whatever is the matter with you?” She still had half a mile to go before she reached town, and Shasta was not cooperating.
It took Andi less than five minutes to determine the problem. She let her colt’s left front foot drop to the ground and slumped against his neck. “Well, isn’t this swell.”
Shasta had thrown a shoe somewhere along the road to town, and Andi had not even noticed until he started acting unhappy. “Some rider I am,” she muttered, rubbing his neck. “I’m sorry for pushing you back there.”
Shasta nuzzled her as if to say, No hard feelings, then blew a hot, horsey breath into her face.
Andi laughed. “I deserved that.” She gathered up her colt’s reins and began dogtrotting the last five hundred yards into town.
As she jogged, Andi wondered how she would keep this news from Chad. He’d reminded her half a dozen times this week to check Shasta’s feet to see if he needed new shoes. She’d put off her brother’s warnings until yesterday, when she finally brought Shasta to the ranch farrier. But Jake had quit for the day and was nowhere in sight. She’d missed him.
“Chad’s gonna have my hide.” Then a new idea perked Andi up. “Unless I solve this problem before I head home.” She couldn’t ride Shasta back to the ranch with a missing shoe, and she’d rather not go home until her colt had all four feet adequately protected.
She hurried down Inyo Street and turned onto J Street to pick up the items on Mother’s shopping list. Afterward, she would cross to K Street and sweet talk Sam Blake into shoeing Shasta at the livery pronto. Mr. Blake knew Andi was good for the payment.
“And big brother need never know.” Andi put a spring into her step, entered the mercantile, and turned Mother’s list over to Mr. Goodwin.
“It’s good to see you, Andi,” the shopkeeper greeted her from behind the counter. He grinned. “And congratulations.”
Andi looked at him blankly.
“On your and Riley’s courtship.”
Heat exploded in Andi’s cheeks. “Thank you, sir.”
Where would Mr. Goodwin have heard about that? Only a handful of rescuers were with them last month up near Kings Canyon when Riley made his intentions known. Which one had blabbed to the shopkeeper?
Mr. Goodwin tied up several brown packages and tucked them into a large burlap sack. “I read about your courtship in the Expositor yesterday morning,” he said cheerfully.
The newspaper? Andi managed a weak smile. “The paper must be mighty shy on news these days to include such a small item of interest.”
The entire town would now know that she and Riley were courting. Tongues would wag, and advice would flow from one old biddy’s lips to the other, all intended to reach Elizabeth Carter’s ears in no time.
“That’s our Expositor.” Mr. Goodwin chuckled. “Might as well enjoy the attention.”
Andi thanked the shopkeeper with a stiff nod, heaved the sack over her shoulder, and left the mercantile in a huff. Was nothing private?
Andi tied the sack around the saddle horn and headed for Blake’s Livery. It was one block over, but she could not escape the sly looks and smiling faces. It appeared that anything a Carter did quickly became the talk of the town.
“How perfectly splendid to hear about your courtship,” Mrs. Evans gushed, patting Andi on the arm. “Wedding bells are just around the corner. It’s about time you grew up and—”
“Thank you, but I really must be on my way.” Andi cut the woman off with a polite smile, gripped Shasta’s reins, and walked faster.
Mrs. King waved to Andi halfway down K Street. She echoed Mrs. Evans’s sentiments. “Growing up, are we?”
Groaning inwardly, Andi managed another smile and a quick nod. “Yes, ma’am.” She ducked into Blake’s Livery the minute the coast was clear. Then she peeked around the corner of the darkened livery out into the bright sunshine. “Safe at last.” She sighed her relief.
“Safe from what?”
Andi whirled. Shasta blew out and shook his mane. “Ho, boy,” she crooned. “You’re fine. It’s just Cory.” She smiled at her friend. “Gossips.”
“Ah,” Cory replied. He took two steps toward her. “Is that why you’re hiding in our livery?” He studied her with somber blue-gray eyes, as if he wasn’t sure what to say.
No wonder. Today was the first time she had seen Cory since Chad and Ellie’s engagement party back in April. When Cory had finally admitted that Justin was right—that Cory and Andi were not meant for each other—he accepted it with a crooked grin. He’d even thanked her for her honesty, and for her willingness to lay everything out in the open and not spare his feelings.
Cory didn’t look thankful now. He looked positively grim.
“I’m wondering if you or your pa would be willing to replace a shoe,” Andi blurted, hoping to ease the despondent look from her friend’s face. He had assured her they would always be friends, but right now she felt like Judas, the betrayer.
“Sure,” Cory nodded, suddenly all business. “I can do that for you. Bring Shasta on over.”
The awkwardness of meeting after two months of silence dissolved like a vapor. Cory gathered his tools.
“I can run down to Justin’s and visit so I’m not in your way,” Andi offered. “It might take a while to stoke the forge and bend a shoe.” The more she thought about it, the better this plan sounded. She didn’t want her presence to cause her friend any more discomfort.
Cory shook his head. “Actually, I’d like to talk to you, so I’m glad I caught you in town.”
Andi felt herself pale. He sounded serious. “What about?” She forced a chuckle. “Shasta is not for sale.”
Cory didn’t laugh. “It concerns the announcement I came across in the paper.” He tied Shasta to a sturdy railing and lifted the colt’s foot, avoiding Andi’s gaze. “I thought everything would be fine after the party,” he said softly. “I meant what I said when I told you God knows best.”
He lowered Shasta’s foot and looked at Andi. “The trouble is my heart is not in agreement with my decision. When I read about you and Riley officially courting, the reality of it hit me. I realized I care for you more than I ought to at this point.” He took a deep breath then let it out. “I can’t stay.”
“What are you talking about?”
Cory dropped all pretense of shoeing Shasta. “I’m leaving Fresno. My folks think it’s a good idea, and frankly, I’d like to see something of the world. I’ve never even been to San Francisco.”
Andi wanted to interrupt this lunacy, but her tongue was tied in a knot. A lump found its way into her throat. How could Cory leave Fresno? How could he leave his father’s livery business? Worse, it sounded like he was leaving because of her, because he still cared for her.
Cory caught the anguish in her eyes. “This is none of your doing, Andi. You were honest with me. Your brother was honest. I thought I was all right and could move on, but I can’t. Not here. Not now. This is my problem to solve.” He smiled. “You and Riley will do well together. Honest. But I need to find my own way.”
“Where will you go?” Andi whispered through her tight throat.
Cory leaned against the thick, rough post holding up this section of the livery. “The Hawaiian Islands.”
Andi stumbled backward in surprise. Cory leaped forward and caught her just before she fell over a barrel. “Take it easy.” He steadied her against Shasta.
“The Hawaiian Islands?” She shook her head. “They’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. You’re not a sailor. What will you do?”
Cory laughed, and his eyes sparkled for the first time since Andi had walked into the livery. “I’m not going as a sailor. I’m traveling as a paid passenger. I’ve saved a lot of money. It will be fun.”
He turned serious. “I have to do this, Andi. I’ll probably be gone for at least six months, maybe longer. By then I hope to have my head and my heart speaking to each other again. I may or may not come back to Fresno, though. The summer heat in the valley sometimes gets to me.”
“When are you leaving?”
“The end of the week.”
Andi winced. “So soon?”
“Yes.” Cory said no more. He turned around and gave his attention to replacing Shasta’s missing shoe.
Andi sat on the barrel, frozen in thought. Cory was leaving. He had been such a big part of her life these past seventeen years. She wanted to say something to ease his departure, but she couldn’t think of a thing.
Say nothing, a still, small voice whispered in her head. Simply wish him well, go back to the ranch, and marry Riley.
Sound advice from God’s Spirit.
By the time Cory pounded the last nail into Shasta’s new shoe, Andi was ready to leave. She took the colt’s reins. “I’ll pay your father the next time I come to town.”
“You don’t owe us anything,” Cory said. “Consider it an early wedding gift.”
“Thank you.” Andi took a deep breath. “I wish you all the happiness in the world. The Hawaiian Islands sound exciting. Take care of yourself.”
“I will.” Cory held out his hand. “Good-bye, Andi.”
Andi ignored his outstretched hand and brushed a kiss against his cheek. “Good-bye, Cory.”
Then she turned and fled.
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